Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Noon-Time Challenge: Pinter-Inspiration


Good afternoon everyone!  My sincere apologies for not having the post ready for you at Noon.  It was supposed to go live, and then when I looked on my way home from a retreat...nothing.  No post either. So we'll try again with this gorgeous inspiration picture!!


I took my cues from the shapes of the cameo and the colors and textures of the inspiration photo.  I've used my Grand Calibur, Grand Scalloped Circles Dies, Grand Circles dies on the clear polka-dotted layer, and the Ornate Artisan Tags for the scrolly shapes.   The coloring is done with Copic Markers in these Flourishes Collections:





So please play along with us today in this beautiful Inspiration challenge and you could win one of our new Releases this month!

For more inspiration see:

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Calla Lilies


I bet you can't wait to see this set :)  I have always found Calla lilies to be a most elegant, regal and lovely flower.  And paired with these beautiful heartfelt sentiments of support during difficult times, it's a stunning combination that is sure to express heartfelt encouragment.


How beautiful is a white calla lily, wouldn't you say?  I subtly colored this little ribboned bundle of lilies with some soft blue/green shades and gray to give the white some depth.  The papers are from the MME Sunshine Pack. I've added some gorgeous ribbons, and ruffled satin , some scoring and some layering with my dies, as well as using the Classic Bracket Edgeabilities on the borders.


I love the simple elegance of it.  

Now run on over to the rest of the Design Team, I know you will love the elegant and comforting creations they've made.  

Christine Okken  (you are here)



Don't forget that hidden amoung the Design Team's blogs is a Mystery Blogger of the Day, comment on her blog and you could be chosen to win this set!

Come back at NOON Central Today and I'll have another creation with this set and the Noon-Time Challenge.  A chance for you to create and win the set of the day!

Play in our Pre-Release Challenge:  Black and White + 1 and you could win the whole February Release!

Sunday, February 5, 2012

He's A Small Wonder

Our wee little nephew that lives here just turned one.  At the time of his birthday he and my brother,  sister in law, my niece and my parents were all in Mexico, while we were braving the cold here :(  So we're celebrating his birthday after the fact, but hey, he's one he won't know the difference :)

Oh he's just precious to me.  So, I worked on a card I might use for him for his BDay.



Precious right?  It's new to me from SU!  Called Everybunny and I've paired it with lots of new SU thingys, new papers, new embossing folders and frames and twine....a bunch of fun stuff. 


Colored up with Prismacolors. 

And here's the handsome little guy himself a few weeks ago.   Cuter than cute and imitating someone razzing his tongue.  I love his baby-ness and I'm a little sad he's growing up so fast!  


and here he is playing a game pulling my Dad's beard.  So funny, Dad pretends it hurts and he giggles :)






Back late Tuesday night gang with Flourishes February Sneak Peeks!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Project 365 - Week Five

Hey there gang.  I'm going to do the pictures this week a bit differently because I can't get them to work in the size formatting I have in MDS today without them pixellating.  So you'll see better quality this way.


January 29 - Banana Bread.  Our daughter made some mini loaves for the family.  Of course we add white chocolate chips and regular chocolate chips.  YUM.



January 30 - Scrabble.  "Sleeping when sick can help you"  Our youngest came down with the respiratory flu and it he felt horrible.  After a nap he played with these letters.  Pretty cute for an 8 year old :)



January 31 - Sick :(  By this day both the boys had the respiratory flu and I caught a cold, so it was medication central here.  



February 1st - Lego Star Wars - A little scene our sick son created for me in Lego Star Wars.  See Han Solo in the background beating up on a storm trooper?  My film hero! :)



February 2nd - A little Fresh Air -  A beautiful day here where I caught our outside solor light in the snow pile.  Snow is melting rapidly here!



February 3rd - Pinball - My brother has a "Man Cave" to beat all Man Caves.  Four pinball machines just to name one thing he has down there.  The kids love going over there to play games, this Iron Man Pinball was the newest game.  Very fun.  



February 4th - Basketball!  It was our first tournament this weekend.  My husband is coaching our son's Junior BB team, with two of the JH teachers.  And finally after missing several games with being sick, our son could play today!  (he's in the bottom left)  They won the Consolation Bracket and played very well.  I was proud of them.    Many of them (7th and 8th graders) are playing BB for the first time and so they're learning an awful lot.  But it's so fun to see them improving!

There's our week in a nutshell!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Flourishes February Pre-Release Challenge!


Welcome to February everyone!  Hard to believe that one month of 2012 has already been completed.

This month our Challenge is Black and White plus One!  And it's just as easy as it sounds - join us in creating a card using the colors black and white with only one extra color.  


I pulled out the set Fanciful Flourishes .  I think a damask style flourish looks gorgeous with black and white, and these hearts are perfect with a little pop of color.  I stamped the solid heart in Memento Lilac Posies, and then inked the damask heart onto cardstock vellum in VersaMark embossing with fine detail embossing powder.  You may not be able to see from this photo but I also added the damask flourish image to the black layer, embossing it black on black. 


In this photo you can see the black on black a little better.  I've used Spellbinders Ornate Artisan Dies to cut the shapes.  Embellished with some gorgeous ribbons from the store as well as some pretty pink rhinestones swirls.  

Join the girls today in this Black and White plus One Challenge, you could win the whole February release!   Upload your link to the Flourishes Blog by Friday at 5 PM to be eligible to win!  Can't wait to show you Sneak Peeks next week, you will love them!

Christine Okken (you are here)

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Wild About You

On Sunday my little one had a fever and the flu, so we had to stay home from Church.   He loves to stamp, so in-between some TLC time he took out some paper and made a Zoo scene while I stamped this card with the same set.


I think it might be his Valentine Card too.  It's There She Goes' Zoopendous set.  Totally a cute set full of fun animals, and zoo accessories.  Colored up with Copic Markers and I gave the Mama Rhino a little red pedicure.  The paper is Basic Grey's Life of the Party, and I used some MFT banners, and a jungle-like embossing folder.  

Short and sweet today.