Happy Mother's Day card

I went out to my craft room today to see how I felt making a card. I can honestly say...I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish it, but I decided to keep plugging away at it and I am glad I did. Don't ask me why I decided to do a card with lots of cutting, I don't know. Actually, I do. I really liked this card by Melissa Bickford on the Just Dandy blog and thought it would make a nice Mother's Day card. And because Mother's Day is just around the corner...well you get the idea. I didn't use my lightbox to take these pictures and I can tell. LOL But, I honestly didn't feel like pulling out all the stuff needed to take the pictures with the box so I didn't. You can't really tell in the pictures, but the pink flowers are adhered with foam tape, so they pop out just a bit. Oh and the yellow one on the large pink flower. For the flower stems, I used a marker and ruler to draw the lines. I decided to try a different ink than CTMH! The Versa Magic Chalk Dew Drop inks. I really liked the colors in a set I saw at Joann's and they were on sale....they work pretty well, I think!

Credits:

Stamps: Women of Life (Papertrey Ink), Happy Easter (for leaves) (CTMH)

Inks: Versa Magic Pigment Chalk Ink Dew Drops in Pink Grapefruit, Key Lime, Mango Madness (Tsukineko), Sweet Leaf stamp pad and marker (CTMH)

Papers: Blush, Sweet Leaf, Vanilla Cream (CTMH), Baby Girl Nursery (DCWV)

Ribbon (Walmart), White Gel Pen (American Crafts), Scallop scissors

This is all I was able to create today. But it's better than nothing, I guess. :o)Thanks so much for stopping by ~ I hope you have a great week!

Still No Artwork...but Feeling a Bit Better...

I had hoped to get out to my craft room today, but never quite made it. Sorry! I am finally starting to feel a bit better. The tingly sensation is pretty much gone and although my head has felt funny a lot today, I think it's better than it was. The blood pressure seems to have stabilized. I also went to the book store to get a book on reversing hypertension. I even hit Archiver's for National Scrapbook Day (although I wasn't feeling up to making the free Make and Takes). After dinner I went on a short bike ride with the fam and it was fun.

This morning Amy asked me a few times if I wanted to come outside and watch her ride her bike without training wheels. I think she is justifiably VERY proud of this accomplishment and wants to practice (ie show-off) her new found skill. Hey, you know I'm feeling better because on my way out the door, I grabbed my camera. :o) When she wants to get outside quick, she grabs her snowboots because it takes no effort to get them on. She also "borrowed" Jessica's coat...probably because it was handy. LOL Look how happy she is (and notice the bottom teeth are coming in!)I'm gonna have fun scrapping the pictures I took.

Even though I didn't buy a bunch of physical product, I was feeling chipper enough to buy some digital goodies...so fun! I did my part to support this scrapbooking/crafting hobby of ours. Hopefully I will have some creations to share with you soon.

Thanks for your comments on my health related post. I really appreciate it!! Hope you had a great Saturday!

Hiccup...No Artwork...

I'm sorry I've not posted anything this week. First off, I was trying to organize and re-tag my digi supplies-which takes a lot of time. But from Wednesday on, I've not been feeling all that great.

I think I mentioned I'd been going to the doctor for a physical and all that. Well, I probably didn't mention that he decided to put me on blood pressure medicine and a cholesterol medicine. When I go see him and they take my blood pressure...invariably it's on the high end of normal (he doesn't think I get nervous seeing him) and I guess that along with the results of some blood tests helped him decide I need to do this. Okay. Fine. I've been taking the medicine faithfully for over a month with no problems, that is, until Wednesday when my head started feeling funny and I could feel the pulsing in my head. I took my bp and it was 108/69...or thereabouts. Low for me. I called the office, but he'd already left for the day. The M. A. took the information and told me she'd call back in the morning after talking to the doctor. Continued to monitor the bp all evening and it dipped down to something like 98/54. I know that can't be good! It would waffle but only go as highs as 120s/70s. I've pretty much been parked on the couch. My head feels strange and I don't have a lot of energy.

Yesterday as I was coming home from taking Jessica to school, my left hand started feeling tingly, which was odd. Since I hadn't heard from the doctor's office, took the bp again-130s/80s this time. They fit me in in the morning. Took my bp when I got there, which apparently was high now. My head was pounding at this point. Waited for 45 minutes for the doctor, who was running late. Had to leave to get Jessica from school without talking to him. Rescheduled for the afternoon. Go back and bp is now 150s/90s!!! Saw the doc who basically told me he didn't believe that my bp got as low as I said it did. He said my cuff is old and doesn't work right. I even had Steve take his bp immediately after that low reading and his was normal! (Doc didn't quite believe that Steve's bp was on the low end of normal) So, because all my doctor saw was the bp very high, he ups my bp medicine, tells me to get a new cuff and call him if I don't feel better in a few days. I'm upset and feeling like I am not getting listened to. But, when I got home, I checked the bp on my cuff and it was 150s/90s...very much like it was at the doctor's office.

I go out and get a new cuff and decide to compare readings. They are very similar off just a couple of points of each other. So, I really don't think my cuff was so off. (Relief that I wasn't imagining the low readings).

Today it's been between 108 and 120/69, which seems low again, but what do I know? My head feels funny still, but I can function. The tingly sensation comes and goes. I even called and left a message for the doctor with the readings I was getting, but haven't heard back from him and don't know that I will.

I decided to post about this in part, to let you all know what was going on, and to just sort of be vocal about the importance of keeping up with stuff like this. I've neglected my general health (not my female stuff) for a long time and now I am reaping the consequences of it. I'm told it takes time to get any bp meds just right. I can buy that, but I would have thought any problems would start well before I'd been on the medicine for 6 weeks. But again, what do I know?

I am feeling a bit funny after sitting here for a while typing, so I'm going to go lay down for a bit and see if it helps. I'll keep you posted if you want. I am more bummed because I was looking forward to NSD this weekend and I may not have the energy to do much. Although I felt well enough to go to Joann's this morning...bought some new stuff, too. :o) But now I'm tired!

Sheesh...it's heck to get old!!
Thanks for reading...if you got this far! I hope to be back to my normal self asap.

Thanks, Angela!

Angela is a Spragueground friend and blogger who has a wonderful blog, My Pixelated Oasis (isn't that a great name?) where she shares some of her outstanding photography skills as well as her humor and intelligence. I laugh, I'm awed and I usually learn a little something too, when I read her posts. Just be forewarned if you look at the post from Saturday...I was surprised to see it, but it's not (that) bad...Anyway, I am really tickled that she awarded me this Arte Y Pico award as a blogger who inspires her. Thank you so much Angela! You made my day. :o) Love those teacup pictures!

I'm supposed to pass this along to five other bloggers who inspire me. I don't even think I could narrow it down to just 5, but I'll try!

Kathi at Kathi's Creative Corner because I copy most of what she makes...she obviously inspires me. She is so talented and has a great perspective on life.

Kim at Clearly Inspired because she comes up with neat ideas. I don't know how she finds time to create a video tutorial each week!

Melissa at Just Dandy is another gal whose work makes me happy just looking at it.

Erin from Inky Smiles. She is inspiring because of her heart and enthusiasm for papercrafting and sharing. Love ya, sweetie!

Kelleigh at Ratzlaff Reflections. She's an amazingly talented digi scrapper whose creations inspire me to want to step outside my box and create more.

There are so many others who inspire me, not the least of whom is Angela herself!

Thanks again, sweet friend!

Enjoy the Moment and Gift Card Holder...

This is another image from Patterned Bugs and it kind of stumped me until I saw this card on My Blog by Cammie. I had printed it out a while ago, but wasn't quite sure how I wanted to replicate it until today. When I print the images, often times I don't print directions unless I feel like I really need them. Most times I'm just winging it (no pun intended). This one stumped me just a bit in that I wasn't sure just what she used to make the butterflies pop out. Too lazy to come back into the house and computer to find it, I tried stamping in white on vellum, then heat embossed clear powder. That didn't work well because you couldn't see much of the black. So I stamped with Versamark on vellum and then heat embossed with clear. That looked a little better so I used that. :o) I adhered the "body" part with some liquid adhesive. I matted the white onto Topiary and used foam tape to give it a little lift.

Credits: Cardstock-Topiary (CTMH), Patterned paper-Two Scoops 6x6 pad (Basic Grey), Inks-Black, Topiary (CTMH), Stamps-Patterned Bugs (Inkadinkado), Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink), Ribbon (Big Lots), Acrylic discs (Michaels), foam tape.

My good friend's son is having a birthday at the beginning of May and for the past few years (when I was a consultant) it literally snuck up on me! This year I've been thinking about it most of the month and trying to decide how to package the usual gift card I send. I am bound and determined to send it out so he will get it before his actual birthday, rather than a few days after! Sending a gift card isn't a surprise, but I do try to "dress" them up a bit and they are always curious to see what I come up with. Here's is the latest version of a gift card holder, inspired by this one I saw (and others similar to it around the blogosphere) on Dawn's Stamping Thoughts blog.

She posted a tutorial so I'll let you go look there rather than be redundant with directions. I had pulled out this birthday set because I liked the candles. I colored them with markers, then added Stickles and glitter glue and also some Paper Glaze (like CTMH's Liquid Glass) to make them shiny. This was after I clear heat embossed the image so my black ink wouldn't smear. You probably can't read it, but I stamped the sentiment image that says "blowing birthway wishes your way," You slide the gift card in the cut-away part. I used a file folder tab punch and a circle punch to punch out the opening. I hope he likes it!

Credits: Cardstock-Holiday Red, Outdoor Denim (CTMH) Ink-Outdoor Denim, Archival black pads, Holiday Red, Topiary, Honey, Moonstruck, Orange, Sunny Yellow markers (CTMH), Stamps-Birthday Brackets (Stampendous), Stickles (Yellow) Glitter Glue-Orange, Green, Paper Glaze, Gingham ribbon (??) White Gel Pen (American Crafts)

Thanks so much for visiting. I hope you have a great beginning to your week!

Kathi Inspires Again!

Firstly, I think I am going to have to re-think taking pictures out in my craft room. I'm not liking how the light looks. Darn! I wanted to have that box out there so it wouldn't take up room in the house. I'll keep tweaking it and see if I can get photos to look better.

Kathi inspires me again! Actually, I made this first card yesterday, set it aside to dry and then forgot to take a picture of it. Silly me! Kathi's card is here. Kathi, I hope you don't mind my copying your ideas!

Edited to add:

Credits: Cardstock-Lilac Mist, Spring Iris (CTMH), Ink-Spring Iris-first and second generation (CTMH), Stamps-Garden of Life (CTMH), White grosgrain ribbon (Dollar Tree), Just Bloom (CTMH), silver brad, Stickles

And this card drew me into making this lady bug one. :o)

Edited to add: It's pretty straight forward, but thought I'd mention that I ran the Holiday Red cardstock through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder, and then sanded the dots. I have a really hard time not smearing the white ink, so this was an easy out. It needed a little something, so I decided to punch small circles and add a tiny sentiment. I think it works. I used a black marker to fill in the dots of the ladybug, then added some Stickles for a little bling.

Credits: Cardstock-Holiday Red (CTMH), black textured (Hobby Lobby), Inks-Holiday Red, Black (CTMH), Stamps-Patterned Bugs (Inkadinkado), Mixed Messages, Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink), Thank you set (Hero Arts-gift from Archiver's and I used the flower image from the set), Red Gingham ribbon (??), Swiss Dots, punches-scallop and circle, Coluzzle, Circle template

Oh, sorry to post and run, but we are going out to dinner, yum, and the girls got ready way quicker than I thought they would. I'll edit with credits later this evening. Edited to Add: The girls kept asking if we were going to a restaurant tonight, and I kept telling them to ask their dad. He said okay, so we went to Chili's. The food was good, as was the company, but the service...not so much this time. I had my fill of chips and salsa though. Love 'em!

Thanks for popping by! And thanks, Kathi! You keep inspiring me!!!

Three More Cards!

This card definitely looks better in real life! :o) It's pretty straight forward, but I have to say I LOVE that striped paper! I love the colors and the glitter in this Baby Girl Nursery Paper Stack from DCWV. I was tickled to see that Blush and Sweet Leaf went really well with the colors in the dp. I used some pop dots to lift the scallop oval/sentiment. And that pink ribbon? Found it at the Dollar Tree of all places!

Credits: Carstock-Blush, Sweet Leaf (CTMH), Striped paper-Baby Girl Nursery paper stack (DCWV), Inks-Blush, Sweet Leaf , Hollyhock (CTMH), Stamps-Sweet Love (Papertrey Ink), Happy Birthday (CTMH), Ribbon-Pink satin(Dollar Tree), green ribbon, brads (unknown), pearl stickers (Archiver's), pop dots, scallop oval punch

This next card was inspired by this one on the My Life blog. I really like the simple, clean lines of her cards. I found out about this blog from Kathi, who is also a fan of clean and simple cards. Thanks, Kathi and Silke (who designed the card). I modified it by making it a standard size card and using similar items in my stash. I tried layering the ribbon for something a little different and it looks, well, different! Not bad, I don't think, but different. :o)

Credits: Cardstock-Holiday Red (CTMH), Stamps-What a Great Day (CTMH), Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink), Inks-Archival Black, Black dye ink (CTMH), Holiday Red and Topiary markers (CTMH), Ribbon from Michaels, most likely, red rounded jewels (Hobby Lobby), pop dots, square metal tag (Making Memories)

This next card was fun to make, but hard to photograph! This is the best I could do and it still looks pretty yellow. Oh well. Thanks to my friend, Kim, at Clearly Inspired, she mentioned this blog where the author shares a video of a card/technique each Monday. This card was featured on April 14th. My version is a big larger, but the technique is the same. Check out the video here and her card that inspired my card! Then check out all the really neat ideas she posts!

Credits: black, white textured cardstock (Hobby Lobby), Ocean (CTMH), black grosgrain ribbon (CTMH), white grosgrain (Dollar Tree), felt flower (American Craft), punched flower, brad, glue dots.

Thanks so much for visiting today. I am hoping to get back out to the craft room tomorrow, so until then, have a good one!