Flowers Anyone?

I guess we are not ever going to  see Spring! It was another gloomy, cool day again so I decided to try to brighten it up with some flowers. I pulled out another Magnolia stamp from my stash & decided to go for lavenders for a change. It is a color I don't use a lot even though I love it.  The paper is from K & Co. & the floral  border punch from Martha Stewart. I colored her with pencils & gamsol.

One more day of vacation left. Darn! Work just doesn't go half as quickly as a vacation does.  Guess I will have to get into gear tomorrow & get caught up on my cards!

Catch you later!

A Change of Pace...

Hi everyone,

I decided to try something different today.  While I was cleaning my stamp room this afternoon, I came across 3 wallpaper books I had forgotten I had.  Well, I made the mistake of looking thru them & once I did, I found some paper I just had to make into a card.  Since it was so feminine I decided to pull out one of my Magnolia stamps. She is colored with a combination of Copics & pencils. The ribbon is from my stash & the flowers were from Prima.  I am entering this in the Simon Says Challenge Anything Goes.  This should certainly qualify! ha ha

I hope everyone had a great week. Catch you all later!

I'm back!

For those of you who may have noticed, I have not posted for several days. I went to my daughter's last Saturday to watch my grandson while they went to Mayo Clinic to get some answers for my son-in-law.
While they didn't get a lot of answers, they did get some so the trip was not a total loss.  They got home yesterday & I came on home to finish my week off.

I spent today cleaning the garage to make room for the new car I bought while I was there. I now have a baby blue 2011 Hyundai Elantra that I am in total love with! My old Toyota was 8 1/2 yrs old & starting to show it's age so it was time to trade.  I hadn't really planned on buying one so quickly, but I fell in love with it the minute I saw & drove it & bought it on the spot. Apparently, I got all the impulsive genes in our family!

On to the card.  I colored it while I was gone, but didn't have a chance to finish it. The paper is from K & Co & Making Memories.  The flower is my first attempt at making a flower with McGill punches. The punched edge is from a Martha Stewart punch. As you can see, my "mojo" isn't quite with me today, but hopefully it will return tomorrow.

Have a great Friday everyone & I will catch you later!

My First Award!

Hi everyone,
I don't have a card to post tonite, but I do have something even better to share. My first award!

                                                     
This award came from Sheree at Vancouver Island Craft Junkie & means extra to me because she is such a sweetheart & leaves me wonderful words of encouragement. As someone relatively new to stamp blogs, I still have a long way to go & it means so much to have someone whose work you admire take the time to comment on a card you post.  Some days I look at all the awesome cards out there & wonder why I even bother to post when I am clearly not in their league, but then I get a kind word & remember that all of them probably started out just where I am. So I try even harder the next day.

So, here are the two rules that come with this award:


1. Post about the award on your blog with a link back to the sender.
2. Pass onto those who visit your blog and leave comments regularly.

Well, I don't have a huge following, but those who do leave me comments are beautiful gals whose work I just adore. But even more than that, I've come to love each of them as friends who stop by to chat & leave a kind word or two.  They are not just talented ladies, but very special ones.  Here is my list:

Mina -Pinkpuds
Pam - Expression With Heart
Dawn - My Stamping Thyme

Well, it's raining hard here right now & it is supposed to possibly change to a partial snow event tomorrow. The only "Spring" we see may well end up being what we post on our cards! 

Check out the special gals above & I'll catch you all later!

The Potter's Bench

Ever have a day when your mojo just abandons you?  Today was one of those days.  I started this card with lots of energy & ideas & nothing worked. (Not even the short nap I took in the middle of making it) The paper is from an S.E.I. paper pack called Bright Blossom. The image is another Mo Manning & the flowers are from the wedding section at Michaels. (More of the flowers that come in little canisters that I mentioned on an earlier post) The black latticework is a Martha Stewart punch.

Have a great week everyone!  It sounds like a cold & rainy one for all of us in my area, but at least it is not snow!

Catch you later!

My "Halloween" Easter Bunny!

Yup, you heard it right! Tonite's post is what I laughingly call my "Halloween" Easter bunny. My friend Gail & I were working on Easter cards this afternoon as part of my get well therapy. While she was working on her card (gorgeous), I was struggling with mine.  I knew I wanted to paper piece the egg, but just couldn't find the perfect paper. (Stop laughing, guys! I know what you are thinking! I do NOT have more paper than a warehouse)  And then I found one I loved.  The problem was it was actually Halloween paper from a Paper Studio holiday pack.  And it had a lot of black in it.  Gail didn't think black was a proper color to use on an Easter card but was willing to go along with my choice until I started looking for black ribbon.  I think I lost her there!  ha ha That's when she starting making jokes that we could blame my craziness on my meds.

So what do you think??   Who says you can't use black on an Easter card?  I added some flower soft on his tail to make it nice & bunny soft. The stamp itself is from Inky Antics & I colored him with Prismacolor pencils & gamsol.

I don't think we have laughed so hard in a long time & it did me a world of good after the rotten week last week. My eyes seem to be doing better & the flu or bug I had, while not completely gone, is getting better too.  Thanks to all of you who left well wishes for me.

So what is the verdict?  Is it ok to use black for Easter cards or do we have to stick with bland pastels?

Off to see what other strange combinations I can come up with!  Catch you later!

Update..

Well, the eye infection & flu I have been battling all week is hanging on like a dog with his favorite chew toy. I am getting tired of the almost daily trips to the eye dr. to check the progress & feeling lousy.  I have a new respect for those who battle health issues daily without complaint & with grace.  My son-in-law & daughter come to mind immediately as two who could give lessons in grace.  Suffice it to say, it has been a long, long week.  I can't wait to start feeling like ME again!  And having an appetite!  (Did you hear the gasps?) Those who know me are probably dialing 911 about now. ha ha

Here is a card I did last weekend.  It is one of the darling images from Cuddly Buddly Digi Stamps & you should check their site. They have some great stuff! The image was colored with Prismacolor pencils & gamsol & the paper is from K & Co.  Hope you like her.

Catch you later!

Flowers anyone?

I thought tonite's posting should be something cheerful & happy since it got to 76 degrees here today & they are forecasting rain/snow for Friday & rain for most of the rest of the week as well.  This little gal is a digi from Whimsy & Stars Studio. I fell in love with her & knew she would make a great birthday, get well, thank you,or just thinking of you card.  I decided to go with plain colors for the background & used a Martha Stewart punch for the large doily and a Nestability die for the smaller one. She is colored in copics.

Catch you all later.

Bonus Post!

For anyone who has checked out my blog today, you know that I already posted & this is my second post for today.  My first card was one I made yesterday & was saving for tonite, but since I was home today, I posted it late this afternoon.  For those of you who have allergies, I'm sure you can sympathize with the reason I was home today instead of working.  I woke up with my right eye swollen nearly 2/3 shut & itching like a son of a gun! A trip to the eye dr. confirmed that I am suffering from some kind of allergic reaction & after picking up a RX that cost as much as a car payment, I came home to nurse the eye & put cold packs on it to releave the swelling.  A fun day! ha ha

This card is one I colored earlier & put together tonite. It is a digi from Cuddly Buddly Stamps & it was colored with copics & Prismacolor markers.  The flowers are from the wedding section at Michaels. They come in little see thru pails & come in several colors.  I knew the minute I saw them that they would come in handy for so many things & they are quite inexpensive which is even better!

Don't forget to check out the earlier posting if you missed it. Especially if you love the humor of Bugaboo Stamps and their senior characters! 

Catch you later!  Enjoy the rest of the week!

Raise a Smile!

The sun is finally shining again! That alone is enough to make you smile, but hopefully this birthday card will as well.  The image is from Bugaboo Stamps Digi stamps & the paper is from a K & Co paper pack I believe.  It was colored with copic & Prismacolor markers.  I'm entering this in Crafty Ann's Challenge#38 "Raise a Smile" & hoping it brings smiles there too.

Catch you later!

Think Spring!

After the wild nite of storms we experienced last nite, I am ready to think Spring!  For all of you who live in areas of the country prone to tornado activity, you will know what I mean when I say we had a wild nite here last nite. They blew the sirens for us to hit the basement & I was ready!  My friend Gail is laughing at me because I confessed I not only went to the basement, but took my basket of spellbinder dies with me. Well, why not!  You gals all know how much money you can get wrapped up in those tiny little pieces of metal! I also had the cat so you know I had my priorities straight. He would have preferred I let him stay upstairs & was very unhappy to have to hide downstairs.  Typical man, right?  I want to "watch" the tornado  coming!

This is the card I was preparing to post last night before Mother Nature decided to get nasty. It is an image from Angel's landing and they have some gorgeous stamps. I had planned a different layout for it, but when I found this paper from K & Co., it didn't seem to need much embellishment except for the bow so I went with simple.  I am going to enter this in 2 challenges. 2 Sisters Challenge Spring challenge and Simon Says Spring challenge. I haven't entered anything for a long time & decided it might be time to try again. I colored it with Prismacolor pencils & gamsol & just a bit of copic marker on the leaves. The paper if from K & Co.

Have a wonderful week.  Catch you all later!

Cherries anyone?

I had almost decided it was too late to start on a card tonite, but I had just downloaded this new stamp from Mo Manning & there it sat staring at me while I checked my e-mail.  You know how it goes....I was just going to color her face tonite & finish it tomorrow nite.  Well, once you start, you can't stop. So here we have the final result & I hope you like it.  I did her with a combination of both Prismacolor pencils & gamsol & copics & Prismacolor markers.  For those of you who may never have tried the Prismacolor markers, they work just as well as copics, have a huge array of colors & are considerably less expensive. I have favorite colors in both so my turntable is filled with about half of each type. The paper was from a Making Memories pad called English Garden which I loved so much I actually ended up buying two. (Yes, I know, it's that "paper" thing again!) I decided a couple of cherries to match the cherries on her dress & in her basket would be perfect so I created some from a couple of red buttons. 

Time to pick up my clutter & get ready for bed.  Have a great day!

Catch you all later!

Under the Weather?

Happy Monday everyone!

Why is it that the weekends fly by & the weeks drag?  Could it be that we spend all week thinking of the things we would rather be doing than working? Maybe I'm on to something here!

Today's card is one I colored Saturday but didn't have time to finish. (The dreaded "reorganize the hoarder's den" weekend, remember?) This is a Mo Manning image I fell in love with. The paper is from a DCWV paper stack.  I used my Spellbinders dies to cut the shapes & I colored it with my pencils & Gamsol.
I'm not sure the colors photographed well, but if these bright colors don't cheer someone up, then nothing will.

I was going to work on another card, but it's time for Castle & I can't miss that show!  Such a hunk!
Catch you all later!

A card at last!

My daughter called tonite to ask why I hadn't posted in several days.  I explained that it was all my friend Gail's fault!  She has just remodeled her stamp room into the most spectacular room you can imagine. Since I have to stamp in my dormer which is the size of a postage stamp, remodeling really isn't an option, but re-organizing was.  As I told my daughter, it was beginning to look like an episode of "hoarders" up here & it was way past time to close my eyes and purge things I don't use. I am going to have enough stuff for a whale of a garage sale one of these days!  I really wish you could have seen my "helper" in action this week! I got some new storage units that had to be put together & at one point while trying to screw a bolt into the side of one he wrapped both paws around my screwdriver & tried to "help" me turn it. I was laughing so hard I had to stop for awhile. I did manage to get some shots of him checking out my progress.

I finally had some time to put a card together tonite.  This is a Mo Manning image colored with pencils & gamsol. I even fired up the sewing machine for it. Now that I have re-organized, I found a place for it to sit out where it is handy.

Well, it is late & that alarm will go off way too early in the morning!  Better get myself off to bed.

Catch you all later!