A Triple Shot of Hope

I took the day off from stamping yesterday, but got back to it today!   I am so behind on the HYCCT challenges that I'm not sure I'll be able to finish them this year.  :(   Sad face.  I'm trying, but it seems a bit impossible.  Anyway...  One of the challenges was to use the backs of your photopolymer stamps to make a card.   I thought this set from Ellen Hutson would be fun.  I stamped off and stamped the back to make the background for my flowers and leaves and then reversed the stamps to the correct side and stamped that full strength.   It's a super simple card, but I think it makes a nice thinking of you card.

The next challenge I worked on was all about relationships.   I thought about who might be at the cancer center seeking treatment for breast cancer and how they might have their children their supporting them.   I think it would be nice for the children to have a card for their mom, so that's the relationship I focused on.   I used the sweet Bear Hugs set from Mama Elephant because the images and sentiment are just the best.

And finally, this challenge was to make an encouragement card.  I thought the sentiment was perfect for that.  I hope balloons work too.  They remind me of the movie Up.  

One of the churches near Laila's MDO does a little pumpkin patch fundraiser every year and we always go.   We hadn't been this year since she's been sick, but we managed to stop by yesterday on our way home from picking her up.   She had such a good time and picked out this funky gourd to bring home.  Her favorite part though?  The see-saw!

Tattoo of Hope

Isn't this an adorable image?  I saw it on the Taylored Expressions website and just knew it was perfect for the HYCCT challenges.   I was so excited to use it on a card this week.   It is for the challenge to use an image that would make a pretty tattoo.   I love the sentiment as well!

Laila and I had a craft day yesterday to make tags and treat bags for her classmates at Mother's Day Out.  This expression when she started using the Big Shot totally cracked me up!   She finally got some sleep last night thanks to the Zyrtec her doctor suggested we add in, so we are going to try to let her go to school today.   Fingers crossed.

Triple Cups of Hope

It's Wednesday and time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  Cindy L has a fun sketch this week that will get you thinking in threes!   I wanted to do the PINKALICIOUS challenge for Hope You Can Cling To, so my choice was three coffee mugs.   For the challenge you had to unscramble 3-4 words from the challenge word and use those on your card.  I went with pink, ink, and cups.  

I'm still behind on my HYCCT cards but I'm slowly catching up.   I just need to keep on trucking and hope to finish them all before the deadline.  I hope to have them packed up and mailed by the middle of November.   :)

We decided we'd been cooped up in the house for too long, so we went to Chipotle for dinner tonight.   It was a fundraiser night for the non-profit that helps the animal shelter where we got Sadie, so it was something I didn't want to miss.  Laila ate great and we had a very nice time.  :)   She's feeling much better, but still coughing.  I hope it clears up tomorrow so she can go to Mother's Day Out on Thursday.  She keeps asking to go back and it makes me sad that she's missed it for a week and a half.  

Sweet Sunday Snowman

Laila and I are feeling some better today, so I was able to make three cards during her quiet time.  She actually came in and sat with me for a while, but she didn't bug me too much.  ;)    I loved the sketch at Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge this week so I combined it a Hope You Can Cling To challenge to use red and white stripes in honor of the candy stripers.  I used another cute snowman from From The Heart Stamps too.  :)   I LOVE how it turned out!  I'm really starting to LOVE digital stamps so, so much!  

See you back tomorrow with Freshly Made Sketches! 

Bold Blossoms of Hope

Another Hope You Can Cling To card I made this weekend.  Laila helped me out with this one.   We made some fun backgrounds together with distress inks and clear blocks.  She picked my color and I only got this one, so here's what I made.  lol Angie challenged everyone to use the wrinkle free distress technique and it really does make a pretty background.  :)

Laila and I are still sick, so it was another rough night of coughing for us and no sleep for anyone.  I went and got some different medicines for us last night but they didn't help much either.   I just hope we are getting close to the end of it all.  Her tests all came back negative for flu, strep, or anything bacterial, so I'm guessing we just have a cold virus.  Fingers crossed for a better night tonight!  Poor Jason is getting worn out along with us because he's the caregiver for us both and not sleeping either.

Coffee and Poppies

Well, we haven't floated away here in Texas...yet.   lol   It's been raining since yesterday evening and still going.  Thankfully it's been mostly light rain with a few heavy showers thrown in.  I haven't really stamped as much as I've wanted to because I've been sick, but I am still working on more cards for Hope You Can Cling To here and there.   I did this one yesterday while I had a break from coughing.  lol    I love this coffee set and thought it might be fun to use with the torn edge challenge.  

I made this very simple card today for the "masterpiece" challenge where you were to be inspired by a work of art.  Georgia O'Keeffe was one of the suggested artists and I saw a lot of poppies when I did a search for her, so I went with that.  I wanted to use my beautiful  new sentiment I got from Hero Arts and I think it gets to shine on this card.  :)

Mosaic Sunflower

I'm a few days late with my Freshly Made Sketches card, but I did finally finish it!  :)  Jen B designed such a great sketch that I had to play along.  With Laila and I both being sick, it took me all week to do my image panel.  lol   It is also for a Hope You Can Cling To mosaic challenge.

So about my panel... The HYCCT challenge was to Google mosaic and be inspired by an image you found.   I found a beautiful image by artist Sharon Cummings and my card evolved from that.  I looked on Pinterest for a free digital stamp of a flower and was led to the one I used which was done by artist Linda Tieu.  I printed it out, die cut it with a stitched rectangle die. and used a Copic multiliner to draw in the background of circles.  I then colored the entire image.   It was a lot of work, but I really love how it came together.  I might do some cards like this more often as I can sit and doodle in the living room or kitchen.   

Laila and Sadie have such a sibling relationship.   They fight, they annoy one another, and then they play together.   It is adorable, but the fighting makes us a bit crazy, especially when they steal each other's toys.  

Fall Thanks

We've had a few cooler days here in Texas, so I'm pretending it is now our poor version of Fall.   I thought this gorgeous cornucopia image from From the Heart Stamps was perfect for a Fall card.   It is their image for their Stamp of the Month challenge, so be sure to go check that out.   I also used the new sketch from their weekly sketch challenge.  I kept it pretty simple to let the coloring shine.  I was pretty happy with how it turned out.   My next Hope You Can Cling To challenge was to use food, so this works for that too!  :)

Laila has been so kind as to share her illness with me and it is kicking my butt.   We took her to the doctor today and they ran some tests but haven't found anything yet.  Her doctor is concerned about her fever lasting so many days, so we are waiting on blood tests now.   If it's not better by Sunday or Monday, we have to take her to the ER for further testing.   I'm hoping it's just a cold as that what it seems I have.   Fingers crossed.