My Glasses

I had one of my co-workers take a picture of me with my new glasses....no pointing and laughing. The adjustment period hasn't ended, I am still having a little trouble with the transition. I'll get there eventually.

I wore my hair up though, so you really can't see how long it's gotten; but you can see that I did not successfully go blonde. I decided to stay with my brown hair!

Happy Mother's Day

The sketch, FTL137, at the clean&simple blog was another one that caught my eye for its genius. I love the image panel with the ribbon strip on the side, love it. Like Natasha, I used PTI's Turning a New Leaf with some pale yellow felt flowers; mine are from MFT and I used felt from Felt on the Fly.

The background was stamped with Market Street Stamps, A Bit of Burlap. I stamped it with some sand ink and I think it adds that extra little something to the image panel.

Hope you have a terrific weekend!

Singing Silhouette

The sketch from My Time Made Easy, MTMEPPS06, was a classic and just screamed at me to use My Time Made Easy's Singing Silhouette and Argyle Amazement.

I used a punch of black with the border die, I thought it mimicked the circles on the bird cage.

A Verve-y Mother's Day

This is the card I made for the 3rd April Viva la Verve challenge. The sketch seemed really straight forward, but I really had a time of it. This was my 3rd attempt at getting it right. Whew!
I used Verve's Because of You set, it is chock full of wonderful silhouettes and beautiful verses and sentiments perfect for Mother's Day. I usually give my Mom a hanging basket or plant of some sort for Mother's Day, so I went the floral route regarding the image, papers, and embellishments. And, her favorite color is blue; not this color blue, but it works.

The silhouette was overstamped with the sentiment in black, it really does add a little punch. I also added "Mom" in black as well. The Rolled Flowers are the star of the show, I really enjoy the fact that you can make them virtually any size based on how tightly you wind them. I added the aqua pearls to the center and am kicking myself for not adding black pearls instead.

Rays of Sunshine

This is for the 4th April Viva la Verve challenge. The sketch was pretty scary, but there is a tutorial here to get the sunburst effect with paper. So glad I tried it too, what a great look!

I used Verve's Up, Up, and Away and some fun October Afternoon papers. I even airbrushed within the nesties oval for a more complete sky look. I had forgotten how fun the airbrush is.

I picked up my first pair of glasses on Friday afternoon. They fit me great, I don't look hideous in them, and they help me see better. Even Duke liked them and he is a tough critic, it's hard for him to sugar coat things. I have a progressive lens (had to get bifocals), so I have to give myself some time to adjust to this new change. I'll share pics soon.......I know, some of you are still waiting from when I got my hair colored and some as far back as when I got it cut. Soon!

You Light Up My Life

Paper Makeup Stamps is the sponsor of Card Patterns Sketch 112. Hope you find time to sample the fabulous sketch, there is a prize up for grabs for a random participant, a $15.00 gift certificate to the Paper Makeup Stamps store.

I decided to double up with challenges, so this is also for the Color Throwdown challenge, CTD138. The colors were Navy, White, and a third color of your own choosing. I immediately thought red and Taylor fairy came straight to mind. It really helped that she fit with the sketch too, an added bonus! The sentiment is from Sailing By.

Now, make sure you head over to the Card Patterns blog and play along with us.

We ended up having Easter Dinner at our home yesterday. It was the three of us and then Duke's son, Jason, and his fiancee, Tina. We also had Charlie, Duke's stepfather. Everything turned out perfectly, it was a great time.

Easter Goody Basket

I die cut some pillow boxes from Martha Stewart papers and stuffed them with Easter goodies for the folks at work. This is a pic of all of them together in the lovely basket I took them in. *I snapped this picture on my way out the door, it's a little washed out and blurry, but you get the picture.

I wish I had had more time to make them more special, but there is only so much time in the day. There is no stamping involved, shocking! Everyone loved them and thought they were totally special. It's so wonderful to see their faces when I bring goodies to work.

I took the day off and will be off to the mall later to pick up a pair of my glasses. I hope the fitting goes well, I am very excited to be able to see better.

Retro Meets Modern

Jen's April SFYTT was the perfect sketch to use the Keurig image from Grab a Cup. I paired the image with some papers from October Afternoon's Modern Homemaker line. While a Keurig brewer wouldn't be considered retro, I think it looks right at home on this card.

Butterfly Kisses

Yep, you guessed it! I combined a few more challenges for this card; the sketch challenge at My Time Made Easy, MTMEPPS05 and the Color Throwdown challenge, CTD137. I used an older PI set {Butterfly Kisses} from My Favorite Things, one I had to have and then didn't use. *ugh* I say that too much, don't I?!

It has been some time that I used a line art image that needs to be colored, I just haven't been feelin' it lately. But, it was nice to grab the copics and color this simple image. As you can see, my coloring skills need to be honed once again, I am completely out of practice. LOL

I just added a few more fun details like the butterflies, the punched grass, and the scallop circle element and called it done!

You Inspire Me

I was able to combine a few challenges for this card, Mojo186 and CQC80. The colors are great, but definitely challenging for a spring card...they seem more suited to fall, but I gave it a shot.

I used sets from My Time Made Easy and WPlus9 Design Studio; some I haven't used in some time.

Let's Grab a Cup

{sorry about the poor photo}

So, admittedly, I LOVE coffee and tea stamp sets. I would venture to guess that I own way too many considering I am not a huge drinker of either, just an occasional user. More and more, I need the morning cup to "get going", however.

I thought I'd play along in a few challenges this weekend and found the FTL136 sketch and the MTMEPPC05 color challenge to be right up my alley. Both challenges are ones I'm new to and I've enjoyed the inspiration they provide, especially since inspiration is running low around here.

I was also able to dig out one of my dusty MTME sets, Fanciful Flourishes. It's a lovely set I don't use often enough. I paired it with Grab a Cup, a really fun set that I am enjoying using and just plain looking at. Fun images, fun!

Cody and I made a trip to the mall Saturday. I needed to get some eye glasses, one of the joys of getting older; and we wanted to see Rio (it's really cute). It just so happened that Jason, Duke's son, was working, so we stopped by his store and spent a little time with him. We don't get to see him as often as we'd like, he works alot and has a pretty full life; so, it's nice to steal a little time with him as we can.

I hope to pick up my glasses next week; unfortunately, the frames I wanted were out of stock (of course, isn't that always the way it is?) and I wasn't about to peruse the selection again....it was sooooo hard to find something I thought looked good.

Happy Birthday Lisa

Today, I am participating in a very special birthday surprise for my good friend, Lisa Kind.

Happy Birthday Lis!

I have posted this recently, but thought it was cute enough to re-visit for Lisa. I used some bright colors and included a really great set from Paper Makeup Stamps, appropriately called Sprinkles and Cherries. It's my go-to set for birthdays.

Hope you have a glorious day, Lisa!

You can see the rest of the participants at the My Time Made Easy blog.

Welcome to the Nest

The 2nd Viva la Verve sketch was another winner, I went really simple with the layering. The images are from Singing Silhouette, I seem to be reaching for it alot lately.

I adore the branch with leaves. The butterfly paper is from GCD Studios, the Melody Ross collection. The patterns are pretty bold and graphic in nature; some foil, textured, and flocked sheets.

One Moment at a Time

I was able to combine a few challenges on this super cute card using a few images/ word art from Paper Makeup Stamps.

First, I used the sketch at the clean & simple blog, FTL135; I saw the circle element and immediately thought of the doily dies from PTI. And, the butterfly was stamped with word art from the When There's Nothing Left to Say set using some VersaMark ink, a flower from Springtime Solids was stamped with ligt blue ink and then it was embellished with gems.

The Color Throwdown challenge, CTD136, featured a pretty color combo. And, while it's still bright and colorful, the kraft does tone it down and make it more earthy.

Pinwheel Thanks

The Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge, SSSC112, was perfect for using my Pinwheel die again. I think I might be hooked! The papers are from Crate Paper and I just embellished minimally to try to make this a masculine card. Not sure how masculine a pinwheel can actually be, but with the right papers and patterns, I think it might just pass.

I added some punched stars and three flags to the left of the image panel with the Sentiment Flags die. A little embossing reinforced the masculine theme. Another card for the stash, woot!

Chirp Up

I was really drawn to this sketch, I found it so interesting. It was also the perfect sketch to use Singing Silhouette, a recent indulgence. I thought the papers from October Afternoon's Modern Homemaker were a nice match for a cheerful card.

Blowing Kisses with Mojo

Last week was contest week on the Mojo Monday blog and I really liked the sketch too. The possibilities are endless. And, I entered it into the Verve Diva Dare- the challenge is Color Me Spring.

I knew I wanted to use my new Lil Inker Pinwheel die and stamp set, so I got right to work Saturday morning. The Martha Stewart papers were the perfect choice for this spring inspired card, so soft.

We had a pretty good weekend. On Saturday, Cody and a few of his friends had a "game day" here, mostly playing video games and then playing outside for the rest of the day. It was a glorious day until the storm blow in. It was pretty windy and we got some rain, but wasn't as bad as they were predicting for our area. Another county got large hail and damaging winds, so we got very lucky.

One of Cody's friends spent the night and they woke up bright and early to start the games again. With Cody being essentially an only child, his tolerance for other children leaves much to be desired. After a mere 24 hours, the bickering started. They worked it out (a few times!) and things went well for the better part of Sunday. Whew!

Dakota Update

Well, no news came on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, all we got was a text saying that they think it's an infection. *sigh* Dakota's father isn't the best at communicating with our family; he resents, as he has a right, the fact that my sister is not in their lives. She isn't good for them. It's not our fault, we are not defined by her actions, yet we are punished right along with her. In any case, whatever news we get comes from him and when he doesn't feel like sharing, he doesn't. So, we wait and we worry. Thanks again to all of you who have sent up prayers on Dakota's behalf! PS- what the heck is up with blogger? I can't format my posts at all....everything is just lumped together.

PMS April Blog Hop

It's the 7th of the month and that means a blog hop. This month since there is no release, we are hopping for fun. Our theme this month is Celebrate Spring. You need to start at the PMS blog to get the scoop on the hopping order and to see all the other details of the hop. Katie has a HUGE inventory sale going on right now, you won't want to miss it! You should have arrived from Ginger's blog, wasn't her card amazing?! She does great work with copics. Since I haven't had much time to create something new, I am sharing a recent creation that celebrates Spring. Spring is one of my favorite seasons, the renewal and rebirth after winter is thrilling to witness.

Flowers and butterflies are sure signs that Spring has arrived. Here, I used Springtime Solids to stamp onto the butterfly die cuts. I think the softness of the white against the bright pink is just lovely. Below is the hopping order, so start hopping. You're off to see Dawn next!

Fine and Dandy VLV

Thanks to all of you who responded to my plea for prayers. It warms my heart that so many people care.

Well, I decided that trying to make a card or two this weekend might actually help me get my mind in a better place.

The Viva la Verve challenge is a challenge I seem to always go to, the sketches are fun and the Verve Divas are such a talented group that it's hard not to be inspired.

I used Verve's To the Moon to make a baby card, nothing like a baby to cheer you up. I got a few pics of my brother's grandchildren this weekend while visiting with my mother. They are just the cutest and I hope to take a trip back home to see them this summer.

Sadness

Many of you know that my nephew, Dakota, was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma a while back. The chemo and radiation worked and he has been cancer free since then. His "cancer scans" had all come back clean and we have all been hopeful that we would never again hear the words cancer or tumor again.

I got a call from my Mother late last night. Dakota's latest PET scan has revealed 4 tumors in his stomach. We won't know until Wednesday if they are cancer or if they are simply masses.

If you are a praying person and have prayers to spare, I am asking for prayers on his behalf. Thanks to every generous heart.

I will most likely take the week off from posting any new projects to my blog, I have been extreme busy and now I am needed elsewhere. l'll report the doctor's findings as soon as we hear anything.

With Sympathy

My boss, Lori, lost her father on Tuesday last week. He died from complications following heart bypass surgery.

This is the card I made for her. I chose to stamp the flower (WPlus9- Woodgrain Silhouettes) in a soft purple and then overstamped with the flower outline. I then accented them with a cluster of gems. PTI's new Royal Velvet is such a regal and pretty color; I used it to mat the image panel and for the Small Scallop Border Die-namics edge.

The sentiment was stamped with Brilliance Graphite Black ink over the flowers.