Welcome Baby Harper!

WHERE in the world has the month of June, 2011 gone????????
It has flown by for me...how about you?
Sorry about the lack of posting after I said earlier in the month I'd be better.  Hmmmmmm.  

On to the card.
I made this card for dear friends, Colleen and Randy, on the birth of their granddaughter to their son and daughter in law.  They just received the card this week.   Harper was born several months ago, February or March, perhaps?  And, I've just gotten around to it.  Actually it's been on my radar forever.  Just needed to get the rest of my supplies down to Florida to do the job.  Then, had to get them unpacked.  Tried to make the card in my head that had been in my head forever with the supplies and couldn't get it to come together.  Back to the drawing board.  Freehanded the pattern for this card.  In case anyone is wondering, it is a baby girl dress.   Just clarifying this, because after I finished it all up and patted myself on the back, I showed it to my husband, who promptly declared, "Oh, what a pretty grandma dress!"  Ego deflated.  

But, I knew deep down in my heart that Colleen would know what it was...and she did....AFTER declaring, "Oh, but our daughter is having a boy!"(due any day now).   After reading the comments inside the card, she did.  

Yes, this card has given me a few chuckles, and, I am the only one to blame, but at least I got the dang card to them before Harper started college!  Sorry, Colleen and Randy, for the delay!

As stated above, I made the pattern, used patterned paper from my stash (Making Memories, I think), ric rac and flower trim from JoAnns, and the lacy edge around the neckline is cut from a Martha Stewart doily.

Thanks for peeking!

Well, it's better & An Anniversary Card

Yes, it's been awhile.
Three weeks, or so, I've been told.  According to Pauline.
I've been busy these last 3 weeks.  Got the room fairly organized.  Have made A LOT of cards...which I shall reveal over the next few days weeks.  I've really been missing out on all the challenges and am looking forward to getting back in the swing of them.  

So, first.  The pics you've all been waiting for.

As you can see, I now have some "moving about" room.  Yes, the room is quite small, but I am quite happy with how it is currently configured.   I don't have far to go to find anything and I've put all items that I use on most cards right at my fingertips.  Eventually, I will have cabinets and countertops to house all my stuff and this setup has actually been a trial run on how and where I want certain items.  Out of the 3 rooms I've had over the course of 3 houses, I think I am going to like this one the best.  Because it is small, believe it or not!  I am hoping with the cabinet/countertop configuration I will be able to have play room for a friend, whereas now, I have no room for anyone else but me.

On to the card....

This past friday, my hubby and I celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary.  To celebrate, we bought ourselves matching lanai (patio) furniture....how romantic!   And, I gave him this card:

No, this wasn't an original idea...I kind of cased it from here:  http://soapboxcreations.blogspot.com/2011/06/love-you.html     As you can see, it is similar, but not exact.  When it came time to make my card, I couldn't remember where I saw the original, so I had to rely on my fuzzy memory.  And, I'm happy with my result.

Until next time, thanks for peeking!

I need motivation.....

.....to get this MESS organized!
I stumbled upon someone's blog (can't remember who) who posted about what was on her desk at that moment.  So nice and neat and organized...ready for that next burst of creativity.   Well, as embarrassing as this is, I decided to give it a try to embarrass myself into motivation.

John and I did a cross country (yes, another!) move late March/early April. We focused on getting the rest of the house orderly.  There is still lots of work to be done, but at least we no longer have little paths among stacks of boxes.  I left my stamp room til last.   And, here it is.

This is my desk.

And, this is behind my desk.

I have about a dozen cards that need to be made really, really soon.   But, before I can do that, I need to get organized!
I'm going in.
Wish me luck!

Less is More Week 11: Acetate

I love acetate cards!
I just think there is something really slick (not really any pun intended) about them.  They're cool.  Different.  Unique.   I've made a few in the past, but only a few.  Because I drive myself crazy with all the fingerprints I get all over the acetate.  I know.  OCD.   But, I digress.  I made this card a while ago, and just recently pulled it out because the daughter of a close friend is graduating from college in a few weeks and I thought she would like this card.  And then!  Wouldn't you know it!   The Less is More week 11 challenge is all about using acetate in a card.  Well, this card is all about the acetate.  Perfectly trimmed cardstock is used both on the inside front and the back of the card in order to hide all the adhesive used on the outside front panel and inside back panel.  That was tougher than it sounds.  But it all worked out well and I am pleased.

And a peek on the inside:

The sentiment is from Inkadinkadoo and was black embossed onto gold glossy cardstock.  The gold, cream and black glossy cardstock and gold floss are all from my stash and the graduation cap is from Jolee's.
Thanks for peeking!

OLW 49: Green, Pink & Never Seen Ink

Down to the wire....OLW 50 will be posted in a very few short hours.  But, OLW 49 has been on my mind all week....had to do it.

Jennifer over at Styles Ink was the challenge host for OLW 49.  The rules wanted us to use a stamp from our stash that has yet to see ink,  make that ink pink and green, and put it on a single layer card, no less!  She's a taskmaster, I tell ya!

Here's the first:

The lily is from Stampendous, the sentiment is from A Muse (before they became A Muse Studio).  Colored with copics.

Here's the second:

Image is from Savvy Stamps and the sentiment is from Make An Impression.

Thanks for peeking!

Make it Monday 10: Masking with Dies

Edited to add:   I just found out I won the free stamp set from PTI for this Make It Monday challenge!  Yeah, me!

A quick post to show what I did for this week's Make it Monday 10: Masking with Dies challenge over at Nichole Heady's PTI Blog.   I used PTI's XL Rickrack border die as a mask to sponge color along the bottom of my card.  I also used PTI's Star Prints stamp set, punching out the star shapes with the SU! large star punch.  The sentiment is from Hampton Arts.

I thought this made a nice young, masculine birthday card which will go to my teenage great nephew next month.

Thanks for peeking!

Less is More Week 10 One Layer Challenge - Sentiment Focus

Ok.
The guilts got to me.  One of my cards in the post for the OLW challenge last week just so happened to work for the Less is More Challenge from last Saturday.  So, I edited that post to add the LIM challenge.   But, is that really fair?  Me thinks not.   But, HUGE thanks to all the kind folks from Less is More who visited my blog and commented.  I am greatly appreciative.

So, to get the guilts to go away, I made another card.  Just for the Less is More challenge.  And, then what happens?   What I ended up doing also worked for this week's Make it Monday challenge.  Nope, not gonna do it.  Ended up making 2 cards that I needed to make anyway...one for Less is More, one for Make it Mondays.  Will post that one later.

The Less is More Challenge asked us to make a one layer card using a sentiment as the focus.   I made a mask from a Nesties heart, sponged Memento Rose Bud ink, and stamped the sentiment from My Sentiments Exactly! on shimmery (sorry you can't see that) Curious Cryogen White cardstock.

Thanks for peeking!