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! :)