Stamp Happy

Color Throwdown #8

It's time for week #8 of the Color Throwdown, and this week it was my turn to choose!  I started with a seldom-used color, Cameo Coral and accessorized from there with Certainly Celery and Old Olive.  You can also use So Saffron if you want.  Here's my card...

Since I find it almost impossible to make a card without designer paper, I was really tickled to discover this Fancy Pants paper on my shelves that matched nicely!  The only actual stamping on my card is the sentiment.  For my little bit of So Saffron, I punched out a flourish from this new EK Success punch I just got today!  I can tell already that I'm going to like this punch!  I also borrowed Beate's weekend sketch challenge for a little inspiration.

Check out the Color Throwdown blog for more inspirational samples from the team members!  If you have time to play along, we'd love it!  Leave a comment on the blog with a direct link to your card so we can all see.  And if you upload to Splitcoaststampers, please use the keywords CTD8.

SUPPLIES
Stamps:  sentiment (River City Rubber Works)
Cardstock:  Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Cameo Coral, So Saffron (Stampin' Up!), designer paper (Fancy Pants)
Inks:  Old Olive (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories:  flourish punch (EK Success), Nestabilities (Spellbinders), ribbon (Creative Impressions), Cuttlebug embossing folder (ProvoCraft).

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I was blown away today to go visit the blog of my new stamping/blogging friend Curt and discover that he gave me a very special award!  Curt created this award himself, and launched it on his blog by nominating the blogs that inspire him the most!  And I am honored and humbled to be on his inaugural list for this award!  He's just the sweetest, and like I've said before I just love seeing his work and getting a chance to see what this stamping obsession is like from a man's perspective!  Please go check out his blog when you have a chance!  Especially check out the awesome Halloween card he made with images I sent him!  It's fantastic!  (And OMGosh, check out his photography skills, too!  He even took the picture that is featured on the award!)

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I was even further honored this past week to receive an email from Kim Howard, the Basement Stamper.  She liked the card I made on Friday for the Limited Supply challenge so much, she CASE'd it and wanted to know if it was OK with me if she posted it on her blog!  Heck, yeah!  I was thrilled!  Here's her card.... please take a moment to check it out when you have time and show her some bloggin' love!  (She even used last week's Color Throwdown colors on it!)

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And finally (sory to be so long-winded!) Kisa gave me this sweet award this past week!  She says she finds me a source of constant inspiration, but I think she ought to look in a mirror because her designs are awesome!  She's a Guest Designer right now for Shimmerz, and she's doing some amazing work with those tiny little jars of bling!  Check out her blog please, when you have time!

Whew... sorry again to be so chatty!  If you're still with me, thanks!  And if you drifted off several paragraphs ago, I don't blame you!  Happy stamping, and thank you for stopping by!

Lazy, again!

I have to scoot off to work today, and don't have any new stamping projects to show you at the moment, so I thought I'd get my lazy arse in gear and take care of thanking some stamping/blogging friends for some recent blog awards today!

Becky Givans (aka tggrfriend) has got to be one of the sweetest stamping/blogging friends I have!  Even though she's had the craziest of lives lately with sick family members, she still takes time for blogging and commenting and generally making others feel special!  She gave me this award a few weeks ago, and I appreciate it so much!  The rules for awarding this one state...

1. Only 5 people allowed.
2. 4 have to be dedicated followers of your blog.
3. One has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to whoever gave you the award, quite simple really it is a way of saying thank you to those who take time out for wonderful comments to boost your day.

So I'm awarding this to

1.  Darlene (One of my bestest friends and cheerleaders, and she just started her own blog so please go check her out!)

2.  Barbara (She recently jumped into the stamping and blogging world with both feet and hasn't stopped running since!  And check out this card she made using my card for inspiration!)

3.  Alex (A fellow Sketches by Tamara DT member, she always has the nicest things to say about my work, and never misses a beat!)

4.  Curt (Curt also always has the nicest things to say, and I love checking out his blog to see stamping addiction from a man's perspective!)

5.  Gisela (I believe Gisela is from Germany, and has been a regular participant in our new Color Throwdown challenges each week.  It's so fun to see her creations each time!)

Then, last week another of my bestest friends Cindy at Pinky Inky's Island gave me the same award!  After months of giving me grief about being a blog trafficker, she finally started blogging, too!  So be sure to send some traffic her way for me today, OK!?

The same rules apply, so I'm going to extend this award to...

1.  Barb (Another fairly new blogger with some really cute work!  Be sure to check her out!)

2.  Kimberly (It was so fun to have her as a guest designer for the last Pink Cat release, and I can't wait to see what she keeps coming up with!)

3.  LeAnne (What a great friend she has become!  Since we live in neighboring states, I hope we get to meet someday!)

4.  Vickilyn (She always leaves me the nicest comments, and I just love her blog design!)

(and since I don't know of anyone else that is new to my blog and from another part of the world, I choose....)

5.  Jennifer G (I just LOVE her blog and because she frequently features my stamping projects in her Friday Favorites, she always makes me smile!)

Don't forget about the BLOG CANDY!  Leave a comment on this post from yesterday to be entered!

Housekeeping...

I have been severly neglecting several blog awards that I've been given lately, and owe some big ole' apologies to those people who so sweetly nominated me for the awards!

First off, the ever-sweet Becky over at Bouncy, Flouncy, Fun, Fun, Fun tagged me way back in June.  Becky is a great blogging friends, and one of my fellow team members for Sketches! by Tamara.  She's had a rough road lately with her own mother being sick, and then recently her mother-in-law became ill, too.  Send up a little prayer for Becky's sanity if you have time!  Becky's designs are always great and she's got a wonderful variety of styles!

Then, wonderfully sweet Judy over at Joy in a JAR gave me this award.  Judy has had it rough lately too with losing one of the 4-legged members of her family, Dayna.  But for Judy's recent birthday, the family rescued a yellow lab and I'm sure she's fitting in very well in their household!  Her name is Fiona!  Don't you just love that?!?  Judy's creations are always so elegant and well-designed... you can tell she puts a lot of thought and heart into her work!

I got an email one day from a super sweet lady named Barb who has a blog over at Country Blessings.

She gave me this award, and I'm so glad she did because it gave me the chance to check out her blog and see her beautiful creations!  She's got a wonderful eye for color, and great layouts, too!  Please take a moment to give this new blogger some love!

I got surprised with this award again from the highly talented Dallas at Stamp This, Stamp That!  Dallas' blog is definitely worth taking a look at... she's got beautiful, clean and simple designs that really inspire my creativity!  Check out her blog entry from July 10th and see her pretty pink stamp room!  (I LOVE the color!)

And finally, that award one more time from my fellow Color Throwdown team member Kisa!  I'm so glad to be getting to know her better as we come up with color challenges for all of you each week!  She's been extremely helpful with setting up our blog for the challenges, too (something which I'm very inept at!)  Check out Kisa's Paper Cuts for some great inspiration!

This post alone has taken quite some time, so naturally if I were to list blogs to tag and award in return I'd be here all day!  I have over 200 blogs in my Google reader, and they're all so inspiring!  If you're reading this, consider yourself super-special, extrememly talented, absolutely awesome, and TAGGED!

And to end things here, I'd like to toot my own horn for a second!  I have several of my cards featured at Inspirational Craft Blogs this week!  I'm so honored, and owe my BSFF Anita a big *smooch* for nominating me!  It's so good to have awesome friends!  Thanks 'Nita!

Have a great weekend!