Whatever Floats Your Goat

Happy Tuesday! It's hard to believe that we are headed toward the middle of the week and the end of July. Where is the time going to? Yesterday Tom and I took the day off of work and drove to Indianapolis to look for a mother-of-the-bride dress for me. We looked in countless stores and everything was either black or white or in Tom's words "looked like a table cloth." Finally tried on my first dress at Saks Fifth Avenue. I think I tried on four dresses there. None at any other stores. So we bought one of the dresses I tried on at Saks. It's a long dress. I really had a short one in mind but it was the best one we saw. It's champagne in color and the skirt is really sparkly. I'll try to get a picture of it up sometime.It was after 6pm until we got home and I was beat. Over 12,000 steps yesterday. Shopping is work. LOL! I guess that's why I hate clothes shopping so much.

On the weekend I managed to eke out one card. I've got to get myself in gear and get some cards done. Lots of birthdays in August. Speaking of which, here is an August birthday card.

The inside says "Whatever floats your goat. Happy Birthday" I just love this set. The stamp set is from Doodle Pantry and the sentiment is from Hero Arts Birthday sentiments. The image and layer behind it was cur with Spellbinders Oval dies. I added several layers of paper. I used an OWH sketch. The smaller panel is embossed with D'vine Swirls. This one is for my BIL.

I'm entering these challenges:

• Doodle Pantry challenge: make it Christmas or make a splash
• Pile it On: summer fun
• Paper Makeup challenge: die cuts or punches
• Outlawz Thursday challenge: anything goes; optional twist is summertime

I made some zucchini soup this evening from my ever growing number of zucchini from the garden. I am going to have to find recipes for cucumbers next. I have a bumper crop coming. Hope your week is going well.

Donna

Back to Birthdays

July is a busy month for birthdays in our family and fortunately I had a few made ahead but I am about out so it's back to the birthday cards again. I needed a couple this week. Here's one that I used a new embossing folder on.

The fireworks is embossed and then I inked over each of the sparkles. I wish I had thought to add some Stickels before I sent it. I think I'll have to make another one and try the Diamond Stickels on it. The Celebrate sentiment is from Gina K. Ink is from Simon Says and Momento. I am entering this into the Through the Craftroom Door challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope the second half of your week will be fantastic!

Donna

Wedding Thank You

So last night I showed you the invitations for the wedding and tonight I am showing you the matching thank you card I made for Tricia to send for wedding gifts. Again I used her colors of blues and silver and used leftover paper from the invitations.

The silver paper is very shiny and didn't photograph very well but it's really pretty in real life. The hearts are from a Simon Says Stamp Kit set from May 2013. The Thank you sentiment is one that I won in a blog candy. No manufacturer was given on the random stamps. The blue paper and ink is Simon Says Island Blue. I have 46 of these made so far.

Well, this is short and sweet. I am really tired tonight so I think I'll call it an early bedtime. Thanks for stopping by. Next thing will be the centerpieces. And we already have ideas in the works for those. Stay tuned. I will share when completed. Have an awesome hump day!

Donna

Sigh of Relief

Are you hearing my sigh of relief wherever you are? My daughter's wedding invitations are done, written and in the mail and I am so relieved to have that much over. So today I am sharing the invitations with you.

This is a tri fold card so it wasn't easy to photograph. Her theme is Moment of Magic and her colors are cornflower blue and silver. I created the sentiment and added the shadow to it. I found this sparkly silver paper at Hobby Lobby. It wasn't really easy to cut with the die. We had to punch out each little piece. They didn't fall out like they normally do. I inked around the sentiment to bring the blue into the die cut.

My favorite part of the invitation is the caricature of the happy couple drawn by my friend Karen. She did an awesome job. The third part that you can't see is a map of the area marked with all the spots for church, reception and a party the evening before. I am happy with how they turned out but so glad they are finished and out of here. On to other things like centerpieces and favors. There is always something going on.

Thanks for stopping by today. I am hoping to get more crafting time in now that the invitations are done  but who knows. We'll take it one day at a time. Have an awesome week!

Donna

Outlawz Guest Designer

What a better way to come back to my blog but as a guest designer for the Thursday Outlawz challenge. The challenge is always anything goes but our twist, if you chose to use it, is fun in the sun. And if you chose to use the theme you get entered twice into the drawing for the monthly prizes. Our sponsor this month is Anne's Digital Art. So here's my creation for the challenge.

I have this thing for plaid. I think it looks great! Maybe I was thinking Christmas when I did the red and green look. The Picnic Ants are from Doodle Pantry. I popped up the food stuff so it has some texture. And after I put together the background paper I used the honeycomb embossing folder to give it some texture.

I am entering these challenges:

• Through the Craftroom Door: anything goes
• DigiStamps4Joy: for the boys
• Cutie Pie: use a cute digi

Join with us for a fun in the sun challenge! Everyone needs a summer card!

Wedding update: I finally finished the wedding invitations tonight. All 70 of them. Now we have to address the envelopes for the second time. Sunday we addressed all the envelopes to find out that I measured incorrectly and one dimension was 1/4 of an inch too big for the envelope. So I hunted for new envelopes adn found them last night. So I hope to have them out the door by this weekend. Yeah!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by today. I am looking forward to getting back to some normalcy. Well, as normal as it gets. Hahaha! Have an awesome Thursday!

Donna

I'm back... with Christmas

I can hardly believe that I've only made two cards in the month of June. Girl Scout day camp took it's toll on my crafting time and now it will be wedding plans that put a crimp in my crafting. This weekend I am working on the 70 wedding invitations that we need for my daughter's September wedding. So probably not much other crafting getting done this weekend. But I did manage a card last night so I could participate in my Christmas progressive challenge at DigiStamps4Joy.

This adorable snow globe image is the image this month. I just love it! Colored with Bic markers and I added Diamond Stickles for the snow. It sparkles beautifully in real life. The Spellbinder's die is the Picot edge circle and the background paper is scraps from Echo Park Season's Greetings by Lori Whitlock. I added some red, green and white striped ribbon.
So I am entering these challenges:

• DigiStamps4Joy: Progressive Christmas; use their image
• Outlawz Friday: anything goes with a Christmas twist

Thanks for stopping by. I am trying to get back into the swing of things but I feel like I've missed so much. After I get the wedding invitations out I can breathe a little easier. Haha! Then it will be favors, centerpieces, thank you notes and the list goes on and on. Have an awesome weekend!

Donna

Dad is my Super Hero

I can hardly believe that this is my first card in June. I missed my hubby's birthday yesterday. Poor thing didn't get a card this year. Getting ready for Girl Scout day camp next week. It's taking everything I have to get it together. This card is going out to Tom's Dad tomorrow. I hope he likes it.

This is the adorable image for the From the Heart challenge this month called Super Birdbrain. It comes with some awesome sentiments like the one I used. I colored him with Copic markers (R29, R46, B29 and Y08). I used the Sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches. I used me Stars embossing folder and some patriotic designer paper. And added some twine to match the sketch.

I am entering these challenges:

• From the Heart challenge: use the provided image
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch and twist of masculine
• Outlawz Paper ala Mode: Father's Day

Well, I apologize for my lengthy absences but I probably won;t be around much until after camp finished on June 20th. We have 210+ girls this year. I'm in charge of all resources and activities. I do have everyone's schedule in line now but now it's collecting all the materials needed. Lots of stuff to do ahead. And my neighborhood is having a garage sale this weekend and my daughter decided she would do it but she is expecting me to get things together for it. Never a dull moment! Hope your week is going well. I'll be back to see you all after camp!

Donna

MIA again

I think this summer is going to be wash between Girl Scout day camp and my daughter's wedding. Ha! I haven't seen my desk in over a week. Of course we were gone to visit my son in Florida over last weekend. So today I am scrambling to finish up my last progressive challenge for the month.

The digi stamp is from DigiStamps4Joy for their month progressive challenge. The image is colored with Copics and I used the Spellbinders Oval and then beaded ovals to back the image. I added the embossed star to the image since Magi follow the star, right? I used the sketch for the Wednesday Outlawz challenge. The background green paper has stars stamped in Versa Mark stamped all over. A bit difficult to see in the photo. I used some Christmas paper scraps and die cut the scalloped shapes. Add the sentiment tag from Clear Dollar Stamps and finished off with the star outlined in Gold Stickles and the dots on the beaded oval.
I am entering these challenges:

• Digi Stamps4Joy: progressive Christmas challenge
• Outlawz Wednesday challenge: sketch
• Simon Says: anything goes
• Through the Craftroom Door: anything goes

Thanks for stopping by today. I am hoping to finish off the proto type of my daughter's wedding centerpiece this weekend. I'll pass it along when it is finished. Have an awesome weekend.

Donna

Warm All Over

I am on a roll! Three nights in a row. But it's about to come to an end. We will be visiting our son this weekend, so I won't get much crafting done. But here's my card for tonight!

This is a Doodle Pantry image and sentiment. The designer paper is also from Doodle Pantry. I used a Martha Stewart border punch and added a few self-adhesive rhinestones. I used the Stella Sketch from Bugaboo for the layout.

I am entering these challenges:

• Doodle Pantry challenge: use a Doodle Pantry image
• Stella challenge: sketch
• Outlawz Sunday: dig out those gardens
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• Sweet Stamps challenge: anything goes

Tomorrow I weigh in at my weight loss class.  I think I may have lost a few pounds this week. At least I hope so. Here's hoping you have a safe, relaxing and fun Memorial Day weekend.

Donna

Grateful to Gardeners

Happy Tuesday! I managed to get another card done tonight. Sometimes it's a struggle. But I like this one!

The image is from From the Heart Stamps. This is the image and sentiment for the May challenge. I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches.

 

I embossed the background cardstock with the Victoria embossing folder. I inked the edges of the die cut and the sentiment. The three enamel hearts are from Simon Says. In case you can't read the sentiment, it says: Let us be grateful to people who make us happy: they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

I am entering these challenges:

•  May Free Stamp of the Month Challenge (From the Heart Stamps): use the provided stamp
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch
• Sentimental Sunday: funky flowers
• Simon Says: die crazy
• Hiding in my Craft Room: embossing
• Outlawz Paper ala Mode challenge: flowers

Thanks for stopping by today. Tomorrow I am in Indianapolis giving a training all day. I will be glad when that's over! I don't mind doing presentations but I have so much to do at work right now it's hard to believe that I'm going away to do this training. I hope to have another card tomorrow night. Take care!

Donna

Watts and Watts #2

I haven't been very consistent with my posting and it's not likely to get much better for a while. My mojo has been non-existent. And I really hated not having Feedburner working for me and sending my favorite blogs to my email. I've really missed that. But suddenly this past weekend I started receiving them again. I am so thankful for Feedburner fixing their problem. I missed not getting those emails. So hopefully if I haven't visited your blog in a while I will be visiting very soon. I do have a quick card tonight that I made for a birthday

This is made with the April Simon Says Card Kit. I've never been disappointed in these card kits. I need to use them more often because they are amazing. The Watts & Watts came from the card kit and the Birthday Wishes is from a Gina K Birthday sentiment stamp set. I drew the "of" in. The background halo is double stamped once in Lemonade and again with Tangerine. The light bulb is popped up from the halo. Pretty easy but I like the way it turned out.

So to close I wanted to show you my beautiful roses my youngest son sent me for Mother's Day. Two dozen gorgeous roses!

And the card read: "I may not call much but you are always close to my heart." The kids can still make me cry. Love you Steve! Thank you for being part of my life!

Hope your week is filled with rosy experiences!

Donna

Watts and Watts

A very quick post tonight. I used the Tuesday Morning Sketch to make this card for my son's girlfriend's birthday.

I used the Simon Says April Card Kit to make this and a couple other cards. The sentiment is a combination of three sets. The "watts" is from the April kit, the rest is from two sets from Gina K. The designer paper is from the kit. I used the Hearts Pendant from Spellbinders for holding the sentiment. I popped up the cute little light bulb. The embellishment is the yellow ribbon.
I am entering:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch
• Through the CraftRoom Door: anything goes:
• Outlawz Thursday: anything goes with dies or punches.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! And here's to a great start to your new week. Thanks for stopping by.
Donna

For You Mom

Happy Monday! It wasn't the brightest sunny day we've ever had today but the temperature got up a little higher. I am always pleased when it's warm enough without a coat. By mid-week we are supposed to be up in the 80s. I am not about to complain because it's nit snowing! LOL! It's been great walking weather. That helps my weight loss if I can get out and do a little exercise.
My card today is for Mother's Day.

I saw something similar over at KWerner Design Blog. My MIL is very big on purple and I was going to use purple plaid but my printer wasn't cooperating. So I found this deep purple scrap in my scrap bin. Then I embossed the sentiment on the yellow band. It's from Gina K "Notes to Mom." The flowers are also from a Gina K set called "Spring Florals." I colored them with Copics (BV0000, BV01, Y08, and YG09). And believe it or not I then cut my band too short. What was I thinking? But after I looked at it long enough I kind of liked it because you could see more of the pattern in the purple paper so I went ahead and used it. I outlined the DP with a white gel pen and the band with a slim black marker. Pretty easy peasy!
I am entering this card into these challenges:

• Speedy Fox and Friends: flowers
• Outlawz Friday challenge: May flowers

My Diabetes Prevention class is going well. I am 2 pounds away from hitting the 7% weight loss that you are supposed to attain. And this will be week 9 of the 16 week course. I've learned lots of useful things and have changed how Tom and I eat. Tom's lost about 10 pounds too so something must be working.
Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you'll have an awesome week!

Donna

Oops!

Yikes! I was thinking this morning that I was forgetting something. And I suddenly remembered that I forgot to send my future daughter-in-law a birthday card. Her birthday was May 1st.So I made a quick card today for her.

The bear image is from Inky Antics and colored with Copic markers. The tree is from Stampin' Up! and colored with colored pencils. The sentiment is computer generated and distressed with Squeezed Lemonade distress ink. Plain and simple! I am entering this into these challenges:

• Simon Says Stamps: anything goes
• Outlawz Sunday CAS challenge: let's have some pun!

Thanks for stopping by today to see my quickie card! Hope you have a wonderful week!

Donna

Christmas Thinking of You

Happy mid week! So glad to be on the down-side of the week. We are pretty busy at work. Never enough time to get it all done. But it's always still waiting for me the next morning. LOL! Where are those little elves that helped the shoemaker? I could use a few of those.
Tonight I have another progressive challenge digital stamp. This one is for a Christmas progressive challenge over at DigiStamps4Joy. And bummer I am too late to add it in. I forgot they are in a different time zone. But here it is anyway!

The image is from DigiStamps4Joy colored with Copics and I embossed a Studio G sentiment in gold embossing powder. I didn't have a Merry Christmas sentiment that was small enough to fit in the space but I think this one works fine!. The Christmas paper is from Echo Park and I used a Spellbinder's frame die for the background. I added some twine and three of the Die-namics buttons, two with red pearls and one tied with the twine. I used the Tuesday Morning Sketch as my inspiration.

 

So I am entering these challenges:

•  Tuesday Morning Sketch challenge
• Outlawz Friday challenge: anything goes with a Christmas twist

That's it for tonight. Thanks for stopping by today!
Hugs,
Donna