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!

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!  

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.