TESC125 - Best Wishes

Happy Friday!!! It's time for another great Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge. This week's sketch is for a very happy occasion. My brother is getting married this weekend. I can't believe the day is already here. It went by so fast and now the big day is tomorrow. I used the beautiful Year of Flowers: Violets set from Papertrey Ink along with one of my oldie but goodie SU! sets Elegant Greetings. The main wedding color is Lapis. A lovely deep purple shade. I chose both a light and deep purple to ink up my violets. I wanted the card to look elegant. It was challenging for me not to make something cutesy, so since this is not my normal style I thought I should keep it clean and simple. I added some K&Co. pearls to the center of each flower and added a little bit of shimmer with a Clear Spica pen.


So you wanna play along? Taylor will be looking for her Top Crops and it could be you. We would love to see what you create. Need some more inspiration? Visit the rest of the TESC Sketch Crew to view their fabulous creations:
Alice Wertz
Jami Sibley
Lisa Hjulberg
Lori Craig
Melissa Sauls
Monika Davis
Rosie Hughes
and Taylor!!!!

Thanks for visiting and Have a great day!

Very Merry!

Happy Sunday! It's such a beautiful day outside, so I am off to visit the parents & brother. We are currently addicted to eating Sunflower seeds, so I will need to stop by the store and pick up some bags. We sound like a bunch of parrots. I will keep cracking away until my lips are white. Yes, it's that serious! I love salt! Well onto today's card, I couldn't find my parrot stamps to go along with the theme but I do have one of my fav owl stamps. When I saw this beautiful foil accented paper by Making Memories I thought it would be perfect for this stamp. These owls are so cute and it was fun paper piecing a couple of their scarves. Well I better get going, so have a wonderful Sunday and thanks for the visit!

Rachel's Recipe:
Stamps: Three Owls (Hero Arts), Home Sweet Home (SASI) and Best Yet (SU!)
Paper: White CS & Kraft CS (PTI), Chocolate Chip & Old Olive (SU!) and Patterned Paper (Making Memories & Bazzill)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive & Real Red (SU!) and Fresh Snow (PTI)
Accessories: Oval Punches & White Gel Pen (SU!), Ribbon (Paper Source), Mini Scallop Border Punch (EK Success), 3D Foam Tape (Best Creation), Red Brads and Christmas Red Stickles

Hello!

Hello! Happy Saturday! I have been busy trying to update my SCS gallery. I haven't posted anything since June, so I am still working on adding everything. A special thanks to my buddy, Sandra, for her help this week. She is just a sweetie and an amazing talent. Be sure to hop on over to her blog and tell her "Hello!". My card today is the swap I made for Jami's new catty swap. This Hello Again set by SU! just caught my eye. I loved the cute images. All the supplies are Stampin' Up! only. Hope you are all having a fab Saturday! Thanks for visiting me!
:) Rach

Rachie's Recipe:
Stamps: Hello Again & Sprinkles
Paper: Kraft, Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White CS
Ink: Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip and Versamark
Accessories: Circle & Oval Punches, Rich Razzleberry Ribbon, Crafters Tool Kit, Dimensionals, Two Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter and White Gel Pen

TE Birthday Bash Last Call

HELLO! I kept thinking it was Tuesday today and that I had one more day to complete the TE Birthday Bash Challenges. Ummm ... it's Wednesday! Well it looks like I may only be able to do this last one, as I am so exhausted from work and this past weekend. I really wanted to do Jodi's color challenge, as these type of challenges are the hardest ones for me. I wanted to keep the look more clean, since the colors are so vibrant and pretty. Jodi picked some really great colors for the TEBBJC Challenge. I hope you all got a chance to play. I was hoping to catch up to my friend, Ryann, but she was on fire! I think she must have completed them all. She is just awesome like that. Have a wonderful evening and please come back this weekend for my My Cute Stamps Spooktacular Weekend!
Hugs,
Rachie

Rachie's Recipe:
Stamps: Branching Out and Home Sweet Home (SASI)
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Versamark and Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo & Crushed Curry (SU!)
Paper:Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo & Crushed Curry Textured CS & Watercolor (SU!), White CS (PTI) and Embossed Dot Paper (Bazzill)
Accessories: Circle Punches, Ribbon, Dimensionals, White Gel Pen & Blender Pen (SU!)

Taylored Expressions Birthday Bash!

Happy Saturday! I thought this weekend would NEVER get here. I haven't been able to stamp much, except for the swap cards I made. I will be posting those up hopefully next week. I couldn't wait for the weekend to stamp for the Taylored Expressions Birthday Bash! Big Congrats to Taylor and the TE crew! I am huge fan of Taylored Expressions and I am so glad for the long weekend to play along with all of their fun challenges. The first card I wanted to share is for the TEBBDB (Paper Piecing) & TEBBDE (Paper Tole) challenges. You can visit the Stamp a Sweet Impression blog for a complete listing of all 13 challenges. My BFF, Pilar, needed a hot air balloon thank you card. It had to be masculine as well. That was a challenge in itself. Luckily I had the adorable Fly Away set from the Greeting Farm. I used some of my Bo Bunny stash for the paper piecing. I popped up the hot air balloon pieces and sentiment with 3D Foam Tape. To keep the look more masculine I decided to put the sentiment on the balloon to mask the heart. I could have easily not stamped the heart, however I was going nuts looking for my Memento dew drop pad with no luck. Sentiments are great for covering up stuff. I am sneaky like that... LOL! Well I hope you get a chance to join the party! I will be back with more this weekend.
Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful weekend!
:) Rach



Rachie's Recipe:
Stamps: Fly Away (Greeting Farm) and Note of Thanks (SU!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU!), Memento Tuxedo Black and Fresh Snow (PTI)
Paper: Kraft CS (PTI) and Patterned Paper (Bo Bunny)
Accessories: Circle Nesties, Ribbon, Brads (Bazzill), Oval Punches & Crafter's Tool Kit(SU!) and 3D Foam Tape (Best Creation)

Best Wishes!

It's official! My big brother and his longtime girlfriend are engaged. I am truly happy for them both. I am very close to my brother and I am so filled with joy. He is the most wonderful brother and friend. I know he will be an incredible husband to Ginny and she will be a loving wife to him. I made this card for my future SIL using the photo I snapped at the engagement ring store. Her favorite color is purple, so I got to use some of my favorite shades. I also used TESC #80 for the sketch. I really hope she likes it. Thanks for visiting and hugs to you all!
:) Rach

Rachel's Recipe:
Stamps: Heart Prints (PTI) and Oval All (SU!)
Ink: Vintage Touch Tea Dye Duo and Plum Pudding (PTI)
Paper: White CS, Kraft CS, Lavender Moon CS, Plum Pudding CS and Bitty Dot Patterned Paper(PTI)
Accessories: Circle Nesties, Oval Punches, Piercing Tools & White Gel Pen (SU!), Heart Punch, Ribbon, Button & Twine (PTI), Gem and Stardust Stickles

JSWAP209 Block of Friends

Hello! I was able to participate in another one of Jami's wonderful SCS swaps. I knew I wanted the card to have the look of a quilt, but wasn't sure at first what I was going to do. I decided upon scoring the patterned paper to give the quilted pattern. I then added the blocks in the center, scoring between the blocks and finally piercing the scores for faux stitching. I was happy with how it turned out. I hope you like it too. Have a great day and thanks for visiting me! Check back tomorrow as I will be posting my Creatively Cute Bloggers Challenge Card. The challenge is to create a card about yourself. Well seeing that it is due tomorrow and I am posting it on the deadline tells you I like to wait until the last minute. I love pressure! LOL!
:) Rach

Rachel's Recipe:
Stamps: Quilt Quips
Paper: Baja Breeze, Kraft, So Saffron, Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Watercolor CS and Sweet Slumber Specialty
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Versamark, Baja Breeze, Ruby Red, So Saffron and Sahara Sand
Accessories: Eyelet Border Punch, Crafter's Tool Kit, Button Bouquet, Signo White Gel Pen and Dimensionals

SFYTT Here for you

Hello! Are you watching Bachelor tonight? I am anxiously waiting for Mike to get home, so we can watch the Finale. I thought I should post this week's SFYTT card, since the Stickles has dried by now. I posted it this morning on SCS, but I forgot to attach the button. I put pics of both options. Not sure which one I like better. I do love the Platinum Stickles. That darn bottle got clogged and then I remembered a tip I got from my local scrapbook store. They said to run a paperclip down the hole in the tip. They said a pin was not wide enough and that a paperclip is just the perfect size. Worked like a charm! So I will have to remember to keep one with my class supplies. This card was very easy, since there was no coloring involved. I just stamped the image in Chocolate Chip and sponged the edges with Baja Breeze & Basic Brown. Those SU! speciality papers are fabulous. I love the texture! Hope you like it and thanks for visiting me. :) Rach








Rachel's Recipe:
Stamps: Friends 24-7
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Baja Breeze CS & Parisian Breeze Specialty and White CS (PTI)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Basic Brown and Baja Breeze Accessories: Square & Circle Scallop Nesties, SU! Circle Punches, Dimensionals, Kraft Taffeta Ribbon, Linen Thread, Button and Platinum Stickles

FS108 Dreams Du Jour

Good Evening! Just doing a quick post tonight for the card I made for the Featured Stamper Challenge @ SCS. Kelly has a wonderful gallery, so it was difficult to select one card for the challenge. Hope you all had a fabulous weekend and I will be back tomorrow with my SFYTT card to share. Just waiting for the Stickles to dry.
:) Rachel









Rachel's Recipe:
Stamps: Dreams du Jour
Paper: Whisper White, Kraft, Kiwi Kiss & Pink Pirouette CS and Bella Rose DP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss and Pink Pirouette
Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Dimensionals, Ribbon (Bo Bunny), Marvy Scallop Square Punch, Pink Brads (American Crafts) and Gems (MAMBI)

OCCC Thank You!

Hello! I thought I would play along with another sketch. This time I chose the OCC Sketch Challenge. It's my first time playing. I wanted to add glitter to bring out the stamped flowers more, so I decided to dust off my dazzling diamonds glitter. I used a quickie glue pen to dot the glue on the lines of the flower. I really like how it sparkles. Hope you do too.
Have a great night!
:) Rachel







Rachel's Recipe:
Stamps: So Much and Full of Life (SU!)
Paper: White CS (PTI), Chocolate Chip CS (SU!) and Patterned Paper (Daisy Bucket Designs)
Ink: Only Orange, Kiwi Kiss and Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Accessories: 5/8" Chocolate Chip Ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter & Dimensionals (SU!), Oval Nesties, Quickie Glue Pen, Button (American Crafts ) & White Ribbon (Michaels) and EK Success Scallop Edge Punch

Happy Anniversary My Love!

It seems like the years are flying by because I am having so much fun. My life changed forever when I met my wonderful husband, Mike. Today we are celebrating our Wedding Anniversary. God has truly blessed me with this amazing man. He is handsome, kind, smart, funny and spoils me with stamps. I made this card special for him for both our Anniversary and Valentine's Day. I poured all my love into this card and a few tears of joy. I am so very happy!!! Happy Anniversary My Love!!






p.s. I was surprised today with these beautiful roses from my hubby. Thanks Mikey!


I will be back later to post the card recipe.

:) Rachel

Limited Supplies & PTI Bitty Dot Sketch Challenges

Good Evening! Back again with my second post today. Just barely! My hubby and I went out to the movies and dinner tonight. I almost forgot to post @ PTI again for the challenge. I managed to combine 2 challenges into one. The PTI sketch was perfect for the SCS Limited Supplies challenge of only stamping the sentiment. Hope you all had a nice Saturday! It's off to bed for me. See you tomorrow :)








Rachel's Recipe:
Stamps: Full of Life (SU!)
Ink: Kiwi Kiss (SU!)
Paper: White CS (PTI), Brocade Blue & Kiwi Kiss CS (SU!) and Patterned Paper (Making Memories)
Accessories: MS Border Punch, Scallop Edge Punch & Dimensionals (SU!), Flower (Prima), Gem (MAMBI) and Buttons (Foof-a-la)

Kristina's Color Inspiration Challenge #39

Howdy! I am back with another Challenge first. This time I am playing along with Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge for the first time. Can you believe it? I have been following her blog for so long and finally started playing. I was super lucky to get to meet Kristina at the SU! Convention last year. It was a thrill to get to meet her in person and take our picture together. Ok I got a little too excited and had to ask her to
retake our photo together. I looked horrible in
the first one. Luckily she did not call out "Security!". LOL! She is not only talented, but so sweet too. Have a wonderful Friday! TGIF!







Rachel's Recipe:
Stamps: Eastern Blooms and All Holidays (SU!)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and So Saffron & Real Red Markers
Paper: Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White and Patterned Paper (Bo Bunny)
Accessories: Black Brads (SU!), Buttons (Foof-a-la) and embroidery thread, mini glue dots and dimensionals.

Light Box Test

Hello! Today I am trying to test out my new light box by taking a pic of this double pouch bag I made sometime last year. I used my light box with the white backdrop provided on the last 2 photos posted, but I didn't like the look of the background. I hit Michael's yesterday and picked up a white foam poster board to use inside the box instead. I really like the results, however I did still have to enhance the photo a little in Photoshop Elements. I couldn't be happier with my new toys (Lightbox & Photoshop Elements 7). Thanks Mom, Dad and Big Bro for these amazing Christmas gifts. Love ya! Now I am off to start on some sketch challenge cards. See ya soon!
:) Rach

Happy Monday! Just wanted to share a photo of the card I made for Jami's January Swap. I love this new Goody Goody Gumdrops hostess set from Stampin' Up! My style tends to be cutesy, so this was a must have set. All the images are adorable. Be back later and hope you all have a great day!
:) Rachel



Rachel's Recipe:
Stamps: Goody Goody Gumdrops and Sprinkles
Paper: Real Red, Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette, Kraft , Watercolor and Pink Pirouette DSP
Ink: Stazon Jet Black, Craft White, Baja Breeze, Real Red and Pink Pirouette
Accessories: Dimensionals, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, 2way glue pen and Real Red 5/8" Ribbon.

Give Thanks!

Happy October! I really love fall and I am very excited for the upcoming holidays. I made this for a Halloween/Fall/Thanksgiving swap on SCS. I really fell in love with this Debbie Mumm paper and thought it would go great with my Give Thanks SU! set. Really happy this photo came out well. I am trying to work on getting better lighting. I am putting that photo studio in a box on my wish list for Christmas. Thanks for looking!

Rachel's Recipe:
Stamps: Give Thanks (SU!)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU!), Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic Markers and Summer Sun Marker (SU!)
Paper: Chocolate Chip & Bravo Burgundy CS (SU!), White & Kraft CS (PTI) and Patterned Paper (Debbie Mumm - Joann)
Embellishments: Chocolate Chip Ribbon (SU!) and Cinnamon Stickles