I made this card a few months ago, and realized I never posted it! It's always a challenge for me to come up with a guy card, and I am very pleased with this one! I used Stampin' Up's Circle Circus set and Happy Everything. I love sets that have such fun, detailed patterns. I stuck with the common blues and browns I often use for masculine cards. It's a simple yet appealing card, what do you think? I'd love to hear from you! I'm happy to have new visitors and followers on my blog  ;-)
 

Supplies:

Stamps: SU - Circle Circus, Happy Everything

Cardstock: SU - Ballet Blue, Chocolate Chip, Kraft

Ink: SU - Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Ribbon: Joann's Papercrafting Ribbon

Other: Miscellaneous Circle Punches, Brad - SU, Dimensional

DeNami & Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenges

For this card, I decided to combine two challenges. The first is DeNami's Theme Challenge #3, and the second is Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 82. Check them out! I thought they were great challenges.

 

















I didn't use any special techniques on this card. Just lots of basic stamping, die cuts, and punches! I love adding detail...it's rare that I make a card using only cardstock. WIth all the amazing embellishments out there today, how could you NOT! I used 2 DeNami buttons from the great bag of buttons I bought at their booth at CHA. It's such a good mix of different styles and sizes. I also used ribbon from Paper Trey Ink. Glad I made that purchase ;-)
Thanks for stopping by my blog! I love getting new visitors and receiving comments, so let me know what you think! Have a GREAT weekend!

Supplies:

Stamps: DeNami - Birthday Wishes Circle, Party Time Petit Fours Set

Cardstock: SU - Tempting Turquoise, Lavender Lace, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: SU - Tempting Turquoise, Lavender Lace, Basic Black

Buttons: DeNami
Ribbon: PTI -Plum Pudding

Other: Nestabilities Standard Circles Small, Marvy Uchida 2" Round Scallop Punch, EK Success Edger Punch-Open Scallop, SU Corner Rounder, Stickles-Lavender, Dimensionals

California Vacation Pics...

Dave and I are back home now after having a wonderful California vacation last week. I thought I'd share a few of my favorite pictures. Dave really enjoys photography, so I had the luxury of just enjoying the scenery while he snapped, snapped, snapped away with his camera! Overall, he took about 2000 pictures! Here are only a few...

We took a guided coach bus tour which started in San Francisco and ended in Los Angeles, making many stops along the way. Sonoma Wine Country, Yosemite, Monterey, a forest with the big Redwoods, Pebble Beach, Carmel, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, LA, and Hollywood! We were both surprised at how cool it was (or COLD!) for most of the trip until we got to Santa Barbara. For those of you that know me personally, you know that I absolutely HATE THE COLD! The 50's-60's are not a temperature I would have guessed for California! The breeze off the ocean was very brisk. So, in the pictures below, you will see me all bundled up...I was even able to manage to get on two sweatshirts! LOL! It's shocking that I can survive living in Chicago, huh?! Hope you enjoy the pictures ;-)

The famous Lombard Street in San Francisco. It's hard to see the actual street
with all the foliage, but check out all those cars going back and forth!

San Francisco neighborhoods. Notice how steep it is! Crazy!

Something I really enjoyed on the trip was visiting Ghiradelli Square where they
make such delicious chocolate! See the sign behind us, in the upper right?

San Francisco = FOG! I love this closeup shot. The color is fantastic!

Seeing and driving over the Golden Gate Bridge was one of my favorite moments on our trip!

Yosemite National Park. Amazing!

Cool shot Dave captured with a long exposure.

California Coast

One of my favorite things was getting a tour of the Sony Pictures Studios lot!
Among the list was the set of Jeopardy and the sitcom "Rules of Engagement", but pictures weren't allowed there :(

The Kodak Theatre is where one of my favorite shows is filmed!! American Idol!!

And of course, we HAD to get a picture of the famous HOLLYWOOD sign!

DeNami Product Challenge #3: Glitter

Yeah! Bling! Here's my card for the current DeNami Design challenge. It's a product challenge using glitter! I love putting sparkly stuff on my cards...it adds just the right finishing touch! I just knew I had to participate in this challenge as soon as I heard about it. I also had the chance to use one of my new DeNami stamps I purchased at the CHA show last month-Elegant Floral Circle. It's one of my favorites! It's beautiful and is very versatile, as you can see on my card. I stamped and embossed the image several times and then cut out the smaller flower to use as accents. I thought, what better way to use glitter than to 'color in' the flowers themselves! I love how it turned out. Very sparkly! ;-) Thanks for visiting! Hope you return again!

Supplies:

Stamps: DeNami - Elegant Floral Circle, Curly Garland Border

Cardstock: Stampin' Up - Perfect Plum, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Rose Red, Sage Shadow

Glitter: PK Glitz Glitter Glitz - Orchid, Sunset. Stickles - Platinum

Other: Embossing Powder-Sparkle N Sprinkle Black, Nestabilities Big Scalloped Circle, Marvy Uchida 2" Round Scallop Punch

CHA & Birthday Goodies

It's been a couple exciting weeks for me. First, my birthday was in July and I got a Spellbinders Wizard and the Nestabilities Labels One template! So exciting! I've been considering getting some kind of embossing/diecutting machine for quite awhile, and decided to put the Wizard on my birthday list. I've tried it out a little, but haven't actually used it to make anything yet. Hopefully that will change soon.

Happy Birthday to me!

I also went to the CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) show in Rosemont last Friday! It was my first time attending, and I'm so glad I did. There were SO MANY vendors there with stamping and scrapbooking products (and other stuff too). I sure did my share of shopping! My favorite booths were DeNami Design Rubber Stamps, Papertrey Ink, Sparkle N Sprinkle, Gary M. Burlin & Co., and Endless Creations. I got some more DeNami stamps to add to my collection, 4 more Spellbinders Nestabilities and one Impressability, a few embossing folders, Papertrey ribbon and stamps, and a few other stamps and supplies. I can't wait to sit down and start making stuff!

These are all the goodies I walked away with from the CHA show!

(minus the 2 Papertrey stamp sets - I forgot those cuz I had been playing with them!)