Challenges ...

Good Sunday morning to you!  The sun is shining and it's going to be a very warm day for us here in Michigan.  Yesterday we visited one of our favorite nurseries.  My son selected Maltese Cross plants and they are the brightest orange flowers you have ever seen.  He loves them.  Since we were shopping for his garden, he gets to choose the plants.  I can tell you his space looks like a patchwork quilt ... and he couldn't be prouder.  It makes me smile.

I'll be busy creating cards over the next week to celebrate teachers.  They do so much for our children and our world.  Thankfully, there are only two male teachers for my children and I say that with the best of intentions ... I struggle with cards for men.  I tend to lean toward soft colors, flowers, and butterflies.  So one place I turn when in need of inspiration is Pile It On.  There you can find blog challenges listed by the day of the week.  By visiting the sites of many talented ladies, I was able to find a sketch, a theme, and a color combination.  Here is the card for my daughter's Algebra teacher.  Let me tell you what I did ...

Inspired by the gorgeous photograph on The Play Date Cafe , my colors are Lovely Lilac, Soft Suede, Certainly Celery, and Almost Amethyst.  It wouldn't be appropriate if I didn't have some numbers for this card and I found a scrap of some very old paper with a number pattern.  Since it's Algebra, "x and y" variables had to take center stage.  You can see more "numerical projects" on The Sisterhood of Scrap.  Isn't that the cutest name?  Tea Party and Patterns Designer Series Paper (in Certainly Celery and Almost Amethyst) brought in the greens and purples I needed.  My layout was provided by the ladies at Friday Sketchers.  Simple and not too fussy ... perfect for a man's gift.

Other thoughts and ideas came from Dutch Dare who challenged us all to use 2 papers, 3 colors, and 4 buttons.  Delightful Sketches and Easy Craft Project suggested texture and buttons.  The soft satin ribbon and the glittery letters (Violet Fine Cosmo Glitter on Lots of Letters chipboard) added texture and ... well, the buttons are self evident.

I hope that I've given you something to enjoy today.  I encourage you to take the time to visit the blog links I've provided above.  There are wonderful works of art to see and I'm sure they will inspire you too.  You can find many of my supplies on my website ... that link is on the sidebar.  Thanks so much for visiting.

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A History Lesson

If you have never been to Greenfield Village, I encourage you to visit.  At our school it is traditional for the second grade class to visit at the end of the year.  The kids dress up in period clothing and experience a day learning in the one room school house.  That includes fetching firewood and water from the well outside.  They all enjoy the day and gain a better understanding of how blessed they are.  This thankfulness and humility is a lesson to be learned by all of us.

Tea Party papers gave this page an old fashioned appeal.  This time I used the soft lilacs that come with the collection.  Coupled with So Saffron polka dot paper the results are eye-catching.  Once again, Mod Podge was used to "glitter-fy" chipboard.  This time birds from So Tweet were sprinkled with Orchid glitter from our Fine Cosmo assortment.  I thought the owl was a perfect choice for such a studious boy.  The Sweet Pea Stitched Felt flowers from our current Occassions Mini catalog are only available through the end of the month. You can order yours 24/7 with the link on the left.  Old Olive striped and Crushed Curry polka dot ribbon with a few buttons here and there finished the look.  One of my newest stamp sets is called Three Little Words.  Don't you just love the font?

I have updated the post below with color charts for your reference.  Thanks for spending time with me today.  It was nice of you to stop by!

Bling For You

Greetings friends!  While putting away my Stamp Camp supplies, I realized I have a lot of chipboard pieces.  I mean A LOT of chipboard pieces!  It's high time I use some, don't you think?  Here's my latest project.

The colors in the retired DSP dictated the theme of the card.  Barely Banana, Tempting Turquoise, and Very Vanilla stand out while Garden Green is used for the greeting.  How do you like the BLING?  I used Sticky Strip on a chipboard and dunked it in our turquoise Fine Cosmo Glitter.  It's super fine and has fantastic coverage.  This fine glitter comes in sets of 5 colors.  We have chunky glitter too.  You can see the collections in our catalog - just click the link on the left and search on "glitter".

The ribbon is retired.  The button is from our Playground collection and is adhered with a glue dot.  The string is our Linen Thread.  Half pearls in the lower right corner are from our Pretties Kit.  I think they make the card look a bit more elegant.  You'll recognize the die cut shape as our Top Note Bigz die.

I sewed Vellum Cardstock (which I had added a texture first) to the bottom half of the card.  Its sooo easy to add stitching to a project and it really makes the card have that chic "homemade" look.  You can see the For You greeting (part of Vintage Labels) and the Scallop Trim Border punch in our Sale-A-Bration catalog.  See how you can get these products FREE by clicking the SAB link on the left!

That's it for now.  Don't forget to post below for a chance to win the BLOG CANDY!