This Will Always Remind Me of My Sister

I love this Avery Elle Set. It will always, always remind me of my sister. When we were little, Sue got this adorable, little trinket box with a red, almost mushroom shaped lid. It had a door, and a couple of Hummel-like figures in the front. Oh how I coveted that box! Now, I was the kind of child that all parents dream of NEVER having, and it was in my nature to sometimes break or wreck things that I wanted but couldn't have. Not with this trinket box. I knew it was special, and I knew that I needed to treat it with respect, though with a three-year-old's mind, I didn't realize why I didn't break it. That sweet little box resides now with Sue's granddaughter. But I have this adorable AE set, which will always remind me of Sue, and I can play with it at will!

The card I made using this set is for my granddaughter's birthday. She. Turns. Ten. What the heck??!! How in the world did that happen???!! She's amazing!

What a cutie pie! And sassy (in a good way) just like her grandma, lol!!

This card will play at:

Inkspirationational Challenges #153, "Attachment"

Addicted to Stamps and More #277, "Make Your Mark"

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, "Anything Goes"

And here's (after a long wait) my card:

As mentioned, all the stamps are from the AE Windmill set, except for the sun, which a Your Next Stamp stamp. I used a blue panel, and cut some grass with an MFT die. I stamped, colored with Copics, and die cut the other elements (except the sun which I stamped on a yellow scrap). The panel is popped up to allow for the brad which will turn the sails. And yes, they do turn! Since I've monopolized your time enough, I will stop here. And thank you all so much for the kind wishes about dad. His appointment was rescheduled, so no traveling for me, and dad is doing well. As always...

January Thaw

We're having our usual January thaw here in Wisconsin. We haven't had that much s-n-o-w to begin with, and now most of it has melted away. The skies are a wonderful blue, and the temps are lovely and warm for this time of year. It won't last. We still have several months of Winter to go, and I don't expect the weather to stay like this for long. The deep-freeze will return with gusto, I'm sure.

I may be headed up north next week to help my sister take our dad to the doctor, so I wanted to get a quick little post in before I go. I've got one card for a couple of challenges.

I'm playing along at the SSS Wednesday Challenge, where we're to "layer it up," and Laurel's Inspired By...Challenge.  Some of my favorite colors together!

Couldn't resist using this color palette for my card:

I found this diecut in my cupboard, but I can't tell you who made it. Sweet, though..! That's some Doodlebug polka dotted paper for my AE frame, some scraps for the PTI flags, and the perch. N&T tiny blue sequins, red ones from Miss Amy T., SSS sentiment, and A Muse music notes. The houndstooth and the perch are black, but they show up here as gray...Go figure... Have a great weekend, and as always...

Twofer Card Challenge #1

What a great day. A seriously GREAT day. Today is the launch of Darnell's Twofer Card Challenge!!!! And guess what else?! Yours truly is a part of the Design Team, along with Anita, Loll, Kara, Suzanne, and Carol.

Oh my gosh, I'm so darn excited!! And I hope you're as excited about this brand-spankin' new challenge as I am. That Darnell is so clever. It's funny, I'd been thinking about how I need to make two cards every time I sat down, so it was serendipity when Darnell called, told me about her new challenge, and asked me to be on the Design Team!! This was meant to be, I tell ya! The Twofer Challenge is the perfect motivation for me, and I'm thinking that it will be for you too.

The rules are EZPZ lemon squeezy, and can be found on the Challenge Blog. The goal of the Twofer Challenge is to sit down (or stand, even) and make two different card designs for two different occasions. Here's what I made:

The prompt for this inaugural challenge is, Feathers. And would you believe that I don't have a feather stamp or die to my name?! But, I could use my Silhouette and make some! The white card is a sympathy card, and the second is a Congratulations/Baby Girl card. I used an MFT frame die, a scrap of vellum behind the feathers, and I heat embossed Gina K. sentiment. The "Tickled Pink" card also uses scraps, and ME scalloped dies, a computer generated sentiment with a portion of a Precious Remembrance stamp, cut with a HA die. Two candy-striped enamel dots, and that's it! Both came together really quickly.

So I'll see you over there, right??!!! Join me, and the rest of the DT making "Twofer" cards! Woohoooooooooooooo!!!!!!

Three Cards for Monday

I meant to get to a couple of these cards yesterday, but DH needed a little extra care, so that's where my time went. He's fine, but I wasn't able to write a post. I'd made the card for the current Time Out Challenge on Saturday and was waiting till daylight yesterday to photograph it; obviously that didn't happen. Finished the card for Laurel Seabrook's new Inspired By challenge yesterday also, but was unable to get to it. Then I made one for Inspired By All The Little Things latest challenge this morning. Whew! Planted DH with his breakfast, and will try to get this post written and up without any more chatter....

First card for Time Out:

Found a hoarded saved scrap of gray patterned paper which jumped into my hands and wouldn't let go. Used an MFT rectangle to cut a white panel, and added a panel beneath stamped with a large Hero Arts stamp using some ME Winter ink. Verve sentiment stamped in ME Smoke gray. 

Second card for Inspired By:

Started with a kraft base, and grabbed an ancient piece of blue and white polka dotted paper. The polkies are actually embossed! Those are MFT circles, and an MB snowflake die. I added some flocking to the snowflake and a diamond bling in its center. Stamped an MFT sentiment and used a white gel pen to add "snow" to the tops of the letters. Looks so cool in real life...

And last but not least, a card for Inspired By All The Little Things:

LOVE that inspiration photo!!! A bit of American Craft patterned paper beneath the white panel, and the branches and sweet, little fox are from WPlus9. An MFT sentiment in Basil Fresh Ink ink. EZPZ lemon squeezy!!  The orange-ish paper on the fox actually has a little shimmer, which didn't photograph well, sorry.  And as promised, I will let you go for now. See you on Wednesday when the Twofer Challenge launches!!!! 

A Card and a Twofer Reminder

Good morning everyone! It's been c-c-cold here, with temps barely rising above zero F, and keeping most of us indoors. We haven't had the snows/blizzards that have affected many parts of the U.S., and I'm thankful for that, but we're due for some warmer temperatures, in my opinion! Brrrrr.....! Hoping  those of you getting punched with snow and cold are safe and sound. Do keep us posted.

Just a quick reminder too, that the Twofer Card Challenge is set to launch on Wednesday, January 10th. I'm so excited that I can hardly stand it!!!! Mark your calendars and get ready to play along!

I made a card for the current challenge at Sunday Stamps. They've got an incredible color palette and the DT has some fabulous creations over there. Make sure you stop by and see them, and while you're there scoping out all those projects, I hope your mojo will get a little jolt so you can join in the fun!

*sigh*

Isn't that just pretty?!! I had a million ideas flying around my brain, but once things settled down, I came up with this card:

My colors are much closer to the ones indicated, it's just that my photographic skills leave something to be desired. Those enamel dots and the MB sentiment are really navy blue, although they look black here. All the shades appear darker than they are in real life. The branches were scraps cut with another MB die, and the scalloped frame is part of a NBUS set by AE. I added some green sequins for funsies, too. I will admit that I do like the way this turned out! Hope you are enjoying your first foray into 2018, and that all good things come your way this year! As always...

Perfect Way to Start 2018

Before Thanksgiving, Carol Mayne asked me if I'd like to be her Guest as the wonderful Fusion Challenge celebrates its Fourth Anniversary. I was delighted to say, "YES!!!" I'd say this is just about the most perfect way to start out the New Year!! Won't you join me in wishing Lesley and her fabulous Design Team a very happy anniversary by joining in the fun at Fusion?!

Just like it says, you can either use the sketch, or the photo inspiration, or both, to create your card. For the first challenge of this New Year, and in honor of their Fourth Anniversary, this is the Fusion Graphic:

I made a little something using the sketch and the colors from the photo. Since I needed a more masculine thank you card, my brain went in this direction. 

I surprised myself and made this card in less than hour. Who knew??! The grayish-brownish patterned paper is my nod to the wood from the photo. I used some watercolors to create a splashy look for the W-Plus9 cut circle. The AE sentiment was a Christmas gift from DH to me (wink-wink...boy does he ever have good taste!!). The two blue strips are from my scrap files. I added three PTI rainstones to the circle as well. And there you have it! Make sure you head on over to Fusion and wish them all the best, and while you're there, play along! Happy New Year, and