A few things to share

I know I know - I've been awol on the blog for a little bit. I just checked and it's been a few weeks and for that I apologize. I've been busy doing various and sundry things. Lots of instagramming which is so fun, a little more craftroom purging, cardmaking and sewing, and scrapbooking. I've been trying to finish up my daughter's 1st year album (she's 24.... its about time right?) but there always seem to be distractions and other things requiring my time. I'm sure you can relate. I thought I'd share a few things I've made lately.
I made this birthday shaker card for my nephew's wife using an adorable Penny Black Stamp set. I know it seems a little... juvenile? for a grown woman but I'm tellin you the girl likes some pretty shiny sparkly stuff and I thought she'd enjoy it something to make her feel like a little kid again - and she did. (Note the little blue box bottom left colored up like a box from Tiffany - this inclusion was not lost on her. And what girl doesn't like to receive a little blue box? heck I've even saved the boxes :-))

I made this next card for a grand niece's birthday. I had ordered this adorable stamp set from Simon Says Stamp - Baby Animals. Oh the cuteness! I couldn't wait to use it to make this birthday card. Lots of masking and coloring so a lot of "work" but it was so much fun and I was very happy with the results. And so was the recipient (well her parents loved it... :-))

Finally here's another card using that same Baby Animals stamp set. When I first saw this stamp set I thought the little animals looked like finger puppets - so I figured why not follow that through and make a card. To simplify matters, I cut the hand using my Silhouette Portrait. I fussy cut the animals after coloring them with Copics. And after much deliberation I decided to leave it with no sentiment on the front - the recipient can't read anyway! (another grand niece is having a birthday... we've got babies all over the place in my husband's family!)

I shall be back to show you some more things I'm making! Lots of birthdays mean lots of cards, gifts and tags. Thanks for stopping by!

It's Spring! (or at least it feels like it)

Hello Friends! Can you tell I'm loving the warmer temps? It definitely feels like Spring and, after a particularly cold winter, temps in the 50's are amazing! When it's warmer out I like to open the doors and windows and let the fresh air in. As some of you may know I have two crazy kitties. They are indoor cats. But when the weather is like this I open up the doors to our deck and our kitties can also enjoy the wonderful weather. (Part of the deck area is enclosed so no worries.) The other day I did exactly this and Willie (our girl cat) went zipping in and out of those doors - clearly she was happy about the warm weather too. I'm coloring away at the 30 day challenge by Kathy at the Daily Marker (which has been so wonderfully motivating!). I decided I'd use a stamp from Simon Says Stamp - Pawesome. Such an adorable kitty - totally reminded me of little Miss Willie zipping all over our house. I stamped the image three times across the top of the card. I also wanted to use some alphabet stamps from Papertrey Ink - Outlines. These alphas have been on my wishlist forever - and now that they're retiring at the end of this month - headed to Papertrey's Vault - I finally took the plunge. I stamped out the words and began coloring them and the cats in Copics. It was so much fun to settle in and color. Not only fun - it's thoroughly therapeutic. You get in that wonderful zone and completely forget about everything else.
Okay - that's all from me today - thank you so much for stopping by!

Queen for a Day - Simon Says Stamp Challenge

I decided to try the challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog (be Patriotic, Celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, add Crowns and/or Gems). I went with a birthday card - Queen for a Day! I poked around in my stash and found a deck of cards and selected the Queen of Diamonds. The celebrate sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Celebrations stamp set. The smaller sentiment is one I printed on my computer onto a diecut (you knew there had to be one didn't you? The Double-Ended Banner die from Papertrey). The background patterned paper is from my stash - it's from Li'l Davis Designs (who apparently are now part of Fiskars). I used some Antique Linen Distress ink on the sentiments to age them a little - using a stippling brush. I'm kinda pleased with the card - sortofa clean and simple vintage card ;-)
Have a good one!