A Little Snarkasm...

Hello!  I've recently been making more of an effort to send out thinking of you cards to people.  Some of the cards I've sent have been in my card stash for a really long time and it felt good to find a new home for them.  However, some people just require a specially made card.  Especially when they have a warped sense of humor similar to mine!  I have two wonderful friends who fit this category and my recent purchase of Tim Holtz's Snarky Cat seemed like the perfect starting point!

I stamped the snarky kitty on white cardstock and shaded it with pastels to give it some color without overpowering the stamped image.  A little snarky sentiment above the cat and inside completed this fun card.  I also managed to pull out some really old DSP to create a fun background for the focal piece.

Both friends really enjoyed their extra special cards, and I am really enjoying my time making things for others!  As a bonus, it is also such a great way to eliminate some stress and relax!

Thanks so much for visiting today! I hope you make some time to be creative, snarky or not!!

Card Recipe:  Paper- Rainbow Sherbet DSP, whisper white, Stamp Set-Snarky Cat (TH), Ink-tuxedo black(memento), SU pastels

Sympathy, Hope, and Kindness

Hello! Today's post features two card designs I made recently and also a bit of philosophy, musing, and personal reflection.  You'll be happy to know that I'm sharing the cards first, so if you want to skip the rest it will be quite painless for you to do so!

I've recently had an increased need for sympathy cards.  I always have a supply of these on hand because I hate making these at the last minute, however, my supply has been steadily getting smaller and I needed to add some new replacements.  While I was picking out the paper for my cards, I was admiring the back of the gray pattern and thinking these would make great 'all occasion/thinking of you' cards.  I can always use those too!  I managed to make a total of six cards from one 12x12 sheet of paper and didn't have any scraps to set aside!

My flowers were stamped on whisper white using basic gray, then colored with pretty in pink and perfect plum pastels.  I used white for the flowers so the colors would be true and not muted by the vanilla background.  The hardest part of making these cards was deciding exactly how to place the flowers... other than that, they went together pretty quickly.

Now for the mental exploration of these cards...  Lately there has been a lot of thought been given to the finality of life and how best to use the time we are given.  This started several years ago when my brother almost died in a motorcycle accident followed by my dad suffering a major stroke.  At that time, I was questioning the reasons behind what was happening and looking for some brilliant insight to make me understand the grand scheme of things.  No such luck!  Helping my mom care for my dad on a daily basis and accepting the personality changes in my brother (major brain injury) left me feeling tired, empty, and completely broken.  A little less than two years ago, my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer.  He had surgery to remove the growth and was on schedule to begin chemotherapy when he fell and broke his hip.  So instead of chemo, he had another surgery... After his hip healed, he began receiving chemo which left him incredibly weak, sick, and quite grumpy (not that I blame him for that!).  He had just finished his sixth treatment when he decided he was done feeling terrible all the time.  He stopped chemo and slowly began to feel more like himself.  In the past month, we have found that he still has some cancerous growths, but they are growing at a much slower pace than normal for his type of cancer.  There is a good chance that he will end up dying from something other than cancer, which is both great and sad at the same time.  

All of this had me thinking about the quality of our lives versus the quantity and a good friend told me to read the book Tuesdays with Morrie.  If you have never read this book, you should.  It is a short story and very basic to read, so it's manageable even if you don't care much for reading.  The story was exactly what I was trying to sort out in my thoughts about death.  It is a beautiful story about two friends sharing the beauty of life while learning about preparing for death.  I can honestly say that it has given me great insight, and also shown me how I want to live my life from now on.  

During Fall Break, my sisters, my youngest DD, my parents and I went to a local historical museum.  There are sections dedicated to the German immigrants, local military, and origins of agriculture in our area.  We had a wonderful time letting my dad share his insights on all of the above and he took great pleasure in telling my daughter about using most of the farm equipment they had on display.  We played several rounds of "Do you know what that is?" and "What is that for?", without being able to use the information boards they had available.  Dad knew almost all of the tools and equipment, although my sisters and I did pretty good on the things we had seen Grandpa and Dad use on the farm.  It was such an amazing day and I was so happy to have another wonderful memory to add to my treasure chest.  This was also the reason I really wanted to use the Life is Beautiful side of the patterned paper.  Because when you stop to enjoy it, it really is! 

If you've read all the way to this point, I hope this has inspired you to take the time to enjoy some simple, happy times and share something with those you love.  Even the most ordinary things can become great gifts over time.  Have a wonderful day!

Ahead of the Game With a Beautiful Ride!

Hello! I am so very excited to share today's card! Not because it is some super amazing creation, but because I actually have my DD's birthday card done more than two weeks before her birthday! Can I get a Woop! Woop!?  Usually I'm still putting the last minute touches (or just beginning) the day or two before...  So color me happy that this is finished and I'm pretty pleased with it too.  

I have so many blogging friends that create these amazing scenery backgrounds for their cards and I'm always more than a little envious-still am!  However, I decided to put on the big girl panties and try making my own background.  It's not super awesome, but it doesn't totally suck either, and I know that DD will like it regardless.  You see, there is a little story behind this one.

DD#1 turned 16 during softball and musical season; after that came the part time job, and she was so swamped with everything that she wasn't even concerned about not having a drivers license.  I think I was more put out by doing all of the driving than she was about not driving.  At the end of the summer DH found a super great deal on DD#1's dream car-a VW beetle...and get this...it's a convertible!!! What?!  It does however have a manual transmission (which she is still attempting to master) and needed a bit of work.  So here we are in the middle of winter, her almost 17, and still not able to completely enjoy her freedom.  How does this relate to the card other than the Bug?  When she saw the stamp set Beautiful Ride, she went crazy! She wanted me to get it for her and couldn't believe I wasn't going to order it. "But Mom, you could use it on the scrapbook pages for the pictures of the car!", "Look at all the cool things you could make with this!", and promoting every other creative idea that popped in her head. Really laying it on thick...  So I did what any caring and loving mom does and told her no.  Then I secretly ordered it and hid it from her, because that's just how I am!  Then while she was at my parents helping them on the farm, I made her card, photographed it, and hid that too!

I am really looking forward to seeing her face when she opens the envelope and sees her card.  I even did a little selective inking of the stamp to turn it into a soft top, and added a sweet Shadow head peeking out the back because Labs love car rides too!  So now, even though she can't go cruising with the top down, she can look at this and remember that summer will be here before we know it!

Like I said earlier, my landscape skills need a lot more practice and my sunny corner looks more like a grade-schoolers sunshine, but I'm getting there and isn't art all about the journey anyway? How metaphorically perfect is that? Oh...I think I may need an intervention on my use of the Wink of Stella brush... I covered the car and the sun with it...but it's so very sparkly and pretty! My precious!! Oops, was that out loud?!

Now I just have to patiently wait for her birthday (and remember where I hid the card).  Maybe I'll even let her use the stamp set... After all, it is her birthday...

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a marvelous week!

Card Recipe: Paper-whisper white, bashful blue (ret), basic black, Stamp Sets-Beautiful Ride, Happy Home, Ink-assorted markers, memento tuxedo black, silver sharpie, Accessories-pastels, colored pencils, dimensionals, Wink of Stella

Sprinkles are for winners...

Hello! Winter has finally shown itself in Indiana. We went from temperatures in the 60s at Christmas to the teens in January.  While it is not unusual for it to be this cold, it was a bit hard to adjust after the warmer temperatures we just had.  My girls finally got the snow they were hoping would appear at Christmas, and the first snowfall even came with enough frozen rain to give them two snow days.  I, however, was not ready for snow days. Snow days mean make up days, and make up days mean no small breaks before spring break... yuck!  On a positive note, I did manage to make potato soup, cinnamon rolls, read, and play with my stamps and paper-oh, and laundry...lots and lots of laundry...

I have a stack of stamp sets that have not seen ink yet, and I thought this would be a great excuse reason to make some cards.  It had been so long since I've done any real creating that I forgot how to do a few things, like layering stamped images. Let's just say it's a good thing that paper has two sides...  The second take went much better with my paper mask in place!  Rather than pulling out the ink pads and aqua painter, I went with pastels so I could sit on the couch and watch The Matrix with DD#1.  Family time + cardmaking. SCORE!!

I'm not sure when I've made a card with more layers, but since the embellishing is nonexistent, the layers add the needed interest.  It also went well with the stacked cone!

 

When I showed the finished card to DD#1, she asked about sprinkles.  I quoted Flo from Progressive and told her sprinkles were for winners.  Maybe, if I remember how to layer the scoops next time, I can have sprinkles on that card!  She actually laughed! 

I hope that your creative experiences are as fun and possibly more successful than mine!  Thanks so much for stopping by to visit!!  Have a wonderful week!

Card Recipe:  Paper-Gingham Garden dsp (ret), crumb cake, watercolor paper, Ink-memento tuxedo black ink, pastels, Stamp Set-Sprinkles of Life

You're in my thoughts and the back to school time warp...

I can not believe how long it has been since I've last posted or visited anyone!  To be quite honest, there hasn't been a lot of craftiness happening here lately, but I did make a card for a special friend who is going through a bit of a struggle right now.   I managed to squeeze a lot of positive vibes and prayers into this card as I colored it so I'm hoping it will bring health and happiness to her!

This was the first time I inked up Best Thoughts and I just love the beautiful flower and butterfly images in this set.  I used my blender pen and ink pads to color the flower, markers on the butterfly, and pastels on the background.  It was very calming to sit and color once again and I'm hoping to have more free time in the near future to do it again!!

I have decided that there is some sort of mystical vortex that appears with the onset of my kids and I returning to school.  It doesn't seem to affect everything, only the amount of time that was readily available before.  I wake up with plans to accomplish a list of things and then relax before bedtime and the next thing I know it's almost midnight and I'm washing and drying PE clothes that are needed for the next day, paying a bill that should have been mailed two days ago, or some other important detail that has to be handled before morning.  Needless to say, my relaxing time before going to bed is completely nonexistent and I haven't even thought about being creative...

On a more positive and hopeful note, I did recently receive  my preorder for the holiday catalog and OH MY GOODNESS is it awesome?!  I have lots of creative ideas going and will be sharing some of them soon (if I can manage to break the vortex's hold!).  If you would like a peek at the catalog, you can go here to view an online version or message me and I will send you a paper copy to enjoy.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope to return the favor soon!  Have a wonderful week!!

and another one's down...

Another one bites the dust!  Yep, I am still on my Pinterest card kick, and I'm happy to say that I've made another card based off of a pin!  Now, DH can let me waste my time on the computer knowing that all of that pinning and blogging is being put to use!  I am as likely to convince him of this truth as the one about making my own cards will save us money since we won't have to buy cards! Tee! Hee!  Even I can't keep a straight face on that one!  But enough of my rambling, on to my card!

I took inspiration from Lydia's card, and the only

change I made was using pastels to color the

flowers instead of re-inkers.

It was quite therapeutic to color all of those leaves and flowers-something I needed after a week of purging the closets and dressers...  I really like the soft effect for an anniversary card.

I had a bit of a reality check this morning as DD#2 mentioned that it is less than a month before school starts.  What?!  I am really longing for the good ol' days when we didn't start school til after Labor day and were finished by Memorial day...  Quite honestly, I don't think today's kids are that much smarter!  

My posting may be a bit patchy since there are still many things I need to finish before I head back to work.  There is a light at the end of my tunnel of cleaning, and I really want to reach it before all of my duties kick back into play.  Wish me luck and have a fantastic rest of the week!!

Mission Impossible!

Hello and happy 4th to all of my fellow Americans! I am so glad you came by to visit today!  I actually have something crafty to share with you, and it's not even a DT project!!

I had decided at the beginning of this summer that our home needed a major clean out.  We are hoping to build in the near future and I thought that not only would it get rid of things we don't need, but it would also make moving a little easier.  I should have called this Mission Impossible...  I have lost count of the number of trips we have made to local charities donating what was still usable, and don't get me started on the things that were simply tossed.  You would think that my home would be barren at this point, but I keep finding more and more things.  This is the main reason my poor blog has been less than busy.  But now I'm finding that I really need that creative therapy more than ever!!

I have also been on a card making mission this summer.  Seems someone has infiltrated my home and confiscated my stash of birthday cards (no, I didn't throw those out).  Either that or I actually had a lot less created than I initially thought...

Normally, I will look at the SU catalog, or some of my other cards for inspiration, but since I spend a lot of time on Pinterest and blogging, I thought I needed to use some ideas from these places to warrant all of that time!  If you would like to see any of the fun things I've pinned you can click here.  This will take you to my Pinterest boards page.  Both of my cards from today were designs borrowed from Pinterest.

You can see the inspiration card here.

I pretty much CASEd this one!

While I couldn't find the direct link to this card,

if you click here, it will take you to the person who 

created it originally.

I have to share my luck on the balloon die I used to make the second card.  Last month, I had my new SU order ready to enter and was excited to be buying the balloon framelits so I could start putting some cute balloons on my cards and scrapbook layouts.  The girls and I had stopped in our local Good Will store to check out the book selection for our summer reading pleasure.  I always browse the whole store because you never know what you might find.  Imagine my joy when I found a basket full of sizzix dies!  I ended up buying three dies-a wood sign, a picket fence, and balloons.  How much did I pay for these? $4 for all three!!!!!  Needless to say, I removed the framelits from my order since I was pretty sure that I could get the other die to work pretty much the same way.

I am really trying to use my scraps and retired supplies more in an effort to decrease the mountains, and both cards used the retired Summer Smooches dsp, and the balloons are all from my scrap bucket.  Even though you can't really tell that anything is gone, it makes me feel better that they've been put to good use!

Well, DH has built a campfire and the family is calling me to join them!  Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Moon River...um...Lake?

My very weak attempt at humorous word play was inspired by a new to me stamp set from Stampin' Up.  The stamp set is called Moon Lake, but every time I see it I think Moon River, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Audrey Hepburn singing.  While 'Moon Lake' isn't as melodic, it is a beautiful stamp set and oh so perfect for masculine cards.  I am in dire need of some manly cards in my stash since there are quite a few birthdays approaching and no cards in sight!

Both of the cards I made are a nice blending of the old with the new.  My newly inked stamps went perfectly with my retired Well Worn dsp and always artichoke ribbon.  I also had to dig into my retired card stock for the river rock base.

I used a combination of markers and pastels to color the images, but I think I really like the pastels better for this stamp set.  My marker skills still need a lot of work, and chalk is pretty forgiving and blends so well!

In a few days, my DD1 will be celebrating a milestone birthday and I am trying to come to terms with the fact that my first baby is no longer a baby...  While we have  fun day planned, I know I will be just a little sad, but mostly proud of the wonderful young woman she has become.  I scoffed at the 'blink of an eye' concept when I was up to my elbows in diapers and sleepless nights, but today I'm feeling a little wiser.  My sleepless nights do occur less frequently, yet now they are for more weighty concerns.  I also find myself mentally apologizing to my own mother for every time that I must have made her worry...  I guess there truly is a circle of life-not just a Disney/Elton John song!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope I've given you a little inspiration and I really appreciate your visit!  Have a fantastic day!

Card Recipe: Paper-very vanilla, early espresso, river rock (ret), Well Worn dsp (ret), Ink-memento tuxedo black, always artichoke, cajun craze, crumb cake, early espresso, Stamp Set-Moon Lake, Accessories-pastels, always artichoke denim ribbon (ret), ticket duo builder punch, word window punch

  

February is for Friends!

Yeah...yeah... I know Valentines is all about sweethearts and love, but what about the other 27 days?!  That is why Anything But a Card Challenges picked 'Friendship' as our challenge theme for this month!  I won't be sharing my creation until the third week, but I am really looking forward to seeing what everyone shares with us!  We would love it if you would join us!

In keeping with the challenge theme (but not the no card rule), I am sharing two cards that I could not have made had it not been for a wonderful example of friendship! A while back I was very pleasantly surprised to find a package in my mailbox.  It was quite a mystery as I had not ordered anything and it wasn't my birthday or anything like that.  I opened the box to find a treasure trove of crafting supplies-everything from ink to stamps to dies!  Seems that  the ever fabulous, Audrey aka Hippie Aud, felt the need to send some happiness out into the world, and I was lucky enough to receive it!  I am feeling more than a little guilty that it has taken me this long to create a proper thank you card using the wonderful supplies!  I am also hoping that it has arrived before my post goes live!!

  

The adorable patchwork bunny and the thank you word bubble were both part of this wonderful happy mail!  I also used some of my new SU paper on this.  The pretty background dsp is from All Abloom (a mini paper pack that is perfect for cards!).

While I was playing with my new goodies, I went ahead and made a birthday card for DD1.  She went crazy over the adorable skunk stamp when I pulled it out of the box!

Audrey's kindness has also inspired me.  While I can't afford to send out boxes of goodies at the moment, I can do a better job of sending a little happiness to others.  So my plan for the month of February is to do a little something everyday to brighten someone else's day.  I also want to be a little more active with my blog and visiting others' blogs as well.  I know I appreciate all of the wonderful comments and ideas people share with me on my blog and I really love seeing what everyone else is making too!

Thank you so much for visiting today and I hope your February is filled with both love and friendship!

Card Recipes: Paper-All ABloom DSP, pistachio pudding, whisper white, daffodil delight, strawberry slush, Ink-daffodil delight, pistachio pudding, mossy meadow, strawberry slush, blushing bride, memento tuxedo black, Stamp Sets- bunny and skunk from Hippie Aud, retired Happy Birthday from SU, Accessories-pastels, pink stickles, word bubbles die from Hippie Aud, pearls, melon mambo buttons, white bakers twine

Gimme Five- 5th Sunday Challenge at ABAC

Hello! I am so glad you are here!  Today is the fifth Sunday of the month and that means it's time for a special challenge at Anything But a Card Challenges.  Any time a month has five Sundays we do a 'five' challenge.  Your creation can have the number five, five embellishments, five stamps, five anything!  As long as it has something to do with five and is NOT a card, you're good!

I decided to do another page in my quotes journal and used five flower stamps to create my garden.  I found a quote by Hemingway "When you stop doing things for fun you might as well be dead." and I thought this was a great reminder to not take life so seriously.  I also wanted to make a fun page to go with the quote so out came the bright colors and a stamp set that I have not used in a very long time.  I had a lot of fun using the blender pen to 'paint' the flowers and the butterfly.  I also used pastels to create the sky.

I hope that you decide to do something for fun and join us in our Five Challenge!  Have a wonderful week!

Project Recipe: Stamp Set-Time Well Spent, Ink- assorted inks from the brights collection, Tuxedo black (memento), blender pen, pastels

Anything But a Card Challenge 35-Live Simply

Hello! I am so glad you stopped by!  We are in week three of the challenge at Anything But a Card and it is my turn to share!  We are changing things up a bit with a color challenge this month!

The current Challenge... Anything But a Card Challenge #35 - "Color Challenge"!! Last month was and open theme so this go round we are giving you a gorgeous color palette for your inspiration. Feel free to use one {and go monochromatic}, two or ALL of these colors to create whatever your muse desires... as long as it's anything but a card!

I decided to try using as many colors as I could and ended up with five out of the six offered!  While I loved the subtle shading in the inspiration photo, I ended up with a less 'blended' project.  My quotes journal received a new page and I had a great time playing with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set to create a random background for my dahlia. I thought the three peachy shades worked pretty well for my flower.

I hope you will make the time to play with these colors and link up with us!  We would love to see how you were inspired!

I am preparing for my final week of school and can not wait to stay up late being crafty, without worrying about having to go to work the next morning!  I have some new stamping and coloring supplies that are begging to be used!

Have a wonderful week and I hope you find lots of time to play and be crafty!

Project Recipe: Stamp Sets-gorgeous grunge, trust God, regarding dahlias, Ink-midnight muse, wisteria wonder, crisp cantaloupe, calypso coral, blushing bride, pastels

ABAC Challenge 34-Spring Has Sprung!

Hello and Happy Easter! It is time again for me to share my DT project for Anything But a Card Challenges.  This month's challenge is to 'spring' into spring, and we would love to see your spring inspired creations!!  Be sure to check out all of the other team members wonderful interpretations too!

After what seemed like a never ending winter, it was so nice to see the crocus and daffodils beginning to bloom this month.  The robins have also decided that winter is over and have returned to eat all of the wonderful bugs who have also made their appearance known!  All of this activity inspired me to make a new page in my quotes journal.  I think the quote by Emily Dickenson is so appropriate for the change in seasons.  Spring is full of hope and promise, and I wanted my page to reflect this.  I used pastels for the background and then stamped the flowers and birds.  I also added just a hint of stickles to mimic the frosty dew that is often seen in spring.

 We have a spring tradition in my family.  On Palm Sunday, we receive green palm leaves during our church service.  For as long as I can remember, Palm Sunday meant folding and weaving these leaves into pyramids before they could dry and then placing them around the house as a reminder to celebrate Jesus.  Grandma taught Mom, Mom taught me, and now I'm attempting to teach my girls.  Here are our palms from this year...

I hope you will find time to join us and share your creation! You still have a week!!  Have a wonderful week and thanks so much for stopping by!!

**For my blogging friends- We are in full sport mode with both tennis and softball pulling us in different directions!  I hope to be back to a regular visiting and posting schedule within a month!  Until then, know that I am looking forward to seeing all of your wonderful creations as well!!

If you give a cardmaker scraps...

...she will make a birthday card!  I am frequently teased about the scraps of cardstock and pattern paper that  I save. "Oh wait! There's still an eighth of an inch of paper there..." ha...ha...ha...

I'm not quite that bad, but I do save pieces that I think can be used, including strips of white cardstock that are 1/2 an inch wide.  Why? They are the perfect size to use with the word window punch and the bitty banners!  I also save smaller pieces of ribbon that can be folded and tucked to dress up an image or turned into something else.  These scraps also keep me from cutting into a full sheet of paper when I only need a tiny piece, and stretch a spool of ribbon just a bit further!

I was in desperate need of some birthday cards, especially kids and gender neutral.  I came across the dinosaur image that I made ages ago and put in my "Do Something With This" box.  We won't talk about how many things are in there... I made this paper pieced dinosaur shortly after I made this card.  The background paper just looked like dinosaur skin! So I used the scraps (seeing a pattern here?) to stamp and paper piece this awesome guy!

notice the scrap of paper used for the banner!

I also made a gender neutral card because sometimes I forget birthdays (gasp!) and then need to grab a card as I walk out the door.  These are great for those occasions!  I managed to use smaller pieces of cardstock for most of this card, but the best scrap use is the ribbon scrap as the tails of the badge.

Now I have a few more cards in my file and a few less scraps hanging around! Bonus!!

I hope you are having a wonderful week and perhaps you'll spend a day digging through your scraps too! Who knows what you might find?!  Thanks so much for visiting!!

Card #1 Recipe: Paper-crumb cake, garden green, whisper white, Woodland Walk DSP (ret), Ink-garden green, crumb cake, stazon black, Stamp Set-Dinoroar (ret), Accessories-pastels, bitty banners framelit, big shot

Card #2 Recipe: Paper-whisper white, daffodil delight, old olive, Ink-night of navy, old olive, Stamp Set-Blue Ribbon, Accessories-circle framelit, 2 1/2 " scallop circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, perfect polka dot embossing folder, chevron embossing folder, denim ribbon

Day 9- Birthdays and Hairballs...

I am so excited that I am actually on Day 9 of Accomplishments!!  This has really helped me 'make' time to create and get some of the handmade items ready for Christmas!  But today's card is actually a birthday card.  I didn't really need a birthday card right now, but while cleaning up my crafting space (which REALLY needed to be done), I came across a small piece of watercolor paper.  Rather than set it aside for a later date, I decided to use it.  I hadn't used the stamp set Giggle Greetings yet, and thought the cat would be fun to use.  I did end up using some Christmas paper, so my stack is a little smaller now!

 a shot of the inside, nothing fancy, but love the sentiment!

I would love to say that I watercolored the entire thing, but actually only the cat was colored.  The sky and grass are actually pastels.  They just seem to work better for me.  I need to practice a little more with the whole watercoloring experience...

Well, we have another snow day today, so I am hoping to get my decorating done.  We still don't have our tree up... I'll let you know how that goes!  Have a wonderful day and thanks so much for stopping by today!

Card Recipe:  Paper-ruby red (ret), baja breeze (ret), Holiday Treasures DSP(ret), watercolor paper, whisper white, Ink-basic black marker, chocolate chip, pastels, Stamp Set-Giggle Greetings, Accessories-baja breeze seam binding (ret), blender pens

Wanna play Doctor??

OK... Get your mind out of the gutter!  This is a PG blog! :)

I was going through my supply of cards and while I had plenty of 'get well' cards, I also like to have some that are a little humorous to send some laughter with the wishes.  Night Nurse Nina definitely fits in the fun category.  I found her at Dr. Digi's, yet another purchase I made thanks to the enabling of my dear friend, Lisa M...  If you enjoy funny and slightly warped images, you will love this place!

I used copics to color the lovely Nina, and created the background with pastels.  Notable Alphabet worked perfectly for adding the sentiment on the first one.

and I changed things up just a little on the second one with Teeny Tiny Wishes.

I'm hoping that when these are delivered, they will bring a smile to someone's face.  I also hope that they won't be facing a needle like the one Nurse Nina is clutching... Makes me shiver just thinking about it!

I hope you have a wonderful day and remember, paper crafting each day keeps Night Nurse Nina away! And for all of my American friends and visitors, Happy (early) Independence Day!!!

Card Recipes: Paper-basic gray, basic black, tempting turquoise, real red, whisper white, Ink-copics, black stazon, Stamp Sets- digi images from Dr Digi, Notable Alphabet, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Punches-modern label, word window, 3/4" circle, Accessories- whisper white grosgrain ribbon(ret),  pastels

Slow Down, you're not as young as you used to be...

Hello! I don't have a flashback for you today, but I do have a fun little card!  

We have been trying out our 'new to us' camper this week at one of the local campgrounds.  We took a little break to come home to do laundry and buy more food for the weekend.  The girls are having friends join us tonight, so I'm sure we'll need more snacks!! I decided to check in and realized I didn't have a post set for today (and that I forgot to do my ABAC week 1 post... sorry...), so I'm sharing a card that I made for my nephew, Eric.  He attended college with help of a track scholarship, and now has a coaching position at a college in Wisconsin.  Now that he's approaching his 30's (gasp!), we tease him a lot about the fact that he doesn't run quite as fast and jump as high as he used to, so when I saw this cute guy at Doctor Digi's (Thanks, Lisa M!!), I had to buy him!!

The sentiment is from a stamp I found in the bargain bin at Michael's.  It has a snail carrying a gift on it's shell, but I chose to only color the sentiment. Thought it went quite well with Mr. Dunderton jogging along!

Well, that's it for me today! I'm off to Wal-Mart to get more supplies and then back into the semi-wilderness of the campground!  Be sure to stop by Anything But a Card challenges and check out our challenge, Getting Messy! I'll be sharing my project on Sunday, if Blogger cooperates...

Have a wonderful weekend, and happy crafting!!

Card Recipe: Paper-real red, basic black, whisper white, Ink-copics, black Stazon, Stamp- digital image by Dr Digi, sentiment from bargain bin at Michael's, Accessories-pastels

Flashback Friday-A day in the life of a procrastinator

A day in the life of a procrastinator... or How I lost the title Mom of the Year... I was debating which would be a better post title and decided that the second was a little too dramatic, even for me!  Of course, there are those who would sit in judgement that a good mom would never do this, but I have come to realize over the years that being a good anything is overrated.  We learn so much more from our blunders than perfection could ever teach us, plus it teaches my kids that I'm human and mess up just as much as they do!

So by now you are wondering what in the world happened, or maybe what this has to do with Flashback Friday, or maybe you have already bypassed all of this, peeked at my cards and left.  Hopefully not the choice behind door number three...

I really enjoy making cards, but even more than making them, I love sending them.  When I was younger, I never appreciated the cards and letters I received in the mail.  I probably took them for granted, or even showed my behind by complaining that they didn't include money.  But now in the age of digital and virtual everything, there is something so real about receiving an actual, hold-it-in-your-hand card.  It carries with it the message that someone remembered you, was thinking about you, and cares for you.  So I LOVE sending and giving cards, especially for birthdays.  Now before you all think that I should be nominated for humanitarian of the year, let me add some reality... I am a procrastinator-sometimes by choice, sometimes by pure forgetfulness, but a procrastinator all the same.  So sometimes my birthday wishes come with an apology for the untimely arrival of the card.  I usually am forgiven quite quickly because people just don't receive much happy mail anymore, and a late birthday card is better than no birthday card.  This is generally a socially accepted faux pas, but not when it's your own children...

Yes, I do know when they were born. I happened to be there both times... and I don't actually forget their birthdays (they're really good at reminding me of these things), but sometimes their cards aren't actually finished by the special date.  They have come to expect this and usually as long as they get the gifts and cake on time, they give me some leeway on the card.  So I was extra proud of myself when I bought two digi images (did not record who, sorry... If you know please tell me) and printed them off months before the special dates.  I even had them colored almost a month before the first birthday!  But then I did what procrastinators do and put them aside to finish later and promptly forgot where they were and that I even had them.  

So DD #1 has her birthday and I'm frantically searching for the images so I can finish her card.  I could have printed another and started over, but that would make too much sense, and besides, I KNEW they were here somewhere!  I ended up finding them shortly after DD#2's birthday and finished both of them at the same time.  I should add that DD#1 informed me that to be fair, DD#2 should have to wait an extra month as well. Can you feel the sisterly love???  I took pictures of the cards before I gave them to the girls and once again, the procrastinating kicked in and I didn't get around to posting them until now, many months later!  So my Flashback project today doesn't really use anything too super old, but then again, the relevance of time is subject to the importance of the event.  So now my girls know that *gasp* their mother is not perfect, and really needs to be more organized, but they also know that the next time they goof up royally, they can always play the 'forgot to make my handmade birthday card and I had to wait two whole months to get it' card...  Isn't motherhood grand?!

So here are the fashionably late cards in all their glory...

for DD#1 who is quite the Harry Potter fan,

and DD#2 who is a cheerleader.

I used copics and pastels on the images and really went with a simple layout since the images were larger.  

I am happy to report that they loved their cards and have started talking to me again... well... sometimes I'm happy about the last part... Guess I'm still out of the running for Mom of the Year! 

I hope your weekend is absolutely wonderful and that you don't procrastinate on finding some crafty time!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Card Recipe:  Paper-elegant eggplant, whisper white, perfect plum DSP (ret), real red, basic black, Ink-copics, elegant eggplant, black stazon, Stamp Set- digi images from unknown, Curly Cute, Accessories-pastels

Going Manly... um boyly??

Hi! I am so happy you are here!  I checked my stash of thank you cards at the end of the school year and realized all of my thank yous were quite girly.  This is not at all suitable when sending a note of appreciation to 4 and 5 year old boys...  So I decided I needed to add some more manly cards.  If you were a little confused by the post title, I was searching for the appropriate word for a masculine boy card.  I came up with boyly... yes... well aware that this really isn't a word, but I'm ok with that!  Maybe you can help me with a better term!

For those of you who are new to my blog, I recently resigned my position as a preschool teacher after over 15 years of teaching.  I was pleasantly surprised by the wonderful cards, notes, and gifts I received during my last week.  So I really wanted my thank you cards to be extra special too.  I had plenty of butterflies and flowers that worked perfectly for the girls, but nothing suitable for boys.  So out came Dinoroar. I was so sad that this retired from the catalog, since it's my go-to set for young boys, but I figured that these guys wouldn't care if the stamps were retired or not! Kind of makes them more 'extinct'... (insert wink here)

Isn't that T-Rex the cutest?! Not fierce at all!  I used DSP from Woodland Walk and thought the green piece had a wonderful scaley quality (sparked another idea to be shown later...) and when DH saw this card, he commented that the brown piece looked like a nest of dinosaur eggs. SCORE!  I used my trusty pastels to create the sky and sponged some garden green ink along the bottom to make the grass appear thicker.  I really hope my little guys enjoyed their cards as much as I appreciated their thoughtfulness.  While I was making these, I created an extra for OWH.  Thought they might need some boyly cards too!

I hope you find some time this week to be crafty and your mojo doesn't go the way of the dinosaurs! Happy crafting!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-wild wasabi, chocolate chip, whisper white, Woodland Walk (ret), Stamp Sets-Teeny Tiny Wishes, Dinoroar (ret), Ink-garden green, markers-crumb cake, wild wasabi, Accessories-word window punch, pastels

Anything But a Card Challenge 18- An ATC is HOW small??

It is time for week 2 of challenge 18 at Anything But a Card Challenges.  This challenge is to create an ATC (artist's trading card) which is a pretty open challenge as long as your art measures 2 1/2" x 3 1/2".  Susan has a lot of wonderful information about ATCs on the challenge site and there are some fabulous pieces being shared by the design team and fellow crafters linking up.  

I have a confession to make.  I have NEVER made an ATC before.  Yes... I know shocking! And honestly, I wasn't too concerned about this challenge until I tried to squeeze my big ideas onto my itty, bitty piece of paper (can you imagine me doing inchies??).  But once I started adjusting my thinking to pulling out my smaller stamps and embellishments, things fell into place and I ended up with two different ATCs.

This one looked a lot different in my mind, but for my very first

attempt, I kinda like it!  The picture frame was made with Sculpey 

and a silicone mold (this is not SU, but just wait until you see the 

new catalog, hint! hint!).  I attempted another watercolor, inky

type background, and it didn't really turn out how I wanted, so I 

stopped before it became really muddy and finished it with stamping

and embellishing.  The frame was painted with a gold acrylic and 

smeared with gold glitter glue.

I think of the two, this is my favorite.  Maybe it's just more in my

comfort zone, but I like the softer colors.  I stamped my image and 

sentiment and then added pastels to create the background. I really

like the effect of using the watercolor paper for this!

I really hope that you will share an ATC with us this week, even if you have never made one before! I am beginning to find that I have the most fun with this type of challenge, although I need to stop stressing over the finished product and just let the process happen and learn from my mistakes!

As I am posting this, it is a very rainy Saturday and our plans of attending a local Chalk Walk event have been postponed to next weekend.  So I am going to get out of here and try to do some crafty stuff at home! Have a wonderful week and happy crafting!

And the saga continues...

If you are a new follower to my blog, first of all...Welcome! So glad you joined me! and second, this post may make absolutely no sense to you at all.  I am providing back links in case you would like to understand it, but if nothing else, I hope you will enjoy my card for today!

It all started a little over a year ago when Chip met Rocky and they went on their first date...

Apparently it was quite a date because 10 days later, this card shared they were married and moved to Boulder...

During their next visit to my blog, we learned that the gestation period for lawn gnomes is around 5 months, either that or they were trying to keep a little secret from all of us...

The arrival of Chip Jr., (or Slip, as his family calls him) and another move, this time to Little Rock, was announced in June.  Since then, I haven't heard much from them. I assumed they were keeping pretty busy with their new baby and didn't have time to write or call.  

So imagine my surprise when Rocky sent me their latest family photo...

Seems they have been very busy!  You will notice that Chip Jr. had quite a growth spurt over the past 7 months.  That's him on the left and then there are the newly arrived twins, a sweet little girl named Pebble, and another little boy, named Flint.  If you can manage to read the sentiment on the card, you will notice that they have also relocated again... 'Snow Place Like Gnome'.  Rocky tells me they have family there.  When I asked her about the additional frog, she shared the sad news that the original pet frog was no longer with them (wait for it...) He croaked a few months ago.  But with the two babies, they decided to go ahead and get two new pet frogs.  Chip has a new job working in the mines, but he's not sure he likes working with all of the dwarfs.  He claims they are quite a 'dopey' bunch.

So if you have lawn gnomes at your home, be sure to keep a close eye on them because they are apparently more fertile than rabbits and grow faster too! Next thing you know, they'll be taking over your yard!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed the latest 'pun'-filled adventures of Chip and Rocky.  I can't be sure,but I thought I heard groans and boos coming from my computer.  Surely not...

On a little more serious note, this card was inspired by my blogging friend, Lisa.  She kept throwing out hints about the gnomes and I thought that it would only be fitting to use some goodies I received from her on my card.  The dimensional snowman and the alpha stamps for the sentiment were prizes I won from her fabulous blog!  I also used some brand spankin' new DSP on this!  Sycamore Street is a new DSP available during Sale-a-bration and it's FREE with a purchase of $50!!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-whisper white, Sycamore Street DSP, Ink-black stazon, various SU markers, Stamp Sets-Gnome Sweet Gnome (ret), tiny alphabet set from Lisa, Accessories-pastels, dazzling details, crystal effects, 3D snowman from Lisa