Laundry!

As much as I love visits from all my family,  I do NOT love the laundry I do after everyone has left for home.  Bedding from 4 beds, towels galore plus my regular laundry made for a busy day yesterday, but it's done, and now all I have left is good memories of a wonderful Easter weekend! 

That being said, the laundry took precedence over MOJO Monday. (I know, where are my priorities??)
So today I will show you the card I created for this layout:

and also for The Paper Player's Challenge #90.  This was a colour challenge using the following colours:

Here's how mine turned out:

I really like this colour combination.  This was the first time I used my Stampin' Up Simply Scored tool to make the rosette.  I'm still not quite sure how long my paper strip has to be to make the rosette evenly spread.  I started with two 12" strips, scored and joined together, but that seemed like too much paper and I couldn't make the rosette close properly, so I cut off about 4" and that may have been too much.  Does anyone know the right proportions?? 

I absolutely love that Attic Boutique Designer Series paper from the Occasions Mini-Catalogue!  It's in Pool Party, which is my favourite 2011-13 In Colour.  The sentiment is stamped in Island Indigo Ink on Whisper White cardstock and the end of the flag, I manipulated until the layers separated and then curled each layer separately.  I sponged the edges in Island Indigo to give it some definition.  A little snippet of Certainly Celery 1/4" grosgrain ribbon with a faux bow, and some brads finish off the look.

But, speaking of laundry, do you iron??  When I was teaching and my kids were at home, I mastered something I like to call the "Chest Press".  I would take the clothes warm out of the dryer and fold and smooth on my chest until they were relatively wrinkle free.  Worked well until the fabrics went back to more natural fibres instead of permanent press.  Now that I'm retired, I have more time, but, strangely enough, I really don't like to spend it ironing, except when it is unavoidable.  I know that some people actually enjoy ironing, but I'm not one of them.  I've thought about starting up a Polyester Revival, but then I remember how we looked in the Seventies, and I think we'd better stick with cotton.  Have a great day!







Packing a Punch!

I'm hoping today's post will pack a punch, but I don't have the punch I needed for the card I made today for my good friend, Dee's birthday.  I wanted a small 5 petal flower punch, but had to make do with a 4 petal Sizzlit die with my Big Shot.  Four petal flowers look stylized because of their symmetry, and I wanted something a bit more realistic-looking.  I made quite a few layers and staggered them to give the impression of more petals.  I decided to join the Pals Paper Arts Challenge#132 this week.  It was a colour challenge with our palette being Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery.

Here's my take on the challenge:

I like those three colours together and the stamp sets, Stampin' Up's Elements of Style and Elementary Elegance are beautiful.  I used the embossing folder Petals A-Plenty on the Certainly Celery and Pretty in Pink panels.  But those flowers just are not doing it for me, even with all the manipulating I did - curling, separating, crumpling, sponging and everything short of feeding them to the cats! 

I just need to order myself some new flower punches or dies, but that will have to wait for awhile since I just made a large order for some business basics.

I would also like to share a Get Well Soon card for my daughter, who is recovering from surgery.  She loves ochre and brick colours and so the palette I used for this card is More Mustard and Cajun Craze.  The DSP I used is from the Well Worn pack.

The stamp sets are Daring Adventure and Teeny Tiny Wishes, and even though the wishes are teeny, we're hoping that the thoughts and prayers are big enough to help her feel more like her lovable self! 

Have a wonderful Easter weekend!