Paper Sweeties April Inspiration Challenge #42

Evening, y'all!  I'm super blessed to have the opportunity to join the Paper Sweeties Design Team for the next couple of months.  Woohoo!  And because we're just an hour away from a new month in my neck of the woods, that means we've got a fabulous, new, inspiration photo up to inspire your creative time this month.  Here's how I was inspired.

I started this card by piecing a trio of color-coordinating prints on the White, cardstock, card face and anchoring them all with brown-threaded, straight, machine stitches.

After adhering a little, scalloped, white, frame ephemera in the center of the design, I topped it with a homemade tag, stamped, in Chocolate Chip ink, with the "You Make Life Sweet" sentiment.  I then white-embossed the cupcake and its flower topper on watercolor paper; watercolored them both; die-cut them with the coordinating Sweet Cuts dies; and adhered them, just above the sentiment, with foam tape.  The wrapper of the cupcake was also stamped, in Chocolate Chip ink, over the watercoloring, with the lines; and although its not showing up here, the frosting was covered with a bit of clear Wink of Stella just for a little shine.

The tag itself was topped with a bit of Debbie's scrumptious, Mint, seam binding ribbon, tied in a double bow and embellished with a couple of white-embossed, watercolored, and die-cut leaves, as well as a lone pearl.

A "THINKING OF YOU", phrase die cut completes the look.

Further inspiration for this card came from Simon Says Stamps' Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes, as well as their Work It Wednesday Challenge: Use Something Pastel...

and Inspired by All the Little Things' Challenge #8.

Here's this month's Inspiration Challenge #42 to get you off and running in the right direction.  I have to admit that I was struggling a bit with this palette, but as soon as I saw Lesley's graphic above, I knew that the leafy and ribbon elements just needed a kiss of peach.  Yum!

Thanks so much for peeking in!  Be sure to stop by the rest of my temporary teammies' blogs, as well as the challenge link above to get all of your challenge details; and because I'm signing off a little early to get a jump-start on the weekend, have a fabulous weekend, loves!  Hope to see you all right back here again first thing next week.  Hugs!

Debbie Marcinkiewicz - Paper Sweeties

Emily Frasier
Jeri Thomas 
Jinny Newlin - *April Guest Designer* (You're here!)

Jill Norwood

Julie Tucker-Wolek

Kathy Schweinfurth

Lisa Bzibziak 

Mackie Robertson

Maria Patrick

Michelle Bala
Michele Henderson

Nancy Penir
Nancy Salkeld

April Guest Designer: Marsha Drain

{Supplies & Tools}
Stamps: Make Today Beautiful & Sending Sweet Thoughts (Paper Sweeties) Paper: White (Paper Studio); plaid (American Crafts); leaf & polka dot (Fancy Pants); floral (Webster's Pages); watercolor (Canson Studio) Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU!); watermark (VersaMark) Other: brown thread (Coats & Clark); sewing machine (Janome); Party Time & Sending Sweet Thoughts Sweet Cuts dies & Mint seam binding ribbon (Paper Sweeties); Big Shot (Sizzix); foam tape (Scrapbook Adhesives); watercolors (Kuretake); pearl (Paper Studio); white embossing powder (Ranger); clear Wink of Stella (Zig); scalloped frame & "THINKING OF YOU" arrow (Jen Hadfield)

Family Update

Afternoon, y'all!  Just popping in to share a few of the things we've been up to, in between a lot of rest for all of us suffering from the ickies, over the last month.

Adina got to participate in her Awana Clubs' Games competition at Kansas City Community College.

This particular event is called the Sparky Crawl.  The idea is to line up on your respective team's sideline (Four teams participate, forming a square.) and be the first team to get all of its members across to the opposite team's sideline by crawling.  It's super chaotic, but the kids love it.

I love that I got this pic of Adina with her head up right in the center of it all.

Here's just a few more pics of all the fun...

and one of the whole crew.

It was just my little bear and I watching, as we started the morning at one of Ezekiel's basketball tournament games, and he and my hubby were off to another.  His team lost both games they played in.  I think they just got frazzled and lost their focus, as they were really better than the teams they played during the regular season.  So much so, that they were never really challenged.  So, they weren't prepared to play at the level the other teams in the tournament played.

In between coming and going, we popped into Dick's to get new cleats for my kiddos' soccer and baseball seasons, which are now well underway.

Everyone was super tuckered out by the end of the day...

even my hubby, who was supposed to be getting some design work done, when I came upstairs and found him watching a movie on the big screen, keeping up with a basketball game on his cell phone, and playing Candy Crush on his laptop.  I wish his multi-tasking skills were that good outside the realm of electronics.

My blog buddy, Julie Tucker-Wolek, passed along a fifth-grade Pennsylvanian boy's school notebook, which had been traveling from state to state, in order for us to fill in a little information about our own state of Kansas.  My big kiddos dove in headfirst, pouring out information they have learned, coloring pics, and even making a little, construction paper sunflower, complete with real sunflower seeds.  It was also super fun to read and see everything else that had been written in the book, as it traveled around our great nation, especially because we were the last to write in it and got it at its completion.

St. Patrick's Day came and went.  We dressed up in our Irish greens and enjoyed McCafe Shamrock Shakes to soothe our sore throats.  I totally know these are NOT good for you.  We got smalls.  Actually, Kaden and I shared, and it's only once a year.  Next year, I promise to try this healthier alternative.  You can really see how Kaden's ear infections crept into his eyes in the photo below.  Ugh!

But just because he was feeling poor didn't mean he forgot how to get into EVERYTHING.  He especially loves his sister's lip-gloss tote.  There are just too many delicious flavors.  LOL!

We were all finally feeling well enough again this past weekend to get to join our Sunday school class, as well as a number of other people from our church, in passing out Easter baskets to children and Bibles to one and all; witnessing; and praying with people, as we walked door to door through a couple of apartment complexes in our city.

It was cold and rainy, and the Easter egg hunt we had planned got canceled; but folks, this is what it's all about.  We had the time of our lives.

My kiddos got their own Easter baskets, complete with a mishmosh of sandals, pjs, books, chocolate bunnies, bunny ear headbands, and even a bubble blower, on Sunday morning.

Then, we were off to church...

and home again for a yummy lunch of honey-baked ham, Creamy Rosemary Potatoes, edamame, lettuce salad, and homemade dinner rolls with apple butter, of course, topped off with a carrot cake for dessert, which I can't believe I didn't photograph.  SO GOOD!  After a lot of clowning around...

and reading of Benjamin's Box...

our littlest was ready for a nap.  So, we all snuggled in for a little quiet time before hunting for eggs.  It was snowing all morning, but by early evening, it was dry... enough... to have the hunt in our backyard.

Oh!  And I had to include a pic of our own personal Easter bunny.  Gosh, she looks so big here.  I promise it's mostly fluff.  LOL!

That covers a few of the highs, between school, making special cupcakes for the birds, dyeing Easter eggs, soccer and baseball practices, band class, library storytime, and just everything that comes with such a busy crew.  Oh!  And my hubby has even let me dream of a new and improved kitchen through a lot of planning, designing, and pricing.  I'm crossing my fingers, toes, eyelashes... EVERYTHING in hopes that it becomes a reality this summer.  Eeek!  Thanks so much for checking in on us!  Have a wonderful evening!  Hugs!

The Challenge #66

Welcome to the work week, y'all!  Lesley has cooked up a stunning, masculine, inspiration photo, over at The Challenge, to inspire your creative times this week.  Here's how I was inspired.

I started this card by piecing together a trio of patterned papers; splattering them with Pure Black and Titanium White acrylic paints; and anchoring them, with white-threaded, straight, machine stitches, to a piece of Dove Grey cardstock.  After wrapping them triple times, just below horizontal center, with a length of Baker's Twine, which was tied, in a bow, near the prepped piece's left edge, I secured everything, with foam tape, to the White, cardstock, card face.

I then set that aside to create the focal point, beginning with watercoloring a large piece of watercolor paper.  Several bits of it were then die-cut with a scalloped die; stamped, in Night of Navy ink, with a few more waves; and pieced together to create the different layers of large waves.  They were then capped with a strip of raindrop, patterned paper, that I stamped, in Jet Black ink, with a couple of tiny sailboats and trio of seagulls, pouring over onto the card face itself.  A strip of vellum, which was also die-cut with that same scallop edge was tucked into the bottom edge, before everything was die-cut into a rounded rectangle shape.  I then removed the vellum strip, which I also stamped, in Jet Black ink, with the "i love you DEEPLY" sentiment, in order to do a little more paint splattering.  Once everything was good and dry, I stitched a white-threaded, straight, machine-stitch frame, around the edges of it, to secure the vellum, sentiment strip in place.  The large sailboat was then black-embossed on a watercolor, paper die cut; watercolored; and tucked, with foam tape, into the top layer of watercolored waves.

A killer whale got the same treatment as the sailboat above with the exception of being tucked into the waves near the base of the rounded rectangle piece, before everything was adhered, with foam tape, in the center of the card face, to complete the look.

Here's your The Challenge #66 graphic to get you off and sailing in the right direction.

Be sure to stop by the challenge link above to see how the rest of the team was inspired.  You have until Sunday, April 3, 2016, at noon PST, to add your takes to the linky at that same challenge link above.  And don't forget to check out The Challenge #65 Winners, too.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hugs!

{Supplies & Tools}
Stamps: Whale Hello (Avery Elle); Dockside (Wplus9) Paper: White & Dove Grey (Wplus9); raindrop (Pink Paislee); gray polka dot (Fancy Pants); blue medallion (Bazzill); woodgrain & vellum (Paper Studio); watercolor (Canson Studio) Ink: Jet Black (StazOn); watermark (VersaMark); Night of Navy (SU!) Other: white thread (Coats & Clark); sewing machine (Janome); Clear Cut Stackers: Rounded Rectangles & Dockside dies (Wplus9); Whale Hello Elle-ments die (Avery Elle); Large Scallop Edgelits die & black embossing powder (SU!); Big Shot (Sizzix); foam tape (Scrapook Adhesives); watercolors (Kuretake); Baker's Twine (Clean Country Paper Supplies)