WOYWW - Before and After

HAPPY WOYWW!   Julia at Stamping Ground is the hostess of this round-the-world weekly event to take a peep at our desks!  Julia has been sidetracked by a pesky gall bladder while on vacation so I am not sure if she will be up to a post but I am linking back to her blog and you can check out previous editions of WOYWW if she does not have a current one up.

So why don't I know whether Julia has a new WOYWW up today?  Wellllllll, my daughter and I are on a bit of a vacation being royally spoiled by my sis!  

There has been much hurrying and scurrying before leaving on this trip to IN.  A 14th birthday to celebrate among all the other activities!  I dashed off 3 cards scheduled to show up on the blog while gone and here is the aftermath of my madness!

  Storm on her shelf letting me know she hasn't been fed yet.

An upside down yogurt container (clean) that I use when I water color.

My favorite Candi foam pads, an empty Tombo glue container.  My notebook that I stamp my sentiments on to for centering before stamping on card stock are just a few of things scattered on this desk.

This is how my desk looks RIGHT NOW.  It's been clean for 5 whole days while I am playing in another state!

My DH saw the photo and said, "this photo makes your desk look messier than it is."  So there you have it.

TFL!

PPRS Monday Inspiration - Unreal Vacation

Happy Monday!  Have you taken a summer vacation this year?  We did.......sort of....it was a staycation and it was BUSY.  Although I enjoyed it I can't say that it was very exciting so it was fun to play along with the VSN challenge  Christine had for us:  "create a card to reflect the craziest, most amazing summer vacation you have never had... yet!"  So my thoughts went right to this fun Prickley Pear Rubber Stamp image: Steampunk Drifter.  

This is my crazy, most amazing summer vacation story:  On a hot summer, blue sky day (It's my fantasy-- NO humidity!)  a Steampunk airship drifted low over our property with rope ladder dragging.  That was all the invitation I needed! With a quick wave to my family and an affirmative nod of my head to the question of whether I had my cell phone,(I am always driving off without my cell phone so the last question I hear as I step out my door is, "Do you have your cell phone?")   I was off! 

We drifted for a full week over the land of all things artsy.  Steampunk gears and gadgets, Watercolors, Inks, Paints, gessos, pencils and markers in every shade imaginable.  Papers, Oh my, the papers!  We paused and we played with all the mediums in this artsy land, needing very little refreshment from sleep or food.  Why, I came home weighing 15 lbs less!! 

That's my vacation story and I am sticking to it!  :)

To help create my fantasy I used : Prickley Pear  Steampunk Drifter, CLR025 Steampunk Gears, and PPRS-D025 Steampunk Gears Die 

To see more inspiration from our lovely DT please check out PPRS BLOG!

TFL!  I hope you have a fantastical Summer Vacation!

Speedy Fox & Friends - Sunshine

Happy Saturday!  Another busy summer week here.  My baby girl turned 14 this week!  For her birthday she wanted to go shopping and spend her Christmas money, yep, you read that correctly!  She has saved her Christmas money all year so she could go shopping on her birthday!  We had a very nice day together then met up with Dad and brother for supper!  I have to say I am still awaiting a lazy summer day!  :)

This week's Speedy Fox & Friends Challenge is perfect to celebrate a lazy summer day!  We are creating cards with the "Sun Rays" technique.

I used Marsh Silhouettes and Dragonflies to create this summery scene.

You can find all the details on the challenge and see fabulous inspiration from the DT at Speedy Fox & Friends Challenge!

TFL and enjoy your summer!

PPRS - Monday Inspiration

Happy Monday!  I hope you had a good weekend.  Ours was filled with ballet activity.  Sunday night our daughter danced in a production of Beauty and The Beast that her Dance Academy put on for their dance recital.  It was a lovely evening and now that it's done I feel like summer can begin!

This weekend I played along with Kim's "Lemonade - color challenge" during VSN at Splitcoasstampers using "EE0194 Wildflower Garden" and a sentiment from CLR047 Mini Vases Clear Set for this week's PPRS Monday Inspiration.

I stamped the Wildflower Garden image directly on the tag and colored it to match the flower bg.  A MME chipboard button was added at the top of tag with the sentiment tucked underneath.

Hop on over to PPRS Blog to view lovely inspiration from the Design Team! 

TFL and have a great week!

VSN Weekend - First Reader and more!

Hullo!  I hope you are enjoying a nice Sunday!!!  We are just hours away from seeing our girl dance in Sleeping Beauty!  In the mean time I have a few cards to share with you.

Friday Night I hostessed a challenge for Splitcoaststampers Virtual Stamp Night.  Our VSN is all about summer vacation this month!

My VSN challenge is to create a card inspired by a book so for my sample I used, Play me a Tune from Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps which reminds me of the first books I learned to read!   Do you remember  the Dick and Jane books?  Oh!  Even as I type I can recall the thrill of learning to put my first words together!  These cuties remind me of my early reading books!

For Susan's (Cards are me) challenge to use a sticker.  I used a fabric sticker from American Crafts that coordinates with their paper stack.

For Janeen's (Janeenk) challenge: Faux Paper Tole.  I curled the edges of the flower from the back side to give that "paper tole" look.

For Brenda's (tessaduck) challenge: Grad/Retirement/Bon voyage.  If you care to read how this applies to Brenda's challenge you can visit my gallery HERE!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you have a great week 

If you feel so inspired there is still time to play along in the Splitcoaststampers VSN challenges as the deadline to upload your cards is 10 P.M. EST ON Saturday, June 14th.

Speedy Fox & Friends - Oriental

Happy Saturday!!!  It's been a busy week here with the culmination of tomorrow night's Sleeping Beauty ballet that our daughter is dancing in.  The week leading up to the ballet is always a bit crazy around here.  We had extra excitement of having to do a special hair braid bun and this mom is lousy with hair so there was quite a bit of extra hours hair practice!!!  We managed but oh my!!!  

Despite running here and there, practicing with hair and enjoying family time during this week of staycation, I squeezed in time to play with a new MFP set for this week's  Speedy Fox & Friends challenge which is to create an oriental card.  The image I used is a sneak peek from "FLOWER BLOCKS" being released next week.  

I started off by using the direct to paper technique but wasn't satisfied with the look so I spritzed the layer with water.  When the paper dried I stamped the flower block with Versafine Onyx Black. I love the rich color I achieved with this technique!

You can find all the details on the challenge and see fabulous inspiration from the DT at Speedy Fox & Friends Challenge!

In parting I will leave you with a photo of my ballerina!

Dress Rehearsal!

WOYWW # 261 - A big MESS is what's on mine!

Hello WOYWWers and friends!!  I decided to play WOYWW with a VERY untidy desk this week!    Julie at Stamping Ground is the hostess of this round-the-world weekly event!

We are in the middle of a "staycation" this week and a very busy one indeed.  Lots of events happening this week at our house.  I am also using the time in between family time and running to the next activity to create a few cards and that's why my desk looks like this!

I have created two 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 cards for MFP that will be blogged for the next two Saturdays. (not shown)

The paper stack sitting all helter sketter is for the Splitcoaststampers VSN/PPRS card that is in hiding (corner barely showing left edge of photo.  The card that is completely visible is for a fun VSN challenge although, nothing is glued down yet and might get turned into something else!  

A red rubber stamp is sitting on the acrylic block and was used earlier today for the VSN/PPRS as well as the clear set reflecting the glare from the lamp.

Crazy mess, isn't it?  I don't know how I can actually work like this but no matter how much I enjoy a clean work space, it always ends up looking like a disaster!

So that's it for me this week.  I look forward to seeing what you have on your desk today!

Happy WOYWW!!!

PPRS Monday Inspiration - Memories

Happy Monday!  I hope this summer day is finding you well!  My daughter and I are off doing a little volunteer job today, making sandwiches for kids that might not get a lunch if others didn't pitch in during the summer.  It really is an easy thing to do and it's fun to think that something so simple from our part will be so helpful to young ones.

Today I get to share quite a few lovely PPRS products all on this one clean and simple card! 

I used the following Prickley Pear Rubber Stamp and Die sets.  Click the links and it will take you straight to the online store!  :)  

FF0170 Bearded Iris, CLR023A Mini Butterflies 2, CLR014 Four Seasons, PPRS-D042 Scallop Oval Nesting Die, PPRS-D023 - Mini Butterfly Die. 

I played along with SCS Featured Stamper for the week of May 25th and CAS274 (add flowers)

TFL!