A day in the life of...

I received some wonderful cards in the mail today from a swap I joined. It was a humor swap and a red diva swap. These swaps are really neat. You create a set of identical cards, let's say 5 +1. So 5 of the same cards to distribute and an extra card for the swap host(ess).  Here is one set of cards I created for the humor swap. I created two sets, one was a toilet and the sentiment was : I hope everything comes out ok...

Anywhooo, I received the cards back from this swap and I was finally extremely impressed with the quality of cards returned to me.  Some of them made me laugh so hard.

Some of the other cards I made the week I sent these ol' ladies off was this pair for a children's burn unit at a hospital one of the SCS'ers is associated with: And this red thank you card. It actually had a butterfly attached just below the thank you panel but I didn't get a picture of it before I mailed it off.

Other than receiving the package of return swap cards, I didn't have much else happen today. I had class at the Red Cross, completed a few assignments, made homemade split pea and ham soup (yummy) did two loads of laundry, washed the kitchen floor, and now I'm updating my blog (yeah me!).

I think I might try to make a card or two before bed, just to help me relax. I thought about what my blog contained yesterday and even though it may seem mean, it was my opinion. It was my raw feelings laid out in black and white. I feel unappreciated in this situation. I have a right to my opinion just as anyone else does. If someone chooses to differ in opinion, then we differ. That is how it is... that is how it is going to be... I'm ok with it. I do see how it could seem blunt but you know what, it was blunt. Like I said, it was pure raw emotion.

Sometimes in life we are way too involved in our own situation that we fail to realize how much our situation is effecting others. Sometimes I end up the affected and I wanted to express that. No wrong in that. Nothing is wrong with having an emotion and expressing it. Nothing!

So now that I have that off of my chest I can go on and create something beautiful. Wonder what I should create? Guess we'll find out!

a little rant-ish post

There was a different post in this spot where I expressed my opinion for once.

For public reference the definition of the word invasion (adj)  defined as tending to infringe


God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason, if you listen twice as often as you speak then others will hear you more clearly.

My husband has asked me to repost the original blog post.


***disclaimer*** If you don't like what I have to say during this post, I don't care to hear your comments... this is my blog, this is my opinion, this is my life***




Jacob was supposed to get on the train with his parents yesterday and come home and finish his treatment here, but he had a fever and the chemo sores in his mouth. So today he sits in a hospital bed on antibiotics and fluids. The poor little guy. We all know that those sores are not his parent's fault, that they are taking care of him to the best of their ability, and those sores sometimes just appear... however, he is dehydrated and that is something his parents could have controlled... I don't want to point fingers at them at all, but it is hard not to speak up when you can easily see where the mistakes are being made.



It is not that anyone wants to tell them that they are being bad parents, it is just that everyone wants Jacob to be a healthy, happy boy. This doesn't mean spoil him now while he is sick, it doesn't mean to let him get away with anything he wants to do because he is sick either, it means keeping balance, keeping a level head, keeping in mind that in a few months he will be a regular 5 year old again and then you will be dealing with a monster unless you keep the rules stable.



Keeping a level head during all this is a necessity too, taking too many meds or acting like it is all about you (the parent) is not helping either. What parents in these situations need to do is focus on the child and not themselves. Today I was told "I don't know how much more of this I can take..." and I stopped for a second and thought (to myself) is this about her? no! it is about that little boy... I'm having trouble even posting this blog because it is very personal, but this is a place where I can get the pressure off my chest, think about how I want to communicate things, and I can practice being very open and understanding, I can re-read, re-adjust, and re-think what I want to say.



Heck, maybe I don't even have a right to have an opinion on this since in my opinion they should not have moved their 5 year old 3 days after surgery, they should have had stayed at the same hospital he was diagnosed at, he should have not traveled 15 hours to another hospital, they should not have ripped him out of a hospital half way through his treatments to go to another hospital... but he isn't my son's son, I have no real connection to him except I am married to his father's adoptive father... I haven't opened my mouth and told them exactly where I think they have gone wrong, I haven't told them that I don't like to bend over backwards for people who don't really appreciate it, I haven't spoken up like I could, because I'm not sure what is my place in all this.



Do I really have the right to form an opinion? Do I have the right to say something because they are staying in my home (once they get on the train they are coming here)? Do I have the right to be upset that my life is being invaded? Do I have the right to say that? to think that? He is my husband's son and he has the right to ask his dad for help, but as his dad's wife, do I have the right to say I don't want to help? Not that I wouldn't and not that I am not helping, but in all actuality, those kids aren't all that much younger than I am and they moved in here and now I am supporting them... Craig makes some money, but it is not enough to cover our bills... so here my money goes.



And then there are the times when my parents help us with a little money here or there to pay for things, do I have the right to even accept that help because we have taken on an entire family? Does anyone realize that I have needs? that I have a full-time school schedule, that I need to purchase things for my family? I care about Jacob, I care about Joe, and I care about Erica, but they need to return the kindness at some level. I'm still angry that she broke my glass and didn't apologize... all because of her inability to take medications responsibly... what to do? what to do?

From 3 to sick

Can you say where'd the month go? I can. Things here have been fairly busy. About a month ago it was decided that my husband's son Joe, his wife Erica and their son Jacob would come to live with us. I had about two weeks to get the house ready to go from a household of three to a household of 6. I also maintained a full time college schedule, and kept up with my chores (you know cooking, cleaning, being mom, wife, student).
Anyway, I tossed our life up into the air and where it landed was in two less places. I turned the storage room off of the living room into a bedroom for the 5 year old. It is much larger than it sounds, but it is still small enough to stay fairly clean.
I rearranged the basement to make room for a bedroom in the corner for Joe and Erica. Did some mad organizing throughout the house because I had to find places for all the stuff that was in the storage room, and in the corner of the basement.
All this chaos going on in the house wasn't enough for one little household. We had to add more to our plates. Nine days after the other Jensen family joined us, the doctor who performed Jacob's tonsilectomy called to say they found a tumor on his tonsil. This was not what we had hoped for, no one ever hopes for a tumor but our fears were soon realized and the tumor was found to be cancer. Lymphoma is a very treatable form of cancer. Once it was determined that he had cancer for sure, I drove them to the train station and they went back to Indiana for treatment at the children's hospital in Indianapolis.
Jacob is undergoing his second round of chemotherapy starting today. We are hoping this is the last round he needs to be cancer-free. For right now we are all praying. Just praying for a smooth, quick, safe recovery. Praying that Jacob is young enough he forgets the pain, forgets the process, and bounces back like a 5 year old can.
Today the principal of the school called and he told me that some of the highschool kids wanted to do a fund raiser for Joe, Erica and Jacob. What big hearts our kids have here in this little town. I passed along phone numbers for both Joe and Erica to get parental approval, but I think any help is going to be welcomed.

I start my CNA classes this evening. Hopefully the class gets moved to a daytime class so it takes even fewer weeks to complete. The Red Cross called today to see if I had any objection to moving the class to a daytime class, and no, I do not. That would be awesome for me and my family as I am having a hard time believing Alex is ready to be home alone in the evening for 3-4 hours. I mean, I might come home to a pile of smoking ash that used to be my house...

I thought I'd end this with a few photos, one of Jacob and one of the first card we sent to his hospital room.

In Honor of the Queen Mudder!

A week ago exactly Mothermark at SCS was crowned Queen for the Day. I'm a week late so she can keep celebrating. I chose an old card from her gallery to case. Butterflies for Misty! by MotherMark

I changed just about everything but kept the same basic idea.

I used a vap! stamp from the $1 bin at Michaels to stamp the butterflies in versafine vintage sepia and sponged to color - red - orange - yellow.

I stamped the hero arts wildflowers in yellow, orange, and red on white card. I cut the image into the panels and sponged the edges of the panels.

I added a sentiment using a piece of vellum. I stamped the inkadinkado in versamark and used a mixture of red and clear embossing powder to heat emboss the words with love.

The three panels are mounted on a piece of brown card stock from core'dinations.

This image panel is framed with a piece of white card that was sponged to match.

Once this was all assembled the butterflies were glued to the coordinating panels.

Jolee's jewels were used to bling up the bottom of the card as well as two on the vellum to hide the adhesive :D

teapots, fish, fairies, and ladybugs

Today is Tuesday and Mothermark hosts the teapot tuesday challenge each week. The challenge is based on one of her many teapots she collects. Lately the MMTPT (mothermark teapot tuesday)challenges have had a destination. My heart just melts when I hear about a sick kid, and it makes me so grateful that my son Alex is healthy, my step son Joe is healthy and my step grandson Jacob is healthy. I can't imagine how hard it must be for the parents to watch their children suffer from a disease. Today the MMTPT challenge was to create a card for an 8-year old boy named Dante.

Dante is suffering from cancer and just received a bone marrow from his increadibly heroic 5-year old little sister Julia. I created a fish card for Dante because he really loves fishing, and Mothermark has a fish in a basket teapot for inspiration. :D

I used a Raisin boat set for the stamps and colored them with colored pencil. I stamped the blue paper with the bubbles stamp and colored the bubbles with clear gel pen and with clear stickles to create the background paper. That fishing pole sticks out of the nestabilities die cut because I used a technique called "out of the box" this is when you trim around the things that are going to go outside of the die and you carefully feed them through the die so they don't get cut off. I do this really roughly and then once I have the die all cut out I took the time to trim around the fishing pole and line a little better with a xacto knife. I used a texture plate to add some texture to the red layer and then matted it all on orange cs before placing it on the kraft card.

For the inside of the card I used a piece of the remaining blue cs that I stamped with bubbles and stickled all up, and a piece of white cs. I stamped the fish and colored them with colored pencil very lightly. I wrote a message from my family to Dante on the inside. I sure hope he likes it. 

Dante's sister Julia was the donor for his transplant. I thought she deserved a card too. I printed this cute digital image called Lily the sunshine fairy and colored it while I was waiting for Alex to get done with football practice. I used stickles and clear gel pen to make her shine. I even added a swaroski crystal to her wand. I love this little scatter joy sentiment and Julia did just that, scattered joy. As much as she may not understand exactly what she did for her brother, she will understand when they are older. I sure hope this brightens her day as much as the story of her heroism brightened mine. The paper is from Martha Stewart playful pink paper pad and this is a double sided paper. Nestabilities to create the sentiment panel and the stamp is from inkadinkado.

Last but not least, Julia and Dante have a younger brother named Gabe. I'm not sure on his age but I would guess he is two or three. I figured he would feel left out when his brother and sister receive a card, so I used this little digi by bugaboo stamps to create this cute little card for him. I hope he giggles when he receives it. The paper is from Best Occasions punch-out pack. The buttons are from Walmart.

Thanks for taking a look and if you'd like to send a card, please visit the Splitcoaststampers teapot tuesday challenge link: For Dante

Feeling blessed- creating with a gift

A few days ago I was lucky enough to receive a wonderful gift. A woman named Michelle aka Michelle VP and aka mybearybest sent me not only a card she created, but the stamps she used to create the card.

I had never heard of the stamp company, PMS, <--funny huh!!!

It stands for Paper Makeup Stamps, the owner if I am not mistaken is a makeup artist and a lover of rubber... no not rubbers, rubber that is inkable. lol...

I had this stamp set sitting on the table all weekend and finally got around to using it. I sent my soon to be sister in law a card but I didn't get a picture of it. I even did the same plaid technique that Michelle used in her card but put it on a kraft card and stamped the sentiment in brown. It turned out pretty nice but like I said I forgot to take a picture.

Tonight I decided I'd take Michelle up on her suggestion and create a card for the Makeup 4 the Weekend Challenge Katie (the owner) hosts on her company blog : Paper Makeup Stamps

I used the colors of the challenge, kraft, turquoise and lime green. I also used a little black and a little white. 

I started by stamping the sillouette type stamp of the three trees on white cs and used the out of the box technique because the image was just a little bigger than the nestie shape I wanted to use (nestie labels nine). After trimming I embossed the shape and then cut it. Leaving the die cut in the die I used some chalk in turquoise to chalk around the edges. I cut a piece of turquoise cs in the next size nestie to frame the first. Then I switched nesties (labels two) and cut one in lime green (second largest in the set) and ran the die cut through the swiss dots folder on my cuttlebug. Cut one more labels two die cut out of white and chalked the edge of it also while leaving it in the die.

I stacked the die cuts up using some pop-dots. I adhered the lime green and turquoise layers together with glue but used a layer of pop-dots between the white layers and the colored layers.

Along the bottom of the card I used the turquoise cs and white cs. I ran the turquoise cs through the cuttlebug using the swiss dots folder and then used a Martha Stewart border punch along the edge. I used the same punch on white cs and staggered the pattern so the white peeked out under the turquoise.

I ran a black ribbon along the turquoise cs and placed a little bow on the left side. The right side has the sentiment stamped on white and framed with lime green.

I love how this turned out and really find I am fond of this color combo. Great challenge and thanks for sending me the stamps and the info on the challenge Michelle!

Ink: Stazon

Paper: plain white, plain turquoise, plain lime green

Stamps: PMS (paper makeup stamps)

Accessories: ribbon, chalk, border punch, nestabilities (labels two and labels nine)

She's gotta go!

The card I made today is for my friend's daughter. She is going to start potty training next week and I thought this little image from http://www.dulemba.com/called "gotta go" was the perfect image. The site is free and there are tons of images and I believe the artist draws for coloring books. I just resized it to fit the card.  This card fits three of this week's challenges on SCS. One is the featured stamper and CAKath was chosen. Her gallery at SCS is spectacular. I chose to case her card:  CAKath's Card I loved the way her card looked and thought that it would be a perfect layout to display this adorable image.

Notice what the card is sitting on? It is the directions and dance steps for the Pull-ups potty dance. That is why I chose to use the sentiment Dance.

The pink cs was run through my cuttlebug using the swiss dots folder. I used a Martha Stewart border punch on the bottom edge of the pink cs and layered it over the floral dp (sei). I used some ribbon that I got in a card making kit and tied a piece onto the main ribbon in a knot. Then placed a white button over top using glue dots. Adding the white button meets another SCS challenge using a button and the fact that I am sending this out in the morning makes it fit the free for all challenge- sending a card that you are thinking of someone or to make them feel better after an ailment. Since Sharron is going to be potty training her daughter, I thought this was the perfect thinking of you card for the situation.

For some reason my picture is sideways, but the floral dp is at the top. I

I did decorate the inside with some of the same dp and the remaining piece of pink cs that was run through the swiss dots folder. A piece of the same ribbon runs across the seam. A hand written sentiment fill the space now.

This photo shows the glittery gel pen a little better than the first. You can see it on the collar, trim on her sleves, belt, hair ties, I drew stripes on the cuff of the socks, and the soles of the shoes.  I also used a white gel pen to add highlights to her dress and shoes. The colored pencil was blended with baby oil and blending stumps.

I think this turned out absolutely adorable. It was so fun to tiptoe through Kathy's gallery and choose a card to case. I'm glad I did today's challenge. Super gallery Kathy!

Thanks for stopping by and I'd love to know what you think.

Stamps: Inkadinkado, digi

Paper: DCWV (light pink), SEI (floral), Core'dinations (dark pink pre-embossed)

Ink: Stazon

Accessories: ribbon, button, clear gel pen, white gel pen

Techniques: dry embossing, baby oil blending (OMS w/babyoil instead)

Inspired by a buckle

The inspiration challenge today on SCS was this site: Frankie & Julie and we were to choose a belt buckle as an inspiration piece. I chose this buckle :  Flamenco

to use as my inspiration piece. I really wanted to achieve the same feeling as the buckle. It is made of these beautiful black flowers and speckled with gems. I adored the silver braided trim. I used this same feel and floral design to create this beautiful focal oval for my card. I heat embossed the flurish on top of the oval and under the oval. The oval is popped up on pop dots for some dimension.

That pretty little flower is made with some satin ribbon. I folded it in half, stitched the edge with a running stitch, gathered the ribbon by pulling both sides of the string and tied them together to create the gathered circle. I stamped another flower on white, cut it out, added a rhinestone to the center and glued it to the center of my ribbon flower.

Stamps from: fiskars & inkadinkado

Paper: plain cardstock

Embellishments: ribbon, rhinestones, embossing powder

Scraps, Swirls, Raindrops, Flowers, and Stripes...

Yep, another card sketch I can check of my list. This one was particularly challenging, it was those darn strips of paper there on the edge. I do like how it turned out and I got to try a new technique while doing it. See those swirls in the background? they aren't inked after I embossed the paper, I inked the folder and they got inked while I embossed. Neat hey!

I filled more than one challenge with this card. The garden challenge (something that is in your garden). I may have lied a little about having such gorgeous blooms, but there are flowers out there in the yard. And since it has been raining almost every day, I thought this was really fitting. It is a digital image and when I first downloaded it I was unaware that the artist was important information to keep. So this is by an unknown artist at this time.

I colored this image with colored pencils and with some photo markers. Those zig markers made to color on a b&w or sepia image have such a light hue to them that they are perfect to blend the pencils and fill in the image just a little bit. Then I thought the image would look nicer if there was some blue around it, so I used some chalk to softly add some sky.

Notice those little pin pricks? that is paper piercing. I've done that on two of the image panel corners and along the edge of each of those strips of paper. The piercing was done to meet the "stick it" challenge. I chose to stick something into my paper as my take on stick it.

The last few things were to add some sparkle to those rain drops with a clear gel glitter pen and that border. The border piece was an afterthought actually. It was an already punched scrap that I found when cleaning yesterday. It seemed to work well on the edge of the image. It just seemed unfinished before the border. Still haven't decided what type of sentiment this should have, thinking of you, missing you, condolences, sympathy, with love... so I left it blank and will stamp it when the time comes.

I like how this turned out and it actually made it into my stash of cards and not in a bag for my mother or for RMH (Ronald McDonald House).

So that is the card for today. Hopefully I'll get some sleep tonight. I'm going on about 8 hours of sleep over the last two weeks... not enough at all!!!And if I don't sleep tonight, I'll craft. Maybe I'll make the sandman a card and he'll come to visit :D

did my ribbon multiply?

Today I spent my day cleaning my craft room where I believe my ribbon stash has been multiplying and so has my stamp collection for that matter. I didn't get to make a card today but tomorrow I'm certain I'll be creating in my nice clean space.

My schooling was put on hold because of a financial aid mix up and I hope to be back on track on the 16th. Craig got his check tonight and it is enough to cover the cost of the truck repairs and the help he got splitting wood last weekend but figuring out how to get groceries and pay any other bills, is another story. But somehow things always seem to work out.

We will definitely be moving away from the boonies in the next year. I can't take the laid back stress anymore and there are no jobs here, so moving back to the big city is the way to go. We miss our family and friends anyway, so we decided it has to happen.

I'm still holding strong on not smoking. I actually have been having such a hard time sleeping because of the medicine (notice the 3am post time) so I started taking only one pill a day and it seems to be working, as in still handling the cravings. I almost stopped taking it all together, but with a friend's prompting she said just cut down and see if I feel the effects after a few days, but quit taking it and there is a huge chance I'll light up again... I chose to take one, I don't want to smoke again.

Have I mentioned my back is still on the mend? Well, it is. And for some reason I thought cleaning my craft room was a brilliant idea (even though it needed to be done) but I'm feeling it tonight. Seems like I just ranted a bit, can't wait to take all this energy out on a card or two tomorrow. Maybe tonight (eeer... this morning) yet, since I AM still up... hopefully the sandman will stop by with a sprinkle or two of the good stuff.

Polka dots, ribbons, pins and PLAID?

Today was an interesting day to say the least. My parents picked Alex up bright and early to go 4-wheeling on the local trails. They were gone almost all day. Craig had to work today so he stayed out of my hair too! What a wonderful day. I created two cards today, well, finished two cards today.

The first card was created for the teapot tuesday challenge on SCS. The real reason I play along with these challenges lately is the destination station posting that accompanies it. This is where the cards will go. Last Tuesday it was a hospital and we sent all sorts of cows and animals for the kids in the burn unit. This week the cause hit a little closer to home. We all sent our cards to a fellow SCS'er who is having a most horrific year. Nothing seems to be going right for her, she is having the same kind of cloudy days I have been. So I most certainly was going to play along, make the best card I could, and try to bring a little bit of happy to this woman's mailbox.

Isn't this just the cutest sewing card you have ever seen? Well, I think sew. I used one of those dollar stamps from Michaels and stamped out those pretty little dresses (one for each of the girls in the MMTPT105 story) and colored them with colored pencil. That stitching detail behind the dresses is another stamp and there is a little secret hiding in those stitches... that is stamped more than once and neither image is the entire thing... confused yet? What I did is overlap the image off the yellow cs so the end of the image was in the center (to hide under the yellow dress) and then reinked the stamp, turned it over, matched up the ends (sorta) and stamped the image.

I created the sentiment and sentiment banner using the computer. I used pink for the font because at this point I realized there was no other pink on the card except for the dress. So pink it was. I trimmed out the banner and glued it down to overlap the yellow cs just a bit in the center.

I have had this ribbon for at least 6 or 7 years and finally, FINALLY, finally found a use for it. I attached a stick pin with a few beads by threading it into and out of the ribbon. That polka dotted background was a scrap and I thought it was a very lucky find.

Ok, now that the good one is out of the way, I'll introduce my less than favorite card of the day. The technique challenge this week was using plaid, not just finding plaid paper, but actually creating plaid on a sillouette stamp. I tried this technique at least a dozen times, threw out at least a dozen tries and almost gave up on ever making something I liked. I was chatting with a friend via email and she just said I should DO IT!

Here is what I created using the plaid technique.

 It is an interesting technique and I have seen many fabulous designs created in the SCS gallery, but not a technique I will probably ever use again.  In the end it did "turn out", but not without struggle. I even titled it so appropriately as: Plaid and I have been fighting for days...

SO TRUE!

To learn more about this plaid technique, you probably shouldn't ask me cause I'm not so good at it.

maybe metal but definitely spots

I saw the CAS (clean and simple) challenge on SCS (Splitcoaststampers.com) was to use spots or polka dots when I was stalking the queen thread last night. Clean and simple is a style I like, it is uncluttered and simple in design or the amount of steps it takes to create the card. I was trying to keep from smoking, take my mind off my back, keep my spirits up, so I stood in my craft room for about fifteen minutes, just looking at everything in there. I was hoping something would just jump out at me. I decided the new swiss dots folder I purchased and some metallic card stock would make up my polka dots. But that is as far as I got with it until I went onto the bugaboo stamps site and found the freebie from friday still available. It is this rockin skelekin and I just had to use him.
I used some cs from a dcwv rockstar stack, the martha stewart silver metallic cs (run through the cuttlebug with the swiss dots folder), an inkadinkado stamp set called rockstar and a few silver star brads. This is the result and I think it's ROCKIN'!

I used a white gel pen to add some highlights to both the image and to the Rockstar sentiment.

Even though it seems like there is more than simple going on, this card took less than 20 minutes, including coloring! I did use my computer to put the shadow behind the image prior to coloring (definite time saver).

With the remaining pieces of cs I decorated the inside, along with another sentiment stamp: you rock! Here is what that looks like:

I really adore how this card came out and can't wait to send it off to someone who will love it just as much. I almost gave it to Alex tonight when he came home from 4-wheeling with the grandparents, but I figured we could save it for one of his buddies maybe. I'd love to know what you think... so leave some comment love I'd love it!

Note to self: If I'd update more often this wouldn't happen!

It has been a rough couple of weeks here in my little world. So I've already taken down a note to self: If I'd update more often this wouldn't happen... this is gunna be a long one!!!

My back and hip are still hurting every day. I have been going to physical therapy and that seems to be working a little, it still hurts more than it should and that doesn't feel very good...My truck is, of course, broken again! Seems like it has been broken since May, oh yeah, it has.

I'm feeling real blue lately and I'm not sure if it is just that I normally self medicate depression with cigarettes and now that I am no longer smoking, I feel it, or if it is just a side effect of the chantix, or if I am just falling into one of those deep depressions I feel at least once a year. What ever it is, it seems as though I just don't care about much anymore. Maybe it is because I feel that no matter what the problem is, there isn't a way for me to fix it, so instead of stressing, I just decided not to stress, I just don't really care. I have been trying to stay busy with the not smoking and the feeling blue though, trying to find something to just keep me occupied.

I've been stamping and making cards. SCS (http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/) has made it much easier to stay preoccupied over the last two week though, they held their dare to get dirty challenge and boy did I dare, and boy did my house get dirty.

The challenge was to create a card/ project to fill 33 different challenges. The challenges were posted starting July 23rd and each day additional challenges were added, equalling 33, and all the products needed to be uploaded and linked by August 1st. Several of the "dirty dozen" or the SCS elite and "dirty dozen alumni" hosted the challenges ranging from sketches to incorporating certain techniques, items and ideas. I tried to combine as many challenges as possible, more for personal challenge than anything else. It takes much longer for me to complete a card if it has more steps, embellishments, and criteria. It kept my mind off of just how bottomless I've been feeling.

The very first card I created for this challenge is for Craig's grandson Jacob. Jacob live fairly far from us and we only get to see him about once a year. He and his mom, Erica, just spent 5 months by themselves because Joe (Craig's son) was off at boot camp. Jacob was a very good boy, for the most part, and I thought he could use a little reward for his good  behavior.

This card was made using several stamps. And although I only linked it to 6 or seven challenges, it qualified for many other ones. The space ship moves from the ground to the moon and back with the use of a slider. It was a very interesting card to make, and figuring out how to make it move, was frustrating but fun. I cut into the black card stock creating two parallel slits approximately 1/2" apart. This was the track. To create the sliding part I used a strip of paper that was approximately 1/8" wide and scored it at 1/2" then folded just eye'd the next fold just about three paper widths from the 1/2" mark and then 1/2" following that fold. I slipped the strip of paper under the track and glued the ends together over the strip. This is where I attached the rocket ship. A piece of black ribbon is attached to the front of the ship to pull toward the moon, and the redish orange sparkle ribbon is attached at the rocket's flame to pull the ship back toward the earth.

I created several other cards these last few weeks.

                                                               

I'm not going to put all the captions in where each card was linked for the challenges, because this is a long, long update already...

And along with these I created two cards for the teapot tuesday challenge to send to a pediatric burn unit at a hospital in Ohio.  The teapot this week was of a cow auctioneer. Here's what I sent:

 

I played along with the sketch challenge this week and created this:

 

I'm thinking of using this layout for a valentine swap and a similar stamp layout, excluding the 2 U and with some color change.  I've still got time to decide.

 

this was created for the inspiration challenge.

And wait, there is more:

This Space shuttle and sky card was created for the featured stamper challenge and I decided to send it to a fellow SCS'r who's grandson is in the hospital. On the inside it says something about how an emergency surgery is a good way to get attention. :D

And Here is the final card of the week:

This was created with a jessicalynnoriginals design. Gave him to the mechanic today. He thought it was real neat.

So there you have it, that is what I have been doing instead of smoking.

Smoking!!!

Have you ever tried to quit smoking? I'm studying just that right now. I have to say I am using aids like chantix but it is still all about will power. And if you know me, I don't own any will power...I'm doing fairly well I've smoked 1/2 a cigarette all day and that is so much better than a whole pack. I can see that BLOW-POP and JOLLY RANCHER will be making money off of this...So with this new goal in mind, I'll lay out the last few weeks here under my rain cloud.

Yesterday we put our dog down, one of them anyway. He was 9 years and 4 months old. His name was Buzz. Buzz was my husband's best friend's dog and when he passed away we decided to take in Buzz. The guys each got dogs out of the same litter and they grew up together. It is sad, but now Craigy is up in heaven with Garp (his parrot) on his shoulder and his dog at his feet. Garp died not long after Craigy passed away, something parrots often do when they lose their long time owner.

My back and hip have been giving me so much trouble, and I even spent the better part of two weeks in and out of the doctor's office, x-rays, MRI's and Physical Therapy. It has been so much fun... (for lack of a better word, I mean clean word, we will use the word fun here... )

The attorney still hasn't decided what is going on with our mortgage. The truck started doing this horrible chugging thing... Alex's blood test results came in and he looks pre-diabetic, Craig's hernia is bothering him, my tooth broke, and I managed to quit smoking on top of all this junk. Along with that, I've got school... all 7 days of the week, no breaks, no weekends, no holidays. My creative juice has kinda got up and went, but I think it is because I hurt and can't really concentrate on anything for very long. All my craft stuff has started to collect dust and that is really sad to me. That stuff loves to be loved, hates to sit and collect dust.

I'm trying to create a card right now, but I have to take it one step at a time. I can stand for a little while but then I have to sit. Then stand a lil more, then sit, then stand, then lay down... then take a pain pill... I've tried not to take too many of those either because I really HATE taking pills. I'd much rather a natural alternative but for pain, there isn't much else but a pill... so pills I take.

If I get the card done yet tonight I'll load it on, otherwise I'll have a reason to write tomorrow... Off to get a Blow pop...or sudociggy... yeah, sudociggy...

All a Flutter

This is my favorite card of the week. I try to make at least one card a day because it is relaxing. This week I decided to post my favorite. This card uses a color combo that I normally wouldn't use. This golden yellow, blue, and turquoise, is a stunning combo though isn't it. Mother nature sure knows what she is doing.

I used a stamp from Northwoods stamps and stamped it twice on white. I colored the entire image with colored pencils on one and just the large butterfly on the other. I cut the image out using my little embroidery scissors. It was a bit tedious, but what an effect! I glued the image down onto the golden yellow cs.

I cut the blue cs into a smaller rectangle to sit in the upper corner and a small triangle to sit at the opposite corner.  Then I attached the entire thing to a piece of MS card stock in the turquoise or aqua blue color. I did the stitching next, using the zig-zag around the image and a straight stitch on the blue.

Once I had the card stitched together, the other butterfly was cut out and glued onto the image by only the body. I finished the card off with a button in opposite corners.

Now, using the same MS card stock, thread, and the same Northwoods stamp I was able to create an entirely different looking card.

I used a piece of embossed cs and cut it into the triangle and stitched the pieces together. I colored the image on white cs with colored pencils just like the previous card, just different colors. I applied the entire image panel to the card and stitched around it using a fancy stitch on my pixie mixed with the a straight stitch around the outside. I used an extra large button and some two sided ribbon to finish it off. I did stick a piece of black cs that had been run through a border punch in the upper corner for interest.

I just find it interesting that using the same supplies the cards produced can be so different.