{MTSC93} Dance ~ Sing ~ Live!

This is my card for Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge!

I'm not sure why, but this one did not come easy for me at all.   You would laugh if you knew how much time I spent on this simple card.  I started out with a Pure Innocence image, got it all colored with my Copic markers and then didn't think her dress color matched my designer paper..  The more I tried to "fix" it, the worse it got.  So, I got the brilliant idea to paper piece her dress!   Well, that didn't work either. : (

I was almost ready to throw in the towel when I thought mayble I could salvage it with this lovely stamp by Verve.  Added some sheer ribbon and a button and there you go!   Sheesh!

Here is Mercy's sketch for those of you who want to play along...we would ♥ to have you join us!

I can't wait to see what Mercy's Muses did with this sketch!

Cindy Haffner ~ Cindy Haffner's Corner

Jackie Pedro ~ The Scalloped Edge

Pam Varnell ~ The Stamping Addict

Julie Lacey ~ Stamps and Taxes

Jessica Diedrich ~ The Whimsical Butterfly

Mercy Kerin ~ Lord Have Mercy {Queen Muse}

and our September Guest Muse...

Lori Tecler

from Inking Aloud!

It's getting very late and past my bedtime now.  Thanks for dropping by and do come back again soon!

Happy Stamping!

The Most Beautiful Autumn Wedding!

Five years ago on September 24th, 2005,

our son Andrew married the love of his life ~ Jami! ♥

Today I want to share the card I created especially for their 5th Anniversary...and along with my card I can't resist showing you a few of their wedding photos too!   They had the most BEAUTIFUL autumn wedding and I think you'll enjoy seeing these...

Our Family ~ Me, Katie, Jami, Andrew, Jim

Husband, Wife, Happy Life! ♥

Kiss the Groom now!

The Wedding Party

The inspiration for this card came from my sweet blog friend LeAnne Pugliese of Wee Inklings.  She came up with this awesome idea last year...to use the maple leaf and another stamp from the Stampin' Up Autumn Days set...and create a colorful fall wreath.  Ingenious, I tell you! 

For the inside, I stamped a sentiment from Hero Arts.  "Some moments are worth holding in your heart forever."   That is oh, so true!  ♥

Thanks so much for blogging by today!  I hope you've enjoyed my card and my little trip down memory lane.

Happy Stamping!

Quote for Today ~

Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that. ~Michael Leunig

{MTSC92} Happy Harmony

Happy Tuesday and time for Mercy's Sketch Challenge!

If you stopped by earlier today and wondered where my usual verbiage was, let me explain...

Blogger was dealing me fits last night, I had a migraine and simply gave up and went to bed.  That's the short version anyway... because I already typed a long explanation and told you all about my card, what stamp set I used,  how I made the scalloped edge and colored the flowers and *poof* it vanished again!    And along with that went all the links to Mercy's fabulous Muses! 

Let's try this again....here are Mercy's unbelievably creative Muses...

Ta-Da!

Cindy Haffner ~ Cindy Haffner's Corner

Jackie Pedro ~ The Scalloped Edge

Pam Varnell ~ The Stamping Addict

Julie Lacey ~ Stamps and Taxes

Jessica Diedrich ~ The Whimsical Butterfly

Mercy Kerin ~ Lord Have Mercy {Queen Muse}
and last, but certainly not least,

our September Guest Muse...

Lori Tecler

from Inking Aloud!

I'm making progress now...  above you'll see the inside of my card and another glimpse of the front with that vintage button tied on with linen thread.  I hope you like it, and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.   Thanks so much for blogging by!

Happy Stamping!

Quote for Today ~

Stitch your stress away.

{SSSC86} Just For You, Lu!

One of my dear Etsy customers has asked me to make a card for her mother's 81st birthday in October.  I really didn't know where to start, other than using my favorite SwEEt Sunday Sketch Challenge!  The only other ideas I had to go on were from Lu.  She told me her mother loves flowers and birds and all colors.  I sure hope she likes blue! 

I've done lots of layering, sponged the edges and then stitched it all together.  The cute little birdie and branch are from the Stampin' Up! punch and so is the little mini "mother" tag.  It's tied to the button and ribbon with a snippet of linen thread.  Don't you love this satin plaid ribbon?  Oh my, I've been hoarding it, but decided this was a special occasion and time to use it!  (Basic Grey's collection of PERIPHERY ribbon).

Here is the fabulous sketch from Karen Giron at The Sweetest Thing:

And this is how I finished off the inside:

Special Birthday - by Hero Arts

Well, I better scoot as I've got several other items on my never-ending "To-Do" list for today!  Thanks so so much for blogging by.  Have a blessed weekend, my friends! ♥

Happy Stampiing!








Quote for Today ~
In childhood, we yearn to be grown-ups.  In old age, we yearn to be kids.  It just seems that all would be wonderful if we didn't have to celebrate our birthdays in chronological order.  ~Robert Brault

Times and Seasons Change

Tonight I want to share a beautiful card I received from my special friend Gail Slagle of Sargent, Nebraska.   We are blog friends and we had the wonderful opportunity of meeting in person this summer when she and Debbie Fisher of The Paper Garden came to visit me.  

Gail had purchased the Janome Sew Mini (like I use) and had been wanting to learn how to sew on her cards.   So, I gave her a few tips that day and she has been stitching away!  Just look at this...

Oh my!  I love the pretty autumn color scheme.

 And the layout and zig zag stitching are perfect!  

Look how she finished off the edge on the inside.  Fancy!

Receiving a handmade card is such a thrill!  Maybe it's because we can appreciate all the time and effort that went into creating it.   Thank you SO much Gail!  Your lovely card and handwritten note made my day!  : )

It's been a very busy week at work and I've been working long days.  Because of this, I haven't felt too creative in the evenings.   But, tomorrow is FRIDAY!! (do I hear a cheer?) and the weekend holds promise for time to do a bit of stamping.  I'm counting on it anyway!

Stay Tuned!  

Happy Stamping, my friends!

Quote for Today ~
We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light. ~Mary Dunbar

{MTSC91 & CTD109} Just Swingin' by to Say Hi!

Combining a sketch challenge and a color challenge is becoming a habit and that's what I've done again today!   This is the Color Throwdown Challenge colors teamed up with Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge.   I hope you like it!

The card is a 5" square.  I've stamped the pear pizazz with a retired background stamp and certainly celery ink (because I don't have all the in-color ink pads yet).  The strip of designer paper is from a small Basic Grey "Urban Prairie" pad.  It seemed to have just the perfect color challenge colors, but somewhat muted.  I cut the 3-1/2 circles of tempting turquoise and daffodil delight with the Cricut. 



yes, this is the sketch...just turn your head to the left 90 degrees :)



This sweet little Pure Innocence gal is from My Favorite Things ~ "Start Each Day with Whee"!  I opted to leave off the sentiment for now, but I may add it later.  Another saying that would work is "Swingin' by to Say Hi!"  Can you think of any others? 

the inside...using a scrap strip of designer paper

♥ ♥ ♥
Now you'll want to swing on over and see the
simply A M A Z I N G cards

Mercy's Muses have created this week:

Cindy Haffner ~ Cindy Haffner's Corner
Crystal Birr ~ The Messy Stamper

Jackie Pedro ~ The Scalloped Edge

Pam Varnell ~ The Stamping Addict

Julie Lacey ~ Stamps and Taxes

Jessica Diedrich ~ The Whimsical Butterfly

Mercy Kerin ~ Lord Have Mercy {Queen Muse}
and last, but certainly not least,

our September Guest Muse...

Lori Tecler

from Inking Aloud!

You're all encouraged to play along with these challenges and we certianly hope you will! 

 Happy Stamping!

Quote for Today ~

My childhood may be over, but that doesn't mean playtime is. ~Ron Olson

(SSSC85 & cQc #49} I've Got the Blues!

I'm just being silly with the title of my post.  Thankfully, the only "blues" I've got today are the colors in the Colour Q Challenge.  What a fabulous combination!  ♥

The layout is another great keeper from Karen for her Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.

The Stampin' Up! Cute by the Inch stamp set was used for the squares.  They were stamped with the challenge colors and then cut out and layered onto a 1-1/4" square of cardstock.   This card has 6 layers in all, counting the little squares!  : )  You can barely see the layer behnd the inchies, but it has been embossed with the Square Lattice folder.   I couldn't resist giving all the edges a little sponge distressing with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink.

the inside...with another stamped inchie

singin' the BLUES! 

Be sure to hop on over to Arielle's Colour Q blog and Karen's The Sweetest Thing blog too.  The samples by their design teams are AMAZING and you'll find unlimited cardmaking inspiration!   

Happy Stamping!

You Just Never Know!

"You Just Never Know!" is the perfect title for my post today ~ for a couple of reasons.   First of all, believe it or not (not!), my card posted on Monday was selected as one of the TOP 5 Show Stoppers in Stacey's Curtain Call Color Challenge!  Woo Hoo!  That's three in a row!  

please see the original post for more info on this card

I'm not even done bragging on myself yet. ; ) Wait until you see what I found when I was out junkin' with my sister Susie yesterday!    It was a beautiful day yesterday and lots of sales, so we met in town early and before we knew it, we had my VW bug full of loot!  : )   I almost forgot to tell you, our motto is:  "You Just Never Know!"    And what we mean by that is, some sales may look like a "drive by", but we have found some of our most "precious treasures" there. ; )  

Ok, ok,  I know you're all on the edge of your seat waiting to see what I found, so here it is . . .

* L00K at all the LOOT! *

* this pretty framed picture will go perfectly in my sunflower guest bedroom *

* I can't wait to sort through all these buttons! 50 cents worth!
Do you think the pretty pink vase is Fenton Glass?  I think it might be!
and the other little corked jar was just too cute to pass up for 25 cents!

You young 'uns wouldn't remember Little Lulu, but I do!
OMG, this is TOO CUTE!!!  ♥ Love it!

What do you know,  I even found more STAMPS that I didn't already have!
and Cuttlebug embossing folders too!  ♥  Make my day!

Well, I sure hope you've enjoyed my post today as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you.  : )   And, I especially want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your sweet comments on my Curtain Call Top 5 card.   Honestly, I nearly gave up on that card....and it is definitely proof that "You Just Never Know!"

Have a WONDERFUL day, my friends!  : )

Quote for Today ~
Serendipity. Look for something, find something else, and realize that what you've found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for.