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Tonight I'm watching Soccer (we had to record the game) and creating with the Ellen Hutson June Color Trends Challenge.
I was going to use a small animal ... or some flowers ... but somehow I ended-up with cake (maybe because pretty much everything reminds me of cake).
I had fun with the colors and the Julie Ebersole's Banner Cake. I added some green enamel bling to pull in one more color & decorate the cake.
And it's Anything Goes at Seize the Birthday.
When I saw The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers was Over the Hill, I knew exactly which stamp I wanted to use.
I stamped Art Impressions Happy 29th in Apple Red ink to coordinate with this Project Life card.
I also added some glitter cardstock for my background for the TGIF Challenge Project Spotlight on Glitter.
The layout is from the My Time to Craft Challenge.
I honor of Independence Day in the US, we're creating with Stars or Stripes for Christmas at Jingle Belles (or you can use both if you're an overachiever). They don't need to be red, white & blue, but that's what I used for my first card.
I started with coordinating Stripe & Star papers, which matched my R2-D2 Gift Tag Perfectly.
I punched a star from a third paper, which I used to cover the tag hole in his Santa Hat. I finished with a sticker sentiment using this week's Sketch from The Paper Players.
I'm also linking-up at Kath's All about Christmas Challenge at Watercooler Wednesday.
I hope you'll break out your Stars & Stripes and join us.
Tonight I needed some easy Thank You cards ... some nights my soul wants to create, but my brain is just too spent to think creatively ... so that's when I go for easy CAS designs.
I had a stack of Thank You images that I receive with my orders from Ellen Hutson. When she signs far enough away from the image that I can trim off her signature, I'm able to give these adorable images a second life on a card.
I started with a scrap from my scrap folder that perfectly framed this adorable hedge hog. I added a tiny sentiment at the top from Essentials by Ellen Good Fortune. I had to add a little marker along the bottom to cover up a tiny bit of Ellen's signature I couldn't trim.
My trusty Canon Rebel died last week, so I'm also trying to figure out my new super-fancy Canon Rebel ... I supposed I need to go to the class offered by the photo store and get an expert to help me learn all the bells & whistles.
I'm linking this adorable critter at the CAS Challenge at Cute Card Thursday.
The next card was inspired by this lovely Golden Table image at The Card Concept.
I framed my sweet strawberry lemonade with wood grain and gold.
I added more sentiments from EBE Good Fortune at the top. That fantastic image is from Brandi Kincaid's Spa Day.
My final card was inspired by the Inspiration Palette Challenge at Repeat Impressions.
I framed my little mermaid using colors from the Palette and a sketch from CAS Colours & Sketches, but I'm guessing there's not quite enough White Space for their requirements, so I won't link-up.
I added a sentiment from Essentials by Ellen Stay Salty at the top.
Thanks so much Ellen for all your great supplies and service over the years ... and for helping me with some easy creativity tonight.
Another week of fun blogland discoveries:
Have a tremendous Thursday!
I had fun this weekend exploring Chicago with Cyndie from Reis's Pieces of Paper (you can also follow her on Instagram where she's been joining Lauren and many others in the Index Card a Day Challenge).
We started out with a rainy morning, but we didn't let that deter us.
We started at the Museum of Broadcast Communications where they are featuring a Saturday Night Live Exhibit. I couldn't resist a little Celebrity Jeopardy fun.
And of course, I had to check out the Land Shark.
I also got a little sad when I saw Gilda Radner's shoes ... loved her.
Our next stop was Dick Blick ... no pictures taken here ... we were much too busy ogling art supplies (and buying a few to take home).
Then after a sushi lunch on Michigan Avenue, we headed to the American Writer's Museum. It was interesting to read about so many writers (many I knew ... but also quite a few I did not) and understand their significance in the American literary landscape.
One of my favorite exhibits included photographs of the writers with their books.
This was Chicago Poet Gwendolyn Brooks.
Saturday morning we went to Wild Berry for breakfast ... I do love their pancakes.
After that, we headed to the Chicago Cultural Center ... in all my trips to Chicago, I can't believe I had never visited this gorgeous building (and it's free).
There were lots of small artists' exhibits. This one was from Xavier Toubes: Descriptions without a Place. PushMoon4 ... I loved his hand-formed clay
And the building itself is its own work of art ... the Tiffany glass and mosaics are breathtaking.
I also loved getting to see Keith Haring's Chicago Mural and reading the stories of this amazing creative collaboration.
And we loved Alexis Rockman's Great Lakes Cycle, which also included these amazing Watercolor Paintings.
We even got to hear artist Scott Stack talk about how he creates his work.
And one of our favorite artists was Sandra Holubow who did amazing mixed-media works ... it made us both want to go home and play with window screen in our creations.
It was fun getting hang-out together to talk about ink and paper and explore some artistic museums.
I needed a few quick birthday cards tonight ... so I combined this week's Freshly Made Sketch with some Project Life Cards.
I inked my Fab Four Stamp from Viva Las Vegastamps in Versafine Clair Morning Mist & paired it with a vintage Stampin' Up Sentiment.
It's also Anything Goes at Seize the Birthday.
Now to go put this one in the mail.
We're still creating with WHITE at Jingle Belles this week. I opened up this Tim Holtz Layered Holiday Wreath (that I got during the Hobby Lobby close-out) and die cut it from textured white cardstock. It includes a coordinating embossing folder, which adds the perfect amount of texture.
I die cut a second wreath from gold cardstock and off-set it slightly behind the white wreath to create a "shadow". I curled the embossed leaves and bow for a bit more texture and finished with a sticker sentiment and white pearl.
With my big paper bow, I'm linking-up at the Buttons & Bows Challenge at Hiding in my Craft Room & Anything Christmas at the Sweet Stampin' Christmas Challenge Blog.
Another week of skipping through blogland:
Have a tremendous Thursday
Come visit me at the Technique Junkies Blog where I'm sharing cards made using this month's Technique Challenge - Distressed Glue Backgrounds.
Remember, if you go shopping at Technique Junkies, use my discount code TJ10Stephanie at checkout for 10% off your purchase.
