Flower of the Month: April

Here is the fourth card in my series using an old Stampin' Up set called Flower of the Month.  (You can click on the "Flower of the Month" label to see the first three.)

Check out the double bow!  For three weeks, I have been promising a Friday Focus post on various ways and tools to tie bows.  Guess what!  It WILL happen this Friday.  I am almost done with the tutorials so absolutely nothing will get in the way of that post??!!!

The crimped strip is something that I haven't done in a LONG time.  I was digging behind my storage shelves trying to find a missing butterfly punch (still missing) and came up with the old crimping tool that hasn't been used in years.  I had forgotten how much I like the look!

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Flower of the Month, Happy Birthday Frame
• Ink: Memento Black, copics, Versamark
• Paper: Stampin' Up Pear Pizzazz CS and dsp, Regal Rose, So Saffron
• Accessories: White embossing powder, EK Success border punch (the large size that creates an independent border, then cut in half and glued to both sides of the rose strip), Nesties labels, Martha Stewart birthstone gems (diamond for April), Stampin' Up Rose Grosgrain, Fiskars Paper Crimper
• Challenges: Splitcoast Color Challenge and CardPatterns Sketch Challenge

Four Cards! (I'm back!!)

After a week of zero energy, zero creativity, and a whole lot of medicine, warm salt-water gargling, kleenex and sleep - I checked out this morning's Splitcoast Clean & Simple Challenge and ended up making FOUR cards!  I started one and was thinking of the next one before the first was even done.  It felt sooooo good!

The challenge this morning was a sketch based on this card.   My church still needs sympathy cards so that needed to be my focus this morning.

As I was searching my butterfly stash, I realized that I had this amazing big die from Quickutz and that I could use it in place of the circle element in the sketch!

Even though my focus today is sympathy cards, I found myself wondering what this butterfly would look like in bright, vivid colors.  I had just picked up a K&Co pad of paper with brilliant florals.



Then I moved back to sympathy to put together an even simpler card.  This one ignores the large circle element but keeps an embellishment in that area.

OK - now I need to step back and find the bottom of my craft desk - the supplies for each card just kept piling on top of the last card!

It is spring break here so part of the my quantity of cards is that I didn't have to get anybody up and moving this morning.  My teenager will likely sleep until noon.  My youngest and my husband road-tripped to Sydney, Nebraska.  Why?  Sydney is the home of Cabela's - a mecca for outdoorsmen.  85,000 square feet of guy stuff. 

I am wondering if we don't get my youngest out enough as he kept calling me yesterday with more and more "exciting" sites.  You have to realize that there is absolutely NOTHING between here and Sydney - not even a bump in the road.  The first call was about a missile silo (which is basically a fenced area as the silo itself is underground), then a train with 48 cars, then a train with 100 cars!!  As they entered Sydney (population 6,000), he called to recite all of the restaurants that they were passing.  Then he called about how beautiful the pool in the hotel was - it's a Days Inn... it has a nice, functional square pool - no slide, no nothing. 

Clearly, I don't need to keep spending money on cruises in Alaska, and beach houses in North Caroline and Walt Disney World - I just have to drive my child through the prairies of eastern Colorado and Nebraska!!

But...it's quiet here (at least until he calls again)...and I have the day to play at my craft table!

Blush Blossom Butterflies:

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Thanks for caring
• Ink: Stampin' Up Early Espresso
• Paper: Stampin' Up Early Espresso, Blush Blossom, DCWV Mariposa dsp
• Accessories: Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Nesties labels and circles, American Crafts ribbon

Blue Bayou Butterfly:

• Stamps: Gina K Framed Greetings
• Ink: Stampin' Up Blue Bayou (on edges), Not Quite Navy (sentiment)
• Paper: Stampin' Up Wild Wasabi, Blue Bayou, Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla, Porcelain Prints dsp
• Accessories: Quickutz butterfly die, Cuttlebug dot folder

Floral Butterfly:

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink Bird Watching
• Ink: Papertrey Dark Chocolate
• Paper: Papertrey Dark Chocolate, Stampin' Up Purely Pomegrante (retired), K&Co Tim Coffey Cottage Garden dsp
• Accessories: Quickutz butterfly die, Stampin' Up Oval and Scalloped Oval punches

Gray and Jewel Sympathy:

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Three Little Words
• Ink: black
• Paper: Stampin' Up Basic Gray, Papertrey Scarlet Jewel, Very Vanilla
• Accessories: Papertrey Scarlet Jewel ribbon, brad from Hobby Lobby, Tim Holtz embossing folder

Less Is More: Masculine

I think that I finally might be getting rid of the crud that I have had all week because for the first time in a week, an idea popped into my head.  The Less Is More challenge for this week is to do a masculine card and I instantly knew what I wanted to do.  But clearly, I'm still not fully recovered because it took a full 24 hours to get it done.  (You wouldn't believe how many different colors that I tried on the boat!!)  And now I am ready for a nap.

I had used the idea of a strip of color on this card and I wanted to try it in a different way.  I do go through the masking process on that original post if you think you want to try it out for yourself.

You might think that the red on the sailboat is a little odd - but that's our actual boat!!  We keep a sailboat on Lake Dillon which is in Summit County, Colorado - right down the road from the ski areas in Breckenridge and in Keystone.  It is a strange and wonderful experience to sail surrounded by snow-covered peaks.  These pictures are a little old - my little boy has gained about 6 years and I have gained (and lost and gained again) about 20 pounds!!  But do you see the sparkle on the water in the first picture that I am trying to capture in my card...

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Uncharted Territory, Fifth Avenue Florals (sentiment)
• Ink: Stampin' Up Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, copics
• Paper: Stampin' Up Marina Mist, Whisper White
• Accessories: Stardust and Yellow Stickles

I FEEL SO BAD!!!

It's day 4 of the crud and I actually feel worse.  Even after all the medicine and home remedies that I can think of, my throat still prefers that I don't swallow or even breathe.  Yuck!!

And - my creativity is long gone.  I simply look at my craft table and experience a feeling of panic because absolutely nothing pops into my mind.  Usually my brain is just swimming with all the stuff I want to make, colors to see, tools to use, bows to tie....   So I have all this time confined to my home and I have nothing fun to show for it.

On the other hand, I have been having a wonderful time reading blogs and browsing galleries.  I'm not trying to squeeze that in between my own cards and all my other life activities.  (I'm just squeezing it in between naps!)  I am simply enjoying relaxed time reading and browsing - so thanks to all of you!

It's kind of fun to whine to the blog world.  My own family cares very little.  Actually, they probably care - just as long as my illness doesn't get in the way of their life.  This morning has already been, "Mom, can you drive me to school, I need to get there early" and "Mom, you HAVE to make me lunch today - I hate school lunches!"  I have to recover soon because my oldest has a week off after today and my youngest has TWO weeks.  I definitely need to be functioning!

I sure hope to be back soon...

An Angel's Smile

I am sorry for my blog absence.  I have been about as sick as I remember being in a long time - or maybe I should just say I've been sick LONGER than usual.  Monday was exhaustion, Tuesday was a painful cough in the chest, Wednesday was head and ear pressure and this morning I would prefer not to swallow.  This is so not normal for me - and I am not dealing with it well.  I'm laying on the sofa alternating between dozing and watching bad TV.  I'm usually a "do-er" - I am never not doing something - except for this week.  Even my craft corner seems like too much work.

However, I am still reading blogs and watching challenges and I had to pull myself together this morning because a couple of things came together perfectly.

I told you about an amazing family in this post.  (I guess I shouldn't be complaining about my problems.)  When the weekly digi from Designed2Delight came out last Thursday and was a sweet angel - and when today's Splitcoast Ways to Use It challenge was to include a smile - - - I absolutely HAD to make a card for the sweet little 7-year old in this family.  She is scheduled to have a second scan on her lungs in early April - the first scan showed spots.  Could this possibly be round 4 of her LCH?  (Or are we at round 5 already?  How can one family survive so much?)  But this family handles everything with such faith and with such grace - I knew this sweet angel would be the perfect touch! 

The image is called Angel Caroline and comes with this sweet image, plus an image with her eyes open - plus some accents like a little flower.  If you use her by midnight tonight, you get next week's free.  They have already shown it on one of their blogs - it's a cute little bug in a jar for a Get Well card!  I'll make that for myself!!

I did find a perfect sentiment for this card:

Don't tell God how big

your problems are,

tell your problems

how big God is.

It's from a clear set by TPC Studios - a brand carried by one of the big box craft stores and it reminds me that I have wanted to give a little speech about clear stamps.  If you don't like clear stamps, you probably haven't tried the right ones.  This brand is NOT the right one.  Cheap clear stamps are not firm.  If you apply any pressure to any part of the stamp it distorts and squishes and you get a very bad image.  If you absolutely MUST use cheap stamps - use a very, very light pressure - and I would definitely practice on scratch paper first.  I absolutely guarantee that quality clear stamps work and feel like rubber!!

• Stamps: Designed2Delight digi, TPC Studio Faith set (inside), Inkadinkado sentiment (outside)
• Ink: copics
• Paper: Heidi Grace dsp, Stampin' Up Pretty in Pink
• Accessories: Papertrey New Leaf mini dot ribbon, Stampin' Up Pretty in Pink gingham and grosgrain, misc heart gems, Smooch Pearlized Top coat on wings, etc., Nestabilities labels
• Challenges: Splitcoast Ways to Use It: Smile (see link above)

Out of the Box CAS

Today's Splitcoast Clean & Simple challenge is to have part of your image "out of the box".  I looked through my stack of unused stamps and found this darling owl.  He's made by Savvy Stamps and I got him at Impress Rubber Stamps.  It's a set that includes the owl, the branch, the balloon and a variety of sentiments all of which fit into the balloon.  Even if you don't get the stamp, you should check out the site.  Their gallery (called "Impressive Ideas") is full of fantastic clean and simple cards. 

Doing things "out of the box" is really quite simple (at least in the cardmaking world!)  So many of us have cutters such as shown below.  That raised part isn't just for hanging on to - it shows you precisely where the blade is.  So you can cut from one side until that raised part is even with the edge of the balloon and then lift the bar and cut the other side.

You end up with straight lines up to the balloon and you just have to cut around it.

To make his blue eyes, I simply inked him up in Suede, then used a Qtip to clean off his eyes and colored them in with a Marina marker.

I had an unusually busy weekend - but FULL of music.  My 11-year old brand new trumpet player played in a trumpet quartet for a solo and ensemble contest.  Even though his piece was only 2 minutes, the poor guy had to hang out with me for 5 hours as I accompanied all his other little friends in the beginner band.  My oldest played sax in the pit band for the high school musical - he had a matinee and an evening show which was the closing performance after 8 performances so I HAD to go see it again.  Then Sunday morning (bright and early after the time change), my bell choir played at both services and I did the piano for the service.  So....I was home and napping by Sunday afternoon!!

My little guy is in the light green shirt.  After this, he
changed clothes in the car and played two lacrosse games!!

Funny story (or completely inappropriate) - after eight performances and two months of rehearsals, I think a number of the kids in the pit orchestra were a little bored.  It turns out that about a dozen of them had their iPods/iPhones out and were playing "Words with Friends" with each other.  I didn't know whether to be really, really upset at him - or somewhat impressed that these teens were playing what is basically online Scrabble??!!  In the above picture, Andrew is getting his saxophone reed wet but by the intense expression on his face, I would guess he is figuring out his next Scrabble move!

• Stamps: Savvy Stamps
• Ink: Stampin' Up Espresso, Wasabi and Marina markers, Suede and Guava pads
• Paper: Stampin' Up Whisper White, Early Espresso
• Accessories: Sizzix embossing folder, glitter glue, Stampin' Up Espresso ribbon

Easter...but no bows!

In yesterday's post, I had confidently promised a Friday Focus post on the different ways and tools to use to tie bows.  But..it was a beautiful day, the kids were home (teacher-only day??!!) and I HAD to craft a friend's new house in her huge new craft room.  So, there was no bow-tying at my house!  Since the title of this feature on my blog is called "Friday" Focus - there will be bows here next Friday.

In the meantime, I did put together a quick and easy Easter card.

I put this whole thing together around the gem - although there is absolutely no way I can capture it in a photo.  My local Michaels has these iridescent colored gems.  This gems is the same general color as the cardstock, but it throws out greens and blues and deep pinks.  I love the idea of this beauty at the heart of the cross.

• Stamps: Our Daily Bread Cross of Christ
• Inks: Memento Black
• Paper: Papertrey Melon Berry, K&Co dsp, Stampin' Up Vanilla and Black
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Oval and Scalloped Oval punches, SU crocheted ribbon, EK Success border punch, Michaels Recollections gems
• Challenges: Just Add Ink Sketch Challenge