A Switch...

I've been working on a new project for a while and so excited that it is finally ready... come join me at my new blog digs...

High-flying Birthday...

Happy Wednesday! The week is flying by! I'm back with the latest Embellish challenge. I am on a roll! LOL.

I stayed pretty literal to the challenge this week and used the exact shades depicted in the picture (which by the way, I must say, are always SO fab. I love how we get the polaroids of the colors in addition to the fun pics! Great job on the challenge pics, Ashley!!) So this one was, relatively speaking, probably the easiest from a color perspective for me. Scrapping and making cards for all occasions for my 3 (young) boys means lots of primary colors for me. This one is of course for another party we have coming up. Easy peasy as always, but I think perfect for the intended recipient - a soon to be 5 year old boy.

I combined a bunch of different stamp companies on this one - there's a little bit of CHF, PTI, LAD and even Rubber Romance(!) thrown in the mix for good measure. The grass was an accident actually - I was trying to figure out how to "ground" the building and I noticed a extra scrap from my place cards project that never found its way to the garbage can. I'm one of those crafters that has to clean up everything (stamps, paper and supplies) before starting the next project, so the green scrap totally jumped out at me. The brads are from SU. The helicopter body was covered in SU Crystal Effect for a bit more... effect! :)

Anyways, hope you like the card. I'm off to bed in a bit. See ya!

For the last week...

This is what I was working on (when I wasn't working or with the kiddos).

My hubs, SIL and I threw a 70th surprse birthday party for my father-in-law. Tons of work, but the party was a blast. People definitely seemed to have a blast - tons of laughter, chatting, dancing (and quite few beverages too!).

Definitely a night to remember.

I made the centerpieces (I got the idea somewhere on the web and then gave it my own touch!), placecards and invites too - although I forgot to take a pic of one. I'm going to have to track one down and do that. I really loved how everything came out. I used a whole host of sets in my aresenal - lots of PTI, an SU number set and a $1 Michael's stamp (that was on the aforementioned invite... - I really wish I had save an invite!) Obviously we used a golf theme (my FIL's an avid player).

It's very nice to be winding down an amazing weekend and now I hoping I will get a breather in the week coming up. Besides prepping for the party, I've had a crazy busy time at work, parent-teacher conferences for the boys at night (they are all doing awesome in school!), on top of the usual every day fun.

Holy Cow! (or Owl?)

I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted. But I'm back and with a challenge card. I went wtih a bit of a darker interpretation of the colors for the latest Embellish Owl challenge so that it fit for a boy card (hope that wasn't stretching too much - the colors are still in the coral and green family IRL!) I used Basic Grey Archaic papers and thought it worked pretty darn well. :)

Now I must admit, this is my first and only owl card ever made (yes, I know... so behind the crafting times). In fact, I didn't think that I even had an owl stamp in my collection, but remembered this Hero Arts stamp set that I bought for Halloween pages (which have yet to be scrapped, again - so behind the times). So even though it is not a Halloween card, I still thought this particular owl would work for a birthday card I needed this past weekend. I used M's sketch to make the card (I think that I should have titled this post - "LATE," but seriously, how many times can I reference how late I always am!!). So while I know that the challenge due date had past, I just wanted Savitri and M to know that I did use the sketch.

Life is busy (as always), and I need to get sleep, so hopefully I'll see you again soon.

Rainy... with a {Definite} Chance of Sports

Hello, hello on this rainy, {but not too rainy to cancel our sports line-up, but too rainy to have the other boys watch and support their brother who is on the field} Saturday. Ughh - we have had this horrible stretch of luck of beautiful weather during the week and rainy weather on Saturday and Sunday. But luckily we are getting most of the games in today.

Anyways, so since I'm at home, while my hubs is out there with one of the boys, I'll take some time to post something I made a couple of days ago. This was actually the first pink project to kick off this trend I seem to be on of late. I made this birthday gift card holder (including the handmade flower embellie) for one of Alex's friends. So about gift cards... I must admit I am a fan of them. Yes, I know that on one hand, they may seem impersonal, but it truly is the most practical way to ensure your celebrant gets what they want. And at the end of the day, let's face it... the receiver knows best what they want. :) And while I'm thinking about it, I can't imagine what I would do without registries (especially for showers) - I think they are the best thing to come along in gift giving. LOL. Do you know that the local toy store has started a registry program too - LOVE it! It's always a bonus when you can go it a store, know exactly what the child wants and can leave with a wrapped gift that only needs a card - wahoo. It can't get better than that... The owners are geniuses. Nothing like the value of convenience - which is worth a ton to me when you have birthday parties to go to almost every weekend.

So back to the g/c holder - I used one of Lauren's Timeless Templates to make this card holder. It was such a snap. I'd been planning on getting a template - I have loved each of the ones that come out every month, but just hadn't gotten around to it. But that was until the Cash and Charge Collection came out this month. I feel like she'd designed it just for me - seriously! And I love how this template actually came with 3 - what a deal. I can't imagine how much time she pours into making these templates for people like, but I absolute appreciate it very much so :)

I know these templates will get much use in my house...

Pink AGAIN!

Like I mentioned in my last post, I NEVER use pink, especially the fuschia-kind-of-pink. But I saw Dawn's latest color challenge and I still had the other 1/2 of the sheet of Raspberry Fizz sitting on my craft desk, so I figured I'd take on the Lilly Pulitzer challenge (c'mon, you have to admit that a Lilly Pulitzer sweater comes to mind whenever you see bright pink and green together, right?)!

I also jumped on the make-my-own-embellie craze with my new Sizzix die that I just got from SU. I think it turned out ok and really does look like the flower I intended it to be. I even gave my flower leaves by using the largest die to ground it. I think that the card turned out pretty much how I planned it in my head, which is such a bonus to boot.

So thanks for a real challenge this week, Dawn. Now I have to get back to watching the Yankees game, which has been such a topsy turvy game... which seems to be par for the course of this series. Ughhh.

Three Birds... One card

I'm in a very efficient mood in a crafty kind of way tonight :) and decided to make a card that I need for an upcoming party and try my hand at 3 challenges that are going on right now on 3 blogs I follow.

I'm absolutely enjoying my downtime tonight and relaxing while I watch the Yankees win game 4 of their series with the Angels (woohoo) and make cards after spending the day in Cleveland for a bunch of meetings for work. I travel a decent amount (relatively) for work and always love when I can get a day trip in that does not require a red eye, and Cleveland TOTALLY fits the bill. And it was such a bonus to get home before the kiddos went to bed (translation - 6:15 flight this morning!). But it was a good day at work, so no complaints. Plus my plane was early both ways... which of course means I'm in for a serious delay in the near future. And this is not that much of a stretch of the imagination considering I fly in and out of Newark - LOL.

Anyways back to the card... we have ruffles, sketches and colors for a cure going on, so with one card, I have a Moxie Fab/Embellish's Colors for a Cure & Bling/M's #2 challenges covered! I haven't done a Moxie card in a little while and I was determined not to be late on M's challenge this time and I just have been having fun with the Embellish challenges, so I was quite pleased with myself to be able to tie it all together. And I REALLY mean pleased :), given that my cards usually just find their way to the finish line so to speak, with usually not too much planning other than the 1 challenge I am usually trying to do. I also used a few stamps and ribbon that I haven't used in a while because 1. I liked to remind myself why I bought different stamps in the first place, vs. just using them when they are "new" and 2. I really have to make myself use pink - dunno why it doesn't come more naturally... maybe because I am just surrounded in a house with boys!

And OH - HOLY COW! I can't finish this blog entry without mentioning that I was actually mentioned in the wrap-up for the second Embellish challenge. Look!! (Not too surprisingly) I've NEVER won/been recognized in any kind of a "competitive" crafting blog or been in a publication, other than on PTI's GSS in a category where I was LITERALLY the only entrant... good thing I didn't get 2nd place - LOL!!, so this was TOTALLY not expected. Heck, I consider it quite the accomplishment that I can make a deadline on time - LOL!!!. I honestly do this hobby purely for my enjoyment and relaxation, so it is a pretty spiffy feeling that someone else thinks my cards, well at the very least my froggy one, aren't half bad.

So THANK YOU, Ashley, for making my day in that crafty kind of way. ;)

Deets (haven't had the chance to do this in a little while!)

Stamps: Imaginesce cupcake, LAD Sketched Sentiments, PTI Birthday Basics; CS: PTI Raspberry Fizz (I hardly EVER use this color!), SU Prints Pack (broke open the plastic on this one after having it sit on my shelf for more than 1 yr!), PTI white, Ink: Adirondack - Pebble, SU Pink Passion (again - never use this color!); Other: Kaiser rhinestones, petite scallop nestie, PTI Sweet Blush saddle stitch ribbon (all scrunched up for the ruffles!), Stardust Stickles all over the icing of the cupcake, copics

5 Hours and 10 minutes...

That's mainly why this is late!

The whole fam was planted on the couch watching last night's very exciting (though at times thoroughly frustrating) Yankees play off game vs. the Angels. Yep - it went 13 innings and the Yankees finally won and are now up 2-0. We are huge fans in our house, so everyone stayed up and mostly made it. My two littler guys made it up well past regulation (maybe the 11th inning) and my oldest kiddo made it the whole way. Very fun and quality family time for all.

Anyways, I made this card for the challenge sometime in the beginning of the game - luckily my crafting area is right by the TV in the basement which means I can usually do both... except for when the game gets as interesting as it did last night ;) Plus, who can resist the sound of three boys asking mom to join them on the couch... gotta soak it all in before they get to big, kwim?

So back to the card again... I read on Naomi's blog about Savitri's daughter having her own challenge, so how could I resist (I suppose I would have found it on my own seeing as how I have Savitri's blog in my reader, but that was the sequence of events)?? It was such a sweet blog entry, as well as an easy and very versatile sketch. I know it is late, but I'll post anyway to share!!

The image is colored with copics (I really love these sunflowers) the card was finished with scraps of Basic Grey Cupcake collection, PTI CS, ribbon and a random button. That's it! Thanks for the sketch M, and I'll keep an eye out for your next one! :)

First time for this Froggy...

Breezing back through again with a card for the latest Embellish challenge. Seems to be the only thing that gets me to my computer for anything non-work or PTA related these days. Sheesh!

I made this card a couple of days ago. This is most probably the 2nd circle card I have ever made - the first one I'm sure for a challenge as well. ;)

I am finally getting a chance to open up some goodies I bought some time ago (we're talking a month here at least!). And there is so much more that I still have to open - patterned paper packs, more Hero stamps etc. I think I might have even mentioned at some point either here or commenting on someone's blog (Naomi's, I think) about getting and using Hero Arts stamps for the first time... well, technically this was the first time I actually used it. Sad in a crafting sort of way, I know, but that's the way it goes in my life. But that's why I love this hobby so... it can sit for periods of time and I can pick back up where I last left it! Then there are other days (albeit few and far between!) where I will go on a tear!

Life has been very fun in all sorts of ways in the last couple of months, which means we are on the go. Travel teams have been made (oldest for basketball), middle guy threw for his first touchdown in flag football this past weekend (we were all so thrilled about that) and my middle guy is scoring soccer goals all around. I'm a professional cheerer and so happy about it.

Anyway, back to the card - I used Ashley's toot to make the card and basically followed the guidelines. What a cute little guy this froggy is. Perfect for the birthday party that one of my guys are going to this weekend. Very easy to color with my copics and a cinch to put together (my kinda cards! LOL).

Well, I'm off to bed. I'm going to be working in the city the next couple of days, which means train schedules must be adhered to (so funny how easy it is to fall out of a routine... what's the saying again - 21 days to make a habit, but only 3 days to break one or something like that?). I must say though that I love my days in Manhattan, well, as long as I don't think about the commute. ;) Later.

Dusting off my craft desk!!!! :)

Trying to squeeze in under the deadline... be back with a full post in a bit ;)

Edited to add....

It's been quite a while since I have had a chance to be crafty in any way, my desk was getting a little dusty, unfortunately. Even though I work full time out of the house and the kids are in camp for most of the summer, the beginning of the school year is somehow still so very hectic for me... lots of back to school stuff, switching into new sports for the season... just a new routine all around for everyone. Plus it coincides with the end of my work fiscal year - so it is just all the more busy.

Therefore in an effort to make some time for myself, I used the first Embellish challenge to get the creative juices flowing again. Fun colors - and oh so perfect for fall. Squeezed it in with minutes to spare ahead of the deadline too. Now I just need to figure out who I'm going to send this card to in the morning...

Back to regular scheduled programming for me (ie... catching up with my PTA stuff, work, figuring out how my husband and I are going to shuttle around 6 games and a travel basketball tryout all in a 6 hour time span on Saturday, and most of all catching up with my PILLOW)...

Have a good one! :)

Happy, Happy Day!

Hello, hello. I'm back from my technology hiatus (ie. vacay and start of the new school year).

I took some time to make a card based on this week's 2s4Y sketch - I think that I just made the deadline... nothing like waiting until the last day, right? I used a piece of scrap PP from my every growing pile (we all have that pile, right?). I didn't want to cut into a new one, plus I wanted to use a piece since I just bought a bunch of new PP collections last night so I want to make some room. I haven't bought in any in a relatively long time, but have been seeing so many awesome cards and scrap pages that I haven't been able to resist any longer. I also bought some new stamps... my first Hero Arts stamps ever. So excited for the package to arrive - hopefully the shipping time isn't too long for either of my packages!

Deets:

Stamps - Elzy Bells and Cornish Heritage Farms (sentiment)

CS: SU - Kiwi Kiss; Crate Paper-Zoom collections (both sides of Freeway) and PTI white

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa; Distress Ink - Antique Linen

Other: PTI Scarlet Jewel button, dauber, prismas and gamsol and copics

Oh yeah, and here is the sketch I used. Thanks for a great sketch, Kazan! :)

Hello out there!

I've been on vacay (well, actually staycay, since we actually didn't go away anywhere) for the last week, enjoying the last week of summer and getting ready for a new school year. As a result, I've haven't been on the computer too much at all. But I think I'm ready to join the blog land again after my nice break. :) (you need that every once in a while... at least I do!). So I've been catching up on Google Reader and saw that I still had some time for Dawn's latest color challenge. I've fallen a bit behind... but hey, those things happen! ;)

Love these colors - they get me in the mood and mindset for fall! I think it times perfectly, because up until today, the weather has been kinda fall-ish. The mornings and the evenings have been cool, which is a sure sign the fall is around the corner. My littlest guy had 2 playdates that I set up this week at the park, and we had to wear sweatshirts both days (I even wore jeans on Wednesday!). Playdates are rare for my kiddies since they are in school full day and our weekends are chock full of sports, so it was a nice treat for my youngest, who is too small to go on playdates on his own still (he's only 4).

Anyway, back to the cards. I got ambitious and made 2 (yep, count 'em 2) cards for this challenge. These were for 2 birthday parties my kids had this week (love when the challenge works for real-life needs!) I haven't had much time for stamping in the last few weeks and have only made cards that I have needed (vs. just for fun or for challenges). For some reason the first card (the all-star card), made an impression on my oldest kiddo - he said it is his fave card to date (can you believe that... and it's pretty hard to impress a 9-year boy with cards! The second care is a little card - 3x3, which was sized for PTI newest/littlest envies. So cute. I love this size. Plus it is so quick to make a card this size - so little room to fill - LOL.

Well, hope that the end of your summer has been great. My kiddos start back up on Tuesday. They are excited. I just can't believe on another school year is here already... kinda bittersweet, but overall I'm happy. :)

Just in Time!

This will be short on deets to make the deadline, but I'm happy to make the Blog Hop this month. Thank you so much, Tina, for the reminder tweet! :) We were away for the long weekend and just got back this afternoon. So I just whipped up this card so that I could join in on the fun.

The theme was autumn and we were supposed to include texture. We have this wonderful bush outside our house, which served as my inspiration piece. I think it came out well all things considered - LOL.

Thanks so much and I can't wait to see all the wonderful creations! :)

TIC #6 - Better Late than Never

So it's a bit late, but I was inspired by the wonderful photo from TIC #6 to create this card. After a busy week last week, that left little time for creating, I was glad to get some time to craft last night. Such a great way to wind down a day, right? ;)

My inspiration starting point this time was the arches, which made me think of this oldie, but goodie from SU. I remember when this doodle set was all the rage. I still love pulling it out and using it (hence why I have a hard time parting with any of my sets - I still have almost every set that I have ever bought!). I love the line art look of this set. I colored it with copics that I drew from the pic - purple, grey, green and the pops of pinky-red from the flowers. I love purple... I need to use it more often - so thanks for the inspiration, Tina.

Off to work - hope that you have a great day! :)

Happy, Happy Day

Hello, hello and good morning! Little neglectful (think I just made up a word!) of the blogette, but I did have a card for this morning. I've been working on thank you cards for my littlest's birthday party from a couple weeks ago, and it is a bit slow going... but I'll get there eventually. So I have yet to get to any challenge cards this week (maybe tonite...).

I made this card over the weekend for a birthday party that one of my kiddos is supposed to go to today from 11-2. Well, I say "supposed" to, because he was invited. But unfortunately, he won't be going. Now I know there is no rule that birthday parties HAVE to be on the weekend, but it makes it very hard to partake when it is in the middle of the day during the work week - and you (meaning me, in this case) work. But then again, it's their party and you can have it when you want to, and there is a great part of the population of SAHMs and kiddos that are able to take advantage of it ... I'm just not one of them - LOL! Plus it's the summer, so I do get it in the whole scheme of things. So no complaints - luckily this doesn't happen too much so the kids don't often miss out. I'll be dropping off the gift at some point this week - just not during the day!!

Anyways, I hope you have a great Wednesday, no matter what you are doing! We're almost to the back half of another week already...

Mind your manners...

And say thank you.

It's been a few days, but tonight I have been spending my time saying thank you (well, actually making cards that say it) to all the wonderful camp counselors that have taken great care of my kids. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I can never say thank you enough to these wonderful peeps that teach, entertain and play with my kiddies while I'm at work. Can't believe the summer is on the back end already. Tomorrow is the last day of camp and then we enter the part of the summer when we have to piece together coverage through weekly camps until I am off for the last 2 weeks before school starts back up again. Gotta get creative since I can't take 4 weeks off (could you imagine?? LOL)

This will be a quickie, so here is one of the cards I made. Used a little Basic Grey goodness to pretty much make this card and finished off with a PTI sentiment, nestied Enchanted Evening CS and some buttons. Gets the message across, no?

Well, off to bed... it has been a long week for me work-wise. Lots of late nights to get everything done (altho it never is "done," it seems, but such is life, I guess). Looking forward to the weekend... but then again, who doesn't ;)

Beach Inspired Birthday...

Whew- how weekends just fly by!! I felt like it was Friday evening... and then I blinked, and now suddenly it's Monday night.

This past weekend, we celebrated my littlest one's 4th birthday. We celebrated a month later due to the hectic baseball schedule that ruled our schedules for most of July. I wanted to pick a date that I was sure we'd have all 5 of us free. Have to give everyone their time and I am a firm believer in celebrating birthdays to the fullest - after all, you just get one a year. And at the age that my boys are, there aren't very days that are more important in a year ;)

But I did make a point of carving out some time last night to get inspired. We had a beautiful pic for this week's TIC. Can you imagine having this scene out your front door? It is certainly different from the view I had in suburban America as well. The closest thing that I've seen like it in person was in Hawaii on my honeymoon. What an amazingly wonderful place to visit. We keep talking about going back, but we laugh as there is a part of us that doesn't want to go back for fear of ruining the image of Utopia that we have built in our memories. It probably will be quite different going back to visit with 3 kids - haha. I'm definitely NOT to the point where I'd be ready to eave the kiddos for an extended period of time. We've only taken one airplane trip without them, but we were still on the continental US.

Anyway, so back to the card... the first thing that jumped out at me was of course the color of the ocean and sky, but also the tropical foliage in the bottom right corner. I'm guess that is palm leaves and some other tropical plant. So those are the main elements that I used to create my card. I used this SU die of the branches and leaves and layered it on two different shades of blue. The color looks like a light blue closer to the shore, which I mimic'd with the bitty dots paper on the PTI EE card stock. And lastly I stamped the sentiment in vintage cream... like sand.

And there you have it. Thanks, Tina, for the challenge and thanks, Claudia, for the inspiration pic :)

Every Day... (RSCC13 &2S4Y)

So, quick post, then I have to be getting to bed. Way too many late nights in the last few weeks (I'm due for a 9pm early bed time re-charge soon), but I do enjoy down time each night after work, no matter how late my down time starts. On a night like this, I just sit, relax and enjoy the silence while I am making a card or scrapping a page. No music needed at all. I wonder if I am the only one who will trade in much needed sleep just to have an hour or so to myself before turning in for the night...

Back with another Raspberry Suite challenge and this time I combined it with my first try at a 2 Sketches 4 You sketch. I had heard and read about the sketches from perusing all the other blogs, but decided I would try it after seeing Sharon's card (Paperfections) today. Love those apples! So about my card... I had a slightly different take on the sketch since the vertical panel had the sentiment and I didn't want to cover it up. So I just put the oval behind it. But all the pieces are there!

I made this for my husband's cousin's daughter (still following me?) who graduated from high school this year. We couldn't make it to her party (baseball game!), but still want to make sure we send her a congratulations gift.

She's off to college next year. Ahhh to be heading off to college. I remember that time for me like yesterday (even if it has been way longer than that - LOL)... what a wonderful time in my life... my history. Too bad I don't realize it fully at the time (does any 18 year old?). But you know what they say about hindsight... Do you ever wish to go back and do any of your life again? Part of me wishes I could go back, but in the end, I wouldn't change anything I did or really want to go back. My life TODAY is a wonderful gift and I can't imagine not being exactly where I am. So my goal is to work hard to enjoy each day to the fullest, because in the end you never get any of it back anyway...

Ok - that was a random tangent... this was just supposed to be a grad card! Definitely time for me to head to bed! Later.

WSC 90 (almost!)

Hello, hello! Checking in with my try at WSC 90. This is one penguin who is very secure with his inner penguin! I wanted to dust of this guy this weekend to make a birthday card for young girl. So I figured that a healthy dose of pink, with some green would do the trick. (That's my story and I'm sticking to it - LOL!) And of course you can't forget the purple pail.

I used the sketch as a guide and pretty much only deviated in that I used a circle for the main image instead of the oval. The penguin wouldn't fit in an oval, so that made that easy. ;)

On a side note, I can't believe it is only Monday... Well, it just means there is that much more week to enjoy LOL (again, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Trying to enjoy the moment - no matter what kind of a moment it is). Have a good one!

Deets: Inky Antics Penguin; PTI - Birthday Basics (sentiment); CS: PTI: Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet and White, PP (can't remember where it's from since it was a scrap); Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Other: Prismas & Gamsol, Copics, Sweet Blush Ribbon, Nestie

What's Black, White and...

...red all over. Answer: My card for this month's PTI Blog Hop! :)

Hello, hello... SO excited for another monthly blog hop. Can't wait to see all the creative goodies out in paper crafting blogland. This month, Nichole called for out take on texted background. So this was my take on it. I still am old school when it comes to the thinking about the newspapery text on actual newspaper - hence using Soft Stone as my base! I then out with a polka dot background (really lovin' PDB II - the spacing of the dots are fab and perfect, imo) in Fresh Snow and then stamped the scripty text in grey to finish my background.

I decided to focus on the newspapery text to ground my big 'ol red flower (get it? - red all over LOL). A perfectly picked button with a black bow and there you have it. Black, white and red all over. ;) Now I'm off to check all the other texty-creations. Thanks for visiting.

Deets: (All PTI, unless noted) Stamps - Friends Til the End, BB Text Style, Birthday Basics; CS - Soft Stone and Pure Poppy, Ink: Fresh Snow, VersaMagic Red, Versamark; Other: Button, DMC Floss, Ranger Embossing Powder