Being Sick ... Just Isn't Fun Now that I'm a Mom!

Remember the good ol' days?

You were sick and could relax in bed while Mom brought coloring books and a fresh box of 64 crayons to use and maybe even a tall glass of Orange Juice to sip?

Ahh, those were the days.

I had eye surgery recently and being sick just isn't that much fun anymore. The Mom jobs don't seem to stop. Thankfully, I had my mom to help since I was restricted from bending over, lifting, and focusing on anything (no crafting, reading, or basically anything fun). Honestly I don't think I could have done it without my mom's help. Ever tried to do laundry without bending? It's like an aerobic exercise from H-E-double toothpick. Just getting the clothes to the machine had my thighs burning like they were on fire from all the squats!

Now that Mom's gone back home and I'm allowed to focus, I find that I'm exhausted just doing my normal routine!

So here's my first card now that I'm back.

It's a birthday card for my buddy Tina. I used Party Donkey from High Hopes Stamps. Frankly I think this looks more like a horse than a donkey but if they want to call it a donkey, who am I to stop them? As always, High Hopes stamps can be found in Kelly's store.

I hope your day is fantastic, Tina!

Supplies:
Paper: SU in-color
stamps: Party Animal and Party Donkey, High Hopes Stamps
Accessories: brads, pop dots, crystal effects

Happy Thanksgiving and an Award to boot!

A few days ago my stamping buddy Deb gave me an award on her blog, Freckle-Face Printworks. I have "known" Deb for three years now. I met her during an SCS swap. I felt such an affinity for Deb that I showed her my very first swap ahead of time to see if it was up to snuff (remember that Deb?)

So, in order to fulfill the requirements of the award ... I present 5 things you may not know about me

• I love watching Project Runway (and even convinced the husband to watch with me this year). I was very sad that Meana Irina won. Carol Hannah was robbed!

• I am a native Californian but spent most of my life in Arizona. There is no place that I would rather be than in Arizona 7 months out of the year ... unfortunately those other 5 months knock the stuffing out of me. I hate the heat.

• I am attempting to learn to knit but need a wee bit more practice.

• I love, love LOVE reading and once burned dinner while finishing a book.

• I would rather drink diet coke than water any day of the week!
  

I pass this award on to my five new stampin' sistahs from the 2010 KL Design Team :

Risa Mindy Jacilynn Jodi Kristine

Moving on to my card for this week:

In the spirit of giving, I'm going to ask you to overlook the little smudge on the card. As the Wizard from the Wizard of OZ said, "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain." I thought about photo-shopping it out but ... I'm too tired tonight to do it.

I love this Fluffles. He reminds me of my own little fuzz buckets. Hanging out in the tree, playing with expensive glass ornaments is their FAVORITE thing about the Christmas season.

So, I'm going to toddle off to bed now. I want to be fresh as a daisy tomorrow morning for the 13.5 hour drive to Phoenix with two small children and a cranky husband. Yay! I wish you all a restful and happy Thanksgiving.



Supplies:
Stamps: Fluffles in the Garland, Stampabilities
Accessories: brad, Nestibilities

Gobble, Gobble

Continuing my self-imposed challenge to make autumnal colored cards, I went to my studio yesterday. And as I made the journey downstairs, I kind of felt like that old Dunkin Donuts commercial with the chef, dragging his feet and muttering "time to make the donuts"

Time to use brown. Blah

But ... I have to admit that it turned out better than I anticipated. I found this wonderful double-sided paper that matched my ribbon almost perfectly. I'm still working on my shading with the copics. If you were to come into my studio while I'm coloring, you would hear me say over and over again ... "where is your light source, where's the sun?" I'm getting better but still need practice.

Someday maybe I can take a copic certification course.

Poultry in Motion

So on my way to be a "Secret Reader" in my eldest's classroom, I fell. I didn't trip over a child or a stray art project. I just fell. And as I lay there sprawled in the hallway, with teachers hovering over me, shouting, "don't move" and "how do you feel?" I began to feel like a bit of an idiot. Remember the rhyme ... "Monday's child is fair of face and Tuesday's child is full of grace?" I WAS born on a Tuesday and in no way am I a graceful person.

Soooo, in honor of my "trip" I created this card. I am a bit of a turkey and utterly graceless! I was recently selected to be a member of KLSNS Design Team (yay!) I am sooo excited to start in 2010. And because of this honor, I decided to challenge myself and stretch my designing to include something that I never use ... neutral colors. I really don't like autumn colors: orange, yellow and brown. My pink, blue and green designer paper drawers are so full that you practically need to wear a hard hat to open them. Not so with orange, yellow and brown. Not only are they crammed in ONE drawer, but the drawer slides open easily. This was my first card.

Now before you start saying, "cheater, cheater pumpkin eater" because the card is predominately blue ... I DO need to point out that I DID use two neutral colors. The stamp is "Turkey Getaway" from High Hopes. And even though he is not listed on the page, he IS available in Kelly's store. I forced myself to make a second neutral card and he turned out pretty cute too. Tune in tomorrow for that one!

Supplies:
Stamps: Turkey Getaway-High Hopes, phrase: computer generated
Accessories: Chocolate Chip SU ribbon and hardware, pop dots, Spellbinders Label One

'Replections'

This morning I rounded the corner with the laundry basket on my hip, only to slide dramatically on a CD. As I dropped the basket, spilling the contents on the floor and catching myself on the sofa, I gazed at the front room. And what to my wondering eyes should appear? But nearly every CD that we own, out of it's case and on the floor.

Poltergeist? You might ask.

And I would respond, No, a busy four year old, home from pre-school, sick (theoretically). "Look mommy," he said pointing at the floor. "Look at the 'replections' Isn't it awesome? " Awesome probably wasn't the first word to pop into my mind as I watched him spin the CDs. The rotating CDs were catching the sun and causing hundreds of little rainbows to form everywhere. And dag-nab-it, the 'replections' WERE kinda pretty.

Of course, now I will be spending the afternoon re-organizing, and alphabetizing the CDs (and buying the White Album AGAIN which was a casualty of the entire experience) but sometimes I need to remember to stop and enjoy the beauty to be found. Even if it is messy.

Here is your card. Another mouthless Magnolia. :-) Enjoy.

Supplies: Magnolia: Tilda, Phrase: Stampabilities: Little Fruit
Accessories: SU ribbon, Nestibilities

My First Christmas Card

As I was shopping at Walgreens today, I heard the strains of Christmas music. Ugh. Really? Already? I've barely packed away my witches and mummies from Halloween. Now I know a lot of you plan ahead and make Christmas cards all year but I can't. One, I'm just not that organized and two, I have to have a certain frame of mind to make Holiday cards. It should be cold, preferably with snow on the ground and there should be the smell of gingerbread in the air.

Having said that, I should tell you that I'm wearing short sleeves because Colorado Springs is supposed to get as hot as 72 this afternoon. And the smell of gingerbread ... overcome by the smell of jalapenos from the jar that my four year old dropped on the floor this morning. "Oh, sorry mommy. Did you need that for tonight's dinner?"

But as Walgreens, the mall, and every other retailer can attest ... it's THAT time of year and so I've made my first Christmas card (74 more to go).

This is a Matilda. My friend, Eileen loves these Swedish stamps. I think they are cute but have an odd desire to draw in a mouth every time I use one. I did learn that the reason that they have no mouths is that they are supposed to be angels. Apparently angels don't talk. I get that ... there are times when I wish MY OWN angels wouldn't talk so much. Kidding.

Supplies:
Stamps: Matilda, phrase: Memory Box
Accessories: SU Ribbon, pop dots, Spellbinders

Love is in the Air!!!

I'm supposed to be helping my 6-year old do homework but he's whining. "Stop, you don't know how to make a five. My teacher told me to do it this way! You're bugging me." Sigh.

Sooooo, I'm stepping away from my angry upside-down 5 making child to show you something I also know a bit about ....

cards.

This is Luigi from High Hopes. I love their stamps but it's been difficult buying the stamps because they are a Canadian company. It used to take FOREVER to get the stamps. Fortunately there is a new option. Kelly is now stocking them in her store (take a peak here).

Supplies:
Stamps: High Hopes
Accessories: ribbon, SU: punches, copic markers, hardware

Dreamin' of the Sun!

I am freezing.

As I sit here typing, it's 21 degrees outside and snowing. And although, I will admit that Fall is my favorite season ... this doesn't really feel like Fall weather to me. I don't know what it is about Colorado, but it is NEVER warm here over Halloween. I've known warm Thanksgivings and even an occasional Christmas but bundle up for Halloween in Colorado!

When I went down to craft yesterday, it was cold too. I think that's why I reached for a stamp about Summer. This is Edna from Art Impressions. She's from their "Oldies" collection, and she just makes me giggle. I'm working on a card for Angela's card kit swap (spots are still available, so hop on over to SCS to play) I bought the paper from Michaels and wanted to make a card from the contents of the kit to make sure that it was a reasonable expectation. The wavy paper is clear acrylic which looks way cool but was a bit of a pain to work with because glue shows underneath. I used vellum glue and DID get it tacked down ... but if you look closely, you can still see the glue. Oh well.

The inside of the card says, "it keeps your boobs from sagging."

supplies

Stamps: Edna, Art Impressions, Phrase: Bugawhumps
Paper: Michaels

Dog Days of Fall?

It's Pat!

Pat the Dog that is, from Our Craft Lounge. I don't know why but when I see the name of this set I always think of the androgynous character from Saturday Night Live rather than the "Pat the Bunny" book that I'm sure the stamp manufacturer had in mind. Regardless, I do like the set. It has a bunch of cool little accessories for Pat to use.

I made this card for my pal who is having a cruddy 2009 (Wendy ... look away now unless you want the surprise ruined) I probably should have posted this AFTER I mailed it but .... I'm not. The inside uses some of the little accessories that I described.

I've been reading a lot about shading with the copic markers. I really like Sherrie Siemen's blog: Card Creme. She has some fabulous video tutorials that I highly recommend. I still need a lot of practice though!



Here is the inside of the card.

Good Advice

Supplies:

Stamps; Eat Cake Graphics
Paper: SU DP
Accessories: brads, embossing powder, copics

This has got to be one of my all time favorite Halloween images. I love those Eat Cake stamps! I suppose that the reason that I like this guy so much is that he reminds me of my boys. They would EASILY eat all their candy on Halloween night if it wasn't portioned out one at a time. It lasts until nearly Christmas doing it this way! (and this is with Mom and Dad swiping from the bag occasionally!)

This year we are having a Super Friends theme with one going as Spider-man and the other going as Superman. The youngest can wear his costume to his preschool as long as it's a character from a book. Thankfully we already HAVE a Spider-man book. Last year we had the same rule and I spent a HUGE amount of time pawing through our books to find a giraffe!

Tayub Loves Tandy Torn!

My four year old can NOT say the letter "C". Bummer that his brother's name and one of his favorite candies begin with "C". Watching the kids eat candy corn is amusing. They eat it one layer at a time. My six year old swears that the yellow layer tastes better than the others. I don't know about that; they taste the same to me!

Big surprise. I made another Halloween card. Only 8 more to make! I love the little mousies. This one is from the 2008 Stamp of the Month Collection. I used a candy corn button to make a custom embellishment.


Supplies:
Stamps: House Mouse: Sweet Find
Stampin' Up: Riviting
Accessories: Candy Corn button, SU: Corner Punch, Brad, Copic markers

But here are some pumpkins that are ACTUALLY the right color! This is another SU image colored with copic markers.

Happy Fall or Did We Skip it?

So I wanted to show you my sad, sad little pumpkins that my kids and I were growing. We had four total before the snowstorm ON THE LAST DAY OF SUMMER. They never did orange up much and overall look pretty darn pathetic. Now, since they were still on the vine when it snowed, they are misshapen, green AND mushy. Blah. Into the garbage they will go.

Apparently I am NOT a pumpkin farmer.

Oh My, Oh My, Oh Layers!

This card will likely cost ONE MILLION DOLLARS (said in her best Austin Power's voice) to mail. It is THAT heavy. I went to Archivers a few days ago and as I was checking out, the checker says casually, "Today is the last day for our buy 10 pieces of paper and get 10 free sale" What? 10 free sheets of paper, that's crazy talk!" Sooo, despite the fact that I have more paper than anyone can use in a year ... I felt compelled to buy more.

As you can imagine ... all the paper is all from Archivers, their company brand, and the orange DP is a RAK from a fellow stamper. The stamp is SU, Twick or Tweet.

Halloween

When I asked my six year old what he wanted to be for Halloween this year, he paused briefly from chewing macaroni and cheese to say, "NOT a giraffe." OK, what then? He never did elaborate further. In keeping with this same theme ... this Halloween card does NOT feature a giraffe.

I used Stampin' Up paper and stamps. This is the witch from "Best Fiend" which in my humble opinion ... is one of Stampin' Up's best Halloween stamps ever. The card is destined to go to a friend who is an avid quilter so I gave the base a run around with my sewing machine so she can get a laugh at how crooked my seams turned out.