Two cards

Two cards with lots of white space today. It's opening day for the Pirates who are hosting my genetically favorite team, the Cubs. I can't help but be a Cubs fan, it's kind of a hereditary thing. Great Grandma, Grandpa, Dad, and now me. A few of my kids are too, and I've been teaching my Brewers influenced grandkids the "Go, Cubs, Go" song. But enough baseball...for now...

First card up is pretty full of shades of white. A few pops of color, but mostly white. This was my take on the very serene photo over at TIME OUT Challenge. Check this out...

Now, while I like butterflies, I don't own many suitable butterfly stamps. So I cut one out on my Silhouette. All the different shades of white, either from shadows or different items called out to me. As did the white painted paneled wall. Here's my take:

Every stitch of paper, except for the Neenah white base are from the two scrapboxes. I know that the dp is from a 6x6 Authentique pad, and the scored, woodgrain is from Gina K., and the white frame is a left-over from a die cut. A bit of Karen Foster twine, HA stamp with PTI ink. The photo is a little dark, but when I lightened it, the woodgrain faded. So bear with me on this one.

Up next, I'm playing over at the Card Concept before the deadline passes, and also at CAS(E) this Sketch, and Less is More. As I need to get ready to head over and have my taxes done, I'll keep the rest of this short. 

      

You can see the requirements for the first two, and then over at LIM, the theme is 'round & 'round. Here's my take:

Again, all scraps except for the Neenah white base. The baseball was cut with my Silhouette, and the font was computer generated. A TE polaroid die for the frame around the baseball. Not quite CAS. I'd call it clean and layered, as there are several layers of cs on the focal point. And with that, I'll stop now. Happy dances everyone.

A Wink and a Nod

Sunday afternoon. Sunny day, NCAA tourney entertaining the DH, and an easy dinner to make tonight. I'm in my craft room and all's right with the world. I've been seeing posts by fellow crafters, who have been playing along at the Cure for the Monday Blues Challenge, over at the most wonderful and talented Taheerah Atchia's (aka 'Little Miss T) blog, Fill Your Paper With the Breathings of Your Heart. It's already challenge #10, and I can't believe I've missed this many of them. As it is, I'll be squeaking in right as the deadline looms. Check out the incredible inspiration photo:

What a charming room! So full of inspiration too. I've picked out the damask, tucked in the shelving unit, the bits of yellow and pink, plus the blues. Oh, and lest I forget, the chandelier. 

The "wink" in my post title is for the Wink of Stella, which covers the chandelier (and naturally didn't photograph well...), and the "nod" was to the sequins I spilled and as I was cleaning them up, just liked the way they looked. I know, I know, it's a little girlyish. But I still liked it. The blue cardstock is from olden times, it's manufacturer long forgotten. Neenah white base and scrap. PS orange cardstock. The chandelier is a cut file I got from the Silhouette store, a scrap of orange ribbon, three random sequins, and one bling from Kaisercraft. The stamp is from Gina K., and orange Versacolor ink. Oh!, and the dp is from Theresa Collins. So that's it. Happy Dances everyone!!

Two for Tuesday

Oh...such an original title...not so much....Have been wrestling with Mr. Mojo, and finally wrung a couple of cards out of him. And let me tell you, it was like pulling teeth to get them. You be the judge. Should I have let him rest, or was the fight worth it?

The first one is very CAS. I do like the colors of it. It's going into the Lawnscaping Challenge, where our cards are to be made with the CAS style. It will also go into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge where we're to use glitter. Check mark on that part too.

   

And here's my card:

I had an old piece of glittery striped scrapbook paper that I'm no longer hoarding and used a PTI die to cut the word 'birthday'. The stamp is LF, and I've used some Studio G green ink, and last, a few SC sequins. Irl, it's prettier. Another bad photo -- oh pooh!

Next, I wanted to play along with the AEI{heart}U Challenge. This week we're challenged to use an ombre or gradient effect. Though mine didn't photograph as well as I would have liked it to, the green is actually bit of ombre dp.

The stamps and dies are AE, stamps that I simply love. SU black ink, Copic markers to color the flowers, and a few of them have been popped up with dots. That dp is from Dear Lizzy, which always makes me smile when I read that, as one of my darling granddaughters is certainly a 'dear Lizzy!' Gotta run for today, but I hope you all have time for some happy dances today.

Happy (Belated) Birthday Kim!

We've another sneaky unteller of birthdays among us! Yes, you heard right! Besides Anita, we have Miss Kim of Cupcakes, Cards and Kim who didn't let on that her birthday was upon us. Silly girl! We LOVE to party, and such a sweetheart to celebrate, too! So in my own fashion, I'm throwing you a little party, Kim, and I hope you enjoy it!

Hmmmm......let's see......

Since Kim loves soup, and it's been a long, cold winter, let's start there. A few yummy varieties -- I know!!!...Let's make this a SOUPER BIRTHDAY PARTY!!! Mmmm-mmmm Good!

And naturally, we need some good, hearty bread to go with our soups...

Sure hope everyone left room for dessert! Because we've got some scrumptious delights coming up. And 

in honor of her blog name, they're all CUPCAKES!!!! Go ahead, pick your favorite(s), indulge...all of these are calorie and fat free!

Gotta have a card to go along with all this lovely food and sweet cupcakes. So I decided I'd try to CASE one of Kim's cards. Her cards are amazing, and I'll admit that I fell madly in love with this one:

So Kim, Happy birthday, and here's hoping you have the best year ever! : )

Surprise, Maria!!! Happy Birthday!!!

Someone, actually Someone Special, has a birthday today. You all know her, it's Maria from reislingmama. (How's that for a fun blog name?!!) And it's one of those 'ending-in-zeros' birthdays... Shirley Bampton, from shirley-bee's stamping stuff has organized a wonderful surprise party for her, including a link so that we can put the cards we make to help celebrate Maria all in one place! So sweet of Shirley to do that! Be sure to stop on over at Shirley's blog to see more of this party! Dang!, I just love parties!!!

Our 'birthday girl' is pretty awesome. Maria is a talented cardmaker, she's been published, and since I "met" her, I've found that she's about one of the sweetest ladies out in blogland! As a newbie blogger, Maria welcomed me with open arms, encouraged me with kind comments and passed on the Leibster Award to me. Can I just say that she made me cry with that wonderful gesture?!! A girl originally from the Midwest, she's warm, funny, caring, and adventuresome. I love her card making style. Very cool. Eclectic, whimsical, modern, soft, sweet, and fearless (and lest I forget, Maria is the undisputed Queen of Bokeh)! If you're reading this blog, and haven't clicked on her link either in the paragraph above, or in my right sidebar, you really must. See how she puts her soul into the cards she makes. I think that's what I like most about Maria's work. You can see her soul there.

I so wanted to CASE this gorgeous bokeh card, but all I ended up doing was staring at it on my computer monitor for what felt like hours. But now, it's time to get this party started! Have a stroll beneath a series of bokeh arches, and come on along as we celebrate Maria. Happy Birthday my friend.

The card below is one I chanced upon when I knew I wanted to attempt to CASE one of her cards as a little birthday tribute. I studied it. Loved the colors, the whimsy, and wonderful textures found here. After a bit, I actually read the post which accompanied it. And about fell out of my chair. In it, she speaks of "pings," a word which I use when an idea literally pings into my brain! You can read that post here. And as a coincidence, one of Maria's friends was celebrating a banner birthday too, hence, her card!

And this is the card I made for Maria. Happy birthday, my friend. It's mighty, awfully good to have to join my decade! Hope your day year is as wonderful as you are!

Second on Saturday

I've been thinking about this card all week. When I met Jen for lunch and shopping yesterday, I had it in mind the whole time we shopped. Still couldn't quite get it to work right in my mind. So today, after a full morning and early afternoon of some really wonderful family time, I hit the craft room. It's my second post for the day. Wasn't sure if this card would work out. Then, as fate would have it, it came together nicely. If you're looking for my first post of the day, click here.

Wanted to play in the Fusion Challenge, and the Brand Spankin' New TIME OUT Challenge. This card will go to one of the granddaughters at UW who has a chem test coming up next week.

   

TIME OUT has challenged us to work with the phrase "dancing in the rain." Here's my card:

Neenah white base, then scraps, scraps, and more scraps! I used the little girl in the set from Amuse Stamps. ME dies, StazOn black ink, and using Sharpies, I colored a bunch of diamond bling in rainbow colors. A blue SU marker for teeny-tiny raindrops. You'll notice there are only raindrops on the right side. That's because my little girly is using her wand to make rainbows not rain. And that's all for today, I think. Happy dances everyone. 

One for the Card Concept Challenge

I started this card last week at Scrap and Stamp, but never felt I had finished it. It just looked incomplete to me. So last night, a couple of pings ponged, and I put the finishing touches on it. Too late/dark to photograph, I had to wait till this afternoon (and post Confirmation for granddaughter) to get to the post. And what do you know, here it is! As the post title suggests, I'm popping this card into the Card Concept Challenge, #6, where we are directed to make a birthday card. And while it is relatively flat, it has paper layers, so this little card will fit nicely into the "Clean & Layering" section.

I don't make enough "boy" cards. This will help remedy that issue:

All bright and happy. I am finding this rather cute, if I do say so myself! Other than the Neenah white base, all papers came out of my scrap box. Some Doodlebug enamel dots, Amuse stamps, Copic markers, and that's about it. Have a great weekend everyone, and do some happy dancing!

there'snoplacelikehomethere'snoplacelikehomethere'snoplacelikehome...

Dorothy was right. There is absolutely no place like home! After an uber busy March thus far, and being gone forever (or so it seems), it's just plain good to be home. This last trip was particularly brutal on many levels. We had to go to my sil's funeral in North Carolina. Marilyn lost her battle with cancer but is no longer suffering its ravages. For that last part, I am truly thankful. It was good to see her husband and children, and her sisters and brother, but I would have much preferred to see everyone in a happier setting. We could only go for the day, so flew in and out on Monday. Harsh. Too many hours spent on an airplane, but there was no other choice; we wouldn't have missed being there to support family for anything. DH doesn't travel well, especially overnight, due to health concerns. But we just had to go and thought this would be the best option. I can't recommend this kind of trip for anyone. I hope never ever to have to do an in-and-out kind of trip like this again. I'm doing my best to get caught up with the housework, and DH is just trying to 'catch up.' He's still beat. Poor thing.

I did get some crafting time in yesterday, and since I've written enough already, I'll get to the cards I'm posting today. The first one up is for two challenges. Retro Sketches #106, and also for Lawnscaping #78, where we are to go CAS.

         

And this is my card:

The dp and stamp are both LF. A scrap of navyish cardstock and white, a Neenah white base, some SC sequins and that's it. Pretty CAS, or QACAS as Darnell says (quick and clean and simple). 

My next card will be popped into Curtain Call, where we are challenged to be "Farm Fresh."

If you look closely, you'll see some corn, and also some red gingham ribbon on the vase. Those were my inspiration for this card:

Everything about this card (paperwise, anyway...) are scraps, except the Gina K. kraft base. Sorry, couldn't tell you who made the scraps. LF corn images, stamped and fussy cut, and the sentiment is from Joys Life. With both I used SU black ink. The die is from SU, but it belongs to Sandy, and I can't remember the name of it. Really and truly an easy card to make. And since I'm in a crafty mood, I'm going to get back to it! Have a great first day of Spring, and go out among the tulips and happy dance for the joy of life.

Surprise!!! Happy Birthday Anita!!!

Happy, happy birthday! It's a party, a soiree, a bash, a shindig, a celebration for our dear, dear friend Anita! WooHoo! A group of us are having a little birthday party for her today, so come on and join the fun! Here's what to do: after you finish here, pop over to Darnell's blog, and hook up to the linky party!  Several of us have been in on this little surprise, so be sure to click on the links of the other cards in the gallery too. And hey! Let's all get together for real and form a Cardmaker's Conga line!!!! It's time to party!!!!!!!!!!!

A message to the birthday girl!

Happiest of (belated) Birthdays, my dear friend. Even though your birthday was FEBRUARY 18th, you didn't think we forgot, did you?! We just didn't know exactly when it was, so when we found out after the fact, we decided we'd surprise you with a party exactly one month later. So....surprise!! You are such a sweet friend, so creative, and a blessing to me and all who love you. How wonderful to know you. May this little "birthday party" bring you joy that lasts the entire year. 

And for anyone out there who reads this blog, if you haven't visited Anita's blog, My Papercraft World, stop right here and go. I'll wait.... Oh good, you're back and we can proceed with the party! And what's a party without the proper party elements?!! Let's see...I think we should have at least one rule about how we're going to party...:

Sounds good to me! Though, I think I'll keep my dancing feet on the ground, lol!

Next we need some party atmosphere:

Balloons, I think, are in order!

And party decorations and food!

and of course....CAKE!!!!

And naturally, there must be a card. I've cased one of Anita's own beauties, as she makes the most scrumptious cards! This is her card (very difficult to choose just one...)

So happiest of birthday my friend. Big Hugs and Party on!