Shoot for the moon...

Here's another card made with the "Celestial Bodies" set from Artful INKables. I'm not sure how easy it'll be to see, but I painted the moon with some "Shimmerz" paint to give it a little glow :)

The patterned paper is from the "Green Stack" by Die Cuts With A View. 70% of the paper in the stack is recycled! The corner punch I used on a couple of the layers is one I've had for a few years. It's called the "Create-A-Corner Southwest" punch.

I hope you have a great day! I'm looking forward to "Survivor" tonight! :)

Hi!

Well...after the heavy, wet snow comes a leak in the basement - isn't that how it goes? This same thing happened to us 2 winters ago when we had lots of snow followed by a quick warmup. Fortunately, this year we were more prepared, so we have a pump going down there that seems to be handling the flow so far. We never did re-carpet that patch of the floor, because we were worried it would happen again. We'll have to get some drainage professionals in to try and re-route the water and waterproof that particular wall a little more. I just know that Iain's having thoughts of California (or any other snow-free state) down there right now...

So, on to today's card. This is a jeep image by Stamping Bella that I got a few months back. Isn't it fun? The stamp is called "Jeepy Girl". And the "hi" sentiment is by Odd Bird Planet - one of my best blogging friends, Karrie, is on the OBP DT and does some fabulous work with the OBP stamps!

Some Sunshine for Wednesday!

Hi all! I hope your week is going really well! Today's card is one that I made for Tracy's Sketch Challenge :)

I used one of the brand new Artful INKables sets; it's called "Celestial Bodies". I stamped the sun twice, and then double-mounted it on the card to make it really stand out. There are 3 colors of Stickles on there, to give a very sparkly look to the sun :) The ribbon is also from AI; you can check out all the colors Kristin has right here. It's nice and flat, which makes it easier to attach. I hope you like it!

TCP Tuesday - Inspiration Challenge

Hi all! It's my turn to host TCP Tuesday, and this week I have an Inspiration Challenge for you. The challenge is to make a card (or any other project!) using the photo on the left as your inspiration. Aren't those glasses pretty? I found them at the Museum of Modern Arts website. I hope you can play along! Here are the details...

1. Add a link to your creation in the comments for this post. You can post up until midnight this coming Saturday, May 2nd.
2. If you're posting to the gallery at Splitcoast Stampers, use the keyword TCPTUES56 so that we can find your piece!
3. TCP stamps are not required, but are of course encouraged :)
4. All of the cards will be featured in Alma's "Holey Moley Monday!" slideshow!
5. Each month, Alma will select the "Swanky Stamper" for that month. The Swanky Stamper will receive $25 in Cat Cash to spend on the TCP site, and the winning creation will be featured on the TCP site for the following month :)

For my card I used the design of the glass as inspiration. I used white for the top of my card, and then pink and green for the rest. I also did some paper piecing for the flowerpot and the heart. The stamp I used is one of my favorite TCP images; it's called "Budding Baby", and the sentiment is "Welcome Little One" :) So...what are you waiting for?? Have fun! I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

ETA: the border punch I used is Fiskars' "Effervescence" Border Punch :)

A day at home...

Jamie and I are home from school today; he has a really bad cold, and I don't think his teacher would appreciate me sending him to school :) The good thing is that it gives me time to do some housework, laundry, to start my paper for school (due tonight!) and perhaps even to stamp!

Today's card is one I made with a stamp set from Gina K. Designs. The set is called "Framed Friends". Tons of fun for those of us who love to color! The patterned paper is from Crate Paper.

So, have a terrific Monday! I'll be back tomorrow with the TCP Tuesday Inspiration Challenge :)

With Sympathy

Hi there, I hope your Sunday is going well. Here's another card I made for the latest Artful INKables release; I used the "Bouquets and Butterflies" set to make a sympathy card. For the irises, I stamped the flower part an extra time, cut it out and layered it on top to make the flowers "pop". The ovals are Nestabilities dies, and the patterned paper is from Basic Grey's "Periphery" line. The sentiment was stamped on white paper, punched out with the "Word Window" punch (from Stampin' Up!), and mounted on top of a flourish die (also by Basic Grey).

Iain's picking up Nattie from the sleepover at her friend's house. And my plan for today is to tidy up my craft area! It's pretty bad :)

Mini Clipboard

Hi all, I hope everyone is having a great weekend :) Today Nattie and I spent the day together; she needed a new swimsuit and a couple of T-shirts, so we picked them up for her and then went to a nearby pottery place to do some painting. It was very relaxing, just the two of us. After that we went to Barnes & Noble for a while until I drove Nattie to her friend's for a sleepover.

Here's a little mini clipboard that I altered a little with patterned paper (Crate Paper) and stamps by Artful INKables. This set is called "Bouquets and Butterflies".

We had some bizarre weather here today - very foggy for most of the day, and then a mix of snow and rain at the end of the day. About 80% of the snow from the last big storm has gone, though, so it really is looking Spring-like at last :)

Card Positioning Systems sketch

Hi! Happy Friday! It's a happy Friday for the kids and me because we have the day off - it's a training day for the teachers. I made this card at the weekend for the Card Positioning Systems Sketch Challenge (#111), which was sponsored by The Cat's Pajamas! The stamp set I used was "You Say It's Your Birthday" :) The patterned paper is some I've had for a while; it's by Chatterbox. I looooove their older lines of paper! Have a great day!

Here it is!

My TCP Tuesday card for this week. It's based on the super sketch created by Carole :) For my card I turned the sketch on its side. I used patterned paper from the "Alissa" collection by Bo Bunny, a couple of my new Nestabilities dies, and one of my favorite TCP stamp sets - "Smells Like Cake" :)

Circle challenge from circle journal group :)

Rhonda from our Circle Journal group challenged us to make a project using at least one circle :) Here's my card!

For this one I used my Nestabilities dies; I also used a die to cut out the card shape (scalloped circle). And - there are no stamps on this one! I was going to add a sentiment, but I decided I like it just the way it turned out here :) I added dots for details with my gel pens, and the brad in the center is a fuzzy velvet black brad.

Busy week!

It's been a busy week here since we got our power back on Monday. I've been playing catch-up with school and housework (ugh!), and then on Tuesday evening we had our "Showcase" (open house) at school. I was on the committee that organized the event, and it went very well. It was originally planned for last week, but was postponed when the big snowstorm headed our way. Lots of new kindergarten families came along to meet the staff and have a look around the school, and the evening is also a big social event for current families :)

And this evening I went to a reception for the "Values Awards" recipients for Jefferson County Public Schools employees. There were 660 of us (there are over 12,000 school employees in JeffCo), and the whole event was very well done. Myself and 2 others from our school attended and received awards (mine was for teamwork) :) Even though this is just my first year working at the school, I have to say I love my job! I am lucky to work with such a super group of students and staff every day, and to be able to have the flexibility to be home with Nattie and Jamie when they leave and when they get home from school every day.

I'll be back tomorrow to post my TCP Tuesday and Seasoned CJ Survivors Challenge cards :) Thanks for stopping by!

Gift Card Holder :)

Hi there! I realized that I hadn't posted this project here on my blog yet; it's a gift card holder made by Creative Imaginations. It opens up to hold the card inside the little pocket, and is very easy to decorate with paper, punches, ribbon, and of course - stamps! I used the "Friendship Flowers" set from Artful INKables. The images are nice and bold, which makes them fun to color and cut out :) The "for you" sentiment stamp is one of the "Basic Sentiments" stamps.

TCP Tuesday - Sketch Challenge!

This week's TCP Tuesday hostess is Carole - she has a super sketch to show you over here on her blog :) Have fun with it! Needless to say, I didn't get too much stamping done this weekend with all the shenanigans we had going on, but I will get a card done by the end of the week :) In the meantime, have fun checking out the rest of the Cat Pack's blogs (list over on the right-hand side) to see what the other gals come up with! Happy creating!

Normal card-posting blogging will be resumed as soon as possible :)

Let's hear it for electricity!

Yeah! We have electricity, running water and internet access! Things were rough for the last couple of days - we ran out of water in the toilets so had to keep filling them up (with melted snow!) so that we could flush them; we all showered at the rec center on Sunday after Jamie's swim lesson, and we have more extension cables than we ever thought we'd need! I am glad that we got the generator during our first winter here - it definitely helped to at least be warm and to be able to have our refrigerator working, if nothing else.

We were all ready to head out to a hotel tonight if we needed to, but then around 3pm we got that flicker, and the power was back on! We waited a few hours before packing away the generator and cables, just to be sure, and then we were able to get some things done like taking a hot shower, getting some laundry started, and running the dishwasher! How did we ever manage without a dishwasher?! :)

Now I have tons of catching up to do for this past week of my school class. Ugh! For some reason, things don't seem too bad though - because compared to 24 hours ago, life is GOOD! I can flush my toilet, and it fills up again by itself! Yeah!

Thank you everyone for all the warm wishes. I'll be back tomorrow for TCP Tuesday :)

I'm here!

Hi all - just a quick post via BlackBerry - we received about 3 feet of snow altogether! We've had no power or internet since Friday evening. The generator is hooked up to the essentials (fridge, pellet stove heater, etc.). No running water, so there may be a trip down the hill in our future so that we can all get a shower...

It looks really beautiful, but man! I miss water and power :)

Photos from 3pm Friday :)

Snow day :)

Check this out...this is how much snow we had at 6am today (now over a foot and a half), and our district didn't call a snow day for today! It's still coming down, too! Nevertheless, it is far too dangerous to be out in it today, so the kids and I are staying home (and from talking to friends and neighbors, so are a lot of other kids !)...

Tracy's Sketch Challenge #32

Hey there! I hope you're having a terrific week. Thank you to everyone who stopped by on their way around the Artful INKables blog hop yesterday - I truly appreciate your comments, and I think that a hop is a great way to showcase new releases!

Today I have a card that I made for Tracy's Sketch Challenge from last week. Tracy posts a new challenge every Thursday, and I try to play along as often as I can :) I pulled out my "Sick Poochie" and "Dogtor's Orders" stamps (from TCP, of course) and got to work.

Can you tell that this card was made around the same time as yesterday's card (hence the stitching)? LOL! I seem to go through phases with techniques like that :) The patterned paper is from the "Penny Lane" collection by My Mind's Eye. I have to say, I really like how the texture on Poochie's quilt turned out; he looks much more cozy in his bed now :)

We might be in for some major Spring snow (aka heavy and wet snow) between now and Saturday afternoon - some forecasts are saying as much as 2 or 3 feet for us here in Conifer - yikes! The kids are already hoping for a snow day on Friday, but we have to wait and see which direction the storm takes...

Artful INKables Blog Hop!!

Good morning! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog as part of the AI Blog Hop! If you've been following the trail, you probably arrived here via Joy's blog. Welcome!

If you'd like to start at the beginning, your first stop will be Kristin's blog - then you can see all the new releases put to fabulous use by the INK girls - and at the very end, there is a chance to win blog candy! :)

For my card I used the "Bouquets and Butterflies" set. What I like about this set is that the images are solid, so all I needed to do was pick up one of the stacks of mini ink pads from ColorBox that matched my patterned paper from My Mind's Eye, and stamp away! I also added some stitching detail around my circles and a butterfly charm. I love how Kristin stocks charms to match her stamp sets! :)

So, happy blog hopping!! Your next stop will be Holly's blog - tell her I sent you!! Have a super day!

TCP Tuesday - Stamp Challenge

Hi there!! Happy Tuesday! This week Susan is hosting the TCP Tuesday Stamp Challenge - click here to find her blog and all of the details for playing along with the "Havin' a Pow Wow" set!

For my card I used Basic Grey's "Boxer" patterned paper. I really like the distressed look of that collection, and thought it would be a good match for the outdoorsy feel and the kraft paper :) As always, thanks for stopping by!!

Kristin's Sneak Peeks :)

Check out Kristin's blog for a peek at some cards (and links to others) made with two of the four new sets coming on Wednesday from Artful INKables!! We're having our Artful INKables blog hop this Wednesday morning; each of the INK girls will have a project made from the new sets to show you :) Yeah!

Miss You Card

Hi all, here's a card I made using only a sentiments stamp - it's from the "Basic Sentiments" set by Artful INKables. The set comes with 18 sentiments, so it's a great one to add to your stash! The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye (surprise!), and I just used a selection of flowers and brads from my stash :) I think this layout would be a good one to make multiples of for packs such as teacher gifts, and it is that time of year...

I'll be back on Tuesday with my card for this week's TCP Tuesday challenge, and then on Wednesday we're having a blog hop for the 4 new sets being released by Artful INKables! It's going to be a busy week - I hope yours is a great one!

Better late than never :)

Finally! Here's my TCP Tuesday card for this week! I'm a little late because of all the things going on with Tasha...but I did get it done in time :) I used the color combo from Susan's challenge - raspberry pink, pumpkin orange and sunshine yellow - very bright and happy colors!

The stamps I used are "Hatching Sprinkle" and "Bold Happy Easter", and the layout is from the Sketch Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers for this week :) Have a super Easter Sunday!

Day of creating ahead!

Today Jamie and I have the day off school! We have "flex days", where half of the kids go to school today and half go on Monday. This is because the teachers are doing testing and it's easier to do with just a half class of kids.

We're planning to stay home and just take it easy! I have my TCP Tuesday card to finally catch up on (sorry, ladies!) after all the Tasha stuff this week, and there are a couple of challenges I'm hoping to participate in. Jamie is going to work on some craft projects too down in the basement with me :) No doubt there will be a Wii Mario Kart game at some point in the day too! LOL!

Iain has had a hectic schedule this week: he went to L.A. on Sunday night (we just got back from San Fran that morning), then San Fran on Monday night, Seattle on Tuesday night, back to Denver on Thursday morning for a change of clothes and to join Nattie, Jamie and I at the Barnes & Noble fundraiser for the school, then he left for Phoenix last night. He'll be back tonight. He looked exhausted when we saw him last night!

This weekend we don't have too much going on: Jamie has a swim lesson, and we need to get a new battery for Nattie's cellphone. Other than that, I plan on having some more creative time! I have missed it! In the meantime, here's an Artful INKables card that I made a couple of weeks ago...this one uses the "Orange You Sweet" set and patterned paper by Crate Paper :) Have a SUPER Friday!

Tasha Update

Thank you so very, very much for all the concern about Tasha. She is getting a little better every day and has been a good girl about taking her medicine (even if it does have to be hidden in a teaspoonful of peanut butter).

I finally got a call back from the boarding place the other night. The owner listened to everything I had to say and seemed to genuinely feel bad about what happened. Of course, she didn't know how it had happened (which is what I expected her to say). She said they noticed straight away that Tasha is a very timid/nervous dog, and I told her that we had also written about that on our information sheet when we dropped her off. So why didn't they keep a better watch on her? I said one of my biggest concerns (along with the apparent lack of supervision in the yard) was that since we knew from the vet that the wound was relatively old, this meant that Tasha didn't get a whole lot of TLC.

I might be being a little idealistic here, but I would like to think that if you had a new dog staying at your facility, you'd check in with the dog at least once a day, pet them and talk to them and just generally see how they're doing. If they had even taken the time to pet Tasha on the head, she would have yelped and/or flinched from the pain in her ear, and perhaps the bites would have been noticed and treated a lot sooner.

Anyway, in the end (after pointing out that we did, of course, sign a waiver) she agreed to pay for half of the vet bill and to refund Tasha's boarding fees. Then she asked if we would consider giving them a second chance - HA! That's a good one! No way will she be going back there!

The patient

Here's Tasha, complete with Elizabethan collar :) I had to take photos to send one to Iain (he won't be home until Friday), so I figured I'd post one here (ssssh! Don't tell Tasha!).

Thank you for all your good wishes...this was the first time we boarded Tasha at this particular place; the one we usually send her to was fully booked for Spring Break. My goal yesterday was to get Tasha sorted out and comfortable and on the road to recovery. Today my head is in a better place; I have a call in to the facility to tell them exactly what I think of the care Tasha did (or didn't) receive during her 5 days there, and to see if they are going to take any responsibility for what happened.

The more I think about it, I realize that either the dogs were not supervised properly, or the dogs were supervised and the owners just chose not to tell us about the bites. Neither of these situations is acceptable.

Poor Tasha

Hey there, well I had all good intentions for getting my TCP Tuesday card done yesterday, but ended up having to make an emergency run to the vet. When we picked Tasha up from the boarding place on Sunday, she had a cut on her ear. At the time it looked pretty clean, and we figured it would just heal itself. By yesterday morning it had become severely infected and I had to take her in to the vet before I went to work.

It turns out she had 2 dog bites on her ear and she had to be sedated so that they could clean it up and stitch it...they also had to pump her with some IV fluids because she was a little dehydrated. After a long day of phone calls to and from the vet, we were able to pick Tasha up at dinnertime yesterday. She has pain meds and antibiotics, and has to wear one of those cone collars for at least a week. I feel so bad for her; she's just not herself!

I think she'll get a good rest while I'm out at work this morning; I gave her some of the medication and she's fast asleep now. I got up this morning and boiled some chicken for her (the vet gave us a list of bland foods she wants her to eat if she won't eat the dog food for now). She ate it happily (I had to hand feed her; she hasn't figured out how to eat with the big collar on yet) and it stayed down, so that's a step in the right direction.

TCP Tuesday - Color Challenge

Hi! It's TCP Tuesday, and this week we have a Color Challenge hosted by Susan. It's Susan's first time hosting TCP Tuesday, so be sure to hop over and give her a warm welcome (and hopefully you can play along!) :) Here's the cool color combo we're working with this week!

I haven't made my card yet (I'm running a little behind here since our return from Spring Break), but am hoping to get to it later today. In the meantime, don't forget to stop by the blogs of the rest of the TCP Cat Pack (links over on the right) to see what they've come up with!! Happy creating!

Iain, Jamie and Nattie at Ghirardelli Square

I wish our trip hadn't flown by so quickly! We were busy every day carrying out our plan of being tourists - something we hardly did when we actually lived in the Bay Area from 1997 - 2002! The kids' favorite parts of the trip were riding the cable car (3 times!), having ice gream at the Ghirardelli Ice Cream Shop, and visiting the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield. Needless to say, they came home with enough Jelly Beans to last a while :)

These photos were taken at Ghirardelli Square, which is next to Fisherman's Wharf. It's so pretty there!

More Friendship Flowers :)

Here are another couple of cards made with the "Friendship Flowers" images by Artful INKables. The "Feel Better Soon" sentiment is from the "Basic Sentiments" set. I love the font on that one!

So, it's back to work for me today. It was hard for all of us to get going today after a nice long Spring Break! I'll have some time this afternoon to catch up on what my blogging friends have been up to :) Have a super Monday!

I forgot to add: these patterned papers are from My Mind's Eye (my current favorite paper company!), and the flowers are "colored" with Stickles glitter glue (Amethyst and Waterfall, I believe).

Friendship Flowers :)

Hey there - just got home this afternoon. We got up just before 5 this morning, so it has been a long day! The kiddos and I will be having an early night :) Unfortunately Iain has to turn around and get back on a plane tonight for a whole week of travel! Ugh! We came home to just over a foot of snow, which isn't as bad as some forecasts were saying yesterday.

It was so nice to get a change of scenery. Tonight I'll go through my photos and do the necessary editing so that I can post a few through the week.

Here's a card I made right before Spring Break. I used the "Friendship Flowers" set from Artful INKables. It comes with 4 flower images and a sentiment - soooo pretty! I used some more of that awesome paper from My Mind's Eye, and a piece of trim from my stash.

Well, I guess I'd better go and get a bit of laundry done. Catch you tomorrow!!

Heading home...

Hi all! We've had a great few days away - we're tired, but had a fantastic time :) I'll post more tomorrow night after we get home. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!