Congratulations Lael and Chase!

My friend Lael and her boyfriend, now fiance' were engaged last week. I made this card and then looked at the picture again to see how the proposal happened. I noticed the hot air balloon in the background so added it to the card. The balloon they went up in was in primary colors but I wanted the balloon to match my colors I used on the card. I did have a funny story for this. I colored clear rhinestones in aqua. I kept thinking how the color wasn't really showing up well. Then when I tried to pull the rhinestones off the plastic to put on the card, I ripped the outside packaging. I decided I must have been tired. Once I took them out of the packaging, the color went on and stayed on and was vibrant. I also added the bling on her fin as the engagement ring. I hope they like the card.

I used this digital image from Taylored Expressions before on another card. Here is the link to the free digis I used. 

If you would like to view my gallery at SplitCoast Stampers, you may do so here.

Supplies: Neenah white cardstock, SU Pool Party cardstock, SU Mellon Mambo cardstock, Recollections. Cricut, Lacey Lables cartridge, Cuttlebug, Spellbinders, SU Love Matters, G Studio stamp, Taylored Expressions free digi, rhinestones, copic markers.

With sympathy for Missie

A wonderful woman I knew from Habitat for Humanity passed away earlier in March. She was so bright and cheerful, never let the world get her down. She survived cancer twice, and during that time, she still remained positive, happy, and very up beat. I always looked forward to Missie coming to the various sites or seeing her at the different Habitat functions. She had this smile that would light up a room and a laugh that would make you want to laugh right along with her. Missie D'Aunoy will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

I made this card for her family. Even though it is a relatively simple layout, it took me two hours. I couldn't get my patterns to come together. I used a sample from Pinterest and will add the link to the card soon.

 

Card used for inspiration from Pinterest

 

Supplies: White Neenah cardstock, SU tempting turquoise cardstock, SU Lucky Limeade cardstock, SU Pixie Pink cardstock, SU Mellon Mambo cardstock, Recollections, DCWV, Studio G stamp, black ink, SU clear embossing powder.

Kiss me I'm Irish!

I'm a little bit Irish...can't you tell with a name like Shannon? I made this card for a friend. I was so tired of red glitter getting everywhere, I put a thin coat of glue over the top. Now, it's just there, the glitter doesn't flake off. I thought I was following a design from a card I saw on Pinterest, however, it's not really the same at all. The red glitter paper seems to be thicker than the purple I used on prior projects. I'm not sure why. I got them all the same day.

 

Pinterest card used for inspiration

Supplies: Imaginesence, Bazzill black, Glitter paper, Paper Studio, Studio G, Cricut, Elegant Edges cartridge, Don Juan cartridge, SU gumball green, SU scalloped border punch.

Happy Retirement Sam!

My friend Sam retired from the Air Force yesterday after 25 years of service. I have known Sam for several of those 25 years. What an accomplishment. Many tours, two being in Iraq, and many trips that were not in harms way. Congrats Sam. You did it!!! Thanks for all your many years of service to our country.

This card did not turn out how my thoughts of it were in my head. I have many of those like that. Even though this is not what I envisioned, Sam will appreciate/like it.

Supplies: SU night of navy, Recollections red, White card stock, various patterned papers, brads, Cuttlebug, PTI die, black ink.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I made two cookie bouquets for Valentine's Day. Wow. That really was a blast from my past. I used to make them all the time and stopped when we sold our other house. The townhouse we rented was horrible and the oven did not have regulated heat control so I couldn't make the cookies from there. Once I moved into the house I am in now, I had the best intentions of making more bouquets. I did make a few orders (several large ones) but then realized I wasn't enjoying it like I should and that my kitchen was always a mess - even though the counter space and island space is more than terrific in this kitchen for cookie making. Last week, my ex-niece's husband asked me if I would make her a bouquet for Valentine's Day so I said yes. You would think, it would be just like riding a bike. It wasn't. WOW. I couldn't remember how to make the dough, how long cook them, or how to do the frosting. I ended up going to bed at 2am because of how long it took me to reteach myself. Shortly after I said yes, Bella, the little daughter said she wanted a special valentine from her daddy as well so I made two bouquets instead of one. Bernedette's bouquet is the large one and Bella's is the small one. The best part of the bouquets was how much Mike, Bernedette and Bella loved them.

Yummy dinner for Gwen!

Last Sunday, my cousin Gwen was in from Iowa for work. Instead of going out to eat, I told her I would make dinner for her. She was more than happy to have me cook instead. She loved this meal and I think she liked that I spoiled her a little. I do have to admit...the meal was fantastic. I did have to post to Facebook and tag all my Iowa family because I made noodles as the surprise for Gwen. I made roast beef, mashed potatoes, homemade noodles, creamed peas, and pink fluffy jello salad. The noodles were just like grandma Leona's and the creamed peas were pretty close to my mom's. The butter on the bread, is awesome. I got a tub of the butter at Sam's club. It is garlic, basil, and parmesan cheese flavor. Oh is it delicious. The only problem was that I wanted to keep eating and eating and couldn't.

Happy Birthday Kim

I made this for my friend Kim's birthday on Feb 4th. She loves purple so I made this purple card. I did use some of the same papers last year but the card looks totally different. I used the SFYTT from last year (see Laurel's pink birthday card from last year). I could not get a good shot of the actual color on this card no matter where I took the picture. I even went outside and it still didn't even photograph the correct color.

Supplies: Bazzill, Recollections, The Paper Studio, SU stamp, Inkadinkadoo stamp, bling, Martha Stewart scoring pad, SU clear embossing ink, flower punch.

Happy 21st Birthday Courtney

I made this for my friend Kim's daughter. She is turning 21 on Feb 3. I hope she likes the card. I purchased the pink and black zebra print so wanted to use that. It's kind of fun and whimsical. I used a Pinterest layout (but changed the entire color scheme of course). Will post that later.

Update: Courtney loved this card. She posted it on Facebook and tagged me in the post. She said, "This lady makes the most amazing cards". That really made my day.

Supplies: DCWV, Bazzill, The Paper Studio, Cricut, Martha Stewart Sesonal cartridge, Elegant Edges cardridge, Cuttlebug, Spellbinders, circle punches, bling, SU scallop circle and circle punches, Inkadinkadoo stamp, ribbon, and Stickles for the sparkle.

My big fat cat

Independence was laying on the couch last night...well, almost laying on the couch. He is so big, he can't really fit on one cushion when he sprawls out completely. I'm sure...the vet would have a hay day with the lectures to me about his weight.

Happy Birthday Laurel

I made this card for my neighbor and friend Laurel for her birthday on Feb 2nd. She loves purple and really liked the scrapbook layout I made for Jeannie (see Sisters layout below). I made this card using that same layout. I had a different Happy Birthday sentiment but changed my mind after. It was too squished in my opinion. I hope she likes it.

Supplies: DVWV, Bazzill, bling, SU stamps, punch, SU scallop border punch, corner rounder.

Happy Birthday Jen

I made this card for a friend and coworker who loves animal print and bling. I used two cards as my inspiration I found on Pinterest (I will add the links later). I looked through Laurel's animal prints and while tempting, I wanted more traditional animal print. I bought this pack at Hobby Lobby and really like it. The crafting girls thought I was crazy for mixing so many prints. But I knew the red would help set it off just perfectly. Jen LOVED it and is keeping it as a keepsake. I originally had two tags hanging down from the middle but did not like that look (and couldn't get it to photograph well) so I changed to the birthday banner.

Supplies: SU vanilla cardstock, Bazzill (black), Recollections (red), The Paper Studio animal print, Bazzill bling button, Memories ink.

Is it me?

This picture cracks me up. So many people think it's me holding a picture of me. Look close. It's not. It's a picture of me holding a picture of my Facebook friend Lisa.

This funny story started about two years ago. A mutual friend Brad (whom I went to college with) also knows Lisa. Brad made a funny post on his Facebook wall. Of course, I had to make a funny comment back. One of Lisa's friends commented on Brad's post "when did Lisa move to AZ". We realized it was me and not Lisa. Lisa and I have both shown several people our pictures on Facebook to others because we think it's so funny. I'm sure her husband was terrified (lol). We are not related, haven't ever met (which will change as soon as I get back to Iowa next) and her sister looks nothing like her. The funniest part of this "I have a twin" story is a year ago, Lisa was a chaperone for her son's band competition. A guy Darren (Brad's college roommate whom I know from college as well) went up to Lisa thinking she was me and introduced himself. All the while, I'm still in AZ and had no idea of the fun people were having with this.

Here are some differences: Lisa has bright blue eyes, she is shorter than me and has smaller feet than me. Lisa parts her hair on the opposite side as me and wears her hair up more than I do, but this particular picture she had her hair down so I took advantage of it.

Take a look and see for yourself.

Thank you

I thought I was following a sketch from a card I saw on Pinterest but went back and realized it wasn't really the same and I kind of made up what I was doing. I needed a quick thank you card for those who sent me Christmas gift cards or presents and also two for people I work with. After our black and white craft day, I did not want to use black and white. I wanted color. I went a little overboard on those, but you know what...those recipients are all in the Midwest and I'm sure they could stand a little bright and cheery right now. After I finished the four bright color cards, I decided I better make the other two black and white since they are for something (which I can't explain right now) I needed to be simple but still look pretty. If you know me, I will push the envelope on patterns  if I can (for my paper projects that is).

Supplies: White cardstock, Bazzill, the Paper Studio, Recollections, Cricut, Martha Stewart Seasonal cake cartridge, SU clear embossing powder, Inkadinkadoo stamp, black embossing ink, circle punch, pop dots.

On this note, I mustashe!

I was cutting some labels and this little piece fell on the floor. I had to be funny and hold it up to my face like it was a photobooth prop. We were all getting zaney and loopy by this time. I had Lynn laughing because I kept saying I mustashe and for being so serious when I was trying to take the picture. It would have been even more funny and appropriate had it been a black scrap. Sorry for the bad pic of me, but it's just too funny of a moment not to post. I don't normally look quite this disasterous when I'm crafting...or hope I don't. : )

Black and White card-making day

We got together to make black and white cards on New Year's Day. It was a day our craft group had planned on for awhile. We were only to use black, white, and some grey. Do you know how hard that was for me? I wanted to add bright green or hot pink to some cards but I didn't. The next black and white day...I will add some color. I have already informed everyone they won't be just black and white next time. I made several cards so the girls could use as samples before hand. I looked at cards on Pinterest and if I liked the layout, I saved the card, took a screenshot so I didn't have to search my Pinterest boards, and made them. Even if they weren't black and white I used the layout. Here are all the cards I made either before hand or yesterday. For me, this many cards is basically unbelieveable since I normally get one or two cards made during our craft days. Just yesterday, I made the last 5 cards posted. WOW. And don't be fooled, a lot of these cards were created with me signing lines from my favorite songs or if the line from the song was appropriate to what I was doing. ;) (They are all in one post so I don't have to post something for each picture). I wrote down the recipe for most of the cards for the girls so they could easily duplicate.

 

Pinterest - layout used

Pinterest - layout used

 

Pinterest - layout used

Pinterest - layout used

Pinterest - layout used

Pinterest - layout used

Pinterest - layout used

Pinterest - layout used

Pinterest card - layout used

Pinterest - layout used

I really like this one

Pinterest - layout used

And this one

Pinterest - layout used

This card will have some black brads added

This card...I am not so happy with

Pinterest - technique used