Happy (Humorous) Birthday, Barb!

I think of myself as a rather entertaining person; I can usually get a good guffaw out of ya at least once in a conversation. But I will admit, coming up with an idea for a humorous birthday card stumped me. Over the course of a few days, whenever it would cross my mind, I put in varying search terms in Google Images to find something funny that I could replicate. Nothing too difficult, as I was going to need to make multiples. 

Finally, FINALLY, I hit pay dirt. A sentiment made one of my stamps jump to the forefront of my mind. It would be complicated, as it would involve much detailed cutting and numerous maskings, but I have plenty of time (cards are not due until October, after all); I decided to go for it. 

This time around, The Deconstructed Sketch (#111) provided inspiration for the layout. 

About five minutes in, it became very clear, that the idea was beyond my abilities to produce once, never mind eight times. A quick search through my birthday drawer and I found another image that would work just fine; and a card was born.

I alternated between punches for the border. At first I had the candles dripping red wax (different punch than shown here), but Princess A stated that it looked more like blood, which had also crossed my mind. Not exactly festive.

I punched icicles, turned them upside down and put them along the top, and she agreed it could pass for flame. All those candles would produce a mighty blaze. 





With the way Barb and Jeanette are always ragging each other, I think this card's message is perfect. 








Card Details:

Image: Hero Arts

Sentiment: American Art Stamps, computer generated

Cardstock: GP, SU

Ink: Memento
Coloring: Copic Markers

Tools: Martha Stewart punch, SU punch, Nestabilities, Embossing folder

Embellies: Unknown brad

Aprils 15th Anniversary

The hostess for July/August in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Cards is April. She has requested, in honor of her 15th... 

Anniversary cards. 

UGH, April, not my forte. An anniversary is not something I have ever celebrated, and is not really on my radar of occasions for which to make cards. But, I searched and searched and searched and searched and searched (you get the picture) and finally came up with an idea. Fortunately, Tuesday Morning Sketches (#208) had a sketch that fit my image and sentiment perfectly.

 

















Happy Anniversary, April and Michael!!!




Card Details:

Image: Elzybells

Sentiment: Elzybells

Cardstock: GP, SU

Ink: Memento
Coloring: Copic Markers

Tools: Martha Stewart punch, Nestabilities

Embellies: Stickles, generic dimensionals

What Happened to Flopsey?

Some weeks ago, LJ opened a swap for a stamp company I do not own and have no desire to acquire. I checked out Linda's stash, but nothing jumped out at me. She and I discussed it and decided to request LJ host a My Favorite Things swap so I could join it. (Sure, I could have hosted it myself, but I really wanted to join an LJ swap.)

Here we are more than 30 days later, and I have just finished my cards. But, since they are not due for 20 more days, I am actually ON TIME!!!

Back to MFT... What happened to Flopsey?? I went on the site to see if there were any new Flopseys I needed for this swap and there was not a single one! I read a little further only to find out Flopsey was discontinued?! WHAT?!? How could they do that to this bunny that reminds me so very much of Princess A's own special Mel??

[This was Mel on Princess A's first First Day of Fifth Grade (I say first First because she had a second First Day when we moved). He is sitting on the front steps waiting for her to come home from school so he can present her with the gift we made for her while she was away.]






I cannot believe that my six sets of Flopsey are all I am ever going to have of him. I guess Mel will have to live vicariously through the critters of some of my other stamp sets instead...

I found the sketch for this card on Sketch Saturday (#266) after reading Kelly's post about it. I had never heard of this blog before, but it is now bookmarked and I hope to continue to find inspiration there.

  


















Card Details:

Image: MFT, Artful Inkables, Cover-a-Card

Sentiment: N/A

Cardstock: GP, SU

Ink: Memento, SU

Tools: Embossing Folder, Nestabilities, IO Mega Mount, SU punch

Coloring: Copic markers, Prismacolor markers

Embellies: Unknown dimensionals

Barb's Fabulous Flowers

I was doing so well earlier in the year with getting my swaps in on time, that I signed up for not one, but two spots in Barb's Fabulous Flowers before my cards were finished. Here we are at the last minute and I just finished the second set. Technically set #2 was finished over the weekend, but since I was making extras for another occasion, I did not consider the entire set finished until just now. 

The first card I made, featured Tuesday Morning Sketches (#203) and was actually finished on that same Tuesday. Sadly I did not have time to scan it until this morning so I missed the entry deadline  

Can I just mention how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Cover-a-Card stamps by Impression Obsession? I may never buy designer paper again!

Card Details:

Image: PSX, Impression Obsession Cover-a-Card, Denami Design

Sentiment: N/A

Cardstock: GP, SU

Ink: Memento, SU

Tools: Embossing Folder, Nestabilities, IO Mega Mount

Coloring: SU Watercolor Crayons, Aqua Painter

Embellies: Unknown ribbon












Card #2 features Sweet Sketch Wednesday (#211). Unfortunately, there is not title on that particular blog post so I cannot link directly to it. If they should fix this, I will adjust the link accordingly. 

Card Details:

Image: Riley

Sentiment: SU

Cardstock: GP, SU

Ink: Memento

Tools: N/A

Coloring: Copic Sketch Markers

Embellies: Unknown rhinestones

5K Diary - Week Five

W5D1 - First five = gravy. Second five, a little harder, but I made it through with some energy to spare. Last five, I swear, that which was a cooling breeze during the first two runs felt like a blustery wind that was trying to push me backwards. Reality check: was in fact a cooling breeze the entire time. 

W5D2 - I misread the plan for today. I saw that the first run was eight minutes, but then thought the second was less. Imagine my surprise when it did not tell me to walk, and I looked and there was still four minutes to go! But I did it; I finished two 8-minute blocks of running. Phew! 

W5D3 - Twenty Minutes. In a row. Without a walk break (and without peeking). On the Road - Translation: Hills!

5K Diary - Week Four

W4D1 - You may remember that I was questioning my abilities to graduate to Week 4 since there was such a huge gap in Week Three, but today I went for it. The first three-minute run was gravy, but that first five-minute, OMG! I knew I should not, but I did - I checked the timer; 1:45 left, UGH. About 20 seconds later a dog came barking across a yard (don't worry, I have walked this route with my dogs many times and he never leaves the yard; I think they have an invisible fence), which gave me something else to focus on. Before I knew it, the leg was over! I think it was knowing that after this five section, I had to do the series again that made it so difficult. The final five, where finishing meant the workout was done, was no problem at all.

W4D2 - Back to the track this morning. I went on the road near home for Day One, but today is a weekday (therefore commuters), and the first day of finals to boot. Running on the road while sleep-deprived, anxious college students are getting a late start to their first exam and driving faster and riskier than usual did not seem like a smart idea. It went pretty well today, with occasionally reminding myself that I did it on Saturday so I can do it again.

W4D3 - Overcast today, which is good for me. Sun did not come out at all until I was on my cool down. Hopefully that will mean no new rashes today. Was rather warm and humid though, so I had my jacket sleeves rolled up. I need to start using some other sort of pocket for my phone cuz it is getting too hot for an extra layer. My knee started hurting on the cool down so I am spending a little extra time under Peas before I start my day.

Hooray For The Winners

As I mentioned in my last post, I volunteered to make cards for my friend Yoda to send to the winning choruses and quartets from our recent regional competition. As usual, my first stop was Tuesday Morning Sketches. I stared at this weeks design (196) for a few minutes, then went looking for an image. 

Originally, I was thinking of a congratulations stamp along the bottom, but since the image I decided upon already has a sentiment, I had to use something else. Sweet Adelines are all about the bling (after the singing, of course), so rhinestones were the obvious choice. Pink in this case (believe it or not).

A scan of the cards have been sent to Yoda for approval. If, for whatever reason, she does not like them, I will be back with my next design.




Card Details:

Image: Stampin Up!

Sentiment: (SU)

Cardstock: SU, GP

Ink: Memento

Tools: Nestabilities

Coloring: Prismacolor Markers

Embellies: Unknown ribbon, unknown rhinestones