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Inspired Smiles

Happy Saturday! I'm so excited that the weekend is finally here! It was one of those weeks where 2-3 hours of sleep was the norm and 6 made us feel like we were high on life! Mark survived the first round of lay-offs at Microsoft, though, so at least that big ole' what-if stressball has moved on its merry little way. Hooray!

Since it's Saturday, it's time for another Our Creative Corner challenge. This month's hostess, Jennifer gave us a fun sketch to work with this week, and here's what I came up with. I really love how it turned out, even though it took HOURS to finally get there. I kept changing colors, losing pieces on my desk, etc. Do you ever end up stamping something again because you can't find the one you JUST did? Well, that happened to me about 5 times on this card. I even cleaned up my desk a bit, and still don't know where those pieces went!

I drew my inspiration for this card from a couple places. A while ago Bethany sent me {this} gorgeous card. Ever since I first saw it, I've had it in my head that I wanted to emboss the flowers from Poinsettia Christmas in white and make a non-Christmas card. Heat embossing is one of those things I loved when I first started stamping, but really haven't done a lot of in the past few years. That was mainly due to the fact that I was getting less than stunning results. Then I got to thinking (insert blinking light bulb here), does embossing powder have a shelf life? Most of my powders are over 10 years old, and I don't know if they went bad or if technology has just made leaps and bounds, because embossing with my new SU! powders is a DREAM! What a huge difference a relatively small investment made! Three cheers for new EP!

My other inspiration was {this} fabulous card by Teresa. I loved the way adding the embossed flowers really dressed up her card, and had to go dig my With Love Cuttlebug strips out to try it. Isn't it funny how we all have stuff in our stash that we forget about, and then suddenly someone uses it and we LOVE it? I wonder what other treasures are hiding away in my studio! LOL I debated on whether to leave the embossing naked, but finally the sparkle addiction I have won out, and I painted the embossing, the ribbon and the swirly Sizzix die cut with Pixie Dust Shimmerz. Then I finished off with a little bling and a sentiment from All About You.

Okay, so be sure to head on over to the Our Creative Corner Blog to see what you can see today. There's a cool prize, a fabulous guest designer, and the oh-so-dreamy samples from the rest of the Creative Corner designers waiting for you. :)

What's in it:
Stamps: Poinsettia Christmas, All About You (Verve)
Paper: Urban Prairie (BasicGrey), Black
Ink: VersaMark Dazzle, A Muse Black
Cutting Tools: Curly Label punch (SU!), Long Rectangles and Scallop Circles (Nestabilities), Scribbles Swirl Sizzlet (Sizzix)
Accessories: White Embossing Powder, black grosgrain (SU!), Rhinestones (KaiserCraft), Pixie Dust Shimmerz
, With Love Embossing Borders (Cuttlebug)

25 comments

Denise Marzec said...

Gorgeous colors and I love the swirly pieces...gotta get me some of those (I know, what am I waiting for!). :)

Anonymous said...

First of all, so glad Mark survived the cuts. Second, I love this card! You had me laughing...I can relate to so much of what you said! I have also wondered about embossing powders getting too old...does anyone know? Well, thanks for sharing this beautiful card...and I also have that long embossing folder...somewhere! LOL! Love your blog...and thanks for inspiring me!

Michelle said...

That's a GREAT card, Julee! Love the swirly coming out of the side...and the flowers...and the DP....and your use of black - this is just sooo pretty!

Glad Mark made it through; Rob's at HP so I know what y'all are going through. Fingers crossed!

Have a great day!

Teresa Kline said...

oh my Julee...I have tears in my eyes...really...you highlighted "this" on your blog...aren't we funny...I luv your card..fabulous, I will have to run over to OCC and check it out. btw...so glad to hear that Mark missed the lay off, that is fabulous news, I will be praying! *~*

Dawn Easton said...

Oh pretty pretty pretty Julee! Love those colours again...yummo!

Glad to hear Mark made it through the layoffs...I know how stressful that can be. Get some rest this weekend!!!

Lynda Benden said...

The poinsettia's are awesome Julee! What a great idea! Cuttlebug flower and have never used it ~ you have inspired me!!

Lisa Foster said...

Beautiful Julee!
Have a great weekend!

Silke Ledlow said...

Gorgeous designed card - Julee!!! Love the colors!!!

Enjoy your weekend!!! Hugs ~S~

Jackie Pedro said...

This is beautiful, Julee!!

Anonymous said...

i love this!! i had this paper in my hand yesterday and resisted (kicking myself)!!!

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Anonymous said...

What a gorgeous card! Now I need to go and dig out my flower Cuttlebug folder!! Thx for the inspiration!!

Betty J Schaub said...

another beauty from you Julee!

Stephanie Hargis said...

Whew! I am so relieved to hear that Mark made it through the lay offs! What an answer to prayers! :D Anyway, I love your card girl! It is absolutely beautiful! I can't wait to play with this sketch!

Anonymous said...

Julee, this is beautiful! I love the colors, papers, and the sketch!

Cindy Haffner said...

l I love those colors and love your work.

Å olanje na domu-Waldorf said...

Gorgeous card Julee.
x Natasha x

Jennifer Meyer said...

Hi Julee :) So relieved to hear that Mark made it through the lay offs!

I LOVE your card, from the stunning design to the gorgeous colors and dp. I feel your pain, I am always losing things on my stamp table, things just fly away!!

Have a wonderful weekend, Jennifer :)

Renée said...

nope, never lose anything on my desk ... but I'm a bit of a neat freak!

Love love love this card! The final results are definitely worth the extra effort! Wonderful dimension and colour!!

Kelly Schelske said...

Gorgeous card Julee!!

Cheryl said...

This is really beautiful and the DP is goergeous!!!

Kristen said...

GORGEOUS! Everything in this card goes so well together!Happy your Hubby made it pass!

dj said...

what a beauty!! I love this card and I too was inspired by Teresa and her use of this embossed flower--so much so I had to get it!Oh by the way--stop by my blog when you get a chance I have something for you today.

Lisa H. said...

this is so pretty. I love that dp you used and the black accents on the card are gorgeous! yeah, for new embossing powder!!!

dpkennedy said...

Oh this is gorgeous! I love the scroll peeking out and the fab colors! Great sketch!