Inspiration from the world around us

There are lots of challenges out there where people pick an item as 'inspiration' and then make a card based on some aspect of the item, either color scheme or shape or general overall design. All the scrapbooking magazines and card magazine articles tell you to look around and draw inspiration from the world around you. I gotta tell you, this is not a strong point of mine. Usually I'm too busy dashing around trying to get all the stuff done I need to get done in a day or week to look around my world for card inspiration. But then you never say never, right??? Every once in a while something just hits you on the head and says 'Copy me - I'm a GREAT card idea' and you just HAVE to do it. Tonight's card is inspired by a $5 t-shirt I bought myself at the Wal-Mart this past weekend. There is very little stamping on this card (only the sentiment) but it took me a loooong time to get all those punched out hearts to fit on the card so that they were a) all facing up and b) have some semblance of an overall heart shape. The more I look at the card the more I tend to like it, but it's having to grow on me. My t-shirt is dirty (I wore it already and of course got a bit of dinner and probably some toddler detritus on it) but I'll see if I can get a picture of it and show it to you side-by-side with the card one of these days.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:Short & sweet
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Whisper white, Rich razzleberry, Rose red, Real red
Ink: Real red
Other Stuff: Heart-to-heart punch, small heart punch, modern label punch, Basic rhinestones, dimensionals, Two-way glue pen, Dazzling diamonds

Valentine blitz

I know, I know, y'all have been getting on my case about not blogging more often . . . there are so many distractions these days with the new puppy and new fishtank, and my computer seems to get slower and slower by the day . . . and from what I understand, none of you care: you want cards and you want them NOW!! :-)
Alright then, I'm up for the challenge - I can do better.
Tonight's card is taking something that I've seen other people do and putting my own little spin on it. I took out my brayer for what seems to be the first time in forever and brayered on some 'water' before adding my fish (made with the ornament punch - aren't people clever for coming up with that one???) and plants and pearl 'bubbles.' I love that the Stampin'Up! pearls come in three sizes - those teeny tiny ones are the smallest pearls I've seen anywhere, and I tend to use them up first. The fish lips are made with one of the punches from the itty bitty bits set. This card is probably going to hubby for Valentine's Day since we've been really enjoying setting up our new fishtank together.
I'm off to watch the local news and stress about the wintry mix coming and getting to work tomorrow. Be safe if you're in an area getting hit with bad weather!!!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Pocket silhouettes
Cardstock: Real red, whisper white, tempting turqouise, Tangerine tango
Ink: Tempting turquoise, tangerine tango, Garden green, always artichoke
Other Stuff: Ornament punch, Itty bitty shapes punch pack, Basic pearls, brayer, sponges, ticket corner punch, google eyes (non SU!)

A new buddy

So remember how I said I was going to cut back this year, give myself some breathing room? HA! Steve and I decided for Christmas this year to set up a fishtank, which has been a labor of love. We got that set up finished this past weekend, after about a month of working on it (one of the best and worst things about having an engineer husband!!!) It looks awesome and it has practically replaced the tv in our house! Well, one would think I would be satisfied. One would be wrong. Steve and I went to PetSmart this weekend to buy some fish. We came home with a puppy. That I picked out. Charlie is a 10 week old Shar-pei mix that we got from a small dog rescue. I lost my best buddy Jake almost exactly a year ago and still can't think about him without crying. But something about this little brown wrinkly pup just called to me, and it's weird, but Steve and I both kind of felt like Jake would be okay with it. I had thought about getting a new little gray schnauzer puppy, but somehow it never seemed right. So anyway, new puppy DOES NOT equal breathing room, but it sure is fun!
Tonight's card is one that I'm sending out for Valentine's Day and it uses some new glitter paper from Stampin'Up which I just love. The only thing that would make it better is if it came in more colors so I could bling up more cards! It also uses the Baroque Motifs stamp set, which is one that I hesitated to get because it is expensive, but thanks to a birthday gift certificate from a friend, I took the plunge last August and am so glad I did (thanks again Deb!). This stamp set is so versatile - I've made Halloween, wedding, Christmas and Valentine's cards with it that I can think of off the top of my head.
Well, I'm off to take the puppy out one last time before bed!!! See you back here soon.
Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:Baroque motifs, Valentine Defined
Cardstock: Basic gray, Whisper white, Basic black, Red glitter paper
Ink: Basic gray, real red
Other Stuff: Decorative label punch, Small heart punch, dimensionals

Snowed in

One would think that since we decided to stay at home all day today because we got about 3 inches of snow, that I would have had some time to do some cardmaking. WRONG!!! Two little toddlers + snow = excitement on the level of Santa Claus and Halloween. I took them outside to play in the snow and had to drag them back in once they were soaking wet from head to toe (we don't have a ton of really great snow clothes like we had growing up in Pennsylvania). One would THINK that playing in the snow and getting cold and soaked would wear them out so they took a nice long nap, but one would be WRONG!!!!! Those two little ones kept me hopping all day long. Luckily I had this thank you card that I made a week or so ago. These colors come straight from the Color Coach, and this is a Valentine-y stamp set that is not so Valentine-y that it can't be used for other things, like Thank you notes.
I'm off to watch the news to find out what the weather is supposed to be like tomorrow morning for my commute - yuck!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:With all my heart
Cardstock: Perfect plum, Sahara sand, whisper white
Ink:Perfect plum, Blushing bride, Sahara sand
Other Stuff: Glimmer brad, Scalloped edge punch, Fancy flower punch

Thanks

Here's another one of my thank you cards made with the Elegant Soiree DSP and one of my first Stampin'Up! stamp sets, Upsy Daisy. I stumbled upon this awesome site for card sketches called Mojo Monday (http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/). As you might guess, each Monday they post a new sketch to help jump-start your creativity . . . works for me! Today's card (and probably a lot more to follow) use one of their sketches. I love having an idea of a stamp set or a new technique or a new color combination to try out and being able to go to a ready-made sketch so it's one less thing I have to try and think about!
I've got one or two more thank you cards to share with you and then we're going to have probably a week or two or maybe even three if I get totally crazy of Valentine's Day and friendship-themed cards. See you back here soon!

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:Upsy Daisy, Perfect punches
Cardstock: Baja breeze, Very vanilla, Soft suede, Elegant Soiree DSP
Ink: Baja breeze
Other Stuff:3/4" circle punch, Basic pearls, Scallop oval punch, Mat pack, 1/8" Marina mist taffeta ribbon, Dimensionals, Bow easy

Back on track

Tonight I finally feel like all is back to 'normal' again. I'm a creature of habit and being off for the holidays really messes with the Amigh family schedule. Getting back to preschool and work feels okay for me. With the kiddos back in bed at a normal hour I got to go to my scrapbook room tonight :-) I worked on some thank you cards since we cashed a bunch of Christmas checks today. Here's the first one - I'll have more to post this week. This is a more masculine one that used some new designer series paper that I bought called Elegant Soiree.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Plant Hope, Perfect punches, Wonderfully worn
Cardstock: Baja breeze, Very vanilla, Elegant soiree DSP
Ink: Soft suede, Crumb cake
Other Stuff: Scallop oval punch, dimensionals, sponge

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year blog!!!!! I know, I know, it's been FOREVER since I've posted, but I promise I can explain. Remember way back when in December when I last posted, and I talked about my concussion and the CAT scan? Well, what I didn't mention is that when they did the scan to make sure my brain wasn't bleeding, they found something else. That's exactly what they told me too: There's "something else" there and we think you should follow up with your family doctor (like my family doctor knows what to do with "something else" in my brain, right??) Anyway, I digress. Long story short is that I have a brain tumor. The wonderful and absolutely fantastic news about this is that it is the magic word: benign. I waited on pins and needles for almost 10 days to hear that blissful and magnificent word but it was worth it. Also wonderful (as far as brain tumors go, that is) is that it is on top of my brain and not really inside it (although still on the inside of my skull). It's called a meningioma and honestly, as far as brain tumors go, the neurosurgeon rates it pretty low on his excitement level, which is always good when you're the patient. The 'easy' location makes the whole tumor-extraction and recovery process much easier than if it were deep inside my brain or near something very sensitive, like my brain stem or somewhere like that. The not-so-great news is that the neurosurgeon feels that it needs to come out at some point, although I can plan for it with no immediate rush. I'm going to get another MRI done in March to make sure it's not growing too fast so I can decide if it has to come out soon or if it can wait until after my sister gets married on New Year's Eve 2011.
This whole experience has made me do a little re-evaluating and I think that this blog got a little bit too big for me. Trying to post every day was starting to take up a bit more time that I should have let it. So this year I think I'm going to tone it down some. I still plan on posting, and pretty often, but I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't post 5-7 times a week. This is my hobby and relaxation, and I need to keep it fun and relaxing for me, not stress-inducing. So please bear with me as I move forward.
Tonight's picture is a gift I made for both my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. I bought them the Simply Adorned lockets and these are some of the inserts I made to go inside. I love these lockets because they are super-easy to change out the insert, so you can have fun with them on different holidays or simply change the insert to reflect your mood each time you wear it.