Ombre Pretty Posies

I am always so behind!   I am finally posting my Two Paper Divas card for the week.   With Laila's party and crazy tantrums last week I have just gotten behind and lost track of time.   I finally sat down for a bit this afternoon with these two great stamps, Pretty Posies and Love With Your Heart,  and my new Hero Arts ombre ink pad.  Isn't that a fun look?  I love the flowers!   I need to work on using the ink pad a bit more, but it was so fun and I love the results.  I wanted the flowers to really pop, so I left the rest of the card very simple with lots of white space.

Here's the banner I made for Laila using my new Banner Punch Board.  It was pretty easy thanks to that, some framelit dies, and my Cameo!  :)  

She had the best day and I'm so thankful that we had a few friends over to enjoy it with us.  She played and played.  She was so worn out that she didn't even wake up during the thunderstorms last night.

Spectrum for SPARKS

A few weeks back I won a gift certificate to the Paper Smooches store and I was dying to use my new stamps!   I just love this little unicorn so much!    The current Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge is an anything goes on, so I'll be entering this for that.   I love all the neutrals/white with that pop of rainbow colors.  So much fun!!!!

One of my Instagram friends commented on how much she loved that stamp, so I'm excited to send this card off to her.   Crafty friends are so much fun!  I just have to find my stamps which I seem to have lost or put in a very safe place.   

MFT Summer School Lesson 1

Did you go to Summer School?    MFT had a great little cardmaking school on their blog last week and I managed to make a few cards from the lessons.   This post is sharing my homework for the Rule of Thirds that Kimberly taught.   I made a grid on some vellum just like she did and I know it is going to be so helpful in my stamping!   Be sure you go check out her awesome video.  :)

My friend sent us a Super Why costumer that her little boy wore for a previous Halloween.  Laila is so excited about it.  It's her favorite show and of course we are having Super Why decorations at her party this weekend.   :)

Freshly Made Flower

Trying to get my head back in the game!   Today I am rejoining my lovely ladies at Freshly Made Sketches for our new sketch.   It's a great one from my friend Jen M.   She's a master of clean-and-simple and inspires me to embrace the white space! I used some new goodies from Ellen Hutson for my card.  I an in love with that flower die!

There are a lot of great interpretations of "any shape" on the design team and I just know we will get lots of creative entries!

She really liked this one. :)   She wouldn't give it back!

Let Freedom Ring for TPD

Can you believe it's almost July??   I wanted to use this awesome Let Freedom Ring set from Two Paper Divas again before the holiday came and went.  I kept it simple with a lot of white because I feel that patriotic cards can become busy and bright with too much red and blue.   I added in a bit of the gray from the patterned paper with a star stencil to tie it all together.   The Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge starts tomorrow, but I used the sneak peak they posted on Facebook for my card.  I'll come back and update my post tomorrow with the sketch.

Sorry for the lack of posts this week.  Today was the first day I went in my room since last Saturday.  I have hit a pretty big down spot and mostly just want to stay in bed.  Of course I can't do that with Laila, so I do have to get up and at least try to function.   I did good today; I stamped two cards and left the house.   In times like this, that's a huge accomplishment.  I am hoping this bad week passes and life becomes more normal.   I have always had issues with depression, but adding PMDD on top of it has just broken me.  I had PPD after I had Eli, but it wasn't anything like this.   Some days I don't even know myself for a week or two every month.  How sad is that?  Anyway....

My friend gave us some old dress-up clothes a while back and this week was perfect to get them out.   The rain kept us inside and my mood wasn't up to a lot of intense playing.   She had such a blast putting on these things and pretending to be different things.  I wish I'd gotten her some for her birthday.   I can't believe she will be 3 in a week!  So crazy!

Sketch Saturday Birthday

I haven't been in much of a stamping mood the past few days, but I am glad to have a few cards to post from last week's stamping sessions.   :)   I loved the sketch at Sketch Saturday, so I managed to make a card for it before I stopped stamping.   I used the June Simon Says Stamp card kit.  I just love the bright, happy colors!   It's a pretty simple card, but I think it will make someone's birthday a bit happier.

Now I'm off to wait on this tropical storm we have blowing through today.  I hope it doesn't get too bad.   Jason took extra clothes in case he gets stuck at work and I've been trying to talk to Laila about it.  I just hope everyone who recently experienced flooding aren't looking at a repeat of that.  Scary stuff.  

Stampin' Up! Duo

I've been so bad about blogging lately.  It seems impossible while Laila is awake and then by the time she's in bed, I'm either stamping or reading.   I will try to be a bit better.  I have quite a few cards I haven't posted, so I do have stuff to show you!   Today I'm sharing two of the cards we made at my last club meeting.   I taught them how to make the watercolored backgrounds using stencils.  I just love Crumb Cake and red!

One of my ladies wanted to use the tag topper punches, so we made this card to practice that.   I think I sold several of the butterfly sets after people saw how pretty it was.  :)   It's a great set even without the framelits! 

Time to run!  It's the nightly pajama/toothbrush battle. lol   We are supposed to be getting some bad weather tonight and in the morning, so it might be a long night.   My goal is to get everyone, including myself, in bed early so we can get some rest.  If the thunder starts, I'll be in her room most of the night.  Poor dear is so scared.  :( I have my fingers crossed that it somehow misses us! 

Creepy Crawly Halloween 2

Last week I showed you this Creepy Crawly Halloween stamp as a gift tag and today and I wanted to share a matching card. As before, I used some stamps from Wicked Wear Accessories to add a little more fright to it.  :)   I really love the fonts on this stamp, so I know it will be used a lot.   If you haven't checked out all the new releases at Two Paper Divas, be sure to go do that.  There's so much to see and love!  

I'm enjoying making watercolor backgrounds with distress inks and stencils and I did another one here.  The stencil is subtle, but I think you can see some of the circles here and there.  For fun, I added a little paper fringe I cut to my tag.   It took me a while to make this as there were lots of parts that had to dry before I could move on to the next step, but I think it was worth it.

Laila had to go to the doctor this week and afterwards we went to Target.  She asked to go look at clothes and then picked out this cute dress.  I loved it too, so I had to get it for her. It should be super cool and comfy for summer.   I hope you are having a great weekend!  Enjoy your Sunday!  I'm about to go into party planning mode for Laila's birthday.  I can't believe it's two weeks away!   Crazy.

FMS Celebrate with Leaves

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches! Yay!   The oh-so-fabulous Amy is our hostess this week.  She always makes the most amazing cards, so be sure you're following her blog.  :)   I had a few ideas for the sketch this week but they didn't seem to turn out like the ones in my head.  I finally decided on some woodgrain as that usually makes me happy to work with.   I used a retired Stampin' Up! set called Wonderfall that I just love.   I think this is a perfect masculine card!

So many things you can do with this one.  I got oval stuck in my head for a bit, but remember you don't have to use one.  You can use whatever shape works for you.  In my case, it was some leaves.  :)

I had to laugh this morning.  This was one of my On This Day memories on Facebook.  I think I've come a long way in the past 5 years of stamping.   It's funny to look back and see some of your early cards.  I'm off to get ready to take Miss Laila to the doctor.  She woke up being difficult today, so it should be a super fun time.  Sigh. 

Halloween for Two Paper Divas

Dude!  How did it get to be 9pm already?!    Today has been one of those days. So busy and so much to do.   I've been in my stamp room working all evening getting ready for my class tomorrow.  I also made this cute project to show off the new release at Two Paper Divas.   It's weird to be using Halloween stamps in the hot, humid weather we are having now.   Any excuse to eat gummy worms works for me though!  Ha!     I made a little tag with Creepy Crawly Halloween stamp and added a few spiders from Wicked Wear Accessories.  Cute, huh?   I wish I'd had some different bags to put my treats in or an actual topper die, but I tried.  Just focus on the tag.  ;)

Now I'm off to relax.  I worked until I got a headache and I'm calling today DONE! Have a great rest of the weekend.

Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

My second post is for the Summer Coffee Lovers Blog Hop that's going on today!  I love the awesome group of crafters who also love coffee and coffee stamps!   I used a fun new set from Create a Smile and a sentiment from My Favorite Things.   I used my distress inks and a stencil to make another watercolor background.  I thought it might be a fun backdrop  for my little cup.  

Now I'm off to work on projects for a class I'm holding this weekend.   So much stamping, so little time!  lol  

My girl had her first lollipop today and if you can't tell, she loved it!   I found some dye-free ones at the grocery store so now she can have an occasional treat.  :)   

Watercolor Blog Hop

One of two posts this evening!  There are two fun blog hops going on today and you don't want to miss those!  I made this one for the Watercolor Blog Hop hosted by Pretty Pink Posh.   I am not the best at watercoloring, but I had fun making my background with some distress inks and a stencil.   I kept the rest simple with a sentiment from Altenew and some sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.  :)



There are lots of great sponsors and amazing examples, so be sure to go check it out!

Watercolored Origami Map

Have you guys been joining Kathy in her second round of The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge?   This is what I made with my first day of coloring.   I think it's fabulous that she's encouraging everyone to take a bit of time, even 5 minutes, to sit down and color something each day this month.  It is so relaxing and good for the mind!  It's never too late to join in, so go check out her blog.  She has a lot of great video tutorials and cards too!

I decided to ink up one of those stamp sets that I HAD TO HAVE OR I WOULD DIE that was sitting unused.   It's Origami Map from Neat & Tangled.  I love it!   It's super fun and you can use it with a lot of techniques.

This is my child and my cat fighting over an empty box.   So crazy! Why do I even buy toys????

Hello for Coffee

It's Wednesday, so time to share a Freshly Made Sketches card.   I had a rough week last week and missed out on playing, so I worked on my card early this week so that I was sure to play along.   I love my fellow members over there and they have to be nice to put up with me lately.  I'm such a mess and should totally be kicked to the curb.   Anyway.... Our sketch this week was designed by our amazing queen of layers, Narelle.

Isn't that fun?   I kinda flubbed it a little as I didn't look at it again before I made my card.  I think I'm close enough though, huh?   :)

I'm off to bed, so it's a short and sweet post tonight.   I just wanted to get it scheduled and not forget again.   Have a great rest of the week!

Masked Butterfly

I thought I'd share my third homework card for the Online Card Classes Mask-erade class.  I've always been afraid of masking, but I'm learning so much and actually trying it out!   I used a new stamp from Tim Holtz that I hadn't used yet, so yay for using neglected things again.  :)   I will definitely being this technique a lot as I really LOVE it.   I have several more days of homework to go, so I'm trying to get caught up before the class officially wraps up on Friday.  

She's reminding me that she wants strawberry cake on her birthday.  lol    I think I'd be in big trouble if I didn't make that happen.  She seems set on it!

Masked Flowers for OCC

I thought I'd share another card I did for the Online Card Classes Mask-erade class.   I don't have all the recommended supplies yet, so I have been trying to improvise so I can try the techniques.   I dug out an old Stampin' Up! set that I don't even know the name of to do this one.   I needed some little flowers and vines and it seemed to work.   I used Pool Party, Island Indigo, and Pear Pizzazz.   I hate that giant sequin, but it's covering up a mistake.  Sad face.   I did learn a lot making this, so hopefully the next one is even better!

Don't you just love that look on her face?  lol   So mischievous!  I ended up a bit wet after trip outside to play.   I guess it's fun to squirt your mom.  I can't believe she'll be 3 this month!   I am not doing a big party or anything this year since we don't have a lot of friends and family near us, so I am trying to think of something fun to do.   We did buy her a little bounce house for the backyard, so I'm guessing she'll be jumping most of the day.  Oh, and eating strawberry cake.  She's told me several times now that she wants strawberry cake.   I'll be looking on Pinterest for that I guess!