FTL #96

Happy Wednesday! Here’s my take on FTL#96 as featured on the Clean & Simple Stamping blog. It also qualifies for the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge (FTTC73), which is to create a fruit-inspired card.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White and Smokey Plum cardstock; Bella Level 2 paper packet; New England Ivy, Petal, Smokey Plum, and Bamboo ink pads; Bon Appétit and Thank You stamp sets; Speckled Background stamp (retired); Antiqued Copper mini brads; Sponge dauber.

How is your week going? Does it seem a bit long to you, too? I guess that’s what happens when one is waitin’ for the weekend! Speaking of weekend, my kids and just about everyone else I know are making plans to leave town. Me? I’m still holding onto the idea of three days of mostly at-home time. How about you? What are you doing over the 4th?

Tonight, I’m off to bed. Hope your Thursday is terrific!

Thinking of You

Tonight’s card was inspired by this beautiful card on Mariana Grigsby’s Blog.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, black, and Ocean cardstock; Black ink pad; Hero Arts Wildflower Garden and Thinking of You stamp sets; Black/white mini check ribbon and Best Occasions Metal Dots from Wal-Mart.

How are you? I hope this finds you happy, healthy, and enjoying your evening. Our weekend was busier than I intended it to be with the few minutes I had in my corner producing a card I didn’t like and couldn’t make myself post. Thus, another little hiatus from the blogosphere.

This week should be quieter, including the long (Saturday through Monday) 4th of July weekend. All tuckered out from this past weekend’s nonstop activities, it is going to be early to bed tonight.

I will be back with more to say and something to show you when my energy tank has been replenished. Until then, take care and thanks for stopping. Make every day a good one!

Simple Saturday

My Simple Saturday offering was inspired by this lovely card I saw the other day on the Simplicity blog. I thought I had a little coin-like charm to use in the corner, too – something I’d saved from a candle. But I couldn’t find it (no wonder) and used the little buckle instead (from the Antiqued Copper Mini Medley Accents Collection from CTMH).  My ribbon was too wide and stiff to accommodate the buckle, so I ran a line of Fray Check down the length of it and when it was dry, cut it down into a narrower piece.

The images were stamped with Olive and colored with a Garden Green marker. To add some additional texture to the stamped and colored image, I used my Speckled Background stamp with Bamboo ink.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White and Olive cardstock; Olive ink pad; Clear Dollar Stamps Little Blooms and Impression Obsession Anytime Sentiments stamp sets; CTMH Speckled Backgrounds stamp (retired); Antiqued Copper Mini Medley Accents Collection; New England Ivy Designer Ribbon Rounds (retired).

It has been a busy couple of days. “Kiss Me Kate” was fantastic on Thursday night – three hours of laugh-out-loud entertainment. The local talent astounds me. Last night, Bjorn and Mathias stayed with us. We enjoyed supper and playtime at a favorite park and then back at home, played games until bedtime. The fresh air was a great sleep inducer – for all of us.  We have a wedding at 5 o’clock this afternoon with the reception at the golf club following the ceremony. My dilemma, of course, is what to wear. LOL.

And now, I’m off to feed a couple of little boys their breakfasts before fun and games until their Daddy comes to get them. I’m hoping to spend some time in my corner today. A little serious computer time would be nice, too.

I hope your weekend is wonderful. Thanks for stopping by!

Inspired by Inspired by… Again!

Take a look at this beauty on the Inspired by… blog. While I have no clue how Sasya (yes, that’s Russian) created her beautiful background, I just had to figure out a way to emulate it.

What I did was stamp my image with VersaMark on a piece of Goldrush patterned paper from the Splendor paper packet, emboss it with clear embossing powder, and finally, sponge on some Cranberry ink. The result is a very interesting background that the photograph does not do justice. Ignore the shine from the embossing powder. Imagine the pattern of the paper coming through – subtly through the ink and with more definition from under the embossed areas. If I had not had the patterned paper, I would have used gold cardstock, which, I think, would worked just (or just about) as well.

The butterfly is a Cuttlebug die/embossing folder combo cut from Goldrush cardstock. I lightly inked its edges with Cranberry ink for a surprisingly pleasing effect. Not wanting to distract from the design, I stamped the small Happy Birthday sentiment directly onto the background. I love the way this little experiment turned out.

Oh, and if you take a look at Sasya’s blog, make note of these gorgeous spiral roses made from cotton pads. I love the glitter and how she added soft pink to the edges of her flowers. I’ll be casing the makeup department on my next trip to Wal-Mart to see if I can find what I believe to be makeup remover pads. Am I on the right trail?

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, Goldrush, and Cocoa cardstock; Splendor Level 2 paper packet; VersaMark, Cranberry, and Cocoa ink pads; Clear embossing powder; Flourishes Birds in Vines and Papertrey Ink Birthday Basics stamp sets; Brown satin ribbon from Wal-Mart; KaiserKrafts pearl accents; Cuttlebug/w Butterfly Combo die and embossing folder; Round sponge.

Happy Hump Day! My day was kind of slow, albeit pleasant enough. Tonight, I’m doing the laundry that didn’t get done on the weekend and straightening up around the house. While housework isn’t very exciting, one can’t have fun every night. Tomorrow evening, we (Mom and I) are going to “Kiss Me, Kate.” Friday night, the boys are spending the night with us, so their Daddy and Sarah can have a night out. On Saturday, we have a wedding and reception to attend. As for Sunday, I haven’t got life planned that far out. LOL. Busy. It’s all good.

Enjoy the evening, and thanks for stopping by!

Post 1424 …

… For lack of a better title. LOL. I was thinking that was a lot of posts for a blog that isn’t quite two years old, and then, I realized it will be three years in August.  Time flies, doesn’t it?

And, I don’t even have a “new” card to show you tonight. This is one my stamp group made last week – another stamp rolled frog with a purple pop-dotted flower. A purple bug, too. This card is like one in the summer catalog minus the cool folded flower I have yet to try.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, Goldrush, and Topiary cardstock; Splendor paper packet; Citrus Leaf, Topiary, Goldrush, and Hydrangea ink pads; Goldrush marker; Hot Diggity stamp set; EK Success corner rounder (scallops); Cuttlebug w/Nestabilities Classic Circles set; 3M foam mounting tape.

Tonight, Mom, Cameron, Sarah, the little boys, and I attended a picnic/fundraiser at one of the local parks. The park is sponsored by the Kiwanis and is located where one of the neighborhood schools once was. The apartment building Mom lives in was built on the same block, which means the park is literally in her back yard. It’s also a block and a half from Cameron and Sarah’s house, so it’s where the little guys hang out when it’s nice outside. Playground equipment has been added as money has been raised. A group of volunteers recently built a shelter. I would guess restrooms are on the plan for somewhere down the line. Anyway, the weather was beautiful, and the turnout for tonight’s event was good, which means more improvements will be forthcoming. A good thing.

The talk of the town today is the announcement that the local newspaper has been sold. As a former employee, it will be interesting to see what changes take place. It will be fun, too, to hear what some of my former co-workers/friends, who are longtime employees, have to say. My job there as a writer/reporter was one I wished I’d never left, even though had I stayed, I am relatively certain I would have worked myself to death my now. LOL.

What is everyone up to this week? I guess if I want to know, I’d better go take a peek around the blogosphere. Talk to you again tomorrow. Take care.

Inspired

Tonight’s card was inspired by this beautiful card on the Wee Inklings blog. It caught my eye not once but twice when Nancy Riley from iSTAMP chose it as one of her recent iPICKS. While I loved the black and cream, I changed it up a bit by using Colonial White and Cocoa. Because I was working with different stamps, I had to make a few other adjustments as well. What you can’t see is that the blossom portion of the image, which was stamped twice and cut out, was mounted with foam tape.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White and Cocoa cardstock; Cocoa ink pad; Hero Arts Friend Definition and Hydrangea stamps; Close To My Heart Happy Birthday stamp set; Brown ribbon from Michael’s; Fiskars Apron Lace border punch; Cuttlebug w/Nestabilities Classic Circles set; 3M foam mounting tape.

It’s Monday, and it has been a busy one at that. The workday pretty much flew by, and there is a pile of stuff waiting for me to do tomorrow, too. I came home to a couple of sweet little boys who I need to go spend some time with before bedtime. My time with them, regardless of how much it is, is always too short. They are growing so fast.

I hope your day was wonderful, too. Thank you so much for your visits and the comments you leave. They mean a lot.

Hmm …

Here is my take on Unscripted Sketches #60. In commemoration of National Eat Oreos Day, the bonus challenge was to make a black and white card. It was a challenging sketch, and as you can see, I felt the need to add a bit of catsup to my Oreos. LOL.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy and Cranberry cardstock; Black ink pad; Inkadinkado Asian Life and Verve Stamps Thankful Hearts stamp sets; Black/white mini check ribbon from Wal-Mart.

Did you have a good day? I certainly did. As planned, the family was here for supper. I spent most of the afternoon in the kitchen, trying not one but two new recipes. The first was for Southwestern Lasagna, and the second was for made-from-scratch cornbread muffins. The lasagna was good. The recipe for the muffins called for both honey and granulated sugar, which made them just a tad sweet for my taste. I can’t take credit for the dessert – a turtle ice cake that came from the frozen food section at the grocery store. It was yummy and was a much bigger hit with the little boys than the “serious” food had been. LOL.

No, I had better get this posted while it’s still Sunday and then skedaddle off to bed. Bjorn and Mathias are staying with us tomorrow night. Tuesday night there is a community picnic I plan to attend, and one night this week, I am going to attend the second Community Arts Council production of the season – “Kiss Me, Kate.” The turtle is sticking her head out of her shell once in a while. LOL.

I hope your week is wonderful. See you soon!

Simple Saturday

Although I’ve been using the hot air balloon stamps, it was really the cute pennant stamp that was the “clincher” for the Look Up! set from Practicing Creativity Designs. And I wanted it for the reason you see here – a quick and easy, albeit cute and colorful, card. The stamp is also a great example of what makes acrylic stamps so appealing. I love that one can bend ‘em, and for certain, those little flags would not have been as much fun to stamp had a stamp positioner been part of the equation. That as a tool I was more than happy to banish from my corner. We never did get along all that well. LOL.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy (textured), Star Spangled Blue, and Holiday Red cardstock; Black, Holiday Red, Star Spangled Blue, and Sunny Yellow ink pads; Practicing Creativity Designs Look Up! and CTMH Happy Birthday stamp sets.

How is your day going? I just got home from having lunch and then shopping with Mom. We went to the American Legion where service clubs take turns serving burgers and fries every Saturday noon. Always full, it’s the place to be on Saturday. I will have to say though, I felt young amongst today’s crowd, and that doesn’t happen very often anymore. LOL.

And now, I’m off to clean house, figure out a food plan for tomorrow night, and eventually, go grocery shopping. I hope you are having a wonderful day! Later …

Look Up! Take 2

Here is another hot air balloon card. I only colored my image twice tonight. My first stab at it was with water-based markers, which are good for some things but didn’t produce pleasing results for this image. The image I used was colored with my old standby – Prismacolor pencils and OMS. I think I need a few Copics … like about a 100 or so … after I win the lottery. LOL.

I created the background with Heavenly Blue ink and a cloud stencil, which, if you don’t have one, you don’t need. When my stencil has been MIA, I’ve cut my own simple version from scrap paper. For small images, I’ve punched a scalloped circle from copy paper and used that. For this card, I used foam tape to pop up the top of the balloon, which was stamped on a separate piece of cardstock. The card base for this one is White Daisy textured cardstock.

Barb commented on my last post that she lives near a winery and sees hot air balloons in the sky on a regular basis. I can’t imagine. My real-life experience with hot air balloons has been minimal. I think there has been a company in town a few times offering rides during the county fair. Had I been in a hot air balloon today, I probably would have ended up on the other side of the country in a hurry. It was really windy. Cold, too. Sigh.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy (regular and textured), Star Spangled Blue, and Holiday Red cardstock; Holiday Red Gingham B&T paper (retired); Black, Heavenly Blue, and Star Spangled Blue ink pads; Practicing Creativity Designs Look Up! stamp set; Star Spangled Blue Bigger Brads; Prismacolor colored pencils; Gamsol odorless mineral spirits; Blending stumps; 3M foam mounting tape.

Woo hoo! It’s Friday. What have you got planned for the weekend? Most of my time will be spent getting ready for Sunday evening when the family will gather to celebrate Dustin and Miranda’s birthdays (my baby turned 30 yesterday) and Father’s Day. I’m hoping to glean some energy from the sun! It’s been much to scarce so far this month. Tonight, I’m going to go visit with Mom, my sister, Karen, and very sweet, very entertaining, two-year-old granddaughter, Hailey. She’s proof that little girls can be “busy,” too.

If you’re around the blogosphere, stop back tomorrow for Simple Saturday. ‘Til then, take care and thanks for stopping by!

It’s Not That Difficult …

… or at least it’s not supposed to be. You wouldn’t believe the time I had making this simple card. And it wasn’t a particularly good time. My inspiration was drawn from these cute cards on the StarLitStudio blog. For my card, I used papers from the new Splendor paper packet. Love them, too!

Problem #1: Coloring the hot air balloon to coordinate with the papers. Solution #1: Give up (after several tries with several coloring mediums) and paper piece the darned balloon with patterned paper. I used a Goldrush marker to color in the design. Result #1: A balloon that’s a little too matchy-matchy.

Problem #2: The card was close to being finished when I realized the band with the sentiment was crooked. Solution #2: Remove it and straighten it, pulling out the six brads that held the edge anchors that had been a pain in the you-know-where to get in to begin with and then (as if that wasn’t enough) tearing the paper. Result #2: An element that may or may not still be crooked. I can’t tell and couldn’t find my ruler (an indication of the condition of my desk).

Problem #3: The finished card was blah. Solution #3: Cut a cloud from white cardstock. Sponge it with a bit of Crystal Blue ink, and Pop Dot it to the card. Result #3: I dunno. I’ve lost my objectivity with this troublesome card.

That reads like a case study. LOL. And I think I’ll skip the materials & tools list, having named everything I used but the stamp set – Look Up! by Practicing Creativity Designs – and the Nestabilities Labels Eight set.

While I wouldn’t call it a bad day, it seemed like a long one. Work was one thing. The weather was another with storms and multiple tornados in the area (actually, much of the state) late this afternoon and early evening. It’s Dustin’s birthday today, and he and Miranda went to Grand Forks where they ended up sent to the back of the Target store during a storm that included a tornado warning. While I don’t know any details, I’ve heard there was a fatality in a small town about 35 miles from here. Sad. The whole thing was pretty scary, although in the immediate area, I didn’t see any clouds that looked too ominous. These types of widespread storms are unusual in Minnesota.

I hope you had a good day. Tomorrow is Friday, a fact that brings a smile to my face. Make yours a good one! See you again then.

Life is Like …

…a bowl of cherries today. But yesterday, it was the pits! I seem to have a bad day about every 10 days or so. It’s like I have functioning hormones again or something. LOL.

Anyhoo, what every it was, I’m over it, and my card is a modified version of Mojo Monday 143. Did you know that CTMH’s craft buttons have holes big enough to string ribbon through without a whole lot of hassle? LOVE them.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, Tulip, and Crystal Blue cardstock; Close To My Heart’s Cherry-O Workshop on the Go kit; Tulip, Chocolate, Crystal Blue, and Sweet Leaf ink pads; Basic Craft Buttons; Blue mini check ribbon from reasonalbleribbon.com; Stampin’ Up Ticket punch; Piercing tool; Cuttlebug w/Nestabilities Classic Circles set; 3M foam mounting tape.

Today was a great day – busy and productive. I really hope yours was, too. And now with places to go and things to do, I’m off. Thanks for stopping. I hope plan to be back tomorrow.

Sketch Challenge Cards

 

While I was relatively certain I would like Close To My Heart’s new Passages paper packet, I didn’t realize I would love it. But I do – a whole bunch!

This first card is my take on Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 73 as featured on The Sweetest Thing blog. Note how the tail of the bird extends beyond the circle. The image was too big, so I stamped the tail on a scrap of cardstock, cut it out, matched it up, and adhered it to the back of the circular piece. I love the dimension it adds – so much I repeated my little “trick” on the card below. Aren’t these rich colors pretty?

Materials & Tools: Colonial White and Cocoa cardstock; Passages Level 2 paper packet; Barn Red and Bamboo ink pads; Live Inspired stamp set; Antiqued Copper Mini Medley Accents Collection; Cuttlebug w/Nestabilities Classic Circles set; Round sponge; Sanding block.

 

 

 

 

This second sketch, Unscripted Sketches #59, was a bit trickier, but I’m happy with the way my card turned out. I flipped the patterned paper for this card, combining the so-pretty Garden Green pattern with New England Ivy.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, New England Ivy, and Barn Red cardstock; Passages Level 2 paper packet; New England Ivy and Bamboo ink pads; Live Inspired stamp set; Square pewter brads; Stampin’ Up Pewter Build-a-Brad; Cuttlebug w/Nestabilities Classic Rectangles set; Round sponge; Sanding block.

 

Well, it’s Monday. Actually, it is a fine day. I was busy at work. The sun is shining. I had a call from a friend I hadn’t talked to in a long time when I got home. Catching up was good. Marv made supper. All is well. I hope your day was a good one, too. Tonight, I’m going to do a couple of domestic things and then settle into my corner for a little stamping session, so I have something to show you tomorrow. Talk to you again then!

Real Cards!

 

I finally had the chance to sit down and stamp intentionally again. And even though there were a hundred or so other things I probably should have been doing, it felt good.

This first card was made using Close To My Heart’s June Stamp of the Month set, “Wonderful Friend.”

Materials & Tools: Colonial White and Cocoa Cardstock; Passages Level 2 paper packet; Cocoa and Bamboo ink pads; Wonderful Friend June Stamp of the Month set; Antiqued Copper Mini Brads; Sponge Dauber; Distressor tool; Sanding Block; 3M foam mounting tape.

 

This next card was also made using the Passages paper packet as well as CTMH’s new “Live Inspired” stamp set. There are so many lovely images in this set. Love it!

Materials & Tools: Colonial White and Cocoa cardstock; Passages Level 2 paper packet; Cocoa, Barn Red, and Bamboo ink pads; Live Inspired stamp set; Cocoa grosgrain ribbon; Antiqued Copper Mini Medley Accents; Piercing tool; Stampin’ Up Piercing Guide & Mat; Sponge dauber; Sanding block.

There isn’t a whole lot going on here yet today. My intention was to go to church with Mom and my sister at 10. I woke up at 9:56. It turns out they didn’t go either. The sky is a bit brighter today, which is a good sign. The 10-day forecast currently shows six sunny or mostly sunny days with temperatures, for the most part, in the 70s. Undeterred by the clouds, Marv went to play a round of golf. I’m headed over to Mom’s. A couple of my sisters (the Marthas) are there along with my brother-in-law. They’re hanging pictures and anchoring furniture. I’ll go watch ‘em. LOL. Seriously, these girls (21 months and not quite three years younger than me) are so talented. If the truth be known, I’m just jealous.

What are you up to today? Whatever it is, I hope you are enjoying yourselves. That’s what weekends are for, after all. If the housekeeping fairy shows up and takes care of my chores, I might be back yet today. Otherwise, I’ll catch you tomorrow. In the meantime, take care!

 

 

 

Simple Saturday

These little 3x3-inch gift enclosure cards were inspired by these cute cards on the Sharing What I Love blog. I thought I had the same little square embossing folders, but it turned out mine are round. Nothing like knowing what one owns. LOL. Anyway, I “made do” with my round ones, which worked out just fine.

The bird and the flowers are from Close To My Heart’s new Hot Diggity set, and the hot air balloon (doubling as a vase on the middle card) and “The sky’s the limit” sentiment are from Practicing Creativity Designs’ Look Up! set. I stamped the bird twice – with Honey on the card base and Dutch Blue on a scrap. Then I cut out the bird’s body and layered it over the beak and feet. Its eye is a black Bitty Brad. The leaves and stems on the flowers were hand drawn, with the center flower, vase, and balloon on the bottom card popped up with some foam tape.  The stencil I used for the clouds on the bottom card was simply a 2-inch scalloped circle I made with a punch. Oh, and the flower centers are yellow Fun Flock. I don’t make a lot of small cards, so they were kind of fun.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy Cardstock; Black, Holiday Red, Dutch Blue, Heavenly Blue, and Honey ink pads; Topiary marker; CTMH Hot Diggity and Say it in Style stamp sets; Practicing Creativity Designs Look Up! stamp set; Black Bitty Brad; Sunshine Yellow Fun Flock; Glue pen; Cuttlebug w/2x2.75 Stitched Circles embossing folders; 2-inch scalloped circle punch; Stampin’ Up Word Window punch; 3M foam mounting tape.

How’s your weekend going? I spent the afternoon with Mom. Cam, Sarah, and the boys came by for a visit, too. Bjorn and Mathias explored Great Grandma’s apartment and thought it was pretty cool. The poor little guys haven’t been able to play outdoors all week because of the rain and are getting pretty restless. I think a little sunshine will lift everyone’s spirits. Tomorrow maybe?

There isn’t much else going on around here. There are chores to do, and I’m hoping to find the time for another stamping session before the weekend is over. With hopes you are having a wonderful weekend, I’ll sign off for now. Take care, and thanks for stopping by!

It Ain’t Easy Being Green

Greetings from the frozen tundra. Ok. That might be a big of an exaggeration. But it is cool and for the umpteenth day in a row, cloudy. Nevertheless, it’s been another crazy week when I haven’t found more than 15 minutes to park myself in my corner. To that end, I’m glad Clean and Simple seems to be in vogue these days – either that or there are more than a few busy stampers out there these days.

Cute frog, huh? I inked him (it is a he, isn’t it?) up with Citrus Leaf and rolled him on my Clover Meadow pad and laid him down on a square of White Daisy textured cardstock. Now, if I’d only had a “Ribbit” stamp, my card would have been just right. He kind reminds me of a couple of the guys I kissed – a long time ago. LOL.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Clover Meadow, Citrus Leaf, and White Daisy textured cardstock; Clover Meadow and Citrus Leaf ink pads; Hot Diggity stamp set; No embellishments; No tools; No foam tape; Nadda. LOL.

Last night, I was in bed at this time with a terrible stomach ache after having overdosed on trail mix at work. Tonight, I could take to my bed again, having just returned home from dinner with Marv, Mom, my brother and his wife, and my sister and her husband.  It was fun, but I ate too much – again. Yesterday and today were kind of crazy at work. It was a fast week that I hope ends with a slow, leisurely weekend. A little sunshine would be nice, too.

How are you? I guess I’ll go do a little blog surfing and find out. Catch you again on Simple Saturday.

A Lazy Stamper’s Card

I sat down at my desk with no particular plan tonight. I just knew I didn’t want to sit there too long. Laying off to the side was the pad of 7gypsies paper I used to make this card. Realizing I had not yet taken the time to actually look at it, I thumbed through the pages of the pad with the piece I used to create this simple card catching my eye right away. I love the design with its “built-in” butterfly. How cool. And the biggest challenge was choosing coordinating cardstock for the punched border. At most, it was a 10-minute card.

Materials & Tools: Twilight, Cocoa, and Stampin’ Up Kraft cardstock; 7gypsies Nottinghill 6x6-inch paper variety pack; Cocoa ink pad; Gracious Greetings stamp set; KaiserKraft pearl accents; Fiskars Apron Lace border punch.

Today was a good day. I was busy enough at work for the time to pass at a reasonable pace. After work, I stopped by to visit Mom for a few minutes, which was fun. She has been working on a quilt and has made a little headway since the weekend in getting her scrapbooking room organized. It’s nice to see her so happy in her new surroundings. I came home to an interesting email from my brother, too. It involves doing some freelance work, writing articles for a blog. Woo hoo! While I need more information, I’m excited by the prospect. With my techie son working on another project for me, dreams are beginning to take shape.

I hope your day was a good one, too. Looking at my blog post from the other room, sweet husband just commented about my card. He said it looked like mud with “something blue on it” from where he was sitting. Nice. LOL. I’m off to spend what’s left of the evening in my nice, soft, warm (it’s cold outside) bed with a couple of magazines. I hope the result is a deep sleep that takes me to 6:30 am. We’ll see how that works out. “See” you tomorrow! Until then, take care.

A Little Green Saved the Day …

… or maybe it was just my card. For as long as it took me to make this card, it should be a real work of art. Instead, it’s just a work of heart that I really thought I was going to hate until I colored the leaves. A few splashes of green made all the difference.

I was inspired by a card here on the Hero Club Blog. Different stamps and different colors. The general theme, the same. Note I popped the bottom flower up with some foam tape.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy, Buttercup, and Indian Corn Blue cardstock; Indian Corn Blue ink pad; Hero Arts Floating Blossoms background stamp and CTMH Happy Birthday stamp set; KaiserKraft pearl accents; Prismacolor colored pencils; Gamsol odorless mineral spirits; Blending stumps; 3M foam mounting tape.

The best part of my day was hugs and kisses from the two little guys before their daddy took them home after work tonight. The rest of the day was quite unremarkable with my mood a match for the dreary weather. Not terrible or anything. Just kind of blah. Tomorrow, sunshine or no sunshine, I’m going to decide to be happy before I get out of bed. After all, it’s all in the attitude!

Speaking of bed, that’s where I’m headed. It’s late … again. I hope your day was a good one and your Wednesday wonderful. Take care, friends, and thanks for stopping by!

With a Little Help from my Friends

Actually, it was just one little “friend,” Bjorn, who helped me make this card. The only thing I wouldn’t let him do was stamp the ribbon even though he was quite certain he could handle it. LOL. Typical boy, he really thinks my tools are cool – particularly the guillotine-style paper cutter and paper piercing tool. 

The card is my take on FTL 93 as featured on the Clean & Simple Stamping blog. As for the details, I’ll skip them. It was that simple. LOL.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, Olive, Chocolate Brown, and Stampin’ Up Kraft cardstock; Olive and Bamboo ink pads; Hero Arts Silhouette Fern and CTMH Say it in Style stamp sets; New England Ivy Bigger Brads; Twill ribbon; Martha Stewart Large Butterfly punch.

How was your Monday? Mine was busy and productive – as good a workday as I’m going to have. It was a hard day, too, saying “Hope to see you soon,” to a co-worker/friend who is on her way to Rochester tomorrow to begin the second phase of her journey with breast cancer and learning that another co-worker friend, a young guy between the ages of 25 and 30, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia on Saturday. Darn.

Tonight, the little boys are staying with us. It goes without saying that having them here makes me happy. Other than that, I see in last night’s post, I reversed Dustin and Miranda’s birthdays. Dustin’s is on the 17th, and Miranda’s is tomorrow. After talking to Dusty this morning, I learned my plans for a party this weekend won’t work out, because Miranda will be horseback riding in western North Dakota. Thus, I guess we will celebrate their birthdays on Father’s Day. Not a problem. Maybe the weather will be straightened out by then.

And now, I’m off to bed where I hope to make up for last night’s bout with insomnia. Enjoy Tuesday!

Miss Me Yet?

I’m kidding and chucking, thinking of the mysterious billboard that showed up one day this past winter in a southern Minnesota town. The picture of George W. could not have been more perfect, and whether you love him or hate him, you’ll have to admit he has some facial expressions that are a hoot. Kind of Johnny Carson like. The kind of expressions the imitators love. 

I made a card! I was inspired by this card on the Me, My Stamps and I blog. Thank heaven for inspiration. My attempt at a card for my Simple Saturday post ended up in the wastebasket as did a couple of other cards last week. My lack of mojo darned near scared me. LOL. I’m relieved that, at the very least, I can still draw inspiration from others.

About my card, there isn’t much to say that you can’t tell by looking at the photo.

Materials & Tools: Colonial White, Pansy Purple, and New England Ivy cardstock; Bella paper packet; Pansy Purple, New England Ivy, Olive, and Bamboo ink pads; Petal marker; Treasure Life and Say it in Style stamp sets; Ribbon from my stash; KaiserKraft pearl accents; Martha Stewart Butterfly punch; Cuttlebug w/Swiss Dots embossing folder and Nestabilities Labels Eight set; Sponge dauber.

How have you been? The past few days have been busy – helping get Mom settled, having a wee bit of fun, and trying to catch up at home. Oh yea, and I worked, too. LOL. Everything has been pretty routine with the exception of attending the play, “Talking With …,” which was the season opener for the Community Arts Council, on Thursday evening with Mom. It was really good.

This is going to be a busy week, too. I have a half dozen graduation cards to make and get in the mail for graduations we missed on Memorial Day weekend. I need several wedding cards, too, so there will be some “stamping with a purpose” happening here. Next Sunday, we are going to celebrate Dustin and Miranda’s birthdays, which are on the 8th and 17th respectively. I thought it was Father’s Day next week, too, but I guess that is on the 20th this year. What? Cook two weeks in a row? We’ll have to go out for that one. LOL. I’d really like next week’s gathering to be an outdoor affair but won’t count on it. Cool temperatures (with highs in the 70s) and scattered showers and thunderstorms are forecast for most of the week. Darn.

So occupied I’ve been, with the exception of a little scanning, I haven’t even checked out the blogosphere for a couple of days. It’s time to catch up. I hope this finds you healthy, happy, and looking forward to the week. And to borrow a line from The Terminator, “I’ll be back …”

Easy Does It

I was going to say I don’t know where my mojo is, but that wouldn’t be exactly true. It’s not lost but rather misplaced at the moment – buried beneath a pile of stuff somewhere. While I’ve been out and about the past few days, I’ve seriously ignored my own surroundings. Thus, when I get off the computer, I’m going to see if I can find the gumption to address, at the very least, the top layer. Then, I’ll feel better.

My card was made using the second stamp in Hero Art’s Wildflower Garden set. I colored it with markers and then huffed on it to refresh the moisture before laying the stamp down on my paper. It’s a big stamp. I ended up using a button for the flower center, because I evidently didn’t have quite enough huff in me to pull off a good image. Better luck next time.

Materials & Tools: White Daisy and Cocoa cardstock; Veranda paper packet; Cocoa ink pad; Sunflower, Garden Green, and Brown Bag markers; Hero Arts Wildflower Garden and Whipper Snapper Designs Blooming Expressions stamp sets; Basic Craft Buttons; Sponge dauber.

Even though there was plenty to do, it seemed like a long day today. It was probably because I was tired. While I went to bed and fell asleep early enough last night, I didn’t sleep very well, waking up every half hour or so for the first couple of hours. We’ll try again tonight.

How was your day? I hope it was a good one and that tomorrow is, too. With that, I’m off to look for my mojo with the hope it isn’t buried too deep. LOL. Take care, friends, and thanks for stopping by!

New Stamps, New Paper, 10 Minutes

Hi, everybody! Did you have a nice weekend? I hope so. As you well know, mine was busy. Yesterday, a couple of my sisters (the Martha Stewart types) and I spent the day helping Mom get stuff put away. Wouldn’t you know it was me who put her pantry together only to have a couple of the shelves collapse about as soon as I got it done? Sigh. One of the Marthas fixed it while Mom and I went shopping for some supplies she needed. It was a fun day.

Tonight, there were errands to run after work, leaving me about 10 minutes to spend in my corner – just enough time to ink up this new stamp from Hero Arts on a piece of this new (to me) paper from 7gypsies. The bird is part of the paper, and although it isn’t dimensional to the stamped image, I used it anyway. Not something I needed, the paper (so pretty) was purchased in a weak moment. Oh, who am I kidding? Like the stamps weren’t as well? LOL. Anyway, I love ‘em and see myself using them for something a bit more time consuming when I have more time. Tonight, this is what you get. I was going to add a sentiment but couldn’t decide what or where and didn’t want to mess up the pretty paper. Thus, a note card!

Materials & Tools: Colonial White and Autumn Terracotta cardstock; 7gypsies Nottinghill 6x6-inch paper variety pack; Outdoor Denim ink pad; Hero Arts Wildflower Garden stamp set.

After the busy weekend, it was almost nice to go back to work today. Routine can be a good thing. And with Mom in town, I see mine changing somewhat – and in a good way. I’ve become kind of a hermit in recent years and anticipate getting out more, which will be good for me. For tonight, however, the only place I should “get” is to bed. But not before I thank you for the sweet comments you left on my last post. They were very much appreciated. It was fun to share. And that’s what it’s all about. Hope your Wednesday is wonderful. “See” you soon.