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  I feel like I'm on a roll this week with making cards.  I think I may have found the secret to my sanity this summer.  It's called "Quiet Time" and the boys have actually been pretty good at it.  Since we haven't had naps here in 2 years (my boys are only almost 4 and almost 6 but they kicked the nap habit a long long time ago) my quiet afternoons of stamping have been long gone.  And now that preschool has been out for 3 weeks and elementary school is finished on Friday we needed a solution to the afternoon crazies (are my kids the only ones who get the afternoon crazies??).  I tried "Quiet Time" previously but it just didn't take...all I did was spend "Quiet Time" telling one little boy or another that "no, time isn't up yet" or "stay in your room" or "stop yelling to your brother through the walls" or "yes, it's OK to come out of your room to use the bathroom".  I think the boys may have misinterpreted the "Quiet" for "Nap"!  Needless to say there wasn't much stamping going on.  They've actually seemed to enjoy a bit of "Quiet Time" to play or read on their own and are very proud to show off whatever structure/vehicle/mess they've built in their rooms during the 30 minutes.  But mommy is happy to get some time to at least start on a card or work on a new idea in relative quiet!

  Here is one that I made yesterday for a little girl who's 6th birthday is almost here.  I had fun with the girlie colors and a bit of sparkle.  I used the Clean and Simple Challenge over on Splitcoaststampers for my jumping off point.  The challenge is to use a white layer on a white card base.

  I haven't used the Pennant Parade set nearly as much as I should and this was a perfect occasion to bust it out.  This one is pretty self-explanatory but a few things I want to point out are that I partially embossed the top panel to leave a nice smooth area for my sentiment on the bottom.  Also, I used one of the new In Colors, Raspberry Ripple.  The colors came straight from the Color Coach...Raspberry Ripple, Old Olive and Pretty in Pink.  Last detail of note: I used the edge of my Raspberry Ripple marker to highlight the edge of the top layer of Whisper White.  I got that neat idea from my blogging buddy Allison Ohran at Sweet Impressions and a card she did the other day.

  Thanks for looking!  Did you stamp today?

Stamps: Pennant Parade, Bring on the Cake

Ink: Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Raspberry Ripple

Paper: Whisper White


Accessories: Pennant Punch, rhinestones, corner rounder, taffeta ribbon, Dazzling Details (on the candle flame!)