Crazy4Challenges34 - CASE

For the Crazy4Challenges #34 this week, we had to pick one of the DT's cards to CASE any way we wanted - I chose to CASE this card by Cindy Haffner, who I'm a big fan of. :) I CASEd the sketch, and here is my interpretation, using this adorable piggy image by MelJen's digital designs:

I used SU! DP in Pretty in Pink w/ Regal Rose dots, and Bashful Blue w/ Brocade Blue dots, and I paper-pieced the piggy. I love paper-piecing. :) I also used Dazzling Diamonds and Light Blue glitter, along with ribbons and gemstone brads also by SU! Sentiment is a rub-on by SU! Peace.

Paper Cutz - Mother's Day & Delightful Inspirations

I do not scrapbook - although I love the idea of it, I just take one look at the mountains of pictures waiting to be scrapbooked, and I panic and give up. I spend 99.9% of my stamping time making cards. But I decided to make this scrapbook page for my mom for Mother's Day, and to frame it instead of putting it in an actual scrapbook. This is for the

Paper Cutz challenge - Mother's Day

So that's my mom and me. The stamp is by TGF, it's Hope/Grace Laundry - the sentiment is also by TGF. The butterflies are from the Sticky Sweets collection from SU! covered in pink glitter. Various ribbons and DP by Stampin' Up! I hope she likes it.

And this one is for the Delightful Inspirations challenge:

I used some old retired Stampin' Up! DP. I don't know about you, but I almost always choose my DP first and then pull my colors out of it. That's what I did here - the colors are Tempting Turquoise, Pixie Pink, Lovely Lilac and Certainly Celery. I also used Barely Banana and Real Red. The umbrella is covered in Dazzling Diamonds glitter and the puddle in light blue glitter.
Peace.

Raise The Bar and Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturday

Oh you know how sometimes you make a card and you just LOVE the way it turned out? That's how this one was! I love these digital fairy images by the Greeting Farm! This card is for 2 challenges:

Raise the Bar - Color Me Happy

Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturday - Make Something Girlie

Just the other day I realized I had all of the TGF Fairy images except "Spring Fairy", which is this one, so of course I had to buy her. hee hee Hope you're all having a great week - peace.

MelJen's - For the Little Ones

I really should just stop browsing through blogs and finding new stamp and digi companies to fall in love with. *sigh* But I just can't help myself! And so when I saw one of the adorable images by MelJen's Digital Designs, I knew I had to have some for myself. So I bought some. You should go buy yourself some, too - they are on sale at 25% off until Wednesday, the 28th. So I made this card for the

MelJen's Designs Challenge - For the Little Ones

I just love this little unicorn, he reminds of the My Pretty Ponies (c) or something, doesn't he? She? I dunno, but it's so colorful and cheerful, I just love the way it came out. I used my Prismacolor colored pencils blended with Gamsol to color the unicorn and the grass. The rest of the inks and papers are SU! in Lovely Lilac, Tempting Turquoise, Pixie Pink, and Certainly Celery. Assorted ribbon from my stash. Peace.

Play Date Cafe & Unscripted Sketches 52

Happy Monday! Back to the grind this week, but that's OK - gives me something to look forward to: Friday! hee hee

I made this card for 2 challenges:

Unscripted Sketches #52 challenge - use recycled items

The DP was recycled off an old card, and the ribbon was recycled from a package. I also followed the US52 sketch.

The Play Date Cafe color challenge - Clay, cream, and turquoise-y blue (can also use silver or gray)

I used the Greeting Farm's digi image Creepy Cakes Royal Pain, along with SU! cardstock in Sahara Sand and Tempting Turquoise. Turquoise gem brads by SU!

Peace.

DUDS36

So this is it - today is my last day of my 2-week vacation. *sigh* I could get used to this, I am not one of those people who says "Oh I can't imagine not working" - I definitely CAN imagine not working! hee hee Cuz let's face it - a mom/wife's life is certainly a working one whether we work outside of the home or not! HMPH! I digress - on to the good stuff. ;)

For today, I have a card using a beautiful digi image from MelJen's Designs, and this is for the

Dare You To Digi Stamp Challenge 36 (DUDS36) - use Flowers

I used the Sweet Pea DP paper from SU! in Old Olive and Chocolate Chip along with coordinating markers, as well as my Prismacolor colored pencils to color. I have been on a roll this weekend with challenges so I should have a post for you every day this week. Have a happy Sunday! Peace.

Sweet Stop, Delightful Inspiration, MyGrafico & Digital Tuesday challenges

I've got a lot on my mind, and stamping really is like therapy to me. It's so peaceful to sit in my room & create and think - or not think - whatever. LOL My husband and son really want to move to California - my daughter is absolutely adamant that she will not go. She just turned 15, remember. I understand her feelings... but it's so beautiful there. I really think some day I will live there, but I cannot see myself quitting my job and moving my family all the way across the country right now. I feel a lot like my daughter does - I cannot imagine not having my friends within hugging distance. *sigh*

Anyway, here are the latest creations for the following challenges:

Delightful Designs (I see I missed the deadline but I'm posting it anyway)

Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #53

The image is a freebie from Designed2Delight - I love this color combo of Stampin' Up! colors Chocolate Chip or Close to Cocoa (both, actually), Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink, Old Olive, and So Saffron.

This cutie is one of the digital images from MyGrafico and I am using this card for 2 challenges, as well:

My Grafico sketch challenge

Digital Tuesday - April Flowers

OK - be back tomorrow - peace!

Quixotic Challenge, nose rings, and pocketbooks

First things first - I so missed my stampin' stuff while on vacation! :) It's so good to be back!

This card is for the following challenges -

Quixotic Challenges - Make a Splash

Fab 'n' Funky Challenge - Get it all Out!

I used Merman Ian digi image by the Greeting Farm and those little circle sticky things have been in my stash for quite some time, I had never used them before. I didn't know WHAT to do with them until this challenge! LOL

On to the nose rings - ha! Yesterday was my daughter Cassidy's 15th birthday. She has been asking to get her nose pierced for at least 6 months now. I got mine done over 10 years ago and I still love it - I wanted it for quite some time before I did it, and I wanted Cassidy to do the same thing. I didn't want her doing something like that on a whim. So we brought her yesterday as a birthday gift, and she looks absolutely adorable - see?

This is her and one of her best friends, Kaylee:

This is the AWESOME hemp pocketbook that I bought at a store called "Hemp and Chocolat" in Guerneville, California:

And I couldn't resist this felt bag at another cool store called Yin Yang in Sebastopol, California:

All of the decorations, including the peace sign and the words, are done with glued-on pieces of felt or embellishments, it's quite a work of art. I love it! I also got some cute sterling silver peace sign earrings and a business card holder with a cool scene from Alice in Wonderland on the cover.

That's all for now - off to create some more! I cannot believe my vacation is near an end, I could definitely get used to being home full-time. Peace.

Alcatraz & San Francisco

One of the things I really wanted to do while in northern California was to visit Alcatraz, something I've always wanted to see! We planned our trip for Sunday morning, the early bird tour at 9:00 a.m. Which meant we actually had to set our alarm clocks and leave the house by 7:00, as we had to find parking and pick up our tickets 1/2 hour early.

We had a great day - this is a picture of the city from the ferry:

Trev, he loves his Transitions (c) lenses:

Alcatraz - the island:

Pulling up to the island in the ferry:

The cells are 5 feet wide by 9 feet long by 7 feet high:

This was the prison library:

Trev and Jeremy behind bars:

Cass (and by the way, today is Cassidy's 15th birthday! I cannot believe my "baby" is 15 - *sigh*):

One of the cells from the 1962 "Great Escape" - when Frank Lee Morris and brothers John & Clarence Anglin used spoons to dig out of their cells through the vents and fashioned fake human heads with hair out of soap, cement, and toilet paper in order to fool the guards into thinking they were still in their beds. These 3 men were among the 5 escapees from Alcatraz who were never captured or found, dead or alive:

One of the ruined buildings:

Cass, me, and Trev:

Oh my gosh - this is Lombard Street. Holy cow. Jeremy always told me about the "crooked street" - man, he wasn't kidding. You cannot go up the crooked part, you can only go down it. It is a zig-zag and goes STRAIGHT down. See this car, you can only see the top of it below, and it's sideways? Yeah, you go down the entire way like that, zig-zag:

This picture is from Google Images and shows the street better, but doesn't really give you the feel for how STEEP it is:

Standing at the top of one of the steepest streets:

Trolley:

OK I'm off to stamp and make some challenge cards and stuff, I'm soooo itching to get back to my routine. LOL Peace.

I've Been Published & California Trip!

Good news - I've been published in the online magazine called Scrapbook News & Review. Please click here to see my card, if you are a subscriber. It's a wonderful site with tons of ideas, so if you don't subscribe, what are you waiting for? I can't publish the card they used on my blog until 30 days after this publication, but it's a boy card using Surfer Ian by the Greeting Farm and it really is a cutie! :)

UPDATE - it's been more than 30 days now, so here is the card they published:


Soooo - we just got back from our wonderful vacation in Northern California! We arrived in San Francisco and drove about an hour north to Sebastapol, where we stayed with Jeremy's mom Dori and her husband David. We spent time in Santa Rosa, as well. I'll post more pics tomorrow, but for now I'll share a few of my faves!

When we arrived, we were all pretty tired. Dori made us a yummy dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and salad. We all relaxed at home and went to bed fairly early, anticipating a busy day ahead. However, I woke up in the middle of the night with one of the worst migraines I've ever had, vomiting and wanting to die. I couldn't believe it, I was so mad! So I slept for most of the day and finally got up and showered and felt halfway normal in the afternoon, when we all ventured out and visited a few places. We had ice cream and milkshakes and coffees, and visited Armstrong Woods (pictures below), then we just went back to the house and had a light dinner of leftovers and again went to bed fairly early. I felt fine by the next day, thankfully! I couldn't help but wonder if flying caused the migraine - when we were landing in San Francisco, my ears hurt so bad I was crying. The pain faded, but never really went away for a day or two.

Anyway - on to the good stuff! I'll label them at the top of each picture.

I got a kick out of this "casino"! hee hee The only casinos I've ever seen are Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun!

This is one of the beaches we visited - I think this might be my favorite picture of the entire trip:

Isn't it just breath-taking?

Trev sitting on a giant beach boulder:

Cassidy - she didn't know I was taking her picture, and I think this came out so pretty:

Me and Jeremy:

The Armstrong Woods - it's a smaller version of the Redwood Forest, this is Trev in front of one of the giant trees:

Cassidy:

It's easy to feel insignificant amongst these giant trees:

Dori and Jeremy:

Grandma Dori and Cassidy:

Trevor and grandma Dori - look how tall he is!

I had a wonderful time - I really want to move there. Cassidy is so against it - she has a tight group of friends and she gets very upset even talking about moving that far away. I understand, I remember being her age, and I also want Trevor to finish high school where he is, so that means we can't leave for at least another year, if we do decide to move. I am hoping to talk her into it. It's beautiful - where we were, everyone is so nice. We sat at the local coffee shop, Hardcore, and people just come sit with you and talk to you and are so friendly. This is Hardcore:

It's all outside. Did I say how much I love this place? LOL The tables are all old and mis-matched and ripped pieces of furniture - everything from booths to upholstered chairs to plastic lawn chairs. Tables made out of giant spools. The people who work there are awesome - they play like funky reggae and Grateful Dead type music, they are all organic, they are pretty much like hippies. So nice - it's such a happy place to be, you can't help but feel good here. You get your coffee or your sweet chai or whatever you want, but they also sell crystals and CD's and T-shirts and fossils (yes, fossils) and all kinds of cool stuff. When it's chilly in the morning, they have this heater outside built onto wheels so you can roll it around and warm yourself up. LOL Have I mentioned I just love it here? ;)

We also visited Alcatraz and hung out in San Francisco one day, which was TONS of fun. I'll post that story and those pictures tomorrow. I have some stamping to do - I was having withdrawals!!! AND - tomorrow is my girl's 15th birthday, so I have to head to the store to get the fixings for her choice of birthday dinner: steak, mashed potatoes, corn, dinner rolls, spice cake, and a small cheesecake. Smart girl, huh? LOL Peace.

Emo Elenora

Just another pre-made entry for you while I'm enjoying my vacation. :) This is Emo Elenora from Clip Art and Scrap, digi image, love her! I used very vanilla cardstock, chocolate chip ribbon and brads from Stampin' Up! DP is from Die Cuts With a View:

Be home soon! Peace.

Boy Cards

Just so you all don't miss me tooooo much while I'm away, hopefully basking in some sunshine, I've set up blogger to post a couple of blog posts for me. So for today, I'm sharing a couple of boy cards. I think many of us struggle with boy cards - I try to make a few at a time so I'll have them when I need them.

This first one uses one of Lori Boyd's Lollipop kids - both cards use Stampin' Up! cardstocks/papers/inks in Not Quite Navy, WW, Old Olive, and coordinating DP papers:

This next card was made using a free digi image from Stamping Dragon Designs, dragon was colored with Prismacolor colored pencils blended with Gamsol:

Mwah from California! Peace. :)

Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge 51

My last challenge for the week - I won't be able to participate in any this coming weekend, as I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again...

hee hee Just kiddin' - I'll be back next Tuesday night! LOL I did set up some blog entries to post while I'm away in hopefully-sunny-California, so you shouldn't miss me toooooo much. :) Thankfully, I will have a few days off when I get home in order to catch up on challenges! hee hee

Today's card is for the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge # 51, and I used this yummy paper by Die Cuts With a View called "Pocket Full of Posies". The image is Alice from the Signature set by The Greeting Farm. I used SU! brads and ribbon in Pumpkin Pie and had the "Dream" sentiment brad in my stash:

And that's it - I'm off! By the time most of you are reading this, I should be flying over your heads on my way from one end of the country to the other! :) Peace.

Crazy4Challenges32 & Aly's Sunday Challenge

I have yet another new digi image company to share with you today. *sigh* It's an Etsy shop called Spesch (click to see), and they have some really cute stuff. I actually saw one particular image on someone's blog and tracked down where she got it so I could purchase it - but then of course I saw the OTHER images available and had to buy a few of THOSE, too.... and this one reminds me of my little buddy Megan, who passed away from cancer almost 2 years ago before she ever had a chance to grow up. Cancer sucks. But talking about Meg keeps her memory alive, and that makes me happy. I think I'll send this card to her mom, actually. Her family called her "bumblebee" - I'm still planning on getting a little angel bumblebee tattoo on my foot in memory of Meg, actually, but I haven't found the right image just yet.

So anyway - this card is for 2 challenges today:

Crazy4Challenges32 (C4C32) - use 1 ribbon, 2 buttons/brads, and 3 different punches

Aly's Sunday Challenge - use buttons

Colors are SU! Ruby Red, Whisper White, Basic Black, and Summer Sun. I used Crystal Effects on the flower, and Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the bees and the wings and crown. Hope it makes you smile! :)
Peace.

3 cards, 6 challenges

(EDIT - I forgot to shamelessly beg you to go leave a comment on this here adorable scrapbook page - your comment counts as a vote for my team, so we can go on to round 4 in the Greeting Farm's Royal Battle. You can leave a comment/vote for up to 3 pages. Thanks!)

Well hello there - it's Monday morning, the sun is shining even though it's bit chilly out there, and I am on V*A*C*A*T*I*O*N!!! I have today and tomorrow to prepare for our trip to California, so I'm going to be a busy girl. I'm really excited, though, I can't believe it's only 2 days away!

For today, I have 3 cards to share for 6 challenges:
Oh, Alice challenge blog (Use flowers)

Quixotic Challenges (Think Spring)

This card was made using another precious digi image from My Grafico (come on, people, I'm telling you - $1.25 for each of these cuties, how can you go wrong???), this one is called Kelly on a chair (by Clip Art & Scrap). I used SU! brads, colors/papers in Real Red, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, and Very Vanilla. And did you notice? I used some of that cute Sparkly Fluff pink stuff for the rim of her hat, too!

Next up is my card for the Delightful Inspiration's Stamp of the Month Challenge, using the first freebie for April. I also used this card for the Unscripted Sketch Challenge #50:

This one uses SU! papers/inks in Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Old Olive, and Taken with Teal. Ribbons are also by SU! Flower is colored with Prismacolor colored pencils blended with Gamsol and... you got it, I used that pink Sparkly Fluff stuff for the flower petals! Cute, no?

And last for today, I have this cute little ladybug card to share. This one is for 2 challenges, as well - why break the theme here, right? hee hee

Bugaboo Challenge - use bugs

Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge 48

I used SU! colors Real Red, Basic Black, and Whisper White along with my Prismacolor colored pencils blended with Gamsol. I covered the jar in Crystal Effects to give it a glassy look, which looks much better in real life.

Oh I've got so much to do today to be ready to fly 3000 miles in a couple of days! I better get moving - have a great one and see you tomorrow! :) Peace.