Happy 4th of July

The city's parade is in full swing as I write this. There are floats, bands, cars, cheerleaders, and all the fun that accompanies parades. However, after years of working the parade and going to watch my grandchildren march in their various bands (all on drum line and they're soooo good), I've decided that I can sit parades out for a few years. We will have family and friends over later for a little cookout, and then walk to the bluff on the Lake for fireworks. It gets crazy around here with cars....hundreds if not thousands descend to take advantage of the view the bluff affords. Thankfully, my driveway will accommodate at least seven cars, so no one has to hunt for a spot! How did/do you celebrate our nation's birthday? One thing comes to mind for sure; blueberries, strawberries, and whipped cream...Yum!

I've got a couple of cards to share with you today. The first one celebrates one of blogland's most famous and dearly loved bloggers; Darnell. She just celebrated a birthday, and the lovely Loll has thrown a party on her CAS Watercolor Challenge blog in Darnell's honor. Isn't that just the sweetest?! My second card is headed off to Time Out and Inkspirational.

Since I've blathered on, I'd best get right to the cards now. 

I did a light watercoloring on those pretty blossoms by Poppystamps, and just used plain cardstock. The hand die is from EH, and the Altenew frame was cut from a scrap of patterned paper. I added some nearly clear sequins, but they've shown up pink here. In real life, they're much more complimentary. 

My "three," according to the prompt at Inkspirational, are the three pink flowers in these floral swags. And those flowers fulfill the requirement over at Time Out, too. All the stamps used on this are from a WPlus9 set. I used the matching die, and put sections across the top and bottom. To give it a more CAS look, I added the sentiment close to the larger floral grouping, leaving tons of white space in the center. The flowers and leaves were all watercolored with Zigs. So that's it. Hoping to get a bit caught up on commenting today, so will wish you all a Happy 4th, and as always...

One For CTS

I finished this card over the weekend, but then, like a ton of bricks, the old migraines came to visit. Really ticked me off, too! I have neither the time nor inclination to have them, yet they don't seem to get the message. For any of you migraine sufferers out there, there is a miracle drug called Aimovig which worked like a dream for me....until I became allergic to it (skin stuff, as that's how so many of my allergies manifest). It's a once-monthly injection, and it brought my migraines to about 4 per month, as opposed to 12-18. Please ask your neurologist about this drug if you or any of your friends and/or family needs help with debilitating migraines. It works. And trust me, almost nothing has worked well for me. This did. Don't worry though, my neuro team will be giving me an alternative med probably starting in August (if the darn insurance will cover it!).

I will share my one card before it gets too late do so. Didn't think I could work the sketch at CAS(E) THIS SKETCH, but what do you know, I made something I am quite pleased with. Hope you like it too!

My card looks like this:

I used an MFT paper, and some orange and white scraps. Even though the paper is busy, by keeping all the other elements to a minimum, I think it still has a clean and simple look. The stamp is from Verve, and I used some navy Ranger ink to match the paper...yes, it looks black, but it is really a navy pattern. So QAEPZ! Gotta run, duty calls. As always dear friends...

Finding Minutes

Amid all the hubbub of life, I'm finding minutes to make cards. It's not always easy, and yesterday is a prime example. For those of you who are caregivers to a loved one, you'll get this. It took me nearly all day to get DH ready to go to a doctor's appointment, and then help him recover from it once we got back home. But the good report was worth it. And this morning, while he's still asleep, I have time to post a card and I'm planning on making visits around blogland to see you and leave comments. Cross your fingers that he sleeps in a bit, lol!

This week, Addicted to Stamps and More is celebrating their 7th Birthday! How cool is that?! Congratulations to ATSAM! They've got a cool mood board up, and I was drawn to the upper left photo contained therein.

I went all white and bright:

I used Ellen Hutson's Letterboard for the panel, frame and those letters. And the flowers and leaf sprays are from Reverse Confetti. All the papers are scraps from the files. While a little fussy gluing them down, it still came together fairly quickly. Of course I remembered my double-sided adhesive sheets AFTER I cut all the letters out...duh! I think I'll just chalk it up to a few minutes of therapy and let it go at that, lol! Now, if I want to get around to see what you've made, I'm going to run. Happy Friday, and as always...

Another Day, Another Card!

I'm on a mini-roll. Got another card finished and decided to post it before things get crazy around here. I was inspired by Freshly Made Sketches, and Jacquie who created this week's sketch. At first, I wasn't sure that I could make anything, but then one of my pings went off...

I flipped the sketch to its side and went from there:

I cut my three Poppystamps giraffes using an old snippet of patterned paper. The moon/sun is the reverse of that same paper, and I cut it with a WPlus9 circle die. The gray panel was cut with an MFT rectangle and the sentiment is from Hero Arts. I do like this one. It'll go to one of the grandsons for his upcoming birthday. And before all heck breaks loose, I'm going to run. Have a wonderful Thursday, and as always...

One Card For Today

I know I haven't been around in blogland much as of late. For that I apologize. Life has gotten a bit more busy these days. DH needs a bit more help, and until we get this new "routine" down, I'll be in and posting/commenting when I can. Please bear with me. : )

I have one card for today. I saw a bit ago that Michele played along with The Library Challenge, and fell madly in love with her card. An idea popped into my head, and a card was born... Great inspiration here; take a look:

Now, next to polka dots, I'm in love with stripes! Here's my card:

I went pretty much CAS, and decided not to use pink; it just didn't work with my design. I used a die set from Jane Davenport called Tadah. I found black scraps for all the black bits you see, and an MFT striped scrap for the skirt as well as a smidgen of red for the cumberbund. A few flat, red sequins finishes this off. So EZPZ. Hope you all are enjoying these last few days of Spring, and as always...

Twofer Challenge #17

Well hello everyone! Who knew just how many things had wheels?!! Your cards were amazing and I can't wait to see what you all create for this month's Twofer Challenge:

Now, I think I have eleventyhundred stamp sets, but can you believe I had to do a little shopping to buy a set that contained bees?  How sad is that...not!! I found a cute little set by Memory Box. It was exactly what I was looking for. Let's have a look at my twofer:

My Birthday card:

My Thank You card:

For my first card, I used that bee set for the bees and found an AE flower that felt just right to me. The letters are from an EH set and are little die cuts. The gingham paper is from MFT.

For my second card, I just used one bee. I found that gray paper in my paper tower, and the yellow is a scrap. The sentiment is also from that same set. The rectangle and circle dies are both MFT. 

See how easy it is to use the same stamp and make two differently designed cards for two different occasions?! Not so hard! I know you'll want to stop by and see the rest of the DT's cards, as well as those by our Guest Designer. I'm looking forward to your cards in the gallery. As always...

Twofer Challenge #16

Thanks for joining us last month for the Twofer Challenge. Your zoo animals were amazing, and it was so much fun to see all the different designs. Our brains are so darn creative, aren't they?!! This month, our prompt can take you (literally!) anywhere you want to go! Have a look:

 

I had a few cars in my stash of stamps, but they didn't call my name. I went through the list of wheely-thingies in my head... Cars, trucks, Ferris, color, steering, of fortunes, bikes...well you get the idea. Nothing struck my fancy. Then I remembered an older PTI set with an airplane and knew it had at least one visible wheel! Yep. That was just the ticket for me! See for yourself:

And individually:

This little airplane definitely has "wheels." For the birthday card, I have to tell you I was so inspired by another blogger, Andrea Tracy-Tucker. I just had to CASE one of her cards, which you can find on her blog here. I used all scraps for this card, except for that pretty plaid. That was an ancient 12x12. All MFT dies except for the leafy thingy around the circle; that's a Little B. There are three gray enamel dots, a bit of twine, and done.

For the second card, I grabbed a green polka dotted scrap for the hills. The clouds are LF scalloped edges and the 'flying by...' is also from LF. The sun is from Hello Bluebird, the plane and his banner are PTI, and I did some Copic coloring. I added dots around the clouds just because. And there you have it. One stamp, two different designs, for two different occasions. 

Sure hope to see you in the Twofer gallery. Do come and play! And as always...

One Card Today

For whatever reason, my mojo went missing. And then it was time to get things in order for Easter. We'll see how things go the rest of the week! I've got one sweet CAS card to share today is all. It will head off to The Paper Players challenge, and Always Fun Challenges.

Here's my card:

I first stamped EH's little lady onto some green and white flowered paper, and fussy cut the sweater and leggings. On the white panel I stamped her again, and used Copics to color the rest and then glued down her sweater and leggings. I cut the panel with an MFT Wonky frame die and added a sentiment from Sunny Studios. And that's all for now. Thanks for stopping by and I'm planning on visiting with your blogs in just a bit. As always...