A Smidgen of Time

Hi!!!! Good to be back in blogland, and I've missed you! Our company has gone for a day or two to visit other family members nearby, and I have a WHOLE day to craft! Well...I will spend a bit of today tidying up and running to the grocery store, but beyond that, it's a craft room kind of day! I've been "off-line" for most of the last two + weeks. I was really, really sick - caught the Spring cleaning bug, and couldn't stop. Other than the basement, the entryway closet, the insides of the cupboards and the outsides of the windows, the whole house is a little more sparkly and orderly. I walk around smiling, especially in those rooms where DH can't go, lol! I've also been working on sanding and painting an old metal office-type credenza for use in my craft room. That part is going slowly, but I'm rather excited about the prospect of more organization in here. I'll take photos once it's done and in here with its new glass top. Have you repurposed old pieces of furniture for other uses? I'd love to hear about your ideas, especially if they've found a new place in your craft rooms! My sister Sue is really good at that. She found bookcase-like display cases at her local card store which was going out of business, and they are now in her craft room. I wish she had a blog so you could meet her...you'd love her to the moon and back! Anyway.... I'm babbling; it's just that I'm so excited to be back in my craft room -- I've missed you all!

Today is my dear dil's birthday. And of course I made a card, which I'll deliver in person on Saturday. It makes me smile, although I'm not sure if it's because I really like it, or if it's because I'm just happy to create, lol! Probably equal parts of both. I've used a nice variety of stamps/papers/inks/dies on this one. And I'm taking it over to The Card Concept. After seeing the inspiration photo and the creations by the team, I knew I had to play along. Incredible. Check it out for yourself, and then join me in the gallery!

For me, this photo is chockablock full of things and ideas to be inspired by. If time permits, I may try another card. And my take looks like this:

Fully inspired by the colors, as you can see. And the stripes. And the flowers. And the sweetness. (Raining again, so not the best photo...) After checking out the DT's styles, this fits best in the Clean and Layered category, I think. All the white cardstock bits are Michaels, and then (thanks again sweet Anita!), a bit of linen cardstock for the big banner die cut portion. A large scrap of aqua, and a teeny-tiny scrap of rich pink for the band on the smallish SC tag die. AE stripes stamp, W Plus 9 rose, and TT for the sentiment. Some forgotten named, but much loved sequins, the Twinery twine, and some Joanne's ribbon. Just a smidge of froo-froo, but not so much that it makes me crazy. If time and Mr. Mojo permits, I'll hopefully be back either later today or tomorrow. Until then, happy dances everyone! (And who knows, I might even have some commenting time too! Woohoo!!)

ETA:
At Leigh Penner's suggestion, I'm also popping this into CAS(E) This Sketch



Thanks, Leigh!

Zoom

Now that Spring is here, we're beginning to get news from family and friends. The "we're coming to visit for a week" kind of news. It begins early in May, then continues until school starts in the Fall. A few breaks in the company, but it looks like May, June, July and August will each have our guest rooms booked. Love it! Love it! Love it! Can't wait, truth be told!

What that means for crafting, is that it will most likely be sporadic for a while now. And probably not much in the next two weeks. I've got some projects that I need to get done before I start 'company cleaning.' And this Friday I've got three sweet and wonderful granddaughters coming for the weekend. So excited about that! Can you say 'girls lunch and shopping trip?' This grandma is going to have waaaay too much fun! Come Monday, I'll probably need to be hooked up to a coffee IV in order to get things done around here, lol, but it will be soooo worth it.

Anyway... Before the doors close on Muse and CASology, I wanted to play along. The Cue Card at Casology is "News" and I've had several pieces of it recently. My next-door neighbor got a promotion at work, and naturally I made a card. You'd love her, she's so nice!

Her favorite color is Navy Blue, so I ran with that...

I was inspired by all the split panels I've been seeing and gave it a go here. Michaels white base and panels. A panel beneath from some of my favorite Theresa Collins papers, with a NBUS PTI die cut in navy. Some Heidi Swapp enamel stars and done. Popped up the white panels with fun foam. Pretty QACAS! Love that! And a thanks to Darnell for the acronyms...aren't they perfect?!

Next is my Muse card. Vicki Dutcher is up this week, and has this bright, colorful card. Thought this one might be a bit of a challenge, but an idea pinged, and voila!, a card was hatched!

And mine looks like this:

Pretty sure you can tell how I was inspired.... Michaels white base, ME die, W Plus 9 circle die, some Michaels striped paper, a scrap of black, TT bird stamps colored with various markers, a HA sentiment die, and three orange sequins. This card almost put itself together. And I won't keep you any longer. Hope you all had a great weekend, and happy dances everyone!!!

Mmmmmm....Coffee!

Severe storms rolled over the Midwest last night. Tornado sirens sounded and thunder and lightening roared through the night skies. It was something to behold. By the time the storms reached our neighborhood, they'd begun to peter out. The cooler air by the lakeshore helped to diminish their power. I'm grateful that we suffered no damage, and pray for those who did. We had about an hours worth of sunshine today but the clouds are back, and rain-filled. I'll keep in mind how green things will be soon, and hopefully that will be enough to get me through the gloomier days.

You all know Keren Baker, right? Well, she's one incredible crafter, and is on the DT at Add a Little Dazzle. I've never been brave enough to play there, and I don't have any of the very cool Add a Little Dazzle Metal Sheets, but have been rather intrigued by them. Still, I really wanted to play, but didn't think I could without the product. Turns out I was wrong (imagine that!). So I made a card.

Here's their Mood Board. I'm pretty sure you'll see exactly what inspired me as soon as you see the card I made...

Practically a full copy of the upper right photo. I was drawn to the greens and the coffee (mmm....coffee....). Because our skies are gray, the photo isn't as nice as I'd like, and this is the umpty-umpth one. The base is Michaels white, with scraps of cream (appropriate), and two shades of green. The 'hello' is a shiny copper colored scrap and irl it's beautiful. It's also the closest I could come to some metally paper. The cup is from PS, and the die is a LF. A smidgen of washi down the right side just for funzies. I drew the 'steam' with a white marker. And that's about it. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Happy dances everyone!

Rainy Thursday

"They" say that April showers bring May flowers.... well, what do May flowers bring? Pilgrims...(sorry, couldn't resist...) And it is a rainy day Thursday. We haven't seen the sun in several days, but the weatherman has promised us at least peeks of blue skies by Saturday. I'm tired of the gloom, but our grass and flowers did need a nice drink

I've got a couple of cards today. Otherwise, why would I be out here in blogland, right? Anyway... Two cards, three challenges. My first card is a fairly CAS card headed over to Color Throwdown. Check out these colors...yum!

Really reminds me that summer is on its way. Can't wait for sandals and open windows!

The gloom of the daylight has made the blue strip seem a bit garish, but irl, it's pretty darn close to the color posted. All scraps except for the base, which you can't see...it's a Michaels white. PTI stamps and die. A couple three different inks. Popped up cups. Betcha Amy T. will like this one! Hmmmmm...wonder why?!

Next is a card for the current MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge, and Curtain Call. Now, I saw the mood board over at CC, and knew I wanted to play there, but the pings just weren't coming. Wasn't until I saw the sketch at MFT that an idea finally popped. Sheesh!

And here's my card:

Lots going on here, but it took such little time to make...go figure. Started with a linen white base which came from sweet, sweet Anita on our Babes Adventure. Found an old piece of SEI dp and used a ME die for the main panel. Decided to go all shaker card for this one. Starting behind the shaker part, you can see an MFT flourish die. Various sequins, and in front of the shaker is another MFT die; happy. A strip of some glitter ribbon, cut to match the sides, and then an MFT pennant die, which is layered with some SU paper and a bit of vellum scrap. And that's about it. Hope there's sunshine by you all, and happy dances everyone!

I'm not going to jinx it...

I'm not talking about the G-A-M-E that will occur this evening. What I will say, is that one team will be wearing red and white, and is from the capitol of Wisconsin. Most of the time I'll be watching from behind my hands, or listening from my craft room, because that way, I won't jinx it. Now. Onto other news!

My sister texted me yesterday to tell me to call her as soon as I got the message. Immediately, I thought that something had happened to dad. Nope. He's fine! (whew!!) Turns out she'd gone out for Easter breakfast with her kids, and she was given the second best Easter gift ever....(we know what the first best is!). Not only are her son and dil expecting a new baby, IT"S TWINS!!!!!!!!! How cool is that?! I'm so excited for them. My nephew and his lovely wife are awesome people, and really good parents to sweet little Miss Emma. Babies are just about the best news, aren't they?! *sigh*

Naturally, I had to make a card for the expectant parents. Twins calls for one, don't you think? Had a ping last night, and wouldn't you just know it, the card turned out exactly like I saw it in my head. Love it when that happens. Took like 5 or 10 minutes... And, I found a challenge to pop it into too! Less is More would like us to use Predominantly Black. Sounds weird when thinking of a baby-to-be card, but just wait till you see it.

Let me know what you think....

After starting with a Michaels white base, I used scraps for the rest of the image. Cut file 29123, which I sized and lopped off to get just this section. Punched out a couple of hearts for the babies, and added a smidgen of WoS to them. An A&E sentiment with Versafine black ink, and done.

Next card is for MFT's Sketch Challenge. Nothing came to me last week, but today I just played around with it, and came up with this card. 

Michaels white base with a scrap of chevron, a scrap of blue cardstock, and a bit of paper from Miss Geri acquired at the BABES adventure. All the dies are MFT, as are all the stamps. A few sequins, a couple blings, an old flower sticker, and an SC clothespin holding a bit of silver thread. The Notecard die is actually longer, but after I cut it the first time I popped it back into the die and made it shorter. Hope you all have a great week, and happy dances everyone.

Blessed Easter

Like many of you, I'm making Easter dinner. Only we've decided to have it on Saturday as our two UW granddaughters need to get back to campus on Sunday. Way less rush for them, and I can fully concentrate on the glorious Easter service at church rather than half-think about the ham and whether or not the potatoes will be done if I start them after church. You know what I'm talking about....With that in mind, I'm not sure if I'll be posting until next week.

Even though I'll be cleaning the house before Saturday, no one will be able to tell. New water mains going in on our street, and besides the noise and difficulty getting in and out, the dust is ridiculous. Having the water off at times pretty much stinks too. Hard to clean without water. About half the time, I've got the bathtub full for such uses, but let's face it, I'm spoiled. I turn on the hot water tap, and boom, hot water. Hopefully, they'll be done before much longer. I seriously want to open my windows....

Anyway... I've got some cards to show you. And they're all headed into challenges and off to family and friends! I'll start with this one. Since I haven't played at Muse in what seems like ages to me, I thought I'd give Kristie's card a go.

I chose the colors and the circle shape for my card. 

Michaels white base, and scraps of colored cardstock. A smattering of sequins, and PTI die and stamps. Pretty QACAS (thanks for acronym, Miss D.)

Next is my card for several challenges. Less Is More, Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, ColourQ, and City Crafter Challenge, where Miss Darnell is GD! And one of my all time favorite themes...

For Less Is More, we're to combine three past challenges. I've chosen Challenge 25 - ribbon, Challenge 38 - Polka Dots, and Challenge 172 - Flowers. SSSWC is "Happy Birthday." And you can see the ColourQ colors... Yummy, yummy Polka Dots at City Crafters, yay!!

I cut a sweet piece of polka dot paper from LF, and adhered it to my Michaels white base. Took scraps to make my tag, banner, and flowers. Used a Cuttlebug polka dot embossing folder and die cut the tag with an SC die. Used an AE sentiment, and RC flowers. The stems are just slivers of green scraps. A few sequins for interest, two kinds of ribbon, though the yellow is hard to see, and ME and Studio G inks. Popped up the tag and the banner. Like it hanging off the edge. 

Last card. I promise. This one is going over to CASology, where I have been lax playing as of late. Today's card, is a one-layer.

For this card, (and for all of them, actually...) I stamped the images and sentiment with my brand spanking new MISTI!!! And yep, I like it. Still have to figure out a few things, but overall, it's already saved me paper and time. I made a panel and taped it on top of my Michaels white card base. Using all SC stamps, I placed them where I wanted them and stamped. Colored with various markers before taking the masking panel off, then stamped the sentiment. And that's all there was to it. 

Easter Blessings dear friends. 

Two Cards Today

Somewhere along the line, I've gotten so where I have a hard time just posting one card. Had one made from late yesterday, but just couldn't post it. It felt like I needed a second card before my fingers would click the "new post" button on my blog. Sheesh! In my mind, I'm saying to myself, "well, I hope it was worth it!" Guess we'll see...

My first card is going to Uniko, where I've chosen to make use of their lovely sketch, which you'll see in a minute. Then I want to send this over to Less is More, where the challenge is to combine three of their past challenges. I chose Week 26 "Feeling Fruity", Week 38 "Polka Dots" and finally Week 213 "This Makes Me Happy."  Without sounding weird, this card does make me happy. And boy do I need that after this week!

I kept it fairly CAS. Started with a Michaels white base and scrap, which I die cut with my PPP little square. Added a scrap of polka dot cut with MFT's pierced rectangle which I adjusted to make a square. MFT's flourish sits behind the popped up focal panel. The stamps are W Plus 9 used with various inks. You know... this does make me happy!

This next one has a playdate at CAS(E) This Sketch, and also over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, where it's Anything Goes. Busy little card...

Got a few weirdish things going on here.... First, the leaf is gold. NOT green. Gold. The walls in my (hahahahaha) photography studio (living room) are green. Next, the gold inks I wanted to use just looked goofy next to the Punchinella vellum (SC), and the gold leaf. It's brown ink. I know, right?! Hazel by ME to be exact. But it works. I cut the leaft with an MFT die. And all on a Michaels white base. Kept this one CAS. I like it that way. And I've got to run. Time to get the salmon ready to go under the broiler. Yum! Have a beautiful Palm Sunday tomorrow. Happy dances everyone.

Not a Wonderful Monday and Tuesday

Thank heavens it's Thursday. I'm not even going to go into the early part of my week. Suffice it to say that the new computer is on hold, but I'm okay with it. More important things were needed, and my current little dinosaur is still going strong (for the moment anyway). Onto the cards. I REALLY needed some crafting therapy yesterday. Made tons, showing three today.

First up. A second card for the Time Out Challenge. It's black and white with one other color, plus it's CAS. I hope this one qualifies. It might be a bit more than CAS, and if it doesn't fit over there, then I hope the DT will take it down and give me a scolding. I'm a rule follower (well, most of the time anyway). Needed a masculine get well card for a friend. BTW, Susanne is GD at TO. Check out her blog and cards. You'll fall in love...

Here 'tis...

Michaels white and scraps of black and green. MFT big die, and PPP little die. A bit of ribbon, and I embossed a HA image. The sentiment is from RC stamped in black Versafine.

Next up. This one really ticked me off when neither the lighting nor the photo editing would fix the nice yellows. Dang it all! They are really and truly almost matchy-matchy in real life... An Easter card for my little ones in Minnesota. This one is going into Uniko Studio where it's Anything Goes. Dear, sweet Sandie left a comment on of my cards, and mentioned that Uniko stamps weren't necessary to play along. I've been drooling over them ever since Bev (what a cool name!) started her company, but just haven't gotten any yet. Here's my chance. I hope!

All the papers are from my scrapbox on a Michaels white base. I used my big circle punch for the polka dot panel. And my small MFT order came in; this Looped Border die is one I've been eyeing since I borrowed Kim's at the Lake House adventure. Gave in and got it finally. These amazing and seriously cute bunnies were a gift from Ardyth. I completely adore them!!! I free cut some bows and added a bit of coordinating bling on each of them. Representing Carter, Samantha, and Kaylin; darling grandchildren!! The sentiment is from SC. So tiny and it fits in tight spaces perfectly!

Last up is a card strictly for Darnell's NBUS Challenge #4. Oh that Miss D.!! I just love her. But then, so does everyone out there in the card making blogosphere! Can I get a witness??!!! Somebody say "AMEN!" I felt Springy, so went with that feeling. You'll see:

*sigh* Blues and yellows together make me happy. I need happy this week. This'll do! My NBUS here are the stamps. I love this set. It's called Spring Stamp from (and how cool is this???) Avery Elle for Studio Calico! Check out the SC store for more info. Michaels white base and panel cut with an RC die. Versafine black ink, and Copic markers for the images. An old piece of yellow gingham, and a scrap of blue to finish things off. Sure hope this makes you happy too. With that, I'm off to run errands. Blessings to you all this week, and happy dances everyone.