Mojo 468

Made it back from Florida safe and sound. God is good!  I had time to just make one little card since I've been back.  It had to be a Mojo!

Mojo Monday 467

It has been a crazy busy week and I've been itching to get at this sketch since I saw it on Monday!  I'm getting ready to go on vacation, so I wanted to get this card finished and posted before I went away.  One of my favorite sketches yet!

Mojo Monday 466

Talk about getting down to the wire!  

Mojo Monday 465

Happy Monday y'all!

Color Throwdown Challenge #409

I hope I can get on a roll and participate in this challenge on a regular basis. So much fun!  The colors this time were gold, black,  turquoise and white. 

Mojo Monday 464

I LOVE Monday holidays!  It is so nice to get up in the morning, not have to go through the beautification routine and just come straight to my craft room after pouring the necessary dose of caffeine.  I liked this Monday's challenge and decided I would begin to create some cards for my sample board. The board currently says "Summer 2016" - almost time to change the title to Fall. (boo hiss...though I am a bit partial to those fall colors!)  Happy Labor Day to all!

Color Throwdown #407

Trying a new challenge today. Color Throwdown.  Will write more later. Posting deadline is 6:00 p.m.! 

Mojo Monday 463

Still working on figuring out how to post photos to my SU blog. So far...not working out very well. I was up early today so had a chance to play before work!

Mojo Monday 462

Today I finished up my card for the sketch quickity quick so I had some time to play with photographing the finished project. Over the past few weeks I've experimented with where I took the photos.  My favorite, so far, was on the railing of my back porch. I just loved the greenery in the background.  But the weather is certainly an issue with that because when I took the first batch of photos early in the morning there was no wind. Later in the afternoon when I went out for round two the wind had kicked up. Needless to say cards were a flyin'!  Today I created a make shift photo box over my craft table. I had pretty good success a few weeks back in the corner of my built-in dining room hutch, but that was a tad inconvenient.  The above is what I think is the best presentation with a few others to follow below. What do you think?  

Mojo Monday 461

Yikes!  It's just starting to storm - better upload quickly!

Mojo Monday 460

As I said in my last post I spent most of Sunday playing with the new Thoughtful Branches bundle.  Why not continue the fun and use it in this week's sketch? Can you find the tree? 

Thoughtful Branches and the learning curve

So today is the day that I finally try to figure out how to upload quality photographs of my cards to the internet.  I have plenty of coffee on hand, so here goes!

Yesterday I spent the day making cards with the new Stampin' Up! set Thoughtful Branches - which is only available in the month of August. What a shame! It is an awesome set!  Glad I've received mine already!  

I call this first card "Red Maple."

So far so good....here are the rest!

Thoughtful Branches and the learning curve

So today is the day that I finally try to figure out how to upload quality photographs of my cards to the internet.  I have plenty of coffee on hand, so here goes!

Yesterday I spent the day making cards with the new Stampin' Up! set Thoughtful Branches - which is only available in the month of August. What a shame! It is an awesome set!  Glad I've received mine already!  

I call this first card "Red Maple."

Mojo Monday 459

I've been up since 3:30 a.m. - waiting for the Mojo folks to post this week's sketch.  And here is my interpretation!  Thanks Gail for letting me borrow your Stampin' Up Best Birds set.  I may have to breakdown and get it!

Mojo 458

I continue to struggle with posting images to this blog. I've been using the scanner, but I really would like to use a photograph, like many folks do.  When I've tried to upload the photo I get an error message that says it is too large.  I don't have the energy lately to do the research how to correct it. I am sure it is quite simple!  :) 

So, here is another scan of my weekly challenge!

Mojo Monday 457

Yesterday was a day off from work for me but I got so busy doing other things (like finishing up my new Stampin' Up! classroom!) that I didn't get a chance to finish my Mojo until this morning.  Thanks Kara for letting me borrow your stamp set! 

Mojo Monday 456

So, this is what happens when you can't sleep!  Loved this week's sketch!

Mojo Monday 455

I love Monday holidays!  How nice to be able to play with my toys in the middle of the day. (While mutli-tasking or course - doing laundry as well!)

I used a multitude of different stamp sets, inks and paper today. Let's see if I get them all!

All Stampin' Up products

Stamp Sets: Kinda Ecletic, Flourishing Phrases and Flower Patch
Dies:  Flower Fair
Ink:  Crushed Curry, Rose Red, Pear Pizzazz, Watermelon Wonder, Pumpkin Pie and Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Whisper White, Mint Macaron, Peekaboo Peach and Basic Black

DSP - Fruit Stand

Mojo 454

Mojo 453

Hi all - you know it's been a busy week when I couldn't get my Mojo on until Sunday afternoon!  Hubby was nice enough (okay, super nice!) to rehang my shelves after one came crashing down last weekend.  He really went all out and patched the holes before rehanging - so my work space was covered with tools and such and I couldn't get to my toys.  But I'm operational again - so here is this past Monday's challenge.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Mojo Monday 452

"Wine a little....You'll feel better..."  What an awesome sentiment!  Happy Monday!

Mojo Monday 451

Today I decided to play with some of my new treasures from the stamp show this past Sunday.  The background was made with the Color Burst Pigment Powders from Ken Oliver Crafts, the flowers and the dragonflies are from the Eyelet Outlet and the butterfly stencil (which is barely visible) is from Rebekah Meier.  Quick and easy card. I was not a fan of the base card color (sorta neon - so you know that is OLD paper!) but I think it goes well with the colors of the pigments.

Mojo Monday 450

I've had dragonflies on my mind all weekend as I work on my piece for the Art for AIDS benefit next week.  Figured I'd stick with the theme. (here you go, Pat!)  

Mojo 449

Another week where I didn't get to Mojo on Monday.  The weather has been so awesome this week that I have been outside most evenings.  I was able to leave work early today so after shopping for flowers to plant this weekend I was able to make this cute little owl card.  I'm playing around with my camera and Photoshop Elements to see if this method of posting the image is better than using my scanner.  Can't wait to see what it looks like!  Happy Memorial Day!

PS - had to go to the scanner.  Whatever I did - didn't work and I don't have the energy to fuss with it today!

Mojo Monday 448

You know it's been a crazy busy week when I can't get my mojo on until Thursday!   This is all I had the energy to do today!

Mojo Monday 447

I wasn't too sure I like this week's sketch, but in the end I thought it was pretty cool!  I whipped it up in just a short time, but Cox cable was out yesterday and I couldn't upload the finished product.  Here we go. No dragonflies this time!

Mojo Monday 446

Have you ever made one of those purchases that you knew was a poor choice right from the start but continue to have hope that it is going to be just right the next time you use it?  I did - years ago - with a 150 sheet box of 8 1/2 x 11 photo paper.  The instructions tell you to "print on the glossy side" - both  sides look exactly the same to me and I almost always choose the incorrect side - each and every time I print. So I decided that I am done with the foolish stuff once and for all!  But what to do with a nearly full box of paper? (It is paper after all and it would be a sacrilege to throw it away!)  So I thought I'd try some different techniques on the paper to see what would happen.  After all, it is glossy paper, so there were some properties of the paper that I did expect.  Pigment ink wouldn't stay on and water beaded off.  Not a surprise.  I rubbed Distress Ink directly on the paper and that dried quickly and created a really cool colored glossy paper.  A little buffing with a tissue seemed to make it permanent.  On my work surface I had a bottle of water that had a bit of Pearl Ex powder in it from a previous project. I knew it would run off but I wondered what would happen if I sprayed the paper with the solution, added a few drops of dye ink and then dried with the heat gun.  The result - the orange and yellow background of this card - which I just love!  When I get the energy (I got up and went to the gym this morning at 5:30 for the first time in months - my behind is a dragging!) I'll experiment a bit more.  Happy Monday everyone! 

Mojo 445

Yep - another dragonfly!  Shocker!  I really struggled with this challenge as I'm not a fan of circles. I know I had the option of making a square card instead, but decided to step outside the box. (Yes, the pun was intended.) If this doesn't end up in one of my scrapbooks it most likely will be slapped onto a square card sometime in the future. Happy Monday, y'all!

Mojo 444

Late start today - it was Bunco night!   As soon as the girls left I hurried straight to my craft room to get started. Though I had something else in mind the Egyptian stamps gave me another idea as it had to be something pretty quick as I have an early out of town meeting tomorrow and must get my beauty sleep!

Mojo Monday 443

Whoo hoo!!! Mojos two days in a row!  The yellow panel is actually centered on the purple panel - it is not all the way to the top, as it appears.  Just a lousy scan. I loaded new photo editing software yesterday so I hope to be able to take photos of the challenges as opposed to scanning them. Stay tuned!

Mojo Monday 442

Returned today from a seven day cruise to the Bahamas - and I have to say I'm happy to be home. The weather was not the best and the past two days with the extremely rough seas was not relaxing in the least.  I've done all my "return home chores" and am super excited that I was able to do the Mojo Monday challenge. Ahhhhhhh, now I'm relaxed! 

Mojo Monday 441

Happy Easter everyone!  Today's challenge came together quickly. I had Asian on my brain since I saw the sketch this morning and was fairly sure I knew what I was going to do before I even started pawing through my Asian stamps and paper.  Now I have time to straighten up this disaster of a scrap room before I can sit, have a cup of chamomile tea and read before bed.

Mojo Monday 440

I woke up to about six inches of snow this morning and decided to work from home.  So what does one do when they have to go out this evening and can't do the Mojo Monday challenge?  Well, instead of eating lunch, they make a card!  I had the lighthouse in a stash of undone projects so it was just a matter of putting it through the Big Shot to create the circle.  Then just cutting, layering and adhering!  Though this card is not my very favorite, I am a huge fan of this sketch.  Will be using it again, for sure!

Mojo Monday 439

Super easy and fun layout!  Didn't take me hardly any time at all to complete this challenge. I actually now have time to work on some other projects. Happy Monday!

Mojo Monday - 438 - #2

Last weekend when I was playing with the Pearl Ex and stencils I created this orange background paper that has been calling to me all week. I also had colored the Outlines medallion image last week - and that too just sat on my work surface all week begging to be used.  Figured I'd submit another Mojo since it is contest week.