Picnic Anyone?

As you can see, my thoughts are turning toward Spring.  It's kinda hard not to as we are at 61 degrees and the wind is whipping and there is a possibility of severe thunderstorms predicted for the Tennessee Valley today!  I know you didn't visit for a weather forecast but it's definitely on my mind this morning.    I am so ready for Spring; but deep down inside, I know Winter isn't finished with us just yet!  Mother Nature is a tease!

I want to share a little card I finished a couple of days ago...the image is a Sarah Kay image that I just love and this little girl so reminds me of warm weather.  I colored her with distress inks and mounted her onto papers out of my stash.  I used a Martha Stewart Punch for the border and then quickly covered it with the image and the flowers.  I don't know why I do that when I do so love the look of the borders, but it just seems to happen.  My flowers are from Wild Orchid and I love them.  They are so easy to color to match your card...I always buy white and then color them with distress inks.   The leaves are also from Wild Orchid and I used shimmer paint to add a little hi-light to them.  I wasn't sure if I liked the look or not, but I think I do.  What do you think?  I hope you like her.

Well I am off for another cup of coffee and some visits to other blogs.  I hope your day is a good one and remember to spend a little time just for you!

Little Sitting Lady.....

Good morning everyone.  I hope you are getting along well.  I've been dealing with a little stomach bug for the last couple of days and just have not been productive at all.  Today the sun is shining outside my window and the temps are supposed to be in the upper 60's....what's not to love about this!

This morning I want to share with you a  card I made with one of the images I have been playing with practicing my coloring.  She is stamped on watercolor paper and colored with Ranger Distress Inks.  This card is pretty clean and simple...not too much fussy.  I just really wanted to let my image be the focal point on this card.  The little butterfly is from some digitals I purchased years ago and it was printed onto parchment paper and I sponged the backside with more distress inks.  A little piece of paper from my stash and a little piece of lace and she is ready to go. I just now noticed that I have the designer paper layer off just a tad...my lighting was pretty bad this morning and I just totally missed it.  So Sorry....but this blog is about  my journey, good or bad, straight or crooked, ups and downs.   So have a wonderful weekend and I hope you take just a little time just for you. 

WOYWW 90

Well ladies....it's Wednesday again and time for WOYWW! (What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday)   It seems like only yesterday that we were doing this, but I guess it was really last week.  Time flies when you are having fun.  Now if you are not familiar with what this is, you need to go on over to Julia's Blog stamping-ground.blogspot.com  and check it out.  Every Wednesday everyone takes a picture of their workdesk and posts it on their blog.  Then you can visit these blogs and see what everyone has going on.  You get to be nosey and look around and see that you are not alone and there are many more just like you out there!  Every week I try to see how many of the blogs I can visit and I try to leave a short message for them.  Sometimes I just can't make it through them all, but I do love trying.  There is a world of talent out there and this gives you some insight as to what others are doing!  You have to love it!



Actually, not too messy this week.  I've been playing a lot and most of my creations have gone in the trash.  The purple blobs in the center of my workdesk are a couple of acetate butterflies that I have been trying.  I love the look of these.....but not mine!  I went through about 4 sheets of acetate and not one butterfly that I felt like I would be proud to use.  So I guess these are not in my future!  I've also been playing around with Perfect Pearls ... trying it on leaves with paint and I'm not too happy with that either.  So then I just decided to practice my coloring.  I went to Big Lots yesterday and all I purchased out of that huge store were two little spools of ribbon.  They reminded me of Spring....one is pink and the other is a pale purple.  The paint is out because I've ordered some Pearl Ex and want to experiment with some different colors and make my own version of glimmer mist.  I go through a ton of that stuff and if I could make my own it would be so much better for me.  Next on my agenda is some spray bottles.  I don't have a clue where to purchase them.

Well ladies that is it for me today!  If you visit, please leave me a comment.  I love hearing from you....now I'm off to visit the other ladies and see their desks!

Grace.....

                     

I just love this image of Grace Standing from Sugar Nellie!  You will be seeing a lot of her in the coming weeks!  She is colored with Distress Inks and then I used Basic Gray papers from the Cappella collection to make the background.  A Martha Stewart Punch was used to make the lace, Wild Orchid Crafts flowers, jazzed up with a little ink and some glitter and then some distressed seam binding to make the bow.  Pretty straight forward...except for choosing which papers I wanted to use.  I seem to go at this backward....Instead of choosing my papers first and then coloring the image, I color the image and start tearing apart my cabinet to find just the right paper.  I'm thinking I will try it the other way for a change.  I never worked with papers much because I just didn't have them.  I'm beginning to have several pads with beautiful papers and I can't just hoard them; they need to be used! 

Yesterday was my Grandson's Birthday....he turned 13.  I can hardly believe it.  It seems like only yesterday that I was at the hospital waiting for him to arrive.  We were able to go have dinner with them and share the excitement...he got a new phone and was so excited!  I'm sharing a picture of him and my Sister the Enabler....

Can you tell....he thinks she is just too cool!  She is the "Cool Aunt Donna".  She gets pulled into his plots all the time.  He will remember her always!  We had so much fun and totally enjoyed being with everyone!  Happy Birthday Spencer!  The other young man in the photo is Chandler, another Grandson.  Chandler is my daughter's step-son and at 14 is quite the young man. 

Ok that about does it for me today.  I hope you have a wonderful Monday and remember wherever you are, whatever you are doing, take a little time for you and Breathe!

Sorry I'm Late Today.....

One of my blogger buddies sent me this little h'Anglar all stamped and ready to be colored.  I just love this image and wish these were more readily available in the States.  I colored this with Ranger Distress Inks and then added the layers.  The sentiment is  homemade just typed on my computer and printed.  The flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and I colored them some and spritzed with Glimmer Mist.  I took the wires these flowers were mounted onto and curled them to add a little bit more texture to the card.  The corners are from Cuttlebug.  I meant to have this little baby ready to go first thing this morning......Niki got in the way.  She is our Pug and she is 11.  Now at 2 AM Niki was getting kinda hot so she proceeded to let EVERYONE know she was uncomfortable.  Well you know me, once awake, it's all over for me.  So I spent a couple of hours surfing the Net and then laid back down about 5 AM.  So when I should have been posting this I was sound asleep. Sorry about that.  I hope you enjoy this, I really love these images and they are very easy to color using the Distress inks. 

Have a great weekend and remember to take a little time each day and Just Breathe!

WOYWW 89

Well I have to admit that a few days ago, I spent 2 hours just putting things back where they belong and dusting and cleaning windows, etc., etc.  So no I do not have too much of a mess, but you can see some evidence of pushing back as I work on some images for future cards.    I love the push back system.....I just keep pushing until it falls off the back of my area and then you hear these swear words under my breath as I huff and puff to get down on all fours and retrieve them.  I can still get "Down" just fine.....it's the getting "Up" that is a killer for me. 

Ok now you have seen my secret.....I'm a closet mess-a-holic!  This is the area directly beside my chair and you can see some of my stuff.  My Score Tape, Scissors, various tools, my box that has cut up images ready to color along with a little bucket of sponges.  My paper cutter and of course my Scor-Pal!  You can also see my computer tower there with the cord coming out  for my camera.  Now I don't show this to just everyone, but since we are becoming friends.....well now you know!
So if you are wondering what all this madness is about, you need to go visit Julia Dunnit.  She is the lady who created this monster, but I have to tell you, I just love it.  You get to have a little look around other people's workspace and see how they do it!  Why don't you join the fun.....have a look around and maybe you might want to be a part of this madness!

This Little Number.....

As many of you know I entered the Spellbinders Design Team contest and made it through Round #1.  I was so pleased I almost peed my pants!  This is what did it for me.....  I know it is way past Christmas but I wanted you to see this little number.  I'm really proud of this ornament and it will be on my tree forevermore!

Then Round #2 came along and I stubbed my toe!  I froze up.....I screamed, ranted and raved but to no avail.....I even whined a little.....I just don't have a flair for scrapbooking.  So sadly I didn't make it through.    It's ok though I'm going to be ok.....and maybe, just maybe I'll pay a little more attention to scrapbookers!  I can't wait to see who winds up on the Design Team.  I'll know they will be wonderful!  Maybe next year!

Such a Sweet and Treasured Award!

Over the past year or so I have been privileged to make many new blogger friends.  On of the most recent friends is  Selma Stevenson.  I found her through Joan's Gardens....Selma designs for Joan and Heartfelt Creations.  Selma's designs speak to me in that she loves working with flowers...and she has such a way with the color purple!  You should see some of her creations!  They just make my mouth water.    Well Selma has blessed me with the following award.....

This is so sweet and thoughtful and it really makes me proud!  I will be posting this on my sidebar later today.
Here are the Rules of Award Acceptance:

• Right-click on the award and save it to your desktop for use when you add it to your blog.

• Choose FIVE (5) worthy recipients and list them. Next to their blog name, give ONE reason why you think their blog is special. What catches your eye about them? What do you love?

• On your blog page, list 5 things about yourself. Include at least one thing you enjoy about your craft.

Now, which ones do I choose?  Such a hard thing to do!  I visit many blogs each day and see so much beauty and talent that choosing only five will be truly difficult!

Patty Chapman...patty-inkitup.blogspot.com  Patty does some drop dead gorgeous coloring.  Each and every creation is a work of art.  And this girl can really crank them out!  Some days she will post 2-3 cards.

Linda Weber... scrappingheaven.blogspot.com  Linda lives in Wisconsin.....this alone should win her an award.  This lady lives with feet of snow, not inches .   Linda makes some beautiful cards and she too is a great colorer.  She is also sharing things about her life in Wisconsin with me.  Linda is definitely not a Sissy!

Starla Nelson...sn-exploringcreativity.blogspot.com  Starla lives in California.....no snow in her life these days!  She can work miracles with a little piece of metal and incorporates these little pieces of art into all kinds of lovely projects!

Sylvia...I just realized I don't know her last name!  littletreasures-sylvia.blogspot.com  Sylvia lives in Iowa and is making some beautiful cards and other little treasures, just like the name of her blog!

2 kids, 2 dogs, 2 cars, 2.....tired  I visit this blog each and every morning and can't wait until she posts again.  She doesn't manage to post daily, but she definitely has a sense of humor .....or maybe it is just the frustration speaking.  She is raising two sons in Manitoba, Canada with a husband who is military.  If you want to talk snow and isolation just speak to her!  I love, love, love reading about her adventures!

Now some things about me.  

1.  I'm about to retire this year....Actually I'm unemployed for a year and just praying that the money doesn't  run out before I can retire. 

2.  I am a wife, a mother, and a grandmother and love every minute of it.  (4 grandsons)

3.  I love to craft....mostly making cards.  Everything just sort of got out of hand and before you know it, I'm Up to my ears in cards.  Most of them go to the Nursing Home so the patients can have a card to give to
someone who does a kindness for them.

4.  I make "fussy" cards.  I can't help it.....I love adding all the little details that make a card special.  Mostly I love working with flowers and making my own.  This can get a little messy and can overtake my space quickly but I just don't care.  I love having ink on my fingers and little pieces of paper in my hair!

5.  I'm old enough to know better!  Enough said!

Joan's Gardens Card Challenge #7

Good morning everyone!  It's Friday and the weekend is just ahead!  This morning I want to share a card I did for the weekly challenge over at Joan's Gardens.  Visit Joan for all the details and then make your card according to the following guidelines:
• Use designer paper for your background
• Use no other stamping except for a sentiment and frame (such as a JustRite Stamp)
• Use all the embellishments you would like to use
• Use some kind of dimension on the card (such as a flower

I always find these cards the easiest kind to make so 1....2....3....4... and done!

Have a great weekend and whatever you are doing take a little time just for you!

Supplies:

Mariposa Paper
Spellbinders Dies
Flourishes Stamps
Ranger Distress Inks
Folk Art Paint
Ranger distress Inks

Tag Making....

                         

I have never been very big on tag making; mostly because I was never sure what to do with them.  Now I realize you can do whatever the Heck you want to do with them!  They are great to hang on the outside of a pretty gift bag; you can tuck them down into a gift bag or they can be the gift themselves.  Pretty great things to have around.  Over at Joan's Gardens you can find a tag challenge every week.  This week is #7.  The idea is to make ahead some tags to put back and have on hand for the whole year.  Now I just think this is a wonderful idea and I have had such fun playing along.  Slide on over to Joan's to check out the rules and specifics and play along yourself. 

For my tag this week I started with a Spellbinders Grand Caliber Die (Labels One).  I used the smallest die and cut it out of watercolor card stock because it is thicker than regular card stock.   Then I took a regular sheet of printer paper....nothing special.... and sprayed with homemade color spray using Ranger Distress Inks Tumbled Glass and Glimmer Mist in Iridescent Gold.  You spray quite heavily and then scrunch up the paper into a tight ball; then unfold and let it dry.  The mica in the Glimmer Mist settles into the wrinkles as it dries and makes such pretty textured paper.  Once dry I added some Dusty Concord Distress Ink with a sponge over the top of the wrinkles.  My flowers are all from Wild Orchid Crafts except for the one directly under the metal piece ... I made that one.  I started with white flowers and sprayed them with a mix of Dusty Concord Ink, water and Perfect Pearls.  The two pink roses were a mushroom color & off white and I just sprayed them with Glimmer Mist.  My butterflies are Spellbinders Dies (I cut two) and while they were still in the die I used  shimmery acrylic paint and put it on pretty heavy; then I popped it out and let it dry.  The bottom butterfly was then sprayed with some of the Dusty Concord spray and I added pearls to the top one.   My word, celebrate, is from a stamp set given to me as a gift (sorry, I cannot remember the company) and it is mounted into a Tim Holtz  piece.  Oh and I almost forgot a few feathers ... just because!  I just love the paper and it's a lot more durable than the tissue paper I have used in the past.  I think this would be a wonderful covering for a book or an altered piece of some sort!  Well that is about it for me.  I'm sorry to be so long winded but I wanted to share the supplies I used and how the look was achieved. 

I hope you have a great day.  It's snowing here again; they are predicting about 1 1/2 to 2" this round then a warm up back into the 60's.  We will take it!!

WOYWW 88

So if you are wondering why I show you a picture of my desk every Wednesday, today is the day for you to visit Miss Julia at Stamping Ground   and check out what this is all about.  This day allows you to visit many blogs from all over and see what is going on.  You can see lots of creativity, lots of storage ideas and also some creative messiness (Is that a word?)  It also lets you just be the snoop you are!  Most of these ladies are from the UK and it is so wonderful to see they are just as messy as we are here in the states! 

Not a lot going on here again I'm afraid.  I'm between projects and just finishing up some Valentine's Day cards for the Grandsons.  Doing a little coloring with my distress inks and just puttering in general.  It's really hard to stay motivated when it's dark and gloomy outside.  I am so ready for Spring....so what if I have to mow every other day!  So what if everything needs to be scrubbed down and shined up.....that's when I get motivated to make cards....when there are so many things on my To-Do List and not a minute to spare....that's when I REALLY want to craft!

Well this is it for me today...Have a wonderful Wednesday and as always.....Remember to Breathe!

Birthday Card....

Well ladies, it is Monday Morning again and I hope you had a wonderful weekend!  This morning I want to share my card with you that I will be entering in Joan's Gardens Weekly Challenge #5.  You can follow this link to see all the specifics on this challenge and maybe you would like to play along.  Joan has a wonderful shop there too and she is definitely a class act!  Everything you order ships quickly and arrives in pristine condition.  She most definitely loves what she does.  So go check it out!  Here are the guidelines for this week's challenge:

1. Use Coral/pink and Green for your colors
2. A Birthday Sentiment
3. Vintage Paper
4. Handmade or Punch flower

Last week I received from Joan, the new Graphics 45 Once Upon a Springtime paper and decided this was just calling  my name.  This card has been a little difficult for me....I started it on Friday and played a little here and a little there until I finally finished it yesterday.  I don't normally spend this kind of time on a card, but there was a lot of cutting and taping and stamping....etc. 

The fairies and rabbits on the front and inside of the card were fussy cut and then I added Crystal Lacquer to add dimension.  The Fairy on the front doesn't show up the crystal lacquer.  That has to do with my poor picture taking.  I made the flower using the Spellbinders Dahlia die.  I distressed the edges and sprayed with Glimmer Mist.  Oh and did you notice.....The sentiment die cut and the stamen were edged in gold leafing pen.  All these little extras just took some time....I think that is why I'm whining that it took so long.  Everything has to dry and when you finally get all your elements finished everything comes together fairly quickly!  I always need a birthday card and this one will be going into my stash.

Supplies:
Spellbinders Dies
Graphics 45 Papers
Gina K Design Card Stock
Sentiment...Honestly cannot remember the Co.
3-D Crystal Lacquer
Glue Dots
Gold Leafing Pen
Score Tape
Ribbon (Stash)

Another Tag....

Another week.....another tag....and my stash of tags for gift giving is growing!  Each week for the first six months of this year Joan over at Joan's Gardens is hosting  a Tag Challenge.  I have been trying to play along each week to fill up my box with tags and my goodness it is working!  You can go to Joan's and check out the details.

I started with a plain white tag and used Ranger Distress Inks to color it.  Next I used a freebie from Hero Arts Digital (Friends).  I printed it on regular typing paper and scrunched it up and distressed it and glued it onto my tag.  Next layer was some of the seam binding that I distressed which I glued to the top of the tag just to accent it.  Next came my homemade flower.  I saw the instructions for this flower on YouTube; a video by Craftbrulee.  I fell in love with these and decided to make my own and add my own little bit of me to it.  I started out with the Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die and cut the petals out of plain white card stock.  Then I stamped them with a word stamp and then I Distressed them and sprayed with Glimmer Mist.  My corner is from Heartfelt Creations Perfect Petals Dies.  I hope you enjoy this one!

Well that's it for me today....I've got lots to do....you know...the Suzy Homemaker Stuff!  Its cold here, but we didn't get snow.  For once you will not be hearing me whine because we didn't get snow!  This latest storm was a terrible one and so many people involved; I'm grateful to be living in the South this time!

Have a wonderful day and remember, no matter what you are doing, take time to breathe!

WOYWW 87

Good morning everyone.  In case you lost track...it's Wednesday and time to play along with What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday!  If you are curious about this, go on over to Stamping Ground and have a little look around and see what all my excitement is about!  Being the busy body that I am, I just love playing along with this.  You get a little look into the lives of so many crafters and each week it just keeps growing.  This creative lady has created a monster and I am happy to have become one of many bloggers who participate each Wednesday!

As you can see there is not a lot going on here this week.  Just an image or two that I have been working on for Valentine's Day, some of the flowers I received from Wild Orchid Crafts, some seam binding that I am distressing with some Glimmer Mist and Distress Inks, my new paper pack from Graphic 45 that I won from Joan's Gardens weekly card challenge.  Also the little plastic box at the back of the picture holds my Distress Inks that I use for coloring. 

And this is my new Baby!  And can I just say I love, love, love it!  My sister gave me a gift card for my birthday back in November  and I purchased this little number.  Since I love Spellbinders this is fast becoming my mostest favorite addition.  Of course, I'm having to purchase the dies one at a time, but they are beginning to come.  Can't wait to get them!  Since I have been unemployed, everyone in my family gives me money or gift cards for each special day and then I can purchase more crafting goodies.  I really love this idea as I can get many things I wouldn't ordinarily be able to have.  My husband has also done his share of this giving too!  I also try to purchase one or two things each month on my own.  This month it was the flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts!

Well that is about it for me this week!  Now I just have to go snoop around a little!