TCP Tuesday - Color Challenge

This week Jen is hosting TCP Tuesday, and she came up with a bright, summery color combo which you can see here! Check out Jen's blog for all the details to play along :)

For my card I used TCP's "Chicken Soup" and "Better Get Better" stamps - the chicken soup one is one of my favorites :) Have a terrific day!

Evergreen Lake :)

Here are a couple of photos from when the kids and I went to Evergreen Lake on Friday morning. There is a trail all around the lake, and the kids had a great time exploring. The photo on the right is of Nattie and her friend Grace. I feel very lucky to have this beautiful lake just 20 minutes from my house!

YOU are a wonderful reason to celebrate :)

These are photos of a box I altered for one of my Artful INKables projects using the set called "A Friendly Light" for the shells and starfish, and the "Birthday Best" set for the sentiment (just click on the photos for a closer view). The patterned paper is by Basic Grey - one of my favorites!

A frog for Friday

Here's a card I made with some old stickers I found the other day :) I thought it made a bright, cheery card for a Friday.

So, we went to the movies as planned yesterday with the kids. Today we're going for a walk around Evergreen Lake and then we're heading down the hill to play glow-in-the-dark mini golf. Have a great Friday!

From far away - a friendly light

Here's another card that I made with Artful INKables' "A Friendly Light" set. For this one I used only the lighthouse and the cloud; I trimmed off the foreground to keep the image simple.

The weather here has been gorgeous this week, in the low 70s! Today and tomorrow we have a couple of our neighbors' kids hanging out with us; today I'm taking them to see "Night at the Museum 2" (they all want to see it again!).

TCP Tuesday - Inspiration Challenge

Hi everyone, it's my turn to host TCP Tuesday this week, and I have a great photo for our Inspiration Challenge :) Doesn't that look perfect for a hot, summer day? Yesterday in Conifer we were in the mid-70s - I think that's the warmest we've been all year!


It's pretty easy to play along for the Inspiration Challenge: just look at the photo, and use whatever elements of the photo jump out at you: the objects, the colors, the mood - anything you like! Perhaps you should pour yourself a nice cold drink and get inspired to play along... :)

For my card I knew I wanted to use similar colors and a cocktail theme - so I chose TCP's "Wide Margarita" and "Cocktails!" stamps. The lime slices are the "Big Lemon" and "Small Lemon" stamps; I just stamped them in green ink :) Here are the details for playing:

1. Each Tuesday, one of the DT Members from The Cat's Pajamas will host a challenge.



2. The challenges will vary (stamp, color, sketch, inspiration).



3. You will have until this Saturday night (June 27) to complete the challenge.



4. Link your project in comments to the hostess' challenge announcement.



5. TCP stamps are not required, but of course, are highly encouraged.



6. There will be one winner each month. They will be deemed that month's Swankiest Stamper and get $25 in Cat Cash (to spend on the TCP website!).



7. When uploading to SCS, please use the keyword TCPTUES64 for this week's challenge.



8. Alma will post the entries for that week each Monday on her blog for "Holey Moley Monday".



9. The newly-crowned Swanky Stamper will be announced on the first of the month and will have his/her winning entry posted on The Cat's Pajamas website where he/she will reign for the entire month.



10. Oh - HAVE FUN!

Your blog rocks!

Isn't this a fun set from My Favorite Things? It's called "Digital Girl".

We had a nice weekend; yesterday Iain took the kids to Elitch's in Denver and I stayed at home. I did some cleaning, reading, school work, and enjoyed the quiet time :)

Just for fun...

Here's a quiz I found on Patti's blog :) Feel free to play along!

1. What is your current obsession? Trying to squeeze in more reading time this summer!
2. What is your weirdest obsession? Not liking it when my foods on a plate touch each other :)
3. What are you wearing today? Right now, jammies (it's just after midnight here).
4. What would you eat for your last meal? Chicken tikka masala (curry) with rice.
5. What's the last thing you bought? Groceries at Safeway.
6. What are you listening to now? Nothing. The house is silent!
7. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? Vanilla.
8. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished, anywhere in the world, where would it be? Anywhere right on the beach :)
9. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Alaska.
10. Which language would you want to learn? I studied French, German and Spanish at high school and college, so I'd just like to get better at them! I've forgotten a lot of it...
11. What's your favorite quote (for now)? There's always a light at the end of the tunnel.
12. What's your favorite color? Blue!
13. What is your favorite time of day? I like it on days when I'm up first - doesn't happen often during summer break, though!
14. What is your favorite piece of clothing in your wardrobe? Jammies :)
15. What is your dream job? Hmmmm - not sure! I think I have a great balance right now with my para job at Jamie's school and my DT work!
16. What's your favorite magazine? Oprah and Real Simple
17. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on? I'd split it evenly between myself, Iain, Nattie and Jamie. Each of us could do what we want with our $25. I'd spend mine at Barnes & Noble.
18. Do you admire anyone's style? There are too many to list - tons of inspirational stampers out there!
19. Describe your personal style...Simple and clean (most of the time) with a little "something".
20. What are you going to do after this? Work on my school paper and then go to bed!
21. What are your favorite movies? Thomas Crown Affair, Perfect Storm, Good Will Hunting
22. What's your favorite fruit? Strawberries.
23. What inspires you? My kids, and other crafters.
24. Do you collect something? Stamps, patterned paper, cardstock, the list goes on...

Card Patterns 19 - Just a Note

Hi! I hope you're having a great Saturday :) Today's card is one I made for the Card Patterns Sketch 19. I used the "Two Scoops" collection from Basic Grey, and the stamps are by Lizzie Anne Designs ("Petite Phrases").

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! I'm heading down to the basement to do a little stamping, and to help the kiddos with their Father's Day cards :)

Featured Sketch Artist!

Thank you, Tracy - for naming me the Featured Sketch Artist for the last sketch challenge! I am thrilled - you made my day! Gotta love that Poochie stamp :D

Artful INKables Blog Hop!

It's release time again for Artful INKables - thank you for joining me here for the last stop on our blog hop! You should have joined me from Joanne's blog :) If you'd like to see all the creations and start at the beginning of the hop, go to Kristin's blog. The set I've used for my card is called "A Friendly Light" - I had lots of fun coloring this one! The set has 6 stamps in it: 3 images and 3 sentiments. I think it's a great set for masculine cards, too! The card layout is the sketch from Card Positioning Systems for this week.

Kristin is going to be choosing a random comment from all the comments left throughout the blog hop, and that person will get a prize - good luck to everyone!

Ruff Day? Yes, for Jamie...

This is a card I made for Tracy's Sketch Challenge for this week :) The stamps are a couple of my favorites by The Cat's Pajamas: "Poochie on Crutches" and "Ruff Day?" - aren't they fun? The patterned paper is by Daisy Bucket, and the ovals are Nestabilities dies.

We had a bit of a "Ruff Day" yesterday; Jamie had an upset stomach from Sunday night through Monday afternoon, but he seemed OK otherwise. On Monday night, though, he woke up around midnight saying that his ear hurt, so I put some drops in his ear and gave him some Tylenol at that point and then again in the morning. I called the doctor and got an appointment for 2pm, and of course by noon he was saying he felt all better...Iain and I decided it was still worth getting him checked out anyway - and I'm glad I did, because it turns out he has a really bad ear infection! The doctor thinks he was probably just feeling better because the pressure is worse when they're lying down, and also the effects of the drops were probably still there. Poor little guy! At least we have the antibiotics now, though, so it won't take long for them to kick in.

TCP Tuesday - Sketch Challenge

Hi all! Today Jen is filling in for Carole and hosting TCP Tuesday, and she has a Sketch Challenge for us! All the details for playing along (and possibly becoming the next Swanky Stamper) are on Jen's blog - have fun!

For my card I used the "Hearts and Flowers" set from TCP for the elephant image, and the TCP "Nightie" alphabet set to spell out the sentiment :) The patterned paper is from the "Static" collection by Crate Paper, and the border punch is "Effervescence" by Fiskars.

Artful INKables Featured Stamper

Hop over to Kristin's blog to find out who is the first Featured Stamper for Artful INKables :) There are also details on how you can be a Featured Stamper and a sneak peek of a Twilight-related "Into the Moonlight" set. We'll also be having another blog hop this coming Friday (June 19th)!

Post A Note

Here's a card I made for last week's sketch from the Card Patterns blog. I used Artful INKables' "Post A Note" set and some patterned paper and ribbon by My Mind's Eye. The envelope is paper-pieced, and I used some Stickles to add a bit more sparkle :)

Iain has worked hard painting our family room over the last couple of weeks. It's a big room, and the color we chose is pretty dark, so it needs 3 coats. I'll take some photos of it this week.

Happy Camper

Hi all :) I hope you're having a great weekend! We picked up Nattie from camp yesterday; she had a terrific time, tried some new activities, and made some new friends. We had a picnic lunch, saw a slideshow of all the photos taken throughout the week, and then checked out posters the kids had made to show one thing they learned about. The stormy weather didn't hold up their activities too much, either, which is good :)

The layout for today's card is from the Card Positioning Systems blog. The stamps (log and bear) are from the "Happy Camper" set from The Cat's Pajamas, and so are the ribbon and buttons. I cut out the regular and scalloped ovals using my Nestabilities dies, then stamped the log on brown patterned paper (all from Cosmo Cricket's "Mr. Campy" line), cut it out and attached it. I stamped the bear on white paper, colored it in and cut it out before standing him on the log. This card measures 7" x 3.5".

Sketch Challenge card

Here's a card I made for the Sketch Challenge on Splitcoast Stampers this week. I used my "Warm Drinks for Cold Days" set from Artful INKables and some patterned paper by My Mind's Eye.

This morning we're heading out to Mount Evans to pick up Nattie from her Wildlife Biology camp. The kids are going to do a presentation to show us what they've learned this week, and then we're staying for a picnic before coming home. I'm sure the first thing she'll want to do is have a shower :) Have a great weekend!

Yeah!

I wanted to let you know that one of my cards is featured today on the blog for Lizzie Anne Designs. Debbie found my card in the gallery on Splitcoast Stampers and asked if they could use it today on the LAD blog. Here's a link!

Birthday Card

Hi! Happy Thursday! The card I made for today uses stamps from Hero Arts ("Doodle Flower Patch" stamp) and The Cat's Pajamas ("Happy Birthday II" stamp). I used some scraps of "My Mind's Eye" paper and scraps of paper. The card measures 3.5" x 7". I really like the look of tall, skinny cards for a change of style.

We had some big thunder here last night! The kind that's right over the house! Some areas of Colorado have been dealing with tornadoes this week, though, so we're pretty lucky to just have thunder and rain. Have a great day!

Dad's Day

With Father's Day approaching, I thought I'd post a card to go with the occasion. This stamp is called "Star Dad" and it's by American Art Stamps. I used patterned paper from DCWV's "Tahiti Beach" stack; I love the colors in that pack!

On Monday night I had dinner with one of the teachers from school; it was great to just hang out and chat for longer than the 5 fleeting minutes we usually get at school! Iain dropped Nattie off for her Wildlife Biology camp on Monday morning, and late that night he left for a business trip until Thursday, so it's just Jamie and I for a few days! Things are very quiet around here...

TCP Tuesday - Stamp Challenge

Hi there :) This week Susan is our hostess for TCP Tuesday. She is challenging us to use any Penguin stamp from The Cat's Pajamas. I chose one of my favorite sets - "You Say It's Your Birthday". I paper-pieced the balloon and colored the rest of the details with markers. The patterned paper is "Urban Prairie" by Basic Grey. The layout is from this week's Sketch Challenge on Splitcoast Stampers.

I hope you can play along this week! All the details are over on Susan's blog - have fun!

Simply the best :)

I had fun putting this card together with all the little flowers; I find it very therapeutic to sit and cut out the shapes! The stamp sets I used are from Verve Stamps: "Petals & Stems" and "Feeling Groovy" :) The card is 5.25" square, and I used my Nestabilities dies to cut out the sentiment and the surrounding shapes. I hope you had a great weekend!

Nattie and cats :)

These are another couple of photos taken earlier this week; the one on the left is Pickle. Some of you may remember he's the cat who went missing for about a month in October 2007, and then showed up meowing loudly at the back door :) The little guy being held by Nattie on the right is Bailey. We got him and his sister (Aspen) from the Cat Protection League about 3 weeks after Pickle went missing; we honestly thought there would be no chance of him making it home, given the surroundings we live in (mountain lions, bears, other cats, etc.). All 4 cats (there's also Sally, the oldest of the 4) get along really well, though! We are very lucky to have them all :)

Owls and Bluebells

Here's a card I made with a new set from My Favorite Things. The set is called "Owls and Bluebells". Isn't the image sweet? For the sentiment I used the "hi (jj mix)" stamp from Odd Bird Planet, and colored the word with my white gel pen. The patterned paper is the "Brunch Collection" by Crate Paper.

Do you have any weekend plans? Iain finished painting the guest room this week, and he might start on the family room at the weekend...we don't have specific plans yet. I do have a paper due for school on Monday...

Hi There!

Here's a card I made last weekend. I used my Swiss Dots embossing template for the white background, and then stitched the pattern on to the paper using Bazzill's In Stitch'z templates and embroidery floss. I added a little ribbon, a sentiment and a butterfly (Hero Arts), and voila!

Smile!

I was taking some photos yesterday and got this fun shot of Nattie and Tasha - they both have a big grin! Nattie is going to be 13 in October, and Tasha will be 3 in December (but she still acts as if she's 6 months old!).

Artful INKables ATC

Here's an ATC (Artist Trading Card) that I made for my non-card project for Artful INKables this month. It measures 2.5" x 3.5". I used the "Boys Will Be Boys" stamp set :) Kristin also carries frog charms, which are a great match for this set.

Yesterday the kids and I went to see "Up". It was awesome! There was something for everyone in the storyline, and the animation was great :) We also went shopping for a new sleeping bag for Nattie's camp next week. She's going on a "Wildlife Biology" trip just a few miles away from Monday through Friday; it was organized through her school and she's very excited about the different activities they'll be trying out!

In our back yard last Friday :)

Oh, the places you'll go...

Isn't this a fun sentiment from the "Boys Will Be Boys" set from Artful INKables? As soon as I saw this set, I thought of Jamie and his cheeky little face :) I made 6 of these cards for an Artful INKables card swap on Splitcoast Stampers. Holly (our swap hostess), I'll get these out to you very soon!

On Monday Nattie, Jamie and I had a fun trip to Hobby Lobby! The kindergarten class I worked in gave me a $100 gift card on the last day of school :) So the three of us shared the gift card and picked up tons of crafting goodies! Then we went to Kohl's and got Nattie a few pairs of shorts (she has grown out of every pair from last summer), so she's all set for Maui in July.

Later this week we're planning a trip to Denver Zoo, probably on Friday. I have another school class starting this week, so it's time to hit the books again! Have a super day :)

TCP Tuesday Color Challenge

Hi all! Here's my card for this week's TCP Tuesday Color Challenge, which is being hosted by Jen. Isn't this a fun color combo? I was a little intimidated at first, but I really love how this one turned out in the end! The stamps I used are "Hula Cat", "Flip Flops" and "Fun in the Sun".

I hope you can play along this week! Get all the details at Jen's blog :)