Brain Ping

You know how sometimes, when you see a sketch your brain just goes, "PING?!!" Well that's exactly what my brain did the second I saw the sketch at C(ASE) This Sketch. It went right to the card you'll see in a moment. And it took so little time to make. Love that combination; a ping and a fast make, too.

Okay... Maybe it's a little goofy, but had to go with the brain's ping.

Yep. A bowtie. There was no way around it. Can't fight my brain... But it does make me grin. Thought of using red, or blue, but couldn't go anywhere near anything clown. Just couldn't.  I used a scrap of some gray and white polkie dotted patterned paper and cut it with a ME die. The sunburst stamp is from an old AE set, and the sentiment (sooo tiny!) is from SSS. The sequins are courtesy of Ardyth! I did pop up the bowtie. Need your opinion - manly or not? I'm leaning toward not... Anyway, I've got to run; DH is calling... 

One More Thank You Card

I hope you'll put up with one more Thank You card from me. It's for our daughter who came all the way from Phoenix as a surprise for her dad's birthday. She'd sent this note when she got home, with instructions that the bunnies on the paper she used were for me. And so I did. Use them. On this card. My inspiration comes from this week's CAS(E) This Sketch. It worked perfectly for my card, but if the team deems this not quite CAS enough, I hope they remove it.

My take looks like this:

So those bunnies are a hoot, aren't they?! This card is, even as we speak, winging its way to Jeanne. The gingham paper was the last bit of a scrap (sniff, sniff...I really liked this paper, too) in my files. I printed the egg and cut it with my Silhouette and used an Easter-ish sentiment from SC. Jeanne is a 'good egg,' btw! Those bunnies are still cracking me up... And since I want to get to a little commenting, I will close for today. As always...

A Couple of Thank You Cards

My darling husband celebrated his 80th birthday a couple of weeks ago. We had a few of the out-of-town kids come to surprise him, and a family party to commend the day. Daughter Cathy pulled photos from family members and created a sweet slide show, which our granddaughter Jessica was able to mirror from her laptop to our smart TV. What a wonderful journey to watch! Lots of laughter, and 'awwwwsss...,' and 'go back, go backs' filled the family room. My plan is to see if I can mirror it from my computer so he can see it whenever he wants. He received tons of gifts, and needed some thank you cards, so naturally, I made some. I've got two of them to share today.

This first one will head off to JUGS, where Darnell is this month's GD. Had to play along.

I found this stamp and die set in my stash, and thought these colors would work well.

The stamps and dies are from PTI, and I used a bunch of scraps to make this. I didn't want to use this photo, and was waiting for better light this morning to reshoot it, however, it's overcast and gray, so I'm pretty sure this will be as good as it gets. Sorry about that.

The next thank you card, which will go to granddaughter Jess, cooperated much better with the light. I used the colors over at Color Throwdown as my inspiration. Such a pretty color combination!

That's a large scrap of yellow behind the ME scalloped die. The leafy heart and its companion inside are both from EH. And the sentiment is a NBUS SSS colored with Zigs. The gray is my favorite gray ink, and is from ME. I think this is just sweet, if you don't mind me saying. And since I have to run and check on my octogenarian, I will see you later and as always...

It's Been a Long, Long Time

Remember me??! I know...it's been a very long time since I've had the chance to create much of anything, let alone, write a post. We had two sets of company, three birthday parties, and I was "lucky" enough to get that icky, nasty cold virus that has been going around. After the last of our company left mid last week, DH was pooped out, so rather than doing much else, I've been making sure he's been alright. But hopefully this post is the beginning of a little normalcy! How've you all been? I've been thinking of you...

I made a card after church this morning, and boy did it feel good. Found a great sketch kindly provided by Freshly Made Sketches, and came up with a little something.

I got my girly on for this card:

Decided to stop hoarding saving my papers. I love this delicate, pretty blue flowered piece, but it needed to be used rather than stuck away in a stack. And this sweet little bunny (thanks, Ardyth, I still have one or two more of these...!!) has been sitting in a box of die cuts on my desk. Time to break him out! The dies are from PPP, and the paper is from American Crafts. I wanted a small sentiment, and this one from PTI was perfect. Sweet and simple. I hope to get to some commenting this week. I've got to get DH to a couple of routine doctors' appointments, and yours truly has a mammyogrammy scheduled, so between those things, and the caregiving duties, and the day-to-day things, my commenting might not get into full swing until Thursday... I will try to get to it sooner if I can, however. Hope you've got good things planned for the week, and as always...

CASology's Fifth Year Anniversary!!

Melissa, and her DT (past and present) are celebrating the Five Year Anniversary at CASology. I've loved CASology, and play as often as I can. Fun cue cards, fun team, fun CAS cards. Along with their 'regular' cue card this week, there's a sponsored hop with prizes going on. So head over, hop along, and make a card to help celebrate. All the details can be found on the CASology blog.

I've not had tons of time to create this week as DH is still recovering from some cellulitis, but in the early, early hours of the morning, I stole some crafty time. I've been experimenting with this design using various colors and decided that this card was 'worthy.' I actually like it quite much!

All the stamps are from one SSS set. The panel was cut with an AE die, and there's one bitty LF heart dipped in Delicata gold ink. I drew the balloons' strings. You may see other variations of this in the future. Congratulations, Melissa. What a wonderful accomplishment! 

Giving Some Love

Spent zero time in my craft room yesterday. Got myself up and organized fairly early, then got DH up earlish and took him up to an Urgent Care Clinic next to a really good hospital about half an hour from here. They, in turn, sent him to the ER next door to rule out a Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) in his lower left leg. As I assumed, it was cellulitis, which can turn nasty, but the antibiotics have already started to do their thing, and his leg looks much, much better. Just a smidgen of added stress yesterday. All's good today though. Spent my early, early morning FTing with a dear, sweet friend in the land of Oz, and then got crafty. I made about half a dozen card fronts, (4 x 5.25") which you'll see eventually. And since I felt DH needed a little extra loving, I made him a card. That's what we cardmakers do, after all, isn't it?! I used the recipe from Less Is More.

Nary a stamp was used in construction of this card...

All the hearts were cut with a set of LF dies using scraps of red. The "u" is part of an alphabet set from MB. Other than adhesive, that's all it took to make this card. My poor little honeylamb needs a little extra love, and I think this fits the bill nicely. Hope your weekend is lovely, and as always...

Before I Head Out...

Meeting up with a friend to do a little afternoon walking in just a bit. It's hot and muggy, and we're going to get rain later tonight. Granted, not the best of walking conditions, but I really need to get out there. Plus, I like visiting with Mary. We laugh and talk and walk a couple of miles. It's nice. It makes me happy. And you know I'm all about the happy.

Making cards makes me happy too. Had some time the other day to make a card for The Heart Desires, And after seeing the color palette over at Sunday Stamps today, I thought this would work there too! I also made a card this morning for The Flower Challenge and Where Creativity Meets C9.

First up:

It's a tri-fold card which was inspired by Jennifer McGuire. (her's is a mermaid's tail) The ocean's paper is all scraps, and cut with NBUS LF waves dies. The boat and sentiment are also NBUS and are by MFT. The clouds are by MB, and while it was a bit fussy, it wasn't difficult to make. I think it'd make a cute kidlet's card.

This next one refused to photograph nicely. It's now sitting in the corner having a little time out. 

I used C9's Wildflower set and masked and stamped three blooms in Versamark, then embossed them in gold. Yeah...you can't tell that from the photo, hence this card's punishment... The second reason this little card is in the corner, is because the ring and the sentiment are this rich gray/brown, and it looks black here.... The ring is made with two MFT circle dies, and the sentiment is a die cut from Studio Calico. I colored the blooms with some Copics and gave a little WoS to the sentiment, which also doesn't show up, but then again, it never does.... If you drop by, I'll show you how nice this looks in real life! And that's it for me today. Hope to get some commenting done after supper. Hope all is well with you!

Cooling Off

It's really not that hot outside. Only 81 degrees F., but I've spent the last hour and more vacuuming and dusting. Into the corners. Up on the ceiling. Behind and under things. And now I'm dripping down the back of my neck and my arms are sticking to my desk as I write this. Ugh. So I'm taking some time to post a couple of cards in order to cool off. That's my story and I'm sticking to it... Two pretty CAS cards. The first one will play at City Crafters, and the second will head off to SSS Work It Wednesday and Addicted to CAS.

Week 370 ~ Two Colors Only

I chose some pastel inks and kept it really CAS.

I stretched some flower stamps from Altenew, but used the backs to create some wonky overlapping circles. The inks are both from Fresh Inks found at Impress, and the sentiment is from Pretty Pink Posh. The panel was die cut with an Avery Elle die. *sigh*

The theme this month at Work It Wednesday is "Summer." 

I think watermelons are summery, don't you?

I saw Taheera's card over at the Winnie and Walter blog, and tried to replicate it. A whole front panel didn't work for me, but a small one framed by a die cut-out did. I smeared some Picked Raspberry on a sheet of watercolor paper, and pulled it up with some water. The 'rind' was made with a Zig marker and then pulled down with my water brush. I stamped some dots on it and added the sentiment which is from a C9 set. I'll show you Taheera's card so you can go ga-ga over it too.

And since I'm feeling less sticky, I've got other things to get to. Hope your weekend is wonderful. Blessings to you!