June

Hi all, as usual it's been quite some time since I actually posted something here. It's been a busy month. I went to Camp Aldersgate for Muscular Dystrophy camp for a week, then lots of birthday festivities, my dear old friend Esther and her kids were in town visiting, I went to Memphis to see Wicked, and finally my nephew Will was Baptised this weekend.
Here are a couple pics from the Baptism.




Now seriously, don't I have the cutest nephews ever???
I was overstaffed at work yesterday and today. Monday I was completely lazy and caught up on some much needed sleep. Today I was actually a little bit productive and had a little creative burst.
This first card is a CASE of one I did a few posts ago. This time, I used tissue paper for the flower. Sorry, I can't remember which blog I got that idea from, but I love it!


Recipe:
Cardstock Lavender moon, ink raspberry fizz, button, DP, Sentiment (Handwritten Notes) all PTI. Flower tissue paper.


This card was inspired by this cardand she was inspired by the SCS Color Challenge #225, and a Monday Mojo sketch #93.

Recipe: Cardstock PTI Vanilla, SU Not Quite Navy, So Saffron, DP K&Co Wild Saffron, Ribbon PTI Summer Sun, Stamps Retro Boutique by Rupa Shevde for Gina K. Designs, Sentiment PTI Damask Designs.

Hope all of you are having a wonderful summer!
Happy crafting,

Back to work...

Ten days of not having to go to work has been wonderful, but all good things must come to an end. I'll be reporting back to work bright and early tomorrow morning. Can't wait to see all the mail and other fun stuff that'll be piled up for me...
I got in a little crafting today with YaYas Debbie and Kimberly. Here's what I came up with:

Recipe: PTI Melon berry paper, ribbon, buttons, dark chocolate DP, new leaf buttons. Stamps ??? a cute set I gave Kimberly for Christmas. The sentiment reads: "Trees teach us to stay grounded but also to never stop reaching for the sky".

A sympathy card:

Recipe: SU Soft Sky cardstock, Spring silhouettes DP, PTI New leaf cardstock and ribbon, PTI sentiment.

Here are some springy/ summery cards:

Recipe: PTI Summer sun and Pure poppy cardstock, PTI sentiment from Handwritten Notes, SU Washington Apple DP, Dress image Retro Boutique by Rupa Shevde for Gina K. Designs.

Recipe: PTI Pure poppy cardstock, Summer sun grosgrain ribbon, SU Washington Apple DP, Bikini image Amy's Boutique from Amy R. Stamps.
Hope you have a great week. Happy crafting!

Catch Up

It's been over two months since I've blogged, oh the shame...
In that time work has gotten crazy busy, my nephew Will was born, and I had 10 days off of work. It's been great being off work. I've gotten lots of little projects done, and I've gotten to spend some time with John-John and his new brother Will. Now here I am with less than 2 days left of my time off, and I'm finally going to play "catch up" with this blog.
Below are a couple of birthday cards that I made recently. This first one should really be rotated so that the sentiment is horizontal. I had already rotated it and it shows up as rotated in "My Pictures" on the computer, but won't cooperate when I upload it. This is my attempt at a "masculine" card.

Recipe: PTI Ripe avacado paper and ribbon, PTI black and white basics DP, SU sentiment from Wonderful Words.


Recipe: PTI Berry sorbet cardstock and ribbon, PTI black and white basics DP, SU sentiment from Upsy Daisy, Rain Dots Cloud 9 Design, Flower embellishments ?can't find the packaging.

Anyway, you should see a couple more posts in the near future. Have a great weekend and happy crafting!

Finally Done!!!!

I don't know why, but I really had a hard time making Christmas cards this year. It was partly just getting motivated to do it, but also coming up with a design. So at long last, yesterday I finally designed and made my cards. It's nothing exciting, and actually kind of basic since I was making so many of them.


Recipe: cardstock SU Kraft and blue bayou, PTI ocean tides, DP SU soft sky collection, ribbon SU cranberry crisp, PTI chocolate, spring rain, ocean tides, dark chocolate, Michael's gold, Ink PTI vintage cream. Stamps SU Star Studded Season, Cornish Herritage Farms Christmas expressions--the sentiment says "O holy night the stars are brightly shining", inside the sentiment says "may the blessings of the season shine upon you"--also from SU Star Studded Season.

As you might imagine, there were a few problems with designing and making my cards so late. For one, I kept running out of supplies (especially ribbon). I had to change colors several times because I didn't have anymore ribbon in the particular color I was using.

I'm loving the Hansel and Grendel story additions. Who knew the turns it would take?
Have a great week!

Challenges

For Christmas last year, YaYa Kimberly gave us all a paint bucket full of monthly crafting challenges. She included some rough instructions/ ideas of where to start and some embellishments/ supplies we could use each month if we wanted to. Then, once we had completed our project we were to mail it to one of the YaYas according to the mailing list she had made up. Up til last month I had done fairly well meeting my challenge goals. I can already feel that we're coming up to the time of year when the frenetic pace begins. There are always lots of events to get to, and things that must be done. Is it just me, or does it seem to start earlier each year???
Anyway, I finally did my October and November YaYa challenges and they are literally in the mail.
Here's my October card. (Janna, close your eyes if you haven't gotten yours yet). It was supposed to use a picture of a leaf/ leaves, but I used this pretty little stamp instead. The sentiment says "Happy fall Y'all".

Recipe: Fabriano Mediovalis card, PTI summer sunrise cardstock, Stamps Rubber Stampede, Just Rite alphabet, Ink PTI dark chocolate, summer sunrise, pure poppie, ripe avacado.

This next card uses the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge

Recipe: Cardstock PTI pure poppy, SU cool carribean, DP BasicGrey Figgy Pudding, Ribbon/Ink PTI pure poppy, oval hardware/ brads SU, sentiment from SU Cute and Curly.

So my challenge for you in this holiday season, dear reader, is to only take on those projects/ events which will truly enrich the lives of you and yours, and feeds your spirit-like crafting. If you're doing something just for the sake of doing, let that be the thing you say "no" to. Speaking of "feeding the spirit", tonight is my choir's Requiem Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Andrew. The program begins at 7pm, and is free. Come join us (if your spirit could use some feeding). It is a memorial service for our loved ones who have died, especially those who have died during the past year.

Have a great week, and happy crafting!

Back in the groove

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post! I've had a fun weekend. Friday night I went out with friends to celebrate YaYa Debbie's birthday. Happy birthday Debbie! Saturday, Kimberly and I did some crafting. The results can be seen below. Saturday night I went to an Oktoberfest party at Carol and Eric's house. My sister brought my nephew for a few minutes to show off his lederhosen that she bought when we were in Germany earlier this year. I taught him to say "guten tag"...too cute! I probably should have taught him guten abend, but oh well. Anyway, look at the cutest little nephew EVAH!

Now, on to the crafty stuff.... I don't think I'll ever tire of SU's Baroque Motifs. The color combo was from an SCS challenge that I jotted down a while back, and finally remembered to use.

Recipe: Cardstock- SU certainly celery, not quite navy, bashful blue, ink- not quite navy, stamps- baroque motifs, sentiment PTI.

Judging by these next few cards, you might think it's really cold here in Little Rock. Not so. We had gorgeous weather this weekend, and even did some driving around in Kimberly's convertible with the top down.
This card uses SCS sketch challenge 187 for the layout.

Recipe: Cardstock and ink PTI dark chocholate, vanilla, DP PTI chocolate remix, ribbon PTI.

These next cards use my new Papertrey Ink set Snowfall. I love the little mittens and snowflakes.

Recipe: Carstock/ Ink PTI Ocean tides and aqua mist, Ribbon PTI, Stamps PTI Snowfall- mittens are covered in Martha Stewart brownstone glitter.


Recipe: Carstock/ Ink PTI Ocean tides and aqua mist, Ribbon PTI, Stamps PTI Snowfall


Recipe: Cardstock PTI kraft, pure poppy, Ink PTI pure poppy, Pallette Noir, Ribbon PTI pure poppy, twine SU.

I just had a call from LaThonya, one of my old University of Dallas roommates. I may meet up with some of the girls for the weekend. The UD Collegium Cantorum is celebrating is 15th anniversary, and will be singing a Requiem Mass. That will be a nice excuse to get all of us together. Unfortunately, I think Lynnette will have just ended her Tejas visit, and will be back in NYC. My choir at the Cathedral of Saint Andrew will be having it's Requiem Mass November 10th at 7pm. It is free and open to the public.
Have a great week, and happy crafting!

One month

Wow, a whole month has gone by since I posted anything. How did that happen??? What have I accomplished in the last month? I did get my windows put in (except for the last 4). I saw The Pajama Game with my friend Lisa (not me, my friend Lisa). It was pretty cute. I really need to get back into the swing of being "Julie, cruise director" (remember from The Love Boat) and book some tickets to see Les Miserables at The Rep. I've heard it's awesome. I've seen it a couple of times at other venues, but I would love to see it again. Last weekend we had a YaYa day here at my house. We had a good time seeing each other, crafting, and eating. As always with the YaYas, the topic hit the gutter at some point in the day. I can't go into it here in "polite" company. ;-)
This weekend Kimberly, Pig, and I did a virtual YaYa day. Here are some of the cards I made. The first uses SCS sketch challenge 195. I am so loving this SU Urban Garden DP.

Recipe: Cardstock SU basic gray, going gray, and kiwi kiss, DP SU Urban Garden, Ink SU night of navy, Stamps PTI Floral Frenzy and SU Upsy Daisy.

This next card is a super simple one I did last weekend.

Recipe: Cardstock SU basic gray and kiwi kiss, DP SU Urban Garden, Stamp SU Upsy Daisy.

This card uses SCS sketch challenge 187. I like this layout. Seriously, did I mention that I love this Urban Garden DP???

Recipe: Cardstock SU kiwi kiss, basic gray and soft sky, DP SU Urban Garden, Rub-ons SU Bella Chateau.

This card uses that same SCS sketch 187.

Recipe: Cardstock SU Real Red and Cool Caribbean, DP BasicGrey Figgy Pudding, Stamp SU Cute and Curly with punch, ribbon Michael's, ink Pallette Noir.
Have a great week!

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Slacker

Yes, I'm a slacker. It's been awhile since I've posted, but in real life I've been somewhat productive. While away from the blog, I've been helping fellow YaYa Kimberly with some home remodel projects. So far, I've taken down old 3X3 blue tiles circa 1970 out of a bathroom, and yesterday did lots of priming walls. What a difference a fresh coat of paint makes! I will share one "adventure" that happened at her house last weekend. I went to the restroom only to find myself "trapped" inside when I tried to leave. The door knob was messed up (partially hanging from the door). I tried for a couple of minutes to jiggle the knob, and the lock. I even tried to unscrew the screws with my fingers (like I said, they were sticking out already). The whole time muttering to myself, "Seriously? Seriously?". Typical me to get stuck in a room... Finally my knocks on the door were answered. Eventually Kimberly and Floyd (the floor guy working in the kitchen) heard my cries for help. After some fruitless tries of jiggling the door knob, and even a couple of TV cop tries of breaking down the door (them, not me), they were able to squeeze a screwdriver under the door for me to use. Thank goodness for the 70's when doors had to have the bottoms trimmed to accommodate shag carpet! With a little coaching from Floyd, I got the screwdriver between the door jam and the door and was able to spring myself free. Too funny. My dear friend Kimberly was there with camera in hand to document the event, and no, you won't be seeing those pictures here.

Anyway, here are some cards that I made last weekend. They're very simple, I just needed to try out some of my new PTI order stuff.

First is the PTI card made with the Remember set and all that beautiful poppy red. We did a little comparison, and the PTI pure poppy is VERY close to SU real red. I think the linen vellum gave a bit of a 3D effect to the flowers.

Recipe: SU kraft cardstock, PTI pure poppy ink, cardstock, linen vellum, ribbon, stamps

This card is pretty boring, but I just had to use this scrap of SU summer picnic DP. Love it!

Recipe: PTI pure poppy cardstock, ribbon, SU summer picnic DP, Cornish Heritage Farms Motivational Centers sentiment.
Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend, and happy crafting!

Circles

Looking at what I made today, I think I may be on a bit of a circle kick.
This first card is my take on Taylor's cupcake challenge Taylored Expressions: Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #29 It's not all the way true to the orginal design, but I think it turned out okay.

Recipe: SU kraft cardstock, DP SU sky blue designer series, SU Summer picnic, SU spring silhouettes, Anna Griffen, Autumn Leaves Lotus, K&Company Margo Large botanical wallpaper flat paper, Sentiment SU wonderful words, Ink Pallette Noir


Recipe: SU kraft cardstock, stamps Michael's margarita stamp, PTI mixed messages

This last card is my version of the sketch challenge found here http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/2008/08/saturday-sketch-challenge.html at Our Creative Corner.

Recipe: SU certainly celery, real red, and so saffron cardstock, Anna Griffen paisley DP, stamps SU seeing spots, ribbon Michaels

That's all I've got for today. Hope you all have a wonderful week.
Happy crafting,

August Challenge

Our YaYa Challenge this month was to make a purse for our swap buddy. I had never tried this, but found a super easy pattern over at www.splitcoaststampers.com (where else, this is a stamper/ papercrafter's home away from home). I don't think my swap buddy for this month is much of a blog reader so you guys are seeing it first.

Pretty cute, huh. I used double sided paper so the inside would be cute too.

Still, it needed a little something to jazz it up. What else but a monogram?

Much better, right? Love my JustRiteStamper Monogram set!!!
Here's my coordinating card to go with. At first the color combo was kind of overwhelming so I toned it down (I think) by putting it on kraft cardstock.

I think I'll have to fill the little purse with some goodies for my swap buddy. Try out this super easy purse over at SCS. Here's the link to the pattern http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=200810&highlight=purse+instructions All it takes is one 12X12 sheet of patterned paper, lots of folding and some adhesive---no cutting!

Purse recipe: DP K and Company Wild saffron, Cardstock: SU taken with teal, PTI summer sun, Ribbon PTI summer sun, Ink SU real red, Stamps Just Rite monogram

Card recipe: Card Stock SU kraft and taken with teal and PTI summer sun, DP K and Company Wild Saffron, Stamps Just Rite monogram.

Happy crafting!

A productive day

So it's been awhile since I last posted. Since then, I've painted my master bathroom. I'm really pleased with how the color came out. Sorry, my pics aren't the best, but it's apple green with white trim.
This morning, I put up my cute little mirror with a shelf that I bought at Tar-Zhay (that's Target for those of you not in the know).



Then Debbie and Kimberly came over for some crafting. The first card is my homage to Kristina Werner at http://kwernerdesign.com/blog/ . I love her cards! Check her out. This paper is too cool, it's kind of a flocked, velvety paper. It kinda reminds me of old wall paper.

This next card is for the July YaYa challenge. Kimberly made all the YaYas a bucket with a year's worth of challenges, one card each month. We all start with the same idea, similar supplies and then come up with totally different creations. It's a lot of fun. This month Kimberly gave us a bunch of random papers and embellishments to use on a card. I used the pretty decorative paper and the flower ribbon to create this. The cardstock and stamps are from Paper Trey Ink.
This final card is made with the Summer Picnic decorative papers from Stampin' Up. The ribbon is from Michael's and the sentiment is from PTI.

After crafting, Kimberly helped me put up the medicine cabinet. Whew! Talk about a job. That thing is HEAVY! I used a drill and everything...you would have been SO impressed. Thank you Kimberly!!!

Luke and one of his school friends are supposed to come over next Friday to scrape ceilings. I can't wait to get this done, just a couple more things and I'll be done with the latest round of remodeling.

After the day-o-crafting I went over to my sister and brother-in-law's house for boiled spicy shrimp, potatoes, and corn on the cob. Yum! My nephew and his cousin were running around 90 to nothing, shrieking for most of the evening. I think they will sleep very well tonight.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Lisa