Baby clothes & Rock 'n' Roll

I've had a very productive day today! We got another row and 1/2 weeded in the garden, and I transplanted two zucchini plants, two wax bean plants, and a cantaloupe plant. When we came in from the garden, I gave Michael a haircut. Then I cleaned the entire bathroom, including the bath tub (my least favorite, and therefore the least often cleaned, part), but excluding the floor. After that we went over to a friend's house for lunch. DJ had spent the night there last night, and we brought his buddy back to spend the night here tonight. They had spent the majority of the day playing with water: kiddy pools, hoses, squirters, soakers, balloons, etc., and were completely exhausted, so while all the kids napped and Michael ran to the store for milk and such, I got to complete some challenges. And now I'm getting to blog. Very productive indeed. ;)

Here we have my first submission for Libby's anniversary celebration of her From Courtney's Closet challenge. I chose to take my inspiration for this card from Courtney's 7-month pose on the pier in Cape Cod. When Libby used that picture for a previous challenge, she said she was feeling inspired by the red, white, and blue (though the blue is turquoise, and the red appeared to be Rose Red on my monitor), and on this Memorial Day weekend, I feel it is equally appropriate. I made another attempt at the faux seersucker technique for my stamped panel, but it just looks crimped. The ric-rac is from an old ribbon originals pack and was Cool Caribbean, but I colored it Tempting Turquoise with my marker. The ribbon knot on the button was from a different ribbon originals pack. I finally used one of my Basic Jumbo Grommets after I watched this video on Linda Heller's blog and discovered just how easy they are to use. The layout for this card came from a sketch challenge on SCS-SC159.
My second card is also my second entry for Libby's FCCC #42, and my submission for the Corrosive Challenge #12, and another SCS sketch-SC154. This time I was inspired by Courtney's 4-month cherry outfit (well, to be honest, I got her 4-month cherry outfit and her 5-month ladybug outfit confused, so that's why I used red and the gingham ribbon, but the cherries are there). The Rockabilly Specialty DSP is another item I've been hoarding {and yes, it is part of this month's sale~email me for information on how you can get FREE Designer Series Paper or Textured card stock}, but I knew it would be perfect in conjunction with the coordinating Just Jawing stamp set for Janet's Corrosive Challenge, since this week's theme is "Let's ROCK!" I realized I needed the perfect way to showcase that awesome Specialty DSP, so I looked back through my SCS challenge notebook and thought sketch challenge 154 would do the trick.

To mimic the glossy texture of this Specialty DSP, I stamped the skull and crossbones in Basic Black craft ink on Whisper White and Riding Hood Red cs and embossed with clear EP, then cut out the images. I stamped "You Rock!" in versamark on RHR cs and again used the clear EP. The width of that piece fit perfectly between two of the glossy stripes of the Kiwi Kiss striped pattern, and I finished off the sentiment panel with the corner rounder punch. I ran the black gingham ribbon across my RHR classic pad to die it to match. Too fun!

Sweet wishes!