{Have a Beary Special Day} Document Wallet Card

Hi everyone,

I have a slightly different paper project for you today. Yes, it's still a card but one for a larger gift pass. I had some complimentary Disneyland tickets when I worked for Disney that I wanted to give to my friend Anna and her family. The tickets were just printed on a regular size letter paper so I thought of creating a wallet type of card and this here is my result:

outside of the card

inside of the card, the tickets slide right in front of the yellow panel.

Since I trimmed down my stamp collection for our move to Sweden I had to get a little creative with the sentiment. So, the bear and the "sweet" in Sweet Friends is from the TCP set Honey Bear (currently out of stock I'm afraid). The "Friends" is from the TCP set Good Friends - it looks like this is retired and then the sentiment "Have a Beary Special Day" is from one of my all time favorite sets, one of the very first PJ (that's the bear) sets. I don't remember the name unfortunately and I know it's definitely retired. It was an amazing set!!

For the honeycomb pattern I used one of my brand new sets from Honey Bee Stamps called Sweet As Honey with the coordinating dies. I used the dies to make a stencil and then I used my Ranger Ink blending tool to dab in the color for the honeycombs.

Now to the fun part...so after I decorated the inside of my card I realized that it was too bulky for the card to actually stay closed. I needed a closure of some kind and this is the one I came up with. I cut out a couple of circle shapes, glued them together, attached a string to one side and voila. My document/gift pass wallet was complete.

exterior closure

interior string 

That's all I have for today...have a great start to your week!

Sony
 

{I Could Rule The World} Mojo Monday 500

Hi everyone,

have you heard? This week marks an anniversary and sadly a farewell as well. Julee announced that this will be the final Mojo Monday challenge sketch. It is the 500th sketch challenge - such an amazing accomplishment!! But...as she talks about on her blog...our lifes' change and with that, this will be our very last Mojo Monday challenge.

Life changes. As I ponder that thought I find myself getting a bit sentimental as I'm packing up my last 20 years of memories in the US and prepare myself for a new life overseas. Change is often bittersweet. It encompasses the excitement of something new but also the sadness of leaving something old behind. But we don't want to linger on those sad thoughts for too long because if we spend the majority of our time looking back, we miss out on all the wonderful things that lie before us. 

With those thoughts...I'd like to say farewell Mojo Monday!! Thank you for all the wonderful memories of picking color combinations, figuring out what stamps to use and how to adapt the sketch. It's been a blast!!!

And a very special thank you to Julee!! Thank you for inspiring us and encouraging us for so many years! You always had a kind word for everyone and please know, that is not overlooked and not forgotten. I feel honored to have had the chance to be on your Design Team and I wish you all the best!!! Enjoy your little ones!! Time goes by so fast!!!
PS: I do hope you will keep the blog as it is because I know there are some sketches I have not played with yet. 

The final sketch:

So...for my final Mojo Monday card I've chose the set Better With You. I've used the Distress Inks Rusty Hinge and Abandoned Coral to create the background panel. The little heart on my coffee cup received the sparkle treatment with the help of some Diamond Stickles. The stitched frames are dies by MFT and the coffee cups have been colored in with Copic Markers.

Here's a closer look:

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Have a great week!!

Sonja

{Adventure is out there}

Hi everyone,

I'm back with another moving/travel card. You can imagine I have a few of those to send out at the moment. This week is actually my last week at work. It's a bit strange I have to admit...I've been at this company for almost four years so I can't quite imagine not coming here anymore. Strangely mixed feelings! lol

Anyway, back to my card. This one is a little extra fun because I got to play with new stamps. I've just recently stumbled upon Honey Bee Stamps. Their designs are super cute and so versatile!! Each set can be combined in numerous ways. Really cool!! 

I have used their retiring set No Place Like Home for my card here. If you think you might like this set...be sure to hurry up and get it before it's out of stock. The Frame and Banner Dies are from MFT.

Here's a closer look:

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Have a great rest of the week!!

Sonja

{Make a Splash} TCP Tuesday 336

Hi everyone,

I'm back with another card today. So I know I've been out of the game for a while and watercolor seems to be the big new thing. Or I'm so late to the party it's on it's way out again? Who knows....anyway, it's new to me and it's been years that I've played with water colors. Quite frankly I was never all that great at it but what the heck. Time to give it one more try. I used some of my mini Distress Inks, a mister and a blender...and just started doing some stuff. 

Really...it took me about 3 full sheets of paper to get something I sort of liked. Now I know I need to get Alma's watercolor stamps over at The Cat's Pajamas. This is just way too unpredictable for me. lol 

Speaking of the Cat's Pajama's...I admit I have my eye on a few swanky sets over there but since I'm about to have to pay for COBRA health insurance for a few months while I'm in between jobs...a little gift certificate would certainly be appreciated. 

What better way than to play along in this month's TCP Tuesday challenge?! The theme is Sea, Sand and Sky....or Sand, sky and sea?? It's one of those but you get the idea. :) 

It's summer!!!!

So for my card I used a retired set. I just love me some Sprinkle and can't seem to part with her. This one I believe was called Fun in the Sun? 

I colored it with Copic markers and added some Glitter which is a bit hard to see in my photographs so you just have to take my word for it. :) It's sparkles :)

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Have a great week!!

Sonja

{Sending you Smiles...} Mojo Monday 499

Hi everyone,

I was in need of another card this week. This time I needed a Get Well card for my friend who's in the hospital with a very dangerous staph infection. It nearly cost him his life but thankfully God had other plans for him and he is recovering. He is looking at a lengthy hospital stay though so I wanted to send him a card to hopefully brighten his day a little.

For this task I chose to go with a modified version of this week's Mojo Monday sketch. I say modified because, well...my card is not square and I offset a few of the elements. My excuse for the changes? I literally threw out the only square envelopes I had today in an effort to downsize for our upcoming international move. Go figure!! Amazing how quickly I regretted that. lol 

 I do however still have some standard size envelopes so there you go. Standard size it is. :)

For the card elements I used Reverse Confetti dies and stamps. I used the Greeting Frame Confetti Cut for the...you guessed it...frame. I used the Globe Confetti Cut for the globe and the sentiment is from the set My World.

I decided to continue the sentiment on the inside of the card, which needed a panel anyways so I could write a message since I don't have any white ink pens at the moment.

Here's a look at the inside:

Here is this week's sketch - it is a brand new week so I'll actually get to link it to the Blog this time around and not miss it like last week. :P 

and lastly...a closer look from a slightly different angle to show off the layering:

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Have a great rest of your week!

Sonja

{Happy Graduation} Mojo Monday 498

Hi everyone,

I'm back with a much needed graduation card. One of my friends from church graduated from college today. She's now officially an accountant!! Yay!!! I really loved last week's Mojo Monday challenge and decided to go with that sketch for this card. I was just a little late linking it to the blog. Oops.

For this card I decided to break out my good ole Verve stamps and I ended up using one of my all time favorite sets: Happy Days. I'm so sad to say it's now retired.  :(

I paired it with numbers from the set Calendar Countdown. This one is still available and on sale so make sure you get this one while you can. Everybody should have a good numbers set because you can always use those.

I wanted to give her a little money so I included a little pouch on the inside of the card.

I love the sentiments in the set Words of Wisdom. They can work for so many different occasions. 

For this card I went with the "go confidently in the direction of your dreams" sentiment. :)

This is the Mojo Monday sketch:

And here's a little closer look of the front of my card:

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Sonja

{We're moving} TCP Blog Hop

Hi everyone,

I don't know if you've heard already but my boyfriend and I are moving!!! It's a big one this time..we're moving to Sweden! Yes...it's quite the endeavor. It's amazing how much work goes into an international move. We're starting by downsizing as much as we can. How much stuff can a person have?! It's insane!! I've even downsized my stamp collection by a considerable amount. Unfortunately, and I kick myself for it, I threw out some stamp sets that I now regret having thrown out and I'm seriously considering buying again. Ugh!!! Anyway...

I needed a little moment of Zen in between boxes and stuff everywhere so here is my card for this months TCP blog hop:

I paired some of Alma's stamps with some dies from Reverse Confetti to create this cute announcement card. :) I believe these stamps are retired I'm sorry to say. I'm a huge fan of Alma's designs and couldn't part with most of her stamp sets so you'll most likely see a few more retired-stamp-set cards from me in the future.

Here a closer look:

I started to use hot glue for putting my cards together. I didn't like how some of my cards would relatively easily come apart so...hot glue to the rescue. Well, not for my fingers unfortunately. I have the one or other burn to show for it. :P But hey! My cards are no longer coming apart. :) Win!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Have a great rest of your week!

Sonja

{Happy Birthday} SFYTT

Hi everyone,

alright...this will be my last post for tonight. I took a little break from packing tonight and decided to participate in this month's SFYTT sketch using my brandnew Reverse Confetti stamps and dies. Very exciting!

For this card I used the Toucan of Friendship set and paired it with the Happy Pretty Panels Confetti Cuts . The papers are from On the Bright Side by My Mind's Eye.

Here is a closer look: 

and last but not least...here's the sketch for this month's SFYTT challenge:

thanks so much for stopping by!

Have a great start to your week tomorrow,

Sonja

{Know what you're getting?}

Hi everyone,

I'm back with another card today. This time I revisited some of my old TCP or The Cat's Pajama's stamps. I paired Sassy Birthday with Hola Tequila for a more masculine happy 30th birthday card.

I figured...nothing says happy 30th to a guy more than a shot of Tequila, don't you think?

Here's a closer look:

thanks so much for stopping by.

Have a great day!

Sonja

{Birthday Tweetings} Reverse Confetti

Hi Everyone,

It's been a little while but I'm back with a few cards I was able to make last week. My little stamp hiatus lasted about 1-2 years it looks like and a few things seem to have changed. I'm super excited to see my old fellow Verve Diva Jen del Muro's company, Reverse Confetti, doing so well. Have you seen her designs? They are a wonderful representation of her unique style. I love it! I just got my first order and here you can see the result:

I used the set Toucan of Friendship with the matching Die set and I used the  Hello & Thanks Confetti Label Die to cut out the white framing panel.

Here is a closer up look:

Well, it's good to be back!! Thank you so much for stopping by after all these years.

I am hoping I'll have more time in the future to stamp again although things might get a little busy in the near future. I'm in the middle of organizing our move to Sweden!! Yes...I got a job offer and the adventure just sounded too good to pass up so we're going. :)

I'll have to figure out if Reverse Confetti will ship to Sweden...mmmh. We'll see ;)

Have a great rest of your weekend!!

Sonja

{Travel vacation} SFYTT

Hi everyone,

Making my card I got really inspired to make another...so the next day, when I had a moment I made this card here, using the March SFYTT sketch. I'm a huge fan of Jen's sketches. They are always a little more complex than the average sketch, giving ample opportunity for me to challenge myself and try something new. This time I wanted to push my pattern limits. Patterns for some reason always scare me a bit but at the same time I'm always super impressed when I see someone who's really good at using them.

I figure - it's just a matter of practice. :)

Oh and here's the sketch I've been raving about so much:

Isn't it fun?!

If you participate and use Reverse Confetti stamps you even have the chance to win something. I unfortunately don't own any Reverse Confetti stamps yet so no chance for me but I still had fun playing along. The stamps I used are a hodge podge mix from The Cat's Pajamas and (I believe a retired set now from) My Favorite Things. 

Have a great rest of the weekend!

{Make Lemonade...}TCP Tuesday #309

we've had a lot of rain here in the San Fran area this past week which is great of course since we really needed it but also made me crave a fun, bright spring card.This card here is a hodge podge mix of some The Cat's Pajamas stamps as well as Taylored Expressions stamps.

I just loved the sentiment so much and thought it would go great with the idea of Sprinkle behind her little juice stand. I hope you enjoy and keep on making lemonade :)

Sonja

{Is it too late?} Mojo Monday 426

hi everyone,

I'm still on vacation which meant I was able to get another card in this morning. Yay!

This time I played along with this weeks Mojo Monday sketch. Always a good jumping off point.

Here's the sketch:

have a good day everyone!

{have a jolly holly christmas}

this was my second card I made.I just love how a little bow on top of a circle nestie makes it feel like a christmas ornament. :)

{and one more}

here is one more I did last night. This one reminds me of gingerbread cookies. :)

Happy Holidays!!

{tis the season...} to stamp

it's been a long time but I had the sudden urge to create some christmas cards and I had so much fun I didn't stop at one, I made three. I hope you enjoy and are having a wonderful holiday season. In case you're wondering - the stamps I used are all from the Cat's Pajamas. These are some of my alltime favorites of Alma's designs.

{Winter Wonderland} December Diva Inspiration Bloghop

Hi everyone,

and welcome to our December Diva Inspiration Blog Hop. My Internet is currently down so please bare with me as im posting this from my cell phone. :) 

I'll be back as soon as i have access but in the meantime here's my  card and my inspiration. 

hi!!! Ok my internet is back up and running! Unbelievable how helpless you feel without it isn't it? lol Anyway, can you believe it's December already? 

It's time to break out the cookies, get the tree out and write those cards. I also like to take this time to think about the past year, the highs and lows and for me there were quite a few of those. 

I got lasik eye surgery a few weeks ago and no longer need glasses. It's an amazing feeling!! Especially when you don't even remember the last time you were able to see without glasses. I finished my very first project at the company I now work out and I'm extremely proud of it. It's called "Tomorrowland" and is a movie by Brad Bird that comes out next summer. I fought hard to get a raise at work so please keep your fingers crossed for me there. I moved into an amazing apartment - no more roommates for me so yay. I'm way too old for roommates anyway but with rents in San Francisco being as high as they are it's unavoidable unless you move 30miles outside of the city which I did. :) Gives me time to make those phonecalls in the morning. :) 

And lastly...my mom was diagnosed with cancer about two weeks ago. She has multiple myeloma, stage  3  and if you follow my blog you know that I just lost my dad to cancer two years ago so the diagnosis came as a shock and in some ways we're still dealing with it.

My mom started her chemo treatments this week and as anybody who has gone through it or has seen a loved one go through it you know there are good and bad days. There are days when she's full of hope and then there are days when she wants to give up. What makes it harder for us is that I live on the westcoast and she is in Florida but thanks be to God that I have such an amazing family. My uncle told my aunt to go to my mom as soon as she can and stay with her for as long as she wants. Did I mention the rest of my family all live in Germany? Yes so my aunt will fly in to be with my mom next week and will be there with her for the entire time. 

I can't even begin to describe to you how grateful and relieved I am. 

God is good!

So...let me tell you what this month's blog hop is all about:

It's the 5th of the month and that means it's time for the Divas to serve up some fresh inspiration with their Verve stamps! Leave some comment love along the hop spots for a chance to win a prize, then grab some stamps and play along with our December inspiration challenge for another chance to win!

This month's challenge is entitled O Christmas Tree:

Ribbons and sparkle and merry galore! Create a card inspired by the decorations of the season!

Need a little inspiration? Check out the blogs linked below to see what the other Divas did with the challenge! It's sure to be a treat, and speaking of treats, we've got a prize for one lucky commenter along the hop! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines!

This here was my inspiration for the card I made above - a little side note: that believe fence I actually made myself. 

	1. Julee	6. Karen
	2. Amy	7. Sankari
	3. Anya	8. Sarah
	4. Betty	9. Sony
	5. Jen	10. Susan

Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas to you!!!

{One Lifetime} November Divainspiration Blog Hop

hi Everyone,

and Welcome to Verve's November Diva Inspirations Hop. I'm showcasing another card I made for my friend's wedding last month. I wasn't entirely happy with the first one I made so I decided to make one more and then see which one I liked better. I ended up giving her this one. I liked how it resembled a book cover in a way which reminded me of how my friend is opening a new chapter in her life and I just really liked the symbolism of that. 

Well that's all I have for you today...I'm in the middle of moving and boxes are everywhere around here. You don't even want to know how many boxes I had to dig through to find the hard drive that had the picture for today's post on it....last night. I built up a good sweat let me tell you lol but thankfully I found it and here it is. :) Yay!

 Be sure to check out what the rest of the Diva team has come up with for inspiration with their Verve stamps! Leave some comment love along the hop spots for a chance to win a prize, then grab some stamps and play along with our November inspiration challenge for another chance to win!

This month's challenge is entitled Naturally Navy:

Classic, bold, timeless...navy is naturally elegant! Go nautical or pair with neutrals for a creation sure to impress.

Need a little inspiration? Check out the blogs linked below to see what the other Divas did with the challenge! It's sure to be a treat, and speaking of treats, we've got a prize for one lucky commenter along the hop! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines!

	1. Amy	7. Sarah
	2. Anya	8. Sony
	3. Betty	9. Susan
	4. Jen	10. Maureen
	5. Karen	11. Stacey
	6. Sankari	12. Marisa

{Wedding Wishes} Diva Inspiration Blog Hop

hi Everyone,

Welcome to Verve's October Diva Inspirations Hop. 

I am SO sorry but I'm afraid I lost track of time this month so I didn't get around to creating a theme inspired card this month...instead I'm showing you one of the cards I created for my friend's wedding a few weeks ago. Stay tuned for the one I actually ended up giving her...but in the meantime:

It's time for the Divas to serve up some fresh inspiration with their Verve stamps! Leave some comment love along the hop spots for a chance to win a prize, then grab some stamps and play along with our October inspiration challenge for another chance to win!

This month's challenge is entitled Fall Fancy:

The air is crisp and the colors are warm – celebrate fall with a spook-tacular creation or a thoughtful thank you using Fall as your inspiration! 

Need a little inspiration? Check out the blogs linked below to see what the other Divas did with the challenge! It's sure to be a treat, and speaking of treats, we've got a prize for one lucky commenter along the hop! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize info and deadlines!

	1. Julee	7. Sarah
	2. Amy	8. Sony
	3. Anya	9. Maureen
	4. Betty	10. Laurie
	5. Karen	11. Marisa
	6. Sankari	12. Jen