Trying to be Normal

I'm trying to be a little more "normal" these days. Well...as normal as I can be, lol!! Went to see my Electrophysiologist (a type of cardiologist) a couple of weeks ago, and while my heart has healed from my ablation, I've got something 'new and completely different' going on with my heart. Nothing serious, or so he says, but I'm wearing a heart monitor 24-7 for 30 days. It's mostly not bad, except at night when it drops off the bed. And I've hired a housekeeper. She cleans like I do and is as anal retentive as I am about those certain areas in the house. You know...those places that HAVE to be ultra super duper clean. *happy sigh* It's nice to know that I'm not the only one in the world who is 'slightly' crazy about those things. Behind the bar in the basement, well, who cares, right?! But kitchen sinks should sparkle....

Oh! You came here for cards, didn't you?! I've got a couple and will get right down to it, with much less chatter. I'm playing along with Sunday Stamps Challenge with this first one.

Love me some scallops...

I used my AE scalloped die for the wavy blue panel and trimmed the other papers with it too. Not sure about the wavy paper or the grass (cut with an MFT grass die),  but the little polkie dots are from LF. All the stamps, except the sentiment are from Hello Bluebird. Just sweet. And that sentiment is from A Muse Stamps. On to my second card...

This one will go to The Card Concept and SSS Wednesday Challenge: 

A bit of a ping and the card was made!

I went a little Clean and Layered for this card. Lots of white space. The stamps and matching dies are all from Ellen Hutson. All colored with Copics, and the Polaroid frame is a TE. And while you can't see it, the rainbow and unicorn are all spiffed up with a little Wink of Stella. This one makes me smile. Hope it makes you smile too. And I've got a million things to do, so I'm going to shut up now. As always, dear friends....

Pinkfresh Challenge and Stamptember

I needed a day to just craft and not worry about what is/was not getting done around my house. Found this challenge via Shelly at Sweet Greetings (hi Shelly!!!), and since I have some Pinkfresh stamps and dies which needed a good inking up, I thought, "Why not?!" The September Challenge there would like participants to create a card (in my case) inspired by a member of the Design Team. I found a card by Natasha Valkovskaya, that I fell madly in love with. This is the link to that card; it can be found at her IG account. And for some reason unbeknownst to me, I can't seem to copy the photograph and show you here...But trust me, it's well worth a look!!

My card looks like this:

All the stamps are from Pinkfresh Studio. I crooked stamped the vase on a scrap of striped paper. Thought it had a more whimsical look that way. The flowers are watercolored with my Ziggies but rather than the more blush color, the pinks are pretty close to the light pink stripe in the vase. *sigh* I just added a few clear sequins for a smidgen of sparkle and done! 

Last week I quickly whipped up a birthday card for my granddaughter. She's now a senior in high school and likes purple. I photographed it just because I liked this card, and that was fortuitous, as over at Simon Says Stamp, it's Stamptember. One of their challenges for the month is to use a Neat & Tangled product, and this card so happens to be solely N&T!

And my card:

This is a NBUS set called Floral Frames. I did a little Copic coloring on several leaves, but used Zigs for the rest, as well as the flowers. I really, really like this set! 

And I'm off. Need to get at least a few things done today! Have a good one, and as always...

Twofer Challenge #9

Before I get to the heart of this post, I wanted to offer my sincere thanks for all your thoughts, prayers, and the lovely cards you've sent. I'm happy to report that my cardiac ablation went well, and that the doctors were able to take care of those parts of my heart which were triggering a very deadly rapid heartbeat. The tiredness from the anesthesia has gradually worn off, the puncture sites have healed, and the after effects of the procedure (mostly shortness of breath and a teensy bit of chest pain) are all but gone! So all is good with me! Thanks be to God!!

Now. The reason you're here... It's Twofer Challenge time again, and Darnell and the rest of the DT has some pretty spectacular cards to show you for this month's prompt, which is:

While this challenge runs, it will officially become Fall in this part of the world. Such a pretty time of year, and I'm so blessed to live in an area with four very different seasons. Fall has become one of my favorite times. Maybe it's the crisp air. Maybe it's the color or the crunch of the leaves. I'm not sure why, but it is such a special season. ( I suppose it could be the pumpkin pie too, lol!!) Anyway, I've got some leafy cards to show you:

Here they are together

And here they are individually

Don't ask me why my brain went all salmon-colored polka dotty for that first card...it just did. I'll admit I do like the way it turned out though. It makes a really nice anniversary card - chock full of love! My second card will be sent to family members who can't make it to our Thanksgiving feast. 

Both cards use the same stamp and die set from The Stamp Market. I used just the die on the first card, and the matching stamp for the second, along with other sized leaves from the same set. 

The salmon-colored polka dotted paper is from LF, and the center panel is from an unknown 12x12 sheet. I added a black 'frame,' a tiny punched out heart, and a snippet of black twine to the leaf. The sentiment on the Thanksgiving card is from SSS, and I used all my Fall colored inks to create a giant leaf pile. Looks fun enough to jump in, doesn't it?!!

Be sure to check out the sweet cards created by our Guest Designers Susan and Linda, as well as the rest of the Design Team over at the Twofer Challenge. And play along with us! There are soooo many possibilities for this prompt! See you in the gallery, and as always...