CPS Sketch of the Week

Made this card for the weekly sketch challenge at Card Positioning Systems.  This week's sketch is sponsored by Jennifer Buck.  Play along here:

http://cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/

Jennifer made a Christmas card for her sample, and I was inspired to do the same!
(Stamps:  PTI Background Basics: Retro and First Fruits, Pinecone by Amuse, sentiment from Cornish Heritage Farms, and retired Linen and Aida Cloth backgrounds from Stampin Up)

Life's a Beach

Made this card for the Clean and Simple Challenge, using a sketch from "girlydecou" at SCS.  I got that Amuse Snorkel Boy stamp when I went on a little shopping spree at One Little Spark in Tuckerton, NJ this summer!  I had been to the store on the Friday of my trip, it was an Amuse-a-palooza store!  I was staying at my niece Dana's house and she lives 5 minutes away.  The next day (on Saturday) she needed corn for her picnic and I jumped off of the couch and yelled, "I'LL GO GET IT!" because I secretly had to stop once more to shop before coming back to New York, hee! 

It is such a cool "fall-ish" weather kind of day here in Rochester, so I wanted to post this card...just don't want summer to end yet!

Let's Play Clue!

For Mothermark's Teapot Tuesday...this week we are playing CLUE!  You know, the Parker Brothers Game?!  See Cindy's post here:

Mothermark's Post

We went to Tudor Mansion and had to decide...who/what/where done it?!  Obviously it was...

MRS. PEACOCK in the checkered tile HALL with STICKLES...I mean, a be-ginghamed LEAD PIPE! 

I told the other tea partiers that I was a former PARKER myself, and I have a heritage to uphold...so I definitely got the right answer and solved the crime, hee!

WOW Wednesday!

Today is the beginning of my new challenge!  The Challenge is called WORD OF the WEEK, thus the keyword WOW!  I love ALL of the Splitcoast Weekly Challenges, but find I have the easiest time creating a card for Saturday's Inspiration Challenge! SmilynStef always picks the best websites and inspiration pieces!  So I wanted to try my own version of an inspiration challenge.

This challenge was also inspired a bit by Julia Stainton and a "Ways to Use it Challenge" entitled "One Word".  We had to make a card with any images but only "one word" on the card, and that got me to thinking about how cards can be inspired by words, too!

My love of words started way back when I was learning to read. Language Arts and English were my favorite subjects throughout school, and these became my strongest subjects, too.  My sweet Uncle Barry presented me with quarters from his infamous "sailor" bank whenever I visited him in Sackets Harbor, NY, and I often chose to go and buy books.  Two of the most important books that I have ever purchased were with that money!  I bought the "Joy of Signing" so that I could learn sign language, and that was one of the most influential steps in my becoming a Speech Pathologist.  I also bought a brand-spanking new red Webster's Dictionary that I still have today!  I told him I wanted to read the WHOLE thing, and that I would start by learning a few new words a day.  Well, I didn't always keep up with this promise, but I am hoping with this challenge, to get back on track!

I chose today's word for obvious reasons!  But starting next week, I am going to TRY to open to a random page each week, drag my finger down a page of my Uncle Barry's gift dictionary, and stop at a word (within reason for card-making!)...I will share that word and a definition, and hopefully we'll all learn some new words and have some fun making a card inspired by them!

Today's word of the week is "NEW". 

Webster's has a long definition for the word "new", but here are some highlights!
         -having existed or having been made but a short time; recent        
         -having been seen, used, or known for a short time; novel; unfamiliar
         -having been in a relationship or condition but a short time
         -being other than the former or old
         -beginning as the as the resumption or repetition of a previous act or thing
        -different from one of the same category that existed previously
        -of dissimilar origin and usually of superior quality
        -modern

This challenge will be much like Mothermark's Teapot Tuesday in the "rule" category...ummmm, there are NO rules! Just make a card inspired by the word of the week...the card can have the "word" on it, or can just be inspired by the definition, or just by what the word means to YOU! 

Then post your card at Splitcoaststampers (this week with the keyword "WOW01"). If you are not a member at SCS, just post a link to your card here on my blog in the comments section!

Here is my "New" sample card!

Thanks so much for playing along today!  SNUGS!

Paisley & Pearls

For Splitcoast "Clean and Simple" challenge, to be inspired by the bags and shoes at Anthropologie!  I chose the bag seen here:

Paisley Pastiche

Used PTI Melon Berry ink on PTI kraft, then added Liquid Pearls.  When I was making the sentiment, I pulled the twine through the holes and it "bunched" but I left it to make a fancy doodad (shout out to Anne Ryan, hee~)!

A New Challenge in Town!

Well, I got myself a keyword at Splitcoaststampers.com, and I will be posting a challenge THIS WEDNESDAY here on my blog....I am so excited!  I thought I was going to start it once the school year was under way, but then thought...how about a last summer hurrah!

Here will be my keyword:  WOW01....any takers on what that might stand for?  Giggle!

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge 15

A card for Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge.  Used PTI cardtock in Spring Moss, Hibiscus Burst, Melon Berry, and Vintage Cream, and PTI's Warm Happiness set by Heather Nichols.  Instead of fruit, the color scheme made me think of the new decor at a local Starbucks, hee!  Of course, almost anything makes me think of Starbucks!  Had to use my new argyle cuttlebug template ((swoon))!

Polka Dots and Toast

For Inspiration Challenge at Splitcoast...to be inspired by one of the gift items at Pylones.com!  I chose the dotted toaster seen here:

Pylones Toaster

Made my dots with circle punches in Papertrey Ink colors, and cut out toaster image from a sheet of die cuts from Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird Collection!

Warm and Fuzzy

This card is for the Ways to Use it Challenge at Splitcoaststampers. The challenge was to use something "warm and fuzzy" on your card. I chose a felt heart, and decided to name the dog in the wagon "Fuzzy", hee! The stamp set is Little Red Wagon by Pink Persimmon...isn't it the cutest thing? It reminds me of the "Dick and Jane" books from kindergarten! It comes with many different things to put in the wagon like flowers, pumpkin, books, even a Christmas Tree! And there is a girl and also a boy to "pull" the wagon. Get one for yourself here:

http://pinkpersimmon.com/shop/wagon.html

The Dogs!

Jason is surrounded by girls...1 wife, 2 little girls, and 2 dog girls!

Meet our beagle/coonhound mix Phoebe Jean. She is named after Phoebe on Friends. When we got her she smelled HORRIBLE! Jason went up North to Booneville, NY (for real!) and rescued her from the barrel she was living in with her pup siblings. The owner threw raccoon pelts at them for food...thus the smell. We were trying to think of a flower name like Rosie, Posie, Daisy...but as I held her and sang "Smelly dog, sme-ll-y dog, what are they feeding you? " PHOEBE popped in my head and it stuck! Jean is after me, of course, my middle name!

And there is sweet, beautiful, horribly naughty Olive, our 1-year old lab. She chews everything, is not good at staying house-broken, barks alot, chases and nibbles the girls' feet, and pulls me down in the lawn when I walk her in snow...but she loves me more than she loves anyone else! Now I know what the term "follow you around like a puppy" means...she is always by my side.

Made you smile!

Jason took this picture earlier this summer. Saw it on my computer, and it made me giggle...that is soooo Claire! My sister told me today that Claire really reminds her of ME as a child (my sister was 24 and pregnant with my nephew when I was BORN!)...somehow I am thinking she is right!

Manly!

OK, here's the visual you needed...this is my burly husband, Jason. Imagine him reeling in Eva's 14-pound trout on her Barbie pole! He has since lost the beard (thank GOODNESS)...it hurt to give him a smootch! This was a picture from the spring as he and Claire watched Eva play T-ball!

It's Teapot Tuesday!

These cards were made for Mothermark's Teapot Tuesday Challenge at SCS (also known as Cindy!...check out her blog "This is My Story", listed in my blog list). She takes us on a journey every Tuesday. She posts a picture of a teapot from her vast collection, or one that just strikes her fancy, and then posts a story inviting us all to play along.

This week, we were in Nova Scotia at Peggy's Lighthouse. We were told we had to catch 42,000 pounds of fish to pay our keep, and for our overnight stay at the lighthouse. We always bring snacks to the party, so I was bringing Chips Ahoy. I brought my husband, Jason, too, so he could catch the fish! I told the story on SCS that my daughter Eva caught a 14-pound trout on her WalMart Barbie pole, and it was so big, my husband had to reel it in! Imagine a grown man, using his big muscles, while holding a teeny weeny pink fishing pole...ha, Cabela's or LL Bean, who needs you? The pole bent in half, but didn't break...go Barbie! So Jason came along, and while he was out fishing...I went to get Chips Ahoy, but couldn't find them in Canada...so off to the lighthouse kitchen to bake them! And look who was a stowaway...back in the basket, you! Now only 41, 999 to go~! By the way...Cindy said these parties aren't REAL?! Can you imagine...I suppose next she'll tell me there is no tooth fairy, sheesh!

Cosmo Duck

This card was made for this past weekend's VSN (Virtual Stamping Night) Challenge given by Denise (aka ResQBarbie). The challenge was to make a card using one of her Martini recipes. I chose the Cosmo! Her recipe was to use Regal Rose, White, and Summer Sun papers, add ribbon and Stickles to embellish. I substituted Papertrey Ink's Berry Sorbet and Summer Sunrise papers, and used these adorable stamped images from October Afternoon's "Ducks in a Row" line...LOVE their stamps and papers! Oh, and there is some Cornish Heritage Farms gingham peeking out of the top, hee!

Sunflowers and Gingham

Here is a card that I did for the Splitcoaststampers.com Featured Stamper of the Week. This week was Stamp Muse (aka M), and I cased here card seen here:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1448782?&cat=500&ppuser=146898

For this Challenge you are to choose at least 2 elements to change from the original card. I kept M's overall theme, the YELLOW gingham, and color scheme, and changed the images and the ribbon!