Happy Thanksgiving!

~Fun Fall Water Bottles..

Each year our local senior center hosts a craft faire to help welcome our northern winter visitors. One of my good friends asked me if I would help fill her table with some of my work so i got busy trying to come up with something colourful, unique, and fun. After I made a couple of these recycled from my hurricane disaster preparedness stash of water bottles I decided to forward the idea on to my niece who is always looking for cute and unusual handouts to her Senate friends. I AM expecting a photo of her handy work any day... *HINT HINT* The stamp sets and ink are from Stampin' Up!, the ribbon is from my ribbon stash, and the paper from my scrap drawer.

~Nature's Touch Guided by an Artistic Hand..

One touch of nature
Makes the whole world kin
~W. Shakespeare

Words that come to mind when I think of a talented lady with a warm smile and a big heart.

For months a simple choker made of jade and silver, strung on leather latigo, a necklace of no real value but that of a favorite piece of jewelry, lay on my dresser in pieces unable to be worn gathering dust. Not too long ago it was my good fortune to "meet" a multi-talented artist restorationist and poet from southern California. Not only does she create some of the most beautiful southwestern style jewelry but she also, much to my happy surprise, is a creator of cards as well. This is the card I made for Cynthia in thanks for the the restoration work she did for me on my little necklace.

Another Birthday Card .. that actually came first.. Happy Birthday Mom!

I'd run across some really nice cards while blog surfing that were made using the criss-cross fold technique and really liked the overall effect. I wanted something different and special for Mom's Birthday card and decided this would be the ideal opportunity to try one out. The colours in Stampin' Up's Designer Paper Outlaw had caught my eye from the first time I saw them so I decided to combine the Outlaw papers with the Season's of Joy flourish stamp and the True Friend floral stamps. A special thank you to Beate for the inspiration.

Baby Brother's Birthday Bash..

My little brother just turned sixty!! and what better stamp set to help him celebrate than MFT's Let's Hear It for the Boys! . I'd recently finished a criss-cross Birthday card for my Mom and had such fun making it I wanted to try my hand at a file folder card.

I love making cards when they come together so easily. Unfortunately, I was so excited that I neglected to put the romote in his hand and the bowl of popcorn in his lap. This card IS my brother.

Time Flies.. ammended..

Sometimes I wish I could just click my fingers or wiggle my nose and ~*~POOF~*~ it would all just happen. First, you have to come up with an idea, then you have to gather up all your materials and supplies, then you have to think.. create.. rethink.. create some more.. think again and hopefully finally finish your project. Ah.. but its not over! Then you have to locate the camera, make sure the battery is charged, set up for the photo shoot.. shoot.. reshoot.. download.. crop and resize.. enhance, adjust and readjust. Once that is all done then you have to upload the photo and come up with some half way creative jibber jabber to accompany the photo, not to mention documenting the recipe. UGH! and get it all typed in and proofed. It has become quite apparent that I am a textbook example of one who suffers from ADD! But, my blog from the onset was not an exercise in seeing if I could out produce all the other card making bloggers out there, but merely a way to share with my family and a few friends a little of my creativity when i felt inspired.

My most recent inspiration, aside from the card I just finished for my brother's birthday is noted at the top of my blog. I've successfully convinced two ladies I am acquainted with to accompany me on a Caribbean Cruise designed specifically for stampers! For more information click on the link above.

Time Flies..

No excuses.

~how does your garden grow..

..or where do you draw the line between photography and digital art? I recently snapped the photo to the left shortly after I'd finished misting my little porch vegetable garden. It was only one in a series of images, but the one I felt was the best in composition and colour. I submitted the photo to a professional photographer friend for critique. Other than a single class in Photography Basics while in college prior to the invention of the digital camera or Photoshop my professional photographic training is limited to life experience. The comments I received along with the edited photo below were as follows:" Did you use glycerine? Nice effect of water on the fruit." "The smaller green tomato distracts. You might have plucked it along with some of the less than perfect leaves or merely edited out the distracting portions with Photoshop." The tighter cropping was not justified other then the mention that it had been done.
I wonder if I struggle with the fact that now my original photograph is no longer a true representation of my little tomato hanging on my tenderly cared for tomato plant or the fact that I may be just a little defensive that I have never learned how to use Photoshop to enhance my work, or for that matter received professional instruction on how to effectively use my Nikon D50. Maybe its time I took a couple continuing education classes. I would invite and enjoy any comments from my professional and not so professional photographer viewers. *:)

~Singing for our supper..

As a young child, my favorite holiday, with possibly the exception of Christmas was Halloween. My brother and I, and a few years later my little sister, would rush home from school in anticipation of that magical night when we would wiggle into our one-of-a-kind homemade Halloween costumes painstakingly hand sewn by our creative mother. We'd quickly down a steaming bowl of Mom's vegetable soup to help ward off the chill of the fall night, grab our empty candy bags fashioned from pillowcases, and wait for Dad to put his coat on and pick up the keys to the green and white Buick station wagon. Then once the sun had set and the moon was on the rise, off we'd go to gather our loot amongst the other goulies and goblins from our area neighbors. It didn't always come easy. Sometimes we would have to sing for our "supper" or trick for our treat. But when we'd finally return home, cheeks flushed, tired and happy, we would spill out our goodies onto the floor, the terror of having to perform on a split second's request dissolved into the spooky shadows of the night beyond our cozy and familiar family room. There we would sort, barter and trade our nights haul way past our usual bedtimes. To this day a vague memory of a bellyache or two still remains from the days following All Hallow's Eve.

Some of the cutest stamps I've had the pleasure of working with are the clear sets from Kim van der Sanden 's My Favorite Things. Kim's wise insight in teaming with Illustrator, Christy Beckwith has, in my opinion set this this stamp company apart from all others.

~Switching Gears..

Its been a busy summer. My sister and niece who come every summer for the summer all the way from Denver have headed home now, and my days and evenings are not nearly as full. I hadn't realised how long it had been since I'd posted to my blog.
Since they left I've been having fun with a few of my A*Muse stamps. It all started with my wanting to find a Santa stamp that might be appropriate to the Florida climate. A Muse had a Santa in sunglasses and flowered swimming trunks who looked as though he was dreaming of surfing, but alas.. no surfboard. And then i ran across my little surfer boy. He led me to the mermaid and the palm tree and one thing led to another. The result was this RAK made for a friend who isn't a stamper but loves the sea.

It's occurred to me random acts of kindness don't necessarily have to be shared between other bloggers or stampers and I'm slowly working through my list.

Pocket Card 01

Since I've not posted any work for sometime, I took a look back in my archives and ran across this fun pocket card I put together one rainy afternoon. It was one of those projects that just came together without any real forethought or planning. I pulled out bits and pieces of this and that and started building until I though it was finished. I guess some people call that creativity. *:)

Tagged

Rebecca Oehlers tagged me a long time ago but I never got around to responding. Yes, I AM remiss, but I will I will share a few things about myself with you. First, please take a look at hemidemisemiquaver,Rebecca's Blog. This is one talented and interesting lady! Be sure and take time to read her profile.

1. As a baby my hair was bright orange.
2. My sister is my best friend and although we live over 1500 miles apart we talk on the phone nearly every day, and sometimes more than once.
3. I lived in New York City for five years with my harlequin Great Dane, Catherine Von Meistersinger and all the shopkeepers in our neighborhood knew her and loved her almost as much as I did.
4. As the director of a history museum I had the good fortune to meet such dignataries as Ronald Regan, Michael Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, and Edwina Sandys, Winston Churchill's granddaughter.
5. More than anything I enjoy teaching and passing on information and ideas to others.
6. I think I am a lazy person.
7. I wish I had my Mother's drive and ethics of responsibility.
8. I have a smile that is hard for me to contain. It usually stretches ear to ear.
9. The two things I miss most in life: My Dad and my horses.
10. My niece is my inspiration and Zoe, my lively whippet keeps me sane.
11. I hope to live to a ripe old old age, but die young.

{ i've not been remiss }

I've just taken time to smell my flowers..

{ Birthdays & Bones in the Flower Garden }

If my sister-in-law isn't off with her girlfriend playing bingo, or busy with her own business, you can find her in her garden caring for her myriad of beautiful blooms. I believe she has nearly every kind of lilly imaginable planted in her garden. Most are transplants from my brother and sister-in-law's Atlanta home garden. I chose this stamp for her birthday card because it reminded me of her.


I like these stamp images by Karen Stolper at American Art Stamp for their unusual design and uniqueness. And of course the "Fetch" image was one I had to have for my personal "Gone 2 the Dogs" collection. The layout was inspired by the SCS Layout Challenge SC 118. The text along the side was digitally created.

{ Happy Mother's Day, Mom }

When I ran across this Hallmark card image this morning I had to laugh. Mom is always fussing that she can't figure out how to make that darn DVD player to work so she can the DVD of those good looking Il Divo fellas or her Boxed Set of the entire collection of the West Wing television series, or that her email is all messed up and she can't find the latest pictures my sister and niece have sent her. (She doesn't ask me about her cell phone very often because we both have to ask my niece how to do that.) It seems you aren't alone, Mom, lots of Mothers apparently have the same issues. Why else would Hallmark made this card so don't feel bad. You've spent years raising us, taking care of us, doing for us and loving us. We enjoy doing these little things for you.

This is the card I made for my wonderful mother in celebration of Mother's Day.
The paper is Basic Grey from the Perhaps collection and SU Pretty in Pink and Whisper White. The flower stamp is from Stampendous and the sentiment is an old PSX stamp which i purchased several years ago. The twill tape is from the Martha Stewart collection at Michaels. I stamped the flower image with black Versamark Ink and heat embossed it with black detail embossing powder. The white detail on the flower was achieved with bleach.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom
I love you!

{ pitching horseshoes & my brother's shirt }

My first memory of Horseshoe Beach was when I was still living at home outside of Atlanta, at least, still, during the summers. On one of those Christmases our family set out on vacation to southern Florida. We spent our first night in a little fishing village in a true fisherman's cabin. It belonged to the father of my brother's best friend and was built on stilts. You could look between the cracks in the floorboards to the ground below. I think Mother was worried about snakes and probably didn't sleep too well that night. It was already dark when we arrived. Dad went down to the marina to see if he could find a fisherman who might be willing to part with a mess of fish as all the grocery stores we had passed were closed on account of it being a holiday. I had never eaten mullet but to this day, I think it is some of the best fish I have ever eaten.

That was over forty years ago and until the last four or five years Horseshoe looked pretty much the same. My brother continued to return regularly with his friend Ralph. He spent more and more if his leisure time away from the hustle and bustle of the big city relaxing on the porch with friends or casting his lines for the elusive BIG ONE to the tune of a well oiled in-board's steady hum in accompaniment to Jimmy Buffett's lyrics floating lazily over the water. My brother and his wife are now retired and have completely modeled and remodeled one of those fishing cabins into a lovely home. They have moved lock, stock, two dogs, a cat, and three fourths of their Atlanta flower gardens to this sleepy fishing village where you can often find my brother, surrounded by several friends, sporting his Captain's hat, shucking oysters, shelling shrimp, and stirring a gigantic pot of gumbo. Now my family and I look forward to many more Horseshoe memories. My brother was the inspiration behind this colourful Lockhart stamped card.

{ in recognition of National Scrapbooking Day }

I started my paper arts adventure as a scrapbooker after seeing the amazing things my little sister was creating for our family. A book of Christmases Past sets on our mother's coffee table in her living room that documents some of the joyous and memorable times our family spent together over the years. Another labor of love sets on the a coffee table in the family room a memorial to the most wonderful husband and father in the world.


To date my attempts have been smaller and unfinished, but it opened a door into the more immediate gratification of rubber stamping and cardmaking. I wanted to share with you the first page of one of my scrapbooks, The Whippersnapper! A book dedicated to my faithful companion and best friend, Zoe. I am also in the process of creating scrapbooks for my mother, my sister and niece, and my brother and his wife chronicling our Alaskan Cruise late last summer. I approach my scrapbooking much the same as I approach creating a card. Composition, colour, attention to detail, and meaningful text expression, which often results in laboring over a page for days until its just right.

Wishing everyone a bright and creative National Scrapbooking Day! Take a little time today to pursue your art!

{ my new banner }

Not long ago I was one of the lucky winners of a banner design which Melissa Kulesa offered as blog candy on her Stamping Through the Tulips blog.
I'd like to thank Melissa for designing my banner. She has been such a patient and nice lady to work with through the design process. Take time to see her banner designs and watermarks and if you don't already have a banner or want a fresh new look, I highly recommend her. Thanks so much Melissa!!

{ the Lockhart puppy meets the Challenge }

I've been exploring SCS beyond just looking at the most recent daily gallery postings and am amazed at how much I've been missing. Motivation is often an issue for me, coming up with an idea completely from scratch. So I was thrilled when I took the time to look into the Wednesday Card Sketch Challenge. This was the result of Beate's email answer to a question I had about dimensions in particular layout I'd seen posted in the daily gallery. After reading more about the Challenges, I decided the Sketches Challenge would be a good vehicle of motivation for my creative inspiration.

So , with that, I pulled out a stamped image I've wanted to wanted to finish for a long time , but hadn't because I wanted it to be special. The Lockhart Stamp Company, in my opinion, has some of the highest quality stamps out there. The fineness of the detail is exceptional and the images possess a contemporary elegance ranging from whimsical to classic in design. You can purchase the Lockhart stamps from Ellen Hutson, LLC along with a wide variety of papers, inks, "tools, toys, and treasures". The card I had inquired about ended up being SC118, the identification number assigned to that particular week's Sketch Challenge. I was off and running and when I finished my card was pleased with the result.

{ Two New RAKS this week }

It always adds, no matter how good the day, an extra boost to open the mail box and find an unexpected card waiting to be opened. Twice this past week I've been so fortunate.
Debbie Seyer sent me this dainty card with one of my favorite sentiments inscribed on it. dream! Thank you Debbie. Please take time to take a look into Debbie's stamp room.

I also received this this beautiful card from Susan Liles . The soft colours of the flowers is repeated not only in her ribbon choice but also in the soft detailing on the embossed background. I've subscribed to Susie's blog for a long time and always enjoy seeing her new work. Be sure and take a look too.

I apologise to both ladies for the poor quality photography. I was trying something new. It looks like it might be best to limit my creativity to card making until I can take a class or two in photography and lighting. Thank you again, ladies!

{ the 4 sistas }

My favorite ladies have been sitting on the shelf patiently waiting for me to return to them. The sistahoodbellas reminds me of my family from left to right - my sister Sally, my Mom, me, and my niece, Nina - a bit of a stretch of the imagination for all except Nina, but age is a mental state and we are all forever young.
The image was coloured with Lyra Rembrandt Polycolour oil based pencils from Dick Blick and gamsol. I've used the Prismcolour Pencils that most card colourists seem to prefer, but I have personally seen little difference in the two brands. The paper is a combination of SU and Basic Grey. The embellishment is covered in the same Basic Grey mat paper and topped with a little pink Prima. I cut the scalloped edge with my Create-a-Cut. This particular bella stamp, sistahoodabella can be stamped as a group or the individual images can be inked and stamped separately or in pairs. I've enjoyed having the many options. The set also comes with two sentiments.

{ Beate's Butterfly }

So many possibilities with this beautiful butterfly. The Hostess, Reason to Smile, set was a part of the Blog Candy package I won from Beate. It was difficult to settle on just one of the possibilities, but the elements of this card just fell into place.

I stamped the image using Taken With Teal Craft ink then "dusted" it with a white Color Box Cat Eye that I've had since I first started stamping. This lightened the image and blended well with the Cool Caribbean paper. After it dried I randomly dotted the flowers as well as the butterfly body with Crystal Effects. Once this dried I used my Stardust Glitter pen to add the "sparkle which I purchased from Ellen Hutson, LLC. The papers are a combination of Overton House Designs - Mint Expresso Stripes, DCWV Old World Stack, and the SU Au Chocolat paper I received from Beate. The lovely reversible ribbon was also from Beate. The hardware is SU Hodge Podge and the sentiment is from the PaperTrey Word Stamps set. The top of the butterfly is raised while the base is attached flush to the paper giving it the appearance of momentarily lighting on the card before it flutters on.

Once again I would like to thank Beate for the blog goodies. It couldn't have been more perfect. I also found out while corresponding with her that we live only an hour or so apart. Now I'm looking forward to attending her stamping classes on what I hope will be a regular basis.

{ stop and smell the Primas }

Gone 2 the Dogs!
Somewhere during the process, while I was busy laying out all the goodies from Beate's blog candy, shooting the pictures, uploading them to my computer, cropping, editing, and posting the Thank you.. Thank you.. to my blog, I noticed The Dog was absent. She usually is underfoot, if not in one of her many chairs, peacefully snoozing or intently observing while I work. I checked the living room where I take most of my pictures and noticed that the "goodies" setup had been rearranged - wet nose prints on paper and Primas scattered about the floor, but Zoe wasn't insight. So I set out in search, with camera still around my neck, finally finding her on the back porch in her favorite patio chair blissfully "smelling the Primas".

{ Green Thumbs grow sweet strawberries }

I've fallen in love with the Green Thumb set offered by PaperTrey Ink. There are so many possibilities with this versatile set , I believe you could stamp using nothing but this set for a very long time and not exhaust the possibilities. That seems to be one of the outstanding hallmarks of this company of creative ladies.

You cannot see the edge effect on this card but I "scalloped" the front edge of the cream blank back far enough that after the green and the red scallops were applied the closed card finished with a crisp straight edge of cream from the back portion of the card. In retrospect, it would have been easier to have taken the picture from a different angle then trying to type an explanation. :)

{ proud winner of Beate's candy }

Not long ago the famous and fantastic Beate offered blog candy to celebrate the 125,000 hit on her Fresh & Fun blog. I ended up the lucky winner from a long list of 298 comments.
My package of goodies came today! I plan on mounting the "Reason to Smile stamp" set this evening and putting together some cards over the weekend. The May Arts ribbon is fantastic! I never imagined so much! I’ve wound it all on chipboard cards for safe storage. I was really pleased with the SU Designer paper. I didn’t have any of it. This will give me an opportunity to work up some cards before I place another paper order. And the Primas.. I love the colourful flowers! Such a nice package of candy!! Thank you so much, Beate! After i took the picture I realised I forgot to include the pretty card she included. You can see it here.

{ i've been tagged! & so have you! }

What a surprise when I checked my email this morning! Chris Smith of From My Ink Pad to Yours "tagged" me on her blog. Chris, I'm honoured that you selected me. I enjoy looking in on you and your great ideas. Be sure and stop by Chris's blog, I'm sure you will agree with me about her work.

Ok, now my task is to tag five more people that hopefully have not already been tagged.

1. Julie Phillips - Julie is an extremely patient lady and a creative and seasoned stamper. Be sure and check out her work at Paper Joy. By the way Julie, you can expect a package the middle of next week. Not exactly what we had discussed, but hopefully something better.

2. Sharon Harnist - Just read her resume if there is any doubt about how talented this lady is. I enjoy reading her blog and always draw inspiration. You can find out all about her at PaperFections.

3. Kendra - The title of Kendra's blog was a natural hook for me, and I enjoy returning now to see her new creations and read about her teaching career. Look in on Kendra and say hello. You can find her at The Dog Ate My Stamps. hehe.. he.. :)

4. Emily Giovanni - I'm sure the lady had been "tagged" most likely more than once, but I wanted to share her with those of you who on the off chance have never looked in on her. You can find her and her incredible work at Stamping and Stuff

5. Melissa Kulessa - This is one talented lady! Melissa not only creates wonderful cards but she also designs Blog Banners and watermarks. You can see her work at Stamping Through the Tulips . And soon you will be able (keeping my fingers crossed) to see my Blog Banner that Melissa is designing for me and the Dog.

I hope you will enjoy these ladies and their blogs as much as I have.

{ friends, flowers, & April Blogger RAKs }

I originally made this card for a special friend and ended up liking it so much I decided to use it for my Blogger's April Birthday Card. The card for my friend is still setting on my worktable. I need to get it in the mail so she will have something to set on her windowsill before the flowers of spring give way to the flowers of summer.

This was my first attempt at masking. I was surprised it was so easy (maybe that's because I didn't do anything intricate). But now I'm ready to tackle something a bit more difficult.Who knows, maybe it will show up on my Bella Swap cards.

The red ric-rack was cut with my Create-a-Cut. I was one of the best tool purchases I've made in sometime. Be sure and check out Ellen Hutson's Store for all sorts of unique tools, stamps, paper and all things up to date and in demand.

{ the whippersnapper at work}

Gone 2 the Dogs.!
Zoe seems to think ALL of the chairs in the house belong to her... even the chair in my workroom. I'm not sure if she was looking for a treat or wanted to try her paw at stamping. Do you think she looks guilty?

{ Sweet Pea }

Why is it the more we have on our plates the more we are able to accomplish. This weekend was a good example. I often find myself clicking through everybody's blogs, moaning and groaning to myself that I just can't figure out how everyone but me has the time to make all the wonderful cards they post on their blogs. This weekend my brother, his wife and their two dogs came for a visit. They stayed with my mother, but I spent the good part of the weekend at her house enjoying my family. I also designed and finished two cards, photographed them and uploaded them for my blog subscribers to see. An amazing feat as I often labor over a single card for days. Part of the insentive may have been my new PaperTrey Ink Green Thumb set. The card elements came together quickly andas soon as I finished it I was ready to make another.

{ so many RAKs it feels like Autumn }

What a great card!! Every time i look at this card from Monica Ackerman it puts a smile on my face. This is a precious stamp and I would enjoy knowing where it is from. Monica's "Just So You Know" is a new addition to my blog roll. Be sure to take the time to look. I will be looking in often on Monica and Abby her beautiful Golden Retriever. Thanks again, Monica~ :)



I received this sparkly card from Joanne Johnson. The stamping, the layering and the embellishments came together beautifully in this detailed card. Joanne you did a great job on it, and it is most appreciated. Thank you so much. Let me know your blog information so I can give you credit. In the meantime you can see Joanne's work on SCS (stamps4sanity).




This darling pocket card is from Simone Collins. Simone is a SCS Blogger and you can see what she has been up to on her blog Daily Dose of Spazz,. Not only did Simone stamp the card, but she also stamped the envelope and the note she included with the card. It looks like it may have been a wheel. I'm making a note to do that on my envelopes and enclosures in the future. Thanks so much Simone!

{ raking in the RAKs }

I'd like to thank Nancy Elrick for this soft coloured Birthday Wish. This is one of my favorite SU stamp sets, Nancy, and for those of you who cannot tell from my photo, she overlayed the stamped image with the acetate Birthday Wishes square. Nancy is a member of the SCS Bloggers RAK Group and you can view her blog at Nancy's Creative Mess . Be sure to take a look and while you are at it wish her son, Alex, a happy birthday!

{ Easter Easter }

One of the first cards I made when I started stamping was a crystal paned window card, and it was always a favorite of mother's. I made it at a "stamp camp" and the window was rectangular with no enhancements. I though it might be nice to make another for her using some of the tools and techniques I've acquired over the past couple years. The circular scallop punch was off set on purpose to accomodate the closeness of the window opening to the outer edge of the card. { I've since added a new tool to my "stuff I need to acquire" list so the openings can be better placed }.
The closure is fastened with one of the new Basic Grey Magnetic Snaps.

I fixed Easter dinner for Mother and worked on a new batch of cards.

{ a special birthday card }

..from my Mom.. from the woman who gave me life.. who has nurtured me.. supported me and loved me for the past 63 years.


Thank you Mom for everything and thank you for my beautiful card.

{ a bevy of birthday RAKs from my beautiful Splitcoast bloggers RAK buddies }

I don't think I've ever received so many cards on my birthday! What a wonderful surprise. Thank you ladies for making it so special.
Kirsten DuBosque at Confessions of a Naptime Stamper shares an April birthday and made this adorable Bella card. Not only do Kristen and I share a birthday month, but we both also live in Florida and of course everyone who lives in Florida enjoys fishing. You couldn't have picked a better bella for my card Kristen, thank you so much. This is definately one of the nicest bella cards I've ever seen!

Leslie Brown sent me this adorable "Birthday Basket" in my favorite colour! Be sure and take some time to check out Leslie's "Continuing to Create" blog. Not only does she have great cards but also yummy blog candy. Thanks so much, Leslie!
I'd love to find this template to use on summer beach bag cards for some of my friends. If someone finds it before me, please let me know. I can also see that I need to do some ribbon and Prima shopping soon!

Alisa Blankenship created and sent me this bright and cheerful card and included the nicest note along with it. You can see more of Allie's work at Allie's Inky Hugs. She is another quickly becoming addicted to the Bellas. (tucking that note into my Future RAKs to Send box.) Thanks so much for my birthday card Allie!


My last but certainly not least card was from Melissa. You can see more of her work at Stamping Through the Tulips (what a great name!) Melissa, you are going to have to share your technique for inking the Cuttlebug embossed background with me sometime and you've sold me on this particular pattern. I don't have any of the "words" templates yet, but this will definitely be my first. Thanks for the great birthday card!

{ my first RAK }

A beautiful card of a perfect rose with sentiments of Beautiful Memories from Wanda (buttons2) at SCS welcoming me to the world of RAKing holds the distinction of First RAK Received. Thank you so much Wanda for thinking of me.

{ bleached doodles }

I've always wanted to try the bleach technique, but kept putting it off. Earlier this evening, I'd put away nearly all my groceries after a trip to the store to pick up a few things in preparation for my sister and niece's visit. My laundry soap and new container of bleach were still sitting on the cabinet waiting to be carried to the laundry room. I decided this was as good as time as any to attempt stamping with bleach. Besides, I wanted something new to show my sister when she came. The fine detail was lost, but the appearance, after I over-stamped the image with black ink created, a shadow effect. The flowers were stamped on BasicGrey's new Blush paper, cut out and applied with fat pop-dots to give the card even more dimension. I used Stardust Stickles to add some sparkle to the card which in the picture doesn't show up. It ended up being a fun, quick, and easy card and I'm looking forward to using the bleach technique on more of my cards.

{ gra dilseacht cairdeas }

Happy St. Patrick's Day

love loyalty friendsip
{gra dilseacht cairdeas}
forever

Irish Claddagh

{ walkin' the dog }

Just one more week until my sister and niece arrive. Mom's been busy planning menus and I've been busy cleaning my workroom in preparation for their arrival. (I think Mom is making more headway than I!)
When this Bella arrived in my last order, I immediately renamed it Momabella & Chloe. Chloe is one of Mother's two Yorkshire Terriers, Chloe and Andy. Although they are sister and brother from the same litter there is question surrounding Andy's lineage. He's a sweetheart even if he doesn't look like the Yorkie standard, and in all fairness the next time I use this stamp I'll colour it "Andy".

Stamps Sets:
Stamping Bella - Walkabella, MTF STamps - Let's Go For a Walk
Paper:
SU Watercolour Paper, Summer Sun, Real Red, Memory Box - Homespun
Ink:
Stazon Black
Accessories:
SU Ribbon Originals - Rustic Retreat, Scrapbook Tacks, Lyra Coloured Pencils