Crafty Therapy

Hello Friends, it's been a long time since I've shared a card and the truth is that there has been lotsa drama around here. Lotsa sickies and busyness. I have had MANY projects laid out on my craft table and walk by with a load of laundry, a ringing phone, a family commitment , a sick kid or hubby to tend to or general catastrophe to handle and my love of crafting has gone on the back burner. Isn't that all of us? Family first, so every now and then I have made it a point to leave the laundry unfolded and the dishes waiting a while so I can get my CRAFTY on. I feel less cranky and stressed so I say it's worth it. And guess what? My family lived through my severe neglect, HaHa!

I made this card a couple of weeks ago for the beautiful daughter of some very dear church friends. She was married a few weeks ago and I made this card keeping the invite she sent out in mind.

The stamps are all Unity and you can check it out here and I noticed that part of the sentiment is wierd. I emailed them to let them know but loved the way that it turned out anyway. They are pretty awesome so I know that they will make it right. You have to know I have NEVER had any problem with any of my Unity products and have amassed a very PRETTY collection of Unity. I gush quite often about them.

I used Memento ink in Tuxedo Black for the frame, embossed it lighted with a little gold, then stamped the bicycle and sentiment with Versamark and used Sparkle Black embossing powder. I tried this like 5 times and COULD NOT get it straight so I just went with it and yes the crazy lady in me is super annoyed with it. In reality I know I will be the only one to even notice. Yep, CRAZY! I used a Martha Stewart punch for the heart border and I'm quite proud of myself for finding a use for it before Valentine's Day because I think I love it! The papers are Coordinations for the red cardstock, the pokie paper is Paper Pizaaz, the houndstooth is DCWV and the white cardstock is American Crafts, Tim Holtz distress inks. The lacey thingy is Jolees. Hope you enjoy it! Thank you so much for stopping by. Until next time Amigas. 
 

Got Scraps???

Hello friends. Here is a card I made with scraps. I just read the Papercrafts Connection Blog post about scraps and another Go-To-Gal challenge with Cosmo Cricket. Yeah click on that and take a looksie. Well I combined BOTH in this card. All of the Gals are AMAZING! So I got some lovely eye candy on all of their blogs. Check it out here, you will not be disappointed. I am really really a spaz about combining patterns but this was pretty darn easy. This card was one that I was so happy with I almost didn't want to drop it in the mail.

My paper organizing is still a work in progress since my crafty area is in my bedroom. In that was I am very limited. So I try to keep everything as organized as possible. I VERY recently realized I have 2 different drawers for scraps. One that I had started a year ago, then I redid my space and started a second. Well Whoohoo because there were plenty of scraps to work with. The best advice I have is look at Betsy Veldman's blog, she has some great ideas. I cut my scraps down to 6x6 or 3x3, separate them by patterned or solid and go from there.

The base is Kraft Recollections, green and beige is American Crafts, the pokie paper is Paper Pizazz and the hounds tooth is DCWV retro stack, the ledger and yellow rose paper is Colorbok Flea Market Collection. The doilies are Martha Stewart and Wilton, the sentiment stamp is TPC and that very sweet bow with pearls is Jolee's, always gotta add a little Jolee's it seems. Last, but not least, the super-duper cute sticker is Cosmo Cricket "Ever After" collection. Unfortunately it has been discontinued. Super thumbs down. But I kinda went crazy hoarding it when I found out and have bought a buncha packs of it.
Thanks again for looking and until next time Amigas.

Simple Fence Card and My Bob Barker Moment

Hello Friends, hope everyone's weekend was great. Ours was very busy and crazy like usual. Saturday we went up to an Animal Rescue ranch that my daughters have been volunteering at for about a year now and took care of some VERY, very cute doggies! I had different plans, a Mommy day off with my Aunts, but we had a car conflict so my plans got cancelled. :-(

That's okay because even though it was hotter than Africa (as my little girl says) it was so nice to do something together as a family to help others. This whole thing started with the Twins doing the community service requirement that California Schools have to graduate. That was 1 year ago now we are hooked on Doggies. We have made some good friends and the person that runs it BettyAnne is such a kind soul. She is fiercely protective of the dogs and they could not have a better advocate. She is tireless in her efforts despite some physical issues she has. We love that Woman!

We have fostered many pups, about 12 now. Most with social problems, skinny and just neglected. It's how we got our very old Weenies, Yoda and Okie. They are pretty much unadoptable because Okie had a battle with breast cancer, which was removed but we are thinking it's come back. Her and Yoda's owner passed away. The 2 of them have been together for 8 years. I couldn't bear someone just taking Yoda cuz he's healthier and leaving Okie to die alone in a kennel. They are besties and SUCH good, well behaved, sweet pups. See what I mean? Arrrg pulls at your heart strings. So the germaphobe crazy Lady that NEVER thought I would have inside dogs is now in Weenie Dog bliss :-)

 It makes my heart hurt when I see how people can neglect and hurt such innocent, helpless creatures that give us love, protection and companionship. The rescue needs so much help and I have to keep it in perspective that all we can do is our best to help.

When I'm around BettyAnne I am often reminded of the quote by Mahatma Ghandi "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." In my book, Dogs are members of our society not inanimate objects. So anyway this is my Bob Barker moment for the week. Just wanted to share some rambling thoughts.

On to the craftiness! I have wanted to make this card for a long time and it's the reason I purchased the Tim Holtz embossing folder. The stickers are all Jolee's and the cardstock is American Crafts. I just love those poppies and decided to keep the other colors subdued to let the bright red pop. I just inked up the woodgrain and kept it simple.

Hope you like it, and as always Thank You very much for visiting my little blog.
  

     

Chutes and Ladders Fun

Hello, my friends. Hope everyone had a great weekend. We had a busy weekend as usual. I'm sure typical for every family with a bunch of kids. Running around takin' care of business with the Hubs and my pretty Chickies.

 We got a chance to go to a flea market this Saturday morning and OMG I found the PRETTIEST vintage lace, seam binding and goodies. I was so excited I really wanted to hug the seller. Yeah, no poker face for me, LOL! The Jazz the Spaz in me totally came out. My Hubby would've strangled me if I would've said out loud what I was thinking. Something along the lines of "HOLY CRAP! That's all you are charging! Do you know how much you could get for this stuff!"  But I calmly chose my stuff and I have to say it made my day :-) Some creations using those to come.

Here is a very easy card that I really enjoyed making. No stamping on this one, just bright happy cheery goodness. Yea that is a little tiny playing board all of the pieces are real playing pieces, not flimsiness. The spinner actually spins then I put  a foam dot behind it without thinking and stopped it. Arg, it's a learning process right? Note to self: DO NOT make cool moving pieces not be cool moving pieces! 

Funny story is that I found this stuff at Michael's in the clearance bin, all the way at the bottom for $1.00! It was the only one and I was thrilled. I thought it was clearly in the wrong place. When I went to check out the cashier fell in love and offered me $5.00 bucks for it. Said she didn't remember ever seeing that sticker. Her generous offer was kindly declined. I love me some Jolee's. Funny, huh!

Hope you enjoy it. Until next time amigas :-)

Card Recipe: Kraft, Red, White Cardstock: Recollections, Striped Cardstock: DCWV Celebration Stack, Border Stickers: TPC, Party Sticker: ATD, Chutes and Ladder Stickers: Jolee's, red seam binding: vintage, lotsa foam dots and Tombow glue