DTGD Day 1

Happy Saturday! I hope you are finding some time to get crafty today.  If you are a member over at Splitcoast, the Dare to Get Dirty challenges start today.  I've been working on a couple this morning and thought I'd share them.  This first one is for a fun challenge from Lydia.  She always has fun ones that push me to try something hard.  I think the result is fun, so yay!

The second challenge was from Dina and I enjoyed creating for it as well.  I feel like we need more rainbows and sunshine in our world right now, so I may make up a few of these to send out.  It was a pretty simple one, so that shouldn't be too hard.

That's it for now. I'm going to go grab lunch and then come back to work on the next challenges.  I found a good comedy to keep me company.  There's nothing better than creating and laughing!

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.  

DTGD Day 2

I'm back today with 3 more cards!  I haven't even started on today's challenges, so I'm already behind as usual.  lol I got really sick last night and wasn't able to stamp.  I don't know if I had a small stomach virus or an allergic reaction to something, but the splatters I would have made on my cards were not ones that anyone would have wanted.  Thankfully it calmed around midnight and I was able to sleep.  Feeling much better today, but just a little tired and dehydrated.  Anyway...  This card using a Brusho background that's been in my to-use pile for a bit.  Dina's challenge was a perfect way to use it. The words are from a MFT set.

Susie presented a fun challenge and I couldn't want to color this adorable unicorn from Paper Smooches.  It's so fun!  I used distress inks to make a background for him.  

And finally...

...here  is a card for Lori's challenge.  I had a rough time coming up with something for this one and this is actually my second design.  I'll share the other next week after the challenges are over.  It uses distress inks and a lovely stamp set from Ellen Hutson. 

Freshly Made Kindness

Sorry I'm so late with my Freshly Made Sketches card this week.  It seems to be a habit lately.  With Laila not going to MDO now, I don't have my Tuesday free to finish it up.   I did try to get it on time, but I made some major duds and had to start over.  Then of course the power went out from storms we had early yesterday morning and then the Internet was out!   Once that all fixed itself, I figured out what I somehow deleted all my computer programs when I tried fixing my laptop after some of the power flickers.  Goodness!  But I managed to figure out a way to at least get it on here, so here it is!   Sorry Jen T, for being late for your awesome sketch!

I used another set that had never seen ink, Paper Smooches Botanicals 3.  It's a fun set of different leaves and flowers.  I am not the best at making backgrounds, but it was fun to try.  I thought I'd add a little gift card for coffee and send it off for a friend.  The sentiment is from an awesome Hero Arts set that is all about kindness.  You should totally add it to your collections to help send out those little random acts that brighten days.  

We went on an awesome field trip this week.  We visited the Houston Police Department's Mounted Patrol and fed the horses.  They will eat carrots right out of your hands!  It was such an amazing experience.  Laila loved it!   

Fab Sewing Machine

I loved the sketch at Fab Friday, so I decided to combine it with a Hope You Can Cling To challenge.  The challenge was supposed to be kids making a card that represented their mom, but Laila wouldn't cooperate so I made one that represented MY mom.  Sometimes you just gotta improvise.  ;)  I love this Paper Smooches set; the images are so perfect for my mom.

I'm off to take Miss Laila to the doctor to see about this lingering cough she can't seem to shake.  Have a great week and I'll be checking in frequently as I show you more of my HYCCT cards. 

Hope and Strength

Today is a more pink and breast cancer themed card for Hope You Can Cling To.   A couple years ago I bought a pad of designer paper that was made for breast cancer cards and this sheet has been challenging me to do something with it ever since.  When I saw Ann's challenge to strengthen a piece of designer paper by adding die cuts, embellishments, etc, I know this was the perfect choice of paper.   I die cut it with a stitched rectangle die, and then used the hope die from Paper Smooches to cut out a space to leave open.   Then I added a couple support ribbons that are also from a Paper Smooches die.   The enamel dots were the finishing touch.   All done!

Kraft and pink look quite nice together, huh?  I normally pair kraft with red, but this is not too shabby either!  :)

Have a great weekend!

I Heart Pink

Last night Jason and Mom were busy sewing so I grabbed my Copics and sat with them and colored.  I am useless with a sewing machine, so I didn't even try jumping in.  lol   I worked on another Hope You Can Cling To challenge and combined it with Avery Elle I Heart U challenge to use pink.   My background is drawn by hand and colored in with Copics.   I added a sentiment from Avery Elle's Simply Said Hello and a little ribbon of hope and called it done!   It's simple, but I love how it turned out!

Stamps:  Avery Elle Simply Said Hello
Paper:  Neenah Solar White
Ink:  Copics, Sharpie, Memento Black
Tools/Embellishments:  Paper Smooches Hope Die, Glossy Accents

Sadie is not much help with stamping, but she's great at holding down this blanket.  :o)

MFT Purrfect for HYCCT

Meow!   :)   I love this cute set from My Favorite Things and I thought it would be perfect for the two challenges I worked on yesterday.   MFT has a great sketch at their challenge blog this week so I started off my card with that in mind.   The second is another Hope You Can Cling To challenge which asks us to use an image of a hand or our actual hand to make a card.   I am not quite brave enough for fingerpainting on my card, so I picked a cute Pure Innocence set with a visible hand.  Who wouldn't love a cute kitten being held by a sweet girl?  :)  I'm also sharing with Simon Says Stamp's World Cardmaking Day post.

Stamps:  MFT Pure Innocence Puurfect (retired)

Paper:  Neenah Solar White, Stampin' Up! Smoky Slate

Ink:  Memento Black, Stampin' Up! Smokey Slate, Copics

Tools/Embellishments:  Lil' Inker Stitched Retangles and Squares, Paper Smooches Paw Print die

Speaking of cats...  Laila was brave and got her face painted today at the festival we went to!  She picked out a cat face and did a great job being patient and sitting for it.  We were very proud of her.  :)   She didn't want to wash it off at all tonight.   Poor dear.   

Sew Freshly Made

Welcome to Wednesday and Freshly Made Sketches.   Cindy L. is our hostess and I am in love with the sketch she created.   If you check out the design team blog, you can see why!  It can be used so many different ways and looks good in all of them!   :)  I combined it with another of the Dare to Get Dirty challenges and the Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge.

Come play along with us this week!   And mark your calendars for a big celebration on our 200th sketch!   It's only two weeks away!  

FMS 194 Mix It Up!

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!   I took a lot of liberties with this sketch, so I hope Linda doesn't kill me!   I was planning on making a new card that followed it better but I just ran out of time.   So, you get my kinda-the-sketch card.  :)    (Love you, Linda!)  I wanted to play along with the current challenge at Ellen Hutson and this was my result.   I love it!!   The sentiment is from Paper Smooches Spectrum and the flower/leaves are from the Essentials by Ellen collection that is exclusive to the Ellen Hutson shop.  

I did try to add some twine, but it was making my card not quite as pretty, so I took it back off.  I hope I don't get booted from the team!  lol  

Last week we decided to go on a short road trip and ended up stuck on the highway in a bunch of traffic.   We were near this outlet mall that I'd never been to, so we stopped there to walk around for a while.   Someone has turned into a natural shopping at the ripe old age of three.  lol  She had a blast!   

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.   

Love You Sew!

Sorry for posting again today.   I just realized the deadline for colourQ was tonight and I wanted to get my card entered.  I haven't played along there in a while and am happy that I actually did!   This one is also for the Paper Smooches SPARKS Designer Drafts challenge.   I love this cute set for making cards for Mom.  I need to get another sewing set or quilting set so I can mix and match some stamps!  :)

Stamps: Paper Smooches Needle Little Love
Paper:  Neenah Solar White, SU Daffodil Delight
Ink:  Memento Black, Copics
Others:  SU Doilies, SU Brights Candy Dots

   

All of the rain is making our butterfly garden very happy!  :)

What's Shaking?

It's Wednesday, which means Freshly Made Sketches day.  Our sketch this week comes from our awesome pilot on the team, Jen Timko.   I decided to try and make my first shaker card.  I am not so sure about it, but I learned some things in the process to make the next one easier.  That's what crafting is all about, right?  Learning and trying new things.  

My creativity and enjoyment of creating is a bit off this week.  Today is the sixth anniversary of the day we lost our sweet boy and my heart feels a little more broken than usual.  I've tried to keep stamping as it's very helpful and calming, but I know not to expect fabulous results.   And that's okay...  it's not about making something that we love every time, but enjoying and savoring the process of being creative.  Such wonderful therapy.  

Sweet Eli.  Forever 5 months, 12 days old.

Paper Smooches for Mom

Greetings!   Did everyone survive the holidays?   We did and I am so glad that it is over.   I feel like I have been too busy to even look at my stamp room and that had to stop and fast!   I did manage to sneak in there earlier this week and put this card together for my mom.   I was so sad that she didn't come down this year and thought I'd make a little card to let her know how much we missed having her.  I guess I do have to share her with my brother sometimes, but man!   Anyway...  The Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge is anything goes this week so I used my cute sewing machine again as I love it and it's perfect for Mom.

I hope everyone had a great holiday.  I know Jason totally spoiled us and I have lots of new crafty goodies, Copic markers, and some storage for my markers.   I have been working all day trying to get my room organized and straightened up.   I need to make an IKEA run next week for more stuff and get more listed on eBay.   So much to do! 

Sewing for Mom

Hi!   It's been a while, but I managed to make something today.  This month seems busy and I'm stressed already, but sometimes we just have to take a break and create, right?    I made a couple other cards that I'll share with you later this week, but this one I can share today.   I combined the challenges at Curtain Call and Paper Smooches SPARKS to make this for my mom.  

   

I just love my Paper Smooches  set.  It is the most perfect set for making cards for Mom.   I stamped a bunch of the images and let Laila color them, so we are going to send both of them to her this week.  :)

Stamps: Paper Smooches Stamps, 4 by 6-Inch, Needle Little Love, Clear
Ink: Tsukineko Full-Size Memento Fade Resistant Inkpad, Tuxedo Black
Copics:  B21, B24

While Mom was here we tried to take Laila to get some pictures made.  It was a TOTAL disaster and I left in tears because I was so embarrassed by her screaming.  She's usually great with pictures, so I don't know what going on.   She's just so disagreeable about everything and screams SO MUCH lately, so I guess it shouldn't have been that surprising.   Anyway...  next Sunday we are trying pictures with Santa and I hope it goes better.   That's the one picture that I look forward to every year, so we are working hard to get her excited about seeing Santa.   Cross your fingers for us!  It's just at the photographer's house, so maybe it won't be as scary as the studio.

My Hero

Checking in and sharing another Hope You Can Cling To card.   Bridget's challenge was to make something inspired by your hero.   If you follow my blog, you know my mom has become a major quilter and I am so proud of her.  My card was inspired by her love of sewing.   I used my Paper Smooches sewing set and colored it with my Copics.   My layout was inspired by an awesome card by Kay Miller that I found here.  

Mom gave Laila the quilt she made her and they had to spread it out and lay down.  :)  

FMS156: Sewing Love

Wednesday!   Woo hoo!  It's been a VERY VERY VERY long week here, so I'm happy to see mid-week.   That also means it is time for Freshly Made Skeches!  Narelle is our hostess this week and I can only hope I used enough layers to do her and her sketch justice.  :)   She is so amazing at layering and fussy cutting so be sure to jump over and see what she created.

Love this one don't you?!  I recently got this cute set from Paper Smooches to make cards for my mom.  She's so into sewing, so I thought she'd like the images.  I hope to find my stamps tomorrow and send this one out to her.  She's had a rough week and I know a little encouragement would help.  She's been under the weather and dealing with a death in the family (and company) on top of that.   

We've had a rough week, but she's still darn cute.  ;)