Thanks Mom

First, I have to say the spacing on this card makes me nuts. I would've liked the sentiment to be closer to the image, and maybe moved over a little bit more. But sometimes I don't notice things until it's too late and there was no way I was coloring that image over again.  It took me forever. Phew!  Ok, I hate to start a post whining about the negative, but it always feels so  good to get things off my chest. This blog is like therapy. Well, except the blog is free and I don't have some overly serious person looking at me with one eyebrow raised asking themselves where this girl came from and are there enough meds on the planet? Although, saying things like that probably doesn't help with the image.  Am I right?  Anyway, this is the thank you card I made for my mom when I got tired of making the other ones. I got bored, so I thought I'd switch it up a little.  For my birthday, she put together this really cool cook book of family recipes (mainly hers, tho) that I grew up on.  I love it and I thanked her by not cooking for her *shudder* and by making her this card. Thanks mom!

Stamps: Women of Life (PTI), Image: GGK Flowers (Nina Brackett), Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Paper: PTI white, Cool Caribbean (SU!), Accessories: Copics~

Thank You, Thank You Very Much

So, I was in need of some quick but lovely thank you cards to send out and this happened.  Sometimes all you need is a really good image to make you happy.  And I do love this image, I just don't know who made it.  {It's a free digital image that I found on Splitcoast, only who made it wasn't in the file name, so if anyone knows whose it is, please let me know.}  K, so the super sad part is that it's not like I didn't know I was gonna need thank you cards.  My birthday was not too long ago and I knew I was gonna get shtuff.  So it's not like my birthday snuck up on me, I just tend to procrastinate.  And instead of making these well in advance of my birthday, I made them yesterday...waaaay after my birthday.  Ok, so my birthday was Friday, but then it turned into a whole birthday weekend and Monday was the first chance I had to make them. Actually, now that I think about it, it was more like a birthday week. I went & got my gift the weekend before (a super beee-utiful tattoo), then we really celebrated with the cake, dinner, other gifts and a movie (The Tooth Fairy starring my 2nd husband, Dwayne Johnson) this weekend. Phew!  What a way to start a new year!

Well, of course I had to do one in red!

Ok, who here, besides me, is shocked that I used

 *gasp* orange? I know, right?

Turns out I do like purple!

Stamp: Giga Guide Lines (PTI), Image: No idea, a little help?, Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Paper: white & Pure Poppy (PTI), Tangerine Tango(!) & Elegant Eggplant (SU!), Accessories: Copics~

Polky Dot Fever

Sooo, it turns out, I looove polky dots. Crazy, huh? I had no idea how I felt about them until I realized that I use them on pretty much every card I make.  I was looking over my Year in Review post for the 4th time, and scrolling casually up the list, I noticed a pattern.  Lots of dots!  So weird. Where did this obsession come from? When did it start? I do remember that when I first got this set, it just sat there for awhile cuz I couldn't figure out why in the heck I thought buying it was a good idea.  Now I wonder what I put behind my images before I discovered Polka Dot Basics I & II. And yeah, I do have other background stamps, but none of them are as perfect as my beloved polky dots. And, did you notice how many sizes I have?  No? Well then, I'll have to use them all so you can see for yourself.  Seriously.  The card I'm working on now has no background yet. Just a colored image. Hmmm. I'm gonna try really hard to put something different back there, but I can't make any promises. Maybe some patterned paper.  I dunno. I guess we'll just have to wait & see.  Ooh, I'm on the edge of my seat with anticipation!

Stamps: Polka Dot Basics II (PTI), Image: Swiss Pixies Birgitta (C.C. Designs), Ink: Sweet Blush & Aqua Mist (PTI), Paper: white & Sweet Blush (PTI), Accessories: Aqua Mist ribbon (PTI), Nestabilities, corner rounder punch, Stickles, Copics:

Happy Birthday Brenda

It's raining here. I love the rain. I'm one of those strange people that find it relaxing and pretty. It just seems to calm everything down. My favorite thing is to be up high, in a really tall building, just watching it come down. San Francisco is good for that, but I don't often find myself in skycrapers in the city when it's raining.  So I'm left to just enjoy it at home, which is actually still pretty nice.  I don't even mind driving in it. It's just the other drivers who either go waaay to slow (yes, that's possible, even in the rain) or treat the streets like the autobahn, that make me insane.  It's supposed to rain all week here, which will have tons of people grumbling, wanting some sun and wanting it now. And then there's perky me (not a word I use to describe myself all that much) piping in to say, "Ooh! I love the rain!"  That's usually followed by silence and somebody making a face that says 'what is wrong with you?'  Eh, I'm tough, I can take it.  Hey, the rain is coming down and that makes me happy. 

Speaking of happy, I have to say Happy Birthday to my Aunt Brenda. Her birthday was on Friday, but I couldn't post her card until I knew she had it.  She got it, she loves it and now I can move on. phew!

Stamps: Turning a New Leaf (PTI), Beautiful Kindness (Verve), Ink: Ripe Avocado & Raspberry Fizz (PTI), Paper: Rustic white, Ripe Avocado & Raspberry Fizz (PTI), Accessories: Raspberry Fizz ribbon (PTI)

My Brain Thinks It's Spring

I know it's January. I know how to read a calendar.  Well, most of the time. You'd be amazed at how often I'm looking at the wrong month when scheduling things. We could actually play "let's count the scribbles on mom's calendar", due to all the times I thought I was writing on a different month. Oops. Anyway, it just feels like Christmas was soooo long ago.  And we were moving right along with the colder weather that I love so much. Yes, I do realize I'm in the minority here. But cold to us is, like, 40°. Brrrrrr.  So, no, I do not wanna "know what real cold is" (been there, done that) and go somewhere with ridiculous lows, like -20°. What is the point of that? That's just wrong. Annnyway, so this week, it's cold & rainy, then it totally warms up and we get sun and then the temperature shoots up to, maybe, 57°.  Ok, well now nature is confused and I can feel it coming. Ugh. Allergies. In January? Now that's wrong.  But apparently I saw this coming, cuz I have been using my spring colors. This bright & colorful {and yes, Dana, simple - see, it's ok} card is just what I needed.  I'm back to wanting to create, which has been missing since before the holidays.  Aaaahhh, can you smell that? I can't, cuz I'm stuffed up now. But they tell me it smells like mojo.

Stamps: Turning a New Leaf & Birthday Basics (PTI), Miracles Blossom (Verve), Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Paper: black, white & Raspberry Fizz (PTI), Accessories: Copics

Year in Review

I'm back. I know, don't pass out from shock. I have been working on stuff, but I can't post what I have yet, so I thought I'd totally steal borrow this idea from another blogger and put up my favorite cards from last year.  Ready to be thrilled beyond belief?  Well, that's not gonna happen here, but it should be fun anyway.  And if I did it right, you should be able to click on the date and it'll take you to the original post. Yeah, I put some effort into this one!  Be impressed.

I don't even know where this came from. It just kinda happened

and was a fun surprise when I was done. (2/15)

I pretty much love everything about this card. The colors,

the layout, the stamps. Love it. (3/16)

I made a lot of cards with this set (1 or 2, maybe you
remember), but this one is my favorite. (5/1)

I love this card, but I really love that the title for the post with

this card was Green Tea. Ha! My clever wit at its finest. (6/17)

When I can make it elegant and not seem old fogey

at the same time, I'm very proud of myself. (5/15)

Look at all those colors! That was me bustin'

outta my box. (7/22)

Flowers and polky dots. What's not to love? (8/17)

Check out that coloring. AND, I got the chairs even.

AND, chair-ish. Price-less. (8/31)

I love the stamps and was so proud of myself for

using that color, cuz it's not me at all.  Yay, me! (9/14)

Simple is good. (9/23)

Took me a couple of tries to get those birds lined

up, but once I did, it was sooo worth it. (10/11)

Bonus

K, I usually love all of the non card projects that I do, but these coaster books that I made for my moms are my favorites. They came together so beautifully that I really want to make more, I just have to find the rest of my pictures. (5/10)

So, that's it. That's last year all wrapped up.  Gee, now I can hardly wait to see what happens next!

Happy New Year

Wow, 2010. Happy New Year to you all.  Where did the time go?  Time can be a funny thing. Normally, I don't pay attention to the big picture of time.  20 years since I graduated from high school, 18 years with my husband, 16 years since I had my first baby.  Eh, life stuff.  Don't look back, look ahead.  I'm more like, the right here & right now time kinda girl. Gotta get up at 5, have an appointment at 4, need to leave by 3:30...that kinda stuff. But with the start of a new decade, all anyone talks about is the decade that just went by.  So it makes me think, wow, a decade? What was different 10 years ago for me?  Um, well, I only had one child in school, a toddler and a newborn.  We even walked to school.  Now, I've got 3 girls in 3 different schools and I'm a driving fool all over the place.  10 years ago, I still believed in cleaning my house incessantly. Ha, what a foolish girl I was!  Which leads me to another big difference from 10 years ago.  I had no stamps.  *gasp!*  I know, right?  I can barely imagine what life was like before stamps and ink.  Cardstock and ribbon that coordinate.  My beloved Scor Pal.  Stampin' Up, Verve and Papertrey.  Oooh, Papertrey. How I love me some Papertrey. Blogging.  Making Christmas presents for teachers, friends and family?  Never.  Copics?!  o.m.g.  Don't get me started on my Copics.  Aaaaahhhh.  Yes, it has been quite the decade.  I mean, don't get me wrong.  There were other memorable things.  Girls losing teeth, learning to walk, getting haircuts, starting school.  Yes, these are all momentous occasions, but stamping...come on.  That's big!  Would you be here if all there was to read about was Tia losing, probably her 7th tooth since school started? That's a true story, by the way. The girl is thisclose to being on a soft food diet.  It's crazy.  She's losing all her teeth at once and her 12 year molars are busting through. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! Ok, so yes, my most loyal readers {hi, mom!} would be here for that, but I wouldn't even find that fun and these are my kids!  Ok, enough blabbering.  So, even if your last decade rocked, I hope this one rocks even more.  Have an awesome day, year, decade!

Stamps: Birthday Surprise (Verve), Image: Fairy Tabia (Mo's Digital Pencil), Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU!), Paper: Pink Pirouette (SU!), white & Dark Chocolate (PTI), Accessories: Sweet Blush satin ribbon (PTI), Copics: