It’s Thursday, and time to play at Pals Paper Arts.  This week is a color challenge:  Crushed Curry, Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze.  I bet you thought I would create a leaf card with these colors, but I opted to create a card using the Ray of Sunshine stamp set just to be different. I hope you enjoy today’s card!

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips: Fun and Funky
This finished card measures 4-1/4″ wide by 5-1/2″ long.

• Array of rays! I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to help me place the Crushed Curry rays around this sunny orb. I then stamped and snipped a few Cajun Craze rays and interspersed them. The result is fun and different!

• Feeling sentiment-al! The sentiment was stamped twice, once in Always Artichoke and once in Crushed Curry.  I then cut off the Crushed Curry “Sunshine” and popped it up on Stampin’ Dimensionals onto the Always Artichoke one, just to add a little…dimension.  Don’t you just love this sentiment? Wouldn’t the world be a happier place if we did indeed bring our own sunshine.

• Pearls! A ring of pearls were added to fill in the interface between the sun and the rays.  And since I am pearl crazy, I just could not pass up the opportunity to add pearls to the eyes.  Just call me the crazy pearl lady!

I had fun with today’s card.  It really is not a style I would normally create.  As I was making it, it brought back memories from my college days.  I had the privilege of attending Monmouth (IL) College, which was nationally renowned in the 60’s and 70’s for its biology and chemistry faculty.   Dr. Berwyn Jones was one of those professors. Although I have long forgotten which Chemistry class I was taking at the time…I think it was either Inorganic or Analytical…I vividly remember trekking up the stairs to the Chem floor weekly to get help. Monmouth was small enough that the professors knew their students by name.  However, to Dr. Jones, my friend Debbie and I were his little “rays of sunshine”.  “Ah, it’s my little rays of sunshine”, he would exclaim when we would appear at his open office door. “Do come in and grace me with your presence.”  Dr. Jones helped me hone my critical, analytical thinking skills, and instilled within me a love for intellectual challenges…and for that I will be forever grateful.  Wherever you are, Dr. Jones..YOU were my ray of sunshine!

The Muffy Chronicles

Alas…Muffy did not win on Sunday.  For those of you keeping track, we remain at 11 points, out of the 25 needed, for our Grand Champion title.  Now it becomes critical that we get points every weekend she is out, or she will not earn her title before she retires to have puppies. Here is a peek at her ad that will be published in the Boxer Daily magazine and in Dog News:

We are preparing to head to Manitowoc, WI…a trip of nearly 6-1/2 hours, not counting puppy potty breaks.  She will be right behind my seat.  She loves to travel, and I will put in a movie for her.

I will be sure to keep you posted on her adventures!  Thank you so much for your patience as Muffy and I continue on our quest to build memories to last a lifetime…

As always, your comments are so very important to me.  Won’t you let me know what you think of today’s card? I hope it brought a little sunshine into your life today! Until next time…

 

It’s time to play with The Paper Players!  I am excited to be the host of our theme challenge this week:  Happy Fall, Y’all!  Fall is my favorite time of year.  I can feel it in the air! I love the crisp temperatures… the turning leaves..pumpkins…apple cider! I love it all…so happy fall, y’all! Let’s celebrate with a quick and easy Fall Fest card!

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips
This finished card measures 5-1/2″ wide by 4-1/4″ long.

• When the frost is on the pumpkin! I love the trio of pumpkins from Fall Fest…and I like to switch up the colors. Some are inked in Tangelo Twist while one is inked in Cajun Craze.  Always Artichoke stems were snipped out and adorned with Linen Thread bows. Of course, a little distressing was in order, so I used Soft Suede and a Sponge Dauber to ink the edges.

• The colors of fall! A trio of Leaves, once again from the Fall Fest set, were inked in Hello Honey, Always Artichoke, and Cajun Craze.  The stems were camouflaged with pearls, and the edges were distressed like the pumpkins.

• Hello fall! What a perfect sentiment for this challenge! I inked the Hello Fall sentiment from For All Things twice…once in Soft Suede and once in Cajun Craze.  I then cut out the Fall part and overlayed it.  In retrospect, I think I will re-do the sentiment and use Stampin’ Write Markers and selectively ink. But as they say, “Hindsight is 20-20!”

The Muffy Chronicles

I am actually writing this post in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin where Muffy and I are staying while she attends the Kenosha Kennel Club dog show in Wilmot.  Muffy had a wonderful day in the ring Saturday, winning Best of Opposite, losing only to her half-brother, GR CH CH Happy’s Tails Kit Kat Saves the Day and Stealsaheart, who won Best of Breed.  My guess is that the results will be the same for today…especially since Muffy was stung by a bee Thursday night.  Prednisone brought down the swelling on her face, but she still has a few hives.

However, she had so much fun at the show.  After she was done, we “meeted and greeted” people.  She is such a great ambassador for the Boxer breed.  Oh…and in case you ever wondered, she LOVES motels.  However, she is a pillow hog.  Seriously, Muffy…do you really need all FOUR pillows?

I hope you enjoyed today’s card!  I am not happy with the sentiment, so I can’t wait until I return home to change it.  I will be interested in knowing what you think? Won’t you let me know in your comment today? Your comments are important to me.  And remember, if you ever have a question about the cards I create or the techniques I use, I am only an email away! Until next time…  

Stamp Sets:  Fall Fest, For All Things, Gorgeous Grunge; Inks: Tangelo Twist, Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, Hello Honey, Soft Suede; Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, Cajun Craze; Tools: Big Shot, Woodgrain Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Sponge Dauber, Paper Snips; Glitz and Glam: Linen Thread, Pearls Basic Jewels

Second post of the day…

Welcome back for another round of inspiration from the Stamp Review Crew!  This week we are featuring Mosaic Madness. I am #7 on the hop. You may have just left stop #6: my good friend, the incredibly talented Mike Funke. If so, you are in the right spot. 
 
I decided to create a quick and easy holiday card using this set, and I am thrilled with how it turned out. Doesn’t it truly “sparkle”?  I hope you enjoy today’s hop!

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips
This finished card measures 5-1/2″ wide by 4-1/4″ long.

• Trio! Three identical Mosaics were inked in Lost Lagoon and stamped onto Whisper White card stock.  In the blink of an eye, they were punched out using the Mosaic Punch.  They were “popped” up on Stampin’ Dimensionals against two banners created from All Is Calm Specialty Designer Paper and Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper.  Of course, Rhinestones seemed to be the perfect embellishment.

• Blinded by the light! Nothing says dazzling like Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper.  The image panel was originally straight…but I decided to put it at a slant to really accentuate the dazzle!

• Sparkle! With a card with “sparkle” as its theme, how could I not use the “Sparkle” sentiment from Good Greetings.  After a few Lost Lagoon speckles, courtesy of Gorgeous Grunge, and a single Rhinestone accent, the end result is a confection of sparkly delight!

I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy card.  You all know how tough it is for me to do something quick, so I hope you like the result.  If you would like to see another card made with this set, here is one from the archives:

Once again, it is quick and easy! Details about this card can be found HERE.

And finally, before you visit the uber-talented Beth Beard, #8 on our list,  won’t you let me know which version of this card you like…Angled 

or Straight.  

If you get lost along the way, visit The Stamp Review Crew blog for a list of all of the hoppers!  Until next time…

Stamp Sets: Mosaic Madness, Glorious Grunge, Good Greetings; Ink:  Lost Lagoon;  Cardstock: Whisper White, Lost Lagoon; Specialty Paper: All is Calm, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper; Tools: Mosaic Punch, Hexagon Punch; Glitz and Glam: Rhinestones