Fairy Tales & Stuff

Trev and I just got back from having a late breakfast at our favorite local diner, Lou Roc's. YUMMMMMMM! Here's what I worked on yesterday - this "I Believe in Fairy Tales" sentiment is from the Dare to Dream set from The Angel Company. I find that I use it with a lot of my other images from other companies, it just goes so well with the princess theme!

This one uses the Diane Duda Frog Prince image from Sugar Nellies - I stamped her on kraft cardstock and colored her in, I love the effect that has rather than stamping on white/vanilla:

On this one, I used Missmatch Ketto (she's my favorite Ketto - shhhh.... don't tell the others!) from Stamping Bella:

And using up the rest of the background paper from above, this is from a SU! set, can't remember which one and don't feel like getting up to look right now:

Birthday card for a good friend of mine:

This is the reverse side of that background paper above, simple and pretty:

Today I'm making a card for The Greeting Farm's Dotty Sptty challenge - I'l be back tomorrow to post it! Peace.

Dare You, Shirleys2Girls, and Whimsie Doodles

I really enjoy participating in challenges when I have the time. This one is for the "Dare You to Digi-Stamp" Friday challenge, using C.C. Designs Swiss Pixies Heidi digital image:I used Stampin' Up! cardstock (So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Whisper White) and designer series background paper (I used this to paper piece her clothes and boots, too), Stampin' Write markers, and Dazzling Diamonds glitter on her wings, around the edge of the square that she's stamped on, as well as all over the sentiment.

Then I made this one using C.C. Designs Swiss Pixies Gretel digital image and the same colors/papers:
Another challenge I like to try to participate in is the Shirleys2Girls Twisted Thursday challenge. This week's challenge is a sketch, and the twist was to add sparkle - here's my interpretation of it:

I used Missmatch Ketto from da Stamping Bella, SU! circle punch, SU! Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon, SU! Circle Ice rhinestone brads, SU! cardstock (Certainly Celery & WW), and SU! background designer series paper.

Then I decided to make some cards with the freebie digital image I got from Whimsie Doodles, This Bud's For You. I just love love love this adorable turtle. This first one is for a good friend whose birthday is next week:

Changed up the colors a bit, using Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst & WW:

This one uses Stampin' Up! cardstock Old Olive, Taken with Teal, WW, and Rose Red:

We had one day of sunshine yesterday and I took full advantage. I pretended to be at the beach - I went and bought myself a beach lounge chair and a few magazines. Plopped my butt down in my chair and just soaked up the sun (with my sunblock on, of course) for several hours. It was glorious. However, today when I woke up the clouds and rain were back and it was almost more depressing after having a day of sunshine! The only positive to the crappy weather is that my card stash is really growing! Hope you all have a lazy, happy Sunday. Peace.

Ethan Weiman - the Weiman Wranglers

Ethan Weiman was not even 5 years old when he passed away from neuroblastoma (a form of cancer) on June 12 of this year. The Pink Cat Studio has designed some digital images in memory of Ethan, of which the proceeds are being donated to the Make A Wish Foundation. Click here to see the digital stamps. Click here to read Ethan's story.

In memory of little Ethan, several of my talented co-blogging-stampers are offering gift certificates to the Pink Cat Studio for designing cards with this adorable stamp set. One of them is Lauren - another is Vicki at Summerthyme Studio - and last is Heather at Heather's Heavinly Stampations.

So here's what I came up with, this first one is my favorite, I used Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Real Red, and Whisper White cardstocks, SU! Stampin' Write Markers, SU! red glitter, miscellaneous red checked background paper, miscellaneous button and floss:

This is actually a bookmark, I used Ruby Red with Cameo Coral, Creamy Caramel and Very Vanilla cardstocks and colored with Stampin' Write Markers. I used SU! Very Vanilla ribbon dyed with Ruby Red ink, miscellaneous buttons:

This was totally different for me, but I like it. I used SU! Going Gray cardstock and ink, a white gel pen, and SU! Designer Series background paper. You can't really see, but I used some antique-looking eyelets in the corners, it looks much nicer in real life. The horseshoe is also cut out and glittered, and it's applied with a pop-up thing, which you can't really see in the picture:

Lastly, this one was made using SU! Brocade Blue, Whisper White, More Mustard, Old Olive cardstock. I used SU! More Mustard ink dragged across the images. I colored with Stampin' Write Markers. Miscellaneous corner brass fastener.

I've been volunteering with various cancer support organizations for almost 10 years now, and Ethan's story just tore at my heart. I had to buy these images, not only because I knew the money was going to the Make A Wish Foundation, but because I knew I could make cards using these images for other sick kids, and maybe bring a smile to their faces. Win-win, as they say. Rest in peace, little Ethan.

Re-do on the Bella Challenge card...

OK so you know I just wasn't happy with my original card that I made for Stamping Bella's Bloggabella Sketch Challenge this week. So I made another one, and I am much happier:

I used the same image, but changed up the colors and added a button. Whatcha think? Better, no?

And then I dragged out a few of my Bella images that I've received through Wish RAK and I made this one:

And last for today, I just love this little girl (Snuggle) from the Greeting Farm:

We've had rain for about a week straight now, and it's starting to get old. Especially because I'm on vacation. Luckily, I have my stamping addiction to keep me busy - but a girl's gotta have some sunshine on her vacation! I hear the sun might make an appearance tomorrow, keep your fingers crossed for me! Peace.

Bella Challenge & Cassidy's Graduation

I made this card for the Stamping Bella Bloggabella's Sketch challenge, I am not that crazy about how this came out, it's too much of the same color. But I love the image, and the sentiment. LOL So here it is, using Little Emmy and sentiment:

Now - I cannot believe this - but my baby graduated from middle school (junior high) today. Cassidy just turned 14 in April and will be a freshman in high school in the Fall. Gulp. I made her take a picture with me:

Now here she is on our front porch. I just love this kid - she's got this pretty dress with a raggedy old sweatshirt and flip-flops. *sigh* And she still looked like a million bucks:

Here she is with her friends Katie & Bethany:
Cassidy and Bryana, my friend Krissy's daughter:
Cassidy and Nicole:

There she is with her diploma. I cannot believe how quickly the time flies. Someone said to me that we're lucky, the kids will be grown and gone before we know it. I don't know, though, that kind of scares me. It's really unbelievable how fast it all goes - it sounds so cliche, but I mean it quite literally. I am thankful that I've cherished my kids and enjoyed every minute of them. I don't doubt for a minute that they know how much they are loved. I won't lie, I am a bit anxious for Cassidy to get past the early teenage drama nonsense, not wanting us to hug or touch her, the eye-rolling sarcasm and the "I never get to do ANYTHING" after 5 straight days of being out with her friends and us FINALLY making her come home... yeah, I'm not really enjoying that part. hee hee

But for the most part, I don't rush it. I truly have enjoyed every phase of their childhoods. Trevor has had his own challenges and successes and will be a junior in high school in the Fall. He finished up the year with one A, 4 B's and one D. Compared to the past few years of all C's, D's, and F's. I'm very proud of him. He's currently reading the book Roots and has been given permission to continue and finish it for his Summer reading project.

More cards tomorrow! Peace.

Rainy Sunday

So I'm on vacation for the next 2 weeks - and it's a glorious feeling! The weather has not been very nice in Massachusetts, and I hear a lot of people complaining... but I don't care! I take advantage of the crappy weather to create! This is what I came up with for the Sugar Bowl's sketch challenge today:

I used Diane Duda's Frog Prince stamp from Sugar Nellies, some adorable background papers called Once Upon a Time by Die Cuts With a View (DCWV), cardstock (Perfect Plum, Ballet Blue, Kraft) and inks by Stampin' Up! Glitter by SU! Assorted buttons & gold cord.

And then I made this one to use up the scraps from the background papers that I used for that one:

And then this one is the for the Greeting Farm's 3 Stamps Challenge:

I used Hula Anya, Surfer Ian, and a sentiment from the Hope & Grace set. I love the bright, summery colors! YoYo Yellow, Whisper White, Ballet Blue, Green Galore, Only Orange cardstock - Su! inks, scallop punch, gemstone brads. SU! & miscellaneous ribbon. DCWV background paper.

I have a feeling I'll be posting a lot over the next 2 weeks! Peace.

Sugar Nellie Blog Hop!

Hello there everyone, hope you are enjoying the Sugar Nellie blog hop. If you happen to be visiting my blog before viewing the Sugar Nellie blog, then you should get yourself on over there to find out all about this hop and to see the first blog (and the rest of the blogs before mine) in the blog hop!

Sugar Nellie is releasing new stamps today, illustrated by Diane Duda - each member of the blog hop was given a Diane Duda stamp to play with and blog about. The adorable image that I received is called Frog Prince, and I just LOVEY it!

What do you think?

I used Stampin' Up! cardstock (Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, and Pumpkin Pie), inks, and glitter. I layered some background paper by Pressed Petals, and then torn cardstock with the image on top. I used Dazzling Diamonds and light blue glitter for the crowns and her necklace, as well as to embellish the sentiment. The sentiment is from Close to my Heart's "Dare to Dream" set. I then tied a piece of certainly celery ribbon around it.

The next stop in the hop is: Kay at Stampgalaxy's Weblog. Enjoy! Peace.

Black & White Challenge

Happy Wednesday! The Greeting Farm recently had a Black & White Sketch Challenge, you could also use shades of gray. I decided to stick with the true b & w - this first one is my attempt at getting into the groove of not coloring, which was really hard for me! This did not follow the sketch, so I did not submit it, this is one of my new stamps, HG Sing, I think it's my new fave - I stamped the flower in her hair twice, cut one out and applied Dazzling Diamonds glitter to it, then adhered with a pop-up, which is difficult to see in the picture:

Then I followed the sketch and used black glitter on the flower in her hair instead... it was REALLY hard not to color:

And then I switched images and used one of the other new stamps I just got from the Greeting Farm, HG Peace - did I mention it was REALLY hard not to color? LOL Anyway, this one turned out to be my favorite:
And then just because I was having coloring withdrawals, I made this one:

Isn't she just precious? I colored her in all Pink Passion and did her guitar up in hot pink glitter.
Hope the rest of the week flies by - peace.

Eric's graduation party!

You know, when you have children you really don't realize that some day they are going to grow up. I mean, intellectually you know this - of course you do. But psychologically, you really can't comprehend it. Being a parent is so all-consuming that it's almost impossible to imagine a day when things won't be the same. It's like one day you have little ones who hold your hand and demand to be tucked in at night and then POOF! They suddenly turn into teenagers who don't even want you to TOUCH them.. LOL So when the first kid of the family graduates from high school, it's quite an emotional event. And it makes you really think. Some day, my own kids are going to graduate from high school. And most likely, they will move out and have lives of their own. That's kind of.... scary. Of course it's also completely normal, but it's still scary.

We had a big party for my nephew Eric's graduation last night and we all had a blast. I'm so thankful to everyone who came and celebrated with us!

This is the box that I made for cards to go in:

This is the hall:

The table with the card-box, and a bunch of pictures. My sister and Missy made a beautiful collage of pictures of Eric and all of us from the time he was a baby. It was gorgeous. Then Michelle also had a photo album that Eric's kindergarten teacher had made for him, along with framed pics of Eric and Jay, Eric and me from the prom (hee hee) and a bunch of his graduation pics:

Close-up of the collage:

Cake:

Eric and Jeremy

Eric and Trev

Eric and his momma:

me and Eric, doing his GQ pose... ROFL:

Shell and Eric dancing:

Missy and Eric dancing:

Josh and Cass, love her face in this one:

Eric and Cass:

Eric and Trevor, I LOVE this one cuz Trevor is really laughing, not the fake smile I usually get:

Me and my nana:Our cousin Amanda - she's just a year or two older than Eric and they have always been close. They have very similar goofy personalities, I just adore them:
Me, Eric, Missy, and Michelle:
Josh and Eric, brotherly love:

Peace.