A day late, probably more than a dollar short.

Man, be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it (sort of like the story of the monkey's paw, I guess). I wished for a day home from work. I got two. Both were pure hell and I was wishing I was at work. We lost power for not quite two days. It went out on Wednesday night and came back on Friday. My sump pump was filling up fast, and I was scooping it out and taking buckets upon buckets of water up the stairs. My neighbors helped a lot, but I still ended up sore and way past tired and cranky. By the time the power returned on Friday, I was so done for that I couldn't remember much of anything. Consequently, I forgot about the CDAC heart hop. I finished a layout for it over a week ago, probably longer. I used the forever heart from Guylou's Inimitability. I am currently working on a memorial album of my husband. This is the latest layout for it.

The journaling is about how I am not ready yet, but I know that one day I will be ready to date again. However, Rick will always have a place in my heart because I am his and he is mine, forever. Papers are Graphic 45. Embellies are from my stash, including Tim Holtz key and lock, heidi swapp felt hearts and clear (ghost) clocks, making memories metal frame, and a Webster's Pages cameo. The forever hearts were colored with copics and highlighted with stardust pens. And now I really need to go run my errands that I've been putting off all day. After all of the physical labor of the last few days, I am finding it hard to get up and get moving!

For the birthday boy

My uncle's birthday is coming up. I swear, he is the sweetest, most supportive husband to my aunt. She's a breast cancer survivor. He'll dress up in his pink hat and shirt and head on out to any walk or other cancer support event she wants to attend. He puts the bumper stickers on his van. He takes care of her when she's not feeling well (although she is currently in remission, thank God). The two of them together are so lovey-dovey that it's nauseating, even after 30+ years or marriage. So, anyway, when his bday was coming up, I knew I wanted to use this image from Anita Be Stampin'. She's called Busty Betsy, and you can find her here. She's a digi image and all proceeds from her purchase support Breast Cancer cure efforts. I wanted to highlight the pink ribbon, so I used a very light earth tone for the rest of her outfit. The inside of the card says "May all your wishes come true!"

I have a really, really hard time with masculine cards, but I think this one turned out okay. It's based on a sketch at Anita Be Stampin's challenge blog. I used chestnut roan and creamy brown cat's eye inks around the edges of the papers. The tan paper is Basic Grey. The script paper is K&Co. I am not sure about the brown and white polka dot paper, though. It was in my scrap pile. She's got glossy accents on her pouty little lips, to make them shine like she's wearing lip gloss. I used a pink stardust pen on the ruffle of her bustier and for her headband.

I tried shading around the image for the very first time. I definitely need some serious practice. I have a really hard time with the whole light source thing, for some reason. I've read the tutorials (or watched them, as the case may be), but it just eludes me for some odd reason. Anyway, I used W1,3,5,7 and the blender pen for the shading around the image. The rest of the copics I used are pictured below.

As always, thanks for looking and I appreciate any comments. Suggestions for shading or coloring (or anything else) are always welcome, too. Constructive criticism helps me grow.

Oh, and if you're like my town and covered in snow right now, I hope you are safe and warm. The poor kid next door shoveled my driveway and cleaned off my car today, only to have the snow start again in earnest. My car is slowly but surely getting buried. Perhaps this means no work tomorrow??? One can hope! I love my job, but I don't turn down a day at home here and there, either!

Aunt T is pawsitively purrfect!

My girls love their Aunt T. My cousin Theresa (aka, Aunt T) takes care of them when I go away on trips or just need someone to watch over them for a bit. Sophie is my cuddlebug and will love up on anyone. She will not be deterred by anyone who tries to push her away. She is stubborn like me and tries again! Athena, on the other hand, is pretty much reserved with her love and affection. She is very affectionate with me and will even begin purring if all I do is say her name. However, for the most part, she is people shy. She's gotten a bit less so as she has gotten older, although she still hides out for a bit until the visitor has been in the house for a while. Then she'll slowly venture out. She might let you get a pat or two, but then she's off to viewing distance only. With her Aunt T, though, she is totally comfortable. I'm beginning to think that my girls love their Aunt T almost as much as they love me! Shh...don't tell my inlaws, because it would hurt their feelings. They think they're my girls' favorites. Anyway, when I saw this adorable image called "heart shaped kittens" from Guylou's Inimitability, I just had to color it up to look as much like my girls as I could achieve. I pretty much used every marker in the E40 range, plus some R20 for pink tints here and there around the ears. The design of the card is based after this week's Mojo Monday sketch 175.

My girls do climb all over each other and bundle up together so that they look like one little ball of fur, laying in the chair or on the bed. In this pic, I caught them on the chair together. Unfortunately, Sophie sat up as soon as she saw the camera. She doesn't like to model, as you can tell by the "put that damned camera away" look in her eyes! LOL

The picture is a bit darker than they are in real life, although they are sealpoint siamese and therefore, have a darker coat than some of other siamese breeds. It's hard to tell, but they actually have a lot of cream color mixed in with that mink/seal fur. As will happen with siamese, their fur has also darkened a lot as they have aged. I can't believe they're 5 now! Anyway, I colored the image on the card to reflect a bit more of their coloring when they were younger. Otherwise, I was concerned that the image would end up looking like one dark brown blob! LOL. I plan to send the card to their Aunt T soon, just to let her know that we are thinking of her!

Sugar....yummy!

And I don't mean the kind you eat (although I don't usually turn that down, either. I've got a killer sweet tooth. Not good for a diabetic, but that's another post for another time. Maybe never). Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Sugary sweet stuff, this time from Sugar Nellie. They've got a new line of adorable images. I love them! I had to purchase two of the digis right away, but it took me a few days to get one colored up and onto a card. I didn't think I had another card in me tonight. I tried one earlier and just hit a wall. Plus, I just wasn't feeling terribly motivated or energetic this evening. Then I colored this cutie pie. I sat her to the side, to put on a card later. I swear, this little girl started calling to me. No, really. I mean, I felt drawn to my scrap table and the next thing I knew, I was finding papers in my scrap pile, tossing some flowers around, and so on. This is what I came up with:

The card is based on a sketch at The Sugar Bowl. It's sketch #51. You can find this adorable digi here. I colored her with copics:
shoes: W1, 3, 5, 7
dress: R81, 83, 85, R000
cardigan: B91, 93, 95
socks: R000, R81
hair: Y21, 23, 26, 00 (or maybe it was 000. I don't remember!)

The scrunchy ribbon was on clearance at Walmart ages ago. With the exception of the crocheted flower, the flowers are from Wild Orchid crafts. The little metal tag on the right says "celebrate". Cardstock is Bazzill. The patterned paper is from my scraps, but I don't know who made it. I got the doily in the cake section at Michael's.

Well, this may be my last post for a day or two. It's back to work tomorrow! It promises to be another busy week, too. That's okay, because busy is always better than bored! Have a great week.

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a....mouse????

I made this card a few days ago, after reading about the Anything goes challenge at Fuzzy Wuzzy and the embossing challenge at House Mouse and Friends. I needed to make a card for a family member who is currently dealing with some serious health issues (this is the guy I wrote about two posts or so ago). I love this House Mouse image, but I really wanted to highlight the one particular part of the mouse sucking on a lemon. Basically, this cute little sentiment stamp I had was calling to me. It actually says "being sick just stinks," but I remembered it as saying, "being sick just sucks." With my unreliable memory in my mind, I thought that a mouse sucking on a lemon would be perfect, so I cut him out from the larger image, colored him up, and went looking for my sentiment stamp. Imagine my surprise when it said "stinks" and not "sucks"! Rather than finding a new sentiment or typing it up on my computer, I simply handwrote the word "sucks", matted it on a color to match the card, and slapped that sucker down. This is how it turned out:

I colored the image with copics, embossed some yellow cardstock, and found a big lime sticker that had somehow made it through the recent purge of my scrap room. And I gotta tell ya, no matter which way you put it, being sick really does stink/suck.

Gettin' sketchy for All that Scraps

I didn't have much energy today. I cleaned the downstairs and said to heck with the rest of the house. I guess I might have to tackle it tomorrow. I felt better about making another card after I cleaned, though. Not as guilty or lazy or something! I completed a card using sketch #71 at Get Sketchy. I only recently found this challenge blog and this is the first time I've actually participated. I love sketch challenges, but I've said that before, so I'll shut up about it now. This card is also for the week 63 challenge at All that Scraps, to make a Valentine's Day card. I don't usually make those. Now that my husband has passed away and we didn't have any children (unless you count the furbabies), I really don't have any use for lovey dovey cards. Even when Rick was alive, we didn't really celebrate Valentine's Day. We'd give a card, but that was it. So, needless to say, I'm not the best at making Valentine's Day cards, and I usually avoid challenges that require me to do so. I mean, I avoid those suckers like the plague! However, I got together with a friend the other night and she was talking about some of the pitfalls of being single. I decided to cheer her up by sending a card for Valentine's Day. She's always talking about how she loves my cards and how they always make her smile. Now I suppose I'm going to end up making cards for some other friends, too. I don't know, though. We'll see! It seems like such a daunting task and I don't want to set that expectation (doesn't that sound like a good excuse???). In the mean time, here's my card using Fall Brigitta from CC Designs.

The card is a bit brighter in real life. The image is colored with copics, per my usual. I don't think I color with any other mediums now. Each time I think about branching out, I run right back to my copics! I guess I need to get my money's worth out of them. More likely, I just like to stick to my comfort zone. Anyhow, the heart punches are Martha Stewart. The papers are K&Co. Cardstock is Bazzill, because I just love the texture and thickness of it. Thanks for stopping by. If you see more Valentine's Day cards, be a bit shocked, but try not to act like it. I mean, I really hate making them. If you don't see any, leave me alone about it, k? I can get snarky, release my flying monkeys, and pretty much let the witchy side loose. Don't say you haven't been warned. (wink)

Don't forget the caregivers!

Caregiver stress is sometimes forgotten in all of attention and concern given to the sick. I'm not denying that the ill and hurt deserve this attention, because they very much do. They also need it, but I think it's important to remember that their caregivers are under a large burden of stress, as well. They're trying so hard to take care of their loved one while remaining strong. They often forget to take care of themselves in their giving, generous efforts for their loved one. We recently had a bit of a sucky diagnosis for yet another member of my family. His wife was already a caregiver for her elderly mother, and now she is trying to keep it together while faced with horrible news about her dear, loved husband. I love this guy, myself, but don't live close enough to provide as much hands-on support as I'd like. So, I'm going to do what I can for now, which is send cards to both of them to remind them that they are loved and thought about. I sent his card last week and I'll send another one in a few days. For today, though, I focused on her card. It fits a few challenges, too.

Everyone knows I love Elisabeth Bell's illustrations; I've only said so about fifty gazillion times. LOL. This card is for the Whiff of Joy challenge to use chocolate, cream, and teal. I've also entered it at the Belles N Whistles challenge to make a card that is anything but winter. It's also for the Simon Says Bingo challenge. While futzing around with all of my scrap goodies, I achieved my bingo with ribbon, flowers, and brads. I found a new challenge site today. Well, new to me. This card is also for the Copic Creations challenge to use something new. My new item is the stamp. I bought it a while ago but this is my first time using it, so I think that still counts as new. I also used a new technique for me, which was to fashion the ribbon in such a way on the card that the tails of it are popped up. I've done pleating of ribbon before, but never tried to make the tails look wavy. I think it turned out okay. I'll have to give it a shot with some heavier ribbon next time.

The site seems to be having some issues right now, but I believe you can purchase this stamp here. I've gotten quite a few of my Whiff of Joy and Sarah Kay stamps from this store, which has super fast shipping and awesome service.

Well, you all know me by now. I just chat, chat, chat, and digress into things and before I know it, I've forgotten to do something important. In this case, it's post the darned card! So, without further ado, here she is:

She's colored with copics. It's hard to see, but I used stardust pens on the flowers to make them stand out a bit more. The large flower is prima; the smaller ones are from Wild Orchid Crafts. I got the ribbon and the pearl sprigs at Michael's. I distressed the edges and used Tim Holtz distress inks on them. The cream colored floral paper is from DCWV's linen closet line. The striped paper strip in the background (you can just see it peeking out on the one edge) is Basic Grey, I think. The cardstock is Bazzill, so you can imagine how heavy this card is. It's going to cost me a fortune in postage, but she's worth it!

It's a party...um, I mean, a blog hop!

It's time for another blog hop with Guylou's Inimitability Design Team! Woot Woot! We don't really need a reason to party or blog hop or any of that good stuff, but we do have one, believe it or not. We've got 300 members over at Crafter's Digital Art Center (CDAC). What a milestone, not to mention a good bit of fans of Guylou's awesome digi images. Oh, wait, I'm supposed to tell you that if you came here from Brenda's blog, you're in the right place. If not, head back over to Guylou's Inimitability and start over!

Ok, back to it. This time around, we're taking a walk down memory lane. Each of the DT members will showcase projects she's made using GI images. Without further ado, here's some of mine and the reason(s) why I picked each card to showcase. I've made so many using GI images, that it was hard to choose! I tried to offer a variety. Darnit, I digressed again. Ok, ok, here they are:

The inside of this card says, "call me. I'd love to help." I'm showing you this one because I've had people ask me in the past, "what in the heck am I supposed to do with images of housework?" Well, you turn them into fun cards with word plays in the sentiment.

I added this one because I'm actually rather proud of it. I don't say that often; I tend to focus on the negatives of my own work and go ga-ga over everyone else's. However, I really have a hard time with masculine cards. I always make them too cutesy or cartoonish, or end up adding girlie stuff before I realize it. I think I managed to stay totally masculine rock star with this card. At least, I hope so!

And here's just one more:

I chose this one because anyone who knows me knows that I have this thing for apple images. I don't know why, or what it is about them, but I love them. When G drew this image, it had to go down on a card! I used flowersoft for the sunflower centers and a cute little apple button off to the side. Then I put glossy accents on the apples in the basket. Good enough to eat! Well, how about just some eye candy???

Alright, I'm done talking about me and my work now. Really. Here's what you need to do now. Head on over to Carmen's blog. She's got some more eye candy to show you! And don't forget, once you're done hopping, leave a comment and use the linky at Guylou's Inimitability, letting us know which image is your favorite. You have the chance to win a RAK that includes one free GI digi image of your choice, as well as some fun embellies to use with it!

Oh, and just in case you get lost, here's the order of the hop:
Trina
Kim
Dale
Brenda
Me (you're here!)
Carmen
Guylou (our awesome creator/illustrator)
Tracy
Guylou's Inimitability

Thanks for hopping along with us! The winner will be chosen randomly, so come on, give it a shot! It's not hard; hop along, leave some comments for our DT (we all smile at some love, you know), but most importantly, leave a comment and your email (private..it won't show) at the GI blog.

Clean scrap area + a tiny bit of time + a good challenge or two = one card

That's my equation for today. Apparently, one card is about all I'm going to get out of myself today. I've been hit with some rotten news on top of some GI issues, so I am definitely not at my best. Anyway, Anita Be Stampin' has resumed their blog challenge for the year. This time, it's a sketch. Go check it out! I've used a fun freebie that you can get if you join the ABS group on Papercraft Planet. This card is also for the Outlawz color challenge to use Brown and Pink. I hope it has enough of both colors; I'm concerned that it might be a bit too much white. I guess they'll let me know if it is!

Um, let's see. The image was colored with copics. It's hard to tell, but her little legs are covered in RV000 rather than skin tones. She's got some light pink tights. What little girl doesn't like pink tights? I used three different spellbinders dies and some papers from my scrap drawer. I think the heart paper is from K&Co's Kazoo line, but I'm not sure. The little rubber hearts were on clearance at Michael's ages ago and I am finally getting around to using them. The borders are done with pink liquid applique. I embossed a lot of the cardstock with the Cuttlebug swiss dots folder. It's my fave. Thanks for checking it out!

Yippity do da! Woot Woot! And whatever other phrases come to mind.

I am so stoked. Finally, I have completed my scrap space reorganization project. It took much longer than it should have, mainly because I got overwhelmed and only worked on it in short spurts. That is, until this weekend, when I resolved that it was getting done no matter how frustrated I felt.

My mom came over during New Year's weekend to help me assemble the desk and Jetmax cubes. Then it was up to me to do the rest. I've still got the decorating to do. For instance, the pink keyboard tray that came with the desk was too low, so I am going to repurpose it as a shelf and put it over the printer, with all of my flying monkey memorabilia on it.

Anyway, I also plan to add labels to everything, but I have to type those up yet. In the mean time, I've got a pretty good feel for where things go. Now, if I could just put things away as I buy them, that'd be a step in the right direction.

This is the main corner, where I do most of my work. It looks like a jumbled mess, but it's actually really organized. The trick will be to keep it that way. The scrap table was a gift from a friend, so I have no idea where it came from. The little white cart is from Ikea. The four drawer unit is from Target. The little four drawer unit on top of that is from Joann's.

Thanks for looking at my space! I won't bore you with details of what is in each drawer, but if you want to know, feel free to ask.

My hope is to spend tomorrow crafting, now that my space is all organized and clean. I would love to make some cards for blog challenges, plus I've got a DT assignment for Guylou's Inimitability that I need to get done! There's going to be a blog hop coming up soon...I think in two weeks. Stick around, and I'll tell you more as I find out!!!

Motoring on by with another challenge!

Ok, first off, please forgive any goofiness in this post. I am in one of my goofball moods tonight. However, I'll take it and run with it, especially given the absolutely crappy mood I've been in off and on for weeks now. Tonight, I am positively giddy and I haven't even been hitting the liquor cabinet, baby! It might have something to do with the retail therapy I engaged in tonight at the Hobby Lobby. All I have to say is that it's a good thing for my wallet that their scrapbooking sale this week sucked. I did get some goodies, though, and I think I'm still flying high on the joy of bringing home new stuff.

Ok, ok...you don't care what a nutjob I am or about any darned shopping trips. I gotta get to the point. Yeah, yeah, I get it. The point is that you need to get crafty once again. Yes, you need to do this. No excuses. Find some time, because we all know how relaxing and therapeutic crafting can be. We all also know how bossy I get. I'm gettin' bossy now. As the bossy witch on the block, I hereby give you your next duty...I mean, challenge, from Guylou's Inimitability. It's an easy one, because you don't even have to follow any particular design or theme. That's right, ladies and gents, this one is ANYTHING GOES. You wanna make a card? Have at it. A gift box or bag? Go right ahead. A tissue box? Let's see it. A scrapbook page? Well, I dare you. I think you get the idea.  Your entry isn't due til January 20th. Post it over at the Guylou's Inimitability blog. Here's what's even better: you can use any old image you want! If you use an image that is not from the GI store, you get one chance to win. If you use an image that is from Guylou's Inimitability, you get two chances to win. However, if you used the featured image (Angela), you get three chances to win! Yes, I said three chances! I know times are hard, but she's only $2! And you can find her right here: Angela

Without further ado, here's my card with Angela. She's got some 'tude, beeping her horn and making people move out of her way. She's a bossy chick. Maybe Guylou should have named her Gina (but, I haven't seen such a thin bod on me since high school and I don't think my legs have ever looked that good. We also won't mention that I can't ride a bike, so I sure as heck would fall over on a scooter/vespa)!

Remember, folks..you've got til January 20th to enter the Anything Goes challenge at Guylou's Inimitability. Oh, wait. I told you I am a nutjob and a goofball. In typical fashion, I goofed and forgot to tell you that there is a prize to the winner, too! I'm not going to say any more. I'm going to keep you in suspense and make you hop over to Guylou's blog to figure it out. It's worth playing along. What are you still doing here?!? Get to it!

Project scrap room - self destruct

So, this is how it started. I boxed up my scrap room. A mess, for sure, but I've seen worse. The plan was to

have my mom over last weekend to help assemble my new lovely pink scrap desk and my new jetmax cubes. It happened that way. It sure enough did. It hasn't progressed much further, but more on that in a minute.

In the process, we had to take apart this old, nasty computer desk that I've had for years. I know it doesn't look bad in these pictures. Well, except for being messy. However, the doors don't close properly, the fake wood is peeling...it's just gross. I've had the thing for 9-10 years, and my mom used it before that. We had a blast taking a rubber mallet to it and breaking it up. We left the pieces big enough that my uncle, the king of rubbish, has plans to use them to build some shelves. Not in my house, thank you very much. Oh, and while we're on the topic of this old desk, do you see the lovely computer sitting on it? Many thanks once again to the awesome Shane, who helped me pick it out. My friends live in it and it's the perfect little house for them!

So, the jetmax cubes are assembled and in place. The new computer desk sits there in all of its pink deliciousness. Did I mention that pink is the best color in the whole wide world? Ok, moving on. Now the time has come to unpack everything and figure out where it's all going. I've made progress. I really have. I've got about 3/4 of the room unpacked and organized into neatness. And then there's this corner. This corner is going to be the death of me. It's where I sit to scrap and I just can't make up my mind how to set it up. I've hit the wall, people. This mess may be here for a bit, or it may just self destruct one of these days. I mean, I've got motivation in the form of challenges to meet and new goodies to use. Somehow, though, I just can't seem to get it together. I decided to blog about it, in hopes that seeing these nasty pics would be the kick in the butt I need to finish up. But, I guess not. I mean, after all, I'm sitting in the same darned room as this mess and that hasn't helped yet. Sheesh.

As you can see, Athena isn't much help. She's just chillin' in the chair, unbothered by this mess. In fact, I think she and Sophie think it's fun to pick through and hide in, when they aren't putting on superior airs from their little desk chair throne. Yeah, they aren't helping my motivation any. I need to get this done, and yet right now, I'm so tempted to just push the mess to the side and move on. One day, it will be done. It will be all nice and pretty. And I'll show it to you when it is. Even if that's not til 2030.