Ahhh... I'm Having Fun

This is one of the best holiday weekends I've had all year. The weather is gorgeous, I'm nice and relaxed, I'm getting things accomplished, and still have been finding a little time to stamp! Wat else can a person ask for?!!! I took some pictues as I was walking around my garden yesterday that I thought I'd share with you. I hope that you don't find this boring... It's no secret that I have passion for flowers; growing them, stamping them, drying them, etc... If it involves a flower, I'm there. Walking my garden inspired me to make this card using a stamp for TAC. The butterfly punch is Martha Stewart and the Scallop Punch is by Fiskars. Zinnias are one of my favorite summer flowers. They're drought resistant and simply gorgeous in the garden or in a vase.

Heavy Metal Challenge

Deb Neerman and Julie Koerber have a blog called You Know You Rock where they host challenges every month. This months challenge was Heavy Metal. The more metal the better. Well, they sure got it. This is what I came up with. I bought the little guitar at the dollar store thinking it would come in handy for something and I was right! I literally did a Heavy Metal card. Our son's birthday is next week and he loves Heavy Metal music (yuk!) so I made him a card almost identical but without the "girl bling". I used a sheet of silver metal paper from Making Memories and a Cuttlebug EF. I punched the metal where the guitar is with a circle punch. The alphabet is an old retired set from Stampin' Up called Retro Alphabet. It was such a fun challenge! Check out the other cool entries!

SC191 {Hero Arts}

This sketch was this weeks featured Sketch Challenge at Splitcoaststampers. I've had these birds from Hero Arts for a while now and have only used them a few times. I thought they were the sweetest little birds... These birds make really cute, quick cards and are fun to color. I used some {Stardust} Stickles on the one wing of each of the birds but I had a hard time capturing it on the photo. As I was embossing the cs with my Cuttlebug EF's I started to wonder what I did for backrounds before these awesome folders came out! I just love the texture that it adds to all our creations. Happy Friday! Happy THREE day weekend! Yippee!

How Fun!

I was just given this award from a fellower blogger Maria! Thank you Maria! I am honored. I've been instructed that once you receive this award you must choose seven fellow bloggers that inspire you. Wow! This is gonna be tough. You all inspire me on a daily basis and I am grateful for all of you! A few of these are "no brainers" because you are my fellow Stamping Divas friends that I stamp with every month. I now pass this award on to:

Michelle
Kim
Cindy Haffner
Cindy M.
Sharon
Deb
Bev

Here are the reward rules:
1. The winner can put the logo on their blog
2. Link the person you received your award from
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you have nominated.

It's Been a While

One more day 'til the long weekend, huh? I can't wait! I have no plans in particular for the delicious three whole days off but I'm sure I'll enjoy it, whatever I do... This stamp is (distinctively) My Favorite Things. I think I actually have made a card that I can mail with regular postage! Hope you have a nice, relaxing evening.

Teapot Tuesday #9

I'm so happy to be able to participate in another one of Cindy's {Mothermark on SCS} Teapot Tuesday Challenges. I was really frustrated last night when I wanted to use my Stipple Rose stamp from SU and could not find it anywhere! Now where in the world to this stamp have gone? It just my husband, my two dogs some tropical fish and myself in this house and umm, I'm the only stamper! I have my stamps in bins and looked through them over and over again. Well, now that's gonna be a project for me this weekend. Solve the case of the missing stamp. After all that, I chose this rose from another (retired) SU set called Flower Garden. I wanted a soft "vintage" feel to the card and chose SU's Blush Blossom since I have nothing in a very soft, pale pink. I added some tiny little Dew Drops on some of the flower petals and leaves but my photography skills are not that great and I just couldn't capture it. Unlike some *other* stamper who I won't identify by name but her initials are *CM*, I don't have a personal photographer!!! ;-)
Hope your having a great day and thanks SO MUCH for stopping by!

Sweet n Sassy

Wow, it's a gorgeous day here today! Clear blue sunny sky and about 78 degrees. Boy, I could get used to this all year round... This is another card I made with the Sarah Kay Line from Sweet n Sassy. I just love this {vintage feeling} paper from SU. I'm so sorry now that I didn't order more before it retired. I used all of last years in colors; Groovy Guava, Soft Sky, and Blue Bayou. Thanks for dropping by.

Remember Botanicals?

This card is one of those that definitely took on a life of it's own! It started when I decided to do the Featured Stamper Challenge yesterday on SCS. As I was digging through my stamps I found this Botanicals set from SU and remembered how much I had enjoyed it in years past so I chose it to do the challenge. Well, one thing led to another and before you know it it looked nothing like the card I was trying to CASE! So, I still haven't done yesterdays challenge but I am kinda happy with how this turned out. I used Blue Bayou inks and papers and used a Blender Pen and the Blue Bayou refill to color the flower. I get so attached to some of these "In Colors" and don't want let go of them! Hope your Monday is going okay. Mine's better now that I'm home from work and can do my fun stuff now. Thanks so much for stopping by! :-)

MFT Get Well

I love this image from My Favorite Things! I stamped with friends this past Friday night and Michele let me play with her Copic Markers (and even taught me some good basic techniques). Hope your enjoying a relaxing Sunday. The weather here is gorgeous and I'm looking forwarding to going for a nice walk. Thanks for stopping by!

WT180 All Torn Up

That was this weeks SCS Challenge on Thursday; To make a project with torn paper. Remember when we all tore our paper on everything? lol! Hey, I look back on those projectly with fondness because when I first started stamping I had real issues trying to get things straight. If it wasn't, no problem. Just tear the edges! It got me through until discovering that I just needed a paper cutter that cut straight! I had no idea that I was wearing out the grooves in mine and that's why it wasn't working for me. Now I replace my cutter every year. This flower is from Hero Arts. I cut it out and added it to my Nestibilities Die, determined that I would make it work. (You guys know what I'm talking about)! I used Going Grey DP on SU Garden Green cs. Thanks SO much for stopping by.

Teapot Tuesday #8 (On Friday)!

I'm so excited to be able to participate in Mothermark's Teapot Challenge this week! I finally had some stamps and materials that could work for me. Plus, it helps that I have been off from work for the last few days (vacation time). Happy Friday everyone!!! (((hugs)))

Stamps: SU Paisley Backround, Lizzie Anne Designs (flower)
Punch: Martha Stewart Lace Punch

SC190 Relaxin' Riley

This is what I made for this weeks Sketch Challenge at SCS. I love this sketch. I think I'll be using this one quite often... This great image Riley from Hanna Stamps. I just recently bought the Spellbinder Machine and have started using the Nestibilities Dies. (Yeah, I know I'm like a year behind) but I really resisted this investment because I already have so much "stuff" but this is one decision I truly don't regret. I am enjoying using them in my projects so much... (((hugs)))

Black & White Sympathy

I guess I'm on a butterfly kick, huh? It's just that I recently bought this Stampendous butterfly set and have so many ideas... I'm starting to make more and more black and white cards and really have been enjoying that. I used SU's Distressing Tool for the first time and really like it. I'm off for the next few days so hopefully I'll be making more cards and maybe even a scrapbook page or two! Gosh, I really treasure my time off... (((Hugs)))

Butterfly Delight

Like millions of others, I really like butterflies a LOT. When I was planting some new perennials a few years back I did some researching to see what I could plant to attract different birds and butterflies. Butterfly Bush seemed like the most appropriate plant to choose for my climate and area in the garden I wanted to place it in. Boy, was this a good choice! I get so many butterflies (and even a hummingbird once in a while) from these bushes. Their flowers resemble Lilacs but they are not as fragrant. By the end of August my bushes will be covered in Monarchs and it's amazing to watch. When they come for a visit this year I will take some more pictures of them to share with you. Yesterday this beautiful yellow butterfly came to visit and I just had to capture a few pictures of it. This in turn inspired me to make this card in an attempt to "re-create" what I saw. I don't have any actual stamps of a Butterfly Bush so I used the next closest thing; lilacs from my SU Blossoms Abound set! The butterfly is from another retired SU set called Wonderful Wings. I added a little sparkle to the card by applying just a little Stickles onto the butterfly wings and lilacs so that I can participate in SCS's Dirty Dozen Challenge this month which is named "All That Glitters". They will have a drawing for all the participants and you could win some Just Rite Stamps and umm, I could really use some {free} stamps! Especially those. I don't have any yet! ;-(

Sweet Sarah Kay...

"Cutesy" isn't always my taste but these stamps designed by Sarah Kay for SweetnSassy really tugged at me. I used my Tombow Watercolor Markers to color the image. Hope you're Monday is going okay... (((hugs)))

Another Flower Soft Project

This is another card I made with Flower Soft. On this one I made a little bouquet by cutting a piece of vellum in a 1 1/4 square and then just rolled the bottom. I used a glue dot to hold it together while I placed my flowers in it. I also put glue dots on each flower stem. It's really a fun and unique product just hitting the market. Check it out!

WT178 Butterfly Wishes

I created this for the Ways To Use It Challenge last week on Splitcoast. The requirement was to add jewels to your project. I have these pearls that I have been waiting to use on just the right card and the time has come! I picked up this awesome butterfly set at Archivers with my 30% off coupon. These are clear stamps from Stampendous and are exclusive to Archivers.

I am thrilled that the weekend is finally here! Ahh... Happy Friday everyone! :-)

My First Dewdrops!

This is just another {simple} card I made using an image from Artful Inkables. What is new is my very first bottle of Dew Drops! I really like them and look forward to buying them in a few more colors. The are really chunky though and definitely require extra postage when mailing. Personally, I've given up on paying regular postage. My cards are just too chunky...

3-D Flower Soft Vase

I'd like to share something with you that I picked up at a local stamp store while I was on vacation. It's called Flower Soft and it's a brand new product on the market. It's fun and a little different then what I normally dabble in so of course I had to try it! The finished product remind me of pipe cleaners. Remember them?! I took a few pictures of how I acheived the look so that you can get a better idea. The vase is a stamp from Outlines Rubber Stamps. The "greens" in the vase are tiny strips of cardstock that I cut as thin as the paper cutter allowed me to. The ribbon is 3mm which is a perfect size since everything is so tiny.

SDC 5 Serene Spring

This sketch was the 5th of the Stamping Diva Challenges. The other part of this challenge is that we had to use a bird. I used a new (hostess) stamp from SU called Serene Spring. It's interesting because everyone had a different interpretation of the sketch and we all did it just a little differently. Here's a link to everyone else's card. Thanks SO much for stopping by...

Lynda
Michele
Kim
Sharon

P.S Last day of my vacation :-(

Elvis Baby!

This great Elvis image is from Cornish Heritage Farms. The card is 5 x 5 square. It's a pretty simple card. Nothing fancy. I used a star punch and pop up glue dots when I attached it so that it pops IRL.

Relaxing ...

Since my last post, I've been doing a lot of relaxing and enjoying my time off from work. It almost feels like too much relaxing. Is that even possible?!!! The weekend was fun and the weather was great for swimming and being outdoors. Saturday night Rich and I went to the movies and saw the new Batman movie, Dark Knight. The movie was okay but I think I'm getting too old to go to the movies. It's so loud in there we could hardly stand it! None of the younger people seemed to mind so we're assuming it's just our age.

This morning I got up, made some coffee and read a book for a while! Now that's cool! I would have gone out for breakfast on my deck but we had terrible storms here last night and it was really muggy and wet out there this morning. (We were really lucky that we didn't have the storm damage that some had that aren't too far from where I live. Many people are still without power! The lightning was quite a show in the sky and it seemed to go on for hours...

I thought I'd share a few photos of what I've been up to the last few days. Sunday the kids came over and we went swimming. Here's a few shots of our grandson Zach. He's a pretty good little swimmer and has no fear of the water at all. He just figured out a few weeks ago how much fun it is to jump in so he wants to do it constantly (which can get tiring as the adult who has to watch his every move...)!

Feeling Joy

Why am I feeling joy? Umm, because I am on vacation for the next nine days (counting weekends) and I am thrilled! Yippee! The last full week of vacation that I had was last June and that was the week that my mom died so need I say more?!!! I plan on stamping, sleeping in, stamping, staying up late (stamping), going for walks, stamping, swimming, stamping and spending quality time with family and friends. Did I mention that I want to do some serious stamping? Not too much pressure on the week, huh? lol!

Anyway, this card was made using a stamp from Artful Inkables. As some of you know, I have a "thing" for Purple Coneflowers so I had to use this image! I stamped the image using Tombow Watercolor Markers on Cryogen White Iridescent paper that was an awesome gift from my friend Lynda. The scallops were done with Martha Stewart's Scallop Lace Punch.

Thanks from dropping in!