You're A Sweetheart

I had a few moments on Sunday and was able to make a card just because.

Paper: notecard (Hero Arts); cardstock (PTI; Neenah)
Ink: various Faber-Castell markers; HA Punch chalk ink; Memento Tuxedo Black; Copic markers
Stamps: Hero Arts (S5213 - Dots & Flowers; CL402; LL736 - Papillons)
Other: black jute (Michaels); corner rounder

I used a number of different markers on the background "Dots & Flowers" stamp.  The butterfly is coloured in with Copics.  The rest is self-explanatory.

Sorry I am a bit short and to the point today, I just think  I am tired, with a growing To Do List.  I went to bed close to midnight last night with a clipboard and several pieces of paper attached with various headings: "Garage Sale items"; "Change of Address required"; "items to give away"; "Follow up on shipment/dog transport etc.........." and I can never sleep when Michael is not home (come along Friday)!  Aagh, the joys of moving, again and again....

Wishing you all a fabulous day!

Hugs

I think this card can be used in this months' Hero Arts contest as the theme is Sunshine and Showers and my  card is sunshiny (a word?)!  So, a flowery Springy card for you today it is.

Paper: cardstock (PTI); Neenah; designer paper (Lawn Fawn - Bright Side)
Ink: various distress inks; Versafine Onyx Black; versamark
Stamps: Hero Arts (S5507 - Envelope Pattern; CG247 - Edged Fabric with Flowers; CG270 - Flower Bird Garden; CL381 - Sentiment)
Other: corner rounder; twine (PTI); heart punch (EK Success); brads; paper flowers

The notecard is stamped with the Envelope Pattern and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  The Flower Bird Garden is clear embossed on white cardstock and coloured with sponge daubers and various distress inks.  The little heart was punched out of some cardstock on which I had stamped the Edged Fabric with Flowers with some HA chalk ink.

On a slightly different note and because I love to find ways to support good, honest, genuine and talented people....our (Lisa & I) personal trainer at 24Fitness, Cooper Wade, we found out, is also a Country Music singer!  And today, his new single, "You and Me on a Beach Towel" just released on iTunes.  So, for those of you who like country and love to support new found talent, you can go HERE to take a listen.  He is good!

Have a fabulous day!

So Much Fun

(Side Note - I am selling some stamps, just click on the "items for sale" tab at the top)

I am having fun with this months' Hero Arts Contest, especially the sketches, can you tell?  And I am definitely gravitating towards one particular sketch.

Watching Julie's video on the Hero Arts blog about paper piecing, looking at her lovely whimsical card and just listening to her happy and bubbly voice, I was inspired to make a card using paper piecing and more of the scraps lying in my basket.

Here is what I made:

Paper: cardstock (PTI); designer paper (Lawn Fawn; MME; Other)
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Stamps: Hero Arts (CL377 - sentiment; CG128 - Three Flowers)
Other: Washi Tape (Freckled Fawn); scalloped edge punch (Stampin' Up)

I did turn the sketch upside down and I also placed the sentiment in a different area.

Don't you love that little sky filled with clouds and hearts?!  It's two strips of Washi Tape from Freckled Fawn!  After laying down those strips at the top I stamped the flower.  Then I stamped it again 4 times on different pieces of patterned paper!  Now, I am a bit conservative with my paper and I don't stamp the entire image on patterned paper to just cut out the two green leaves for example.   I just stamp that area of the image and cut it out.

I don't often make whimsical type cards but I like this flower, it's nice and big and well, just the perfect flower!  I hope you like it too!

I hope you are having a wonderful day and doing some of the things you love to do!  I am slowly working through my craft room, making mental notes about what I want to take as airfreight to tide me over once we are back in South Africa.  The seafreight, once it leaves Houston, will take anything from 10 to 12 weeks!  And there is no way I can wait that long to make "stuff", so I am going to forfeit on clothing and pack more crafty goodness into my suitcases too!  You would too wouldn't you?!

Hero Arts April Contest

I found a scrap of patterned paper in my basket which was big enough to use in one of the sketches from this month's Hero Arts contest so I came up with this very simple card.

Paper: notecard (Hero Arts); designer paper (not sure); Neenah Solar White

Ink: Hero Arts Poppy Chalk ink; Versafine Onyx Black

Stamps: Hero Arts (CG328 - Butterflies & Print; CL342)

Other: jute (Michaels); Dimensional Squares

I like that little journalling tag in the set, in this case it represents the sun to me.  As I mentioned, this is really the ultimate simple card!  So I have nothing to ramble on about today!

Wishing you a fabulous day!

Tina's 90 Minute Scramble

Tina is the lovely lady hosting the 90 Minute Scramble over at the Hero Arts Flickr site HERE today. She provided us with a gorgeous inspiration photo:

I totally focused on the 3 main colours and the idea of flowers and came up with this:

Paper: cardstock (PTI)
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black; Spun Sugar & Worn Lipstick distress ink
Stamps: Hero Arts
Other: clear embossing powder; washi tape (Freckled Fawn); ribbon (SSS April card kit ); gem brad (old stash)

I had just received some Washi Tape from Freckled Fawn, (their store is worth looking at, you could get carried away!).  And the colours on this cute little roll, called "Love Graph" totally matched the colours I wanted to use.  And on my desk was the green ribbon I had received in my April Simon Says Stamp Card kit.

The flower was an easy decision, I love all my flower stamps from Hero Arts.  The flower is heat embossed, there are two parts to the flower.  Both were water coloured with distress inks and then I went over the centre flower with the darker Worn Lipstick.  The white panel is adhered with some dimensional foam squares.

I hope that you are all having a wonderful Easter weekend.  We are experiencing the most beautiful weather, so much so that my daughter now wants to get in the pool!  So I am off to see what the water temperature feels like because I DO NOT like cold swimming water!

Deepest Sympathy

As I was playing around with the papers in my BasicGrey 6X6 pack, "Little Black Dress", I decided to use another one of the pretty desings and made a sympathy card to add to my stock.

Paper: cardstock (PTI); patterned paper (BasicGrey)
Ink: Latte Chalk Ink (HA); Versafine Onyx Black
Stamps: Hero Arts
Other: Corner rounder

I did some 2nd generation stamping to get that effect, it's a really cool technique to use with leafy designs I find.  I also love how kraft cardstock works so well with this specific paper pack.

Well, I just got the good news that yesterday we became the official owners of our new home in South Africa!!!  And in a few hours we officially become "NOT the owners" of this house in Houston as the Closing happens this morning!  Who could have asked for more perfect timing!

Off to the gym with my workout partner Lisa in a little while!  We are going to do our arm workout today and boy, it's a challenging one but all worth it!  So, are you exercising today?  Maybe just a little bit?  As I always say, any movement counts, but you have to move!  It's good for you!

Have a wonderful day  and thank you for your wonderful visits to my blog!

For Marcy & Bobby

Marcy is a cyber friend over at the Hero Arts Flickr group HERE, she also has a blog HERE.  I don't really know Marcy, but I see her beautiful work in the gallery and read her discussions that she posts, and comments she makes.  Well, she brought it to our attention that April is "Donate an Organ" month and then briefly mentioned that in 2004 her hubby donated one of his organs to her!

I don't know what that feels like, I can only maybe begin to imagine it.

Wow!  That somehow just spoke to me and made me quite introspective and emotional and all these sentences of gratitude just formed in my mind and my hands mechanically started making a card for Marcy, and for Bobby, in the colours of blue and green for this particular cause.

This is to Bobby, whom I do not know, I hope he does not mind:

For loving your wife so much that you shared part of your body with her,
For putting yourself second in our ever growing selfish world,
For suffering for another,
For being such an incredible human being,
For reminding us what it is like to love unconditionally,
For being the person that you are!

It's not about the card, so I am not going to ramble on about how I made this tiny gesture of recognition for what Bobby did for Marcy! All I do want to say is that the centre image to me shows how Bobby's love simply radiates un-endingly for his wife!

Thank you for visiting, I had to write the words down.

You Mean So Much To Me

Well, hubby leaves again tomorrow, hence my heart automatically went for that sentiment when making a card today.  My little girl has not been well so I kept her at home today and whilst she was napping I managed to make this card.

Paper: cardstock (PTI); patterned paper (Lawn Fawn); Neenah; Text page from a book
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Copics
Stamps: Hero Arts (CL278; LL736 - Papillon)
Other: gems (Michaels); Gesso; Dimensional squares

I enjoyed making a card just because I wanted to and I liked the simple design.  I've never used Gesso before, I still don't really know how to maximise it's uses in terms of card making, but today I used it to basically strengthen that piece of text paper before stamping on it.  I also adhered the text paper to some white cardstock for extra weight and then adhered that to the card base with dimensional squares.

I was so happy to find perfect matching gems.

Lisa and I are taking some sessions with a gym instructor, together.  I love it, mostly because it gives me extra time with my awesome friend.  But we also get to giggle a lot together and also it's nice to know that you are both "hurting" as much after a great workout!  I am pretty sure that later this evening we will be texting each other about how sore our arms are!

I'll leave you with another collage of our Disney holiday.

Left to Right: Love how they created that San Francisco backdrop, so real; Adore that silhouette of Natasha - it was a funny show; Gloria Estafan's restaurant - had some nice food; Heading to Downtown Disney for the Cirque Du Soleil - La Nuba; Natasha had great fun in the "Honey I shrunk the kids" playground; A photo that Natasha took of us, she is quite good!

More Flowers

Trying to get my act together to play along with this awesome challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays. We are to use pastels with some black!  I'm not sure whether the colours I used are considered pastels or not but I wanted to make this card anyhow.  And seeing as it's all about flowers I think I'll put it into the Hero Arts Monthly contest and the Lily Pad/Simon Says Stamp Challenge too which is to use flowers!

Paper:cardstock (PTI); notecard (Hero Arts); Neenah
Ink:Versafine Onyx Black; Tombow markers
Stamps:Hero Arts (CL493- sentiment; CG362 - Bold Flowers)
Other:bird die (Memory Box)

The colours did not come out clearly on the photo because the one flower is yellow and not lime green, and the other is pink and not that orangey colour!

However, I did want to leave you with some really beautiful flowers that we saw yesterday when we drove up to Independence.

Hope you enjoyed this splash of colour!  Have a wonderful day!

Little Flowers

I am in a flowery mood, so this card is going to be entered into the current Hero Arts Monthly contest, Virginia's View #3 challenge (which is what actually inspired the card) and Lily Pads/Simon Says Stamp Flower Challenge! 

It's a very simple card, a la me!  I decided to look for a small flower stamp in one of my Hero Arts sets and found this one in the Special Note of Thanks set (CL499).

Paper: cardstock (PTI); Neenah
Ink: Iris chalk ink (Hero Arts); Memento Tuxedo Black; Copics
Stamps:Hero Arts (CL499); PTI(Post Marks)
Other:dimensional tape

As you can see all I did was stamp the flower 5 times and colour each one in with a colour from Virginia's inspiration photo.  That middle flower is yellow, not sure why it looks lime greenish!

It's a beautiful warm day here with bright blue skies.  I got a very nice run in this morning in thick mist, it left me feeling like I was running in England somewhere on a cold morning except it wasn't cold!

I hope you all have a fabulous day!

A Flower Card

Perfect, a flower card that I can submit to two challenges!  For some reason I am not feeling overly inspired at the moment and yet I really want to make cards!  Do you ever feel that way?  Maybe it's because of being away for Spring Break, I have to get back in the groove.

So, after spending a good day an a half with my MIL, I did manage to make a card this afternoon.  I coloured in the flower with my Derwent pencil crayons and used some Gamsol to blend the colours a bit.  (I was doing this whilst watching Idols from this week and I have to tell you that I am not a happy person right now about who they voted out!  There was most definitely a certain comedian who really, really (in my opinion) needed to be voted out for totally undermining the efforts of the other contestants  by his constant lack of respect for the actual competition!  Anyhow, that's minor in my life, but the sad thing is that it is not minor in the lives of the contestants who really and truly see music as their life!)

Anyway, here is my card for both the current Lily Pad/Simon Says Stamp challenge over HERE and the Hero Arts monthly contest over HERE.

Paper: cardstock (PTI); Neenah Solar White; designer paper (MME)
Ink:Versafine Onyx Black; Derwent colour pencils
Stamps:Hero Arts (Stencil Flower CG194; CL342)
Other:clear embossing powder; buttons (HA); Flax Twine (The Twinery); MFTborder die

I love how Gamsol blends the colours so nicely.  It was nice to play with this flower again, it's been a while!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend planned.  Tomorrow I  am going running in the morning, then going to the gym with Lisa to listen to a talk on healthy nutrition.  Hoping that on Sunday we go to somewhere near Brennan to see the Blue Bonnets!

Thanks so much for popping in for a visit and I am so thrilled to see some new visitors.  I am just waiting on a few stamps and then I will be posting maybe more than one Giveaway!

Blossom Etchings

We are back in one piece from a week at Disney World!  What a whirlwind of activity!  Running a marathon would have been much easier!  Don't go during any school holidays, that would be my best advice!  But it was fun, a once in a lifetime type of trip.  I'll share some more photos in upcoming days.

Actually, Lisa and I managed to meet up at the lodge we were both staying at for a few quick photos.  Here is one:

I'm so happy to have a friend like Lisa!  It's going to be heart wrentching to say goodbye! But for the moment we will enjoy every minute we can spend together.

Onto a set of cards I managed to finish off today. I had started them just before we left.  Here is a photo of one of the four.

Paper: cardstock (PTI- vintage cream); Neenah; patterned paper (MME - Lost &Found:Market Street)
Ink: Copics; Memento Tuxedo Black; Antique Linen distress ink
Stamps:Hero Arts (Blossom Etchings LL754; CL342)
Other: pearls; corner chomper

I wanted to keep these cards quite simple in their design.  Those flowers are so pretty and the patterned paper is equally beautiful, so there is not really too much "dressing up" to do.  Here is a collage of the four cards in the set.  I used a scalloped edge punch in some as well as a PTI die.

I'll enter these into this months Hero Arts contest.  You still have time to play.

It's warming up here in Houston.  I went for a 10 mile run on very tired legs this morning at 7am and it was already 79F!  That heat really makes a difference to ones running ability!  I better get used to it as my next race is on the 1st of April!

Thank you to those who took the time to visit my blog whilst I was away!  That was incredibly nice of you.  As you can imagine I have some catching up to do, but I'll get there.  So good to be back!

Thank You Flowers

Don't you just love these tall flowers from Hero Arts!  They are begging to be dressed with a pearl!  I think I'll enter this into this months Hero Arts contest as the theme is flowers.

And I adore that the patterned paper has those circular designs on it to mimmic the flowers!  Love the colours too!

We are making our way back home from Disney right now!  I cannot wait to download all my photos and just browse through them over and over again!  Hopefully I managed to get some good ones as I am totally amateurish!

Speak again soon!  Hugs to you all!

Hello Fern

I love my Three Ferns wooden stamp from Hero Arts and got it out to make this card:

Paper: cardstock (PTI); pp (TPC Studio)
Ink: Hero Arts Latte & Iris chalk ink
Stamps: Hero Arts (Three Ferns S5154; sentiment CL342)
Other: Rustic Twine; Tiny Tags (PTI); Large Scallop Die (PTI)

I have no idea whether a Fern would be considered a flower now that I have to actually think about it, so not really sure if it fits into this months' theme at Hero Arts.

I like the touch of purple on the ends of the ferns, (just be careful as it does contaminate the chalk ink pad when you do that!) Where are my Distress Ink Markers?????I have ordered them, and they should be coming very soon.

It's grey, windy and wanting to rain, one of those days that look like a Soup or coffee day....until you step outside and realise how warm it actually is.

My daughter is having her class photos done today and wanted a very specific hairdo!!!!  Not really sure it's up my alley, but this is about her right, her character, not me wanting a picture perfect moment...oh, and of course, it comes without saying that there has to be THE POSE!

Have a wonderful day!

Listen To Your Soul

Yes, I had to use that birdie again and also the beautiful MME papers from the Simon Says Stamp March Card Kit of the Month.  I just love the colours! (I'll add this to the SSS Challenge  of "Anything Goes" , it's not too late to play along, I think you have two days left).

Paper: Hero Art Pool notecard; Kraft (PTI); MME
Ink: Versamark
Stamps: Hero Arts (Silhouette Grass)
Other: Stampin' Up Scalloped Edge Punch; Memory Box Die; Corner Chomper; Gems

I purposely did not stamp a sentiment as I just love the saying on the actual paper.

We have a beautiful blue sky day today.  It's currently in the 40's but apparently we are heading to the upper 70's!  Hubby gets home on Friday, can't wait!

Wishing you all a very special Sunday!

Love You

I was very touched to find out that Agata has nominated me for the Liebster Award!  That was so sweet and kind of her, and I will make sure to pass it on to those creative people out there who constantly inspire and motivate me, some of them unknowingly!  (I'll do that in another post as I need to rush off to my daughters Rodeo Show at school today!)

As we browse through blogs our brains pick up on ideas that we then use in some shape or form later, without making the connection where that inspiration comes from!  Of course, sometimes, when we are very LOW on mojo, we ask permission to CASE someone to give us a kickstart!  I am thankful to so many of you out there for constantly inspiring me and helping me to look at something in a different way, thank you! 

Here is a card I made using a Purple Onion Design stamp.  It's one of the beautiful flowers that came in the Pot-a-Flower set!  It's nice and big and I did not want to add anything to it.

(Edit: it appears I forgot to mention that I was adding this card to the current SSS Challenge which is Anything Goes!  Sorry!  Thank you Mandy for pointing it out!)

I simply coloured the flower with my Copic markers and matted it on a piece of patterned paper (still trying to get rid of all those scraps) before adhering it to my notecard which was stamped with the Hero Arts Envelope Pattern stamp in their Iris Chalk ink.  That bold sentiment is from Papertrey Ink!  I eventually got that set, I have been looking at it since it was released, a LONG time ago!

Ok, got to go, or else I am going to be late!

Have a really super Friday!

Exotic Blooms

This is Part 2 of yesterday's card.  Like I said, I cut into a 6 X 6 page and made two cards with it.  So this is my second card which I will also submit to Simon Says Stamp's current challenge with is "Anything Goes".

Paper: Sweet Threads (BasicGrey); Neenah solar white; Paper Studio notecard
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black; Spun Sugar, Bundled Sage, Dried Marigold, Walnut Stain Distress ink; Versamark
Stamps: Exotic Bloom (Hero Arts); PTI 2011 Anniversary set (sentiment)
Other: Pearls  (old stash); pearlized spray; Corner Chomper

I simply used the emboss resist technique and applied a variety of distress inks to the image.

Oh, and I have just realised that Hero Arts has published their March contest, it's all about flowers (or a colour palette or technique), you can see all the details HERE.  So I am going to submit it to that challenge too, getting an early start!

Wishing you a really fabulous day!

Friends Forever

I made this card with the current Hero Arts contest in mind, it ends tomorrow night.  I used one of their sketches to prompt me as well as the theme of friendship, and I think it worked out well.

I used Hero Arts designer paper to make the actual notecard, die cutting it with one of my larger Nestabilitie shapes.  The sentiment strip was made using PTI Kraft cardstock and clear embossing the True Friends cling stamp on it. I felt that I did not need to add any additional sentiment, the paper and the stamp say it all.

My favourite butterfly from Antique Engravings was stamped on blue cardstock from We R Memory Keepers and white embossed.  I added a bit of waxy flax from CTMH under the butterfly and then adhered the butterfly with foam adhesive and doing the same to the sentiment strip.  A few Hero Art pearls and some final edging with some Vintage Photo distress ink and I was happy.

Tomorrow is looking like it's going to be a busy day, hence why I am posting twice today, just in case I forget !

Wishing you a wonderful day!  It's now a few minutes short of midnight so I am going to bed!

A Layout

I promised myself that this year I would serioulsy do my best to scrap our photos as memories for Natasha (and for me whist I am still on earth!).  Scrapbooking does not come easy to me, it's a real effort.  Just the thought of embellishing drives me crazy!  But, I'm trying.  I'm playing around with various versions, so I do 8 X 8's, 12 X 12's and a version of Project Life.  It all depends what mood I am in.

But coming up with a layout is tough, so I have been looking around the web for some ideas and came across Becky Fleck.  She has a blog called Pagemaps and I am using the sketch she put up for this month, which also happens to be a challenge, so I'll submit my amateur attempt!  Here is the sketch followed by my layout.  Oh yes, photographing a layout is going to require some practice, I'm trying by using a camera and scanning and neither is satisfactory in my opinion.

And here is my attempt.

Papers: Colorbox, Basic Grey

Supplies: PTI dies, PTI Tiny Tags, PTI stamps, MFT die, Button (Pebbles), Tiny Alphabet stickers (Cosmo Cricket), twine (PTI), EK Success border punch, flags ( a gift from Michelle)

I'll be away for a few days as we are going to Austin to run the Half Marathon this weekend.  I am really looking forward to it.  This one is for pleasure, we are not chasing any time limit, just a weekend run.  Our next race is on the 1st of April and that is the one that we want to go all out in to try and improve on our January time.

Wishing you all a fabulous long weekend and many hours of happy crafting!



Life is Precious

Oh my heart is like jelly!  This was last night, Natasha was exhausted. That face, those two faces! They mean the world to me.  Life is filled with precious moments like these!

Now onto a card I made using some Hero Arts stamps.

I stamped the larger clock using black  ink onto the notecard to create a background.  The designer paper is MME. I then heat embossed, in black, the smaller clock and sentiment.

A masculine card, which I challenge myself to make from time to time.

Sorry to keep it short again today, just a lot on my plate and on my mind!  Have a fabulous day!