Better Get Better

Yes, it's the often forgotten and usually most needed card we have in our collections, isn't it? The "get well" card is one that I have decided I need to spend some time working on. That along with a whole mess of other "to dos" that I have made promises to myself to keep working on makes for one busy girl! But thankfully I was able to steal away a few moments for a stamping project. Here's just one of the cards I made:


Isn't that a cute and unusual paper? It's not SU!, but honestly I don't know where it's from either. I got a piece of it from a fellow blogger last summer, and I have not had the opportunity to use it until today. I love it, though! And, I decided to play with some different color combos while I was at it.

River Rock, Soft Sky, and Chocolate Chip complement this mystery paper. More Mustard eyelets (remember those?!?), and sentiment stamped on twill tape as accents as well as central theme. A handful of paper piercing (there is piercing all around the Chocolate chip layer, you just can't see it, of course), and of course the Cuttlebug using the Mesh A2 embossing folder finish off this piece.

I hope you like it!

Hey, A quick share for Monday

Hi friends! I haven't had time to stamp, but I was going through some blogs I read and wanted to share with you my favorite card/idea for today, so pretend I stamped and showed you a picture and visit this link for the payoff:
http://www.granitestatestamper.com/2008/03/bleach-isnt-jus.html

I promise I'm going to stamp soon, but I don't want you miss the posts here, so I'm staying active as much as I can. Don't worry, though, my stamps are CALLING MY NAME, and my house is clean, so I feel a stamping day coming soon!!

Hugs~

You Make My Day Award!!

My friends Sher and Lori gave me this award, and I'm late picking it up, but THANK YOU ladies for this award - I am honored, and it makes MY day!! For anyone who wants to see the amazing stuff these gals offer on their blogs, check them out here:

Sherri - http://sherristampingspot.blogspot.com/

Lori - http://tisdalestamps.blogspot.com/



I am passing this award forward to some more great bloggers now. Check them out!
The winners are:

1.) Lesa - http://paperpossibilities.blogspot.com/ - she's a blogging sister stamper who is always supportive and has a great blog, too.

2.) Deb - http://stampinonthemountain.blogspot.com/ Deb has some cute stuff on her blog and is really sweet.

3.)Kerri J - http://cardsbykerry.blogspot.com/ her work is ADORABLE, and the blog is great. Kerry's a sweetheart!

4.) Jana - http://stampwithjana.blogspot.com/ A fellow Diva who is a super creative gal and her blog is always fascinating to read.

5.)Velta - http://impressionsbyv.blogspot.com/ Velta has some neat ideas, be sure to check her out too.

Then these recipients do the the following. If you already have this award don’t worry about passing it on, just display it proudly:)
1) Write a post with links to 5 blogs you find of interest and that inspire you.
2) Acknowledge the post of the award giver.
3) Display the logo “You Make My Day”
4) Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs with the news.

Great tip for mailing bulky cards!

I don't have any cards to share with you today, but in an effort to keep things moving, and because this tip is so SIMPLE but SOOOO great, I had to share it! Check out this link and see it for yourself if you ever mail cards with embellishments or is otherwise susceptible to damage by our USPS:
http://angelosity.blogspot.com/2008/04/mailing-tip.html

I hope this is an AHA moment for some of you like it was for me!

Hugz~

Simple Easter Card

Easter gatherings are almost here, and I'm running late on making my cards - again! lol Anyway, I made 6 of these today, and I gotta say, it was fun. The truck is colored with a blender pen and Soft Sky ink so that it has some color but isn't overwhelming in the pic. I wanted the eggs to stand out the most. They were colored with Stampin' Write markers, and then I went over them with UTEE so that they're glossy and raised. I'm SO glad I remembered that this set had eggs in the Accessories set - because I can only use stuff like this once a year unless I start working at a farm! (tee hee)

Okay, so here's the card:



Sets: Loads of Love, Loads of Love Accessories
Colors: Lavender Lace, Pretty in Pink
Other: Pink gingham ribbon, dimensionals, Slumber Party series paper (retired), Cuttlebug folder (can't remember the name of this one), blender pens, embossing pen, UTEE, markers

I hope that everyone who celebrates easter (and let's face it, even those whose religion doesn't celebrate it, the Easter Bunny got them involved too) has a WONDERFUL and BLESSED Holiday!

Hummingbird

I'm SOOOO ready for Spring! Oh, that's right, today is the FIRST DAY OF SPRING!! WOO HOO!!! Just in time for a winter storm warning for my local area. We may be getting 4-7 inches of snow. Yippee.

Please, can someone send us some heat and sunshine to the Midwest?! I'd be most appreciative. ; )

Okay, here's the card I did today to give me that Springtime feeling:

images (c) Stampin' Up!, 1990-2008

I played around with a new technique on this one, but the pic doesn't show it really well... it's called "magic pattern" becuase of the background pattern under the images. Can you see it on there? In person you can, anyway. I had to dig up my watercolor crayons for this one and I was thrilled because I hadn't used them in a long time and let's face it, they cost me big bucks. I also was able to use the distressing tool I purchased which I also don't use often, AND I used that Sweet Shop extremely-wide ribbon that I had sitting around for what seems like forever, so this card became a win-win-win situation for me!! After distressing the edges, I went direct-to-paper with my Apricot Appeal inkpad to highlight the distressed edges for a cleaner, more dimensional look. And by using some fresh springy colors and a bright theme of hummingbirds and flowers, I conjured up enough perkiness to move onto making some Easter cards fo rmy family after posting this. Now, back to my workstation!

Sets: Pretty Amazing, Time Well Spent

Colors: Lavender Lace, Apricot Appeal, Celery

Other: Watercolor crayons, aquapainter, clear embossing powder, heat tool, Versamark, Sweet Shop series ribbon (SU!), distressing tool.

In Memorium

While I was on my trip in Mexico, my grandmother passed away. She was a truly UNFORGETTABLE lady who was a free spirit who always looked at the world with rose-colored glasses, and who always made everyone around her laugh and smile. I was very close to her, and just because I want there to be something wonderful to remember her by and to share with you, here is a picture of her with my dad when he was young. This picture was probably taken around 1962:

Wrenolen Whitmore

March 16, 1923 - March 06, 2008

She was an amazing grandmother, a wonderful person, and her smile and laughter will forever be in my heart.

I just had to share this pic becuase she was a beautiful woman even into her elderly years, and I plan on making an album once I get some more pics from my sister. This will truly be a project of love.

Goodbye, Grandma, I'll miss you terribly, but I look forward to seeing you on the other side. God Bless~

Stamping Tomorrow!

Okay, so I'm working today and can't stamp, but tomorrow is my day to catch up! YAY!! My poor stamps are thirsting for ink and my cardstock is wondering where I've been. I can't let them down now, can I? ; )

Oh, and I will probably have a few pictures from my trip to Mexico to share with you all, but I won't post them unless I know someone wants to see them, so if you do, let me know by saying so in a comment - then I won't let YOU down!

Another Random Thought: Does anyone here ever feel the pressure involved in having your blog linked to the "Top 50" site? I swear, I was down to 172 at one time, and I've dwindled so far it's pretty sad. I wonder if it's even worth having it on there at all some days... what do you think about that whole rating thing? Does it really say how non-valuable a site is, or is it just saying how "popular" you are? Honestly, it tortures me some days and other days I just say "who cares anyway." Okay, I'm rambling, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter, too...perhaps I'm not alone in my neurotic thinkings.....

Until tomorrow, HUGZ~

PS - saw a card on Running With Scissors today that I just LOVED, so if you don't already visit there, here's a link to her blog and the card I'm talking about. This hopefully will make up for my sad lack of pics lately. Enjoy: Roses on Wood Card

New Appreciation for Scrapping/Journaling

Yep, I've proved to myself how important scrapbooking and journaling are to preserving memories!

I am guilty of being one of those people with the best of intentions regarding scrapping: I have tons of digital pictures, but haven't sat down in a few years to put them in my books. However, there was a time when I was doing it. It seems like forever ago.

Anyway, I recently dug up my daughters's old album that I used to work so hard on back in the day, because I needed to see pages from her baptism for an upcoming school project of hers. Well, of course I had to look through the entire book of what I had done while I had it out *wink*. Well, I was amazed at how much I appreciated all the stuff I had written down! Honestly, the things captured in that book are so valuable, and I would never remember those little details now that time has passed. By reading my writings, I was able to be back in that moment and found myself several times saying "Oh yeah, that's right! I forgot about that!"

Sadly it means that all the catching up I have to do will be void of those precious moments, but I will do my best to remember what I can while I still can remember things.... but it seriously kicked me in the butt to get going on current pages and events, because those memories are precious, even just 3-4 years later.

SO, even if my demoship caves in the next 5 months or I stop having money to buy supplies for a while (and let's face it, I have enough stuff to last me 3-4 years at least!), I have a new motivation to scrap again, and to keep my memories alive. I only hope that I get moving and stick with it, because I realize now more than ever how important pictures are to me.

How about you?