Did you miss me?

Here I was, plugging along getting a post in not once but twice a week.  It was grand!  Grand, while it lasted.  I have been traveling and hosting for the past two weeks.  I do have a card to share with you though!

Stamps: Wild Rose (retired), Hope Happens (retired)
Cardstock: Pool Party DSP (retired), Gumball Green, Barely Banana (retired), Whisper White
Inks: Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz (retired), Gumball Green, Primrose Petals ink mixed with Craft ink and added with a brush.

I made this card for my mom.  She found out last week that she has oral cancer.  Never smoked in her life, but she has the cancer of a smoker.  This is her third battle with cancer.  She had a sarcoma in her Kidney in 2005, then melanoma on her head in 2007, and now carcinoma in her mouth.  She has a good outlook, and her spirit is strong.  She amazes me.  If you are of the mind, a prayer for her would be appreciated.  She is in for some painful surgeries and some blows to her appearance for awhile.

On the good news side of life, my son was honored with an award from his middle school on Wednesday.  His school mascot is the Diamondback (yes, only in Northern Nevada) and they have a education matrix they call S.T.R.I.K.E.  The letters stand for Strength, Tolerance, Responsibility, Knowledge and Empathy.  Thomas was chosen for the honor because the staff at the school feels he exemplified these characteristics for the past three years at the school!  His graduating class is around 600 students, so this is a wonderful thing to be selected among so many. I am such a proud mom! I know he is a wonderful person.  I have been blessed by God with both of my children.

And here is another rascal in my life.  This is my friend's son, Kyle. I think of him as one of my own. He calls me Ne-Ne.  I think that is his attempt at Auntie.  He just turned two.  Lordy I remember the twos.  I will say this...being around a 2 year old when in one's 30s in a heck of a lot easier than doing it in one's 40s!  He's fast. Colleen and Kyle stayed with us for a week.  He adored being with my kids. They adore him, but you know what the best birth control might be for teens?  Put them in a room for a week with a two year old.  Then ask...wouldn't you love to have a two year old around all the time?! (insert menacing laugh here) I love the vagabond beard he has created for himself in this photo.  I know he REALLY enjoyed that ice cream! :-)

And finally, when I came home from my trip, my peony bush greeted me in full glory.  So many luscious blooms that the poor thing was bent to the ground even with a flower ring to support the blooms.  I picked a few to enjoy inside and fill my house with the wonderful scent.

Thanks for sharing some time with me.  You're grand. 

Kristine

It's just like riding a bike

Is there anything in your life that you wish you liked more than you do?  For me that is bike riding.  I think about bike riding...spinning wheels, wind in the hair, sun on my face and back, the ting, ting, ting of a bell on my handlebars.... It all sounds joyous.  Simple.  A quick trip to the store on my bike! A toodle around the neighborhood on my bike! Camping and exploring the park on my bike! Then I get on my bike.  And I begin to pedal.  Huff, puff...pedal pedal...huff puff...pedal pedal.  And the glory of a "bike ride" goes away.  Even at those times in my life when I have been in excellent shape, the bike ride has never been what my imagination foretells.  Whenever I see an old fashion bike, that whimsy enters my mind and I think I might just give bike riding another go.  And the cycle (no pun intended) begins again.  And so this leads to why one of my first purchases from the new Stampin' Up catalog has an image of a bike. 

Stamps: Summer Afternoon (2012-13 hostess)
Simply Scored with the Diagonal plate
Paper: Summer Starfruit, Very Vanilla, Comfort Cafe DSP
Inks: Summer Starfruit, Crumb cake
Basic Pearls, dimensionals

 Can you see why this image brings back that whimsical feel...the want to bike ride?  I can imagine myself climbing aboard, perhaps wearing a pair of white "pedal pushers" and a jaunty colorful blouse.  My Keds ready for the pedals.  I'm going to deliver the flowers to a friend.  Maybe visit awhile with the friend and drink some cool tea.  And then I realize that I really do not want to ride this bike.  Sometimes it takes years for me to let go of a notion.  Some would call that attribute stubborn.  I prefer to call it persistent. :-)  I do enjoy looking at this bike.  I can still enjoy all of my imaginings about biking knowing that I will not plant my back end on a bike seat any time soon.  And that is why this is a thank you card.  Thank you to whomever this card ends up being sent to, but also, thanks be to God that I have finally realized that riding a bike is not for me. :-)

Here is a view of the card from a different angle.  I stamped the basket image on a scrap piece of paper, cut it out and popped it up on a dimensional.  The colors of the card are inspired by the color challenge from Our Creative Corner last week.  I used the new SU color, Summer Starfruit as my yellow.  It's an interesting color.  Can I just say that it reminds me a wee bit of baby food squash?  Wonder why they didn't name it Baby Food Squash Yellow instead of Summer Starfruit?  Probably due to lack of alliteration.  I betcha Baby Food Squash Yellow would be a real hot seller. :-)

That's it for today.  Thank to my followers and subscribers.  See you soon! Ting, ting, ting!

Life's a Bowl of cherries

There is a demonstrator group that I belong to that has weekly swaps.  In May, one of the weekly swaps was based on this photo:

 It's a cool photo. I had stamping insomnia from it. My mind was mulling over how to make a card that reflected the inspiration. Hmmmm.  A 1950s feel to me...some art deco too.  I like the colors.  I even like the Melon Mambo in there. :-)  And here is the card I made for the swap.

I liked the rounded corners of the marquee, so I rounded my layer corners.  I swiped a white craft pad over the layers of Tempting Turquoise to get the worn feel.  And why the cherries?  Well, my Grandma Daisy had a bowl very similar to the one in the stamp image.  And it was actually blue and red.  When I first saw the stamp set, called Cherish Friendship, it was Grandma Daisy's bowl that came to mind...and probably why I bought the set.  :-)  A 1950s bowl to go with the 1950s vibe of the card.  Makes sense in my mind. 
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I colored the bowl and cherries with water color pencils.  They seem to be my favorite coloring tool as of late.  My cherries are Mt Rainier cherries.  They have more of the yellow coloring than do Bing or Pie cherries.  Can you see the shine on them?  That's Crystal Effects that I dotted onto each cherry.  Now the image has a bumpy feel to it--like there's really something in the bowl.

Here's a picture of the side so you can see all of the layers.  It's like stairs! You can also see the bumpy cherries!  The three rhinestones adds the glamor of the theater marquee. 

Something I like about the stamping world is how we can be inspired by anything.  I can't wait to see what the other swappers make!  That part is always the most fun.

Thanks for stopping in.
Kristine

A couple more challenges with another sneak peek

Today is Mother's Day.  Happy Mother's Day to all Moms!

Thomas has returned home from Disneyland and we are all so glad to have him home.  Three days is a looonnnngggg time.  We picked him up from the school at 8:30 this morning.  They left Disneyland at 11:30 last night and slept on the bus.  Lord, I admire the fortitude of his teacher and chaperons.  I'd be cranky, bleary-eyed and no one's friend by the end of the trip.  As I sit typing this, I can hear my children playing in the back of the house.  Lovely sound.  A wonderful present for the day.

In my last post I shared that Olivia and I had been using crafting as therapy for missing Thomas.  I have a couple more cards to share from yesterday.

This first card was a challenge card that Livi thought of.  She picked two colors from the Color Coach and we each had to come up with a card--without the help of layout/sketch.  The colors she picked were Chocolate Chip and Lucky Limade.  Thank God...finally colors that suit me!

Here is Livi's card.

If you have been a subscriber/follower for awhile, you will recognize that this color combo is way out of Livi's comfort zone.  She is a brights kinda gal.  She also has some vertical elements in her card, which is unusual for her.  Didn't she do a great job using the markers on the trees!

And here is my card.  I really like how this card came out.  I used the DSP from the retiring Nursery Nest.  The little owls are on the DSP and I cut them out.  

The sentiment is from a new stamp set called Itty Bitty Banners.  It's the perfect size. As I was making the card, I began to think of my dad.  His birthday is right around the corner.  He is turning 75!  Doesn't seem possible.  Hubby and I were talking the other day and figured out that my parents were our current age when we first started dating. (Did that sentence make sense? Not sure how to phrase that?) But anyway, if that is not a mind blower, I don't know what is.  But, I digress.  Thinking of my dad, an awful pun came to mind to put inside the card.  This kind of punniness is right up his alley.  Everyone else will groan.  He'll repeat it the rest of the day. 

There you have it.  Two more cards. 

Livi and I have spent some time today organizing my new stamps.  Being a former librarian, I tend to be organized.  Livi played secretary and did all the copying and filing of all the new goodies.  She's a gem.  She actually had a blast making the copies and getting everything into my personal catalog and placed on the shelves correctly.  There may be a wee bit of librarian in her, too. :-)  It helped her pass some of the time waiting for Thomas to take a shower and get himself refreshed from the bus ride. It's been good that Livi is keeping me occupied, too.  I have the overwhelming urge to constantly hug my son and just look at him.  I cannot tell you how hard it was to let him go on his own.  But I am restraining and not driving him bonkers.  I know a 14 year old boy/young man will only put up with so much huggin' from mom. :-)

Okay, enough time has passed.  Time for another hug! Watch out Thomas! :-)

Kristine

Playing with Olivia and a Sneak Peek

Note:  I have blathered a lot before getting to my card and the sneak peek.  If you are visiting just to see the sneak peek and a new product, scroll to the bottom.  If you don't mind a wee bit of blathering...read on!


I am so lucky that my daughter, Olivia, aka Livi, likes to paper craft with me.  She is 12, and I love that it makes her smile when we bring out the craft supplies and get down to a challenge.  This weekend we are missing Thomas.  He is her brother and my son.  He is 14 and off on a trip to Disneyland in LA with his school orchestra.  We miss him terribly.  I am very fortunate that my children love each other and consider each other best friends.  I know!  Can you imagine my surprise as each year they grow they continue to treat each other with respect and love!  It says a lot about who they are as people.  So we are missing Thomas and we felt a little paper therapy was in order.  So we have been doing some challenges.

Because Livi likes sketch challenges we started there.  She combed my bookmarked sights until she found a sketch she thought she could work with and like.  What she found was the Saturday Sketch Challenge at Stamping 411. Perfect! It's an older sketch, but that's what we used. Here it is:

Then to make the challenge a wee bit more difficult, we each picked a color from the Stampin' Up! Color Coach.  This had to be a focal color in the card.  Here's a picture of Livi selecting my color.  She's so funny.  Look at that cute face!

And wouldn't you know it, we each by happenstance picked colors for each other that we would NOT normally pick.  She picked Melon Mambo for me.  I picked Tangerine Tango for her.  We each gave a heavy sigh.  Oh the tortures of working outside a comfort zone! :-)  Then we got to work.  Lots of laughs, and Oh-my-gosh-this-card-is hard! later we had our finished cards.  One of the rules of our working together is no peeking at the other person's work.  We like the surprise of the finished card.  I ripped my card up a few times.  Livi sticks with her plan and is always okay with what she creates.  Say anything about our personalities?

First Livi's card.  Remember she had to use Tangerine Tango.  I love how she interpreted the sketch and made that color work for her. 

And here is my card.  Remember I had to use Melon Mambo.  I fudged a bit.  Although Melon Mambo is a main color, I think the Elegant Eggplant is more noticeable.

The stamp set used is a new stamp in the upcoming 2012-13 Idea Book called Betsy's Blossoms.  I received this set as a part of a bundle that Stampin' Up put together as an incentive.  If you reach a certain level in your title, you begin to get the opportunity to buy these bundles at a discount, or eventually you get them free!  I got my first discount bundle. Hehehehehe, grin.  Have I mentioned that I LOVE Stampin' Up! :-)  Love getting things for free or at a big discount. 

I think the set has a retro feel to it.  Yeah man...retro! 

Thanks for visiting today.  Thanks to you, my followers and subscribers.  You are da bomb.
Kristine

For Mom

I love Stampin' Up!  I really do.  But sometimes I see something that is non-SU that I must have.  So it happened last weekend when Livi and I went to a big craft store.  I saw this beautiful paper in the bargain bins.  It was love at first sight.  The roses on the paper spoke to me of times gone by.  So I bought it.  And I used it.  Everything except the designer paper is SU, but the colors are retired.  I have been rearranging stuff to make room for the new goodies to come, and I miss so much some of the colors of the past--such as Mellow Moss.  It was/still is a favorite.  It doesn't surprise me that Mellow Moss matches the design paper.  We are all drawn to certain colors.  Okay, now the card. This is my mom's Mother's Day card.  My mom does not own a computer, so no worries about her seeing it before I give it to her. :-) 

I decided to use the sentiment "family" instead of "Mom" because she is the glue of our family.  She has also never really thought much about needing a special day for moms.  She's all for another family day, however!  So it fits her better.

I fussy cut some of the roses out of the paper for the small pair above the circle and then popped them up on a dimensional.  Here's a side view of the card so you can see some of the dimension as well as the inside of the card (before I write in all the mushy stuff I write inside cards.)

Supplies: 

Cardstock: Brilliant Blue (retired), Mellow Moss (retired)

Designer Paper: Treasures by Shabby Chic

Polka Dot Embossing Folder, 2 1/2" circle plus and Circle Scissor Plus

This card fits the bill for two challenges as well. Cool. It is the Mojo Monday Sketch 240, and it fits the theme for the Paper Players Theme Challenge 94.   I thank the ladies at both challenges for helping me create my mom's card. :-)

I just realized there is no stamping on this card!  Huh? 

Thanks for stopping by.  Special thanks to my followers and subscribers.

Kristine

Sketch Challenge

My email today delivered a sketch challenge from the Stampin' Queens. I like the simplier sketches without so much layering. I thought I might be able to get a card made in the 30 minutes I had.  Amazingly, the card came together quickly.  Once I picked the stamp set, the rest just fell into place.  Gotta love it when that happens!  Here's the sketch:

  And here's my take on it:

Supplies:

Stamps: Love and Sympathy

Card stock: Very Vanilla and Bravo Burgandy

Inks:  Bravo Burgandy and Alway Artichoke

Always Artichoke Seem Binding, Basic Rhinestones, Extra Large Oval Punch

I used a stamp set I just bought called "Love and Sympathy."  I like the sentiment in the set and the font of the word "Sympathy." And this set is NOT on the retiring list. Big smile.  As you can see on the sketch, there are three "somethings" in the lower right side of the card.  I stamped three of the flowers and cut them out and popped them up with dimensionals.  A small rhinestone adds just a little flair.  Kinda reminds me of dew drops.

Amazingly there is actually nothing on this card that is retiring!  I lost of ton of sets to the retiring list.  I'm excited to see what there is to buy to replace them.  (Shhh, don't tell my hubby I want to replace that many sets. :-)  He doesn't need to know the extent of my addiction. Although with the fact that my stamping space is in our dining area, I bet he has a pretty good idea. Grin.)

I hope to not have to send this card out.  It seems to me that when someone dies, there are two more deaths that follow closely behind--as if God takes souls in threes.  An oddity I have noticed in my own lifetime.  Anyone else ever notice that?  And so as not to end on a morbid kind of thought, ...here are my beautiful blooming violets. 

    

Are they not GOR-JUS!  In real life the "blue" violets are actually a deep purple.  Think Concord Crush rather than the Pacific Point they look like in  the pictures.  I really need to figure out my camera settings to get the right colors. 

Thanks for sharing some time with me.  Special thanks to my Subscribers and Followers. 

Kristine