the creative closet by cindy lawrence

Wacky World Card Making Day Challenge

Hello Stampers~

In honor of World Card Making Day on Saturday, October 1st, Flourishes is kicking things off one day early in a wild and wacky fashion!  Have we got a challenge for you!  It's all about that inner kid and why we love card making in general - we get to be creative!  So, think like a kid and share your favorite animated character.  Find a picture of that character.  Then, be inspired by the colors for one fun-filled color challenge!  We'll take entries through next Thursday, October 6th at 5PM EST.  The winner of this challenge gets a fun-filled prize pack with 5 Flourishes stamp sets of our choice.  Once you're done with your creation, simply link up on this post using our Inlinkz widget.  If you upload to Splitcoaststampers, please use the keyword FLLCWCMD11.  Th-th-tha-that's all folks! 

It is so hard for me to choose just one favorite cartoon character!  I will say that Puss N Boots is right up there near the top.  Adorable and sneaky and just plain hilarious all rolled into one, makes this kitty cat a definite FAVE!

Here's the card I made to go along with my challenge:

How fitting that the stamp set I chose to work with is called Sweet Nature (just like Puss, eh?). ;-)  I love this beautiful set so very much!  I paired it up with some Classic Ivory card stock and gorgeous patterned papers from the Lost and Found Sunshine pack from My Mind's Eye.  I colored the image in with Copic markers and used Spellbinders Petite Oval Nestabilities dies to frame it.  The final touches include, pretty green pearls, green velvet ribbon, and a punched border at the bottom edge of the card.

Here's a detail view of the image:

Check out the awesome Wacky World Card Making Day Challenges from the rest of the design team:

• Barbara Anders
• Christine Okken
• Cindy Lawrence <---You are here!
• Danielle Kennedy
• Dawn Burnworth
• Julie Koerber 
• Sharon Doolittle
• Stacy Morgan
• Tammy Hershberger

Have a fabulous Friday, friends!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Hugs,
~Cindy 

 

project {365} Week 3

 

Well, I made it through week 3...only 49 more to go! haha

Here's this week's play-by-play:

Day 15:  This is our sweet ginger kitty, Zachary.   He is afraid of my camera; so I don't get many chances to get a good shot of him.  Here he is sitting in a favorite sunny spot in front of the brick fireplace, while my son distracts him from the big bad camera. Isn't he a cutie patootie? 

Day 16:  Wood for the winter - Jim saved the last log for Nick.  I can't believe he's old enough to operate a chain saw!  My boy is growing up...sniff, sniff...

Day 17:  We spent some time at the neighborhood farm on Sunday, where Abbi got to feed, ride, and groom the horses that she loves so much.  Here she is having a little chat with her favorite horse, Scotty, and his buddy Ranger.

Day 18:  Some days are just not that exciting... Monday's theme: laundry...lots and lots of laundry.  Although, I must admit that laundry is not my favorite chore, I am quite thankful that I have loved ones to do laundry for. 

Day 19:  One of my favorite spots in the whole wide world...our porch swing.  It's just a happy place to be. :-)

Day 20:  This is one of Nick's gorgeous pumpkins, grown in his own little garden.  The boy has a green thumb, I tell ya! 

Day 21:  Window To the Soul - I've been wanting to do an eye shot; so today I got up the nerve to try it on myself.  I gave it a good color boost and softened everything around the eye, to really draw the focus in.  It was a fun experiment that I will probaby try again with my daughter's or hubby's baby blues. :-) 

As always, if you'd like to see my photos in all their full glory, you can check them out HERE (flickr) or HERE (365project). 

That's all for today, friends!  Hope your weekend is LOTS of fun!

Thanks for spending a little bit of your day with me!

Hugs,
~Cindy 

Flourishes Friday

Hello Stampers~

Welcome to another edition of Flourishes Free For All Friday!  This month's release was just FANTASTIC, don't you think?  It'll be fun to see what beautiful creations each of the design team members cooked up for you today!

I chose to work with the stunning Feminine Charm set.  Ever since I first saw this dress form, I've been dying to color it!  Not only is it just beautiful, it is super-easy to color as wel!

I used the following Copic marker collections on my card:

You'll probably also notice that the colors I used on my card are quite familiar.  Well, that's because they're from the new 123 Create Kit, called Garden Girl.

Check out what you get in the kit:

Pretty sweet, huh?  Those Bo Bunny papers alone are to DIE for!

My card is 3-1/4" x 6".  Here's a detail shot for you:

I added some White Opaque Pen accents to the flower centers and pearls, and rounded the top right corner of the card and focal image with a large corner rounder.

Check out what the rest of the design team created for you today:

Barbara Anders
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence <---You are here!
Danielle Kennedy
Julie Koerber 
Stacy Morgan
Tammy Hershberger
Jan Marie Caruso
Sharon Doolittle

Don't forget that TODAY is the very last day to get your hands on the New Release Bundle!  What’s in the bundle you ask? ...only all three of Flourishes’ newly released sets for September at 10% off the retail price!  You can click HERE to check it out.

Thanks for stopping by today, friends!

Have a fantastic Friday! :)

Hugs,

~Cindy 

project {365} week 2

Okay, week two is DONE!  I am enjoying this project very much; but I can see that some days are going to be tough.  I am really trying to make sure that I have my camera with me everywhere I go, cuz you just never know when a great photo op will present itself.  ...and I'm gonna run out of ideas at home in no time! LOL

Here's the break-down of this week's shots:

Day 8:  This one is a self-portrait...gasp!  What's even more scary is that I wasn't wearing any make-up and still had semi-wet hair.  I know....right?!  Well, the gorgeous lighting from the window and some soft-focus editing made for a pretty nice picture, I think.  I actually like it! LOL

Day 9:  Three eggs in a nest... Yup, we have chickens, who lay big, delicious brown eggs.  It's a beautiful thing. :)

Day 10:  Sunday night homework... Ah, yes, someone forgot to do her homework over the weekend; so this was Sunday evening's activities.  Thankfully, she didn't have much to do! 

Day 11:  After last week's rather unhappy photo (still cracks me up), I thought it was only fair that I share a picture of Smokey on a GOOD hair day.  A tiny moth had just flown by, which caused him to bolt alert from his peaceful nap on the kitchen floor.  Love the big eyes!

Day 12:  Abbi's first soccer game of the season...  She did a great job!

Day 13:  Chick-chick-chicken...  This is one of our hens, who was somewhat wary of the photographer. {grin}

Day 14:  Close-up of our crab apple tree in the rain...think this one's my fave for the week.  

As always, if you'd like to see my photos in all their full glory, you can check them out HERE (flickr) or HERE (365project). 

I do hope you have a fantastic weekend, friends!  Get out there and enjoy your life...and snap a picture or two while you're at it. ;)

Thanks for stopping in!

Hugs,
~Cindy

A Season of Thanks

Hello Stampers~

 It's the final day of sneak peeks, my friends!  Oh wait...it's RELEASE DAY!!!  Yahoo! :)

Today's set is crazy-beautiful!  It's called A Season of Thanks, and was designed by the fabulous Marcella Hawley.

Here's my card:

Yup...I did it again!  Clean, white, and simple...yay me!  This card actually almost fits the Three's A Charm challenge...almost. ;-)

The cardstock is Classic White, the ink is Memento Tuxedo Black, and the markers are Copic.  Here are the collections I used:

The background was embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder, and the ribbon is wide stitched grosgrain in a pretty rust color.  The final touch is the gorgeous Monarch Flower Center from Prima.  The scored lines at the bottom are done with the Scor Buddy.  The card size is 5-1/4" square.

That's all from me, friends!

Check out the rest of the design team's work with this set:

Barbara Anders
Julie Koerber
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence <---You are here!
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Stacy Morgan
Tammy Hershberger
Jan Marie Caruso
Sharon Doolittle

Remember, that one of the above designers is today's...

Want to win OUR ENTIRE RELEASE? Well you’ll have a few chances!  You can play in our Colors of Fall Challenge – just click HERE to find out how.  You can also play in our Noon Time Challenge that we’ll be posting right here at Noon CST today.  You could also check out our fabulously fun Sketch Challenge that we posted at noon yesterday HERE!  So click on back, get those fingers inky and good luck!  Winners for ALL of our giveaways will be announced in our Saturday Winner’s Circle — over on the Flourishes blog at 12 noon CST!

Can’t wait and know you’ll want our release NOW? Pre-order it HERE!  

Take advantage of a special limited time only deal and grab up all four of our New Release Sets for September at 10% off the total price. Please Note, this price will NOT be honored past September 23, 2011.Get all the details HERE.

Have a fabulous Friday, everyone!  I'll be back tomorrow with this week's {365} project photos, which I'm super-excited to share with you! :)

Thanks for visiting with me today!

Hugs,
~Cindy 

 

Three's A Charm Challenge

Hello again, stampers!

It’s time for the Three’s a Charm Challenge!  For this challenge you need to use THREE layers on your card, no more no less.  Now this one ANYONE can do! :)

HOW TO PLAY: 

• Simply use three layers on your card and you will be in the running! When you are done creating, simply link up on the Flourishes blog!
• Entries need to be in by Friday, September 16th by 5 PM EST.
• Those that use Flourishes stamps will be counted twice for their entry.
• You must link your creation on the Flourishes blog using the inlinkz widget in order to qualify.
• You must have a link to our challenge in your blog or gallery post.
• Please DO NOT combine challenges, while we love challenge chasers, we want to give those that follow the rules a chance at a prize valued at more than $60!
• If you upload to SCS, please use the keyword FLLC911B.
• We’ll announce the winners Saturday in our Winner’s Circle Post – check back Saturday, September 17^that noon CST to see if you’re one of the lucky winners!

 Here's my card for the challenge:

I used the beautiful new Medallion Motif Set, two layers of Classic White cardstock (base & image), and one layer of pretty patterned paper (My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose Gertie collection).  I gave my card the "look" of more layers by adding dry embossing with a Cuttlebug embossing folder, and some score lines with my Scor Buddy.  I used a Spellbinders Octagon Nestabilites Die to cut out my main image, and then colored it in with the following Copic marker collections:

The pretty pearls were colored in with the Y38 Copic marker from the Sunflower collection.  The pleated white satin ribbon is from the Flourishes store, and I added a skinny yellow satin ribbon to the center for a little pop of color.

A couple of the other designers have samples for today's challenge too!  Check them out:

• Dawn Burnworth
• Tammy Hershberger

Thanks for visiting again today!  See ya tomorrow morning for the final sneak of the week! ;)

Hugs,

~Cindy 

 

 

A Happy Hello

Hello Stampers~

Welcome to day two of Flourishes release week!  Today the design team is show-casing a fun new set called Medallion Motif.  It was designed by Becky Fleck and is SO cool! :)

Here's my card I made with it:

I chose to emboss the image in white and watercolor it with dye inks and a water brush...super easy and super effective! :)

The pretty papers, ribbons, and rhinestones all came from the awesome new 123 Create Kit, Garden Girl.  Here's what you get in that awesome kit:

 I just adore everything in this awesome kit! :)

How would you like to win today's fabulous stamp set?  All you need to do is leave some love in the form of a comment on each of the designers’ blogs today! Remember that one of us is the….

Whomever it may be (and we're not tellin') will be picking a name from the comments on her blog post today.  The more blogs you leave comments on, the more chances you have to win!

So, let's get hoppin'!

Barbara Anders
Julie Koerber
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence <--- You are here!
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Stacy Morgan
Tammy Hershberger
Jan Marie Caruso
Sharon Doolittle

Want to win OUR ENTIRE RELEASE? Well you’ll have a few chances!  You can play in our Colors of Fall Challenge – just click HERE to find out how.  You can also play in our Noon Time Challenge that we’ll be posting right here at Noon CST today.  You could also check out our fabulously fun Sketch Challenge that we posted at noon yesterday HERE!  So click on back, get those fingers inky and good luck!  Winners for ALL of our giveaways will be announced in our Saturday Winner’s Circle — over on the Flourishes blog at 12 noon CST!

Can’t wait and know you’ll want our release NOW? Pre-order it HERE!  See you back here tomorrow for the last of the sneak peeks!

Have a fantastic day, friends!

Hugs,
~Cindy 

How about a little feminine charm?

Hello Stampers~

It's Flourishes release week...yahoo!  Today's stamp set is sooo pretty!  It's called Feminine Charm, and was designed by the one-and-only Marcella Hawley.

Here's the card I made for today:

I've been on a bit of a kick lately to make cards that are clean and simple.  (Stacy, aren't you proud? ;))  I only used THREE cardstock layers on this (yeah, I know....), and they are all white!

The pretty hat stand image was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored in with Copic markers from the Hydrangea, Water, Fields, and Warm Neutrals collections.  I used the Swiss Dot Cuttlebug embossing folder to make the background, and a Martha Stewart border punch along the bottom edge of the card.  The ribbon is pale lavendar satin from May Arts.  I also used my Scor Buddy to add a couple of lines to the top and bottom of the card...love the finished look that gives the card!  The finished card size is 5-1/2" x 3-1/4".

Stop by the rest of the design team blogs to see what they've created with this gorgeous stamp set.

• Barbara Anders
• Christine Okken
• Cindy Lawrence <---You are here!
• Danielle Kennedy
• Dawn Burnworth
• Julie Koerber
• Stacy Morgan
• Tammy Hershberger

Remember that one of these bloggers is today's....

Be sure and leave a comment on every blog for your chance to win today's stamp set for FREE! :)

You'll also want to stop by the Flourishes Blog today at 1pm est for a fun challenge, and some more beautiful samples of today's stamp set. :)

Have a fantastic day, friends!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hugs,
~Cindy 

One Nation, Under God

 "We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall NOT perish from the Earth."  ~Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg 1863.

 

project {365} - looking through my lens

Hello friends~

One week ago, on my birthday, I made a commitment to take a photo every day for a year and document it in what is known as a {365} project.  I have a bunch of friends who have either been doing this for a while, recently started doing it, or getting geared up to get started.  I have a wonderful camera (Canon EOS T2i) that I've had for about a year now, and really haven't taken the time to learn all that it is capable of.  I am super-excited to learn new techniques, and, more importantly, to create this wonderful photo journal of the year.

I thought I might share the photos with you here once a week on Saturday.  I hope you don't mind!

This week's photos are quite a mix, as I suspect every week probably will be.  I am trying not to spend too much time "deciding" on a photo; but rather just taking them as I feel inspired.  That may change over the year; but for now you get random. ;)

Day One:  These are my all-time favorite chocolates from a local chocolatier, given to me for my birthday by my sweet hubby....

Day Two:  Copic refills...much-needed and long-overdue!  Oh happy coloring day...

Day Three:  This is my favorite photo of the week...our kitty, Smokey, during his bath...not a happy boy AT ALL...

Day Four:  Family game night is a big-time tradition in our home, and on this night we played Scattergories only about a million times...

Day Five:  If summer had to end, at least it is followed by the wonderful month of September, which brings apples to New England...and is closely followed by delicious apple pie...

Day Six:  I am not a huge fan of bees; but this one was quite busy with our beautiful hydrangeas when I snapped his picture...

Day Seven:  We have had day after day of rain this week, and when the sun finally made an appearance, even the marigolds were smiling. :)

If you'd like to see my photos in all their full glory, you can check them out HERE or HERE. 

If you have begun your own {365} project, I would LOVE to see it!  If you are inspired to start one, but don't know where to begin, I would be happy to help in whatever way I can.

Thanks for humoring me, friends!

Have yourselves a FANTASTIC weekend!  I am off to teach a card class this morning. :)

Hugs,

~Cindy