Amy R's challenge

Beautiful sketch from Amy at Prairie Paper & Ink this week.

I'd not played with my Oriental stamps in a while, so I pulled out a set that I got years ago at Michael's and a stencil that I got at a Scrapbook Expo a few years ago, along with CTMH Creative Basics Emporium paper pack. I stamped the lights in Black Brilliance, then colored them with my PrismaColor pencils and used Gamsol and stubs to blend the colors. I used my stencil brush to color the fan. Spiral clip is CTMH Pewter and the ribbon is CTMH Vineyard Berry.

Another sneak peek!

I'm kinda diggin this sneak peek stuff! Here's a little something I'm working on. Full reveal will come next month sometime. No whining! Next month is only three days away!!

Card Tag Sneak Peek

I am participating in a Card Tag. How it works is, Alicia from http://callmecraftyal.blogspot.com/ created a card and sent me a picture of it. Based on her card, I then created my own card and sent a pic back to her. She then sent it on to the next person in line, and so on, for 10 people. Kinda like that game we used to play at summer camp when the Counselors would whisper in the first persons ear and you'd whisper to your neighbor and by the time it got back to the Counselor, there was no part of what was originally said left! I can give you a sneak peek of what I created, but you'll have to wait until all of the participants have sent their creations back to Alicia and she's posted all of them on her blog. You'll have to check back in a little over a week for the full reveal. I'll also link you to Alicia's blog at that time so you can see everyone else's creations!

Painting

Or as it will henceforth be known...PAINting. I decided that after 14 years of white on white on white walls, that I was going to bring some color into our lives! John wants white walls. No wallpaper, no color. If we want to get bold and extravagant, we paint eggshell or off-white. Where's the fun in that?! So I told him I would PAINt, but I was putting what I wanted on the walls! Our bedroom is now a Caribbean-y Blue and the living room is a Sage-y Green. But I paid a price! I have some residual nerve damage to my right arm from my car accident 4 years ago. It's nerve damage. Not a whole lot they can do for it. I had a few acupuncture treatments and they helped, but I still have some problems with it. Pain, numbness, blah, blah. I deal with it. Well, since it's my right arm and I'm right handed, I really gave it a workout. And I ended up in quite a bit of pain. And on the last day of PAINting the living room, I did something to my right side lower back/side. Still haven't quite figured out exactly what, but it put me out of commission for 4 days. Couldn't do a dad-burned thing. I sat with the heating pad and/or TENS Unit on it trying to get the muskles (nods to Popeye!) to relax. I am finally able to move around with a bit more ease today, but the pain is by no means gone. But life goes on! Next will be the front entry/dining room and kitchen. But I've cried "Uncle" and John will do the rolling and I'll cut in. I hate rolling anyway!

Here's a before of the living room and an after, along with an after of the bedroom. And the before shot of the living room, that's wisteria that I stenciled on the walls for a pop of color! Now that John's had some time to adjust to the color (he kept saying it was "dark" when I was putting it on. No dear, not dark, just not white!) he says he really likes it and he doesn't know why he fought me for so long about putting color on the walls. Yet another thing I was right about!!!

What The Hail?!

Holy Hail Batman...did we have a storm!!! It was so dark...almost dusk-like. It rained sideways from the west and from the east, sometimes at the same time. The lightning was so close and so fierce. The thunder boomed. The hail sounded like rocks being thrown at the windows. We got almost 3.5" of rain in a little over an hour.

OCC challenge

As soon as I saw the challenge at Our Creative Corner this week, I knew exactly which sentiment stamp I was gonna use. I LOVE this

t!m Holtz stamp! I paired it with the flowery-weedy stamp from the t!m Flights Of Fancy stamp set. I used Ranger Distress Ink in Brushed Corduroy and spritzed it with water before stamping for a slight mottled effect. Keeping it simple and basic, a piece of jute tied in a bow completes the card.

CPS challenge

Tami has the best sketches! Every week! I don't know how she does it!

I flipped her sketch sideways and used SU! Kraft cardstock for my base. Then I used MM Chloe's Closet mat stack. I sponged the edges of the green cardstock for a bit of definition. I used CTMH Treetops stamp set with Olive, Garden Green, Sweet Leaf and Chocolate inks.

CardPatterns challenge

Love the sketch this week at CardPatterns!

I flipped it longways and used my Basic Grey Lime Rickey mat stack along with CTMH Free Spirit stamp set. The birds are pop dotted and have stickles on the flourishes for bling.

And now I'll sing "Summertime" by George Gershwin for the rest of the day! I can't hear it and not think of New Orleans...so I'll take a little vacation in my mind back there as well!!

Amy R's challenge

Amy's got another fun sketch this week!Prairie Paper & Ink

I flipped Amy's sketch longways because I wanted to use an oldie but goodie stamp set, Splish Splash and the new Moon Doggie paper pack. I pulled out my Deckle Edge Nestabilities dies to cut the stamped image. Used my PrismaColor pencils to color the image, then used Gamsol and stubs to blend. I used my wave ruler and tore the piece of Indian Corn Blue cardstock in keeping with the wave theme of the card.

Sweet, sweet rain

FINALLY! We are getting some much needed rain. We've got a cold front that moved down from the north that stalled over us and a low pressure area that's moving up from the south and both are bringing the rain. The weather guys say we could see rain almost any time for the rest of the week! And while it won't bring us the three feet that we are down in our totals, at least it will help our parched lawns. Already people are calling for the lowering of the very tight water restrictions. My thought is why? If it's raining, you damn sure don't need to water your lawn. You can take your car to the car wash. People feel entitled when the restrictions are lowered. It's MY day to water, so by damned, I'm gonna water. Doesn't matter that we just got over an inch yesterday. And my least favorite waether guy said yesterday in a weather update, "Be careful what you wish for. We could be in for rain for the rest of the week." You blooming idiot. Has no one from your station informed you that we ARE in a drought. So I fired off an email to the station! Of course I've gotten no response!

Anyway...off my soapbox!

The rain liles are all ready to burst with their pink flowery goodness! The catch at the bottom of the rain chain off the back porch is full. There is almost an inch of rain in the rain gauge. AND!! An added bonus. I opened the blinds going to the back porch yesterday and saw something moving at the top of the screen outside. Upon closer inspection, it was one of the Gulf Fritillary butterflies emerging from the cocoon! I watched it all afternoon, stretching it's wings, drying out. Then, just as I grabbed the camera to go take another pic, it flew away. So glad to know at least one missed being a mockingbird's breakfast!

CPS challenge

Stamping Bella is the sponsor of Tami's sketch this week at http://www.cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/

I had not played with my Bella stamps in forever! So of course I pulled out my first Bella and still my favorite, Grumpabella! I stamped her using Brilliance ink, then colored her using my PrismaColor pencils and used Gamsol and stubs to blend the color. And since it's Bella, I decided to use the CTMH Bella paper pack! The strip of flowers across the bottom have Prisma flowers and bling from my stash that are pop dotted for a little visual flair. A few Bella Baubles at the top complete this Bella-licious card!

Amy R's challenge

Amy's got another great sketch this week! Prairie Paper & Ink

I pulled out my Autumn Leaves Pretty Poppy mat stack and CTMH May SOM, Be Yourself and Connections (for the flower) stamp sets. I used my Frame-up Nesties, used Sweet Leaf to sponge ink on the dots before I removed the die. Put the center back in the frame and stamped the girl and came back with my Sweet Leaf to color the flowers on her dress. The flower is CTMH Just Blooms that I sponged a bit of Barn Red on the edges of the leaves then used the starburst stamp from Connections to stamp the center.

Remembering...

My dad. It's been 17 years and you are still missed. Every day.

I shoulda stayed in bed!

Damn Murphy and his Law anyway! If It can go wrong, it will.

I pulled out the vacuum this morning to try and tame some of the kitty hair bunnies that were skittering here, there and yon. I have an antique end table between the 2 couches in the living room. I hit one of the front legs as I was vaccuming and it and the leg begind it buckled, sending everything crashing to the floor. Hardwood floors. No carpet to soften the blow. Thankfully I caught the lamp, but two glass coasters that belonged to John's paternal grandparents shattered and two (of a set of three matching) glass candle holders also bit the dust. So the table is now propped up on the arm of the couch til John gets home and can fix it.

Then I went out to do chicken and pond duty. Chickens went fine. Pond was a different story. John had cleaned the filter yesterday and forgot to squirt down the "gunk" that comes out of the filter. My foot hit it and down I went. Into the "gunk" (read fish poo!) Oh yay! So since I was already there and nasty anyway, I went ahead and finished. Rinsed myself off so as not to track the "gunk" all thru the house that I'd just cleaned. Went straight to the washer and in went my clothes and I headed for the shower. So now that I'm clean and non-stinky, I think I'll wander over to the scrap table and see what I can get into.

And one final bit of sad news. Seems the mockingbirds have developed a taste for the little Gulf Fritillary caterpillars. The two that had attached themselves to the stem yesterday are gone this morning. There are only 3 caterpillars left and they are eating stems now since all of the leaves are gone. I don't hold much hope for them surviving either. :(

soon to be chrysalis

We've got two caterpillars who have attached themselves to the passion vine, so they should start spinning their chrysalis anytime now. There is not a leaf left on any of the vines!

CPS challenge

I needed a quick birthday card for one of John's favorite receivers tomorrow, so I decided to use the http://www.cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/ sketch.

I had an oldy but goody CTMH paper pack, Caprice, out for another project earlier today and I'd forgotten how much I like this pp! I used my Solo Alpha's for the H and B and stamped them in Honey ink after I kissed them to the Spot On background stamp just to give the letters a bit of visual interest. The butterfly is from Deluxe Designs, which sadly is out of business. The flower bling on the butterfly is from my stash. I dry embossed the chocolate cardstock and sanded it.

OCC Challenge

Robin is our hostess for May at Our Creative Corner and she's given us a sketch to work with this week.

I pulled out the May CTMH Promo, Tickled Pink paper pack and the accompanying stamp set. I random stamped the flowers on textured white cardstock using CTMH Hollyhock, Blush, Sweet Leaf and Twilight inks, then sponged Sweet Leaf on the edges for a bit of definition.

CardPatterns challenge

The guest designer at CardPatterns this week is Peter van Tilburg, a 20 year old male from the Netherlands! He's got such a fresh, funky style. Maybe another t!m Holtz in the making! I've certainly become a quick fan after looking at his blog! Scraps from a boy

The masculine cards I need always seem to come in bunches, so I figured I might as well use a sketch from a boy to make a card for a boy! Paper pack is CTMH Back Woods. I used my Torn Paper punch from EK Success and a piece of jute to accent. The frame is CTMH Foundry Bookplates.

Amy R's challenge

Amy's got a guest designer this week! Tammy Fielder sent her a bunch of sketches a couple of weeks ago when her mojo went AWOL! And Amy liked them so much, that now once a month, Tammy will be a guest designer. Check out Tammy's and Amy's sketch at Prairie Paper & Ink.

I needed a masculine birthday card, so that was the direction I took with this sketch. I used the new CTMH Back Country paper pack, along with CTMH stamp sets Treetops and Happy Birthday. I masked off the trunk of the tree and stamped the top in CTMH Olive and the trunk is Barn red. Small green brads from my stash are in the centers of the swirls on the tree top. I used my Nestabilities Scalloped Circles and pop-dotted the tree on the circles. The Barn Red "brads" I used a hole punch to cut them out of Barn Red cardstock and once they were adhered, used a bit of Glossy Accents on top of them to mimic brads. Love that you can do that and have any color "brad" you want!

Butterfly wannabe update

The Gulf Fritillary caterpillars are getting nice and fat! Shouldn't be too long now and some of them should start their chrysallis stage. You can see two of them on the passion flower just chomping away! And I actually got a picture of a passion flower that's only 1/4 eaten! I think they are so pretty. More updates to come, so stay tuned!

Congrats!

To our Tampa Bay Rays 3rd baseman Evan Longoria Evan Longoria Stats, Bio, Photos, Highlights raysbaseball.com: Team who won the AL Player of the Month award for April! He is the first Ray to win this award since the team was formed 12 years ago.

It's also time to vote for the All Stars game. Go to www.raysbaseball.com and follow the links to cast your vote. Each person can vote 25 times, so make your voice heard!

CPS challenge

Another great sketch from Tami at http://www.cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/ this week.

I pulled out my Basic Grey Wisteria paper pad for this one. The lavender fabric flowers are from my stash, along with some Prima paper flowers, so I used them for the bottom border. The top flower is the stamp set from the CTMH Promo for May, Tickled Pink. The large flower is stamped in Hydrangya and the small one is stamped in Crystal Blue. I sanded the edges of both flowers and they are also pop dotted for dimension.

CardPatterns challenge

Cool sketch at CardPatterns this week.

Since I had Basic Grey Lime Rickey out playing with it, I figured why stop a good thing? I pulled out my Nestabilities Birds and Edgeabilities to dress up the bottom of the card just a bit. I used the smallest bird as a "wing" and edged it in Yellow Stickles. The eye is a CTMH Bitty Brad and the beak is Gunmetal Stickles. I used CTMH Dutch Blue ink and sponged the Edgeabilities before I removed it for a bit more dimension.

SheetLoad May challenge

Great sketch this month at SheetLoad of Cards - Free Monthly eZine! There's even a "bonus" scrapling card!

I made a trip to my wonderful LSS, Ruban Rouge Paper Arts yesterday to take advantage of their NSD 40% off everything in the store sale. Stocked up on Glossy Accents (I bought all they had!), got some t!m Holtz Idea-ology metals, Glue Dots (you can never have enough of those!), two new Distress Crackle Paints, Dusty Concord and Broken China, and both of the new Basic Grey Wisteria AND Lime Rickey 6x6 paper pads! All of that for under $50.00! Economy stimulation at it's finest!

So for the challenge at SheetLoad, I decided to make my mil's birthday card. I used four of the Lime Rickey papers. The metal corner element is

t!m, the bird is CTMH Bird Basics stamped in Sunny Yellow and Pansy Purple. I used Ranger Distress Stickles Milled Lavender for a bit of bling on the wing and tail. The sentiment is from CTMH Happy Birthday stamp set and is set behind a t!m Fragment. The scrapling card has a CTMH dimensional flower that I added a bit of Stickles in Lime Green for bling.

New Blog...and a Giveaway!

Amy at My Name Is Snickerdoodle was one of the first blogs I started reading. I've "known" her since before her son was born! Recently, her cousin Shalene launched her own blog From deep within the heart of TEXAS and is also launching her new vinyl wall words company. She is giving away some really cool things on her blog. I encourage you to go check her out. Leave her some loves!

Amy R's challenge

Amy's got another great sketch for us this week. Prairie Paper & Ink

Since I've had the Bella paper pack out, I figured I'd just go ahead and continue to play with it! I cheated a bit and used the beautiful and versatile Fancy Cut Botanicals for my flowers. There are three sheets of preprinted and scored flowers, centers, leaves and swirls per pack in the colors Juniper, Tulip, Creme Brulee, Sorbet and Lilac for $3.95. Great deal and so quick and easy to use! Pop them out and you're good to go! All of the flowers are pop-dotted. Sure wish that showed up in the picture! I used brads and buttons from my stash for the centers. Also a piece of White Daisy Waxy Flax and Creme Brulee ribbon.