Unusual Alice Challenge

I have been having fun playing along with the challenges on the Poisoned Peas blog. They do make me think and go outside of what I normally make. The current challenge is to make a project with an "Unusual Alice". Well that sent me on a search because I don't have any Alice in Wonderland images and I found a shop on Etsy that had some awesome images, including an Alice inspired set! The name of the shop is The Octopode Factory. For my card, I painted a piece of white card stock using blue, black and white paints. After getting all of my color laid down, I went through the wet paint with a paintbrush to make the swirl design. I couldn't really think of embellishments to use so I just added some square rhinestones on the outer circle. Images are colored with Copics.

Thanks for stopping by!

Riley and Sophie on Vacation

I am  so glad the weekend is finally here! Since I was out of town last weekend and on the road so much, it felt like I didn't have a weekend, that makes this one even better. Kip is out of town on business and my plans for today pretty much include me, my Copics and a huge stack of images! The challenge this week on the Riley and Company blog is Riley/Sophie on Vacation. I know I would love a trip the beach about now, so I made a beach/water themed card to represent their vacation. Bikini Sophie and Fins Riley images are from Riley and Company and were colored with Copics, I used papers from Bo Bunny, a Fiskars wave punch and some brads from my stash.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope someone can help me with a problem I have had commenting on some blogs. It isn't all of them, but several blogs that I have been reading and commenting on as well as some new ones. Normally when you go to the comment area, below the comment box there is something along the lines of "you are commenting as (in my case) Gina Lindsay. If I am not signed in there will be a drop down box that allows me to select a profile and then I can sign in from there. Over the past couple of weeks I have been to several blogs it has that "select a profile" drop down box, even if I am signed in, but it will not allow me to select anything. And since I can't select a profile, I cannot leave a comment. Most blogs I read I am not having this problem with, only about 7 or 8 of them. If I sign in with my same log in info and try to read or comment on these same blogs on my iPad, I don't have any issues, it is only happening on my desktop machine. Does anyone else have this problem or can you tell me how to fix it?

Thanks!

Birthday Cupcake

Good Morning! Over the weekend, I went to South Carolina for a family reunion and got back home late on Monday night. I had a great time! I have lots of needs for birthday cards in July and August so I am trying to get a little ahead so I don't have to buy any cards. I love this image from Michelle Perkett, it is just one of those images that I know I will use over and over again. It's colored with Copics and I used DCWV papers and some brads from my stash.

I drove to my parent's on Friday and got to celebrate the birthday of my niece, Zoie. I can't believe that girl is 14 already and starting high school this fall. From there I rode with my parents to the reunion in South Carolina. The reunion is my paternal Grandfather's family. We also have other family in the area so and we were able to visit them too. Unfortunately, both of my Grandfather's brothers are in the hospital and were unable to make it to the reunion. Missing the reunion was very upsetting to them both, but we went to visit them too.

This is a picture of my granddad "Papa Bill" and my Aunt Ella. She was celebrating her 90th birthday on Sunday while we were there. I love this picture, Bill is a HUGE cut up (it runs in the family) but in photos, he often looks like he is posing for American Gothic. I love that I got a great picture looking the way that we normally see him! My Aunt Ella was married to my great uncle Martin. I love that woman. She has a beautiful soul, and is one of the most amazing people I have ever met in my life. Being around her, just makes me want to be a better person. She has always provided an example of a true southern lady; always welcoming, always has something to offer you to eat, helping others any way she was able and an inner strength, strong as steel. She always makes me want to be a better person, not by shining a light on my imperfections, but by helping me see the good in myself. And she has that effect on everyone she meets. As I said, I just love that woman and one day hope I can be like her. 

Christmas in July

Happy Friday! I am playing along with the Riley and Company challenge today, which is Christmas in July. Every year I say I am going to get an early start on my Christmas cards and every year I wait until the last minute. Except this year! Thanks to challenges like this and thanks to the monthly Copic class I teach wanting to do a Christmas card a month, I actually have a nice start on my cards. I used Snow Globe Riley for my card and colored the image with Copics. I used paper from Basic Gray, snowflakes from a Martha Stewart punch and some little acrylic drops from my stash. 

I am excited for the weekend to finally be here. No huge canning sessions for me this weekend though, I will be attending a family reunion. Poor Kip has to work so he will be stuck at home on his computer all weekend while I travel to South Carolina, after making a pit stop in Cleveland for my niece's birthday. Growing up, my family went to this reunion almost every year, and my parents still go, but it has been a number of years since I have been. When my Grandmother passed away in 2000, as many of us as possible went to the reunion with him that next summer since it was his first time to go in about 55 years without my Grandmother. Life gets crazy and since I live almost 7 hours away, so I haven't been since then. The timing worked out great this year and my boss was kind enough to give me an extra day or two off so I am able to go. I am excited to get to see people I haven't seen in a while!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Watermelon Card

Good Morning! I hope your week is going great for you. I am having a pretty good one myself. I remember when I was a young girl, during the summers we would often stop by a fruit stand on the way home from church on Sunday nights. We would stop by my grandparents and share with them. I remember it being something to really look forward to, sitting under their big tree in the front yard, eating watermelon, juice dripping down my face and arms and just being so happy. Happy in a way that belongs only to children with no cares. Then as it would get dark my sister and I, and later our brother would run around the yard chasing lightening bugs. Now, I love watermelon for the taste of it, but I also love images of watermelons and they never fail to make me smile and remember eating watermelons at my grandparents'. I love this image from Pholkart Blessings, I love that the slice of watermelon, especially the size of it! I also like images of ants, but don't have any fond memories of ants and food! Image is colored with Copic markers, paper is from The Paper Studio, little black pearls are from my stash and the letters we cut out from a Sizzix alphabet set. 

Have a great day!

Card Cupids Challenge

Good morning! It is time for the Card Cupids mid month challenge. For this challenge, we have a brand new sponsor, Wings and Willows. Lots of cute images in her shop, you should check it out. The challenge is "WINGS" and I chose to use this image called Rainy Day. We would love for you to play along with our challenge and help brighten the day of a child by dropping your card in the mail. Remember the challenge is "Wings" and you can interpret that any way you like!  Image is colored with Copics, with some Glossy accents, papers are DCWV and brads from my stash.

I hope you are having a great weekend. Mine has been pretty awesome. I went to a crop on Friday night and had lots of time to color and visit with some friends and met some new one too. The rest of the weekend has been all about canning! I bought a case of cherries at Whole Foods the other day so I have been pitting cherries for seems like forever! I have also made Strawberry Jam, Strawberry Margarita Jam, Plum Jam, some Cherry Limeade Concentrate and then canned the rest of my cherries so that they can become pies, cobblers or whatever later.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Patriotic Riley

Good Morning! I am getting a late start posting today. I am going to a crop tonight and know I will be out later than normal so I slept in this morning. I have a patriotic card that I meant to post over the week of the 4th, but it slipped my mind. I guess now it is in honor of the upcoming Olympics. Maybe since Riley heard all the uproar about the US Olympians wearing uniforms (uniforms, outfits, can't remember what they are called) that were made in China rather than in our country, so Riley is going all natural for the opening ceremonies. Grand Ole Flag Riley is from Riley and Company, it was colored with Copic markers, used buttons from a "Dress then Up" pack and used paper from The Paper Studio.

Now I am off to Whole Foods to take advantage of their one day sale on cherries. Then back home to pit said cherries and can them.

Have a great weekend!

Sweet Pea Card

Good Morning! I am so happy that we got some much needed rain last night, but not so happy about the broken tree limbs and tomato plants. The rain did cool off the scorching heat, and I think it is supposed to be a little cooler for the next few days. That's a very good thing, especially since I will be cleaning up the yard this afternoon!

I have been able to spend a lot of time lately playing with my Copics and decided to make some cards out of all those images. This image is from  Sweet Pea Stamps and was colored with Copics. I used paper from The Paper Studio, ribbon from my stash, and the jeweled butterfly is from K & Co. The image is from Rachel Anderson and is called Queen of Hearts. She is one of my favorite artists from Sweet Pea Stamps, I just love everything she has done.

Well, I am off to work now, have a great day!

Dressing Riley Challenge

Happy Monday! I have had a such a busy weekend that it will almost be relaxing to return to work this morning. I did manage to sneak in some time at my craft table so all is good. I have found that missing too much creative time makes me a little grumpy. I decided to pay along with the challenge on the Riley and Company blog this week. The challenge is called "Dressing Riley" and the challenge was to use a Riley and actually draw in his clothing. Now, that's a challenge! Drawing isn't something that I do that often and usually I am not too happy with the results, but I am happy with this one. I had just gotten this stamp in the mail and decided he would look great with some plaid pants, after that I just drew in some lines for his shirt and then colored everything with Copics. I really liked the way this turned out, hope you do too!

I found a good deal on peaches the other day and decided to buy a bushel. So I spent the weekend peeling, slicing and dicing peaches. I made peach jam, raspberry peach jam, canned some jars of sliced peaches and made a ton of peach popsicles. I also went with my SIL to pick blackberries, that will hopefully be jam later today. Blackberries are probably my favorite thing in the entire world. I remember when I was a little girl my favorite treat to eat at my grandmothers was a "peanut butter pocketbook" which was a piece of bread with some peanut butter and a lot of blackberry jam and then folded in half. Who knows where I came up with that name, but I named EVERYTHING when I was little. I have always been a little "unique". I named all my clothes too, so it was never just "where is my pink gown" it would be "where is my Cedric gown?". Everything had a name. Hmmm, I think I may know why my parents had me tested after I started school. I am not sure how I didn't drive them nuts!

Here is a picture of the weekend's work: