THE CAMPING WEEKEND!

A fun time was had by all. As usual, it poured down rain as soon as we started making our way to the State park.. However, we were lucky that by the time we got there the rain had stopped although it threatened to continue.... so, no campfire but the kids did use their flashlights to find frogs (poor things)! Saturday was a beautiful day... the morning was very chilly, then the sun decided to show it's face and warm things up.. The kids spent most of the time riding bikes, jumping rope, and playing with whatever other things they brought.. Allison of course took about a gazillion horses, which she and Tessa played with, Sarah packed lots of stuff that mysteriously never made it into the camper or truck.. hmm.. one of her bags did make the trip, but she didn't have any shoes and only one change of clothes... thank you Sondra and Corrinn for sharing your clothes and shoes! We went to participate in a butterfly craft and the girls had fun making those while the Dad's and the boys went fishing. I really wanted the kids to participate in a Build-a-Butterfly Bungalow activity they had later that day, but everyone changed their minds - bummer, I really wanted one... it would have been the perfect mother's day gift.. *pout*... Instead, the girls went fishing with the Dad's and the boys and Mom's stayed back at camp and chilled. In all I think 10 rainbow trout were caught! Saturday night we did enjoy at great campfire with lots of roasted marshmallows, smores.. and oreo cookies - yum! Sunday Shannon and I went on a hike while everyone else fished or worked on packing up. It was a really nice weekend!

AN UPSIDE DOWN MILK CARTON AND A SURPRISE!

I attended a meeting the other day, where one of my sidelines demos a new technique. Darlene showed us how to make these cute little milk cartons.. I think they are so adorable.. not to mention I got to play with her scor-pal! Nice! She warned us to pay attention to the direction we were scoring, etc because of the stems on the image... yada, yada, yada... of course mine ended up, upside down. Is anyone surprised by that?! I always seem to do things upside down and backwards... just how my mind works, and could possibly explain why I still can't tie a proper bow. Thanks Delores and Debbie for trying to show me how to do that.. still not mastered.. aargh..

Now for the real SURPRISE! A dear friend and neighbor of mine, Edith, and I participate in a little surprise swap. It all began when she came to my first open house as a new demo a couple of months ago. We hit it off right away as we are both avid crafters. (you should see her attic)... Edith creates some AMAZING stuff... and she sells her stuff at local festivals, a store downtown, and a place in NC... her business is called Attic Elves.... (just love that).. but I digress.. I bought some of these ginormous clothespins from AC Moore and thought it would be fun if I gave her one to decorate. I would also decorate one and then we would swap.. Here is her completed project! WOWSA! I haven't finished mine yet, but the wheels in my mind are turning.. I'm still playing catch-up from our vacation... so, I wanted to share hers and will post a pic of mine when it is all done. She also gave me our next challenge - a clear, glass, bowl....hhhmmm.. I'm thinking rub-ons.....and few other fun embellies..

Thanks for looking.. we are off for a camping weekend with 4 other families!! Should be fun!

WEDNESDAY SKETCH & A DOUBLE DOG DARE..

This is the card I created for today's awesome sketch challenge.. the cards for today are just incredible.. I also incorporated the Double Dog Challenge or DDC that I participate in with some fellow SCSr's.. Joanne challenge us to make a music themed card.. How fun! The onlything musical I had was this angel blowing a trumpet. I am still loving this dp.. and pretty soon it will be all gone, so I guess I should pick a new color combo.. I see I have been using this A LOT lately! Thanks for looking.

Additional Info
Stamps: heavenly heralds
Paper: very vanilla, not quite navy, garden green, watercolor paper, porcelain prints dp
Ink: jet black stazon
Accessories: SU! markers, blender pen, ticket corner punch, brad, ribbon, cm silver pen, sakura gel sparkle pen, quote from a velum stack

COLOR CHALLENGE TUESDAY and ANOTHER FS CARD

This is for today's CC.. to use certainly celery, chocolate chip and pretty in pink. A fun and fresh combination. I decided to mount my new cosmobella given to me by my DSS, Tabitha aka Savvykat. She asked me yesterday if I had made anything with her... and I had to sheepishly reply that I had not even mounted her yet.. So, here she is Tabby...Cheers to you! She will be on her way to you tomorrow *wink*! Thanks for the bella.. I just loove her to pieces! I cased Janacb's layout of her Bella Ball #4 Layout.. thanks for the inspiration.. and thanks to those who take a peek and leave a comment! Cheers!

Additional Info
Stamps: cosmobella
Paper: chocolate chip, whisper white, certainly celery, pink dp by Glitterstack
Ink: jet black stazon
Accessories: SU! markers, blender pen (for hair), ribbon, crystal effects (for glass), rhinestones, punch, computer-generated sentiment, cuttlebug
Difficulty (1-Easy 5-Advanced): 1

ANOTHER CASE OF SUNDAY'S FEATURED STAMPER FOR A DEMO-SWAP!

OK.. so I just had to make another card for the featured stamper challenge.. I mean, great day.. her gallery is full of awesome cards. I am doing a swap with some local demos and I opted to showcase SU! DP.. So, naturally this card does the trick. I loved the layout and kept that the same.

What I changed:

1. colors

2. accessories

3. layers and use of dp.

Thanks for looking.

Additional Info
Stamps: kind thoughts
Paper: very vanilla, not quite navy, garden green, porcelain prints DP
Ink: night of navy craft (for butterfly embossing), not quite navy (for sentiment)
Accessories: stardust ep, ticket corner punch, brads
Techniques: heat embossing, paper tole
Difficulty (1-Easy 5-Advanced): 2

SUNDAY'S FEATURED STAMPER

KIND THOUGHTS FOR SPARKLE GIRL....
This is for today's featured stamper Sparklegirl. I just love her gallery. I pretty much kept the layout the same...What I changed:*stamps*paper*ribbon...and I may have added some extra layers. I used the kind thought stamps on the porcelain prints dp... I embossed with silver and added a silver brad in the center of the flower. I used the paper tole technique on the flower. I did use the same cb embossing folder for the not quite navy base.Thanks for looking.. and thanks Sparklegirl for such a fabulous gallery.. I have a feeling I will be visiting it again real soon *wink*!Here is the link to her original card.

Additional Info
Stamps: kind thoughts
Paper: very vanilla, not quite navy, garden green, porcelain prints dp
Ink: versamark
Accessories: sterling silver ep, ribbon, cuttlebug, scallop punch, brad
Techniques: dry embossing, heat embossing, paper tole
Difficulty (1-Easy 5-Advanced): 2

TIME FOR SOME INSPIRATION...

This card is for today's inspiration challenge and a double dog challenge that I participate in with several wonderful stampers. I love the quilted look of today's inspiration piece. I took several different dp's and wove them together. The ddc is to use a timepiece.. and this clock is the only one that I have... I love the fun, fresh colors... and happy for some spring-like weather! Thanks for looking..

Additional Info
Keywords: IC124 DDC4_8
Stamps: time for you
Paper: whisper white, cameo coral, dp by Mrs. Elizabeth's patterns and K&Company designer mat
Ink: jet black stazon
Accessories: SU! marker, eyelets
Techniques: paper weaving
Difficulty (1-Easy 5-Advanced): 3

Combination of Challenges from Last Week

So... here are the cards I made combining this past week's challenges.. Here is a list of the challenges.

MON: Double-pocket card

TUE: Color challenge: groovy guava (cameo coral), blush blossom, basic grey

WED: Sketch Challenge

THUR: Limited Supply - use acrylics

FRI: Long-tall card, limit layers, no dp.

I wanted to make something special for Corrinn and Parker, children of my best friend who both had their tonsills taken out this past Wednesday. Thanks for looking!

HOLA!

Well we came back from our vacation kicking and screaming..lol! DH and I had a fabulous week without the kids. We did however go with some friends of ours and stayed at the Aventura Spa Palace in Playa del Carmen, located 50 miles south of Cancun in Quintana Roo, Mexico. We would highly recommend this particular place if you are looking for a quiet, relaxing vacation without children. This resort is for 18 and older.. so we did not even have to "listen" to anyone's children..so, indeed it was quiet. The pool bar did get pick up a little around 3 in the afternoon, but nothing obnoxious. We decided that the food was nothing to write home about, but the service was MUY EXCELLENTE! So nice when people stop what they are doing to look you in the eye and say hello with a smile. I decided that I do NOT like squid and do not care to ever try it again. However, I am really missing the fresh home-made coconut ice cream. I have never had anything like it before.... so creamy, cold, with a slight flavor of coconut..YUM! We saw a lot of pretty fish in the lagoon and on a snorkeling outing.. I haven't had a chance to get those pics developed yet.. but will post as soon as I do. We did get to watch a couple of shows put-on at the resort. The Mayan show was spectacular.. Their costumes alone were absolutely amazing, Shannon and I decided that body paint looks really nice on dark-skinned, well-toned men - LOL! By Saturday we were really missing our kids, and by Tuesday were ready to return. We also decided that we liked going mid-week and coming back mid-week.. we were able to enjoy a full weekend at the resort and the noticable "lull" that occurs when most people are traveling.. also the airport was not a busy mid-week. We also loved having a direct flight from Washington-Dulles to Cancun - only a 4 hour flight - woohoo!

At the Spa I enjoyed the best back massage I have ever had, followed unfortunately by a mediocre facial.. oh well.. The hydrotherapy was well worth it.. sort of like a circut starting with a cool shower, 15 min in the sauna or steam room, cool shower, herbal tea, 15 min in the 90 degree hot tub, followed by a dip in the cold-plunge, then 15 min in the 100 degree hot tub, followed by the cold-plunge, then sitting with only feet in a hot whirlpool, then scented wrap on eyes... great time for prayer! I thought, could I do this on a regular basis - answer, Of course!... who doesn't love to be pampered! I also enjoyed a pedicure on another day, but promptly chipped off my beautiful polish on the bottom of the pool during the water aerobics! waaaahhh! So... hope you are able to go to the Riviera Maya one day.. it is the most beautiful carribean water I have ever seen!

I think that I had one of these iguanas for dinner one night--yuck!

Playing Catch-UP!

This is for today's LSC..to use white with one other color... I chose elegant eggplant. I used my craft ink and embossed everything with stardust ep by Stampendous... it really adds a nice sparkle and shine to darker images. I needed two Thank You cards and wanted to be from the same stamp but different.. kwim? So, I went all the way back to the beginning sketch challenges and used SC01 (left) and SC02 (below)... After I made them I had a hard time deciding which way to turn them for the photo, because you can really use them either way. I decided to dot one up and leave the other crisp and clean.. I have to say that after starting the Faith-dots, it is hard to not do it on a card.... I also used my cb folder the bg paper to give it some dimension. It is the textile folder.. I just realized that I forgot to add one of the butterflies that I embossed to the card on the right.. so I will be adding that somewhere - lol.... I guess it is time to clean up my room! Thanks for looking!

Additional Info
Stamps: essence of love, sincere salutations
Paper: whisper white, elegant eggplant
Ink: elegant eggplant (craft)
Accessories: tag punch, circle punch, cuttlebug, stardust ep
Techniques: heat embossing
Difficulty (1-Easy 5-Advanced): 2

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I combined this weeks Sketch Challenge with the Ways to Use It, ... also, Anne (aka jdmommy) dared me to make a card with only an umbrella on it, neutrals with one color, and a sentiment. So, I may have violated the "dare" since I have two sentiments, but I'm considering the 'love' as the handle of my umbrella and the rub-on as my sentiment - hope that's ok Anne *wink*... and you didn't say no cuttle bug or dp or fibers.. so I used those also The umbrella is stamped using the paper tole technique, everything is popped up and you can't really tell from the photo, but irl it looks really cool. Thanks for looking.

Additional Info
Stamps: send a celebration, wonderful words
Paper: whisper white, basic black, tempting turquoise, tt dp
Ink: jet black stazon
Accessories: SU! marker, love & happiness rub-on, adornments fiber, white signo pen
Techniques: paper tole
Difficulty (1-Easy 5-Advanced): 2

Color Challenge Tuesday

Last night I had a call from my neighbor Kelly, who also cuts my hair... Her daughter and my daughter are best friends and it was time for "S" to come home... While chatting, I realized that I forgot my appt last week - YIKES! I should've know, cause my hair was a mess, right?! Not to mention my eyebrows were goin' crazy! Anyways, I took the kids and we went to visit my folks for Spring Break... and I totally forgot! How could I forget the one thing that I do for myself where I get to go by myself and relax, have someone wash my hair (which I love) and come out looking good and feeling better about myself! I was so embarassed.. and good ol' Kelly was so good, she worked me in today!! There is a minimum 6wk wait to get an appt with her! And she worked me in!! I am soooo grateful! Now I will look good for my upcoming trip. I wanted to give her a little something as a "thank you," so I used today's color challenge and made this card for her... I wish I had, had time to put the title as the sentiment on the front using my new HPH, but alas.. I just didn't have enough time. Thanks for looking, and by the way, my hair looks FABULOUS! Kelly if you are reading this, "THANK YOU," you are so nice!

Additional Info
Stamps: don't know - (I recieved this in an image swap)
Paper: whisper white, basic black, mellow moss
Ink: jet black stazon
Accessories: SU! markers (creamy caramel, mellow moss, apricot appeal, cameo coral), black cm journaling pen for tub legs and faucet, ribbon