Operation Julie's Smile

Hey peeps...hope you had a fabulous weekend - mine definitely was...kinda hard not to when you have wonderful southern California weather to work with.  I have three cards to share today.  This week's challenges at The Play Date Cafe and CAS-ual Fridays are very special.  Please visit these sites to help support a fellow crafter, Julie Ranae and Operation Julie's Smile.  I think one of the greatest benefits to crafting is the support you get from your fellow crafters...there's nothing like it, and I feel very fortunate to be a part of this community.

Here's this week's Play Date Cafe Challenge (PDCC102):

...and my card...

Here's this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge (CFC23):

...and my card...

Here's one more fun card, made for friend's birthday (oldie, but goodie stamp):



Enjoy the rest of the week!

Live well,
Trina
Card Recipe:  BOO!
Stamps:  Halloweenies, Alphadot (Paper Smooches)
Paper:  True Black, White, New Leaf, Royal Velvet (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black, Perfect Plumeria  (Tsukineko)
Etc:  Markers (Copic); Punches (EK Success)

Card Recipe:  Smiley Faces
Stamps:  Sunny Side Up, Swanky Snowdudes (Paper Smooches); Everyday Button Bits (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, Lemon Tart (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Etc:  Twine (We R Memory Keepers); Googly Eyes (Michaels)

Card Recipe:  Birthday Martini
Stamps:  Birthday Martini (Impression Obsession)
Paper:  Smokey Shadow, White, Ocean Tides (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Etc:  Markers (Copic); Glossy Accents; Impression Plate (Papertrey Ink)



A couple of cards, and a tag

Hey friends...here's a couple items I made for this week's challenges, plus one extra...a card for a friend's little boy who is turning three...enjoy.

This week's CAS-ual Fridays' challenge is to use three shades of a monochromatic color, plus brown.

My card...

Here's this week's Play Date Cafe's challenge...

Thought I would change it up a bit, and make a tag...actually, to tell you the

truth, the card didn't quite turn out as I had envisioned, so the tag is the remains of the card that went bad...hehehe.

And as promised, one last card for a little boy's third birthday...

Live well,
Trina


Card Recipe:  CFC#21- Welcome Sweet Baby
Stamps:  Sunny Side Up (Paper Smooches); Night Night Moon (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, Sweet Blush,  Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Etc:  Copic Markers

Card Recipe:  PDCC100 - Spring Tag
Paper:  Harvest Gold, Summer Sunrise, New Leaf (Papertrey Ink)
Etc:  Embossing Folder (Sizzix); Flower Punch (Fiskars); Buttons, Ribbon, Twine

Card Recipe:  David is 3!
Stamps:  Falling for You, Alphadot (Paper Smooches)
Paper:  Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy, Hawaiian Shores, Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Patterned Paper (Papertrey Ink & My Mind's Eye)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black
Etc:  Balloon Punch (Martha Stewart)

One more for CAS-ual Fridays...

A quick post - decided to do one more card for this week's CAS-ual Fridays Challenge (because I can't get enough of my new Paper Smooches stamps).

Very quick and easy card...I paper pieced the pumpkin with Damask patterned paper from PTI, colored the stem and leaf, stamped the sentiment, and spider, and voila...easy peasy.

 Live well,
Trina

Card Recipe:  Happy Halloween
Stamps:  Hallloweenies (Paper Smooches)
Paper:  White, Damask Patterned Paper (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Tuxedo Black, Eggplant (Tsukineko)
Etc:  Copics

In L-O-V-E with Paper Smooches!

"Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace."

-Amelia Earhart

On this Patriot Day, I honor those who demonstrated great courage on September 11th, 2001, I honor those who continue to demonstrate courage by living without their love ones, and I honor those who defend our country with great courage. 

And now for the challenges...

As you're going to see from today's post, that I've recently got a new shipment of stamps from Paper Smooches, and I am so in love with them!  This one was made for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge, which is to incorporate and a Fall theme and paper piecing.

And for our next challenge, may I present to you...

 

And here's my card, once again using a Paper Smooches stamp (how stinkin' cute is this monster?!)...

Live well,

Trina

Card Recipe:  Nutty for You

Stamps:  Falling for You (Paper Smooches)

Paper:  Dark Chocolate, Rustic Cream (Papertrey Ink); Patterned Paper (SEI)

Ink:  Tuxedo Black

Card Recipe:  Love You to My Core

Stamps:  Falling for You (Paper Smooches)

Paper:  Kraft, True Black, Spring Rain, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)

Ink:  Tuxedo Black, Rocket Red Gold (Tsukineko)

Etc:  Copic Markers

Black, White, Red, and One Day

Today's card combines The Play Date Cafe's {PDCC97} and CAS-ual Fridays' {CFC18}challenge, which both happens to be quite similar this week, with one exception...the CAS-ual Fridays challenge is in honor of International Literacy Day on September 8th.  This means that our project had to be inspired by a book.  My inspiration was a book by David Nicholls, "One Day", which I just found out they've made into a movie (hope they keep it true to the book).

An oldie, but goodie...one of my first stamps purchases, and I still love it.  Originally, the only red on the card was the heart up in the corner, but decided to add some color to the skirt with a little paper piercing.

Live well, 

Trina 

Card Recipe:  Bliss
Stamps:  Kissing Couple (A Muse); Framed (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  True Black, White, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black
Etc:  Heart Punch (Fiskars)

Make iI Monday #30: Colored Pencils

I decided to try the technique highlighted by Jennifer Ellefson for this week's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday.  I've never blended my colored pencil creations with baby oil before...it reminded me of using watercolor pencils.  Needless to say, I tried it, had fun, but I think next time, I'll try it using a paper stump like Jennifer.  I think that may give me the control I want, of the amount of oil absorbed, and transferred to the paper, as well allowing me to better define my blending.  I WILL be doing this again!

Live well,
Trina

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Wonderfully Whimsical, Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, Raspberry Fizz (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black, VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Etc:  Coloured Pencils (Staedtler); Transparent Embossing Powder (Stampendous!); Baby Oil

Tuesday Trigger: Girly and Gutsy

When I saw Moxie Fab's Tuesday Trigger challenge, the first stamp that came to mind was my chandelier from Impression Obsession...sooo oh la la girly.
Here's the Trigger Tuesday inspiration photo - doesn't it make you want to hang out with some girlfriends, while sipping on appletinis...hehehe.

Here's my interpretation - I went the girly romantic route.  You can't really see it well in the photo, but if you take a closer look, the background is embossed with a PTI impression plate.

Here's a closer look - I added glossy accents to the flame, to give it a little more dimension.

Live well;
Trina

Card Recipe:  Tuesday Trigger:  Girly and Gutsy
Stamps:  Impression Obsession
Paper:  White, Hibiscus Burst, True Black (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black
Etc:  Impression Plate (Papertrey Ink); Copics; Glossy Accent; Gold glitter pen; Rhinestones (Hero Arts); Dies (Spellbinders)

CAS-usl Fridays - CFC16

This week's CAS-usl Fridays challenge is embossing - heat embossing, dry embossing, or embossing folders.
 

My card:

I punched out a flower on the front of the card, and then added cardstock to the back of it (inside), which I had stamped with an image, and heat embossed.  You can't really tell on the first picture, but here's another picture showing the score lines I made above, and below the sentiment.

Live well,
Trina

Card Recipe:  Happy Anniversary {CFC16}
Stamps:  Everyday Button Bits, Simple Sentiments, Daydreamer (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  White, Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tea Leaves, Jumbo Java, Tuxedo Black, VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Other:  Embossing Powder (Stampendous!); Rhinestone (Hero Arts)

Embellish Embossed Flowers Color Trends Challenge

I saw Embellish's challenge, and fell in love, until... I sat at my desk....why oh why did my brain go dead when it actually came time to create.  So, I decided to come back to it the next day, and then the next day, and then FINALLY it all came together.

The challenge:

My card:

I loved how the embossed flowers turned out - it's a shame the shimmer and texture is not showing up well in pics.

Live well,

Trina

Card Recipe:  Embellish Challenge - With Sympathy

Stamps:  Botanical Silhouettes, Peaceful Garden (Papertrey Ink)

Paper:  Kraft, Rustic Cream, New Leaf (Papertrey Ink)

Ink:  VersaMark, Tea Leaves, Rich Cocoa, Rocket Red Gold (Tsukineko)

Other:  Transparent Embossing Powder (Stampendous!); Twine (Papertrey Ink)

Embellish Coloring Color Trends Challenge

Here's the challenge...

...and here's my card...

I stamped the butterflies with VersaMark, then rubbed colored chalk across each image.  The other butterfly was heat embossed.

This card is actually the 4th one I made for this challenge - the other three just didn't fulfill the challenge deets. 

Card #1 - I had intentions to include the challenge colors on my daughter's birthday card, but the card kinda took off on it's own (the little girl LOVES pink). 

Card# 2 - I thought I had done it with this card, but then it occurred to me that I had left off one of the colors.  I could have added an embellish, but I liked how it looked as is.

Card #3...where is it you ask?...let's just say it was one of those cards that just didn't turn out how I had envisioned in my mind.  In fact, soooo far off, it's not even going to make it on this blog :-)  

Live well,

Trina

Card Recipe:  Peace-Love-Joy {Embellish Coloring Color Trends Challenge}

Stamps:  Happy Trails, Peaceful Garden (Papertrey Ink)

Paper:  Papertrey Ink

Ink:  Tsukineko

Other:  Heat Embossed; Chalk (Stampin' Up!)

Card Recipe:  Who's Turning...4

Stamps:  Big Birthday Wishes, Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink)

Paper: Papertrey Ink; patterned paper (My Mind's Eye)

Ink:  Tsukineko

Other:  Die (Papertrey Ink); Pink Ribbon

Card Recipe:  Welcome Baby

Stamps:  Simple Sentiments, Bundle of Love, Night Night Moon (Papertrey Ink)

Paper:  Papertrey Ink

Ink:  Tsukineko

Other: Copic Markers; Pink Ribbons; Boarder Punch (Fiskars); Tag Punch (Martha Stewart)

The Play Date Cafe {PDCC94}

The colors for this week's Play Date Cafe challenge were perfect for my husband's birthday card.

I'm so lovin' this stamp set and dies from Taylored Expressions...the moment I saw them, I knew I had to have them.  The sentiment on the smaller banner is from Papertrey Ink's "Fly Away" set, which I think would be great to pair up with this one...hmmm....I just may have to go give it a try, right after I'm done here.

Live well,
Trina

Card Recipe:  PDCC94 - Happy Birthday Doug
Stamps:  Fly Away (Papertrey Ink); Alphadot (Paper Smooches); Ink the Clouds (Taylored Expressions)
Paper:  Dark Chocolate, Hawaiian Shores, Harvest Gold, Rustic Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black, Moonlight White (Tsukineko)
Other:  Twine, Impression Plate (Papertrey Ink); Dies (Taylored Expressions)

Polkadot Door Blog Hop & Inspiration Challenge {4}

Wanna have fun?  Wanna be inspired?  Wanna see some great projects, and have a chance to win some cool prizes?  Then join us for this month's Polkadot Door Blog Hop and Inspiration Challenge!

I am thrilled to be a Guest Designer this month for Polkadot Door Designs, and would like to invite you all to play along with us.  The very talented Rebecca and Sarah has provided a little inspiration to give your creative juices a little kick-start.

Aren't the colors to die for?!  As soon as I saw this month's inspiration, I knew instantly that it would be the perfect opportunity to ink up Papertrey Ink's Mehndi Medallion for the first time, and add a sentiment from their Daydreamer stamp set.  And here's my card...

Now, here's where the hopping begins (or continues)...work your way through the fabulous blogs and see what the design team has created using this month's inspiration photo. As you hop, be sure to leave some love along the way, and head back to Polkadot Door when you're done.  Leave a comment there to let us know you completed the blog hop, and tell us who your favourite designer was (there's a prize in it for you *wink*). 

Diana

Smitha

Mazlina

Angi

Elizabeta

Libeeti

Nicole

Dee Dee

Valerie

Trina (you are here!)

Sabrina

Polkadot Door Design

And now on to the prizes...yippee!!

The Challenge Winner will receive three sets of wooden cut-out embellishments from Pork Chop Show.

The Blog Hop Winner will receive a gift certificate to the Live the Chaos shop and a mini stamp.

Duetica is providing a HUGE give-away for the featured designer. The prize consists of their innovative software for creative fonts.

Ready?  Now go out there, and have some fun - I can't wait to see your creative inspirations.

Live well,

Trina

Card Recipe:  When You Dream...

Stamps:  Mehndi Medallion, Daydreamer (Papertrey Ink)
Paper:  Berry Sorbet, Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink)
Ink:  Tuxedo Black, Persimmon, Pink Grapefruit, Pixie Dust (Tsukineko)

Stay tuned...

Two more days until...

Come back, and visit on August 5th to get all the juicy details (prizes are involved).

Live well,
Trina

Friends

I'm so lucky to have fabulous friends in my life - and it's nice to have a hobby that allows us to let our friends know how much we appreciate them.  Here's a card I'm going to send to one of my childhood friends.

I love that quote - it's so true!  And here's my inspiration, this week's Moxie Fab's Trigger Tuesday:

The colors are soft and feminine, so I tried to do the same for my card, and make is a little more "girly", than I normally would do. 

Live well,

Trina

Card Recipe:  A Friend...

Stamps:  Botanical Silhouettes, Merry Little Christmas (Papertrey Ink); Fiskers; g Studio

Paper:  Stamper's Select White, Lemon Tart, Sweet Blush (Papertrey Ink)

Ink:  Midnight Black, Thatched Straw, Aloe Vera, Pixie Dust (Papertrey Ink)

Other:  Twine, Button

Another last minute submission...

Why do I do this to myself?!...again, I decide at the very last minute to submit a card...seriously...decided to do this one, with only 45 minutes to make the card, edit the photo, and post it on here, and then link it...whew!!!!

This is for Moxie Fab World - The Stamp It! Cards Week Challenge.

I was trying to go for a change from B&W to color...ya know, like "The Wizard of Oz" - it starts off in B&W, then becomes color when Dorothy steps into Munchkinland.  Okay....wish me luck in getting this in on time.

Live well,
Trina