A Goodie!

I love bright and bold colors!  I can do pastels...but muted colors sometimes are difficult for me!  I was totally happy making this card.  Bright and bold.  So me.  That's my personality too...bright and bold.  HAHA!  Maybe not.  Probably a little too bold sometimes...but I don't know how bright! Heheh...

Have you all seen this wonderful video by Linda of her internet shopaholic ways?  My friend, Donna, shared it with a few of us addicted folks and it's also floating around on Facebook.  This is about a crafter named Linda who watches YouTube crafting videos and then has to go buy the stuff that was used in the video.

 It is hilarious....and I am so right there with her.

Case in point.  Inktense pencils.  Saw Jennifer McGuire using them...saw Darlene of Darlene Designs use them...saw others.  Had to have them.  Waited until I had a 50% off coupon at Michaels one day and went and bought them 'cuz I HAD TO HAVE.  Sat here in the case.  For. A. Long. Time. And. I. Mean. A. Loooong. Time...

Finally opened them to play with them and I LOVE THEM.  What in the world was I waiting for??? I love water color pencils but sometimes the color is PASTEL OR MUTED!!! These are so bright and intense.  Inktense is what they are called.  Water soluble.  And you can blend with them.  But since I still have not mastered the whole blending thing I just colored my flowers.

Here is my card:

  
The flowers are from a Hero Arts set that comes with the Sizzix dies. Love that.  I used Archival Ink since it's water proof and then colored away with the pencils using my Aqua Painter.  Added a bit of Wink of Stella glitter pens to parts of the flowers and the bees wings.  The chevron background is so bold, isn't it?  It's from Amy Tangerine....as is the green dotted paper which I cut with Martha Stewart fringe scissors.

The little banner is from the Stampin' Up Itty Bitty Banners set which also has some awesome dies.

And that's it for today.

I do love the Inktense pencils and I think I am glad I have them in my collection now.

And today I saw Kristina Werner (another favorite blogger) talking about Memento Luxe inks.  They are really vibrant pigment inks.  Oh my....  I do have an ink addiction...and a pen addiction....and a paper addiction...  *yawn....

Happy Crafting!

You're the Greatest!

Talk about NO memory!  HAHA! The last card I posted I had already blogged about just a few days ago! Whoopsie!  Oh well....it's staying up!  You all are the greatest for not calling me on it...or maybe you have no memory, too, and don't recall having seen the same card a few days ago!

I have CRS if you know what I'm talking about.  The theory I subscribe to is that my brain is so full of info there is just no room for something new! LOL!

Anyway, on to something new here, I hope!!!

This simple card was also made with the May kit for the Simon Says Stamp Card Club.  Very simple-ish, I think.

The yellowish banner thingy was done with a stamp included in the kit.  The pretty trim was also included and I just needed to USE it, you know?  The heart was a chipboard heart that I just loaded up with Enamel Accents.

Do you ever create a card and think....well, that looks decent. And then when you post it and you see it on your blog you think...well, I should have moved that fill in the blank over just a tad or down or whatever.  I do that all the time!  Here I wish I had a little more pink at the top.  LOL!!!  We are just NEVER satisfied, are we?!

Looks like a decent day here in GA.  We have barely had to run our sprinklers this summer with all the rain.  Not normal for this part of the US of A.  But, at least it's green here!

I'm going walking shortly!

Oh....and playoff round for #2 team went better than the one where I got my rear end kicked the other night.  This time I was the kicker instead of the kickee.  We won 6-4, 6-0. Those of you who don't follow tennis scoring...well, anytime you see the "0" in the score you should know that someone got kicked!  We call that a bagel.  As in "we bageled them in the second set".  I love tennis.

It sure was hot, though!

Happy Crafting!!!

More Simon Says Stamp Fun!

Here is another card I made with the Simon Says Stamp Card Kit for May.  Have I told you how much I love these card kits?

Haha....I'm boring you, I know that.

I just love a good value and I think these kits give that.  Plus I have an obsession with stamps and so I get a new stamp set each month.  And I sometimes like when some one else does the shopping and selecting for me. Not always...but sometimes. And whoever it is who is picking out the stuff at SSS...well, they do a pretty good job!

Here is my card:

Actually when I looked in the box to use up the supplies I found some frames I'd cut out with Spellbinder dies and apparently never used.  I wonder why I didn't use them....they were so pretty! LOL!  I just stamped the roses on some of the paper included with the kit and cut them out and pieced them onto the frames.  Easy peasy.


I have another card or two to share from that kit but I am officially done with it.  I've used up pretty much all the stuff!

I think the August kit is on its way to my door right now.  In fact, I was surprised it didn't show up today.  Maybe Monday. 

I think I will go play right now. 

Wanna join me?

Happy Crafting!

Grateful

I'm grateful for so many things.  My family...a husband who supports my ridiculous hobby of collecting crafting supplies...my tennis.
Oh, my tennis....
One playoff tennis match down....and two coming up.  My team last night was outplayed by a very nice team from another part of metro Atlanta.  Those girls were GOOD!  Way "gooder" than us! LOL!  My partner and I gave a great fight but went down to the better players.  All we could do was laugh as balls kept zinging past us!  But it was fun and that is what this social tennis is supposed to be about!  I am a very gracious loser when I know that I have been beaten by better players.

We are off for a day out of town to visit a very special relative (my kid's grandmother).  It will be a very nice day as the little grandkids love going up there!  We are all so grateful for her, too, and I will be sending this card to her next week.

This is another card made with Simon Says Stamp Card Kit for May.  This was a great kit for nice feminine cards but sadly it is sold out.  The stamp set is still available though and is a great one!

That embossed die cut frame was sent with the kit.  I didn't make it but would sure love to duplicate it!
I may have to give that a try....

I stamped the rose 3 times and then cut it and pieced it to give it some dimension.

Fun, fun, fun!

Have a wonderful day and find some time to create!

Happy Crafting!

Project Life: Week 29

I met up with some friends at Archiver's on Saturday for a fun day of cropping.  I spent about 4 hours completing these very simple pages.  Why did it take so long?
1. I only got about 2 square feet of space because my cropping mates (especially Kim and Heather) crept into my space with their stuff and I couldn't spread my stuff out.  We call that "crop creep". 
2. And one person (who shall remain nameless...read: KIM!) kept using ALL of my stuff so I never could put my hands on the things I needed.
3. I'm naturally slow when I'm around others because, of course, I must entertain with stories and my yapping does not cease.

JUST KIDDING about #s 1 and 2.....but I'm pretty right on about #3.  LOL!

And Kim, who reads my blog, will know I am just funnin' her.  She is the über talented Basement Stamper....on several design teams...and her blog is HERE if you want to check it out.

I had a great time and we hope to get together again soon.  It is so much fun to create with others around...you feed off their creativity and ideas...it's very empowering!

Anyway, on to my pages...
Here is the left side:

 I used Doodlebug papers to make my week and journaling cards.
And why does the year 2013 have a piece of paper on it and was re stamped with a Hero Arts set???
Well, because Doodlebug had an error and it said 2103!!!  Glad I noticed it and was able to sort of correct it!  I just used a little stamp to circle the dates this included but now that I look back I think, to make my book consistent, I need to put WEEK 29 on this somewhere. Will do...will do...

 I just made some simple 3x4 insert cards for my journaling and just added a bit of paper and twine to them to "spiff" them up a bit.

 And here is the right side:

The bottom right photo shows the ladies I cropped with on Saturday.  Kim, Heather and Debbie are long time friends but I met Libby Hickson for the first time on Saturday.  She hosts the blog Libby's Little Addiction which you can visit HERE.  She is also a Project Lifer but makes the most fabulous cards, too.  And *gasp* she works out of her home for HERO ARTS....my favorite stamp company of all time!  It was fun spending time with her and we hope to get together again soon!

Again, I just used some papers from the Doodlebug collection to make a few journaling cards.

 And I inked up a wood veneer arrow.

Really....now that I look back these pages shouldn't have taken more than half an hour.  LOL!!!
Oh well...it's the process that I love. I've said that before!!!

Happy Crafting!

Cards, Cards, Cards!

I've been on a card making roll!  It's getting ridiculous!  Stacks and stacks of cards everywhere.  I think I need a 12 step program for "card hoarders"!  I wonder if there would be interest in a reality series on card hoarders?  I mean...Honey Boo Boo seems to be doing all right!

So here is a card I made with the Simon Says Stamp May card kit.  I am just about caught up to July with my card kits....I love challenging myself to use up the items in the kits.  I go on and on about how wonderful those kits are...well, August's is just about ready for shipment! Yay!

I had cut the frames out with a Spellbinders set and they were in my stash in my box so when I went to make some cards I decided it was time to use them!  The roses were made with stamps from the kit and I just paper pieced them with some of the papers included.

Lots of paper prints on this card but I think they all worked nicely together.

Happy Crafting!

Well....Hmmmmmmm....

I spent a few hours the other day making about 8 different cards!  I mean...that is a world's record for me.  Have I posted a one of those?  No!  This week has just flown by and I am behind in my posting but that's OK.  Blogging should be fun and not a  chore, right?  I mean, it's not like I get paid or anything....(although donations would be gladly accepted! JUST KIDDING!!!)

I did have a tennis match on Tuesday.  It was hot.  Very hot.  About a third of the way in I got very thirsty.  Not good.  That meant that I was probably already dehydrated.  Yep.  I just think these cells in my body just don't store water like they used to!  LOL.  Any water that goes in comes right out if you know what I mean!  But we did prevail in a tough 3 set match....and as soon as the match was over and the adrenaline that had kicked in to keep me going wore off....I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA DIE!  It took me 24 hours to recover.  Poor husband got no food that night!  LOL!

But I'm back to normal and must brag a bit.  I'm on 3 tennis teams this summer and each team has come in first place in it's respective division.  What does that mean?  Nope, I won't be going pro any time soon but it does mean we get coveted bag tags!  The last bag tag I got (which has the year on it) was from 1865 about the same time the Civil War ended....so it will be good to get one from this century.  LOL!!!

OK, enough of tennis and my aging body...bag tags, etc.  On to paper crafting.

I made this cute little holder from a Lori Whitlock file I got in the Silhouette store.  It easily held 4 of my bulky cards as well as some envelopes and I gave it to a friend of mine.  I used some SEI papers I had on hand.  It cut really well and fast on my Cameo and was so easy to assemble.

Here it is open with some cards in it:

And here is the card I enclosed with it as a little giftie:

You can't really see that I stamped tone on tone on the background.  The flowers are from the Stampin' Up Secret Garden set (which also comes with some nifty dies).  The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

And that's it for this busy gal!

But back to tennis.  I started playing league tennis 21 years ago and haven't missed a year since.  Here in Atlanta tennis is played year around and is a big sport.  I've played on women's leagues, mixed doubles leagues, flex leagues, senior leagues.  You name it...if there is a league I will find it!  LOL!
When I first started playing it was out of a neighborhood I lived in (2 houses ago). Last night I met up with 2 ladies that I played with on my very first team.  We talked and laughed about those days and how much fun it was and how much we lived and breathed tennis!
Here they are....21 years later....we were all young mothers back then...2 of us are now grandmothers!
How the time flies!!!

Happy Crafting!!!

Project Life: Week 28

I am rocking Project Life.  Yep, I'll toot my own horn.  I finished week 28 the other night and in case you aren't keeping up with things....Week 28 was just last week.  Yep.  Right.  For me Week 28 includes the dates of July 7-July 13.

My definition of "rocking" Project Life means I'm done.  Award winning photography?  Uh, no...
Award winning layouts.  Uh, no...

Last week I approached my pictures with the idea of "I have a lot going on so I need to get these pages done quickly".  That is something that has worked so well for me with this Project Life format.  I can be as creative as I want to be and hand make every thing.  Or not.

This was a "not" week.

That's ok.  I still rock.

Here is the left side:

I used some cards by Recollections (Michaels brand) and some little feltie embellisments from My Little Yellow Bicycle.

The word "week" was cut out with a Memory Box alpha and some Papertrey Ink felt.  The number stickers are some from my stash and are probably quite old!

And here is the right side:

The picture of my friend, Kim was actually taken the Saturday before but it's my Project Life and I can make up the rules as I go.  ;)

I got quite a few pictures of the venue where we will be having our rehearsal dinner so I wanted to include those.

And I love photos of my grandkids sweet little hands!

Here's another journaling card with a little feltie.  Too cute and so simple.

Like I said.... I rock.  (At least in my own grandmother of a mind!)

Happy Crafting!

Ooooh La La...New Pens!

I went to Scrapbook Expo on Saturday and the "had to have" things for me were these pens by Zig.  They are paint pens with  GLITTER in them (sorry, Donna...but I love sheen!)....it is a very fine glitter that stays put!  None of that big chunky stuff that ends up on your face, of course!  Anyway, the pens are called Wink of Stella and this is what they look like:

Wink of Stella also has glitter markers that are sold on Amazon and at Joann.com but these I purchased are pens with a brush tip.  Waaaay cool!!! 

And here is a card I made with them....

This cute little bunny stamp is from Stampotique that I borrowed from a friend.  Isn't he cute?
and here is a close up and now you can better see the sheen...

I love new stuff!  What will they come up with next?!

Happy Crafting!

Happy Birthday!

I'm trying to get a few birthday cards made to actually send and not hoard.

That's the plan....anyway.

This card was made with the Simon Says Stamp Card Kit of the Month for July.  It came with a really cute little birthday themed stamp set although the cutie pie cupcake could be used for other themes, as well, of course!

That little polka dotted circle is actually a stamp, too.  Too cute.
I used all Hero Arts Inks.

I popped the cupcake up on some foam tape.

There is actually some definition to the icing which doesn't show here.  Sorry.  It is what it is!

The little star has some Glossy Accents on it.

One of my tennis teams finished its season today and I was undefeated for 5 of 5 matches played.  That's pretty good for this ol' gal.  It was a fun season and I played some with a new partner which worked out pretty well.  She is the hard hitting, gobble up the ball kind of player and I am touch and placement.  A good complement.

I played another league match the other night and got my rear end handed to me!  LOL!  You do win some and you do lose some.  The girls we played the other night were way better and waaaay younger (youth does have an edge in tennis) and I don't think I would ever beat them unless they got injured and had to withdraw.  And I wouldn't want that! They were nice, they were good and they deserved to win.  Fun, though.

Well, I think I will go work on Project Life for a while!

Happy Crafting!

Where Has the Time Gone?!

This week has just literally flown by!  I didn't have much time for crafting but it's been a good week nonetheless.

Today I went to the venue were my son and his fiance' will get married and we looked over the rehearsal dinner venue, too.  It will be held in a Civil War era home....actually built in 1851 and I think will be a lovely site for a wonderful time.  Lots to do but at least we have the venue booked! 
Here is a picture of the outside:

When General Sherman did his big ol' march to the sea and burned Atlanta nearly to the ground (think Scarlett O'Hara and Gone with the Wind!) he spared this house although a military school built on the site was burned.  I'm glad he left this.  Makes things easier for moi.
It's called Brumby Hall.
See?

It's very pretty on the inside, too.  I think it will be the perfect setting.

Back to paper crafting.  I did make a couple of cards this week.  This was made with the July Simon Says Stamp card kit and was CASED from one Shari Carroll did HERE.  Similar but different, I hope with a few of my own "spins".  LOL

And that is it for today, my friends....
Tomorrow I am going to Scrapbook Expo for some serious shopping with a couple of friends.  I actually am not planning to buy anything.  Yeah, right....

LOL!

Happy Crafting!

Cutie Patootie Bag

My friend, Lynn, of Cattail Designs mentioned that SVGCuts is having a little promotional thing going on right now.  Download a free cut file.  Make it.  Submit a picture of your creation through their website and then get a gift card for $6.99 for use in the SVGCuts store.

The bag is really cute and cut out well on my Cameo.  I think it would be better without white core cardstock but I used some DCWV papers and it is what it is.  I just wanted to get this prototype cut to see if it cut easily.  We are having a wedding next year and this might be cute to hold bridesmaid's gifts or things along those lines.  :) 

It did cut out well and was easy to assemble.

I read where someone did one and added a Coach logo.  How cute!

and a side view:

Fun, fun, fun!!!

Happy Crafting!

Project Life: Week 27

I am now "officially" into the second half of the year.  Can you imagine?!  It's hard to believe half a year is gone.

I met up with my friend, Kim of Basement Stamper yesterday and we spent a day at Archiver's working on our Project Lifes...or is it Project Lives or could it be Projects Life?  :)  She got several pages done.  I got one 2 page layout in about 4 hours but I had so much fun!

Here we are....2 scrapbooking cuties.

And I shopped...

LOL!

Here is the left side:

In honor of Independence Day I used papers from a "free" vintage USA paper kit I had (probably had to spend $38,700.00 to get it for "free") from My Mind's Eye.  Interestingly they aren't papers I'd ordinarily choose but they worked great for PL and I'm happy with the result!

Here is my week card and I used some cork letter stickers I had in my stash.

I made the journaling card below with a Becky Higgins card and just some stuff from the kit as well as a Hero Arts arrow stamp and some Distress Ink.

And here is the right side:

Nothing much ado about the journaling cards....just cut and pasted and glued stuff. 

Happy Crafting!

More Fun with Unity!

I've had a great time with this little Unity Stamp set.  When stamped these images are just so crisp and clean....no smudging at all!

Here is another fun girly card I made.....I have several friends who enjoy their wine/whine and thought this little stacked wine glass set would make a perfect card.  But I decided to send this to my future daughter in law who enoys a glass of wine from time to time....and is in the middle of wedding preparations and probably needs a little unwine-ding!

I love the little printed paper with the circus themed banner....I think wedding planning can be reminiscent of a circus! LOL!

I added some Enamel Accents to the top wine glass for a little more dimension.

And that's it, my friends!

Happy Crafting!

Shall We UnWined? Version 2

Happy Independence Day to all of you living in the USA!

It is a rainy day here in Georgia (do you hear Ray Charles singing?)...I think many picnics have been moved indoors and fireworks displays don't look too promising.   But it IS a great day nonetheless!

We are having ribs for dinner.  I "fake" barbecue them and my family loves them so that will be our little celebration.

Life is good...

Here is another card made with the Archiver's card kit and Unity Stamps.  I love the way these cling stamps stamp...such a clear and crisp image!

I used a LifeStyle Crafts embossing folder for the speech bubble and sanded it to get the image you see here.  I distressed the edges of the background paper...paper pieced the bottle and added some Enamel Accents to the hearts as well as some bling.  And I used a Corner Chomper for the duh...corners.

Easy peasy.  And flat....

Happy Crafting!

Project Life: Week 26

It's official! Half the year is over and I have a full Project Life Album to show for it! Usually at this time of the year I have 12 layouts done.  If I'm lucky and productive!  But with Project Life I have completed 152 pages!!! That includes all the insert pages I've done, as well.  I amaze myself.  LOL!  My friend, Cyndi, can do 152 pages in a weekend but for me that would be impossible.
And thank you to my friend, Donna, for keeping me on track.  She is doing the digital version over HERE and I just love looking at her pages....she keeps me going even though I'm doing the paper version.
I love the paper version.  Sometimes I wish I had done digital.  Much less expensive and less time consuming, I think...and everything is so neat and lined up...but I love my big fat book with twine, ribbon, bling, layers, etc.
I'm happy.

Last week I took a lot of time creating my own journaling cards with stamps.  This week I went the easy and fast way and used premade cards.  I had so many pictures from this week that I just let the pictures do the talking!  I used a lot of templates from the Lily Pad so that I could use many, many photos in my layouts.  I think the templates are fabulous for adding in photos!

Here is the left side:

I used a few overlays from an older pack of Memories brand stuff I had in my stash.

Here is my week card with some Snap! papers by Simple Stories and stitched Thickers.  I also used some stamps from Basic Grey Hello as well as some skinny Washi tape that came with the Simon Says Stamp July Card Kit.

The card below was a piece of a Becky Higgins journaling card on a Simple Stories card which I adhered with staples.  I added the Washi tape and stamped "family" with some Hero Arts alpha stamps.

And t

Here is the right side:

Lots and lots of photos on this page.  The collage on the bottom left is actually a Tracey Larsen template that I changed up a bit (this will be boring for you but it had two long vertical photos and I made the middle vertical into 2 square photos.  Yawn.).
I only used one journaling card.....again the photos speak for themselves, I think...

Halfway there....
Oh, and here is a photo of my fat book:

Now onto Volume 2!

Happy Crafting!