Merry Monday #18 {A Very Merry Christmas to You}

If you are looking for my Cardabilities post, please click HERE.

Welcome to another week at Merry Monday! The idea behind this challenge is to get a head start on your Christmas cards! Each week, I choose one Merry Monday Winner who will then be a Guest Designer for a future challenge! So get out your Christmas supplies and let's get to work!  This is our last week with Arielle Gordon. Thank you Arielle for being our Featured Designer this month! It has been a pleasure working with you and getting to know you!  

Lesley Croghan

I went for a more elegant look to my card this week than I have been doing in past weeks!  I used a piece of that gray gingham paper I had on my desk and a wonderful retired Stampin' Up set called "A Wish for Peace". I added a bow to my card to play along with the 52 (Christmas) Card Throwdown Challenge.  The design team has created some amazing cards this week and welcome to Janet Kay Bailey, our Guest Designer this week!

LeAnne Pugliese

Nina Forsyth

Wendy Aungst

Arielle Gordon (FD)



Janet Bailey (GD)

Cardibilities #54 {Thank You}

Time for another week at Cardibilities!  This week's sketch is super versatile!  I chose to ink up a an old favourite of mine called "For All You Do". This set is retiring at the end of May! I hope you get the chance to join us for the next two weeks! 

I choose to work with Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz and Lucky Limeade. The flowers have some pearls in the centers and I used the Scallop trip border punch for my trim in the middle. The designer paper is from the In Colour Designer Paper Pack.  I embossed the bottom of the card with my dots folder. A quick and simple thank you card for my stash!

Paper Players #93, Play Date Cafe, and I Spy Sketches

So I am having an eye issue...my right eye is blurry and has some bumps on it. Bleck! I have been resting it this weekend! Thank you to my Paper Players team for being so wonderful!

This week at the Paper Players Challenge, I am the hostess and I have a TIC TAC TOE thang going on! Basically choose any three in a row...across, down, diagonally...I left the center choice up to you, like in Bingo! Sheesh I am mixing up my games here, but you get the drift! This is an Anything Goes Challenge but with the parameters in the Tic Tac Toe box!  I hope you will join in the fun!  I chose the Square Card, Your Choice (Rock and Roll technique for my Butterfly) and Spring.

{Supplies}

Stamps: Summer Solstice, SAB Elementary Elegance Set, En Francais

Inks: Perfect Plum, Concord Crush, Confetti White and So Saffron

Papers: Whisper White, Perfect Plum, DSP scrap from my stash

Tools: Swiss Dots embossing folder, Oval Nesties, Big Shot, Perfect Plum Ribbon, Pearls 

***Technique: I Rock and Rolled the Butterfly in So Saffron and Perfect Plum

For my card, I used the Colours from the Playdate Cafe and the Sketch from I Spy Sketches!  

We hope that you will join the Paper Players Challenge this week!  Please be sure to visit the other DT Members to see their wonderful creations! This is also our last week with Shirley our Guest Designer! Thank you Shirley for your wonderful work and for playing with us!!!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy
Jenn Picard
Heidi Boos

Shirley Pumpkin (April GD)

Moxie Fab {Trigger Tuesday}

{Supplies Used-All Stampin' Up}

Stamps: Medallion, Elementary Elegance

Paper: Poppy Parade, Confetti White, Whisper White

Inks: Calypso Coral, Perfect Plum and Poppy Parade 

Happy weekend! I have been looking at this wonderful inspiration photo from Moxie Fab's Trigger Tuesday and decided to create a card.  This is my first time playing along with Moxie Fab, but I read one of their posts about trying new things and taking risks and I thought, why not see where the inspiration takes you!

I went for the colours in the pretty dress.  I inked up the Medallion Stamp in Calypso Coral and Poppy Parade ink, sprayed the stamp lightly with my stamp cleaner (very lightly) and stamped it onto Whisper White Paper.  I stamped the sentiment in Perfect Plum.  The dress was really clean and simple, so I went clean and simple with my card, which was tough, I didn't even add a pearl or ribbon or twine! LOL!  

Merry Monday Challenge Reminder

There is still time to join in the Merry Monday Challenge this week! To play along, please CLICK HERE.  The challenge ends on Sunday at Noon (PDT).

Freshly Made Sketches #32 {Miss You} and Colour Q #134

Wednesday is here! Hooray!!!  This week the hilarious Linda Callahan has a terrific sketch for us over at Freshly Made Sketches.  In her own words she says, "Square up your card or feel free to stretch it out a bit to fit your design.  We love to see how many ways our sketches can be interpreted!  Don't be afraid to think "outside the box!" Well I thought outside the box Linda!! I was tall and used a small circle...what do you think? This is also our last week with Kathy Tanner and Lisa Johansen as our April Guest Designers. Thank you ladies for hanging out with us!!!

I used the fun colours over at the Colour Q! The Bravo Burgundy is the colour of the birdcage bases. the cages are Pumpkin Pie and Pool Party. The sweet, little, lonely Owl is in Calypso Coral...I love that owl!  I bought this set called Aviary because of Nance Leedy.  I love the cards she has made with this set!! I used the sentiment from Up in the Air...and a small heart from an old set I have. The Pumpkin Pie ribbon represents the three dots on Linda's sketch...

Supplies Used (All SU!)

Stamps: Aviary, Up in the Air

Papers: Confetti White, Whisper White, Pool Party, In Colour 2012 Paper Pack

Inks: Bravo Burgundy, Pumpkin Pie, Calypso Coral and Pool Party

Extras: Circle Punches 1 3/8" and 1 1/4", Scallop Circle Punch 1 3/8", Pumpkin Pie 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon, Hole Puncher for the Scallop circle

We hope that you will join Freshly Made Sketches this week!  Please be sure to visit the other DT Members to see their wonderful creations!

Freshly Made Sketches Design Team

Linda Callahan

Cindy Hall

Tui Nathan

Jen Mitchell

Jennifer Timko

Rita Wright

Kathy Tanner

Lisa Johansen

Merry Monday #16 Winners

Thank you to everyone who joined us for last week's Merry Monday sketch!!!  

The Merry Makers have chosen their favourites for this week. Be sure to grab your badge and display it proudly on your blog...if you would like.

Wendy's Choice: Carol L
Our Little Inspirations

Carol's card is so simple & pretty! Love those beautiful poinsettia's and gorgeous papers!

Congrats Carol, your card is my Top Pick this week! :)

LeAnne's Choice: Kathy

Stamping Still

Kathy's sweet image and her wonderful coloring caught my eye right away!  The soft shading adds great dimension, and the glittery star finishes it off so nicely.  Congratulations, Kathy, on being my Top Pick this week!

Nina’s Choice: Tara
Can't Stamp the Rain

I love Tara’s beautiful card. The elegant swirls of the tree caught my eye right away and the pearls are a perfect addition. I love the fabulous colours and pretty snowflakes stamped on vellum. Congratulations Tara, on being my Top Pick this week!

Arielle's Choice: Narelle
Stamplicious

I love everything about Narelle's card! The color scheme and image really appealed to me. The details are all perfect; the distressing, the hardware and the popped up image are all amazing. Congratulations Narelle for being my Top Pick this week!

This week's winner is:

Lesley's Choice

Janet Kay Bailey: Simply Made Cards

WOW! I love white on white cards and this pretty white card is accented with silver too! I love the snowflakes, the matching embossed layers and the fabulous rhinestone brad! So pretty! Congratulations Janet on being this week's Challenge Winner on Merry Monday. I will email you soon about being our Guest Designer next week!

Our current sketch is on now...to play along, please click HERE.

Merry Monday #17 [Winter Wonderland}

*Please note* Blogger seems to not be publishing scheduled posts for me so I am publishing this early tonight, the design team will be publishing on their blog Monday at 5am...

Welcome to another week at Merry Monday! The idea behind this challenge is to get a head start on your Christmas cards! Each week, I choose one Merry Monday Winner who will then be a Guest Designer for a future challenge! So get out your Christmas supplies and let's get to work!  Thank you to everyone who joined in last week! Tomorrow we will be announcing our winners. 

Lesley Croghan

I went into my substantial stash and came up with some stickers and some designer paper that I had in a drawer for FAR too long. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up and the whole card took 10 minutes to make. That is all I could manage this week, but hey, it is another Christmas card for my stash!!! Yahoo!!! Now let's see what the design team created...welcome to Allisa Chilton, she is our Guest Designer this week!

LeAnne Pugliese

Nina Forsyth

Wendy Aungst

Allisa Chilton (GD)

Arielle Gordon (FD)

Starting Over...

This past Fall and Winter, I decided to take a break from Stampin' Up.  It was a lovely break and I feel refreshed from it.  This past weekend, I decided to start it up again! As you have probably noticed from my posts, I have some new Stampin' Up goodies and I have been playing!  I wanted to mention it on my blog...so you knew what was going on...LOL!!!

Thank you to all my stamping friends, demos and otherwise for your wonderful support in my decision...I guess I will see how it all goes...and I am pretty excited...


Here is the link to my online store http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/lesleycroghan/

If you have any questions, please let me know.

Enjoy your day!!! 

Paper Players Sketch #92 and Color Throwdown #188 {Happy Day to You}

April is flying by! I can't believe how quick the days are getting, so much to do everyday and suddenly it is 9pm and I need to get to bed. It is actually Thursday night and I managed to get my Paper Players Challenge card done before the weekend! Woo-hoo! I am usually "Last Minute Lesley" and making my card on Saturday night, so I am pretty pumped to have my ducks in a row! At least for this week anyway...

This week's challenge comes from my pal Nance. She did up a sketch for us this week and I love all the possibilities it holds!  My inspiration comes from the colours at the Colour Throwdown.  I love the soft, springy hues and decided to get out my favourite stamp combo from Stampin' Up..."Elements of Style" and the "En Francais" background stamp! I also used my newest sentiment set called "Friendly Phrases". I liked the look of the modern script with the romantic roses.

We hope that you will join the Paper Players Challenge this week!  Please be sure to visit the other DT Members to see their wonderful creations! I also created a brand new FACEBOOK page for us! Wahoo! I hope you will "LIKE" us!!

The Paper Players Design Team

Ann Schach

Anne Marie Hile

LeAnne Pugliese

Lesley Croghan

Nance Leedy
Jenn Picard
Heidi Boos

Shirley Pumpkin (April GD)

Create With Connie and Mary and Just Us Girls {Bright Friend}

{Supplies Used-All SU!}

Stamps: Friendly Phrases

Papers: In Colour Designer Paper Pack 2012-13, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Whisper White

Inks: Melon Mambo

Tools: Scallop Circle Punch 2 3/8", Circle Punch 1 3/4", 5-Petal Fower Punch, 

In Colour Brad, Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon 5/8"

I loved the colours over at Just Us Girls and then saw the sketch at Create with Connie and Mary. This allowed me to use some of my In Colour Designer Series paper in Calypso Coral...man is that stuff bright! I LOVE it! I decided to go "Old School" for this card, using punches and some ribbon. It was fun to make a flower using the 5-Petal Punch and the punches for the sentiment.  My colours are Melon Mambo, Calypso Coral and Lucky Limeade. (Ribbon is Old Olive)

I'm SO Excited and Merry Monday Reminder

I am so excited about my brand new Challenge Blog starting on May 5th called Dynamic Duos!! The design team call is still on until Tuesday, April 24th. Thank you to everyone who has applied so far!! To learn more about the challenge please click HERE to visit the Dynamic Duos Challenge blog!! 

May 5th seems SO far away!!! LOL!  Actually April 24th seems SO far away!!!

I also wanted to remind you that the current Merry Monday Challenge is on...please click HERE to join in the fun!! 

Play Date Cafe and Retro Sketches {You're the Best} and CAS-ual Fridays and MOJO {Simply Wonderful}

Two quick and simple cards for tonight!  I was immediately inspired by the colours at the Play Date Cafe.  Last week I was so excited to be the Cup of the Week at the Play Date Cafe for THIS CARD.  Thank you so much ladies for choosing my card, you made my week!!!  I also remembered Arielle's wonderful sketch at Retro Sketches...so I went to work.  I pulled out some new Stampin' Up goodies...two new sets that I just purchased called Button Buddies and Friendly Phrases. I just love these sets and have been itching to ink them up!  I took my inspiration from the polka dot tie and used some of my Bold Brights Designer Paper also from SU!  I used Tangerine Tango and Melon Mambo.  I LOVE Melon Mambo!!

Another first for me was using some SU! Bold Brights buttons.  I got these through Sale-A-Bration and I have to say, I don't know what took me so long to try these! They are cute!  Lots of white space and clean lines for this card.  I really had a good time making it!!!  

Well then I saw the challenge over at CAS-ual Friday and at the Mojo Monday and decided to use these stamps set again to create another Clean and Simple card with opposite colours from the colour wheel...bright pink and bright green (Melon Mambo and Lucky Limeade).  I was so excited to have my name drawn last week for the MOJO Challenge! Can't wait to ink up my very first Verve stamp!! How wonderful indeed!