Thank a Hero

So I had to go to the oral surgan today to determine if I needed my wisdom teeth pulled. The answer was yes :( I knew this was coming as I've still got all 4 of them and I have known for years that I don't really have the space in my mouth for them. I am so not looking forward to this. On the plus side I only have to wait until next Friday. That however wasnt the only news he had to give me. I've also got to see a gum doc as I have a spot in front of three teeth where the gums are going away. This is the part that I am even more worried about as I don't know any one that has had this. What did I do over summer vacation...I got oral surgery.

Enough about my issues. I've got another CAS card today, and yes, it is patriotic. I used some small tags I've had for years for my sentiments and then cut strips of red dp and white c/s. I embossed the white c/s with a Cuttlebug star folder to give it some texture and add to the stars and stripes look. I also distressed the edges on the white c/s so that it could stand out along the white base. The strips of paper were put on the base using foam dots as this allowed for me to get the ribbon to go underneath them easier. I tried to get a look that was at least representative of our flag. I've also got some blog candy news from Melissa over at Creating from the Heart as she's got an amazing one going, so be sure to share some love.


Challenges used:
OWH: sketch
Sentimentals Sundays: Patriotic plus a sentiment
Stampin' Sisters in Christ: red, white, blue thank-you
Stamptacular Sunday: stars and stripes
Cupcake inspirations:

American Life Saver

With so many challenges in blogland focusing on July 4th (Independence Day here is USA) I thought I would do another patriotic card. If you remember from my last WMS waltz post, I don't really send out 4th of July cards, and so I've created another card that can really be sent anytime. The sentiment was perfect for the colors as this could go to a military person, firefighter, police officer, or anyone you think of as an American hero. The card came together in under 30 (a rare thing for me, lol). The sentiment is from Verve's Sweet On You while the frame the banner and flowers are layered on is from Prima. The card base is 4.25 x 4.25 so that the flowers and sentiment can take center stage (and allow the banner to hang off of the edge). I layered some white Prima flowers on top of some red ones that reminded me of fireworks to represent the stripes and the blue Prima flower is for holding our stars. I sprayed the card base with Tattered Angles Denim Blue and then sponged the edges with some Broken China Distress Ink (as well as the ink for the sentiment and the edge of the banner). I used foam dots behind the red frame and glued the red/white flowers down with Helmar's 450 quick dry and the blue flower with some Scrapdots for some height. Your Memories Here not only has the Prima flowers and stamps, but the glues, and now Distress Inks.



Challenges used:
OTWC: red, white, blue
Stamp Something: Julty 4th/ Celebration
Stampin' for the Weekend: My Favorite Things ( I try to have at least one thing Prima and either Distress and/or TA)

PTI Blog Hop

Time for another PTI blog hop and this time it is all about inspiration from this picture:



The first thing I noticed was the color variation on the wall. I adore rainbows and this was like one big happy rainbow. The rainbow even looks more "adult" since the colors aren't in the traditional order. I've seen this look done on several blogs I follow lately (including Nichole's) and thought I would give it a try myself. At first I thought I would do this as a no layer kind of card, but after I started I quickly discovered it wouldn't be. My first attempts was streaky and just plain not right. I tried it again and thought it was better but not big enough for what I had in mind. For my third try at this technique I thought I nailed it. I loved how the colors seemed to flow into each other and though it wasn't big enough for a no-layer card I could still make it a CAS card. This kind of a background works well with shillouettes either in white or black, and I went with black. I took the placement of the stamps from the layout of the picutre. All of my stamps are from Out On a Limb. I added some black bling in the center of some of the bigger flowers, and then to blanance the card I carried some of the black up to the opposite corner with three, slighly bigger black rhinestones. I mounted the foucal image on black cardstock and then PTI's Hawaiian Shores. All of that was then mounted on the white cardstock base.



After I finished it, I started to clean and noticed my second attempt laying there. The poor thing was just begging to be part of a project, so I took pity on it and turned it into a slightly smaller card (4.25 x 4.5). I really liked the imperfect edges of the color swipes and wanted to keep that in my card, so I cut around it. The same stamps were used, but this time instead of adding bling I simply took some black ink pad and rubbed it around the edges. The result was a nice frame that looks very similar to an outline. It was then layered on top of the white base. Another great CAS card. Overall I find it more relaxed than the first one, but still very worthy on it's own.



Again, I love how the backgrounds turned out in a rainbow of colors and with the branches it just seemed to go together. Because I see the rainbow in this I thought it would also fit the challenge at Embellish: use the rainbow colors and rainbows.

Patriotic Christmas

Things are better today and I even had some time to destress in the craft room. Since the latest WMS waltz I've been thinking about my cousin who is currently serving in the US Army. He's stationed overseas in Germany and will still be there come Christmas. I thought it might be nice for him to have a non-traditional Christmas card so this is what I cam up with. The bow is my take of a "fancy" one since I don't tend to do more than single loop ones. This bow has FOUR loops. I dyed some seam binding to get it the red I wanted too. I've got some ideas for more bows, but that play will have to come later. The sentiment and snowflakes came from WMS's Seasons of Love while the frame around the sentiment is from Holiday Labels #14.

Challenges used:
WMSCCC: create/use a "fancy" bow
WMS Sketch: pick a sketch from the last year - I chose week 12
A Spoon Full of Sugar: Ribbons and Bows
Die Cut Dreams: Red, White, Blue
My Time to Craft: use multiple images
ColourQ:

Need or Want?

Just need to take a moment to vent out some frustrations at the moment. Kids are doing the Jekell/Hyde thing and it's drying me crazy today. DH didn't clean the kitchen like he promised and it just about drove me mad this morning (then again I'm not all that great at cleaning it either so I was as equally mad at myself). Rooms are so messy/dirty right now that it's driving me nuts and getting me more worked up. I need a grarage sale to happen just so I can get stuff out of the house (and earn some extra money for summer time fun times with the kids) and get back into at least maintaining a somewhat cleaner household. I need some good rain to come, and I mean the wet stuff from the sky, to give life in my neck of the woods a much needed pick-me-up. I need to get back into a balance. I want some peace to happen here. I want to enjoy my summer off and really be with my kids. I want to not let mess and my imperfections get me upset or down. I need to remember to ask others for help. I need to spend some time with my Heavenly Father. Balance is my 2011 word and I really need to embress it again.

For the Dads

Nothing like creating my Father's Day cards at the last minutue (which seems to be how I am creating lately). Since my DH is a wonderful daddy and I have a daddy of my own, I thought I would show you what I created for both of them. Both are rather simple as they are simple guys.
For the first card I, CASED Jaclyn's card over at CAS-sual Fridays for thier challenge. Since it wasn't "colorful" by my standards, I added some stitching to help break up the greys. The small star stamp is from PTI's Take a Bough and the sentiment stamp is an old one from Stampin' Up.


Challenges for the first card:
CAS-ual Fridays: color blocking
Colour Create: Blue, Grey, White
Southern Girls Challenge: Anything Goes


The second card uses Verve's Protector two stamp set and some wonderful SEI paper from YMH called Windsor. I stamped the word in grey and then cut out to be palaced over the mat that I clear embossed the collage onto vanilla c/s and then used Distress Ink's Antique Linen, Old Paper, and Pumice Stone to get the words to pop a little more. I added a little Pumice Stone to the SEI paper as well as I don't tend to do "clean" mats often. I love that YMH is now selling Distress Inks (and more). The twill at the bottom was folded over and slipped through a ribbon buckle.

WMS Blog Hop: 4th July/Americana

It's waltzing time again, and today I've got two Waltzing Mouse cards for ya'll. I don't really send out 4th of July cards (invites maybe), so I went with the Americana style for this hop. I used WMS's Bitty Banners for both and doubled inked them (meaning I used two colors at the same time). I inked up the stamps using Distress Ink's Faded Jeans and Fired Brick and PTI's Fresh Snow. I then glued the cut out banners on some twine. The sentiments are from PTI. I sponged the edges of the cardstock with PTI's Vintage Duo. Two simple and quick cards. Now if only I had the Spellbinder's Banner Dies that fit this stamp set :)

This card just makes me smile.

I really like the white wash feel on the base of this one.

Doodling on Canvas

I promised ya'll a project and I got it done in time :) I had so much fun with this little bag and I think it might still be a work in progress kind of thing. Most of these supplies can be found at Your Memories Here. I have been very intrigued with all of these art journals I've been seeing lately and have been wanting to try my hand at one. However, the thought of creating going that far out of my comfort zone is still trumpting my wanting to work on one, so I thought I would do the next best thing: a canvas project. I took a small Donna Downey canvas bag and went to town. The first thing I did was pray the bag with Tattered Angles's Glimmer Mist in Patina, Key Lime, and Purple Pansy. Once done I sprayed some Scotch Guard to help seal in the colors so they don't run if it gets wet. Before I took my copics and created some doodles I ironed on the flocked saying from Donna Downey. My flowers are Prima and the large one I sprayed with both TA's Patina and Purple Pansy. I replaced the pearl center with a white one to work with the over touches of white. I layered a sprayed a hydrangea flower in Patina and layered it on a white flower that was coated in TA's Glitter Glam Chandelier (also coated the doddled button in the same GG). To finish off the little bag I used lots of Prima's Say it in Crystals that I cut apart.











Challenges used:
Easy Craft Projects: be inspired by the photo (I was inspired by the fact they were watercolors. Since the mists are water based I was able to achieve a watercolor effect around the edges what I fadded two colors together)
Paper Cutz Challenge: anything goes
Creatalicious Challenge: use flourishes
Papertake Wkly Challenge: anything goes
Little Red Wagon: mist it

What's cooking with you?

I know there are many who wish the rains could go away, but I wish they would come (and longer than 5 minutes). We're in the middle of a drought and boy are we feeling it. I am also nearing the end of my first week of summer vacation and haven't had much time in the craft
room. I am trying to make a point to get in there for at least 15 min a day and one of the current projects I'm working on is becoming lots of fun. A little Donna Downey, a splash of Tattered Angels, a scribble of copics, and even a scattering of Prima is involved. Saturday I'll post the "finished" project. It's a project that I am trying some new techniques and styles out...ya' know, out of the comfort zone. I will say that the 15 min is the start of finding some balance in my life too. More about all of this Saturday.