The gingham dog went "bow-wow-wow!"
And the calico cat replied "mee-ow!"
The air was littered an hour or so,
with bits of gingham and calico"
(Eugene Field)

3.14.2009

Happy....

Happy


I made this banner to hang in my kitchen. It looks great and festive and makes me think of spring every day!

Birds are singing outside and the grass is greening up outside. The daffodils are blooming and sunny. Spring is here!

After I posted this picture, I realized that my snowman cross stitch, complete with reindeer, was still hanging in the kitchen. It has been replaced with a spring cross stitch that I did years ago. I'll post that tomorrow!

























































































I've been creating up a storm!


Here is a card for Kristina Werner's color inspiration #45. You can find Kristina's


blog here.


Here is the color challenge:
































This was a tough one for me! I love vibrant, rich colors so much! Here is my attempt:




























1.25.2009

celebrate the joy

"Skipping is just jumping for joy, step after step." Jessi Lane Adams

Love this quote! I have been trying to concentrate on my goals with JOY this year. Time to create has been precious and sparing, but I'm giving it my best!

One of my goals involves sending more cards to my friends. Before I can send them, though, I have to make them! Here are a bunch of cards that I have been working on.
Because I have been in a Valentine's Day mood,

















Here is a beautiful Valentine's card. The sentiment reads "always on my mind, forever in my heart." This is Stampin' Up rose red cardstock, heart stamp image, scallop punch, sage shadow card stock and pink ribbon. The designer paper is from a pack of paper I bought at a craft store. Pretty, huh? Very girly, too!
















Here is another version, but in more masculine colors.
Same Stampin' Up heart image, close to cocoa cardstock, pretty in pink cardstock and ink, close to cocoa ink, two sheets of designer paper and clear glitter. The pink ribbon is now retired, but I like how it looks tied on this heart. (Maybe I should have done it on the card above...?)

More girly! Beautiful designer paper from Stampin' Up..my favorite ever!



Kiwi green and pink pirhouette cardstock, five petal punch, riding hood red cardstock, flower fusion, silver brad, white organdy ribbon (retired) and stamped image from Stampin' Up.






I love this one! And we're going to make it at my next workshop!
A card for our family's college students: K and A. A went back to her college a couple of weeks ago. K just went back today. Ahhh, I already miss her! Here is a card I am going to send her tomorrow. {Shhhhh. Can you keep a secret? I sent cards several weeks ago so that they would be there in their mailboxes when they got back to school! Don't tell, OK?)





{cardstock by Stampin' Up, designer papers by ????, sticky letters, a circle stamp made out of a wine cork (!!!!), ribbon from Michaels $1 bin}


I was purely PLAYING when I was making these for our college girls. I started with the cool ribbon, and look where I ended up!










One more for today. This is another card we will be making February 6th. I have so much stuff for scrapbooking and card-making. So many tools, so much paper, ribbon, cardstock, stamps, stickers, etc. I love to layer, layer, layer all of this stuff on the cards, while trying to make them look super simple. Hmmm, it's a dilemma!


But sometimes (like with the circle from the wine cork above), I just like to stamp, stamp, stamp and watch the colors of the ink make magic on the page. Sometimes you just have to get back to the stamps. This is why I love Stampin' Up stuff!
{Stampin' Up banana cardstock and ink, apricot appeal ink and cardstock, regal rose and ruby rose ink, stamped off once, Simply Said stamps and my favorite Happy Birthday image from Voila. Also, scallop circle punch. All from SU!)









More soon! Time to create!






























I've been itching to play with these block letters. They are NOT Stampin' Up, but they are fun to play with and cut out (I love cutting!), and they are the perfect size for a lot of projects. Here is this card:
















{Stampin' Up ruby red cardstock, whisper white cardstock, ruby red ink, rose red ink and chunky glitter.)














I know that this is very "IN YOUR FACE", but I like its directness. It contrasts with some of the subtle cards that I have been making. And I LOVE THOSE LETTERS!






































































1.13.2009

more cards!



Here's a card for my friend Shiela, who inspires me daily with her generosity, wisdom and creativity. I love to sit at her counter and sip tea and share our lives... {love you, Shiela!}


This is K&Company designer paper from a mat pack and Stampin' Up image and sage shadow & rose red cardstock. Also used, Top Note die, triple flower punch, rose red ink and the scallop edge punch.





I liked the look and balance of this card, and Stan did, too, when he came to visit me in my workshop. So, I made another one, even better I think!



















This one uses all Stampin' Up materials. (riding hood red and pirhouette pink cardstock, bella rose designer paper, same punches as above, riding hood red ink, bold brights brads) We will be making this at my next card class.

More cards soon! Let's go out and create!

the beginnings of a card blitz






Here are some more holiday 08 pictures. I had a gingerbread theme in the kitchen and decorated an entire 6' tree with just gingerbread ornaments.













See the little guy sitting on the candle sconce in the background?
There's another, different little guy on the other sconce:

























And one more picture of the kitchen. The hutch decoration:





















I have been on a card-making mission lately. It is one of my goals for 2009...finding joy in my friends and telling them how much I love them.


Here is one of them. {More to follow when we finally have a sunny day so that my pictures turn out better. It has been too gray here lately in the middle of winter!}


for Angel, who loves frogs...it includes a pin I found at a yard sale (love you, Angel!)








1.03.2009

all things "good"








What a beautiful Christmas! Peace, love, friends, joy, kindness, generosity & fun all abounded at our house. Life is "good" here! Here are some images of Christmas for you to enjoy!




(my dining room table centerpiece...it underwent many changes and variations between Dec. 15 and now, but here is one of the configurations. Stan gave me the beautiful centerpiece a couple of weeks before Christmas. The roses were full and beautiful red roses then.)





Now on to the new year. Hello, 2009! My little word of the year is
My goals for 2009 all revolve around joy...






*celebrate my joy in everything that I do, including teaching, parenting, scrapbooking, cardmaking, art and homemaking;






*rejoice IN the people that I have chosen to be in my life... my husband, my children, my family, friends and co-workers; rejoice WITH them whenever possible, too! Give more gifts, send more cards, make more play dates...






*exhibit GAIETY whenever possible...play more games, sing & dance & laugh more...show my joy more; try not to be so serious all the time...






*DELIGHT every day in how fortunate I am...and then thank God for it all...






*find {ORGANIZED} BLISS in all things paperwork...not only cardmaking and scrapbooking but all the tough paperwork...lesson plans, grading papers, grades....bill-paying, filing, filing, filing.... (this one will be a hard one for me, for sure)






*celebrate this JOY with others in regular, bi-weekly blogging...learning PHOTOSHOP 100%...






*DELIGHT in the moon every night on a walk with the dogs & my husband; study the moon phases (again) and REVEL in them.









now, a 2009 wish for you






(source: author unknown, some great cookbook I have studied)





Well, time to go into the workshop and create... Happy New Year!