Angel Rejoice for Merry Monday

We're still experiencing unusual extreme heat in southcentral Alaska (its 90 degrees at my house right now!) so I did some reverse psychology to try and get in a cool frame of mind. I went into my craft area, put on some Christmas music, set my fan on high and brought up the current Merry Monday challenge :)

When I saw the 'Rejoicing with You' set was retiring I snatched it up right away. I've always looked at it but could never make up my mind on whether or not I really wanted it. Seeing it retiring sealed the deal, as I know a ton of people who would appreciate a card made with this set.

I wont lie, this sketch scared me a bit and I had to do some extra cutting after I originally thought I had it all figured out but all in all I think it came out pretty good.

Now its back to listening to the Christmas music and trying to stay cool in this awful heat! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Rejoicing with You(retired), More Merry Messages(inside sentiment)

Paper: Lucky Limeade(retired), Real Red, Very Vanilla, Candlelight Christmas DSP (retired)

Ink: Early Espresso, Real Red, Lucky Limeade

Accessories: Big Shot, Lacy Brocade EF, Nestabilities Standard and Lacey Circles, sponge, dimensionals

Sketchy Birthday with Bling

Today was an absolutely miserable day in southcentral Alaska. We're having VERY unusual weather and the temp at my house hit 95 degrees (our normal temp this time of year is 65-70 degrees)....yes, outside temp for Alaska. So I did what any good Alaskan who hates the heat does, I sat in my dark  craft area with the fans going and stamped! :)

Today's card was inspired by the sketch challenge over at Sunday Stamps and the bling challenge from The Paper Players. Adding bling is really hard for me, I'm not really a "bling" person, so I hope adding the pearls counts! If not I'll try again :)

The sentiment was cut out and popped up with dimensionals and the main image panel is also popped up with dimensionals. I tried to leave the left hand side of the card blank like in the sketch but I just needed a little something over that way, hence the addition of the butterfly(with more pearls for bling).

Supplies used (all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Apothecary Art

Paper: Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Sunshine and Sprinkles(retired)

Ink: Black StazOn, Pacific Point, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Melon Mambo

Accessories: Watercolor Crayons, butterfly already cut and in my stash, Big Shot, Framelits Labels Collection, Basic Pearls, Blender Pen, sponge, dimensionals

Bricks and a Sketch for Friday Mashup

** Before I get to the Friday Mashup post I'd just like to say that my heart is with Colorado right now. I spent my teen years growing up in Colorado Springs and for the 2nd time in a year the region is being devastated by a wildfire. The Black Forest Fire, which started on Tuesday, has now become the most destructive fire in Colorado's history. I have friends and family that have been evacuated or are waiting to see if the fire is going to turn in their direction and it's very scary. My thoughts go out to everyone affected by the current fires in the state and if you can donate something to help, please visit http://careandshare.org/ . Care and Share have been doing an amazing job helping the firefighters, first responders and people affected by the fires, all from donations from the amazing people choosing to help. Stay strong Colorado.**

Todays Friday Mashup challenge is brought to us by Tara. She wants us to give the brick wall technique a try, and to also use the sketch she provided!

I had never done or heard of this technique, so I looked it up on Splitcoaststampers. You can find it HERE. It definitely gives a neat effect but I cant lie, I found the work a bit tedious and since I have some fine motor skill issues, handling the small sections you cut out was a bit of a problem for me. BUT at least I can say I tried the technique and conquered it, so thank you Tara for the challenge!

I used the sketch also and kept it very simple, only adding some Gingham Garden DSP across the bottom and some Daffodil Delight ribbon across the middle. The bright colors are perfect for a summer birthday, so I added a birthday sentiment at the bottom!

Make sure you head over to The Friday Mashup to see what the rest of the design came up with for this technique and sketch!

1. Create a project using the "Sketch".
2. Create a project using the "Brick Wall Technique".
3. Or Mash it Up and create a project using the "Sketch with the Brick Wall Technique".

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Upsy Daisy (retired), Itty Bitty Banners

Paper: Daffodil Delight, Island Indigo, Whisper White, Gingham Garden DSP

Ink: Island Indigo, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Suede

Accessories: Big Shot, Framelits Bitty Banners, Daffodil Delight Ribbon, sponge, dimensionals

 

 

Follow">http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5041797/?claim=65pcpa6572a">Follow my blog with Bloglovin

 

Polar Pals for Jingle Belles

I sat down and got a card made for the Jingle Belles challenge and I used one of my favorite SU sets, Polar Pals. It's an older (retired) set but its perfect for Alaska!

When some people see this image the first thing they probably think is the word "Eskimo". A lot of people think the term 'Eskimo' refers to the people of Alaska and that's incorrect. It technically only refers to 2 groups of Native Alaskans, the Inupiat and the Yupiks. Just a little trivia for your day today!

Here is my card made with the sketch...and this sketch was so versatile that I also used it for a Fathers Day card, as you can see HERE.

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Polar Pals (retired), sentiment from More Merry Messages

Paper: Old Olive, Confetti Cream (retired), Merry Moments DSP (retired)

Ink: Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green, Versamark

Accessories: Big Shot, Nestabilities Standard Circle, Chunky Glitter, sponge, dimensionals

Bear for Father's Day

This card goes with this previous card, for an order I got for Fathers Day. As I stated before the dad receiving these cards grew up here in Alaska and so I wanted to stick with an outdoor theme and the retired SU set "Yukon" was perfect for this use. I grabbed the bear image and used retired DSP called Well Worn. My daughter liked it so much that now she has me making another one, to give to her boyfriends dad!

My layout was actually inspired by the sketch over at the Christmas blog Jingle Belles! I haven't made a Christmas card for the challenge yet but that's next on my list :) Great versatile sketch!

Supplies used(all supplies used SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Yukon, sentiment from Best Dad Ever, Timber Wheel

Paper: River Rock(retired), Confetti Cream (retired), Well Worn DSP (retired)

Ink: Early Espresso, Soft Suede

Accessories: Big Shot, Nestabilities Standard Circles, dimensionals, sponge

Ties for Fathers Day

I received an order for 2 Fathers Day cards and the gal told me to just surprise her, so here is the first one I came up with.

Her significant other grew up here in Alaska so the outdoors has been a big part of his life. I used the retired DSP Woodland Walk for the outdoor colors of green and brown. The ties are perfect for a masculine theme and I stayed with the colors of the paper when coloring in the ties. The brown banner behind the image panel is embossed with a stripes pattern that looks like something you'd find on a tree, I found the strip already in my stash so I just cut it into a banner to fit the card. A simple sentiment finishes the card.

For the card layout I used the sketch from Retro Sketches as inspiration.

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Best Dad Ever (retired), Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper: Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Woodland Walk DSP (retired)

Ink: Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Early Espresso Bakers Twine, Large Oval Punch, non-SU brads, sponge, dimensionals

A Wild Christmas for Merry Monday

For the challenge over at Merry Monday this week I knew instantly which image I wanted to use on my card. Because the image is a longer one I turned the card but other than that all the elements for the sketch are exactly the same.

This is the perfect Alaska Christmas card, moose and bear! While the bears are quiet around Christmas they are still one of the most famous things about the state so of course I have to include them! However, moose and bear are VERY active right now. Moose are being spotted with their twin babies(and in one case already, triplets!) all over the area and bears are also being seen all over Anchorage. Yesterday, on the military base in Anchorage, a black bear climbed the fence surrounding the flight line and just sat up there for a while. The Army posted a picture of it on their Facebook page and it was quite the sight! My family and I are headed into Anchorage later today for some king salmon fishing and I wont lie, I'm hoping we see a bear. A wild bear is the one thing I haven't gotten a picture of since we moved here 5 yrs ago.

Anyway, I really like how this card came out and I made another 5 of it last night, I just need to finish the small details on them (the glitter on the wreath and the glitter on the bells around one of the bears neck).

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Moose/Bear stamp from Great Impressions, sentiment from The Stamp Pad Co

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso,Naturals White, Frostwood Lodge DSP(retired)

Ink: Early Espresso, Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler

Accessories: Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details, Gold Stickles, Early Espresso Ribbon. Dimensionals, blender pen, sponge