Well, a couple of my TSOT teamies have pointed me to a new challenge blog they have going called Joy of Sets!  This is their first tic-tac-toe challenge - can't wait to play!
I decided I wanted to play with florals today, so I chose the die cut-floral-bling column, and decided to knock out some of my elements with the gorgeous Petal Palette set.  I did the large spray of flowers, and colored in with my fave green and purple color combo, and floated everything over one of our gorgeous woodgrain sheets.  I finished with a few scattered and different-sized rhinestones for my bling - I love how this came out!  Kind of country wedding-ish!
Petal Palette Stamp set; Wood Textures DSP; Whisper White & Blackberry Bliss CS; Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; Blackberry Bliss & Old Olive Blends Markers; Stitched Shapes Framelits; Petals & More Thinlits; Basic Jewel Rhinestones; #JOSTTT001.

Good times ahead - check out our fun sketch at Try Stampin' on Tuesday #392, love the big borders!
I cheated a little on the square shape, though, and floated  a big square on my standard card base.  To make up for it, I DID manage to slip in the secondary metallics challenge - something I almost NEVER pull off, lol.  I'll be honest, too, today is the first day I even noticed this sentiment in Love You to Pieces - I'm always stuck on the "keeping me together" one!  I liked this narrower one under my square...
So, what will YOU create??  See you over at the challenge!
Love You to Pieces Stamp Set; Twinkle Twinkle DSP; Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Pool Party, Soft Sea Foam, Petal Pink & Silver Metallic CS; Night of Navy Ink; Puzzle Pieces Thinlits; Silver Sequins; #TSOT392.

Oh good - Inspire Create Challenge #34's In Color challenge is perfect for me, to get these beauties out and play!  I haven't been using these enough for sure...
So, I really have a hard time with this set of In Colors - I don't do bright too often.  But what about some bright splashes of color?  That could be fun!  I decided to pull out Waterfront, since it has all those landscape-building scribbles, and this "every little kindness" phrase is one of my all-time faves, lol...  I just noticed though, I went for the full set of In Colors here, and used Blueberry Bushel, NOT Night of Navy, and Grapefruit Grove instead of Calypso Coral.  Whoops!  What a dunce!  Shh, don't tell on me.  I didn't do any measuring to get this color block, I swear, I just decided to do a wider border than usual, and all my stripes just worked out!  Nice!
Waterfront Stamp Set; Whisper White & Basic Black CS; Lovely Lipstick, Grapefruit Grove, Pineapple Punch, Call Me Clover, Blueberry Bushel & Memento Tuxedo Black Inks; Layering Circles Framelits; Clear Epoxy Droplets.

I see some fun cards ahead with Back to Basics #19's "shaped card" challenge - make sure you check out the DT samples, lol!
I spent some time browsing some of my old fun dies thinking I would cut something on the fold for a shaped card, but I the end, I came across my old Ovals Collection framelits, for a really good card-sized oval shape, lol.  I started thinking about a pretty paper for the background, and came across this chunk of Share What You Love DSP, so that led me to the accompanying stamp set, Love What You Do.  It's all about the Blackberry Bliss today!  Such a fun little note!
Love What You Do Stamp Set; Share What You Love DSP; Blackberry Bliss & Whisper White CS; Memento Tuxedo Black & Blackberry Bliss Inks; Blackberry Bliss & Old Olive Blends Markers; Ovals Collection & Stitched Shapes Framelits; #BBB19.

Yippee!  The Sisterhood of Crafters first challenge of the year is perfect - "make it sparkle!"
I decided to browse my glimmer paper stash to see if anything jumped out at me for this one.  And actually, something did!  I had totally forgotten I had some Blushing Bride Glimmer, and the pretty pink made me start thinking of hearts and love, lol.  I've always loved the squiggly heart in the Sunshine Wishes Thinlits, so I pulled out my Sunshine Sayings set to go with.  I ended up keeping it pretty simple - two entwined hearts with a "lifetime of love" sentiment - perfect for an anniversary or even Valentine's Day!  Yay for sparkle!
Sunshine Sayings Stamp Set; Subtles DSP in Blushing Bride; Whisper White & Blushing Bride CS; Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper; Memento Tuxedo Black & Blushing Bride Inks; Sunshine Wishes Thinlits; Fancy Frost Sequins (retired); #TSOCSparkle.

We have a great banded sketch for you this week at Fab Friday #155!
That nice horizontal got me thinking about our awesome long bench in the Sitting Pretty bundle, and I knew I needed to pull that one out and get some bulldog time!  I'm not sure why I always gravitate to the more muted colors for this one - I think I've used Soft Sea Foam every time for it, lol.  Anyway, I really wanted my dog, plant and birdie for the bench, and then I decided to use Well Said for my sentiment.  I figured the "here for you" thought went great with my little loyal pup, and I matched it with a "surrounded by love" phrase for the inside.  Such a great sentiment set!
I can't wait to see YOUR creations - see you at the challenge!
Sitting Pretty & Well Said Stamp Sets; Gray Granite, Soft Sea Foam, Crumb Cake & Whisper White CS; Memento Tuxedo Black, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz & Crumb Cake Inks; Balmy Blue Blends Marker; Subtle DEF; Pretty Park Framelits; Faceted Dots; #FabFri155.

Oh goodie - Fusion Challenges is back from the holidays, and with their 5th Anniversary challenge!  Wowza!
In honor of their suggested butterfly theme, I pulled out my Butterfly gala - fast becoming a go-to for me, I don't know what's wrong with me, lol.  I also snagged my Botanical Butterflies DSP for some background detail.  I followed the sketch pretty well, for the most part, and added a few popped up butterflies to pull the color over the black and white layer.  And yes, I'm actually using Grapefruit Grove - amazing!!  Lol.  Can you see my tiny little antennae made with Black Metallic Thread on my butterflies?  Cool trick and super easy to stick to a glue dot on the back!  Congrats to Fusion - here's to another 5 years!
Butterfly Gala Stamp Set; Botanical Butterflies DSP; Whisper White, Basic Black & Grapefruit Grove CS; Memento Tuxedo Black & Grapefruit Grove Inks; Butterfly Duet Punch; Faceted Dots; #FusionFifthAnniversary.

The Library Challenge #24 has a brand new cover for us this week - Absolute Beginners.  Another new title for me, but gotta love that yellow scooter! 
So I OF COURSE ran straight for Mediterranean Moments - one Vespa, coming up!  I kept the card fairly simple, leaving the background black and white, but I couldn't resist popping up a fussy cut and colored cycle - it's so small, I wanted to add a little pizzazz somehow.  I tried to use an accent blue that mirrors the book cover color, too, Coastal Cabana seems about right!  I turned it into a Happy Retirement (inside, lol) card using Well Said - this is the kind of retirement I think I could get used to, lol...
Mediterranean Moments & Well Said Stamp Sets; Whisper White & Coastal Cabana CS; Memento Tuxedo Ink; Smoky Slate, Basic Black & Mango Melody Blends Markers; Crushed Curry Glimmer Dots; #TLC24.

We're so excited to announce our new challenge this week - trying something fun - our first "mix it up" challenge at Try Stampin' on Tuesday #391!  Use the technique, or the sketch, or mix it up for both!
I'm super proud that I managed to squeeze in both challenges - I pulled some happy Picure Perfect Party DSP out of my retired bin, AND slipped in our New Amazing Life set, which totally uses mixed up fonts in the sentiments - yes!  I took my colors from the DSP, of course, and even added a fussy cut little cake to go with my saying.  And of course, we NEVER say no to cake!
So, what will you create??  I can't wait to see, over at the challenge!
Amazing Life Stamp Set; Picture Perfect Party DSP (retired); Whisper White & Basic Black CS; Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; Berry Burst & Lemon Lime Twist Stampin' Write Markers; Rectangle Stitched Framelits; #TSOT391.

Very cool - AAA #131 is changing up their format with the new year - they've offered a banded CAS sketch with an optional twist to use pastel colors - very fun!
The first thing I did was go looking for something fun to make the "bands" with - Little Elephant is perfect, especially since I haven't used it in a while!  I picked out some soft and pretty colors and got to work.  I did my rows first in stamped off Calypso Coral, So Saffron & Soft Sea Foam - gorgeous!  Then I punched out a stamped off elephant, and added my fave sentiment from this set - the smaller elephant is on the inside!  I decided to add a few Faceted Dots, since I don't use this color that much - seize the day, and all, lol...
Little Elephant Stamp Set; Whisper White & So Saffron CS; Calypso Coral, So Saffron & Soft Sea Foam Inks; Elephant Builder Punch; Faceted Dots; #AAA131.