CAS-ual Friday's Challenge

Just a quick post this evening as I have to get packing.  We are headed to Eastern Washington to visit family over the 4th of July and are leaving tomorrow right after work.  But first, my CAS-ual Friday challenge post!

The deadline for the CAS-ual Friday Challenge is usually on Thursday, but due to the holiday in the US they are bumping it up to Wednesday.  I can't say I blame them, everyone deserves a little time off!  The challenge this week was Hunger Games, all creations must include at least one arrow.  If you've read this book you know that symbolism is represented in not only in the arrow but also in the Mockingjay.  So, I tried to incorporate the bird as well.  Here is what I made.  Pretty CAS for me, the DP covers most of the creation and I embossed the bird.  Other than that I just stamped the sentiment on a banner and added the button and arrow with twine- wahlah!  Hope you likey

On that note, have you read the Hunger Games?  Fab set of books if you like that kind of read.   I myself do.  Since having a kiddo and work, etc. reading offers a little escape, so I mostly like fiction and nothing overly serious or depressing.  Anyway, these were filled with action, imagination and of course the good vs. evil element. I am looking forward to the 2nd movie when it comes out.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for another fun post with some awesome crafty news.... :)

Need a morning chuckle?

Well then I might just have the story for you.... If you aren't interested them scroll down to the last paragraph with today's card.

Yesterday morning at work I was extremely busy putting out "fires" and running here and there.  Well wouldn't you know that one of the shoes I was wearing broke... :(  I tried masking tape, I tried staples, I tried any office supply you could possibly think of, but nothing worked.  Luckily, there is an REI about a mile from work, so I thought I'd drive over on my lunch and get some new flip flops.

Here I pause to tell you that we are having a heat wave here in the Seattle area.  Yesterday we were filled with cautions of Extreme/Excessive Heat Warnings with temperatures possibly into the mid 90s.  OK, laugh if you will  (though this is not the part where you are supposed to chuckle...) but we are fair weather folk here and not used to the extreme weather.  My personal wilting point is about 77 degrees...I honestly think spinach can stand more that that!  Anyhoo, I wasn't about to walk several blocks to my car with one shoe and scorch the bottom of my tender little toes, not to mention that this is a city and well... cities are not the cleanest. 

My co-worker who parked in the garage offered me a ride to my car.  I accepted.  We get there only to find that someone has parked me in...doh!  OK, I write a note, a kind note, asking them to "please be aware of where they park next time as I needed to leave and....."  My pen runs out!  Are you kidding me?!  OK...breathe...find another pen... "...couldn't.  Thanks for your consideration."  I hesitate about putting it under the windsheild wiper as I stand on the searing blacktop, "what if they key my car or slash my tires?"  I decide the note is really quite pleasant and they shouldn't have cause, but take a picture of their license plate just in case. 

Meanwhile, I get back in Carrie's car and it dies.  WHAT?!  OK I am starting to feel like I might be a magnet for bad luck.  Carrie (who didn't sleep all night because of her infant son was up hungry throughout the night) thinks she is out of gas.  Um, seriously!?!  Not that I blame her because gas isn't the biggest priority when you have 800 things to do and only time and energy enough for 5...  We are on a steep hill so she puts it in neutral and backs down and turns the key.... in my head I plead, "please, please, please don't make me have to push the car with no shoes in this heat, please start, please start!"  I am pretty sure Carrie is doing her own silent prayer in her head...and... it does!  YEAH!  She speculate that her tank was so low that it just wasn't registering on the steep hill. 

We drive back and laugh the entire way.   We could have cursenot parked in any longer and there was no damage.  SUCCESS!  Phew, I've made it through another day and have a tale to tell all of you!  (Note- laughter is allowed at this point, really it is allowed at any point, but the part where I compare myself to spinach might be the best place to start!)

d and been mad, I could have cried from frustration, but it really wouldn't have been worth it, so we made a joke of it instead! :)  I just ended up going barefoot for the rest of the day.  I am not sure anyone at work noticed or cared.  I got another ride to my car at the end of the day and it was 

Oh, did you come here for a card?!  I nearly forgot.  Well here is my card for the Pinspired Challenge #12.  These colors are totally fun!  I think my card had the right "feel" for the occassion too.  The picture looks like a wedding reception and here I have someone (perhaps a bridesmaid or guest) toasting in congratulations.  UPDATED: I am also throwing this in the for Color Throwdown Challenge # 249 over on their blog.  Why not right?!

Thanks for stopping and I do hope you have a fabulous day!  I can tell you mine started VERY early but is going swimmingly! :)

Something whimsical

I think earlier this week I promised more red, white and blue cards if you came back.  Well guess what? I am here to deliver on that promise!  I have a card that I just adore that I want so share with you today.  I LOVE the cute digi image from Whimsie Doodles, it is so...well...whimsical! :)  I am so stuck on cute if you hadn't noticed.  I think it is partially to do with my daughter...she is cute and likes cute things.  This particular little image also reminds me a little bit of her.  :)

I have just discovered Whimsie Doodles myself and I am pretty stinkin' happy about that. This particular digi was free, they have quite a few freebies in their library, which is awesome.  I like how that gives you a chance to work with the product before you buy you know.

So this card has a bit of cute but also some shabby chic to it and I like that effect for this card.  I lots of different elements, some that I've been holding onto for a while, like the ribbon and the iridescent pearl paint I added over her shirt for just a little shimmer.  I used my snowflake embossing folder (SU!) because it looks just like fireworks and then brushed it with a darker blue (Brilliant Blue) and that was just the effect I wanted.

I made this for the Whimsie Doodles June Challenge- the theme is Summer Fun.  What is

more summery than The 4th of July here in America?  Not much really!  So this is a perfect fit for that challenge.  The winner of the challenge not only gets a free digi, but is also considered for the Guest DT spot in September, which is super cool!

I am also entering this into the new Challenge over at House of Cards.  The theme is cute and fun and the colors are shown here.  What a lovely insipration photo, and looks yummy too!

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We are the World....

This is my second post today.  If you want to see my earlier post about birthdays...particularly mine...(ha!)...click here.

I have to tell you that I am totally feeling the peace, love and happiness today!  I have been showered with love from lots of friends, family and co-workers.  I am lucky to know so many wonderful people and have them in my life!  That includes all of you out there who leave sweet and encouraging comments on my blog, they mean so much to me, so thank you!

That is what this next card is all about.  It is inspired by this week's Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge.  Check out this brilliant inspiration photo!  I am so very happy to see things like crayons coming out with a more multicultural focus.  Every child needs to be able to envision themselves in their dreams and this is a first step!  Yes, I am getting all serious on you, but it is true....we are all people. 

When I first saw the picture the song "We are the World" popped into my head.  It then made me think of a picture of a globe with all types of children from different cultures and ethdnicities and with different abilities, etc. surrounding it and holding hands.  So that is what I went with.  Now I don't have any little PS kiddos that were the right size, so I used the cute little aliens from the Space Cadet set.  Then, I  used the sentiment from Vegtastic, which says PEAS, love, happiness and changed the word to PEACE using other letters from other PS sentiments.  I finished it off with twine and hearts.  I am super happy with how it turned out, it really catches the feeling I was going for and makes me smile.

Hoping to get a little stamp time in before more birthday festivities begin (currently home alone- a rarity) sooooooo..... thanks for stopping!  Wishing you peace, love and happiness!

Happy Birthday to......

ME!!!!  That's right folks, it is my birthday today and I am gonna have some fun!  My first gift was when my daughter crawled in bed in the middle of the night for some cuddles....aww!  Then she and my hubby woke me up with more kisses and hugs.  Off to work now but only for a half day, then lunch with a friend, followed by craft time and more festivities with the family!  AWESOME!


It is only appropriate that I share a birthday card with you today.  I made it a few days back for the 10 Minute Craft Dash #20 over at Pretty Pink Posh.  I love the colors Paulina chose this round, so vibrant and fun!  So the rules allow you to gather your supplies before you start and here are all of my supplies in an orderly fashion, I even pointed out the most important supply- COFFEE! I have to say, knowing, down to the smallest detail, what you are going do do before hand really helps!  I even made sure I had the matching markers before I started.  (Note: Paulina has tips for the CD here, I just read them for the first time, might have helped me sooner to read them before- ha!)  So here is the card and the time I completed it in.  Ah-mazing! :)

Add caption

Which reminds me, the sentiment is from my new CAS-ual Friday's stamp set Exclamations.  I won that on the last reveal, super awesome and perfect for a birthday card on my birthday!  The elephant is SU! along with the ink, markers and base card stock.  I had the DP in my scrap bin, don't remember who that is from, maybe American Crafts...  Again, don't know the ribbon, but the wood chips are from Freckled Fawn.

So, here is part of the mess afterwards.  I often have to clean up and with a fresh and super clean table (this is my dining room table btw) in order to be able to create anything else.  If not, the jumble on the table becomes a jumble in my mind and me no-likey.

I am thinking about seeing a movie this weekend.  Are there any out there that you've seen and recommend?

Thanks!

First off, in my last post I guess I was being a little bit of a Debbie Downer.  I know we all get frustrated with our crafting (or other) processes from time to time and the key is to not be hard on ourselves.  I just wanted to thank all of you that left such sweet comments to help remind me of that and some tips too!  It is great being part of this blogosphere with all you wonderful people! :)

So, with the 4th of July (US Independance Day) right around the corner, I am seeing red, white and blue everywhere I look!  Check out pinterest and there are tons of decor ideas and in the papercrafting world in general lots of card, scrapbook and other inspiration.  There are a few in particular I have loved this week:

• Some yummy mason jar cakes over at Pretty Pink Posh. 
• Check out this sweet card over at Beachorado, it makes me want to make strawberry jam!
• Super cute cupcake toppers at Lawn Fawn.
• Various super fun DIY stuff on this fun blog.

No, I am not trying to be as cool as Cath over at Moxie Fab (not possible!), just wanted to share a few fun places I've gathered some inspiration in the last few days. :) 

I've also been inspired by this weeks challenge over at The Alley Way Stamps.  Check out this fun image!!!  (BTW- it also makes me want some cookies!  Have any to share?!  No seriously, I am hungry! HA!) Since I now have two of the TAWS sets, one of which I won via a random drawing over there (THANKS Allison!) and the other I purchased because it had a big-foot stamp.  You may remember my post- You had me at Yeti... consequently this is the same post that won me the free set- yeah!  Anyway, I used one of my brand new sets Tropical Hideaway to make this card.  Such a fun set it has the perfect feel for a summery challenge with 4th of July colors.  I used a tag from Basic Grey Kneehighs and Bowties which was perfect for this card. 

I have some more patriotic colors and cards to share this week and next, so please come back by!  Happy almost Friday!

PS- it is release week over at TAWS and Paper Smooches- wahoo!