Book Rental Blues...

Hi! Things are a bit melancholy here today.  We are heading to the schools to pay book rental and verify schedules for the new school year.  It seems like just yesterday we were cleaning out lockers and bringing everything home...  DD#1 and I are hoping for a freak summer snowstorm delaying the start of school, but DD#2 can't wait to be back with her friends.  I'm not sure where I went wrong with that one... (just kidding, but only a little!).

I have another card to share with you today.  It is pretty much a flashback card since so much of it is retired, but I did use my blendabilities again, and a new stamp set for the sentiment so that balances things out a little.

The pear is from the retired Faith in Nature and is one of my favorite images.  I always liked using pastels to shade and color this, but thought I would try my hand at the alcohol markers again.  I still have a long way to go, but at least I didn't want to throw this one out when I was finished!  I seem to be in a rut on the layout of my cards too! This seems to be my default design with the blocks of layers and perfectly straight lines.   Hopefully I will find some time to pull out some sketches and try something new this week.

Well, I better get going so we can take another step closer to starting back to school.  We still have some clothes shopping to do and I have some unfinished jobs at home that I really need to finish.  I hope you find some time to be creative today and have a terrific rest of the week!

Card Recipe: Paper-daffodil delight, whisper white, subtles dsp (ret), Stamps-Faith in Nature (ret), Bloom with Hope, Ink-memento tuxedo black, daffodil delight and old olive blendabilities, Accessories, daffodil delight stitched ribbon (ret)

In the Spotlight- It's a Small World!

Hello!  Today I'm in the spotlight at Anything But a Card Challenges and I'm feeling a bit small about it!  Not in the psychological sense, but literally!  I am challenging you to think small and join me!

Here's a sneak peek of my post...

Please stop by for more detail and be sure to link up and join me!!  Have a wonderful week!

A 'latte' love for the perfect blend

Hello and welcome!  In keeping with the theme of today's card, I'm offering you a complimentary cup of cyber coffee and a magic muffin-it can be your favorite kind if you like!

This is not a typical anniversary card which is quite fitting since it is going to a very special couple!  Regulars of my blog will remember I worked with my sister on some wedding goodies for my nephew and his wife.  They were so easy going and fun to work with, and almost always had a coffee drink of some type in their hands.  No wonder we got along so well!  Their anniversary isn't until later this year, but the idea of a coffee themed card popped into my head and here I am completing a card well ahead of schedule! Yippee!!  The inside is a sentiment I made on the computer.  It says "to a perfect blend.  May you have a 'latte' more happy years together!"

I used my Blendabilities markers on this and really was happy with the results-not perfect but pretty good by my normal standards!  I used the rich razzleberry set since their wedding colors were purple and silver.  I dropped the silver and replaced it with coastal cabana since I didn't want it to be a total flashback to their wedding, not to mention that I really liked the colors together!

If you haven't made the leap to Blendabilities or the similar copics, I can tell you that they work so well for coloring images.  I love that the Blendabilities come in sets of three markers taking all of the guess work out of choosing colors for shading.  I am not very good at that!  The set of three also makes them an affordable option if you want to try out the alcohol based markers.

Well, we are preparing for the annual police/kids camp and I have to go grocery shopping for 20 hungry boys so I better get out of here and head to one of my least favorite places-Walmart.  Wish me luck and I hope you have a marvelous day! I'd like to 'espresso' my feelings and thank you a 'latte' for stopping by! OK... I'm done now!

Anything Goes at Anything But a Card Challenges # 37

Hi! I am so glad you stopped by today! It's my turn to share a project for Anything But a Card Challenges.  We are having an 'anything goes' theme this month which means you can share just about anything under the sun with us! Gotta love that!

I have been doing some major cleaning and purging of my home this summer and came across some cardboard jewelry boxes. They weren't anything fancy, just plain white boxes with the store's logo.  I'm not sure what my original plan was when I saved them, but they were the perfect size for gift cards, so they were covered and decorated to be used as pretty packages for some thank you gifts.  

Rather than cover the entire lid and base with paper, I cut scraps to cover the top of the lid and glued ribbon to the sides.  Then I added a strip of paper around the base.  This kept them from getting too bulky.  I colored a couple of stamped clay pieces that I made ages ago, added some punched leaves and a few candy dots.

This one seemed like it needed a little pizazz, so I added

stickles to the flower in the center of the clay piece, and 

some cherry cobbler dazzling details to the candy dots.

This one had a more masculine feel, so I left it pretty basic.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my repurposing project and we would love to see what you have been creating this month!  Please stop by the challenge blog and share your creation with us-as long as it's not a card, you're set!  Have a fabulous week!

Project recipe:  Paper-Junior Varsity and Summer Smooches dsp (both retired), Stamp Set-Riveting (ret), Ink-old olive, real red, daffodil delight, rich razzleberry, Accessories-simply pressed clay, real red grosgrain and old olive scallop dot ribbons (both ret.), brights candy dots, cherry cobbler dazzling details, non SU leaf punch, non SU yellow stickles

Summer Smoochin' Cutie

Hi! I am so happy you are here!  I had some time this week to create and will be sharing them through the next few weeks.

I can not believe that our summer break is almost over!  How did that happen?  We are going back to school shopping this weekend and that just makes me a little sad...  On the upside, I did get quite a bit accomplished this summer and hopefully will finish the last of my 'to do' list before school starts.  I know once August starts things will get all mixed up with routines and requirements, so I'm glad there's scheduled posting for Blogger-keeps my blog from feeling too neglected!

Since I'm wanting summer to last a bit longer, I thought today's card was a good one to share.  I used a free digi from Cuddlebug Cuties.  The print quality was not the best on this one and I'm not sure if it was my printer running low on black ink or the actual digi stamp, but it was free so I can't complain too much!  I used a lot of bright happy colors on the image and when I was finished I knew I would use Summer Smooches dsp since it is also full of cheerful colors.

One of my accomplishments this summer was cleaning off my crafting table. It's not actually clean or empty, but it is a lot more organized than it was before.  I even found some ribbon from a swap that I forgot I had! It's like shopping without the travel or money!  Of course, we won't be sharing with my DH that I found supplies I forgot I had... 

I added some crystal effects to the balloons and glitzed up her top with some purple stickles.  Other than that, this was a pretty basic card.  My shading skills leave a lot to be desired.  The hair turned out ok, but I really botched the jeans...not at all what I was going for!  But it won't get better if I don't keep at it!

Thanks so much for visiting! I hope you have a fantastic day and if it's summer where you are, enjoy it while it lasts (unless it's really hot and humid then you can totally wish for fall!).

Card Recipe: Paper-whisper white, Summer Smooches dsp (ret), Stamps-digi image, Remembering Your  Birthday(sentiment), Ink-skin tone blendabilities, memento tuxedo black, copics, Accessories-scallop dot ribbon (ret), purple stickles, crystal effects, banner punch

Hooray! A scrapbook page!!

Hello! I'm finally getting around to posting again!  Between visiting friends and family, and trying to downsize our 'stuff', I haven't been very crafty.  I keep thinking that once all of my cleaning is finished I will have lots of time to create. But for now, I'm doing my best to squeeze in a few cards and scrapbook pages as I get a chance.

I did manage to get a scrapbook page made after we returned from our trip to Chicago.  I have a ton of photos that were recently printed and I am really trying to work my way through them and get a few more books completed.  Besides, using up supplies and getting photos put away is cleaning right?! That's what I told my DH anyway!

The photo is of my youngest DD when she received an award at school and her name was listed on the school's sign.  I remember being so glad that she wanted to pose by the sign since I couldn't get her older sister to do that when she won an award a few years earlier.

I hadn't made a banner in a while and I thought since it was a celebratory page, the banner would work well.  I also used our school colors making it easy to coordinate everything! I also managed to squeeze in a few new goodies!  I used the basic black bakers twine (a new color option), and the Alphabet rotary stamp was used to put the date on the page.  That thing is HUGE and will be getting a lot of use on my pages!  

I have several other new items waiting to be used and hopefully I'll get around to using them and sharing with you soon!  Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you find some time to be creative and have a wonderful day!

Page Recipe: Paper-real red , basic black, whisper white, Summer Smooches dsp (ret), Ink-tuxedo black memento, Stamp-Alphabet rotary stamp Accessories-pennant punch, basic black bakers twine, scallop dot ribbon (ret), non SU alphabet stamps

Happy 4th!!

Hello! I want to wish my fellow Americans a very happy 4th of July (aka Independence Day)!  We will be spending the day with family and appreciating the freedoms we have in this wonderful country of ours.  She's far from perfect, but I couldn't imagine living anywhere else!

I'm sharing a card I made several years ago for my dad for Veteran's Day, but thought it worked equally well for today! The original post can be found here.

For the rest of my blogging friends throughout the world, I hope you have a marvelous weekend and I'll eat a s'more and 'oooh' at the fireworks in your honor!  Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll be back soon with some new stuff to share!