CAS : You Color My World (and Yet Another Easel Card...)

I don't seem to be successful with sketches!  As my daughter told me, "This isn't your best work, Mom." Gotta love the honesty of kids :)  Still, I like the Clean and Simple look so I'll keep trying...

 I wanted to show the inside of this card but I can't get it to rotate...so I guess you'll just have to tilt your head to view :) 

Check out the sketch and other takes on this challenge here: CAS 159

PS Don't forget Saturday 9/24 is the last chance to win a set of stamps from the CTMH Idea Book. Check out the post here: HERE.
Thanks for stopping by,
Marie with a :)

Inspired by My Wonderful Downline :)

It's ironic really.
Donna was the one who first got me into stamping, nearly a decade ago.
(Even though I was totally intimidated by her fabulous work.)
Since then she has become like family to me; one of my best friends.
Just recently she became my downline :)
And she continues to inspire me in many ways, including in the crafting arena.  Here's a card she made:

I used some pieces I had already cut out and made another easel card, copying her idea:

Here's a couple more of her creations:

And finally, here's a baby card I made using some OLDER CTMH paper:

(after viewing the photos, I think I am going to stamp "welcome" above the "sweet baby girl" on the front.

I had a part time job proposition today, involving my crafts, so I would appreciate it if my praying friends lift a prayer for me as I seek wisdom and discernment. Thanks for stopping by!  Marie with a :)

H2H: Card stock only challenge

Here's my really quick take on the Heart 2 Heart Challenge which was to use only card stock (3 colors) and NO PATTERNED PAPER. Easel cards are super quick and easy to make and you will find a tutorial under my "tutorials and such" page at the top of the blog.

Thanks for stopping by!
Marie with a :)

Heart 2 Heart Valentine's Day Challenge

The challenge this week at Heart 2 Heart  is "show us your heart."
Here are a few Valentine's cards "with heart" that I made:

I used embossing and watercolor for this one.

A very simple easel card that we made at my monthly kit club.

A masculine easel Valentine for my HH 

The heart and key were both embossed.  I also used our spray pen.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Marie with a :)

How Sweet The Victory!

I've been wanting to try an easel card for quite some time.
The thing is between tutorials and me...well there's a bit of animosity there.
Perhaps it's my impatient "look-there's-something-shiny!" nature.
Perhaps it's my inability to follow directions precisely.
Whatever the reason, I have to psyche myself up to view one.
I wish I hadn't waited so long on this one...the Easel Card is soooooo easy.
Way easier than the mountain of laundry I also had to psyche myself up to conquer.

Closed view of the card

 open view, front

Open, side view

Sweet victory all the way around...THREE EMPTY HAMPERS (now if I can only persuade the kids to sleep in their clothes tonight...) and one Easel Card for a precious friend.
Supplies used: Veranda paper (CTMH) juniper, chocolate and smoothie Inks (CTMH) Opaques (CTMH) Find Your Style SS (CTMH) Sentiments (Our Daily Bread, Verve), nestabilites die

And another victory...I've been attempting to become a little more organized, maybe not to the degree that my sister Samantha is, but I know that "back in the day" when I used to keep lists, I was better able to stay on top of things (or maybe it wasn't the lists...maybe it was the fact that I refused to scrapbook? ) I recently downloaded a free program to print out some cool to do lists and "goal" sheets for each day, week and month.  I'll let you know how much help they are!  

The tutorial for the easel card is under my tutorials and such page; you'll need to scroll all the way to the bottom.
And I think you should check out what my sweet (and inspiring!) blogging friend Jane did with the butterfly from the Find Your Style stamp set: Scrappy Gram's Blog

Thanks for stopping by! Tomorrow I'll tell you my blog profile nightmare.  Yep, it appears I turned into "Marlies" for awhile...