Wicked - The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz

The day has finally arrived....I'm going to see Wicked tonight with a couple of my bestest friends!! I'm positively giddy with excitement and I'm listening to the soundtrack as I write this post :)

The tickets were a gift for my girlfriend Lisa's birthday, so, in honor of this wonderful occasion, I made an appropriate birthday card and I thought I'd share. Chances are she won't be perusing my blog before tonight so she won't see it!

Try to ignore the fact that the photo is wonky and that I've "borrowed" someone's image for the inside greeting (c'mon...i'm not selling it or anything!)

MFT Sketch & ColourQ challenges

Since it's utterly ridiculous how long it's been since I blogged, I'm not even going to try to defend myself. So much has happened in my life since I posted anything, so perhaps I will update with all that later :)

I needed a few thank you cards, and I have been itching to use my new bold statements stamps from MFT (thanks sissy!) So, I figured I might as well play along with their sketch for this week, #158. In addition, I've followed the suggested color palette from ColourQ #223.

      

I really wasn't loving the burgundy and poppy together, so I stopped forcing myself to use em both and just went with the poppy color. Paper is from random Club Scrap kits & Coredinations (which is sanded). Stamp is MFT Bold Statements. Flowers are cut with MFT's Die-namics :upsy daisy. Modern wallpaper embossing folder by cuttlebug.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to blog more often than every 6 months :)

Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge

I decided to make several of the same card to simplify things a bit. Inspired by sketch #302 at Mojo Monday and a card I saw on Pinterest, I churned out 4 cards very similar to this one. Card base, purple panel & butterfly are all Club Scrap paper. swirl stamp is from a set called Henna by Tia Bennett. Sentiment is Rubber Stampede. Ink is Club Scrap's Amethyst. I added little pearls on the butterfly and swirl with Viva Decor Pearl Pen in Ice White.

Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge

Another Thank You card for my birthday gifts and another outside of my comfort zone! This one follows the sketch provided at Paper Pals Arts...#164 which I took a little creative license with by rotating a quarter turn and changing the placement of the focal image.

Quite a variety of papers & techniques on this. I rummaged through my Club Scrap paper scraps for the 4 strips, then I added washi tape to one, dry embossed 2 (Darice brick wall & honeycomb folders), then inked and added embossing powder to the teal one for shine, just inked the purple, on the pink one, I stamped the hearts w/versamark ink and applied pefect pearls for more shine. The sentiment & heart are from a Hero Arts set called Glow Girl. On the sentiment, I stamped and embossed on plain white cardstock, then embossed with clear powder, then added teal pearl watercolor over top. The partial flower behind it was inked with picked raspberry distress ink and coated with clear embossing powder. Card base is Club Scrap and the panel is a single sheet I bought by Teri Martin called Moments Wash. There is a lot going on on this card and I found it very difficult to accurately capture in a photograph. There is a lot of shine that just isn't coming across in the picture.

My sister Jennifer is likely to see this post before this card finds its way to her mailbox, so I'll send my thankful wishes here across the internet too. 

Play Date Cafe & Friday Mashup Challenges

Continuing on with my Birthday thank you's, here's one that's very different for me. I have tons of patterned paper that I love, but I never seem to reach for it when making a card, so I decided to give it a try.   Following The Play Date Cafe Challenge #191 colors of Cream...Melon...Cantaloupe I used paper from DCWV Ciao Bella to thank a dear bird lovin friend of mine. In addition, I took direction from The Friday Mashup challenge #119 by using their sketch AND using a favorite new stamp set (Melissa J-Flower Fusion #11). I inked just the leaves to make the arrows or chevrons and I turned the sketch 90 degrees right to suit my needs. Sentiment stamp from Club Scrap and the green fiber is from dollar tree. Ink: Tim Holtz Wild honey & a very old Apricot Zig marker that i'm amazed still has any juice!

Again...its possible Farley will see this post before she received the card itself, so Thank you so much!

                 

ColourQ Challenge Thank You

Since I received so many wonderful gifts from all my crafty friends for my birthday, I spent some time yesterday working on proper Thank You's. This one uses a stamp & embossing folder set from Stampin Up  called Wildflower Meadow along with white embossing powder & Tim Holtz yummy distress inks (Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers & Salty Ocean) on plain white cardstock. Sentiment from Rubber Stampede. Lime green card base is from Club Scrap's Culinary kit. 

Since she'll see this post before she receives the actual card...Thank You Nancy for the Stampin Up set!

I used the color palette from ColourQ Challenge # 198

Happy Father's Day

This past Wednesday, June 12, 2013 marked 4 years since I lost the first man I ever loved....my Daddy. I was quite sick on the anniversary and so I wasn't able to properly honor the day, so I'm taking the opportunity of Father's Day to do so. 

The image below is a scan of a photo taken in 1996 (pre-digital) and though the quality is not great, the emotion it conjures is. I simply cannot find the words to express how much I adored this man and how much I miss him every single day. Below is an excerpt from my blog post last June 12, and I think it bears repeating.

If you are fortunate enough to still have your Dad, or a Dad in your life, hug them often and be sure they know how much you love them; you'll be glad you did when they are no longer around.

I'll leave you with a verse to a song that he often sang for no particular reason:

A Bushel And A Peck

I love you a bushel and a peck

A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck

A hug around the neck and a barrel and a heap

A barrel and a heap and I'm talkin' in my sleep

About you, about you

'Cause I love you a bushel and a peck

You bet your purdy neck I do.

Happy Father's Day, Daddy.

Another dear friend is having a birthday!

This dear friend is a major music fan and in particular Carole King. Hope she likes this one :)

I found the image of the 45 online and used the print & cut feature in my Silhouette Studio software.

I also traced and cut the center adapter thing which i inked with Mustard Seed distress ink. The black donut around the adapter was just white cardstock that I inked with Black Soot DI & sprayed with perfect pearl.  

I welded two circles together in the Sil software to make the card base and did another print and cut for the inside circle & greeting. Then, I created a traditional 45 sleeve for the envelope since I'm hand delivering.

The stamps on the sleeve are from a Club Scrap kit called All That Jazz stamped in Club Scrap's Earth ink.

Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday to our dear friend Cliff!!

Looking forward to spending your special day with you and Lisa today!

Advice from a fish: Know when to keep your mouth shut but don't give up without a fight!

It's that time of the year....graduations galore!

Hard to believe, but I'm posting again just a mere 3 days after my last post. And just to show that miracles never cease, I played with paper tonight and made a card!

I'm not really a fan of the green and gold combination, but its Bri's grade school colors! I used my Silhouette studio software to trace an image I found online. I just love this little jumping girl and her high heels! I printed the sentiment onto another piece of the gold/yellow paper and threw a little bling on by adding a jump ring as a bracelet and a couple sparkly gems. The paper is all from Club Scrap, but I honestly don't know what kits.

I'm linking this up to the Freshly Made Sketches blog for their sketch challenge #87.

Thanks for looking!