Happy Blogaversary To Me!

My first year anniversary of blogging is fast approaching.  I can't believe it's been one year!  I can't imagine life without it.  When I was young, I always kept diaries and journals.  These days, blogging takes the place of them, and I get to combine it with showing off my artwork.  I do think of cardmaking as an art form, although my children beg to differ.  :)  They do not agree that it can be considered art!

To celebrate, I will be featuring some of my favorite cards from the past year.  At the end of this Trip Down Memory Lane, I'll be offering some Blog Candy! 

Today I am looking back at May, June and July 2010.  If you want to see an original post, just click on the photo.

I sure was punch-happy those months!
Soon I'll have another post with more faves from my past.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Colleen

Play Date Cafe 83 - Farewell to Sarah

We say goodbye this week to a member of our team - the lovely and oh-so-talented artist,  Sarah Anderson.  Sarah's favorite Play Date Cafe challenges have always been "Color Splashes," so we are honoring her with a very special Splash. 

This week, use black and white with a SPLASH of green.  Just a hint, a smidge, a teeny bit!

Here's my card:

Our sponsor this week is Skipping Stones Designs, and they gifted each of us on the design team with a stamp set of our choice.  I picked this one, called Timeless Textures:

I used the medallion stamp to create the background behind my butterflies.

I don't think the pictures do justice to this card.  I LOVE how it turned out! 

Julie Ranae asked each of us to visit the archives of The Play Date Cafe, and find our favorite project that Sarah made over the past year and a half.  I chose this one:

As I looked through many of our old challenges, I noticed that MOST of Sarah's projects in the first year contained butterflies!  I almost picked another card as my fave, which had pinks and purples, but this won me over with the black and white damask and script backgrounds.

And isn't it funny how I picked Sarah's card that features the same BLACK / WHITE / GREEN Color Splash as we are having right now??  Coincidence, I swear!

PRIZE ALERT!!
In addition to the prize for Cup of the Week, we have a special prize during our Blog Hop this week.  Visit each designer's blog and leave a message on their Play Date Cafe post.  There's a prize this week for one lucky winner who hops along and leaves a little love for each designer!!

Andrea

Libby

Colleen - You Are Here!

Jaclyn

Michele

Jinny

Savannah

Tracey

Fiona

Ruby

Julie

...and Sarah!  Leave her some happy thoughts and wishes.  :)

Our sweet Sarah leaves one Cafe for another.  She is working at The Bean and Brush Cafe in Sale, England.  We wish you all the best, Sarah, in your new endeavors and we will miss you!

Colleen

Stamps:  Timeless Textures by Skipping Stones Designs
Paper:  Basic Black, white by PTI, green patterned paper from SU scrap stash
Ink:  Basic Black
Punch:  deep edge Martha Stewart
Other:  Big Shot, butterfly Embosslit. bling from Queen and Co. and Recollections, dimensionals

Guest Designer at City Crafter

I have the pleasure of being a Guest Designer at City Crafter Challenge Blog this week, where the theme is "I've Been Framed."  Kirsty Vittetoe asked me a while back, and I felt completely honored.  Her challenge is one of the best out there, featuring stylish designs from the Design Team and the players, week after week.  Thank you for having me, Kirsty!

More than a year ago I picked up two framed items from the dollar store, specifically for the frames, and never did anything with them.  This was the perfect opportunity to alter one.

The cross is set back, shadow-box style.  The back of the mat, which features the words, looks like this:

I cut a piece of pink cardstock the same dimensions as the mat.  I used a craft knife to cut out the opening.
Then I decorated the mat with all sorts of papers, stamps, trim and punches.

In the recessed area, I stamped different images from a new-to-me set by Our Craft Lounge called Vintage Traveler in light shades of Distress Inks.  Then I added a large fleur-de-lis brad, which at first was too bright-shiny-gold for this project.  I sanded it with a nail file, then rubbed some white craft ink over it, and wiped with a tissue to remove the excess ink. 

Some pearls were added in the corners -- of course!

The patterned papers are bits of the most beautiful giftwrap I have up in the attic.  Since I bought it, I've been dying to use it in crafting somehow.

If you want to play with us, head over to the City Crafter blog and check out the details.  :)
Thanks for joining me today!

Colleen

Stamps:  Our Craft Lounge 'Vintage Traveler', Stampin' Up! 'Elizabeth'
Paper:  Pink Pirhouette, Very Vanilla, Whisper White cardstock; gift wrap
Ink:  various Distress Inks, Always Artichoke, Whisper White craft ink
Punches:  Iron Gate and Lattice Edge borders by Martha Stewart
Other:  pearls and fleur de lis brad by Recollections, gold cord

Play Date Cafe 82 - Delight In Little Things

Our very sweet Ruby 2 Shoes put together the color story for this week's Play Date Cafe challenge.  I searched my patterned paper stacks and found some things that helped me pull together a card quickly, easily and with NO stamping!

The brown and blue paper is from Pink Paislee 'Sweetness', the butterfly one is from DCWV 'Mariposa'.  The sticker is from K & Co.  The doily bits were cut from a larger one, then sponged with Antique Linen Distress Ink.

I decorated the inside of the card with butterfly punches, using the same Pink Paislee paper:

And just for good measure, I made a second card with some slight alterations:

Our sponsor this week is Discount Cardstock.com, and our guest designer is the oh so talented Laura Davis!

We'd love to see your creations hanging in the gallery at The Play Date Cafe! 

Thanks for joining me today.  :)

Colleen

Stamps:  none!
Paper:  DCWV Mariposa, Pink Paislee Sweetness, So Saffron cardstock, aqua blue from Mark's Finest Papers
Ink:  Antique Linen Distress Ink
Punch:  Iron Gate, butterflies by Martha Stewart
Other:  pearls by Recollections, crochet trim, doily, sponge, dimensionals, Big Shot, Tim Holtz Elegant Flourishes die (on second card)

It Started Out White...

Yes, this started out as completely bare, white cardstock:

I made this for my stepmother for Mother's Day, but made two so I could keep one!  My inspiration was found in a library book about stamping. 

On the card base, which is 4 1/4" square, I repeatedly stamped a butterfly from Mark's Finest Papers Garden Fairies in Tattered Rose Distress Ink.  I sponged on a variety of Distress Inks in so many colors, I can't remember them all.  Then I used a Stampin' Up! background stamp, Wonderfully Worn, in Frayed Burlap Distress Ink in random places.  This gives the slight appearance of a splatter. 

The next stamped layer features Old French Script by Hero Arts, in Stazon Black.  I used more Distress Inks, including Milled Lavender and Dusty Concord, to sponge on, softly blending the colors together.

On the top stamped layer, I used a berry stamp from Le Jardin Botanique (SU) in Stazon Black. More sponging took place on top of that, followed by a liberal coating of glue and Crystal Coarse Glitter (Martha Stewart).

I like the look of thin black matting to help set off each individual layer.  And of course, there are pearls.  :)

My first anniversary of blogging is happening at the end of May.  I will be offering Blog Candy, so stay tuned! 

Colleen

Stamps:  Le Jardin Botanique, Wonderfully Worn (SU); Old French Script (Hero ARts); Garden Fairies (MFP)
Paper:  white by PTI, Basic Black and Mellow Moss (SU)
Ink:  variety of Distress Inks including Tattered Rose, Scattered Straw, Frayed Burlap, Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord, Antique Linen and more; Stazon Black 
Other:  pearls from Queen & Co, dimensionals, Crystal Coarse Glitter by Martha Stewart

Tulip Wishes & A Happy Story

Hello everyone!  On Mother's Day, I had some time to make cards (and really no time since then!) and this was one of them.

This is a wedding card that my aunt commissioned me to make for her friend.  My inspiration:  a card on Splitcoaststampers by a stamper named Chris Smith.  I don't have a link to the original card by Chris, because I saved the photo to my computer (as I often do when I want to CASE something).  I changed the flower and added a punched border, but otherwise, it looks a lot like the original.  Thanks for the idea, Chris!

I have a happy story to share with you.

My 12 YO (soon to be 13!) daughter, Haley, adores lip glosses by Philosophy.  She has many flavors and uses them all.  She seeks out 'rare' flavors on sites like eBay and Amazon, Sephora and Nordstroms.  Haley has even given much thought to flavors that they should make, with clever titles and themes. 

Because her passion for it is so strong, I encouraged her to write to the company and tell them of her ideas.  We sent the letter off about two weeks ago.

Last week, a large, heavy box arrived at our house from Philosophy.  Inside were so many goodies, it was like Christmas here!

An executive at Philosophy wrote the kindest note to my daughter.  He said that as soon as he received Haley's letter, he shared it with his team and they packed up a box full of shower gels, lip glosses and perfumes.  They even included a large bottle of Amazing Grace perfume for me -- one of my faves!
He said that Haley's passion for their products inspired them and reminded them of how they make a difference in the lives of their customers.  He forwarded her letter to the Customer Service and Marketing teams so they can evaluate Haley's suggestions for new flavors.  In our thank you letter, I included the above  photo so they could see how excited she is.

Isn't this such a happy tale??  It sure made my daughter's day, no - week! - brighter.  She feels very special, and indeed she is....to us, and to everyone who loves her. 

Thanks for joining me today.  :)

Colleen

Stamps:  tulip - Thank You by Flourishes, sentiment - Sincere Salutations by Stampin' Up!, floral background - Anna Griffin
Paper:  white by PTI, Basic Black
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Basic Black
Punch:  Lattice Edge by Martha Stewart
Other:  black satin ribbon by Offray, Copic markers, dimensionals

Mark's Finest Papers #55 - Inspired by a Sign

I see this sign when I go to the dentist...

...and it always makes me think of a clean and simple card design.

When this challenge cropped up at Mark's Finest Papers -- to use Monochromatic Blues -- I thought this was the perfect chance to do a card based on that sign.

It's quite modern, which really isn't "me" at all, but I just HAD to do a card based on that sign! 
The sentiment is from Mark's Finest Papers' African Veldt set. 

If you would like to play along with our "blue" challenge, just link up your creation HERE by 3:00 pm EST Friday, May 20th.  Remember you can win free stamps each week!

Thanks for joining me today.  :)
Colleen

Stamps:  African Veldt - Mark's Finest Papers
Paper:  white thru MFP, Night of Navy, Brilliant Blue, Tempting Turquoise - SU, light blue by DCWV
Ink:  Basic Black
Punch:  large oval by Stampin' Up!
Other:  Night of Navy satin ribbon from SU

Play Date Cafe 81- In My Prayers

I really like this week's color story from The Play Date Cafe:

A grape, a lime and a silvery-light gray.  Pretty!  The closest lime I had in my stash is Kiwi Kiss cardstock, from Stampin' Up!.

Had some trouble photographing this in a charming way.  It didn't want to stand up, and I don't own a flower frog (as so many other crafters use to support their cards), so I had to lean it against the tablecloth backdrop. 

Since our sponsor this week is Stampotique Originals, each of us on the Design Team got to choose a stamp and a sentiment stamp.  I LOVE the ones I was blessed with:

and

I stamped the Baroque Background (#7109) in Dusty Concord Distress Ink, then used a circle die cut.

Just realized how many punches and die cuts I used here - 11 total!  And this is a small card, 4 1/4" around.

To construct the fan behind the sentiment, I used the Martha Stewart Deco Fan Corner Punch three times and trimmed away unnecessary parts.  The flower was made with a Flower Trio punch (SU) and a matte silver brad from JoAnn's.  Once the brad was placed through all three flower layers, I used my fingernail to distress the layers of paper. 

Our Guest Designer this week is the fabulous Debbie Hughes.  You can check out her creative stuff HERE.  Thanks for joining us, Debbie! 

And if you want to see the prize for our Cup of the Week winner, head on over to The Play Date Cafe!

Thanks for joining me today.  :)

Colleen

Stamps:  Baroque Background and sentiment from Stampotique Originals
Paper:  white from PTI, Kiwi Kiss (SU)
Ink:  Dusty Concord Distress Ink, Basic Black
Punch:  large oval and Flower Trio (SU), Deco Fan corner punch (Martha Stewart)
Other:  gray pearls - Queen & Co, piercing tool, gray satin ribbon - Offray, Big Shot, standard circles and  Beaded Circles Spellbinders Nesties

Pink Lilac

How was your Mother's Day, if you celebrate it?  Mine was just right:  I got to do some stamping!  It soothes my soul.

The card I'm featuring today is highly inspired by my SU demonstrator, Gail Murray, who did a very similar card a few years back.  I saved a photo of that card, so that one day I could try to replicate it.  I changed a few things, like dropping the sentiment, and using a different stamp on the Olive layer. 

I just LOVE how this turned out!  The colors say "spring" to me, and I've always loved this lilac stamp from Stampin' Up!'s Blossoms Abound set.  The green layer is stamped in Old Olive ink with an Anna Griffin background floral stamp that I adore.

I'm entering this card at two challenges:

• Flourishes' Bring Back Beautiful - The Beauty of a Flower
• Really Reasonable Ribbons - Use two ribbons or trims (I used green satin and pink picot-edged satin)

A bit of hardware from my Hodgepodge Hardware collection.

You know me:  even envelopes are tempting to decorate!

Almost forgot to share:  I just found out that THIS card won a Spotlight Artist Award at City Crafter Challenge Blog! 

I can't tell you how good it feels to have a moment to make a card and blog about it.  I thank you for your continued prayers for my daughter.  She improves little by little, but there are setbacks sometimes.  I really need these card-making moments to help give me my own kind of therapy.

Colleen

Stamps:  SU's Blossoms Abound, Anna Griffin floral background
Paper:  Regal Rose, Pretty In Pink, Old Olive cardstock, white by PTI
Ink:  Old Olive, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Always Artichoke
Punch:  1/16" hole by Fiskars
Other:  ribbons from SU, Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware by SU, dimensionals

DeNami Girlie Girl Blog Hop

Hi there!  If you are hoppin' in the DeNami Girlie Girl Blog Hop, you should have arrived here from Chrissie Tobas' blog. 

This is the third DeNami Design Blog Hop that I've participated in.  I love to do them!  The DeNami stamps are so sweet and I happen to own a couple of real cuties.  Today I am using a more elegant, feminine stamp called Love Script Heart.   

The card began with a piece of pink, cream and brown patterned paper from My Mind's Eye La Paperie.  I sponged Antique Linen Distress Ink around most edges, then stamped the Love Script Heart in Chocolate Chip on the paper. 

Pink and cream pearls were added here and there, to put in some much-needed bling.  This is, after all, a girlie-girl card!

Pink, polka-dotted ribbon is the final touch before mounting the piece onto Chocolate Chip cardstock, then the white base.

Some important Blog Hop Details for you, from DeNami:
When: The blog hop starts on May 8 at 6 AM, PST. However, you have until May 9, 2011, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs (to be eligible for a prize).
Why: To be inspired by beautiful girlie creations featuring DeNami Design stamps and also the chance to win mini shopping sprees on the DeNami Design website!
Prizes: We are giving away THREE $20 gift certificates to our website! We'll be giving away one gift certificate to a random participant (DT members not eligible) and then we'll also be giving away TWO gift certificates to TWO people who comment along the hop!
Next up in the Hop:  Dana Seymour!  You can also go to the DeNami Design blog to start from the beginning. 

Thanks for joining me!

Colleen

Stamps:  Love Script Heart by DeNami
Paper:  Chocolate Chip, white cardstock by PTI, pink patterned paper from My Mind's Eye La Paperie
Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Antique Linen Distress Ink
Other:  pink dotted sheer ribbon from Stamp Simply Ribbon Store, pink and cream pearls from Queen & Co, sponge

Mark's Finest Papers #54 - A Mighty Fine Boot

This week's challenge at Mark's Finest Papers is Paper-Stamps-Ink.  That's it:  no embellishments, no ribbons, flowers, brads, chipboard, etc.  I know there are dozens of different ways to pull that off, but I was in rather a clean-and-simple mood the day I made this card.

I used a boot image from Grandma's Boudoir.  I tried to do different tricks with this boot, like stamping it multiple times with different ink colors in a large circle, like a pinwheel, but that didn't work out.  I tried making the boot look like it was kicking up its heels and having a good time.  Nope. 

I made this Victorian footwear look more fun that it probably was to wear  by using a paper-piecing technique.  And let me tell you, that boot was CRYING OUT for little pearls as buttons!  But, no, I had to rein myself in.

Are you up for the challenge of Paper-Stamps-Ink?  The deadline to link up your creation HERE is Friday, May 13, 2011 at 3 PM EST.   Can't wait to see what you do!  Don't forget that there is a weekly winner of a stamp set, too.  Free stamps = good fun.  :)

ETA:  after the challenge, I changed the card a bit by adding pearls and rounding the corners of my card.  Aah - that's much better!

Thanks so much for joining me today.

Colleen

Stamps:  Grandma's Boudoir by Mark's Finest Papers
Paper:  Vintage Cream by PTI, Chocolate Chip, Stampin' Up! patterned paper scraps
Ink:  Early Espresso
Other:  dimensionals



Play Date Cafe 80 - A Sunny Thank You

 If you are looking for the Pals Paper Arts Guest Designer post, please scroll down one post.

Our super-sweet Ruby 2 Shoes chose this week's challenge colors for The Play Date Cafe:

What a pretty picture!  Reminds me of summer days that will soon be here.

I dug through my patterned papers and found two that match our colors pretty closely.

I find myself doing much more of the patterned paper thing these days, because it's quicker.  I'm not hoarding them as much anymore.  :)  It would have been wise of me to write down which stacks of paper these came from as I made the card, because now I can only find the maker of the poppy paper:  DCWV Mariposa Stack.  The yellow one?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Sorry about that.  :(

The sentiment die cut is a Spellbinders Beaded Circles nestie, new to me for my birthday.  I sponged Scattered Straw Distress Ink on it to match the paper.   The flowers and butterfly are from Stampin' Up!'s Bliss set.  I colored the stamps with markers (Crushed Curry and Poppy Parade), stamped and cut out, then added bling.  The sentiment is from SU's Because I Care. 

Our sponsor this week is Paper Smooches.  Our Guest Designer this week is the ultra-talented Kim Hughes!  Kim was a Go-To Gal for Paper Crafts Magazine and now has started her own line of stamps called Paper Smooches.

We hope you will play with us this week and show us what you've got.  I am wowed each week by the entries our players hang in the Play Date Cafe Gallery.  Such amazing talent out there!

Please follow THE PLAY DATE CAFE RULES carefully to enter.

Deadline for prizes is 11:59pm EST on Tuesday

The 'Cup of the Week' will be announced during the next challenge.

ALL SKILL LEVELS ARE ENCOURAGED TO PLAY! 
We want you to enjoy this challenge. 

Interpret the colors the way you see them. 

We do not use specific card stock color names or brands.

Break out of the box and have fun! 

The main requirement is:

PDCC COLORS BE THE 

FOCUS OF YOUR SUBMISSION

When using additional colors, please limit them to neutrals. 

You are welcome to combine challenges, 
but we do ask that:
 1. The PDCC name and/or photo is used

2. OUR colors are the focus of the card.

Here's hoping you have a wonderful, craft-filled day!

Colleen

Stamps:  Because I Care, Bliss - both Stampin Up!
Paper:  white by PTI, orange patterned paper DCWV Mariposa, yellow ?
Ink:  Scattered Straw Distress Ink, Basic Black
Punch:  Martha Stewart border (can't remember the name!)
Other:  Big Shot, Beaded Circles Spellbinders nesties, rhinestones by Recollections, dimensionals, sponge