Make a Difference

I almost called this post ‘missing mojo’, but that’s not really accurate. It’s just been so busy around here. Between swim meets, work and prepping for CHA, it’s been pretty busy. And of course, this is the first week the girls are home from summer school. A whole new daily dynamic.

When we moved to Marshall a few years ago, the Fourth of July became my favorite week of the summer. We have created some fun traditions for our family, and we really look forward to them. Our favorite is the neighborhood parade on the morning of the Fourth. I’ll have to post pictures for you this year. Wes and the girls started pulling our ‘float’ together tonight.

Here’s a little ’simple stamping’ Happy Fourth, Kim Hughes for you. I love this Proud Eagle image. He’s so handsome, standing tall! Tomorrow brings another new release for Kim and it’s Christmas in July at CHF. You are going to FLIP when you see her adorable Christmas images. One set is called Heart Warmers, the other is Christmas Critters. The thing I really like about Christmas Critters is that many of the images have year around appeal. See you soon - I’m gonna try to stamp another before bed tonight.

• Stamps: Proud Eagle & America the Beautiful - Kim Hughes for Cornish Heritage Farms
• Cardstock: Suede Light Brown, Cryogen White, Mystic Dark, Blush Red Dark
• Ink: Espresso, Cranberry & Denim Adirondack & Wheat VersaMagic
• Accs: Copic Markers, Ribbon & Nestabilities

Do you remember my sweet friend, Jennifer, the one who loves her husband very much? I had lunch with her and 2 other friends today to celebrate the arrival of a sweet baby girl. I was in such a hurry to meet up with my friends that the picture is wonky, so excuse that, but I love these little baby girl shoes from Lesley’s Shoe Boutique set at CHF. They are just so cute to color and distress a bit. I love adding Crystal Accents to them to make them look like leather mary janes.

I’m supposed to be <insert eyeroll> working on something for dear hubby, so I’m gonna get off the computer before Wes catches me. Thanks for checking in with me, and I’ll have a sketch sample for Beate at 8:30 in the morning. Have a fabulous night!

•  Stamps: Shoe Boutique & Pretty Pattern by Cornish Heritage Farms

• Cardstock: Iced Pink, Tawny Medium and Tawny Dark - Prism

• Ink: Adirondack Espresso & Brushed Courdoroy Distress - both by Ranger

• Accs: Kaiser Pearls and Nestabilities by Spellbinders

About this time each spring, we start getting a lot of rich color on our water garden. This weekend, I spied the first waterlily of the summer.  Since I’m not going to skim the pond this morning to take a picture, you can look at last year’s bloom here.

 Back in March, I was getting ready for a ladies event at my church, and I spied this gorgeous waterlily image from OnyxXpressions. They come on unmounted black rubber, and I was really pleased with the impression. Yesterday, I gave this some ink and markers…just to celebrate my first blooms of the summer. I cut the waterlily image with a fingertip craft knife that I got from Jami for my birthday. I know that she got it from Taylor’s store. It made that detailed cutting a breeze…I LOVE IT!

• Stamps: Waterlily - OnyxXpressions
• Cardstock: Blush Red Light, Suede Dark Brown, Infuse Basic Grey
• Ink: Espresso Adirondack
• Accs: Ribbon - Offray, WeRMemory Keepers Silver Hardware (colored with E79 Copic), fingertip craft knife, dew drop and Copic Markers

My little baby girl turns 6 today, and I’m hosting 4 little girls for an afternoon tea party on our front porch. It should be lots of fun, but I’ve got lots to do. See you tomorrow!

So, I adore all the little berry and floral Lockhart images that Sharon teases me with all the time, but I hadn’t had time to go through the agony of choosing and ordering yet. Then, my mom shows up with her 3rd (literally) load of stuff for a garage sale this weekend, and she has this adorable little Stampin’ Up! set from 1997 called Country Greetings.

I’m supposed to be purging, but I snatched it right up. It has a basket of berries, a cat, the quilt block and a few other things in the case. Of course, my mom isn’t an SU! purist, and there are some other stamps from other sets <gasp> mixed in the case. While I’m supposed to be clearing stuff out, I’ve decided that it’s ok….I can find a place to tuck this one little ole set.

This is for Beate’s Weekend Sketch Challenge, and I’m going to leave you to visit Beate, Cami, Jenn, Laurie, Mary Jo and Sharon for other inspirations while I peddle my old junk all in the name of new stamp room furniture. Have a great weekend!

• Stamps: Country Greetings (SU! 1997), Polka Dot Scrapblock™, Pretty Pattern Backgrounder - both from Cornish Heritage Farms

• Cardstock: Sunflower Medium, Spring Willow Medium, Desert Coral Light Prism

• Ink: Espresso Adirondack

• Accs: Ribbon - May Arts from Jacksonbelle, Copic Markers, Dew Drops

We have a wedding this weekend, and we’re all pretty excited about it, well the girls and I are pretty excited about it. Wes doesn’t get excited about much except for Disney World! I used Lizzie Anne’s Say it in Script and Beate’s sketch to put together a pretty fast card. The paper is Lily Kate by Basic Grey, the ribbon is sheer blue from one of TexasJodyLynn’s awesome bulk buys. The border punch was just stitched on my machine with no thread.

The flower from Lizzie Anne’s Jolies Fleurs is colored with Copics and highlighted with a Spica Glitter pen. I used Nestabilities to cut the panel. You can see lots of inspiration if you visit Beate Johns, Cambria Turnbow, Charmaine Ikach, Jenn Balcer, Laurie Schmidlin, Mary Jo Albright and Sharon Harnist.

And just because I haven’t made you look at my cute kids in a while (and their grandma reads this blog!) Here is a shot from our first swim meet of the summer taken last night.

I owe a sweet family a thank you for something very nice that they have done for me lately. This little giraffe and butterfly are from Kim’s new Baby Love set. CHF is hosting a Kim Hughes Blitz thru Sunday, and this card fits the Limited Supplies challenge (cardstock, stamps, ribbon & buttons only).

Yesterday, I received my complimentary copies of Paper Crafting with Kids from Paper Crafts. I had 2 projects published in this issue. The idea was to find projects appropriate for children to make or give as gifts. Lots of fun ideas to share paper crafting with your kids!

This little set of colored pencils was one of my projects. I made a simple box with Cryogen White cardstock and the Geometric Flowers II Backgrounder from CHF. Wouldn’t it be sweet with some simple line art stamped notecards? What’s your favorite thing to give a child for a simple birthday or thinking of you gift? Leave me a comment with your answer, and on Sunday, I’ll pick a winner and mail out one of my extra copies.  Have a great day!

I’ll get this back up as soon as I can!

I found the latest issue of Stamp It from Paper Crafts and CK Media on my doorstep last Friday. I was very excited to have several projects published here, a real honor considering the Splitcoast Rock Stars and Dirty Girl representation in this issue.  There are cards for almost every holiday and occassion in these pages. 

This is one of my projects in the issue. The santa image (WhipperSnapperDesigns) was one that I got in an image in a swap with my Portland Pals when we all traveled to Portland, OR back in October. I came home and colored Santa with Copics and glittered him in all the right places.  I loved how this came together with non-traditional Christmas colors.

The sweet folks at Paper Crafts sent me an extra issue to give away, as well! So, leave a comment here, and I’ll choose a winner tomorrow afternoon and send this out on Wednesday morning.  If you want to look for this issue locally, it’s a bargain at $5.99 US, and can be found in even the most remote Wal-mart stores or probably your local grocery. Thanks for letting me gush!

Finally Friday! And, Beate has another cool, light, hip sketch for you today! I had a ton of fun and this one came together very, very quickly. Good thing because my to-do list this week was 3 miles long! I’m going to keep the blah, blah, short today…but if you want to see something sweet…check out the other sketch designers: Cambria, Charmaine, Jenn, Laurie and Mary Jo. You’ll be inspired and ready to stamp, I’m sure!

• Stamps: Landing Pad & Pretty Birds by Kim Hughes; Pretty Pattern Backgrounder & Small Polka Dot Backgrounder - all by CHF

• Cardstock: Medium Teal, Birchtone Dark and Rose Medum Prism; Wild Asparagus Patterned Paper

• Ink: Adirondack Espresso, Aqua and Ginger Dye

• Accs: Copics, May Arts ribbon from sweet Jacksonbelle, thread, brads (in bloom collection) Making Memories, glitter, glassy accents from Ranger and Nestabilities

Have a wonderful weekend!