Coffee or Tea?

Good Morning! One of the main reasons I started my blog was to challenge myself to learn more and do more with a hobby that I loved. I saw all these challenges online that I wanted to participate in and thought that blogging would be a good way to do that. I know I have tried tons more techniques that I wouldn't have, just because they were a challenge requirement. And many of those things (like the center step card below) are things that I really enjoy and help me keep enjoying this hobby that I have invested so much into. I was not at all expecting the friendships that would develop from blogging. I would have never thought that people that I only knew online could end up being such good friends. I have met people that have encouraged me, wished me well, made me smile and opened their lives to me enough to allow me to encourage them, pray for them during hard times, send cards to their loved ones when needed and hopefully I have passed on a least as many smiles as I have been given.

A couple of online friends and I have exchanged little goodie boxes on occasion and this card is going into one such box. Most people I know are either coffee people or tea people. I love both equally. My friend that is getting this card is the same way, I think she loves both with the same amount of gusto as I do! So I have put together a little goodie box of some interesting teas and coffees I have found that I want to share. Since the box is full of coffees and teas, I wanted to use an image that went along with that and found this one that my real life friend Angela gave to me a long time ago for my birthday. It is a set from My Favorite Things called Tea for Two. The image was colored with Copic markers, the paper is DCWV I think, and I added some chipboard letters, and photo turns from my stash.

And I want to say a huge THANKK YOU to all of my online friends. In my last post I mentioned that I had hurt my back and I got so many sweet comments and emails wishing me quick healing and I wanted to let you know that they all mean a lot to me. I am recovering now and am almost back to normal.

Cupcakes Make Everything Better

Right now, I could use one of those giant cupcakes that Flopsy is holding! You know sometimes, you just have those days and this week has been full of them. I thought this cute little Flopsy could make me feel better and I think it may have worked a little. I have several Flopsy stamps from My Favorite Things. but this was an image that was sent to me by Mandy. She was kind enough to stamp me several images so I could try some stamps from some different companies. I colored Flopsy with Copic markers and used glitter to cover the cupcake. I made some sprinkles with some micro glass beads that I purchased from Michael's a long time ago.  I haven't decided if this is going to be a birthday card or if it may become a cheer up card. I usually wait to add my sentiments until I am ready to send my cards anyway. I used some fibers from my stash, the paper and card stock are from  DCWV.

One Sad Little Girl

There was one sad little girl that got off the bus this afternoon. My friend's daughters stay with me after school every afternoon and have for the past several years. You know how if you are around a kid for a while you can tell by the way they get off the bus how their day went? I could tell as soon as I saw Samantha this afternoon that she was not a happy camper. She handed me a wadded up piece of paper to read as soon as she got in. Their school participates in the Accelerated Reader Program, the students earn points by reading books and then taking tests on the computer. She is six and in the first grade so this s her first year participating in the program. There are prizes earned for different point levels and she has been working so hard to earn the fifty points needed to receive a t-shirt. The best part of having the t-shirt is that once you have earned one you can wear your t-shirts on AR assembly days and be out of dress code. The cut off day for taking tests and earning points was Friday. The wadded up piece of paper was her final point tally of 49.6 points. Less than half a point away from her goal. Later she told her mom that a card from me would make her feel better so this is the card that she will get tomorrow. I used MFT's What's the Story Flopsy and made a card that I know she will love. When she makes cards she like to use the ticket corner punch and the acrylic drops and I also used some orange which is one of her favorite colors. Paper is DCWV and Flopsy was colored with Prisma markers.  Thanks for checking in tonight!

Thanks a Latte

I hope everyone had a great weekend. We certainly did. I was off from both jobs on Friday and Kip was off on Saturday and only had to work a couple of hours on Sunday. It was so nice. Our schedules haven't been lining up too well over the past couple of months so this weekend was a very welcome surprise. On Saturday we slept in, very late (until the phone rang!!) and then met my in-laws for an early lunch. I wish everyone that I know had in-laws as great as mine are. My mother-in-law was on a trip recently and brought me back a pretty bracelet that she gave me at lunch. After lunch, we went to Hobby Lobby and looked around for a bit and then rejoined the in-laws and our niece and nephew for a movie. Against my will, we went and saw Race to Witch Mountain, which was a remake of a movie that I remember seeing and enjoying as a child. I was really shocked that I enjoyed this movie as much as I did, it was pretty good. The only reason I didn't want to see it was that it was a remake. But since I think it was the only PG movie, I agreed to give it a try. The theatre is in front of Jo-Anns, and I got Kip to agree that I could go shopping if the movie was bad! We got to spend a lot of much needed time together so I ignored the computer most of the weekend. I did manage to get in some crafting time, but the computer stayed off for the most part. 

My card tonight used the MFT set Hot Stuff. I picked this background paper from DCWV and decided to use the colors of the dots for my accent colors rather than trying to match the pink. I think I like the way it turned out. The image was stamped with the black Memento ink and then the sentiment and the coffee beans were stamped with the Memento brown ink. I colored the woman with Copics and Prisma markers. My ribbon is from Hobby Lobby.

Mom update: She is home for the hospital and there is someone coming to the house to help with her physical therapy. She is still in a lot of pain but when I talked with her today she said the thought she was going to live. I asked if Dad was taking good care of her and she said he was waiting on her and then she said that she thought it make take a very long time to recover! Thanks for your well wishes.

Stamp Something Challenge

This week the challenge at Stamp Something was to stamp something! This week's challenge was issued by Kim from My Favorite Things. This is one of my favorite stamps from MFT. Sadly, this is not one I own. Yet. I love crafting with my friend Angela who is so kind to share with me. I love all of them but this one is at the top of the list. I colored the image with a mix of Prisma markers and Copics. The snow on the ground and on the snowman is some glitter that I got at Hobby Lobby's Make it Christmas area last year. It is so thick and chunky that the only thing I like it from is snow. I covered the ground and the snowman with Glossy Accents and then poured glitter on the ground and then lightly sprinkled the snowman. The snow falling from the sky is Liquid Applique, as are the snowman's arms and his chunks of "coal". All the paper is from DCWV. The snowflake brads are from The Paper Studio. Thanks for looking at my card!

Samantha really enjoys looking at my blog. She is six and thinks it is amazing that she can see things in the craft room and then also see them on the computer. I think she checks out my blog more often than anyone else and it is one of the first things she wants to do when she comes in from school. She spent most of the day with us on Saturday and this is her treasure box that she made. We got the real shells at HL. She mixed about six different colors to paint her water and we also used some die cut fish. Now she will be happy to see her artwork on here!

Paper Piecing

This was my first attempt at paper piecing. I have seen a lot of cards made using this technique and I have been wanting to try it. I love the look but was a little intimidated because I don't really enjoy cutting out small things. I thought this My Favorite Things stamp set would be great to start with, it's not too small. I stamped the image and sentiment with Brilliance ink and colored in the coffee mug and arms with Copic markers. The paper on the dress and the background paper are both from DCWV. The pink is from a box of DCWV pre-made cards, the spring collection, I think. The brads are from Jo-Ann's they were in a larger pack with a lot of bright colors. Pretty simple, but I liked it. It is something that I think I will do again.

I have learned an important lesson; never agree to do something without getting very clear details of what your involvement with be and get it in writing! Don't take anyone at their word when they say three songs and add the words "maybe a couple more"! Three plus a couple does not equal twelve or thirteen. I am trying to learn all these songs and (gulp) learn them before Saturday morning. Fortunately someone took a couple of hours out of their busy schedule today to help me, so I am not feeling quite as sick about it. He also talked his wife into helping me with a couple of the songs too. Have a great week!