Freshly Made Sketches 371

Hello! We've made it to Wednesday! That means it's Freshly Made Sketches day. Jen M is our hostess this week. I think Jen likes square cards, which are my nemesis, but I made one. :) She kindly sent me some stitched square dies at one point, so I figured it was a great sketch to use them! I had pulled some Valentine's kinda stamps this week to play around with, so I used this cute cow from Avery Elle for my card.

I'm still not back to stamping as much as I'd like. Weight Watchers takes time since we are cooking more and then I'm also trying to declutter on top of that. My poor kitchen!!!  Laila's still having a ton of issues at school (already got a note today), so I'm already researching homeschool curriculum. Just so much going on. One day things will calm down, right? Maybe? 

I'm off to shower and then call and see if I need to pick Laila up or if I can go to the dentist as planned. Fun options, huh? lol I'm not sure which one sounds better. 

Keep on keeping on...  repeat, repeat, repeat

Rainbow Butterflies

Hi! Sorry it's been so long. Do rainbow butterflies make up for a long absence? lol I saw the challenge at As You Like It and it has two of my favorites as choices, rainbow or monochromatic. I chose rainbow because I need the hope right now, plus I love all things rainbow. Who doesn't love bright, fun colors? I used a butterfly set from Avery Elle and colored them twice so that I could layer them. Super fun.

This is Laila getting ready for school...or not. lol  She's been having a tough week. She is moving to a different school after Thanksgiving and I think she's having a hard time with the idea. She loves her teacher so much. She just can't keep it together in a normal classroom, so we are trying a small, behavior classroom before we give up on public school. We are at a loss on how to help her and it's been a very emotional time for us all.

Now I'm off to take down all the Halloween decorations and put up some leaves. lol Just a little behind.

Blah Bunny for a Friend

Are you feeling Monday??  Whew! I stayed up way too late reading, so I look like this bunny right now. lol I started a new book yesterday and I just couldn't sleep until I knew how it ended. Of course the ending wasn't so great, so I'm tired AND grumpy. I did manage to make a card today. Laila has a little space in my room now, so we both stamped and created today. I wanted to enter a few challenges which I have been so bad about doing. I've made cards for them, but never managed to get them posted.

Stamps: Blah Bunny and Blah Blah Blah by Honey Bee Stamps
Die: Wonky Stitched Rectangles by Avery Elle

Playing along with:

Paper Players

Creative with Stamps

2 Crafty Critter Crazies

Before I go, I'll share a picture of one of our Black Swallowtail caterpillars. We aren't seeing any Monarchs, but the swallowtails are keeping us busy. 

Have a great week!

Rita

Mixing it Up with Avery and Ellen

Entering the Ellen Hutson Mix It Up challenge at the last minute.  I came in to organize my desk last night and ended up playing around and making the image panel.  I used the Essentials by Ellen Bold Blooms and Avery Elle Butterflies and Wonky Stitched dies.  It's a happy card I think.  I haven't been in the best mood this week, so it was helpful to create with cheerful colors.  :) Now fingers crossed I get randomly picked for the prize as they have a new gardener lady stamp set that I NEED so bad. Because I don't have enough stamps already, right?

Laila had her five year checkup today.  Now did that happen???  Her doctor was even surprised that she was that old already.  She had gotten a lot taller since her four year.  She had quite a spurt in a year.  She gets mistaken for an older kid all the time because she's so tall. That is part of the reason we decided not to hold her back another year. I hope we made the right decision.  We'll see in couple weeks I guess.  Meet the Teacher is in a week! Yikes! 

I'm off to figure out dinner (no clue!) and play animals with Laila.  She got some of those sponges in a capsule that you put in water and watch them grow today for being so good at the doctor.  Now we are going to make up a game with all the animals and food they turned into.  No idea about that either, but she wants to play, so...

Hope you are having a good week!

Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

Hey strangers! It's been a bit. I've decided to take up gardening I guess, so I've been digging and planting.  We extended our butterfly garden and I've been potting plants that feed and attract them as well.  Fun, but work!  I did want to join in with the blog hop as I LOVE coffee.  I'm not even sure I'd survive the day without it.  

Have you tried the new Distress Oxide inks?  Oh man are they awesome.  I had a blast making my background.  They are so fun, so I'd recommend trying them out.  I thought these colors would be fun for spring.  I had to include a butterfly as well.  :)

Here's our garden. It's waiting on the plants to grown and bloom and the butterflies to come visit.  I have more seeds started, so we'll see if I can get more milkweed for my Monarchs.  

Have a happy week. 

Ellen Hutson Mix It Up Challenge

Is there a technique that is common that you tend to avoid?  For me it is heat embossing.  I end up with powder everywhere and my project looks like a hot mess.  I'm challenge myself to try it more this month and see if I get any better with practice.  I started with a fun challenge from the Ellen Hutson Classroom.  They are mixing it up with Avery Elle and I just happen to have gotten a new Avery Elle Butterflies set this week.  Perfect timing, huh?  It paired well with the Essentials by Ellen Bold Blooms set.  Do you see all that embossing??  I managed to not muck it up!  Clear powder might be my friend.  Black and white?  Not so much, but we'll see.  lol

Laila and I have been taking a walk after dinner this week.  It has been so nice and we've walked close to 2 miles each night.  We have been treated to some beautiful sunsets.  Look at those colors!  Gorgeous!

Owls and Puppies Oh MY!

Yappy Saturday!  Just checking in with a couple of cards.  I haven't stamped much this week, but I finally made myself come try and was able to make a few.  More Falliday challenges.  Today is the last day and I think there's a week to play catch up.  I won't finish them, but I do hope to do a few more.  This challenge was to make a pet thank you card.  It is for a card drive for the Tri-County Humane Society in Minnesota.  I'm glad they are doing some card drives for the challenges.  I'm trying to at least do those and maybe follow up with a few more of the theme before I mail them.

(Did you see I used some Baja Breeze for this one?  I totally hoard it, but I need to use it!)

I had to edit and add that I used the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  I am taking a little time off, but I want to play along as I can. :)

Sorry for the bad picture.  I prefer taking them on our dining room table with natural lighting, but Laila seems to pile all her crap up on it and it's a half-day job to clear it off.

Next was a challenge to make an owl card.  I love this Winter Owl stamp from Lawn Fawn and thought it would be fun to use.  I wanted to make Jason a card.  All the things going on with Laila are putting a lot of stress on our marriage.  I don't know how that will all play out, but I hope we can figure out how to make it work.  I love him.  Marriage is hard though, especially with an extra challenging child.  I'm going to sneak out and put in the car so he'll find it going to work tomorrow.

Laila picked Pikachu as her Halloween costume for the year.  It was so hard to find one in her size, but I finally got this one.  It's kinda cute and is actually pajamas so she can wear it after Halloween too.  She seems to be in some crazy growth spurt with how she's eating, so we shall see how long it actually fits.  Of course this happens AFTER we buy her pants for winter and new shoes!

Freshly Made Snowman

Whew!  Remembered to stop in and do my Freshly Made Sketches post!  On time!  Woo hoo!  Jen M. should give me a gold star or something!  Ha!  Her sketch is awesome, so I can't wait to see all the awesome entries for the challenge.  I hope one of them is yours!  Be sure to drop by the challenge blog and check out the awesome new design that Jen T worked up! I do apologize for the crappy picture.  I don't usually take them with my phone.  My camera is in transit back to me so fingers crossed it arrives tomorrow and is not damaged in transit.

I'm off to relax.  Or fight the dog off which is what my time seems to be when I'm not dealing with Laila.  Today was a horrible day and Laila and I were at odds for most of it.  I don't know how we are going to go back to having to be around one another for 3-4 days a week with no help from Jason.  She is a lot for one person to handle alone for that many days in a row.  My mental health stays on the verge of collapse anyway, so I just hope I can survive it until we figure something out.  Today I barely made it.  We did rally at the end and go for a little drive to hunt Pokemon.  That helped us at least end on a good note.  

Maskerade of Animals

August is apparently the month for birthdays!  What happened 9 months ago?  lol   I have so many friends with birthdays this month so I'm trying to crank out some cards for them.  I saw that Online Card Classes was having a sale this week (ends today by the way!) on classes so I took a peek.  I saw the Maskerade class that I never really finished because I didn't have the supplies and thought hmm...  So this card is the results of the first lesson.  :)   I still might go sign up for a new class, but I have several that I can revisit and do again with supplies that I have now.  It will feel all new in a way!  If you've never tried a class, go look and give one a chance! I love every single one I've taken.

And this card has too many random sequins.  We won't talk about the smudges they are hiding.  Oops!

Stamps:  Avery Elle Furry Friends, Mama Elephant Carnival Toppers, Avery Elle Party Animal
Paper:  Neenah Solar white 80/110 lb
Ink:  Mememto Tuxedo Black
Dies: MFT Blueprints 20
Copics: E31, E33, E35, E42, E43, E44, W1, W3, W4, R20, BG01, BG02 BG05, V12, V15, V17
Other: Inkadinkado Masking Paper, Sequins

Happy Monday!  Enjoy your week!

Pet Sympathy in Browns

I am so behind on getting cards made and mailed out.  A dear friend from my high school days lost two family pets back in June and I'm just now making and sending a card.  I feel so awful that it's so late, but my mind just couldn't work on sympathy cards with all the sadness in my heart this time of year.  Eli's birthday seems to get me from July until September and I struggle.  But today I decided to try and work through things enough to get this card out.  It was important to me and I wanted to do it. It's a simple one, but I hope he and his family like it.

I used some critters again, so I want to enter the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge again.

Stamps:  Avery Elle Furry Friends, Simon Says Stamp Pawprints on Our Hearts
Ink:  Versamark, Stampin' Up! Real Red, SU Early Espresso, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper:  Stampin' Up! Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Neenah Solar White
Dies:  My Favorite Things Stitched Mini Scallop Circles dies, MFT Blueprints 22
Copics:  R35, R37, R39, R20, E41, E42, E43, E44, E47

Things are still rough here.  Laila is feeling better, but she's been difficult for days now.  Screaming. Oh my the screaming.  Some days I wonder how we make it through.  I had no clue that having a child would be like this.  So so hard.  Bandit seems to be coming out more, so I'm hoping he's on the mend.  His breathing is still not as it should be, but he's eating and allowing me to pet him again.  I'll take any improvement because I'm not ready to lose him yet.  So that's our weekend.  Jason is working an extra day tomorrow, so I will be solo parenting for four days in a row this week.  I am glad I have an appointment with my counselor on Thursday because I know I'll need it by then!  I had quit going for a while, but I'm in a bad place again.  I hope she can get me back on track before I totally fall apart.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.  I'm appreciating the rain we are getting because it is bringing cooler temperatures.  Plus our grass needs it so bad!

Scruffy Puppy for FMS

I keep missing the deadline for our Freshly Made Sketches challenge, but I do try to go back and play along if I get time.  I loved Jen B's sketch this week, so today I decided to put a card together while I had a little bit of play time.  Isn't it cute?!  I just love this puppy from Avery Elle!  He's just so darn adorable!

Last week Laila decided that June 3rd would be Sadie's birthday and asked that we have her a party.  I decided to be a fun mom and play along, so we Sadie got some special treats we baked ourselves and a banner with her name on it.  lol 

Thank you, Puppy!

It's Wednesday and time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches.  Linda  is the sketch designer and hostess this week.  It's a great week to let those bold sentiments shine!  I love these Super Script sets from Altenew but never seem to use them enough.  The sketch was perfect for them!

You'll probably be seeing a lot of dogs in my cards for a while. I wanted to make up some dog-themed thank you cards and send them to some of my favorite dog rescues.  I thought it might be a nice way for them to thank people who go above and beyond in helping the rescue.  I don't know how it will go, but we'll see.  I hope to have a batch ready soon to mail off.  Lately I just feel drawn to do something along these lines with my craft.  

I'm off to the treadmill.  I pretty much had a major mental breakdown on Monday and I've decided to fight back with exercise.  The depression and anxiety medicines help, but they need some back-up.  It's a struggle to exercise, but I know it's what I need...mentally AND physically.  

Have a great rest of the week!

Rita

Freshly Made Puppy

Sorry for the late blog post!  I cleaned and cleaned yesterday and fell in bed and forgot to do it last night!   Oops!   I'm the hostesses/sketch designer this week at Freshly Made Sketches and I picked a bit of a complicated (but fun!) one.  I have so much pretty paper that needs used, so I thought a sketch that offered the opportunity to use up some of it would be good.  

I hope you like it and will come and play along!  My card was a special order that I was asked to make for a pet-lover birthday.   That little puppy from Avery Elle is the cutest thing ever, so I just had to use it!  

My little sassy girl.   We have an appointment to tour an in-home Montessori school tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed for us.  The director seems so nice and so willing to work with kids to overcome any issues they have.  One of my friends sent her kids there and they were doing long division before they left for kindergarten!  That sounds just like the challenge Laila needs to keep her mind busy!  

Stenciled with Avery Elle

A new week!  Last week I enjoyed working with some of my Stampin' Up! stamps again.  This week I'm revisiting the Online Card Classes class called Stenciled.  If you haven't taken it, I would totally recommend it.  I have a few stencils that were still brand new, so I decided to get some ink of them this week.   This stencil is from My Favorite Things, but I think it has been retired.  They have plenty of really awesome ones that you can see here though.   I paired it with a die and coordinating stamp from Avery Elle.  I still love my stitched dies from Lil' Inker and have to use those!  This set is great because the largest die just puts the stitches on the card base; it doesn't cut anything.

Laila did her own bit of watercoloring this week.  :)

Doggy Birthday

One of the sweet ladies I met at the animal shelter is having a birthday today so I made this card for her.  I did actually mail it a few days ago, so I am crossing my fingers it makes it today.  She is the nicest person and helped us get our Sadie girl.   I used the Avery Elle Furry Friends set again; she has a dog named Charlie who she just adores so I had to make a dog card!  :)

I want to learn to watercolor on my cards so bad, but it is HARD!  I think I need some better watercolors and maybe a class to help me.  I'm so not artsy so using real art supplies scares me!  lol

For my awesome vet

I've been trying to do some acts of kindness this month and while some are for random people, I also wanted to show some love to the people who help make my life better. Our vet clinic does an amazing job with our animals, even the grumpy ones, so I made a card and took them some cookies last week.   They laughed and asked if I was trying to bribe them because they had my extra grumpy kitty that day.  :) I used some distress inks and water for the background and Avery Elle's Furry Friends set for my critters.

I had one of my lowest days in a long time yesterday.  Things are always rough in December, but this one even more so.   Laila is having so many issues at Mother's Day Out and Sadie is in crazy puppy mode.  It's become more than I can handle.  Bandit must have sensed that I was that down because he came and snuggled with me.   He always did this after Eli died, but now he normally stays in the front room and not with me.   I don't know how he knew, but he helped save me yesterday.  It reminded me why I do love my vet so much; he's still here.  He's my kitty that we've almost lost many time but they make him better.  I need him. <3 nbsp="" p="">

Cute Pink Puppy

I actually got in a little stamping time last night and made two cards!   This one is my favorite of the two.  I just love this little puppy!! He's so adorable isn't he???   I used pink with him for the Avery Elle I Heart U challenge and also to go along with the Hope You Can Cling to challenge to use a tag. :)

Stamps:  Avery Elle Furry Friends

Ink:  Memento Black, Copics

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Stampin' Up! Strawberry Slush and Baked Brown Sugar, misc designer paper

Accessories;  MFT Stitched Traditional Tags, Stampin' Up! Strawberry Slush ribbon

Our butterfly garden is still amazing!   We had two butterflies emerge and fly away yesterday and lots of baby caterpillars continuing to feed and grow.  

FMS Party Animal

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!   The amazingly talented Narelle is our hostess this week and she has a great sketch.  I was so excited to play along with it because it worked so well with my new Blueprints dies!   I love when things work out like that.  I didn't think they were going to arrive in time to use, but they showed up on Monday!  :o)

The design team has a fun mix of cards for this week, so be sure you go by the blog and see all the great inspiration! 

FMS Warm Winter Wishes

Wednesday and time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!   Jen B, is our hostess this week and she has a sketch that was super fun to work with!    She makes the most amazing cards that always wow me, so no surprise that her sketch did the same.  :)    I recently got an order from Winnie & Walter that included an awesome birch tree background and a stencil that reminded me of falling snow.  I paired those with the cute little deer from Avery Elle and a lovely sentiment from MFT.    I think they all work together beautifully!  :)

I can't believe it's the day before Thanksgiving!   Where has the year gone?!   Tomorrow we'll eat our wonderful food and then enjoy some time decorating the house and putting up the tree.  I'm not a big fan of Christmas, but I'm trying to get in the spirit for Laila.   She keeps asking for a Christmas tree, so we'll put hers up in her bedroom Thursday as well.  I think she will be super excited about it this year!  

Someone cleaned their plate at dinner last night!  She didn't eat very well on Monday, but she made up for it yesterday.  :) 

OH Deer...

I thought I'd share one of my rejected cards for the week.  This was the first card I made for Freshly Made Sketches this week and I didn't like how it turned out at all.   Sometimes that happens and we start over...and sometimes we start over several more times.  lol  I loved my second attempt, so thankfully I didn't muck it up too many times.   I did sponge clouds behind my little fawn, but they don't really show up in the picture.  

You didn't show me this one, Mom!  :)   

It has been an extremely trying last few days.  The new thing is to scream.  It is getting old super fast, so we are trying our best to get her to stop.   She has been testing us so much lately.  I had three really good days with her, but it's not been so great since Jason's been home.  I'm crossing my fingers that tomorrow is better.  I have my stamping ladies over and it seems like both Laila and the cats are crazy on that day.   I usually end up a big stressed out mess.   The good thing is we already have plans to either go out or pick up dinner and all my supplies are prepped and ready.   I just need to clean up a bit and make a yummy snack.   I'm off to see what dessert or appetizer I want to try from Pinterest.  

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!  Hugs!