Simple Snowman

 Hi friends!  Can you believe that December is almost over?? Wow. Sorry I missed you for Christmas. December is such a busy month here.  Jason's birthday is the 18th, mine is the 19th, and then we have Christmas... We didn't even do anything fancy, but it still kept us busy. I also fell off my bed, which I always forget is higher than I think, and busted up shoulder pretty good, so I had to take a break from pretty much everything. It's feeling some better now and I go to my first day of physical therapy tomorrow. I'm hoping that won't be an extended thing since it has already been so long since the fall anyway. And... I did this. 

I was just so lost after losing my Bella the day before Halloween. I went to the pet store and my eye caught this sweet boy and the rest is history. He is a snuggle bug who loves my lap.  I adore him. He's 8 months old and the best. We'll see how he does at the vet today for his checkup. :)

Now on to the card. Blogger was giving me issues with trying to upload pictures so today I ended up downloading a new browser and was able to do it. This card using the MFT snowman that I love. I want to enter it in the Splitcoast Stampers clean and simple challenge, the Papercraft Challenges snowflake challenge, and the MFT Color Challenge. 

I'm off to finish my coffee and shower before we head to our vet. Have a wonder last two days of the year. 

Rita

Deck the Carrots?

 Hi all! Can you believe it's December? Wow. I am not in a holiday mood at all, but I'm trying. The weather did get a bit chilly here last week which helps. :) Anyway, I had purchased this cute House Mouse stamp a while back and hadn't inked it up yet. I thought it would be fun color. I wanted to enter it in the House Mouse & Friends Monday challenge. I did the optional sparkle on my carrots with Wink of Stella, but as usual, Stella is camera shy. :)

I hope you are doing well. We are still in the "finding the right medication" and therapy stage here. Parenting is hard man. I feel like we've been in this stage for years. We have a good psychiatrist this time, so fingers crossed. I'm trying not to let all our troubles ruin the holidays, but man. Holidays, plus homeschooling, but constant battles... I'm tired. Thank goodness for creative time. I also started volunteering in the butterfly garden at our arboretum. Weeding is great therapy, too. 

Take care and be sure not to overwhelm yourself with the holiday planning. 

Dumpster Fire 2020

Hi friends! I have been stamping away this month, but I am so behind on posting!!  I have made a card every day this month thanks to the support of awesome friends. It's so nice to have someone to chat with as you stamp. :) I got this cute? dumpster fire stamp set from Kindred Stamps and it seemed pretty appropriate for this year. Whew. lol I was thinking about even making some Christmas cards with it. Stay tuned for that. Can you believe it's December?? Yikes. 

It's still warm here in Texas, so we're seeing our lovely pollinators still yet. Last week I found this bee and it was lethargic and not moving. Laila and I gave it some water and it eventually perked up and flew. It was cool to be able to take some photos of it up close while it was so calm. It even walked on my hand for a bit as it gaining strength. 

I hope you all have a wonderful week and avoid any dumpster fires. Hugs. 

 

Distressed Fall Leaf

 

Tuesday! Whew. Today has been a long day. It feels like it should be Thursday by now. lol I wanted to share the first card I made this month. It uses an older set from Concord & 9th that I just love. I used distress oxides, embossing powder, and some distressing tools. It's always fun to do a clean and simple card with distress products. :)

I'm tired, so it's a quick post and run from me today. I am ready for pajamas and my book!  I hope you are having a great week!!!  

Rita 

Grinchmas Coffee

Hi friends! I just realized I totally forgot to post yesterday. I did stamp and have kept my streak so far. :) Yay! Yesterday I made this card for both a Splitcoast Falliday Fest challenge and the Coffee Lovers Fall and Winter blog hop. I got this cute set from The Sassy Club last year and totally forgot about it. I found it in my drawer this weekend might have squealed a bit. I am not a big Christmas person as I find it stressful and difficult emotionally. So Grinchy stamps are perfect. :) I made a little pocket inside for a gift card since the challenge was to make a gift card holder. 

Now I'm off to stamp a bit tonight. :) 
 

Fall Leaves

Back again! Don't faint. lol Thank you to those who have reached out. It's always nice to know someone is still following along with me. :) Do you have a favorite season? I LOVE autumn, but we don't really have one here in Texas. My husband ordered and planted a red maple in our backyard this month so that I could maybe have a little bit of the colors in the years to come. I thought that was so sweet. For now though, I enjoy the colors in my crafting. This card was done using a technique from the Falliday Fest challenges. You can find the directions here. 

The leaves are Lawn Fawn dies and I used a few colors of Distress Oxides. I don't have all of those, just one of each color really. It works though. 

My sweet girl. I sure do miss her a bunch. I thought they returned her to me so thoughtfully. I keep touching her urn every time I walk by. I've lived in Texas for 18 years and she was with me for all but 6 months of that. I just love cats and she was a special one. We have two others, but they aren't "my" cats if that makes sense. 

The Shining Moon

 

Hello strangers!  How is everyone?? Surviving COVID? Election? It's been crazy, right?  I know my mental health is in the crapper, so I made a deal with myself to try and stamp every day this month. I've made it so far! I've been doing the Falliday Fest challenges on Splitcoast along with a friend. It's good to have accountability, huh? This is the card I made for the challenge using a source of light. 

The tree die cut is Tim Holtz, the moon is Altenew, and the sentiment is from Neat & Tangled. It was simple, but my Facebook friends loved it. 

We're still just here. Laila's still a work in progress. We found a new psychiatrist and she seems to actually listen. Hopefully we can get her stabilized and happy. I had to stay goodbye to my 18 year old kitty last week so I've been struggling a lot with missing her. I got her ashes back today. 

Rainy Days

Hi friends! How are you? Still hanging in there here. Texas has opened back up a lot, but we are still staying home most of the time. We've visited a park and I made a quick trip to Target, but that's about it. I've been stamping a ton, but I haven't been good at posting them. I have been trying to mail them as I make them instead. I hope they bring a little cheer to the days of my friends.

Today's card is for the CAS challenge at Splitcoast. It was to use blues, so I grabbed my distress inks and made a rainy background. Kinda fun!

So that's it for me. I am off to fed the cats and the frogs, make some cocoa, and read for a bit. Have a peaceful Sunday.

MFT Double Challenge

Hi friends. How are you? Still hanging in there? We are, but some days it seems like we barely do. I have been stamping and mailing out cards, but blogging seems like a lot of work. I don't know why? Maybe it's just the extra time to edit a picture and then write up everything. Much easier to just mail it, right?  Anyway, today I played along with the MFT Color Challenge and their weekly Wednesday Sketch Challenge I hadn't used this cute set yet and thought it might be perfect.

Aren't those fun? I got as close to the colors as I could from my stash of supplies, so I hope I got close enough.

So life here seems the same most days. Laila did have some excitement this week. She got a new loft bed that she is LOVING. She went from a full bed to a twin, but she loves being up high. Plus that leaves room underneath for a future reading area. She also decided to become a hair butcher and cut off a big chunk of her hair in the front. She went from hair halfway down her back to up above her shoulders for now. She cut a patch almost down to the scalp in the main front, so we'll have to deal with that once it starts growing out. Crazy kid. I wasn't planning on going near a hair salon for a while but we had to get it fixed. It was awful because she cut it with kitchen shears.

So yeah, that's our fun. lol We are still doing school and trying to make that work without our library. It does open back up soon for pickups, so we shall be ready for that!

I'm off to read for a bit before bed. Take care.

Rita

Rainbow Unicorn

Hello friends. Just thought I'd drop in and share another card. One of my friends from high school sent me a little request for his daughters. They love unicorns, so I used this cute set from The Greeting Farm. I hope they like it. :) I try to keep stamping, but this past week hasn't been the best mentally for me and I haven't done as much. I thought I'd be okay with being home a lot, but I guess my short outings ALONE meant more than I knew. It's hard to find time to think and regroup when you don't get a second alone. But, I'm glad Jason's job is still going and we are all healthy. That's the two biggest worries and we are okay.

I hope you all are safe and healthy. I don't know how long this will go on, but we will make it.  I think. lol

Toilet Paper Troubles

So I made a couple cards that go along with all we are going through with this pandemic. I did edit this one as to not offend anyone. I thought toilet paper was a perfect stamp for the times. Thankfully we had been to Costco before all this started and were stocked up, but man! I haven't seen a roll of it on the store shelves in ages. Where is it all??  That, flour, and yeast seem to be impossible to find right now in my area. What's been the most difficult where you are?

Anyway, a friend gifted me this set from Unity a while back and I hadn't inked it up. I might have squealed when I found it in my stash last week. :) I'm hoping the friend I sent it to enjoys it and manages a laugh. I know she's a bit stressed.

I'm off to figure out what to make for dinner. I feel like all I do is cook, empty and fill the dishwasher, laundry, and visit my backyard. It's like that over and over all day. I guess it's time to start the cycle again today. I'll leave you with a skink I found in the yard. I love these guys but they keep scaring me to death.

Cat Selfie Smiles

Hello! How's everyone hanging in there? It's been a long few weeks, huh? I've been doing more stamping and reading, but not so much uploading and blogging I guess. Oops! I made this one for my sweet friend Valerie who I met in my undergrad days. She's one of my favorite people and a fellow cat lover. I'm trying to make cards for specific people with themes I know they'll like in hopes of bringing some joy and smiles. This is the cute My Favorite Things Picture Perfect set. This was my first time trying to color this one, so I tried to copy Barb. I always like going off an already colored image to get an idea of how to color the first time around.

We've been visiting smaller parks to get out and walk during the distancing. Jason spotted this cool guy on one of our outings. We saw a lot of snakes there too. Laila and I also found a copperhead on our porch one day and had someone come to remove it to a better spot for it and us. So much excitement. lol  For big news, on Monday my brother donated part of his liver to my dad. They are both doing well so far, especially considering my mom isn't able to be at the hospital babying them. It was a scary time for that to happen, but my dad's health was getting bad and he knew a liver transplant wasn't going to happen except for this way. My brother is scared to death even now, but he's brave.

That's about it for me. I'm heading off to read a bit and get more cards signed and ready to mail.

Hugs!
Rita

Be Awesome Today

Howdy friends. How are you? Are you handling this social distancing thing okay? I admit that it's been a struggle here. We don't go out a lot, but I guess I take for granted being able to run out to the store or a restaurant. Plus Laila just joined Girl Scouts this month and now all the activities have been canceled. She's so bummed about that. But, we're alive and we have food. And toilet paper. lol  I hope you are finding all you need and are staying healthy.

One good thing about being stuck inside on a rainy day today was time to clean my desk off and try to stamp. I FaceTimed with my friend Mindy and we had a nice time. I used the color combo from the week at Splitcoast and the sketch from MFT. 

 

I haven't stamped or even colored anything in months, so this was definitely a challenge. I tried though. I do want to make up some cards to give to the awesome folks who bring out my grocery order. I know they are working their butts off and not getting a lot of appreciation. I don't know what I'd do without them. I can't do crowds without panicking. They are truly lifesavers.

Big Hugs from Texas.