Chilly Chums Little Buddy

I am tuning out the sounds of the football game and "lessons" going on behind me.  Big Daddy is entertaining The Piglets tonight and I am most grateful. Mommy's nerves are shot! =) Little Miss Priss has been battling an unidentifiable ailment since Wednesday afternoon. She never gets sick but she stays nauseated quite a bit, especially if she eats anything. And as we all know with nausea, it just comes and goes -- and sometimes seems kind of random. Sooo, after several days of it and not knowing what's causing it or what to do for it, I'm at my wit's end! We will think she's better and then relapse. So it's been a frustrating few days. Bless her heart.

 I did manage to escape to my room this afternoon for a few hours! Yay! I even had some out-of-town houseguests this weekend. I've been all out of sorts.

With this card I was able to use THREE challenges! I went from being non-inspired to having three on my brain and it was exciting.

Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge is Anything Goes this week. I picked up the Colour Q colors at the last minute (after initially dismissing them as "too hard" ha!). AND, I fell in love with the Retro Sketch this week -- it's what gave me a kickstart.




Look at that! Beautiful! =)

I picked up my newest PaperSmooches set, Chilly Chums, of course. It's still out on my desk because it makes me smile.

I flipped through my newest 6x6 paper pad, Crate Paper's "The Pier". (My mom started counting my 6x6 stash today! Whaaattt??? Ignorance is bliss, Mom- ignorance is bliss! The 6x6er's are my newest collection obsession.) I've been in love with this red chevron piece ever since I tore the package open.

The sentiment is stamped from PS set, Scripty Saying (a January release - I was super excited that I had hoarded some rewards $ when that came out. hee hee hee). I have used it quite a bit already. I colored my little fox with my Cool Grey Spectrum Noir markers. It'll do, but I feel I need to practice with the grey some more. I'm not feeling it. 

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit. Hope everyone is blessed with a holiday off work this week! 

God bless you and keep you, 

Mandy

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Freshly Made Sketches #119 and Curtain Call

I combined more challenges today. I was determined to gain some crafty time when at home alone this week. So far, so ok. Not too shabby, I think. I spent a fair amount of time in there today (BEFORE I got a call to pick up one from school early not feeling well.) She seems ok right now, but the jury is still out on that one. She's not been herself for several days so I'm not sure what she's got going on right now. She's 9, so it's hard to tell when bad attitude is bad attitude or a symptom of something else. ...and the mouth is pretty prevalent even on a good day -- so..... Needless to say, I'm stumped for now! Gone are the days when the sweet little angel acts up and you think "Poor Baby must not be feeling well. I'll probably get a call today."! Now it's more, "I don't know what's bothering you, but you better watch your tone Young Lady!" Ha. Poor kids. In some ways, they don't grow up as fast as we give them credit for doing. In other ways, it's TOO fast.

So enough blabbing, on to my sweet little Valentine card. Valentine stuff (décor, colors, cards, etc) doesn't really blow my skirt up. I like to have sweet, fun things for the kids to take to school. And I'll do a little something for Big Daddy, but I don't typically embrace this holiday. It's too much red right after Christmas or something. ? And I'm a red lover! :) BUT, I did jump on a 6x6 pack of Echo Park paper called Head Over Heels. I loved the colors because there is a lot of gray and light turquoise blue with the red, pink, and black. And, the patterns were so cute -- almost any of them could be used for occasions other than Valentine's.

Since the theme over at the Curtain Call Inspiration challenge is Love Letters, I did go with Valentine's this time and paired it with this week's Freshly Made Sketch.



I love the diagonal sketch provided this week!

I mostly let the paper do the work this time, but did add some stamping because I couldn't sleep at night if I haven't stamped at least a little something on each card.

The solid paper is lightly stamped with Hero Arts Envelope Pattern background stamp in CTMH Crystal Blue. I stamped the speech bubbles from PTI's Bubble Talk in Wild Hare pigment ink (ColorBox), and the Blush and Tulip dye ink (CTMH). I trimmed them and adhered the smaller two with 3-D foam tape. I stamped a solid stripe from PTI's Super Stripes and added a row of CTMH Ruby Chevron washi tape before I laid down the speech bubbles. 

I feel like I am finally getting back into my crafty groove and it's been the most fun! Thank you for stopping by to visit! Please come back anytime! =)

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The Card Concept #1

Just in case I haven't conveyed it enough, I'm suffering from a regretable lack of mojo right now. :(
I'm trying everything to get back in my groove, including sharing cards that I have managed to eek out. Anything is worth a try! Usually a submission deadline or good challenge is all I need to get the juices flowing. But lately that works at bedtime when I'm looking through my phone and in the light of day, I feel the desire only to read a novel and/or sleep! It's quite vexing. BUT -- not like it's the first time it's happened, so I'm optimistic that I'll be back to "myself"....eventually. :)

This card is one I made for the brand new Card Concept Challenge. It's kind of exciting to see a new one take off - and even more exciting to get to participate in the very beginning.

The first challenge is a color challenge:

 

 

I pulled out some 6x6 Pink Paislee paper I nabbed from scrapbooksteals.com, the "Cottage Farm" collection. The pinks and soft naturals were a perfect fit for this challenge.

 



I paired my "new" paper (had it for a while, but yet to crack it open!) with the PTI's December freebie, Ruby Reprise, mini stamp set. (a fun little Christmas surprise). I stamped the blooms in CTMH Baby Pink ink and then created a shadow stamp using Amuse Studio's Latte pigment ink. I then stamped the sentiment in CTMH's Cocoa ink. ---This one is my "Clean and Simple" approach - which I am quite a fan. For some reason, this one stumped me and I had to make myself leave it alone. Ha! I really wanted to do something else with it, but knew in my head it really was complete "as is". =)

Thanks for stopping by to visit!

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Simon Says "Ice Inspiration" and SPARKS

Hello!

I'm trying to fight the battle of the "lazies" today and catch up on a wee bit of blogging. Not much, but it did get me off the couch. (Even though my paperback book is over there waiting for me.) I think I have gone into hibernation mode, now that the craziness of the holidays is over and it's too cold to work outside in the yard. The housework is always beckoning, but lately I've been adept at blocking that out! I've woefully decided that sleep is a current hobby and perhaps I should just embrace it while I can. Whatever, right?! It's not the end of the world and it could be worse, even though my lingering lack of mojo is driving me up a wall.

I made this sweet little card last week using the SimonSaysStampChallenge "Ice Inspiration" with my new Chilly Chums stamp set from Paper Smooches.  Since it's "Anything Goes" week over at SPARKS, I get a two-fer!

This fun paper is from a My Mind's Eye 6x6 holiday pad I picked up for a song at Michael's. I had nabbed one Christmas pad on sale there and when I realized how cheap it was at checkout, I went back for another.

 

I inked the edges of the patterned papers with closely matching CTMH inks. I stamped the sweet little seal, colored with markers, and trimmed him out before adhering with 3-D foam tape. The dots are also My Mind's Eye and the twine is Hemptique (a stocking goodie from my mom! I was so surprised she was buying me crafty goodies)

I love how this one turned out - the colors and fun little stampiness makes me smile. It may need to go to my great-Aunt. I love to send her cards and I bet it will make her smile. :)

Hope you are having a great new year -- thanks for stopping by!
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Paper Smooches - Get Outta Town

Hello!

I'm ready for everyone here to have bedtime but me! :) Still so many things I wanted to squeeze in today from my to-do list. Sometimes I have a hard time letting the day go because I just want to do one more thing and, honestly, sometimes I have no problem at all with crashing in bed with my Bible, a book, or my phone! Tonight - I'm not wanting to give it up yet.

This week's challenge over at Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge is "anything goes".

This gave me a chance to "play" with my new set, "Get Outta Town" from PaperSmoochesStamps.com. 

I had this great patterned paper from a Crate Paper 6x6 pad, Story Teller. I trimmed the map piece for a background panel and stamped the sentiment on a blue patterned piece. The suitcases were stamped on a light patterned ivory piece and I colored the accents with markers. After trimming them, I added them using foam tape. My only embellishments are a few enamel dots. (That's hard for me -- I have to stick something else on there!)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope everyone is staying warm and cozy!

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CAS(E) This Sketch #58

Hello - I'm back with another card I was able to make in my brief Christmas break crafty time. We only finished all of our Christmas celebrating New Years Day due to more than one family member getting sick over the holidays. We had to postpone Christmas with my family AND with my in-laws due to a bout with the flu (3 1/2 yr old niece - so pitiful) and my father-in-law getting really down with a fever on Christmas Day.

So today was the beginning of OUR new year. Big Daddy went back to work :( and kids and I took down all the Christmas decor. An all-day job! I've even been outside in the snow flurries pulling lights off the hedges and taking wreaths down. Big Daddy puts all of that up and he does a wonderful job. But, I was cracking up at the number of extension cords I picked up! I'm glad he knows what he's doing! It's all organized and laid out according to a nice little plan. I would have that stuff so tangled and indecipherable. It would be a hot mess FOR SURE.

Now that I have caught you up, I'll show you this fun little card I made with some Christmas goodies (Thanks Big Daddy!).

Here is the current sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch:

I love the simplicity of this sketch. It was perfect for my sweet little flower I wanted to stamp and color with my new red markers. :D 

I stamped the hibiscus flower using Paper Smooches "Get Outta Town" stamp set and colored it with markers. The sentiment is from PTI's "Think Big Favorites" #3 mini stamp set. I added a couple of enamel dots in a deeper red and that was it! 

Thanks for stopping by to visit! Hope you are all enjoying a wonderful New Year!

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CASual Friday #124

Hello!

I feel like it has been so long since my last post! I've spent very little 'crafty' time in the last few weeks due to the holiday craziness. I know I'm not the only one -- but, then again, I couldn't help but be impressed and wowed by the continued blog posts of many of the blogs I love to follow. I was tickled because I had something to peruse on my phone at night before falling to sleep, but all I could think was "How in the world is she keeping up with that?!". :)

I did spend some time in my crafty room trying out some new projects that were Christmas gifts. I had a lot of fun decorating these coffee mugs. My super crafty sister helped me with execution ideas after I told her what I wanted to make. I enjoyed it so much, I made more than I had originally planned. These were all "embellished" with an oil-based Sharpie, using a vinyl Silhouette-cut stencil. (We have Pinspiration to thank for getting the ball rolling!)

Here are some of my favorites: (Forgive me the unplanned photos! These were taken hastily to shoot to above-mentioned sister.)

I had a lot of fun and used a white marker on all projects. It showed up really well on black mugs, also. (not pictured) Each one was filled with a clear bag of "Puppy Chow" all tied up with a pretty red bow! It looked so cute. And, I'm happy to report that they went over well. :) Always the best part.

Now I've babbled long enough -- I did play in my room for a few hours on ____ oh the days are a blur! It was a few days ago. (I'll have to explain our Christmas debacle in another post.) Long story short, I made a few cards for some challenges -- trying to get the crafty mojo rolling again. I got several new goodies for Christmas (Thanks Big Daddy!) and usually a new goodie or two is enough to give the crafty side of my brain new life, but I'm still not quite there yet. Probably not until we get back to our normal routine, I'm afraid.

This fun little card is for CASual Friday's New Years challenge! I don't usually make these cards just because I don't send them out, but I wanted to try something fun and new.

I used some gold and silver embossing powders on Rasberry Fizz (PTI) cardstock. The border embossed in silver is from PTI's Boutique Borders: Thanks mini stamp set. I stamped 2014 in gold powder from my CTMH Old World Alphabet. (Love that font, but forget to use it.) I stamped celebrate in small letters underneath using Rasberry Fizz ink from the PTI Live Love Life stamp set. It's all matted in gray cardstock and adhered to a white card base. Super easy and quick. 

Thanks for stopping by to visit! Happy New Year's!

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