Cowboy Ethan

This is a quick post to share the card I FINALLY made for Alicia Weiman's little boy, Ethan. You can read about him and his battle with cancer, here.

My intent was to finish his card right after I made his sister and his parent's cards, but it just wouldn't come together how I wanted it to. Finally, I had an idea of what I wanted to do with the horse image I bought just for his card. I came home yesterday and put it together.

I used the red bandana paper because apparently he was totally hooked on wearing his bandana a month and a half ago...Alicia's post about him loving his bandana reminded me of this paper I had in my stash.

I WISH I had a cowboy image! I went to Michaels and they had ZIP!! I bought a farm set of rubber stamps instead :O) The horse reminded me of his new horse, Questions that he received from the Make a Wish Foundation. I hope he likes it!

All supplies are listed in my SCS gallery.

Okay, I'm off to bed! Thanks for stopping by. I hope you're having a wonderful week...only two more days if you have my schedule :O)

Pinch Me...I Think I'm Dreaming!

WOW! I can't even believe I'm typing this, but Lauren Meader selected me to be on her new My Time to Create Team!!! I'm so honored to be on her design team, it's hard to put into words. The level of talent is incredible...I can't wait to learn from these creative ladies and to get to know each one personally. Lauren selected 7 new team members and kept 5 from her original team. Soooo, you should find PLENTY of inspiration every Saturday!

Remember, Lauren changed up her challenges from a simple Saturday sketch to a variety of challenges each month (not necessarily in this order):

~ Template Challenge (as in, PTI My Timeless Templates)
~ Inspiration Challenge
~ Color Challenge
~ Sketch Challenge

I'm so excited that we'll have a new challenge each week! I can't wait to get started :O) Lauren plans on providing sneak peeks on Fridays (if I remember right). Soooo, you'll have a teaser the night before! With any luck you'll have a sweet dream about what you will create the next day! LOL

She has already had two challenges before announcing her new design team. Check out My Timeless Template Challenge (MTTC01) and My Time to Color Challenge (MTTC01).

Please swing by the My Time To Create Team blogs and of course Lauren's blog and check out the talent!! You're sure to be inspired afterwards!

My Time To Create Design Team:
Dana
Dawn*
Jennifer
Kendra*
Lisa
MacKenzie*
Maria*
Odette
Pam
Tamara*
Tracey
* denotes original team member

Hope your week is going great! I know mine is :O)

MOJO83 and CTD39

I wanted to share a quick card I made this morning before I head to the mall to shop for my daughter's birthday! The layout is from the MOJO83 sketch and the colors are from the Color Throwdown (CTD39) palette.

I LOVE this Scattered Showers stamp set from PTI! I think it's sooooo adorable! I couldn't wait to use it this weekend :O) I added some rhinestones from my nail kit to the umbrella...isn't is cute??
I plan on giving this card to a friend at work who was in a car accident last week. She's okay but in a lot of pain. I just want to cheer her up :] Hope you're having a wonderful weekend! I'm off to the mall :O)

Supplies are listed in my SCS gallery.

Timeless Template and New Timeless Challenge!

I made this file holder using Lauren Meader's Filed With Flair template and her My Time to Color Challenge (MTTC01) palette. Lauren has really spruced up her Saturday challenges - be sure to check them out! Today is the first Saturday of her new challenge "rotation".

I scalloped the white panel using the SU! corner rounder punch and used the same size panel to make the gray layer (I just wanted it to peak through). I wanted a clean, fresh, spring look to my holder, so I didn't sponge the scalloped edge. Kind of second-guessed myself afterward, but I still like it :O)

This is a shot of the front.










I plan on making a set of matching cards to go with the file holder, but I ran out of time tonight :( When I do, I'll add them to the holder and give them to my close friend as a gift! When the cards are gone, she can add more or put a couple of notepads in the holder and keep it by the phone on her desk :O)

The template made this project super easy! I can't wait to buy some of her other templates...ideas are flowing already.

Supplies for this project are listed in my SCS gallery.

Ultimate Sketch Challenge...

Yesterday, I woke up and went straight to Lauren Meader's blog to check out her Saturday sketch - my normal routine. What I found was a challenge to create a card using one of three sketches, and a potential design team call. Lauren wasn't sure whether she should keep the Saturday sketches going or not, and solicited feedback to decide what to do. She also challenged us with one of the three sketches before she made her final decision.

Later in the day, she submitted a post explaining that she would keep the weekly challenges, but will spice it up by alternating a Timeless Template challenge, an inspiration challenge, a color challenge, and a sketch challenge! I LOVE that idea and can't wait to participate!! Her first template challenge has been issued. Check out her blog for details!!

I spent most of my day making three cards for all of the sketches she posted. I felt really creative this morning, so I just went for it :O)

mytimess10












mytimess30



















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I plan on accepting her template challenge this week also! I bought the Filed With Flair template recently and haven't used it yet, so I'm excited to print it out and start stamping :O)

She also asked us to let her know if we're interested in being on her design team. I thought a lot about it since yesterday, and I really think I would like to join her team. So, cross your fingers for me! If I'm not selected, that's okay too...I still can't wait to play along with her new challenges!

Supplies are listed in my SCS gallery. Click on the link above each picture and it will take you to the associated post in SCS.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! I sure did :] Best wishes for a wonderful week ahead.

Simple Thanks

Here's a quick thank you card I made for my neighbor, Bess. She is such a sweetheart and is always doing nice things for my family. Those of you who follow my blog know that my husband and I are both in the Air Force. Well, Bess is a retired Air Force O-5, so she definitely relates to the military things.

She's also very interesting...and a wealth of knowledge on most stuff. Especially gardening - which is coming in handy this year since we're putting a huge garden in our back yard. My husband dug up (and replanted) most of the grass last week and the weekend before, then it started to rain. A lot...and for a while. We now have a lovely marsh in our backyard! The birds love it! It's a feast whenever they get hungry :O) If I start seeing tadpoles, I'll know for sure we have a serious problem! LOL

Supplies and details regarding this card are listed in my SCS Gallery. Everything is Stampin' Up! except the border punch I used and the embossing folder.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

A Soft, Spring Birthday Card...

Okay, so there really was no occasion in mind for this card, but I always seem to need birthday and thank you cards at the last minute...I went with birthday on this one :O)

I used the Taylored Expressions sketch #63 (TECC63) for the layout and the Color Throwdown Challenge #37 (CTD37) for my color palette. The colors for the Throwdown were Sage Shadow, Cameo Coral, and Pink Pirouette. It's hard to see in the picture, but I used Pink Pirouette as a highlight color with the Cameo Coral on the flowers.

This is a 2-Step Stampin' set, but I decided to use the outline stamp and watercolor myself vs using the coordinating watercolor, background stamp on the main image. I used it to create designer paper for the larger base panel instead :O) I'm still honing my skills with this new technique, and I made a few mistakes on this one, but I think it turned out okay :]

I outlined the centers with a black marker to make them stand out. I was going to use glitter or opal pearls, but I really didn't want any fancy bling on this card after I added the distressing and the vintage photo ink. I'm still honing my skills on that technique as well :O) LOL

Supplies are listed in my SCS Gallery.

Hope you are enjoying a relaxing, creative weekend :O)

Morning Glory

I finally made a thank you card for Shannon and Connie...it has been one week since they so thoughtfully made my family a wonderful dinner with salad, dessert, wine and some beautiful tulips. See this post for more details regarding their sweet gesture :O)

I've never tried the watercoloring with markers technique until now. Actually, I think I tried it once before but not with watercolor paper so it didn't work how I wanted it to. My Stampin' Up! order containing my first pack of watercolor paper arrived a few days ago. I don't know what I was thinking but I assumed Stampin' Up! watercolor paper wasn't anything like normal watercolor paper. It's JUST like normal watercolor paper (which I have plenty of BTW), but sturdier and pre-cut. LOL I'm such a dork sometimes :O)

So, I decided to use my brand new Morning Soft stamp for my first stab at watercoloring with markers. I love this stamp! I cannot believe I waited so long to buy it...I kept putting it off but just couldn't resist anymore. I used Ruby Red and Cameo Coral for the flowers and Old Olive and Mellow Moss for the stems and leaves. I created a very faint shadow with Blush Blossom. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough Old Olive cardstock to finish my card so I relied on Always Artichoke to compliment the Cameo Coral cardstock instead. I think it looks okay though :O)

Oh, and I just realized that this was ALMOST a Stampin' Up! only card...but the ribbon is from Michaels :( I was so close! LOL I suppose you could substitute it for SU! ribbon...

Thanks for stopping by :O) Hope your week has been wonderful so far. One more day for me until the weekend! Enjoy your Easter Sunday ♥

All supplies are listed in my SCS Gallery.

Girl Wonder...

Okay, I just had to share the morning I had at work on Tuesday. I arrived at work to find that my co-worker brought her 8 year old daughter in. I've heard from other co-workers that I would love this little girl and her brilliant, creative mind. I couldn't wait to meet her! I barely set my things down before she appeared at the doorway of my cubicle ready to introduce herself :O) I asked if she was Rowan, to which she affirmed, and I introduced myself to her. She was quite the conversationalist from the beginning. A very impressive conversationalist, I might add.

During one of our many chats, Rowan told me about the 4-headed hydra she made in her second grade class. Well, I was already impressed because I couldn't even tell you what a hydra was, much less a 4-headed hydra! LOL She explained that everyone liked her creation so much, that they all wanted her to make one for them. She informed me that she tried to make everyone a hydra but that it was very time consuming :O) So, she had to stop. Oh, and she made sure she told me that she cut this hydra from paper, free-hand...she didn't draw any lines! In my mind, I'm still thinking wow...it must have been really impressive...I still don't know what a hydra is.

Shortly after she asked if I would like her to make me a 4-headed hydra. Of course I would! I had to know what this thing was!! I gave her a piece of bond paper and a pair of scissors (that weren't too big for her hands according to Rowan :O), and she returned in well under two minutes with the creation you see her holding in this photo!!!! Can you believe the detail on this thing? From the teeth to the bump on the nose...OMG. I couldn't get over it. This girl is a WONDER! She carefully explained that she used the "paper folding technique" to cut out her 4-headed hydra. LOL She is too much! I just love this kid!!

Okay, so I knew I was going to finally post this today, so I took a picture of something else she created first thing Tuesday morning. Check out this drawing of what appears to be the Easter Bunny (though I would need to confirm with Rowan :O). I love the details from the deep green eyes, to the numerous eggs in the basket (or bag?? not sure). She is truly an amazing little girl. I can't wait to get her in my craft room :O) She'll have a field day!

I'll post a card I made yesterday a little later. I just had to share my experience with this "Girl Wonder"!

Random Act of Kindness...

I know, RAKs usually refer to cards in this papercrafting community I've grown to love :O) BUT, I didn't receive any cards from online friends, instead, some local friends of mine made my family a full course meal on Thursday, complete with salad and dessert, tulips and wine! It was completely random and according to my sweet friends they claim it was to "repay" us for the generosity we've shown them over the past year or so.

*You don't see the cookies and tulips in this picture because I left them in the kitchen and was rushing to take the photo so my famished husband could eat already :O) LOL

My daughter attends gymnastics with a great young lady, Shannon Murphy. Shannon is a senior in high school this year patiently awaiting responses from some of the best colleges in the nation. I mention this simply because we are going to miss her so much when she heads off after graduation :( Shannon is one of those kids you just love instantly. She has a great head on her shoulders, is brilliant and well-rounded in life. She calls me "Mom" as most of the older gymnasts do because I typically chaperone the older girls on our "away" vacation each year. They're my "kiddos" :O) Anyway, we've grown really close and I try to treat the girls like my own when we're at meets, at the gym or having a sleepover. I don't know what we did that was significant enough to warrant such a sweet, GENEROUS, random act of kindness, but it really made me feel special that someone would go out of their way to do something of this magnitude!

Shannon and her mom, Connie, prepared salad and all the fixings (packaged separately), homemade oil and vinegar dressing, spaghetti sauce, shaved parmesan cheese, garlic bread (a big loaf!), and homemade chocolate, chocolate chip cookies that are to die for!!! They also included some pretty, planted tulips (so they won't die in a few days) and a bottle of Pinot Noir. I've never had Pinot Noir so I'm excited to try it! I see it in the stores and normally the Pinot Noirs have the highest "scores" among all of the wines :]

They also included a box of thin linguine and penne pasta (our choice :O). So, all we had to do was boil some water and cook the noodles! What a wonderful surprise on Thursday! The bread was still warm when Shannon gave it to me at the gym before practice. Just thinking about how sweet they were brought a tear to my eye on my drive home.

I'll post the thank you card I made after I finish it up :O) In the meantime I hope you take a minute to think of those thoughtful, generous people that have touched your lives. I would love to hear about the random acts of kindness you have been blessed to receive!

Thank you soooo much, Shannon and Connie!!! We love you guys :O) Have a great weekend!