Freshly Made Sketches Flower

It's Wednesday and I finally got my act together to play along with my Freshly Made Sketches team.  They've been so patient with me and my crazy life and I love them for that.   I know I've said it before, but they really are the best team and more like friends, maybe even sisters.   Jen M. designed our sketch this week and I LOVE it.   I have been in a huge creative funk so I was happy that an idea came to me pretty quickly.  I finally got my hands on this beautiful flower set from Create a Smile stamps and I just had to color it with my Copics. Because it is new and never used, I want to also enter it in the NBUS challenge.  If you have old or new stuff that hasn't had any love, you should totally use it and enter too!  It worked perfectly for the sketch.   I added a little sentiment from Altenew, some sequins, and a simple embossed background.   Easy peasy!  :)

I hope to get back on a better stamping schedule soon.   Sadie is still not feeling well and I'm working on adjusting to my new medicine, but I think we are both on our way to better days.   :o)  She went back to the vet today and we are doing another round of antibiotics.  She still has a cough and a runny nose, but her lungs sounded clear.   The vet thinks it is just an upper respiratory infection now, but still won't rule out distemper completely.   Keep sending good thoughts her way.  

My cats aren't sure about having a dog in the house, but they aren't being too awful about it.   It's an adjustment, but they are doing great so far.   Much better than I thought they would actually.   :)  

My other sweet girl.  Her eyes just kill me!  

Two Paper Divas Encouragement

I've become a big fan of Instagram and have made some nice crafty friends over there.   One of them has been going through some issues similar to mine, so I wanted to make a little card to send her.  I used a few sets from Two Paper Divas:  Wanna Hang Out, Large Cupcake Accessories, Mason Jar Accessories #4.   I love putting images from multiple sets together to make a card.   :)  

Things have been going okay here so far this weekend.   I am feeling some better, just a little worried about some family members who are struggling/sick.   Laila has a stuffy nose and didn't sleep the best on Friday night, so we are all a little tired.  I'm thankful that tomorrow is a holiday and that Jason is off work.  I'm hoping we can all rest tonight.  

Two Paper Divas Cupcake

Howdy strangers!   Believe it or not, I'm back!   I finally stamped something again last night.  It's been a while, but I wanted to play with this cute cupcake from Two Paper Divas again.   I really love coloring that big cupcake for some reason.  It's fun to add some shading and bright colors!  :)   It's from the Large Cupcake set and the sentiment is from the Large Cupcake Accessories set.  I thought it would be fun to make a shaker card and I think it turned out pretty cute.

So an update on why I've been out of stamping and blogging...

Last week things got really REALLY tough for me.   I don't know if you guys know much about PMDD, but it's a horrible awful thing that I developed after having Laila.  It has been a tough journey to get it under control and last week my medicine just seemed to not be helping at all.  I feel like I almost had a complete mental breakdown.   Thankfully I was able to get a quick appointment with a new doctor and have a new medicine now.   I am crossing my fingers and toes that it helps because I do not want to feel like I did last week again.  

In addition to that, Sadie got sick.  So sick in fact, that the vet thought she had distemper and offered me the option of having her put down on Friday.   Not a chance, so we tried some different medicine for her and an experimental treatment.  This week she's been like a new dog.  She's finally acting like the puppy she is!   She still has some congestion and a runny, but let's hope she's on the mend.

This week has been a busy one so far.  Laila started dance class.  We also went to meet her teachers for Mother's Day Out yesterday and explore her classroom.  I am still a little nervous about her going, but she loved it.  In fact, she had to be carried out crying because she didn't want to leave!  She keeps asking to go back too.  I think it will be a great experience for her and a break for me.  Her first full day is next Thursday.  

Puppy Heaven

I swear I'll stamp again one day.  lol  We are so in love with Miss Sadie and it's hard to leave her!   I tried stamping last night and ended up taking a break.  Before I knew it, her head was in my lap and she was sound asleep.   She's an amazing girl and I am so thankful that my heart led me to rescuing her.   Isn't it funny how you can walk through a building full of animals and find that one that just grabs you?   The shelter had its busiest day ever on Saturday but nobody adopted her.  I guess she was just meant for us.  :o)  

Today we take her to our vet to get some meds for her fleas.   We've been combing her and trying to get them all off, but she needs a bit more help.   Once we get that under control, she can finally get out of the bathroom!   She's supposed to be resting after her surgery, so it has worked out for her to relax in there.  She's enjoying her crate and has been great about going outside to potty.   Such an amazing girl!  

Freshly Made Sketches 200!

Can you believe we are at sketch 200 at Freshly Made Sketches? Wow!!!   It seems like not long ago that I got the email asking if I'd like to be on the team.  It's been an amazing experience and though I struggle to keep up with it, they keep me around.  I love my team!  Here's our sketch this week:

Now it's pretty basic, so have fun coming up with ideas!   I made this panel for Kathy's Pop Up Challenge and thought it might be fun for my card this week.  I just drew some lines by hand, colored with my Copics, and then added some thicker black lines.  Easy, but fun!

If you need more reasons to play along, look at all the awesome sponsors who are giving away prizes to our participants!  Amazing!   Come play along and good luck!

New House for Two Paper Divas

Feels like ages since I've posted!   The past week has just been crazy.   Laila is getting ready to start Mother's Day Out and a dance class soon so I've been getting ready for that.  I also did my first day of volunteering at the county animal shelter and that just wore me out.  My first day just happened to be one of if not THE busiest days ever there!   I was exhausted after I got home!    I did finally find time to make my Two Paper Divas card, but getting a picture and blogging it didn't happen quickly either.  More on that in a bit.  A good friend just bought a new house, so I just had to use the new My Neighborhood stamp set.  I also used a digital set of stamps called Everyday Sentiments for my congratulations.  Simple and cute!

Now on to why it's been an eventful week...

I saw this sweet girl in the kennels on Saturday and thought she was just the cutest thing.  Even though 73 animals found homes, she did not.   I thought about her and thought about her and yesterday we went to see her.  She's been a little sick this week, but I just heard this evening that she's feeling better.  Once she has been spayed, she will be joining our family.   I just couldn't stand the idea of her not making it out of the shelter and had to step up.   I know I can't do that every time I find a sweet dog during my volunteer time, but a life saved is always a good thing.  We are going to name her Sadie.  :)

Butterflies on Watercolor

I wanted to share one more Dare to Get Dirty card before the deadline tonight.   This is the last card I managed to make for it and it's probably the most special.  The first card I made to send to the Strong family just didn't feel right so I didn't send it.  I found this stamp on a recent shopping trip and it was so perfect.   If you'd like to take a minute to read this post, you can see where I was inspired.

I'm off to get my girl to bed and then relax a bit.  My anxiety has been so out of control for a while now and this morning really did me in.

Someone is obsessed with our car.  :)

Grumpy Birthday

I wanted to share another card I made this past week.  I needed a birthday card for my person.  You know that friend who really gets you.  The one who would always welcome you and hug you even if you hadn't showered and smelled like you ate a loaf of garlic bread all by yourself.   That's my friend Brandi.   Unfortunately she lives in Maryland and I miss her so much.   She was my best friend in graduate school and I love her so much.  I keep hoping for something to happen so we can live close, but no luck yet.   Anyway...  I got this hilarious set from Taylored Expressions recently and I love it.  It makes me laugh so much!  It's called Birthday Grumplings and it's new my favorite set.  They just released a Halloween version and I want it so bad too!  It's so awesome!  Obviously you can't send these cards to everyone, but they are totally me and I think they will work for a lot of my friends.  :)

This is for Angie's Dare to Get Dirty challenge on Splitcoast.  

Laila and the cats are always wanting what the other one has or doing what the other one does.  Bandit got out of this bag and Laila decided she would climb in it.  lol  Never a dull moment around here!