Gotta Share This-Cuttlebug Stamping!

The girls are taking a bath and I'm scrolling my Google Reader. I noticed there is something in my Friends Shared Folder. HUH? I've not seen that before. I recognized the gal who shared the item, though, so I figured it must be interesting. I scrolled through a blog entry that shows how to use your Cuttlebug Embossing Folders as stamps. It looks very intriguing and I might just have to try it sometime. I don't know if Elaine reads this blog, but if she does...THANKS! I added this blog to my reader as well.

Click HERE and see if it piques your interest like it did mine. :o)

Guide Lines Cards

Nichole Heady, who owns Papertrey Ink, is so creative and inspiring. She's also a great "salesperson." Each month PTI releases new stamp sets and Nichole has a countdown on her blog, {Capture the Moment}, with artwork and how-tos on using the sets. Of course, like a good little consumer, I often drool and decide I MUST own that set. The recently released Guide Lines set is one of those I drooled over this month. I cased the cards Nichole featured in her countdown here.
This first card also shows the Sweet Blush cardstock and ink from PTI. I bought the little cubes of ink they sell to try them out. I definitely like the ink, but let's say it was 'fun' trying to ink up the guidelines stamp with that little bitty cube! LOL The sentiment is from CTMH's Love Quotes set. I had to use my 4x6 block for the grid stamp. It was just enough wider than the 2 inch wide blocks, but too long for the 4x4 block. Maybe I'll have to add one of PTI's blocks to my wish list so the stamp will fit better...
This card is basically the same idea, only I used Ocean colors. The sentiment is from CTMH's Happy Birthday set.

Both cards are pretty straightforward, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask away.

I was trying to get some other cards made, but decided to set them aside for now so they wouldn't end up in the trash can. I've told you before, I LOVE the look of colored in images, but replicating the look is difficult for me. I may be hopelessly "challenged" in this area.

The anniversary celebration last night was fun. The kids of the couple (I say kids, but they are definitely ALL grown up and offspring doesn't sound right) planned for their parents to renew their wedding vows. It was very sweet and had just enough humor to make it not too sappy. The "groom" wore a multicolored top hat and the "bride" wore a bright pink boa along with the boot on her recently broken foot. Renewing their vows was a surprise to the couple as was the fact that their youngest son (the one who called to invite us) led the ceremony because he became "ordained" via the internet (and $20), making the ceremony "official." The girls enjoyed playing with the younger grandkids that were in attendance. We got home way past the girls bedtime, but a good time was had by all. Too bad I didn't bring my camera!

Thanks for visiting and I hope this next week is a good one for you!

Inkspired by Kathi Once Again!

While I don't own the same set Kathi uses on her cards, I found this Hero Arts Friend set at Archiver's and felt it was very close to her image to have fun. I believe Kathi's stamp set is a wood mounted one from Stampin Up and I cannot use wood mounted sets. My attempts at creating would all end up the the trash can, believe me, I would have nothing to share!

Anyway...when Kathi posted these cards, I decided I had to get a stamp set similar to hers! Thanks for always inspiring me, Kathi!! I followed the Grid Technique tutorial on Splitcoaststampers. Actually, I think I have done this technique before with my Hostess Club, or something similar, but this was a good refresher since it's been a while.

I used CTMH's Simple Pleasures pattern paper and Twilight cardstock/ink. The ribbon is Cocoa organdy. Images are from Hero Art's Friend set. I used the Inkadinkado chalks to color in the background a bit.

I used paper from Basic Grey's Two Scoops 6x6 pad for the background. Twilight and Topiary cardstock. Twilight ink. The butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch. I pierced the dots along the top edge and the bling is from the Friend stamp set. It was a combo stamp set with embellishments.

The card is pretty straight forward, but let me know if I missed something you want to know.

It was nice being able to get into my craft room. Steve had to work this morning, so I waited until he got home before moseying out there. The girls were playing with a friend, but kept coming in and out of the house and I didn't want to be holed up in my room and not know what they were up to in case they needed something.

In a little bit we are going to a family friend's house for dinner. The son called and said they were all getting together for an informal 50th wedding anniversary celebration. How can you NOT celebrate such a milestone! The couple were good friends of my parents and we sort of lost touch after the girls were born. She called recently when a tornado devastated a town north of us, thinking we lived in that town. It should be fun catching up again. The friend who called was one of my mom's best friends when us kids were young. The son who called me is actually 11 days older than I am, so they were even pregnant together (once at least)! LOL

Anyway, I'm glad I was able to post before we left so you would have something to look at should you stop by. :o)

And Erica, I haven't done any digi scrapping in a while, but part of that is because I lost all my tags in my ACDSee program and quirky me feels like I have to retag everything before I can make another layout! Silly, I know! Maybe I'll get over myself and create something anyway...my blog header definitely needs an update. I made a dent in tagging this morning when Steve was at work and the girls were playing.

Relax Cup Card

I remember seeing this type of card when I was a consultant and being very impressed by it. But over time, it completely slipped my mind. Then recently, Dawn's Stamping Thoughts shared this card and I decided I wanted to finally make the card for myself. I followed the Splitcoaststampers tutorial, and it is easier than it looks to create (at least it was easier than I expected)!
As you can see, I pretty much followed the idea in the tutorial, but if I had owned some citrus stamps, I probably would have done a card more similar to Dawn's. :o)

The ink dried on my vellum much more quickly than I expected, which was nice.

The background is all chalked with blending chalks from Inkadinkado. I used post it notes to mask off the top portion. I had a punched out circle on a scrap and used it to chalk the sun. The clouds are a partially punched scallop oval. (I'm no genious...I saw it on a blog-but I can't remember which one!) The relax stamp is from CTMH's Paradise set. The image actually says "relaxed", but I inked up the image with my marker to just use the letters in "relax" then used a Legacy Marker to outline it in black...so it would stand out a bit more.

The umbrella is left over from our party last weekend and the straw is a Sonic one cut down. These items determined that I would use the same colors as shown in the tutorial. They are attached with glue dots.

The micro beads were picked up in the stamping aisle of Michaels a long time ago.

It was a fun card to make! Thanks for looking.

Miss You Scallop Circle Card

Here is the final card that Felicia's husband asked me to send. Well, he didn't pick out the design or anything, but he wrote the sentiment. I saw this card on Thinking Inking and wanted to try making it even though I don't have the circle Nestabilities. I do have the Coluzzle Circle Templates, both the regular and companion, as well as circle punches, so I did my best with those. I think it came out pretty nice, if I do say so myself. I'm pretty sure Felicia liked it. Of course it was from Mike...so it could have been totally ugly and she would have liked it! LOL
Here is the card opened so you can see (sort of) how I made it.
It was a trial and error design, but in the end I cut the largest circles from the Coluzzle template. I cut two, then cut one of the two in half and taped them together. This gave me a template so I knew where to stop my knife when I made the actual card-so the flaps for the gatefold were attached. Then I punched a bunch of 3/4 inch circles and glued them on the inside of the card. If I were to make this card again, I would glue the circles on the backside. On this card I started out gluing them on the inside of the circle, but had an issue when I got to the sides that were attached to the flaps. I had to add those circles to the back side. So I had to cover the inside and outside of the card! If you try this, just glue them on the backside and decide if you want to cover them or not. Clear as mud?

Supplies used...With Love-June Stamp of the Month, CTMH (Thanks, Felicia!), Mixed Messages (PTI), Crystal Blue, Sweet Leaf, Buttercup, 2nd generation Barn Red inks, Buttercup cs (CTMH), pattern paper from the Summer Stack (DCWV). I punched a Martha Stewart edge/emboss punch on each side of a strip of cardstock to get the "lace like" band. American Crafts ribbon, Dress It Up button (Michaels, Jesse James brand) I think that's it. If I missed something and you want to know...add a comment or email me.

I took the girls to the Denver Zoo today. I originally thought to do it tomorrow for Amy's birthday, but it's going to get hotter the next couple of days, and they now start complaining when they get too hot. Today was just about perfect weather, warm but not too bad and a bit breezy. Anyway, we had a very good time (but I didn't take my camera-I have tons of zoo pictures that I haven't scrapped yet!). I will take it one trip though. It's so nice to have a membership because I don't feel like we have to stay the whole day...a couple of hours and we're done! :o)

Amy got a birthday gift today from my dear friend, Kelly, who lives in CA. She sent a butterfly treehouse! Remember when I talked about the caterpillars Jessica's preschool had that went through the life cycle and became butterflies? They put the chrysalids in a mesh container that is shaped like a cylinder. Well, this is the same type of thing-only this one has a zippered door opening at the bottom! I have to send away for the critters, but the rest is the same. How cool, huh?! Amy is quite excited. :o)

Thanks for visiting! I hope you have a great night and the rest of your week is full of fun and good times.

"Tote"ally Cute

After seeing this tote and this tote, I had to try one for myself. Then this morning I saw Kathi's version and realized we definitely think alike in terms of projects we like to try. :o) Kathi linked a tutorial in her post.

Here's the tutorial I used to create mine. I will tell you though, trying to copy and paste the tutorial onto a Word document was a pain. The information and photos shared are terrific, and if you have a computer near where you create, you are good to go. Usually when I copy and paste, things line up very well. I don't know why they didn't on this blog...but I found the pictures would all show up at the top of the page and I had to move them to the words and well, let's just say, it may have taken longer to set up the document for printing than it did to make the project itself! LOL
I used some KI paper in my stash, a flower punch, buttons, cotton thread and Watermelon cardstock from CTMH. The white pen is an American Crafts brand. The grosgrain ribbon was also in my stash and I can't even remember where I got it. It matched the yellow stripe pretty well, though. The scallops on the bottom were created using my fairly new Fiskar's Threading Water punch, which was found at Michaels.

I thought this might be cute to use as a goody bag for a party. Too bad I didn't attempt it before Amy's birthday party, huh? Oh well, Jessica's is coming up in a few months...

Can you tell that I am avoiding the housework this morning? Guess I'd better get back to it!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a great day!

Something's Fishy Here...

Amy wanted a sandwich in the fish shape today, so I was able to take a picture or two to share. :o)

And this may be considered a bit of an enabler alert...Lookie what I found on my most recent trip to Jo-Ann's! While waiting in line to check out I saw some packaging that looked a lot like stamps in their dollar section, so I had Amy pull a couple for me so I could see. She quickly tired of that, so I let some customers ahead of me while I checked out cute (and funny) mini stamps. They are from Inkadinkado and I really liked this set in particular. So, I had to break it out and use it today when I moseyed into my craft room.I have to share that I went into my room so excited to create. I had taken the time to print off LOTS of inspiration and was just itching to get my fingers inky. However, today, the anticipation proved to be better than the work I produced. It was quite frustrating. It probably didn't help that the girls invaded my space not too long after I started trying to create and they were bickering, then wanting my attention for their little projects, interrupting me countless times. So, this card is what I have to show for my time. I like the idea for the card, but not the execution! Ah well, they can't all be winners.

My friend, Kim, who has the Clearly Inspired blog, shares a video tutorial each week. Like me, she has a couple of young kids at home, yet she manages to post consistently (I'd love to be more consistent). Earlier in the week she mentioned she had to figure out what to create for her tutorial video. She shared a photo of a card she took at a stamp store in Sioux Falls, SD. I thought the card was so cute, and commented she should share how to make a card similar to the one in the photo. She did just that and you can see her adorable card and video here.

Here is my attempt at the same type of card. I used colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits to color in the fish and I added a couple of pop dots. I found the spinners in the Fishing aisle at Walmart. I futzed with how to attach them, but in the end stuck them down with glue dots. The pattern paper is from K & Company's Berry Sweet paper pack. The blue is Twilight(CTMH), run through my Cuttlebug with the swirly embossing folder (to give a water like impression). The yellow cardstock is Honey(CTMH). I used Archival Black ink (CTMH) to stamp the images.

And there you have it. As great as yesterday was...today felt like one of "those" days, where I felt frustrated at almost every turn. I think I should just go to bed and start fresh tomorrow! LOL

Thanks for stopping by. I really appreciate it and hope you have a great week!

Birthday Party!

I've been pretty busy this past week, not only with the girls in general, but also because we had Amy's 7th birthday party today and I've been prepping for the party! On the one hand I am amazed that I have a child who is 7 (just about, it is actually on Wednesday). On the other, this was probably one of the most fun parties to plan and execute because I got lots of input from the birthday girl as to what she wanted. And both girls were pretty helpful all around getting things ready.

First up, they helped get the cupcakes ready. Since we were doing a pool/wet/fish/Hawaiian party, I thought it would be cute to make the cupcakes with baby goldfish, blue sprinkles and graham cracker crumb sand, with a Teddy Graham. The final touch, a paper umbrella like those you put into a tropical drink. I'm pleased at how they came out and they appeared to be a hit with the guests.

And the kids got to play in the pool, swing, blow bubbles, run through a sprinkler and make a craft which was a fish. We also had water balloons and everyone had fun (even the big kids) tossing those around! I didn't get a picture of one, but for the kids, I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (or honey, depending on the preference) and used a fish shaped cookie cutter to make it fun.
Birthday girl swinging with one of her favorite snacks-popcorn! Birthday girl working on her fish.

Jessica really enjoyed the pink glitter glue!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Mom is actually very tired tonight, so this is about all you are going to get from me. Amy had a great time and she got some really fun presents (which were played with the rest of the afternoon and evening). She is also very excited about the 2 wheeled scooter (an upgrade from a 3 wheeled version, because - "I'm a big girl now, Mom!") that Mommy, Daddy and Jessica gave her. She practiced all through the house-good thing we have hardwood floors! As she was playing with Jessica, after everyone had left and after Mommy and Daddy finished cleaning up, Amy became really excited as she saw one of her friends that didn't make it for the actual party come up the driveway! I thought they had something come up and wasn't expecting to see them. So we invited them in and the kids played for a bit. Amy felt like she had a whole other party after her main party!

We ate dinner at Gunther Toody's Diner and as I looked at her, I was amazed anew at how grown up she looked. It seemed to have happened overnight. Sigh...then she lifted her bowl of strawberry sundae and slurped it down...and gave it a lick for good measure. Ahhhh....all's right with the world! :o)

Thanks so much for stopping by. I HOPE to get to do some creating tomorrow.

Connecting Via a Friend...

Isn't this a pretty card?? I received it in the mail yesterday from my friend, Felicia, who currently lives in Hawaii. We met when she and her family lived in Colorado while her husband went to school. They are a Navy family and are currently stationed in that beautiful (from what I hear) state. Anyway, Felicia is a Close To My Heart consultant (longtime readers may remember her husband signed her up as a surprise). She loves stamping and scrapping. There are only a few stores in Hawaii for purchasing stamping or scrapping supplies. She really felt the need for an Archiver's "fix," so she sent me a check and told me to have fun shopping for her. In the envelope she included this beautiful card as well as CTMH's June Stamp of the Month-With Love. I was so surprised!

There's a little backstory though as to why she sent the stampset. Back in May, I got an email from her husband (unbeknownst to Felicia) who was set to go out on another submarine. This was only a few weeks after he got back from the previous assignment. When he's gone, they have no contact at all, which is very difficult, as you can imagine (They have 3 young boys). Anyway, he asked if I would be willing to make her cards to send each week, with sentiments composed by him. Of course I said YES! I sort of tried to keep it anonymous, but Felicia figured it was me pretty quickly. It's been fun helping to bring a smile to her face while he's gone. Anyway, she sent the stampset as a thank you for that (and for shopping for her, too).

I shopped for her last night and called her to be sure I picked out things she definitely wanted. They are enroute to Hawaii this evening! Enjoy your goodies, Felicia!!! Thanks again for the stamp set! :o)

Hope you have a great night! I'm tired because the girls and I went to the Museum of Nature and Science today...and spent several hours there! My feet are tired, but they were having so much fun that I didn't want to end the day too soon. Who am I to discourage any interest in Nature or Science??!!

Happy Father's Day, Petals & Stems

I saw a Father's Day card on display at Archiver's, using a Hero Arts set called Cool Dad, that inspired me to buy the stamp set. But, enough time had passed by the time I sat down to work on a Father's Day card that I couldn't quite remember what the card looked like. The girls and I stopped by there the other day so I could refresh my memory. Would you believe I couldn't find the sample that inspired me anywhere in the store?? One of the clerks was helping me to look, and I jokingly mentioned that I might have dreamed up the sample, but she thought it maybe walked out of the store. I thought that was sad, if it was true. I guess one can hope that the recipient will enjoy the card???

Now, I needed to use that set somehow to create a Father's Day card! I needed inspiration!! While scrolling through card ideas I'd starred in my Reader, I came across this one on the Chic N Scratch blog and thought...I can make it work! Here's the result. All of the images you see are from the Cool Dad set. There's also a word brother, and grandpa among other images that will make this a versatile set for me. I used some images on the inside as well~I love that arrow! Don't you just love where the girls "signed" their names? :o)

When I read my Weekly Inkling newsletter this week, there was a link included that showed a way to tie knots with your ribbon. I thought I'd give it a try today and you can see the result~well, sort of, it is a busy ribbon. LOL You can't tell in the photo, but I also used foam tape to make the orange piece pop up a bit.

Additional Credits for Father's Day card: Ocean, Orange and Desert Sand cardstock/inks (CTMH), circle punches and Coluzzle circle template, large silver brad, American Crafts Ribbon, paper piercer, sponges for inked edges, foam tape

When I saw this card on Jen Del Muro's I{heart}2Stamp blog (scroll down a bit to see it, it was made by another stamper named Dawn Easton), I was thankful once again that I got the Petals & Stems set from Verve. I love the colors in the card that inspired me, but I couldn't find papers with those colors, that pleased me, in my stash. I did rediscover some papers I'd forgotten I had, like the Slab 6 Rob and Bob Studio stack! I decided to go with them. The patterned paper and the green papers are from that stack. The yellow cardstock is textured cardstock from Die Cuts With a View. While probably indicative that I have way too much stuff, it was fun finding new/old papers and being inspired by them. :o) The rhinestones are from CTMH (I think). Ink colors used are Crystal Blue, Honey and Sweet Leaf (CTMH). I chose to leave off a sentiment for now. I was in the mood to work on more cards (because it was nice and cool in my room with the a/c running), but the girls were not in the mood to hang out with me. They are excited because Daddy is setting up the pool today. It probably won't be ready for swimming today, but they don't get that. They thought if they watched it long enough, the pool would fill up in a matter of minutes. I called it quits after these two cards.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope the fathers in your life have a wonderfully special day tomorrow! We'll see if I can sneak away to work on something creative tomorrow...

Computer Stuff...again!

If you checked in to see if I've finally posted some new artwork, I'm sorry to disappoint you...I got nuthin'!

But I thought I'd post and share that I think, maybe, hopefully, fingers, toes, eyes crossed, the computer woes might have been fixed! I was running Norton yesterday, and it made it through one drive with no problems, so I started it on another drive and it ran and ran and ran (and was working, I saw the file numbers/descriptions changing) and ran ALL day long! It wasn't one that I normally use so I didn't know what all was on there. Seriously, that thing ran for about 12 hours! Wasn't finding any problems and it was working, just slower than molasses in January. When hubby got home from work, it still wasn't done. Had dinner, went out to run an errand, got the girls to bed and it was STILL running! Steve finally stopped it and fiddled and futzed worked his magic and decided that was the drive that was what was causing all the problems for me. It was our old main drive to this computer. I did a quick look see and pulled off files I might want someday, copied them to my new main drive and he unplugged the puppy! Then he ran Norton again and it just finished!

He also informed me there was a virus sitting in a quarantined folder. HUH? So, that was probably also causing some issues. We sweep the computer for problematic things and then quarantine them. They aren't supposed to affect the computer. I don't know what I thought happened to that folder...did it somehow magically delete itself??? Anyway, hubby told me I need to delete that stuff every once in a while. (good idea...why didn't I think of that?) Had I known there was a virus there, I would have asked him asap what to do, but I never saw something come thru indicating a problem...Dang viruses! (no comments about Linux, Becky...LOL)

So what have I been doing whilst not on the computer? Um...reading emails on a different computer...the girls' computer no less! (Thank goodness for gmail-as long as I have internet connection...I can keep up a bit that way) But then they'd see me on it and say in their most pathetic voice...I wanted to play a game.....so I'd log off just for them...good mom that I am. Whew...where's that smell coming from?

Seriously though...I've been spending time with my girls! Yesterday Amy asked me to play frisbee with her. That was fun!!! Amy can throw a frisbee very well. Catching...not so much, but she can throw it straight to you...more often than not! We've walked the dog each day. We're doing some Summer Bridge activities/workbook each day to keep the brain alive.

We found out that the girls' school is offering a free lunch (for kids) daily all through the summer. So we've been going there to eat lunch. Yesterday we rode our bikes to the school. Which was okay going there, but man oh man, did Jessica whine, cry, wail, moan, complain ALL the way home. She picked the wrong bike to ride...and I told her she needed to use a bigger bike, but did she listen? Noooooo! Being one of "those" parents that allow some natural consequences...I didn't push it. But I didn't think she'd make the ride home feel like fingernails scraping on a chalkboard either! Oh my goodness! I thought my colored hair was going to go straight back to gray! Amy would ride ahead and wait at the next corner oh so patiently, while I would try to cajole Jessica to keep plugging away at it. At dinner, when we were sharing with Daddy, she was laughing about it to him (!!!) and Daddy said...maybe you should use your bigger bike (same thing MOMMY said). And she sweetly said...I think I should (she kept telling me...I think we should take the van...I don't wanna ride my bike. I think the van would be better.) Grrrrrrrr.....Ah...the trials and tribulations of motherhood! LOL Despite that not so entertaining episode...it's been fun spending this extra time with them. :o)

Hopefully I'll get some stuff created soon and will be back to share!

Computer Woes and Going Dotty!

Better get comfy today because this is gonna get long I'm sure.

First off, took the van in the other day and waited for an hour and a half with two girls who were getting antsy. The mechanic couldn't find a thing wrong with it! He checked through the whole system and all is as it should be. While I'm glad to know it's not going to fall apart on me, I am also slightly annoyed because who knows when it will happen again. He suspects a short in the electrical system somewhere. But you can't fix it if you can't find it. It's been running fine and the girls and I gave it a thorough cleaning the other day (complete with a good vacuum, Armoral, etc.). Maybe if it looks better it will work better? You never know, it works for me!

I'm having some computer woes, which is a big reason that I've been so quiet recently. Despite scans and checks and all that, I'm having difficulty logging onto the internet. I end up having to reboot and even that is taking a long time. Rather than get completely frustrated, I avoid the computer! I was able to play yesterday and had cards to share last night, but had to reboot again and while waiting, I channel surfed and found a show with Bill Engvall performing his stand up. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time! He is so funny! So the TV won out again last night.

I'm getting closer to sharing the cards, I promise! I have to share that I am a weak, weak, person when it comes to resisting stamps I really like! Used to be I couldn't resist shoes, but now...it's clear stamps! I prefer going barefoot if possible...who needs shoes...but stamps, those are a necessity, right?! LOL Anyway, in my weak state, I totally caved and bought a couple of sets from Verve. Kathi's recent card sharing using these sets, as well as artwork that kept showing up on my Reader, pushed me over the edge. This was my first time buying from Verve and I'll tell you what, the shipping was FAST and oh so reasonable! I ordered on Tuesday and my stamps were in my hand on Saturday! Just in time for a stamp fest!

As I cropped these photos, I realized, I was in a dotty mood, too! Or maybe it's just that the stamps lend themselved to using lots o' dots? In any case, dots are the running theme in these cards.

And now...without any more yapping...I give you the cards I copied made yesterday.
First up, Kathi's gorgeous work inspired this card! I followed her directions and put my own spin on it. I started out using Breeze, but switched to Ocean when I saw there wasn't enough contrast to make the flowers pop. I used my new Petals and Stems set from Verve (love the dotted centers...they also work with my Women of Life set) and Polka Dot Basics from Papertrey Ink. I used my Martha Stewart scalloped punch and added some ribbon (Dollar Tree blue and CTMH White Organdy). I couldn't decide where to put a sentiment that didn't look off, so I left it, well, off. Jackie Pedro, over at the Scalloped Edge blog, is a source of inspiration, too. When I saw this card, I immediately thought of CTMH's Elegant Floral set and was all set to use it. However, I decided I wanted to use the same types of colors that were used in her inspiration card, and I also wanted to play with my new stamps...so I switched the flower. I'm very happy with this card! Again, I used Ocean, as well as Breeze and Sweet Leaf. Polka Dot Basics, my new Petals and Stems (the flower is layered and popped with a pop dot) and a titch of Mixed Messages (PTI) round out the stamps used. Lately, I've noticed, I have a thing for layering ribbon. Don't know why, but I must like the look! Green satin is from Walmart and the blue is from Michaels (American Crafts). I added just a touch of bling with the jewels from Hobby Lobby in the corner.

The scalloped circle is a punch. Then I got out my trusty Coluzzle circle (or maybe it was the companion circle) template and made the green circle. A circle punch for the white layered the focal image. And if you know me, I sponge inked the edges, because somehow to me, a stamped piece just doesn't look finished unless the edges are inked. LOL

Oodabug Alley is another blog I like to visit, because I enjoy her whimsical take on creating cards (plus I think the name is so fun). This card really appealed to me, so I set out to recreate it, with my own twists. I think it's pretty self explanatory, so if you have any questions about what I did, please let me know.

The stamp set is called Fluttering By from Verve. I LOVE that butterfly!! Ribbon is from Michaels, orange bling from Hobby Lobby. Used a pair of scallop scissors and added some orange Stickles to the body of the butterfly (which is stamped once on the focal piece and stamped and cut from scrap to allow for the wings to be bent up a bit)
You all know how much I love and use my Papertrey Ink stamps. Well, Nichole Heady's blog is a big source of inspiration and this card is no exception. In fact, it was Capture the Moment that inspired Kathi to create the resist card I copied above. I followed what Nichole showed, but I didn't have any clear flowers. Or rather, I'm sure I do, but I cannot find them (grrrr). I tried punching one out of acetate, but I didn't like it, so I ended up punching out of cardstock, running it through my Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder and inking the raised dots. The little image on the scallops is from PTI Borders and Corners Square set. The sentiment is from CTMH's Kindred Spirits.

I am not sure I have done this fun card from Poppy Paperie justice, but here's my attempt. It's straightforward, so I won't bore you by explaining what is obvious, but if you have a question, please let me know. The large sentiment is from CTMH's Because of You set, that funky arrow is from a new set I got at Archiver's called Cool Dad (guess why I bought the set?) by Hero Arts. Mixed Messages and images from Borders and Corners Square from PTI. Oh yes, Polka Dot Basics was used as well. :o) Colors are Black and Sunflower. Nestabilities Rectangle is how I got the scalloped rectangle and insert, but I trimmed the cut white piece to show more of the black of the mat.

Whew! I did it! Are you still reading? Wow! You deserve an award of some kind! LOL

Now I am going to go eat the yummy breakfast that is waiting for me...I hope I'll be back later with more to share, but if my computer is being persnickety...well, you know....

Last Day of 1st Grade!

We made it! Amy had her last day of the first grade today. I hear they had ice-cream. LOL I asked Amy if she wanted a picture of her with her teacher (the gal in the jean jacket and red shirt) but she said no. Then I asked if she wanted a picture with her friend, Hattie. She said yes and it's a cute one I think. A sweet mom of one of the kids in Amy's class had balloons and Otter Pops for them when they came out at the end of the day.



Amy started the day with a braid, but it's always a surprise to see what's she done with it during the day. Today, apparently she took the braid out and tucked her ponytail up in the rubber band. LOL

Hattie's (don't you just love that name?) mom and I have become good friends after hanging out together for two school years now. :o) She started to become involved in the Parent/Teacher group the last month or so of school and when she told me what she was working on for the group, I'd asked if she needed help. If I could, I'd jump in and do what needed to be done. (I plan on becoming "officially" involved in the fall). The big event today was the 5th grade culmination. So, I showed up with Jessica at 8:30 and did what I could to help them set up and then serve cake/lemonade when the ceremony was done. I also helped with cleanup. It was kind of fun to be a bit involved in helping out. I was pleasantly surprised at how many of the 5th graders thanked us for being there and helping their program go smoothly. That's impressive, I think! Jessica played with her good buddy, John (Hattie's brother) who will also be starting Kindergarten in the fall. So, the girls had a fun day and I was able to feel like I'd done something productive and helpful for the school, finally!



We had 90plus degree weather the other day, but a cold front/storm has been moving into the area and today it was cool/overcast and a bit rainy. Thankfully, it didn't rain during this morning's outside 5th Grade Culmination Ceremony, the sun even peeked out a time or two. This afternoon, we heard some thunder. Somehow, temps in the 60s and rain just don't say summer vacation is starting! Tomorrow it's supposed to be only near 60 and rainy. Oh joy!



And I get to take the van to the transmission shop tomorrow because twice now the vehicle has shifted from Drive to Neutral without me touching anything while driving. I've apparently gunned it enough to trigger the Service Engine Soon light. Oh and remember that the Saturn was all of a sudden not starting?? Well, I guess the van is feeling left out and has been doing the SAME thing (sporadically)! It took me like 10 tries to get it to start today after I picked Amy up from school and we were trying to head home. The girls were worried that we'd have to walk home. When I told Steve and he went to check it out this evening...it started just fine. Grrrrr....



Ah well...this is the stuff that keeps life interesting, no?

Four Cards Today!

Better get comfy because I was able to complete four cards today! I also finished a card set I had started a week or so ago(but didn't take pictures, because the design of the cards is the same as you can see here).

The purse and cards will be given to Amy's teacher as a thank you for all her hard work this year. But here's the thank you card...completely different feel/theme from the gift, but oh so much fun.

I picked up these surfer/hula penquin stamps at Archiver's in their Dollar Section (well, $1.99 area). I thought they were adorable. You get two stamps in the duo...The surfer penguin has another image of popsicles. The girl has the word beach, I think. Amy's teacher grew up in Hawaii and I thought she might like the beach-y theme. At first I wasn't sure what to do with them, then I saw this card on Sparkle's blog (Sparkle is a CTMH consultant who is extremely creative-I just started getting her posts on my Reader). So I decided to use CTMH markers (Parchment-noses, Pink Carnation, Topiary, Buttercup, Heavenly Blue) to color these images in. The only marker not CTMH is a Tombow (#850) that Kathi recommended a while a go as a great flesh color. Then I pulled out some Inkadinkdo chalks and created the sand and added blue for the sky. Like Sparkle mentioned, I stamped the skirt in Topiary ink, on a scrap of Topiary, cut it out and then added some Crystal Stickles for interest. A bit of Crystal Stickles (on the shorts) and Liquid Glass (on the popsicle) finished off the image. The striped paper is from the DCWV Summer Stack. I layered some white wide grosgrain ribbon with Orange organdy and topped it with Dutch Blue grosgrain. The focal image mat is Dutch Blue, the Swiss Dot Cuttlebugged pink piece is Watermelon. I had some small pink rhinestones and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Mixed Messages set.


This next card is my case of this one on the Poetic Artistry blog. I've been trying to resist getting the most recent releases from Verve, but this card, along with Kathi's recent artwork postings are chipping away at my resolve to be "good."

I substituted with a butterfly set I picked up at Archiver's. The set is called Butterfly Counts and what I like the most about the set is there is a separate stamp for just the body of the butterfly, something I've not seen before. There is also a solid image, as well as the outline image. I can see a lot of versatility with this set. The paper is from Target (Making Memories). I used Grey Wool and Heavenly Blue as well. The butterfly is stamped in black on Heavenly Blue cardstock. Then I added some Liquid glass on the body to add a bit of shine. Of course, the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Mixed Messages set (definitely a great set since I use it so much)!


Lisa's Creative Corner inspired me again with this card. She's also got some really great "simple" cards that she's been posting. Definitely worth checking out.


I pretty much cased the card, but had to use different sets. I chose Essential Alphabet for "hi," and Sunshine Thoughts for "sunshine" (both CTMH sets). I ran the Buttercup cardstock through my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder. Thanks, Lisa...you did it again! :o)



Finally, this card was inspired by this one on Oodabug Alley.

I used the patterned paper from DCWV's Nursery Girl pack. Then I picked coordinating colors of textured cardstock (from the DCWV Neutrals stack), The pink is Bubblegum. I used my Martha Stewart punch for the scallops. I had some orange looking satin ribbon (Michaels) that I layered with a narrow hot pink organdy (Hobby Lobby-I think). I used CTMH's Orange (second generation, or stamped off) and Bubblegum inks. I stamped the butterfly twice. Once on the white focal square and once on a scrap. Then I cut out the butterfly and glued just the body, so that I could bend the wings up a bit. (Guess I should have angled it better so you could see that....well, you can see it on the link I gave you. I stamped the sentiment from that set from Archiver's in black, but I noticed it must take a bit longer for the ink to dry on the textured cardstock, because it smeared just a bit.

Amy and Jessica were so interested in my two part butterfly images that I showed them how and let them create one for themselves. You know I'm feeling generous if I let the kids use "my" stuff! They were tickled pink and did a good job.

Tomorrow Amy gets to go on a special field trip to the bowling alley for earning enough "great slips" for good behavior in school. She's quite excited. She almost lost it due to some behavior things that had come up last week, but she made such a super effort the past several days that she kept the privilege. :o)

Okay, that's it! I'm done, at least for today. LOL Thanks so much for visiting. I hope you have a great week! Who knows if I will find my way back to my craft room before next weekend. If I do, you know I'll share.