Pink in December

     Hello there, so how are all of  you doing? I know  this time of year can be so  hectic and just plain busy .  I am extra  busy as I have several December birthdays  as well as Christmas to get  taken  care of ..add in  5 grand children  and  it sure can get  even more hectic around here . .But I love  to see them get excited  about Christmas, it makes it all worth while .

    My first card was for my  oldest grand daughter that just turned 15.   She was also in  a school play very recently ~  they performed  Oliver Twist ~  I must say I was  so amazed.   These students  did a spectacular  job ~  we are blessed with a music  teacher that goes  one step beyond  with these kids.  She sees their ability  and  gets them  to achieve  so much.
   I wanted something  a little different than a typical teen age card.  After her  grown  up role I decided on this...In her world , you can never go wrong with hot pink and black   : )
I let the  title on the music sheet be the sentiment on the front of the card  and  on the inside it said " to beautiful you "  with  pink and black trim .

I did spritz it with a touch of gold shimmer  before I gave it to her...that really  glitzed it up   and made the gold shimmer on the ribbon  blend in so well .

    Next I did a  card  for  the TPT group on SCS  again.  And wouldn't you know, it was to use a hint of PINK with silver  ornament  or snow flakes   ...  you can read the story here
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/teapot-tuesdays-f260/mmtpt228-ring-ling-dec-11-2012-a-t565540.html

I used a piece of  shiny silver mirror card stock under the layer of pink pirouette snow flakes . I hope  the shiny silver  ornaments and  soft pink snowflakes  can carry a message of HOPE to Marlene  this year ...I wish her and her family A Very Merry Christmas and a New Year full of  Blessings

Thanks for  taking time out  of your busy schedule to  visit...  I hope your holiday season is going well.
And that the gift of love  and  time shared with those you love  is at the top of your list ..

I hope to see you all again  real soon , Take care...
Soni


 

December

Ah December is  here,  even though the temps  surely do not  seem like it ...
This  wonderful weather is  making it nice to get out and  Christmas shop a little...

Sorry I have not  been here  with any thing to share. My oldest brother and his wife  flew  up from Florida the Friday before Thanksgiving   and stayed  for  over two weeks.  It was so  special  having them here.It has been  over fifteen years  since we  had shared   a Thanksgiving dinner.  To just sit and talk  and share memories was the best gift  he could have given me ...

I really have not  been crafting much.My sister in law  had sewing machines  going   most of the time : ) Her and my youngest daughter were busy  making special things  for  my daughter to give to her children for Christmas .

And then it was time  to  get the  Christmas tree out , up and decorated, that sure is not as easy as it used to be ~  I enjoyed  finding  new places  to display some of my treasured Christmas items...   I have been  spoiled , oopps,  I mean blessed  over the years  with so many beautiful  things.  My husband  knew  I loved  Christmas  time and  always found something  special each year  for our house... Those items  have become  even more  special  now  that he is  gone~

I do have a few challenge pieces  to work with, so I will try to get  busy and create some thing to share .And I will try to take pics  of my  house all decorated  and share those as well .

Enjoy  your  time  this Christmas  Season,  try to slow  down,  and really enjoy  your days  leading up to Christmas Day... Do not stress over the gifts, nor the little  bumps in the road..
. as I have learned,  the JOY in my heart  needs to shine ...

Til next time, thanks for stopping by.  Please come back real soon  to see some pictures...
In my  Heart and Life,  My Family  is  so important, so I hope to share  some of them too .
 Sharing Christmas Love  with them  is the best  gift  I can give  or receive ...

Clean and Simple

A few days ago I shared  my entries  to Perfect Sentiments  for a clean and simple challenge. And today I learned one of my cards  was  chosen in the Perfect Three Group. I am in shock.  It is really pretty in real life with the shimmer paper and sheer ribbon, but I surely did not expect to  be chosen...

So here is the card  again,  It was stamped on shimmer  paper  and the ribbon was sheer  to carry on  the  shimmery effect...  

I enjoy PSC so much.They  have a great design team, and everyone is so  nice and helpful. My  dear friend Maggie  is always encouraging  me  to  try a challenge with them,  so  THANK  YOU Maggie .
When I grow  up, I want to  create  like  you  ...  : )

And to add to this  great day, I chose this same card to send to my oldest brother and his wife  for Thanksgiving, after hearing yesterday they were not going to be able to  come here to share   this holiday with us... And today I hear  they are on their way...
Thankful, oh yes,  I am so blessed  

Thanks  for stopping in to share in  my  JOY ...

Teapot Tuesday is at it again

    Well  here is another Teapot Tuesdays  card. This week the destination  is to one of my  my sister in  laws in Florida ~  she  has  had  a lot of medical issues  ongoing  now for a very long time. I know these ladies will brighten her day and  take  messages  of  encouragement and sunshine her way...  This group is from SCS  and  has amazing ladies  that  are always there  for what ever reason is presented to them...My heart thanks them all .
  Here is a link to her story if you would like to read about her http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/teapot-tuesdays-f260/mmtpt224-~november-13-2012~-brownie-please-quit-nothing-here-will-quite-fit-t564017.html
The sentiment is a Stampendous stamp, and I heat embossed  the sentiment to add a toch of gloss. 

 My card  is  a CAS card,  though I wanted to use lace  and ribbons  it just did not go with the image  or design. This image is from LOTV,http://www.liliofthevalley.co.uk/
  It is pre  stamped and colored... I knew  the minute I saw this one, that it was the one I wanted to use for Marylou, as she loves Teddy Bears .

I saw this  sketch  recently and It seemed to  work well...my message inside is   MAY GOD'S LOVE BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY a  Inkadinkadoo stamp

MY HEART THANKS ALL OF THESE AMAZING LADIES, FOR  DOING WHAT THEY DO BEST...CARING AND CREATING

 Thanks  for  stopping in...
Bye Now
Sonja

Do you love a Challenge??

     I do  love  to  create cards,  tho some thimes I either loose my  creative ability,  or  wonder why I do it. It seems I am just a  basic style  card maker, and I rarely reach  a goal of  creating some thing spectacular... Then I remember the feeling I get  to know  that when some one opens a card from me , that it was at least made with LOVE.
    I have  had  several people  tell me to try  to do challenges, it  motivates  , and it gets  more traffic on a blog  and  more comments in   a gallery...   So I am trying. If I can get  more motivated, and maybe  gain the  ability to reach  a deeper level of creating, then it will be a win win  for me   : )
   A sweet sweet lady that I  know  on line from SCS    is on Perfect sentiments  design team ~Maggie or Margaret ~  She  always encourages me to enter a card.  I think  she  believes it might make me raise my standards  : )  And in truth, that would  not be at all a bad thing .
   So these  were made  for Perfect Sentiments  challenge this week...It needs to be a Thanksgiving or Fall card  with the sentiment on the front...The best part is  it also needs to be CAS   that means, Clean and Simple...   Woo Hoo  a challenge I might be good at ...lol

   First is  a basic set from SU  Lovely as a Tree, stamped on shimmer paper for a touch of  sparkle or elegance ... I added sheer ribbon  to keep some elegance going...  the image was supplied  by my Daughter    : )
I used  chocolate chip as my base and ink color

     And second is another CAS  card, I used Sahara Sand for the base,  and Burgundy for the only color... I stamped the leaves, cut them out  then  put Versa Mark Shimmer on them and heat embossed  with clear embossing powder...I heat embossed the Sentiment too .Then I added a thin line of ribbon   ...  So even tho you cannot see it very well, these leaves and words  do  have a shiny look to them  : )

     If you are not familiar with Perfect Sentiments,  please go check them out. There are some super talented ladies  over there !
http://perfectsentimentschallenge.blogspot.com/

    I know, I know ...  2 updates  in 2 days   WOW   : )
    It just goes to show
Anything Is Possible  : )

     Thanks  for stopping by, Hope  you liked  my  words today  as well as my  cards...
     Til next time ...
I am  * waving   : )

Starting November off with our November Challenge

   I enjoy our  group of ladies  that like to share  ideas. So November  is my daughter, Kristas' turn... She choose  fall and Thanksgiving theme, and here are my cards.

    First one  is  using  non traditional  dp, but I loved the circles with this happy little guy. I choose to not color  him in...I used a sketch from SCS, it was SC346  I will be using it again I am sure .

   Second is a very simple card, but showing  how effective an embossing folder can be ... This could be used as a thank you  as well . Krista put the pumpkin together for us, how sweet was that ?  : )

Third is a nice  autumn scene, I colored with pencils and blended with a blender pen, added ribbon and  bling.   I still kept it simple...

 : )  yep that is my STYLE  

     And fourth is  a layout I always seem to go back to,    basic  matting , along with this sparkly  dp  and a leaf  brad...  but I love  the colors... they are so rich...

  I still have pieces  to play with. I am working on a couple of more cards  to enter at PSC  . So I hope to be back with those real soon...

 The weather is changing  right along with the time. So grab a sweater  or sweatshirt, and  be careful  if it is getting dark earlier where you are ...

Til next time,  Blessings  for  you  everyday , thanks for stopping  by.
   

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Hello,  there is nothing like  waiting until the last minute  to  make  Halloween cards...  I am just shaking  my head...

Okay  first is my Happy Ghost...for  all of my purple lovers : )

I used elegant eggplant card stock and so  purple dp  from Debbie Mumm Harvest and Holiday  pad from JoAnn's..I cut the ghost with a Sizzix die  using  white  sparkle card stock  and the fence is  an embossing folder by Sizzix with some  snipping here and there... and some gray sponging to  "spook" it up
 Oh and I used a pencil like stamp  by Judikins from long ago  for the  boos
  And second is  a kitty cat in the sparkle hat... I used a versa marker  all over the hat  and heat embossed with irridescent ice  for some  sparkle. Colored pencils and blender pens were used  on the kitty. I used dp from my stash and bling  too. And the clip is from a challenge envie  along with this image  : )
All is mounted on Pumpkin Pie card stock~ my oldest grand daughter has a cat named Pumpkin  : )  


Now # 3  is for  my sweet  little one year old grand daughter. This tag is perfect for her, so I went with the "sweet"  theme. I started with Only orange Card stock, some  more dp and  a strip from that Debbie Munn's pad, some dp from my stash and a new  tag  from  some thing I just picked up . these lolipops are sparkly : )  I use SU'd  tag punches  .
This  sweet, and sparkly  and full of love...
So  three down  and  two to go. I hope to  have Segment 2 ready 
tomorrow

Thanks for stopping by,  See you all real soon  I hope .

Big Prayers

Today my card is  one  for a special family. A new  baby boy was born with a rare disease... So I am sending  this  with a  BIG  load of  prayers. What  better way  to think big than an elephant, plus  he is so sweet I hope he brings a smile  to these parents...
If you want to read the story , you can here http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/teapot-tuesdays-f260/mmtpt221~oct-23-2012~mr-noah-smallest-mouse-t562903.html
this group of ladies  is so  wonderful. They are filled with so much  love and their abilities AMAZE me...I am so  proud to join them in yet another story that  needs  love and prayers ..

Thanks for looking...I used  a  3 D  die  cut I have had for a while, isn't  he  just too cute ?  I really had  no sentiment  that I wanted to put on the front, I hand wrote  my words inside  hoping they  could see and feel my heart in those words.

My youngest daughter  came over and  moved a few things around in my craft room...Maybe the new  feel  will help to  jump start my mojo...
I sure hope so...   : )

So til next time,  grab a blanket  and come  for a visit...I do have Apple Cider  just waiting to share it  : )
  November is on the way .   Brrr...

Perfect Sentiments Birthday Blog Hop

http://perfectsentimentschallenge.blogspot.com/

This is a reminder of a super event going on over at Perfect Sentiment's site...So many great ideas  and so much fun,  please go check it out, and either  join in on the blog hop to try to win some great prizes , and  you can  create and play along too...

There are lots of prizes  to be given away, by  many  wonderful sponsors...So head on  over  to  see what it is all about  .
I hope you all have fun....

Inspired

Have you ever  started to work on a card, or a project  and first  just  get stumped  before you get any where and second  get  side tracked by something that  has absolutely  NOTHING to do with what you WANT to work on?  Well  it sure happened to me today. I woke up really wanting to make a particular  card  to submit to a challenge, and I just could not  take any of the beautiful things I have and use them to  create  a card   : (

But  by  accidentally looking at something that was just  across the room,  there went my  idea... I had worked on this small piece a while back  and just never  found the right card to use it with  .
 So was it meant to be for me to create this card???  I believe it was : ) .  After completing it I know without a doubt  who it will be sent to.  It is perfect  to convey some words I have been been wanting to say to a very  dear  lady...

I used cool carribean as the base, and a piece of black card stock that I   embossed with a fiscars  template I added leaf and flower to add some color  and the sentiment is embossed all over to give  the glitter paper  even more  dimension and glitz. And the butterflies, well yes  they are a sign of beauty and life, so I felt that they were just perfect to help carry my thoughts and message .
 On the inside is a smaller card  on a black base  with a few words of inspiration...
I am quite happy with how this  turned out,  though the way it evolved  has me wondering  just what to do next...

Thanks so much for stopping by,  with this cooler  weather maybe I should keep some warm apple cider  ready so we can sit  and visit    : )

Til next time,  SMILE and  make some one  feel  good about their self...

Autumn Leaves

    Ah  the temps are cooling down, the colors are so  fluent, Yes Autumn is here . And I am loving it all , as long as I have  my blanket to curl up with ...lol
     There are a few us  that try to get  together  monthly to share ideas and products...then we all  use our  own  creativity to see what we can come  up with. We can add anything we  like from our own stash too
 This month the theme was leaves,  and  these are so beautiful...

     My first card I used a  gold-ish / bronze color  and embossed my sentiment  to  match this pretty leaf. I used a brad and gold sheer ribbon  that was offered as well  , yes  basic layers,   but I really like it...I thought the  card was  striking  without adding color to the leaf.

   And the second card  I used a more brown  colored  dp  to  high light this  beautiful brown out line of a maple leaf. I heat embossed the sentiment in the same color as the mat , and picked up colots from the dp  for my mats.
  Again simple, layers,  nothing added here ... But with so many birthdays  coming  up, I was happy to get a couple of cards  ready to go. I still have several items to play with and I hope to get a few more cards  finished...
    I hope you all are enjoying  these days, Autumn, Indian Summer  or  what ever  you are  having. As always, thanks for stopping  by... I do  appreciate all of you and your  sweet words...
   Til next time, Happy Autumn and good bye : )
Soni

Happy Birthday Faith

     My youngest grand daughter  turned one September 19 th...I bought this elephant stamp  from SU  a long  time ago, possibly before she was born, with the intention to use it for her first birthday card... We had planned her party to be Tutu's and cupcakes  for  as long as I can remember...
One slight  change,  she Loves Mickey mouse... Which is  fine with me, as I love  him too ...lol    So we added Mickey Mouse into the mix of things...    My youngest daughter  went with Mickey as her theme  for  her card,  but I stayed with mu  origonal  thought .
Here is a picture of  my card...

I used some SU textured  Melon Mambo card stock for the base,  and some  dp from a 6 x 6 pad named Lime Twist from My Minds Eye...
I accented with pear pizazz by SU. I stamped the image on water color paper, then  used colored pencils and a blender pen to color. I used  the large oval punch and the scalloped oval punch, some pear ribbon  and the corner punch too.  I added some tiny bling  from Michaels  to the balloon...I used black Memento ink  to stamp the image,,,
I love that the cake  has just one candle on it....This  elephant is so cute
 : )

I have birthday pictures to share,  I am gathering a few extras  before I decide...
Thanks  for looking, have a great week end.

A WEDDING

     My  post today is to show case a card  I made for  the Teapot gallery on Splitcoaststampers...If you have never  checked  that sight out , well it is  wonderful. It has  ideas,  tutorial , an endless gallery of  beautiful cards and more .  you can  enjoy the site  by going here http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/  And the group that gathers on Tuesdays  is an amazing group of ladies always  giving of their time and talent Being a "teapotter" is an honor  and has  challenged  me in  good ways .
   My card today is  a card  going to a couple here in Illinois. I do not know them, but they are planning a Formal and Traditional   Wedding...
We were asked to use cream and  gold  as that are the colors  for their special day 

    I had this  glittery  bird cage and love birds too, I used very vanilla  from SU  and embossing folder from Sizzix  and some "gifted" ivory pearls  and  the oval punches from SU.
Simple layers,  gold to  bring in the elegant feel and I added  some spellbinders  die shapes in side in gold and ivory  with the Happily Ever After from SU fancy flexible phrases   and a  sentiment of "BLESSINGS" 
   Basic yes, simple yes, formal, I hope : )
 and I truly hope it brings a smile to the bride and groom  along with a touch of love  and happiness on their special day.     
  Thanks for  stopping by,  I will be  sharing  some  "birthday fun"  from  my youngest  grand daughters  FIRST  Birthday Party  soon, so I hope you can stop back to see that .

Welcome to September

     Hello,  how are all of you ?  Wow, September is  halfway over...

    How about a challenge to help get you motivated...  If you are like me, well you might need some  motivation  these days...  Life is so busy,  but  we need to  do the things that  make us happy , right??  What makes you  happy ??  Well for  me,  winning  free goodies,  or  just enjoying some amazing  displays of  talented  ladies  makes  me  quite happy  ...
    So  how about checking out the  One Year Anniversary celebration over at Perfect Sentiments. There is a challenge  going on  as well as a blog hop.  Oct 10 -30

http://perfectsentimentschallenge.blogspot.com/

There are lots of prizes  to be given away, by  many  wonderful sponsors...So head on  over  to  see what it is all about  .
I hope you all have fun....

Happy Smiles

    Some days, all it takes is a SMILE  to make our day better. I am so blessed with this little grand daughter. She  has a supply of smiles  that is never ending... And looking  at her pictures  always  brings a smile to my face .
   Though these pictures are from EASTER, I did not want to  showcase  EASTER... This sweater and hat was made  by a dear friend of  my daughters, and  over the years I am proud to say she is my friend as well... My daughter found this dress  that was perfect  to go with her sweater and hat, how lucky was that : )     I thought this was a great  memory to  put into  her  album...

   I choose the bright colors  to  too add to the happiness of the pages.  These papers are from a bright pack  made by SU  several years ago . And a touch of bling , well you all  know that is always a  great embellishment... I also used an older retired set of stamps made by SU, called phrase starters...  And then journaled in my own handwriting too

    I hope  your day is full of smiles, and love...
And you remember to share  both of those...

    Til next time...  Thanks for stopping in ...

And now I will share my smiles  with all of you  : )
 

Sewing Time

     Well My mojo for card making is  running low, so I thought I wiuld try  to get a couple of summer~ light weight ~ blankets made for my  youngest grand daughter . And while I was at it I did my first attempt  at making a small" taggie blanket ".  It is about 12 x 12,  I am hoping  this is big enough for her to hold and be content with  when she is tired, and then not need a big  blanket. She has a habit  of liking to cover her head with her blankets ...
      Of course my sewing machine decided it did not want to play nicely today, so it took a lot of extra time and attention.  But my oldest grandson  was helping and we were able to get these done.  And I am happy to say  I even  took time to  put my sewing notions  in my new sewing basket that  one of my grand daughters  gave me at Christmas.  So it was a day with  progress being made  in marking things off of my "TO DO" list  YIPPEE

   Faith wears a lot of  bright colors  or purple , she just does not wear little girl  pastels... So I thought these  crinkle materials  would be perfect for her in the  hot weather .

Thanks for stopping by,  maybe this will jump start my card making  mojo again...I sure hope so .

Have a blessed day, and I hope to see you here again real soon...Bye now  

ZOOMING RIGHT ON BY !

   Wow am I ever late at showing you some of my thank you cards I used for my birthday gifts. Thank goodness I was not quite as late  in mailing them out !
  The first one is super basic and easy, but there is some humor too. As I was deciding on what I wanted to do for this card for my niece,  I pulled out  some pattern paper in navy ...  I did not realize it was the same paper my niece used on my birthday card , except in hot pink...
 I did heat emboss the thank you to try to add some life to this, and of course I used  one of my favorite dies and embossing folders from Sizzix...

       For the second one, I used a black gate fold card and used some taupe color too, Along with  the flower and tag from Michaels , I added some piercing to add to the texture.The flower really matched a bit better than it looks here , the pearl was to add a touch of elegance, because my sister - in - law  is just that kind of lady : ) 

    For # 3,  I used a card I had made a while back at one of my daughters classes. It was a fun card to make,  the stamps and paper  made it a happy card and  fun to give .The recipient of this card is always  having fun, hope she like her card : )

And the last card  is another card I made at  a class given by my daughter. It was  out of her normal realm. She loves bright, cutesy, and fun ...but these papers  sure made this card turn into some thing so pretty...
The colors and papers were by SU... I sure do miss my daughter  holding classes, her  joy of creating  was so contagious...

     I hope  to be back before July ZOOMS  by...Thanks for stopping by, I  hope you are enjoying your summer. I know life is busy, but I hope you all are  finding time to be creative...

Blessings today  and tomorrow too.            

FIREWORKS AND FAMILY

      After my last post  telling you about my family  and how we celebrate the fourth of July . I decided to  share some pics with you ...
I was having some issues with my camera  right about the time for the  fireworks to start, but I was happy that I was able to get a few captures that I liked...  It was an amazing display,  we could even feel the ground  rock...   There were many  super loud ones, we call those "boomers" ... and those were the ones  my husband always loved,.  So we told Faith  we were sorry  for those being so loud, but that was her GRANDPA  sending special  fireworks to us... and especially to her  ...

Here is  our  Sweet Baby Faith all dressed for the day 

 Isn't she  just so  precious....    : )   We all sure think so 

And  me with my grandchildren...they sure make life  wonderful...

    Thanks for stopping in. I will post some pics of my birthday   in a day or so... My girls always try to be sure  that the tradition my mom and dad started long ago, celebrating my birthday on the 4 th  lives on...And they still try so hard to be sure I still get a real birthday  too  ...
I am so blessed  to have  my daughters , and all the time they share with me....

The lost card

     Here is a picture of the other  Anniversary  card  that I made for  my oldest brother and his wife. My sister - in - law  took a picture and  emailed it to me...hope it works  : )

    I used  chocolate chip  with  a dp  from SU  that  had  Soft Sky in it... then used  more choc chip and sky  to finish it. I used  my trio  butterfly  die   from Dienamics...I  truly  LOVE that die ... and I used my  labels 18 from sizzix too   and some bling of course.

    Then I used the reverse side of  that same dp, which is a soft floral  and made a birthday card  for  a sister - in - law on my husbands side of the family... Here birthday is the  9 th...I used an old favorite layout  and  I added a white crocheted  flower behind the  blue butterfly , that  really brought out the white bottom layer of  the butterfly~  which was made by cutting a butterfly in half and placing behind the  sky colored layer ~
Sometimes pretty dp  is all you need to make  a card  that is just right for that special  person  : )

    Last but not least,  I made a masculine card for a friend  who  has his birthday on the 8th. We worked together  for 19 years  and he is a part of our family. We used to always share pizza at work to celebrate  our  birthdays...I hope we can  find a day to share some pizza  this year too : )     I used an older color from SU  called True Thyme and a dp that  coordinated  nicely. I added a flat  piece of ribbon  to keep it masculine, but add some texture , and a  design lable punch  for the sentiment,  Then  punched another label in  Thyme  and again I cut it in half and  placed it behind  my  white label.   No bling,   no fussing...
 just a  wish  for a great birthday !

    Thank you for stopping by... July is already  rolling...Busy Busy month for all of us... I hope  you are enjoying your summer  and  finding time to create as well...

     I am not sure  what exact cards I need to work on next...but I know  there will be some  cards  that I need to make, so please stop back by when you have the time ... 

Happy 4 th of July

Sonja

GOODBYE JUNE

    When the end of June approaches, I face  my oldest brothers  birthday...  He celebrates his day on June 28 th, just one week before I celebrate my birthday . 
     But then July brings  anniversaries  for both of my brothers. The oldest was married on July 3 rd  47 years ago ...WOW...
And the other was married on my birthday  July 5  37 years ago  : )
July 26  is mine and my husbands  anniversary, and it would have have  39 years  this  year...I miss him.
   So as you can see  the time  near the 4 th of July  has always  been a busy time in our family. My Mother always celebrated  my birthday on the 4 th...so I remember lots of family time and  lots of fun...My Daddy told me the fireworks  were just for me...and I being a daddy's girl  believed that...for many years... 
   I have  two wonderful sister in laws,  and  they are  as close as any real sisters could be...Actually they both have a given name of Mary...Though one will always Susie  to me : )
  I hope  they all like their cards this year...

     This is  Bill and Mary's card...I loved this paper and thought Marylou would too, my brother loves  red   well really  he prefers orange , he once wanted an orange suit ...can you believe  that !~  he he : )
I thought  the paper  outlined  with red then placed  on top of the pretty  paper again  was a  nice  effect  .
      I am having  difficulty in  adding Don and Sue's card...
 and I really liked  that one...   : (
My image of it seems to be distorted .  
 It is off in the mail already so I cannot scan it again  : ( 
  I hope I can  get  another picture of it   so I can share it later.

   So, as July is  fast approaching, I hope you are enjoying  your summer. Thanks for stopping in...See you all soon. July has more days  that  have a reason to be celebrated  around  here  : )

The Love of Pattern Paper

     In creating time  with friends and doing  some easy or some times not so easy challenges,  I totally enjoyed  making these cards.
The use of  not even a half of a 12 x 12 sheet of simply beautiful  pattern paper was the secret . From super simple  fast cards  to  a little  more  fun,  they were all extremely EASY,  yet  a couple I thought were pretty too ...
First  a  fast   Thinking of you   card using some scraps of that  Pattern paper .  I cut a small strip off of the  front of the card  and them added  a strip of paper inside   to balance the outside , I matted the sentiment that was stamped directly onto the pretty  paper... this is  3 3/4 x 7 1/2

Second , is another fast  card, I used  wide  sheer ribbon  over a wide strip of the  pattern paper,  then added a strip of sahara sand  cardstock,by SU, stamped the sentiment in  brown, paper pierced a bit and added  flowers  from  my  stash 

Third  is a bit more fun, using a home made  tulle flower  made by  a super creative friend  : )    and one  of my  awesome  butterflies with some bling... The pattern paper  is just so pretty  and really fun to work with, pretty enough that  just one or two  fun things is plenty ...I did mount this on a melon mambo card base, it is such a  fun  summer color to work with   : )

And fourth is my personal favorite.I again stamped right on the pretty paper that I mounted on Crumb Cake as my card base.  Then  I used markers and a blender pen to color and coordinate  my image  to  the paper. I matted the image on dark brown to set it up and off and used a piece of  neutral ribbon to dress it up  a bit. Last I rounded  a couple of corners  to  make a change of style.I really  love how this  card turned out ..It just shows that ...

















Sometimes  just a  half of a sheet of pretty  paper is  what it takes  to  jump start   my creativity ,  So  I hope this  sends you looking at your stash of paper  to see what  you can  create too...


    Thanks for stopping by,  And I hope  to see you here again real soon.
Until then, Smile, Craft, and enjoy your day .

Mothers Day

I  enjoyed  coming up with ideas  cards  for cards for  both of my daughters  this year. I decided to go with  a larger size, 5 x 6 1/2. My girls are both  unique in their own ways so I tried to follow  their "likes" to create  each of their cards.  I struggle with making cards  for them, as I believe  they  are better at this than I am  : )

   First  for Tammy, I chose to  use  a dp that I knew she would like, I kept it simple, used some ribbon that I love and a  die cut that was perfect  for the sentiment to be stamped on. And it all fell together  so easy...  We both love  the color "kraft " or " crumb cake " for a card base.  And her love for Sun Flowers will never change, so I was  pretty sure me I did alright  with my choice   : )

   And then  any one that knows Krista , knows  she loves  PURPLE... So  I started with that using  a couple of different  shades.  I had recently purchased some Lily Of The Valley  pre -colored images, and this one  just seemed  right..  I added some butterflies  from a new die I recently purchased  from Die-namics, and I totally love it...And of course some ribbon and  a few  pieces of  small bling were  the finishing touches on her card.

   Third  is the card  Krista made  for me. I love the SU color baha breeze.  I think she did an amazing  job  on this card, I love the reverse  on the pattern paper... The  style of script  is perfect with this dp, again it is   by SU. I think it  gives this card  a vintage touch in just the right way, by leaning towards  an elegant look .
   Thanks  for stopping by, I know it seems like  Mothers Day  was  so  long  ago, but in reality, it was  just a couple of weeks ago...And in my life , well that is not  too far  behind...
 In reality, I am so behind in so much more   : )

    The end of May  is here,  and soon Summer will be too ...
 I hope  you stop back  and see what I have  in store  for all of you,I have a few  things started already .  I hope  to  have some more pretties to share real soon.
 Until then, enjoy  this wonderful weather,  and remember  to SMILE...

SMILE and BE HAPPY

   Today I was  getting ready to make a birthday card  for a sweet lady. She is a very special friend to my oldest daughter, but  has extended so much kindness to me  as well. Even though her birthday is today, and I knew I could not get this to her on time,  I decided to make her a Happy card, not just a birthday card.
   This  image and words were a gift  to me some time ago, and I sure wish
I could remember  who it was from... But I loved what it said...
so I choose to  create a card   using  it...I went with a card   sized 4 x 7 1/2 , just a nice size  for a change of pace : ) 

    The base is perfect plum, with a thin mat of bashful blue, and  the newer color of marina mist  on top of that...and I believe the image was colored in  marina mist and perfect plum  as well

I used a piece of  yarn like  fiber  in the color of pale plum  and  this was  so easy  to put together...

   I think this is a  lesson that  things do not have to be  difficult or fancy
  to say what is in your heart... 

I used the rock n roll technique  to add butterflies to the  envelope , just to  add some extra love .