Speedy Delivery!

Hello and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Personally, I'm finding it hard to believe that 2017 is over! We bought our new home a year ago, spent a few months renovating and updating, DH had major surgery with a loooong recovery, DD1 graduated, Dad was diagnosed with colon cancer (had surgery, broke a hip, and is currently receiving chemo), and we still don't have our bathroom or my studio quite finished... I blinked and a year was gone!  I have also done very little in the creative area (other than decorating our home), and am really feeling the effects of not using this stress relieving outlet!

It was so busy that I finished my Christmas cards on Christmas Day and mailed them out a few days after Christmas.  Needless to say, I didn't put a lot of time into the making process.  I found a shortcut on Pinterest (sorry, not sure who it was-didn't pin it!) that made finishing the cards a lot easier.

Cut a 12x12 piece of pattern paper into 4x4 squares (9 squares total).  Then cut the 4x4 square on the diagonal and attach it to a card base.  Stamp a sentiment in the blank space and you're done! SUPER SIMPLE AND QUICK! 

I made two different sets of cards to mail out and then also made a third set into Thank You cards for holiday gifts.

Sentiment from Special Season

Sentiment from Curly Cute

Sentiment from Loving Thoughts

When I was trying to come up with a catchy title for this post I had the words flash, fast, dash, quick running through my brain, but none of the phrases ended up being fun enough. Suddenly, I went back in time to Mr Roger's Neighborhood and 'Speedy Delivery' was the winner.  It was a perfect fit since these did become speedy deliveries for the holidays!

We had a great Christmas with family and enjoyed a bit of 'down time' to actually enjoy the decorations and goodies in our own home. I am always reflective this time of year, but especially this year it has been so clear that it is so important to have our priorities in the proper order.  As much as I love my blog and creating, these weren't at the top of the list this year.  Instead, I've enjoyed time with my parents,  husband and children.  We've accomplished  a lot and are near the time of kicking back to enjoy the fruits of our labor without adding more to the work list.  I hope you found something inspiring here and that your new year is a time of renewed hope and filled with peace!

Card Recipe: Paper-Season of Cheer, whisper white, soft sky, Ink-Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Stamp Sets-Loving Thoughts, Curly Cute, Special Season

Wish upon a star... with Anything But a Card Challenges

Hello! It is week number three of our 'Celestial' challenge and my turn to share.  It was so hard for me to narrow down the direction I wanted to go with this theme.  With Christmas right around the corner, I could go with a Christmas star creation, or maybe something with angels and the heavens... But in the end I decided on something a little motivating to place in my crafty work area to remind me of where I am and the direction I would like to go.  I created an ATC to add to my growing collection (really need to do something special with them...) and decided to play with some long neglected supplies too.  Once again, I have found my photography skills severely lacking.  This really sparkles with the gold and glitter, but the photo turned out very 'eh'.

I colored the background of a piece of watercolor paper with some black, purple, and blue pastels.  Then I pulled out my stars mask and dug out my bottle of gold Smooch that I've had for ages.  After the ink dried, I stamped my mantra words for the coming year.  The whole thing was treated to a smearing of dazzling details to give it just a little more sparkle.

The three words are a gentle reminder to slow down and not allow myself to become so busy that I don't have time for dreaming, creating, and inspiring.

I will leave you with a quote and the hope that you will find time to play along with us at Anything But a Card.  You still have a week left to share your inspiration with us! Have a wonderful week!

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Flashback Friday-See what a little cleaning can do?

Hi! Welcome to another Flashback Friday! I hope all of my fellow Americans survived their Independence Day's activities without any injuries!  Our holiday was pretty low key.  My nephew came home for a visit and we all had a wonderful time together.

I have been using my time off this summer to try to do some much needed cleaning and organizing.    No big surprise that one of the first areas I tackled was my crafting space!  Since then, I have moved on to other areas of the house (not nearly as much fun, but easier to purge clothing that is the wrong size, than old beloved stamps!), but I keep coming across things that pull me back to my crafting space!  For example, my dryer was becoming the catch all area for outgrown clothes, so I finally bagged them up so they would be ready for donating to our local charity thrift store.  During this cleaning, I found a few homeless buttons and figured that I would never find the matching clothes, or they were probably long gone.  So I gave them a new home in my buttons container where I found the bag of buttons I bought a long time ago at an antiques and collectables store.  This led to a complete side track from cleaning!

My first card actually features one of these buttons.  They are metal and a little shabby looking and I absolutely loved them.  I used a faux mosaic tile technique for the focal point and added the button as an accent.  Along with my old button, I also pulled out some retired Tea Party DSP for this card.

As I was working on the first card, I moved a ziplock bag of thin strips of paper that were scraps from Easter cards.  I decided I really needed to either use them or pitch them and then I remembered the cute Easter bear digi I colored a looooong time ago.  This image is so old that when I went back to the person's site to link up to it, her site was gone...  So Caroline, I tried to give you credit but I'm not sure where you are now!

I glued all of the skinny strips of paper onto a rectangle of copy paper and then trimmed the edges to make them even.  Then I glued that to the base and glued the teddy to the front.  I realize that little bag of scraps didn't make a big dent in my stash, but I am glad that I finally found a use for all of the colorful scraps!

Well, DD#1 and I have a date to watch the Warehouse 13 marathon, so until next time, happy crafting!!

Another Stamp Club Card-With Sympathy

Hello! So glad you stopped in today! As you are reading this, I am doing my happy dance! Yesterday was the last ballgame of the season! I really do enjoy watching my girls play softball, but the further into summer the games go, the hotter and more humid it gets... and for some reason, the league board rejected my idea of icy cold tubs to soak in, instead of the hot and often sticky bleachers that currently serve as seating. Complete lack of vision if you ask me! ;)  So now I only have to go out in the nasty sticky air if it's something really urgent!  But enough of that, you came here to see something crafty!

This is the second card I created for my stamp club meeting.  I try to change things up a bit and allow for personal interest when I can.  For example, my card is a sympathy card because I often need one when I don't have time or mojo to create.  But by using the Loving Thoughts stamp set, the ladies can turn this into a birthday, anniversary, thank you, or thinking of you card, simply by changing the sentiment.  This is why I LOVE coordinating stamp sets! No guessing whether the font will fit in the space or if it will match the style of the stamped image...

I'm also enjoying the versatility of the DSP.  I picked Gingham Garden because I love the bright cheery country patterns, but as you can see, they can easily be converted to a different style with the right stamp! I am also so happy that pear pizzazz and island indigo have made a comeback into the new catalog! Love these colors!!

Well, that's it for me!  Thanks so much for stopping by and happy crafting!

Card Recipe: Paper-Island Indigo, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Gingham Garden DSP, Ink-basic gray, island indigo, pear pizzazz, daffodil delight, Stamp Sets-Apothecary Art, Loving Thoughts, Accessories-Labels framelits, Big Shot

A sneak peek, spring/summer cleaning, and lots of rambling...

Hello and welcome to my blog! I am so excited to have some new followers and hope that you get either inspiration, insight, or something to make you smile when you visit!!

I am in a 'bunny trails' kind of mood today, so I will share my cards (a sneak peek of my ABAC project for Sunday) first-just in case you don't want to wander the trails with me!

Challenge number 20 at Anything But a Card Challenges  is "Dust Off Your OLD Supplies". For this challenge we are having a bit of a spring cleaning theme. Go "Dust off your older supplies" for this challenge - and make something... ANYTHING GOES! Use up those paper scraps, break out tools that haven't seen the light of day, finish up one of those U.F.O's {unfinished objects}... or how about those hoarded stickers - we all have a stash. The theme is open so the possibilities are endless.... just remember create anything except a card... this is going to be FUN!!!

Now how easy is this?! Well... When your crafting space looks as horrific as mine, first you actually have to do spring cleaning (or for those of us who love to procrastinate, summer cleaning) to find most of your supplies and the table. I really wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not!  It's been a very crazy month! So after spending the morning finding my table (and several started projects), I knew what I would be doing for our challenge.  I am part of week 2 of the design team and usually finish my project Friday night or Saturday morning and rush to get it photographed, but this week it is ready to go by Wednesday afternoon!  I am sharing the cards today because I can't show the other part yet, and the blog is anything BUT a card...  Can't be flaunting any cards on Sunday, so the cards become the sneak peek for the main piece.

I spent most of the afternoon working on the cards for a very special friend from our  church.  She is one of the most caring and selfless people I know.  She made meals for my parents when Dad had his stroke, and still occasionally drops off goodies for them.  She has also been a wonderful mentor.  Last week, she stopped by to drop off some asparagus from their garden since she knows my oldest DD loves asparagus.  She handed me two HUGE bags of fresh asparagus, enough for many meals, and refused to accept any payment for it. "It will be a relief to get it out of the house." is all she says.  Well, if I have learned little else from the crafting community, one of the joys of crafting is passing on our creations to others.  Plus, I know she won't be able to turn down a handmade just for her gift! Pretty sneaky, right?  So I made a set of 8 greeting cards for her.

Now if you're still on the trail with me, I'm moving on to dusting off supplies.  I decided that while I was in cleaning mode, I would go through my DSP and clean that up too. OH MY!  We will not discuss just how much retired paper I have that can't be used for classes, not to mention the non SU things...  So I decided my summer crafting goal would include using up some of that paper.  I found a lone sheet of the paper above and have no clue which set it came from but I do know it was from a loooooong time ago. I managed to use almost the whole sheet for the 8 cards! Woo! Hoo! 1 page down, 4 million to go...  I also dusted off my daisies die which hasn't bonded with my Big Shot in ages. They were so happy to be together again!

I have really been slacking in the commenting and visiting of blogs lately.  Mom has been in the hospital twice this month with heart issues.  While her condition is not life threatening, it does sap all of her energy and messes with her heart rate.  They switched her to a new med this time so we are crossing fingers and praying that this one gets the job done.  I'm just thankful that I wasn't working this last time and could commit to being there for her and Dad.  Makes things a little less stressful!

Well, this is the end of today's bunny trail and post. If you made it all the way to the end, I applaud your tolerance! Hopefully Sunday will bring some less distracted blogging!  Have a wonderful rest of the week and I hope you don't have to clean before you do your happy crafting!

Card Recipes: Cardstock-wild wasabi, bashful blue, pumpkin pie, whisper white, old DSP, Stamp Sets-Word Play, Loving Thoughts, Ink-pacific point, bashful blue (sponged on daisy), Accessories-daisies 2 die, boho blossom punch, 2 1/2" circle punch, perfect polka dots & square lattice EF, non SU circle framelits, brights buttons, white bakers twine, bashful blue brad

A CASE of CAS

As if paper crafting and blurfing weren't enough addictive habits to consume my time, I also found Pinterest a few months ago! Oh the possibilities! The card I'm sharing today was inspired from Mandy at A Little Space of My Own.  I loved the clean look and the huge pop of the red against the white.  It was also super fast and easy to make and since I'm only half way to my required goal of Valentines, this is a very good thing!

In case you missed it, I'm offering blog candy on the post below, so be sure to check it out! Have a wonderful day!!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-whisper white, red glimmer paper, Ink-cherry cobbler, Stamp Set-Loving Thoughts, Accessories-heart to heart punch and dimensionals

A Three Hour Card, A Three Hour Card...

I think I know how the people from Gilligan's Island feel now! They only intended to take a 3 hour tour and spent what felt like an eternity on the island instead.  I set out to make a bridal shower card, not a big feat, and ended up spending 3 HOURS from start to finish on this!!  Those of you who follow my blog will understand immediately why this took me so long! I'm a CAS card maker by nature.  I do enjoy vintage and shabby, but they still end up being pretty simple.  Not this card, my friends...

In an effort to spare those from the challenge blogs who don't really want to hear my tale of endless crafting, here are the challenges I chose to  submit my card.  Shopping Our Stash is asking for all that glitters, sparkles, or shines (not a problem on this one!), SUO Challenges is asking for an infrequently used or new technique (lots of embellishing and Smooch spritz), and Top Tip Tuesday has an anything goes challenge. And my 3 hour card...

and the inside...

I saw the inspiration card on Robyn's Stamping Hood a few months ago and thought this would be fun to recreate. I must have been channeling Anne Marie  (aka the Bling Queen!) because the next thing I knew I was pulling out pearls, embossing folders, ribbon, smooch spritz, glimmer paper, and lots of other shimmery bling!  In all fairness, there are a lot of crafters out there who could have made this in 15 minutes, but this was so far out of my comfort zone that I would pull paper out, then put it back. Try this punch? No... What about this one?  Big pearls or tiny pearls?  It needs texture... No, that's too much...Hmm...which sentiment should I use... Even cutting the paper for the cake layers was an ordeal (cut 3 different times til I was happy)! When I finally was committed (or needed to be!), and adhered everything to the card, it still needed something.  Out came the Smooches!  When I finished, my table looked like the entire SU catalog had exploded and I had shimmery fingers from the smooch spray! But I have to say, when I picked up the finished project, this truly is one amazing card, by my standards.  Of course, with snow and freezing temperatures, I was not about to go outside just to get better lighting, so even though you may not be able to see all of the shimmery, glittery goodness, believe me! It's there!!

I used a LOT of goodies on this card and amazingly 90% was stuff I've had for quite a while! I am hoping that the bride-to-be will enjoy this card! I honestly don't know her, but she is marrying our neighbors son, and I have known him since he was a baby! Hope you have managed to make it through my extremely long post and that you enjoyed visiting!!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-pretty in pink, real red, very vanilla, Sending Love DSP (ret), red glimmer paper, Ink-real red, blush blossom marker (for shading edges and hearts inside), Stamp Sets- Loving Thoughts, Sprinkles (ret), Punches-modern label, heart to heart, scallop oval, corner rounder, large oval, Accessories-elegant lines embossing folder, basic pearls, vanilla shimmer and blushing bride smooch spritz, Chantilly crochet trim

A Sneak Peek!

I've been playing with some NEW goodies from Stampin' UP!  Most of them will be available on January 4th with the release of the Occasions Mini.  The fabulous paper I used will be available during Sale-a-bration which begins January 24th.
As soon as I saw the labels framelits and coordinating stamp set, I knew these would be two of my first purchases!!  Then I realized there was a sentiment stamp set that would also work with these... Needless to say, it was just like Christmas morning when that box arrived on my doorstep.  I really love vintage and if it also happens to be a little shabby, all the better!  Both of the cards I made are going to be mailed, so I took it easy on the embellishments, but I am thinking of making another card adding the crochet trim and some pearls.

 Isn't the DSP gorgeous? It's called Everyday Enchantment and could be yours for FREE with a $50 order placed on or after the 24th!

Well, today I head back to work. I love my job, but it has been so nice being able to stay up late and sleep in every day since Christmas!  It will be nice to get the kids back into a routine again.  They have forgotten how to do their chores since Christmas break...

Card Recipe: Cardstock- pool party, soft suede, very vanilla, everyday enchantment DSP, Ink-soft suede, pool party marker, Stamp Sets-Apothecary Art, Loving Thoughts, Accessories-pastels, scallop trim border punch, square lattice embossing folder, labels collection framelits