So summer is in full swing, and much to my surprise (seriously, I’m just stunned), things have been just absolutely blissful here.  In the past, summer has been hard, with kids whining, and mom at a loss of how to keep the small people entertained.  I don’t know if it is because they are all finally older, or if they really just have grown up to a place where self entertainment is thriving, but it has just been beautiful.  Don’t get me wrong, they destroy the house daily, but they have had these beautiful games of pretend going on, massive detailed art projects spew from their little brains, and epic games of bounce the ball (I don’t really understand the rules of the game with the different sports balls they have made up, but does it really matter).  And for a ten(going on eleven) year old son, and eight (going on twenty-five) year old daughter, and a six (going on insane) year old girl who I am going to squash to keep from growing up, its has been everything.

I think I may be a little blue when they go back to school.

My son and eldest daughter made me one of the the proudest moms yesterday.  They cornered me, and asked very nicely, with cash in their hands (their own cash in fact) and asked if they could go to the art store and get their own sketch books.  For a girl who lives for the moments she can dip her hands into some paint, or spend many lost hours with her markers, her kids asking for sketch books is a moment of pride.  And lets be honest, any excuse I have to go to the art store, so away we went.  I didn’t make them spend their own money on a sketch book.  They both got hard bound books (it was what they wanted) and the little one got a giant pad (and I mean giant) of paper to paint on.

So last night, I did not hear a peep from my off spring.  They were gone into the world of creativity.  (I promise if the kids give me permission, I will share some of their work).  So here I was on a Thursday night, husband at work, in a house filled with people and nothing, and I mean nothing to do.  (here is where we get the point of this whole long winded, not so interesting story).  I am sure you have noticed, but my card challenge posts this summer have been few and far between.  It has really been just that time isn’t always there, and frankly since I have been working some really big projects.  But last night here I was with nothing to do, and silence.  So I sat down to make a few cards.  And here we are.

By the way, coloring rocks.

---

Up first today in our unexpected and random post cause I just happened to end up with the time I didn’t know I was going to get challenge, is a clean and simple watercolor challenge from the gals over at The Paper Players.

I think anyone who reads my post regularly knows I struggle with

clean and simple.  Clean and simple watercolor really throws me because I don’t find working with watercolors clean and simple.  But this time I feel I might have nailed it.  I pulled a stamp from Penny Black and stamped it out in some Archival Ink.  Then using my Gansai Tambi watercolors, I proceeded to color in the image.  I did some heavy shadows using the paint (sticking to the same color as the under paint just put on heavier).  I love this image, and it so reminds me of my girls.  I am sure most mothers of daughters have had moments like this.  I pulled out the sentiment from a Stampendous stamp pack, and I think that it is very fitting.  I trimmed up the watercolor paper, added a bit of blue card stock underneath and assembled the card.  Like I said earlier…for once I think I hit the head on the nail of this CAS card.

---

Next in my moments of unexpected coloring is a color challenge from the sleuths of design over at Can You Case It.  This week they are asking for design work highlighting the shades of pinks, dark blues, and neutrals.  It is a beautiful palette, but seriously, what do you color when you are mixing these two shades.

Yes, florals sort of made sense, but I think everyone at this point I just don’t gravitate to floral stamps as so many do.  So after much consideration, I

pulled out a fun little stamp pack from Paper Smooches, and pulled only two stamps out; a strawberry (which is pink right), and a round little shade I usually make a grape, but today I turned into a blue berry (and that is blue).  I colored everything in using my copics and hit the strawberry leaves with a bit of neutral colors (and a hint of olive green).  The ground is a little streaky, which drives me nuts, but what are you going to do.  I stamped out a sentiment from the same stamp pack and added some kraft card stock behind the image.  I added just a bit of pink printed paper behind the whole think and called it a day.  Yes the card is pretty simple, but yet, I like it.  I’m not crazy about the pink of the strawberries (just the wrong combination) and love the shade of blues I used on the blueberries.

---

The elves of holiday design over at 52 Christmas Card Throwndown this week passed out a theme challenge.  The theme this week….the twelve days of christmas.  Sounds easy right…we all know the song, but in the end how many lords a leaping or maids a milking stamps do you really have?

In fact I really had zero images that fit the childhood song.  Finally I

found a sweet little bird image from a Paper Smooches christmas stamp pack that I figured would work for the ‘two turtle doves’.  The problem was that the image only went one way.  So I pulled out some acetate, and praying that this worked, I stamped out the image onto the acetate and immediately, rubbed the image onto the card stock.  In the end I had to trace the mirrored image with a black pen, but I got the image in reverse, so I’m not complaining.  I stamped the other image the normal way and a sentiment from the same holiday stamp pack.  I colored in the birds with a bit of copic markers.  Then knowing I needed something else, I pulled another Paper Smooches stamp pack out, I stamped out the circle with the heart with a bit of Archival Ink in two different shades.  I trimmed up the card stock, and pulled out some pretty poinsettia printed paper (it is holiday paper I swear).  In the end, I’m not sure it looks like turtle doves (what ever those really are), but I like the card regardless.

---

Finally today, we have another color challenge from the gurus of color over at Color Throwdown.  This week the color gurus challenge us to use green, orange, purple, and aqua.

This week I was totally inspired by one of the Color Throwdown designers, Amy Rysavy, and took her

card theme as one of my own.  My ten year is still a dinosaur kid, so seriously, I can’t have enough dinosaur cards under my belt.  I pulled out this stamp pack from Lawn Fawn, stamping out my dinos, masking where needed.  Then I simply colored in the dinosaurs using the colors of the challenge.  Where I may have failed with the ground in an earlier card, I think I nailed it here.  Yes, the card is simply, maybe a little boring, but I long ago learned when making a card for my son, or another little boy, less is usually more, and sequins just don’t do it for them.

---

That is all for today.  I’m off to the pool with my littles and some friends.  Hoping tonight I get a little time to lay down some paint, but I have a feeling that the kids are going to request we continue on our Harry Potter movie-a-thon.  We have knocked out the first three in the past week, and they are already itching for the forth.  And trust me when I say, I will always take curling up with my babies to watch a movie over anything else.