Pretty Flutterbys /NAC #46

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Hey y'all. Happy Saturday! I hope you had a great week. It's rainy and yucky here in the DMV but I've got some bright, summer, colors to brighten your day.

Do you have those people that just make your day every time you see them? I'm lucky to have a few of those wonderful people at work. Two of my favorites are Sasha and Alex. These sweet ladies work at the Starbucks at my work. Do you know what that means? It means at least once a day while I'm at work I get a big 'ole reason to smile. Sometime more than one, depending on how my day is going. This week's color challenge over at Nacho Average Challenge was just the thing to get my creative thoughts going. Here's what I came up with-

I broke out my New - Best of Butterflies stamp set and had a little fun. Now those of you that know me, know I don't like random stamping or color challenges, but I used both tonight and I have to say I'm pretty happy with the results.  I used some of our Melon Mambo ribbon from our Spring catalog, and my Apothecary Framelets and Designer Label Punch. The sentiments are from the Perfect Words set. It has such a fun font and the sentiments are so sweet!

Here's the great color combo for this week's challenge-

I am sooooo glad Island Indigo is going to be around for a while. It's my all-time favorite color. I would have never thought to pair it with the other two colors, but WOW! I like it and I'm sure it will be used more this summer.

You know I like to have the insides of my cards be pretty too, so I added a few sweet butterflies to the inside.

I made matching envelopes as well, but I did them after I had put my photo box up. I may end up going back and letting Tink add a little love, but if I don't I'm still super excited with how these turned out. I sure hope my friends like them!

Guess what else I have today? If you guessed a pic of my sweet little Nacho, you guessed right. She even matches the color combo in her little Sully outfit. She turned 7 weeks old today and she's starting to smile and giggle. My daughter sent me this yesterday and it just made me smile. I hope it makes you smile too!

Oh!!!!! You're smiling, right!?!  I just want to give her a big HUG!

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked my cards and I hope they inspire you to create something fun soon. Go ahead and try something new or something you don't do a lot. You might find yourself pleasantly surprised. If you liked today's cards or have questions about them, I hope you'll leave me a comment. I love hearing from you and read all your comments. They really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's cards I've put the buttons on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too!

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. you are very appreciated! Till Next Time-

Remember- life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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Thankful For You / NAC#45

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Hey y'all. Happy Saturday. It's been a rainy, yucky, day here in the DMV but I have a bright, cheery, card to share with you today. I spent the evening stamping with my Stampin' Buddy April and we got out my box of Sneak Peek items and had a little fun.

I used the sketch over at Nacho Average Challenge for my inspiration. I have to say I didn't stick exactly to the sketch this time. My card started out with the sketch in mind but kind of got a mind of it's own and veered off course just a little. Luckily, I know my friends over at NAC won't hold it against me too much.  Here's tonight's card-

And here's the sketch I used-

Wanna know a secret? I actually made the card in the portrait instead of landscape mode. That's just how it flowed for my eyes first. But then I turned it to the landscape orientation and decided I really liked it that way too-

To be honest, I wasn't sure I really liked the card at all at first, but then it started to grow on me a little more. I'd love to hear which way you like it the best. Here's a close-up of the sentiment which along with the card base and the DSP is a sneak peek for you-

It says "thankful for you" and I really am so thankful for all of you that stop by and see what I'm up to. Here's another thing I'm Thankful for...Little Nacho-

Isn't she just too sassy!?! She's 6 weeks old today, but believe it or not "Little Miss Priss" had this picture taken when she was only 2 weeks old. Hope she made you smile as much as she does me!!!

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked my card and I hope it inspires you to try something a little different. If you liked today's card or have questions, I hope you'll leave me a comment in the space below. I love hearing from you and read all of your comments. They really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's card, I've put those buttons on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till Next Time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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Monochromatic Sympathy /NAC #44

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Hey y'all. Happy Saturday! Hope you had a great week and are having an even better weekend! Just a quick post so I can enter my All-Time Favorite Challenge before it closes at midnight. I'm so excited, I got to stamp some this week! You can't tell it by the sorry state of my blog, but I actually made two cards this week and have actually already given one out. I hope to post it in the next day or so.

This card is going to a co-worker who just lost a family member. Sympathy cards are always the hardest. Even harder than masculine cards, which by the way, was the other card I made this week. I'm on a role I tell ya. I really need to make a stack of sympathy cards & keep them on hand, but somehow when I need one, it just seems better to make one specifically for that person. Just another one of my eccentricities, I guess. This definitely doesn't look like most sympathy cards but when I was talking to my friend about her father-in-law the other day, this was how she made me feel. Peaceful, and light and not at all dark and sad. So even though there is some grey in the card I left it one layer and a white base to keep it light and airy and not dark or weighed down with a lot of layers or extra's.

Here's tonight's card-

Can I just say I love my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig for perfect image placement. I could never have gotten the words placed just right without it!!!

Here's this week's challenge over at Nacho Average Challenge-

This was a super simple card. I simply used my Apothecary Accents Framelet to cut out a space on a scrap piece of c/s. (This is why you keep scraps) I used Dotto to adhere it to my base of Whisper White c/s and then sponged Wisteria Wonder and Elegant Eggplant inside the cut-out space. Too Easy! Next I inked up my image from the soon to retire set Just Believe in Basic Gray and stamped it in the space. I removed the cut out image, stamped my sentiment from the So Sorry Stamp Set and I was done. Super Simple just like I said. It's probably too late for you to play along with us this week, but make sure to check back in next week and play along. The fabulous ladies over a NAC always have great challenges!

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked this week's card and it inspires you to get busy creating. If you liked today's card or have questions about it, I hope you'll leave me a comment in the space below. I love hearing from you and read all of your comments. They really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's project the buttons are on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too. :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till Next Time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, it's about Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe-

Shan

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Always A Princess / NAC #43 / MDS Today Back in the Game

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Hey y'all. Happy Saturday. Just a quick post today, although that seems to be all I've been doing lately. Hopefully that will be changing soon. It's a migraine kind of day around here today and that's topping off an awful week. Heck I didn't even get out of bed until 4 this afternoon. But, I've missed 2 NAC challenges now & I even played from my hospital bed so what's a little migraine between friends, huh?

My baby girl Eribella has gone with her Mommy and Daddy off to California so I'm a sad, sad GiGi. *tear* *lots of tears actually* so I used this week's challenge over at Nacho Average Challenge to make a card that reminded me of my little princess. For those of you that don't know, her nickname is "Nacho" and believe it or not it was actually inspired by the NAC site and challenge #39. You can read more about it here. I purchased this download earlier this week to make a cardboard baby book of her favorite things and I think it was just perfect for this week's challenge. It took me 20 minutes to create and truth be told, and you guys know I tell it like it is, there's NO WAY I could have made this card in real life in 20 minutes. MDS to the rescue again. Here's this week's challenge card, it's another great one from my friends over at NAC-

I used the Topsy Turvy Kit. I wasn't so sure I liked it when I first saw it in the catalog but now I'm a big fan & the MDS kit is sooooo cute. Lots of extras. Here's the sketch I was working with. I kept to it, just adding the sentiment.

And because I can't talk about my little princess and not share a picture of her, because let's face it that's what GiGi's are supposed to do. Right? Here's she is at her first little Photo Shoot at 3 1/2 weeks old-

Couldn't you just eat her up with a big ole spoon!?!?!

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked my project and I hope it inspires you to try MDS when you're running short on time and need something fabulous. If you liked today's project or have questions about it, I hope you'll leave me a comment in the space below. I love hearing from you and read all of your comments. They really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's project the buttons are on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too. :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till Next Time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, it's about Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe-
Shan Pin It

Bath Time / Nacho #41/ MDS Today

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday! I hope you've had a great week and are looking forward to a fabulous weekend. I'm going to S.U's Baltimore Regional and I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am! I've never been to a Regional before and it's leading up to my first convention, so that just makes it even better!

This is a really quick post because I have to go get things ready. First off, let me say I feel like a real bad friend to everyone but especially to my friends over at Nacho Average Challenges. I have not missed a single challenge with them, until last week that is. 39 weeks and week 40 hit and about 2:00 in the morning I realized what had happened. I will say that I think my excuse is pretty special. My new grand baby Eribella moved in with me last week at less than 1 week old and she and her parents are only staying here for 2 more weeks before they move all the way across the country to California. So, needless to say, I've been a little wrapped up in her, as she has been wrapping me around her itty-bitty-pinkies.

I wanted to make sure I did something this week though. I was going to try and combine last week's colors with this weeks challenge and even had a card idea in mind but simply ran out of time so back to good ole MDS. And last night's Bath-time Adventure gave me just the picture I needed.  Here's my take on this week's sketch. hope you enjoy it-

I hope you'll forgive an indulgent GiGi
 the use of the X-Large picture so you can really see  the details. :)

Here's the sketch I was working with-

I took just a few liberties with the sketch by changing it to a square and moving the sentiment to the bottom instead of the side. Since the sketch is supposed to be a jumping off point I hope the Fabulous ladies over at NAC won't hold it against me too much. There's still a little time to play along so I hope you'll take a little time and join us. I'm really going to try and not miss anything more challenges over the next two weeks but boy it's soooooo hard not spending EVERY SINGLE WAKING MOMENT of the day with my precious little one while she's still here.

Gratuitous Extra Pic :)

That's all I have for you today. I hope you liked today's project.  If you liked it or have questions about it, I hope you'll leave me a comment in the space below. I love hearing from you and read all of your comments. They really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's project, I've put those buttons on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! 

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till Next Time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to destroy. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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Welcome Bella! & How To Come Up With A Great Nickname /NAC #39

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Hey y'all. I'm so excited to do this post, but sooooo very tired so this is gonna be quick. Ok, so it will probably be Shan quick, but you know what I mean. It's been a busy week, but you know what's been really busy? The last 16 hours. I got a special little Easter present and I'm so excited to share it with you in today's project, but make sure you read on after, cuz you're gonna want to know about the nickname part of the title. Honest.... So without further ado, here's this weeks entry for Nacho Average Challenge #39. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. It's truly a "Labor of Love" in more ways than one.

I'm sure you're not going to fault me for the X-Large picture there instead of the normal sized one, right? Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh! How Stinkin' Precious is she!?! Well let me just tell you, 8.1 pounds and 20 inches long that's how much. I'm so in love I just can't even tell you!  This is the very sweet and I think beautiful Eribella Syn, my early Easter present from my sweet daughter and son-in-love and I'm thrilled.

My daughter went into the hospital yesterday afternoon at 1:30 in the afternoon and we were up until late this morning with this little beauty. She arrived at 4:55 this morning. Well worth the loss of sleep, I assure you. While I was waiting yesterday I decided to start work on some pages for the new love in my life.  I got out my Mac-book and started working on a layout. I knew I wanted something special for her first page and I also needed to whip up something for this week's sketch challenge over at NAC so why not combine the two. MDS makes it so easy to do this. I love that I'm able to create on the fly like this. Here's this week's sketch-

So I kept to it, except I made my project a square instead of a rectangle. So simple! I had everything ready in a snap. All I had to do was find just the right pic to put in it. Oh, yeah, and wait...and wait..and wait. 

So, Would you like to know how to come up with a great Nickname? You have to be in just the right spot at just the right time and be open to whatever you happen to hear, no matter how it might sound at first. I can't say this will work all the time, but it sure worked out great this morning when my sister and I were tired and punchy and waiting for Bella's first hour on mommy's chest to be over so we could get in some snuggle and picture taking time. Well, I decided to show her the layout I had created. However, since I didn't know how long the labor was gonna take and if I'd have a pic to put in it and finish it before I sent it in, it was just titled Nacho #39 in MDS. So when it opens at 5:30 my sister says "I love Nacho 39's page" and just like that a nickname was created. And so it was after, we almost peed ourselves laughing, that Baby Bella was officially nicknamed Nacho. Well at least to Gigi (me) and Lili (her Aunt Lisa). I'm sure her cousins Beaner and Spanks will be more than happy to join in on that fun too. 

I'm happy to report that aside from being tired, everyone is doing well. That's all I have for you today. I hope you liked today's project and had a little giggle too. If you liked today's project or have questions about it, I hope you'll take just a moment to leave me a comment in the space below. I love hearing from you and read all of your comments. They really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's project, I've put those buttons on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till Next Time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. Its not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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Mother of Pearl Swallowtail / NAC #38

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Hey y'all. Happy Friday. Just a quick post for you tonight. It's late here in the DMV and I'm trying to get to bed. It's been a long day and I think it may be an even longer weekend. We have a late winter/early spring snow storm headed our way and between the barometric changes that is bringing and the back pain my, 38 weeks-very pregnant, daughter is having I think this may be a very eventful weekend and I wanted to get this posted as early as possible just in case I didn't get a chance to post it later. :)

This week's challenge over at Nacho Average Challenge is a color challenge. As many of you know, they are not my favorite, by any stretch of the imagination. I didn't even have a sketch to help me out with this one. I decided to get out my brand new Swallowtail stamp and give it a try. I also thought I'd try and blend the colors in the wings and I thought the Mother of Pearl technique would be a nice one to try with this. Here's this week's card-

Card featuring Swallowtail Stamp and Mother of Pearl Technique

Here are the colors in this week's challenge-

So this is only the second time that I've tried the Mother of Pearl technique and I did it a little different this time than I did the last time. Last time I stamped in Black Staz-On then colored the image and then created the MoP effect. This time I created the effect first and then stamped and colored. You know I always tell you the truth here. Although I like the effect, I'm not sure that I'm in love with my first attempt at it. I think now that I know the few tips that I share below for you, I could probably come up with a card I like even more. Unfortunately, there's just no time for that this week. Sorry- :( 

I learned 3 things this time-

1- Even if you use your embossing buddy, if you choose to Heat Emboss, your embossing powder will still stick to your MoP technique areas. I really had to go in very carefully with a paintbrush and q-tip to get as much of the excess powder off. If you look closely you can still see some around the antennae. For those of you that are OCD like me this is not a fun idea. :( Just saying.

2- Adding color on top of your MoP will extend your color's drying time significantly. Be Prepared. I recommend using your heat tool. I did not know this and the result is the pink smudging at the upper right edge of the left wing. 

3- In addition to the glow that the MoP technique gives your finished color, adding color on top of the MoP in this manner can cause the color to separate somewhat. This can be seen the most in the lower portion of the middle section of the wings, the Primrose Petals portion. I have to say I kinda like that look, believe it or not. I think it looks kind of like a stained glass look.

Here's another look-

I stamped the image with VersaMark and then Heat Embossed it with Early Espresso Embossing Powder on Glossy Whisper White paper. I used Frost White paint for the MoP technique. The colors were added from my stamp pads with my daubers increasing the color until I had the depth where I wanted it.

And one more-

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you like it and I hope the fabulous ladies over at NAC like it too. There's still time to play along and I hope you find time to play with us. If you liked today's card or have questions about it, I hope you'll leave me a question in the space below. I love hearing from you. I read all of your comments and they really do make my day! If you'd like to +1 or Pin today's card, I've put those buttons on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. you are very appreciated! Till Next Time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

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