challenge duo

Hey ya'll...

So I've stamped a little this summer - more than I thought I had when I looked back through the pictures I've taken.

This little number was inspired by Iwona's sketch.

I needed some color inspiration too so I used the colourQ for the week.

And here's my card:

Thanks for dropping by! :)

I've discovered my prime time for creating - 12 AM to 2 AM. Yep, I stayed up LATE last night and got my stampin' groove on. It was fun to participate in a few challenges. I CASEd a couple of layouts from the new Paper Crafts Card Creations - Favorite Occasions mag, but I think I really made them my own. :)

Okay, so this first card is actually for the Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge this week. Very interesting sketch - I kept it very clean and simple and like how it turned out. The stamp is from the Unity December Kit of the Month. (Oh how I love new stamps!)

This card was inspired by Latisha Yoast on page 21 of the magazine I mentioned earlier. I like to think I made it my own! :) I was attempting the Pacific Point and Razzleberry and Kraft color combo, tried just the Razzleberry and white combo, and then added in the black. It was quite the process for such a simple card. So my stamping style - making things more complicated than they need to be! LOL! Kind of fun to see the old Buds & Blossoms set, isn't it? I *ADORED* this set when it came out and just had to keep it around for the memories. It was fun to put it to use!

More Unity KOTM love! :) This was for the Play Date Cafe color challenge. They said wine, bright blue, and beige and I interpreted it as Razzleberry, Pacific Point, and Kraft! :) This was inspired by that same layout as the cards above.

Last but not least, this card is for the Colour Create Challenge. It's hard just using two colors, especially when one is white! This uses the grid from the Unity Dec. KOTM. LOVE it! Die cut a butterfly from the SU! die from vellum (I had to get another kind of paper in there!) and then colored it with the Razzleberry ink pad. I did have to wait for it to dry over night. This is CASEd from Ellie Augustin's card on pg 83 of the PC mag.

I had so much fun creating last night. Totally hit my creative groove with these colors and the Unity Kit. I only wish I could stay up that late and not be tired the next day! (As I write this, I actually feel like I need to take a nap!)

I will be spending the next few days at my mom's house. I wish I could figure out a way to transport some stamping stuff over there, so I can still feel like I'm getting my fix! LOL

My family is coming with me to my church tonight for the Christmas Eve service. I am really excited - I think that will be the best Christmas present of all! :) I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

~Kendra

Christmas Cards Galore!

Oh, I had so much fun tonight. (But I am so going to regret it in the morning! LOL!)

I was blog surfing while The Closer was on (anyone watch it?! Great show! Kyra Segdwick is my hero!) I found quite a few challenges that I wanted to participate in, and I actually had energy and creativity to do it, rather than just SAY I wanted to do it! Go figure! (I think someone spiked my drink at school and gave me some caffeine!

Anyways, here goes -

Holly Sparkle

This was for the Cupcake Inspiration challenge. Had to try my hand at winning some Lawn Fawn stamps! :) You can't tell in the picture, but I went over the hand colored areas on the holly with a Sakura glitter pen. Just enough "sparkle" to be sweet! REALLY diggin' this layout, which came from the Crop Stop December sketches. (Told you I was blog surfing and found some challenges!)

Holiday Trees

I stamped the tree with the words on it to try on my first card, but that didn't work. Then, I tried stamping it and flipping it over so you couldn't see the words. That didn't work either. So, then I had these two trees and I couldn't let them go to waste! So a fiddled, stamped and cut out ANOTHER tree. I used a layout by Debbie Olson, but I don't do it nearly enough justice. I like this one too.

Tree Trio

Lastly, this card combined the Clean and Simple layout for the week with the Curtain Call Color Challenge, Act 59. Again, very simple, but a card I really, really like.

Thank you so much for looking! :) Hope the holiday spirit is making you joyful in and out!

Get Sketch #64

I was blog hopping the other day and came across Stephanie Muzzulin's blog promoting the Get Sketchy blog challenge. I've never heard of it, but I'm a big fan of sketches! Just makes everything go tons faster (and I need all the help I can get in that category! LOL)

So, I hopped on over... and I have fallen in love with this sketch!

This is the first card I made, and my favorite of the two. Love the color combo. Got the paper from someone a few years ago, so I have no idea what kind it is. This is just fun and simple!

I've played with the placement of the sentiment a bit. Those dang sentiments always get in my stinkin' way! These colors were fun too. Kind of unusual, but they flow nicely. The snowman was water-colored with white craft ink, something that I saw Anna Wright do. Not quite as high class as her's, but it's a cool technique.

I may have to do a couple of more Christmas cards with this sketch. I definitely have more stamps that would work easily with it! :)

Thanks for dropping by!

birdie (and owl) friends are the best

Here I am again, later than I expected. Seriously, can't I just stop my life and stamp all day? Oh, except for those things called tv and the couch often keep me from doing this, even when I do have an opportunity to. And there is blog surfing and finding inspiration to actually stamp. You know, those little things.

I've made several stamping purchases lately and this card uses two of them. Hooray for me!
First was the Unity November kit of the month. I seriously love the idea of new stamps coming to me each month! I would love to make a goal to say that I would stamp with them _____ X per month, but we all know that wouldn't actually happen. (At least I'm honest...) We'll have to see how things go...

So isn't this stamp just the cutest? Of course my aunt immediately noticed the little owls, which made it all that much cuter! (How did owls get so popular anyways... all I think of when I hear owls is the old, ugly (sorry, my honest opinion) ceramic owls that people had in the 80's. However, I must admit, they are growing on me a bit.

The second purchase was the Dotted Grid background from Green Grass Stamps. It's not quite big enough for the whole card, and I smudged it a bit when I tried to stamp it again. So then, I went with the whole overlapped, double stamped look. It actually makes the card look quite cute in real life. (Sorry this picture is so blurry... maybe it will look better when I publish this puppy.) Go figure, intentional non-perfection makes things cuter...

I'm loving these colors together - Wild Wasabi and Riding Hood Red, with some aqua thrown in. I used some of my "Green Stack" DCWV paper that I've had for way too long. (On the upside, this wasn't the first time I've used it... but probably only the 3rd or 4th.)
I stole the layout idea from the most recent SU! youtube video and I'm really digging it. Definitely one I'm going to have to use again...

Halloween cards and some cleverness!

I have two Halloween cards for you today! (I have another special picture for you, but I'll save it until tomorrow. It's so adorable! :) )

Nothing earth-shatteringly creative here, but I thought it was cute! I love that little spider from the old SU! stamp set, "Trick or Treat". I wish I loved Halloween more, so that I would get more use out of this oldie, but goodie!

Now on this one, I thought myself momentarily brilliant! I used the Cuttlebug "Boo to You" embossing folder in Basic Black, Basic Gray, Pumpkin Pie, and Rich Razzleberry. Then I used the 1 1/4" circle punch to punch out each of the images in different colors. This card was added to one of my "You've been Boo'ed" gifts at school. (Notice the "boo" at the bottom" - uber clever, aren't I?)

Again, nothing spectacular, but it was something - and something ALWAYS counts for something! (Ha, ha, notice my cleverness yet again!? I should sell this stuff!)

Well, I'll be back again soon - I have one more Halloween picture to show you! :)

Love, the Brilliant Clever

New design, new attempt!

Hey ya'll!
So, I'm not a very good blogger. It amazes me how I can let life get so complicated and not take time for the things that I enjoy. It's definitely a fine balance between work and life.

So, my goal is to stamp more and to use this blog as a place to talk about things - all kinds of things! My other passion is reading and I've read some great books recently. While I'm not the world's best reviewer, I do think it would be fun to share some of my thoughts about the books I read. We'll see how things go... I always say I'm going to turn things around, but then it doesn't happen. (But, I figure if I can spend as much time on facebook as I do, I can at least do something that I can show for, right?)

On a side note, check out my new blog header! Isn't it just the cutest thing? I purchased it over at Green Grass Stamps. I've always been a big fan - I have lots of their stamps, but need to use them more. Of course though, I had to buy more! So, I hope in my attempt to turn over a new leaf, I can get up there and use them!

I have made some Halloween cards. Just need to upload them to my computer and get them blogged. I don't have too long to do that do I? Halloween is just around the corner - and then Thanksgiving - and then Christmas. This really is my favorite time of the year. I love spending time with my family - and it just seems like happiness feels the air.

I pulled out my Christmas papers and stamps. I realized that I have quite a bit of Christmas stuff! So, again, in my attempt to do more - I'm hoping to make some Christmas cards to sell at school. Whether anyone buys any is another question, but it's worth a shot. I'm looking for some great Christmas inspiration and would love a new Christmas set. If you have any suggestions, leave me a note, would ya?

I'll be back with my Halloween cards!