Currently... February 2015

Hello February! Last year at this time, I had just fallen and realized that I had a pretty bad concussion. So making it this far in the year without any major issues has been really good for me!

Here's what's going on with me "Currently..."

 WATCHING: Oh my goodness... We just watched the Book of Life and it was FABULOUS! I love kids movies and this one is just AWESOME! Quite honestly when I saw the preview the first time I wasn't interested at all, but I saw the preview a few more times and thought it looked like fun. My hubby surprised me and bought it for me last week and we popped it in a couple of nights ago. I LOVED IT! It's a great story and has so many life lessons in one movie. 

We're also hoping to get Downton Abbey Season 5 soon! I can't wait! Yay!

READING: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I finished the first and second books and am continuing on... 

LISTENING: to a lot of classical music. My drive to work is only five minutes and I hate to turn on my normal radio station to get hooked into some silly conversation for just 5 minutes, so I've been listening to the public broadcast. I'm so hooked that I listen to it live on the computer too. I've liked it so much that I even donated to their recent pledge drive.

EATING: chocolate covered cranberries by Dove chocolate. Yum!

DRINKING: water... or at least trying to get more water drinking in my daily routine.

WEARING: lots of boots - tall boots, short boots, snow boots, rain boots... all kinds of boots!

MAKING: a giant mess in my craft space! Haha! I've been crafting quite a bit and my least favorite part often gets ignored, so the piles of cardstock, extra embellies, tools, etc. is getting a bit out of control... 

PLANNING: Our big Cupcake Inspirations 300th Challenge Celebration for March 1st. Will you be joining us? I'm back to full time creative director and sponsorship coordinator at Cupcake Inspirations, which is keeping me quite busy! I'm going through DT Call applications, trying to fill our sponsorship calendar, selecting our future challenge inspiration images and planning our big celebration. Busy! Busy! BUSY!

TRYING: to blog more often - have you noticed? My current goal is three blog posts during the week plus the Cupcake Inspirations post on Sunday. And I'm trying to include one non-card post a week. Trying...

WANTING: a regular week... Please! Our weeks have been totally thrown off from holidays, teacher work days and snow days lately. We haven't had a full week of school since the first week back from Winter Break. The kids at school are crazy and can't get settled into a routine. I can't seem to figure it out either! Ha! We have a teacher in service day this week, so anther 4 day week for our students...

FEELING: extremely frustrated with our new printer. GRRR! I've been trying to print out pages for my day planner and this printer is not doing what I want! I know I promised to show you my day planner decorating soon... It hasn't worked out that way because this printer just isn't cooperating! GRRR!

ENJOYING: some fun new crafty goodies that I just recently ordered. More sequins (YAY!) and some gemstones/bubbles, some fun new dies, and washi tape. It's always exciting to play with new toys!

Hope your January was great. Any highlights to share? What are your up to in February?

Cupcake Inspirations Challenge 296

Hi there! Ready for a yummy cupcake and some gorgeous color inspiration? Here's this week's challenge at Cupcake Inspirations. 

This week's sponsor is 7 Kids College Fund. They are giving away a $20 gift certificate to their store! 

DEEtails: 

I decided to do some watercoloring for this card, which is a fun and easy technique. First, I stamped my image with VersaMark ink onto some watercolor paper and heat embossed it with some clear powder. Then I got out some Stampin' Write Markers, which are water-based inks. I basically transfer the color from the marker onto a clear stamp block and with a wet paintbrush, use the ink to watercolor my image. So easy to do and it turns out so effortlessly gorgeous.

For the leaves, I used some patterned paper from Heidi Swapps Favorite Things line and punched out the leaves from the bird punch. I like that the green isn't a solid color, so it keeps with the soft effect from the watercoloring. The background paper is from the same paper pad. I stamped it with a sentiment from Four You, which I embossed with white powder. I layered a bit of gold underneath, die cut with the Tasteful Trim die, with a bit of Bermuda Bay peeking out from underneath. I am so loving this color combination!

Paper: Bermuda Bay Cardstock, Gold Foil Sheets, Heidi Swapp Favorite Things Paper Pad, Watercolor Paper
Stamps: Four You, Secret Garden
Ink: VersaMark
Tools: Bird Punch, Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder, paint brush, Stampin' Dimmensionals, Stampin' Write Markers - Melon Mambo, Rose Red, Strawberry Slush, White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Tasteful Trim Bigz Die

Naki and Nina's Double Dare Challenge

We're back today with another Double Dare Challenge! It's always fun to craft with friends, even if they're miles away! Naki and I really enjoy picking our challenges and seeing what each other makes. You're more than welcome to join in the fun! Just link your creation in the comments below.

Here's how it works: For each challenge, Naki and I blindly pick something that we want to work with (a color scheme, tool, sketch, technique, inspiration, whatever!) Then we combine our picks to make a Double Dare Challenge! Here are our picks for this challenge:

Naki's pick for this challenge is to use items from the Stampin' Up! Occasions Catty

My pick was to use Lost Lagoon

Here are the DEEtails for my card:

Even though my pick was to use Lost Lagoon, I decided to only use a tiny bit on this card. I die cut these balloons and embellishments with the Balloon Framelits dies. I tied on some Island Indigo Baker's Twine and some silver waffle paper tassels. I trimmed off about 3/4" off the front of my card. On the inside edge of the card, I stamped my greeting from an old stamp set that I had in my stash. I did a quick search online and found that it is called Posie Greetings by Stampendous. I love how the silver sentiment peeks out from behind. The front of my card was covered by the pretty blue stripes from Birthday Bash Specialty DSP before I layered on my balloons. Hope you like it!

Paper: Birthday Bash Specialty DSP, Lost Lagoon Cardstock, Night of Navy Cardstock, Silver Foil Sheets, Vellum Cardstock
Stamps: Posie Greetings (Stampendous)
Ink: Silver Metallic Encore
Embellishments: Island Indigo Baker's Twine, Silver Waffle Paper
Tools: Balloon Framelits Dies

Now be sure to pop over to Naki's blog to see what she has made. If you'd like to play along with us, just create something with Lost Lagoon and anything from the Occasions Catalog and share a link to your creation in the comments below! Naki and I can't wait to see what you come up with!