When life gives you limes...make margaritas!

OK, I know you've heard that saying, "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade" right!?!  Well i am actually partial to this version of it, "when life gives you limes, make margaritas!"  And that my friends is just what I am going to do.  :)

Recently I submitted a few cards to PaperCrafts Magazine Go-to-sketches.  This was not the first time I've submitted, nor will it be my last.  None of them got accepted, but I feel like it is still a fun process and SOME DAY one will get accepted.  Don't worry, you will know when that day comes, I'll be shouting from the rooftops!  Meanwhile, I am having fun making the cards and feel like my abilities are ever-growing. 

If I am honest though, when the acceptance emails go out and I don't get one, I am a little dissappointed.  BUT thanks to Amber at Damask Love, I am turing that frown upside down and looking at the bright side of things, which is why I am participating in Amber's Reject Blog Hop.  Thanks for the pick-me-up Amber, looking forward to MARGARITAS BABY!  :)

Here are a couple of the cards I submitted for the PaperCrafts call, which are now part of this lovely blog hop! I didn't save the original sketches and can't find them at this point, so I made these from memory, I think they are pretty close.

Of course, if I could take a good picture (below- baske CS color is supposed to be Regal Rose) that might make a difference- ha!

Thanks again for the reminder that this is all supposed to be fun Amber!

Have a great day everyone!

 

Thank you!

I just wanted to send out a quick thank you to all that visited me during Jenn's Birthday Blog Hop!   It was a ton of fun and I appreciate getting all of your wonderful comments.  Stop by later today for a new post. :)

Turtles, Turtles, Turtles!

Hey, do you like turtles?  Well I hope so, because if you join us on this blog hop you are going to have the turtle adventure of a lifetime!!!  Why turtles, well because that is the birthday girl- Jennifer Anderson's- fave thing ever!  So this hop is to celebrate Jen's birthday. 

Here is my card dedicated to the lovely Jenn. Hope you like it birthday girl!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENN!!!!

There are 36 stops, that is right 36!   Be sure you hit each one so you have a chance to win all the goodies (must stop at all to be eligable to win). There are lots of prizes!  Our sponsors are: Peachy Keen Stamps, Sarah Pink Cricut, Laruen Devalia Stamps, Jill (scrapbook kits) & Your Memories Here (Prima Kits) & grand prize of 2 Cricut cartridges!  If that is not enough to get you hopping I don't know what is.  Here is the list of all the ladies participating:

1. jenn http://creativearmywife.blogspot.com/

2. LISET http://hailemnat.blogspot.com/

3. kristi http://www.littlepapersprinkles.blogspot.com/

4. erin http://www.spantastikreations.blogspot.com/

5. nicole http://canadiannickelscrapn.blogspot.com/

6. giselle http://crossmyheartpapercrafts.blogspot.com/

7. lauren http://www.laurenscraps.blogspot.com/

8. kristen http://www.pinkldycrafter.blogspot.com/

9.tracy http://luvmybabygirl.blogspot.com/

10.. madison http://www.funkycards.blogspot.com/

11. PAM http://pammejo-scrapbookflair.blogspot.com/

12. kristina http://www.yourmemorieshere.blogspot.com/

13. jess http://www.kinderstampo.com/

14. corri http://www.buglvr.blogspot.com/

15. hailey & rebecca http://www.therockstarbugs.blogspot.com/

16. nicolette http://www.beyondscrapin.blogspot.com/

17. paula http://www.owlbescrappin.com/

18. YOU ARE HERE** katie http://www.kbstamps.blogspot.com/

19. meighen http://scrappin3rdeeschik.blogspot.com/

20. DDscrafts http://craftydeb-ddscrafts.blogspot.com/

21. theresa http://www.thescrapbookingqueen.com/

22. jill http://thescrapoholic.blogspot.com/

23. jennifer http://www.craftycardgallery.blogspot.com/

24. shannon www.purplelionpaper.com/blog

25. alina http://neverstopscrapping.blogspot.com/

26. faith http://faithfulecreations.wordpress.com/

27. sandra http://www.365daysofcricut.blogspot.com/

28. Martha http://pattisscrapingtime.blogspot.com/

29. denise http://deesdesignsfrommyheart.blogspot.com/

30. bonnie http://ascrapabove.blogspot.com/

31. becky http://beckscricards.blogspot.com/

32. gloria http://gloriasgoofycraftspot.blogspot.com/

33. lisa HTTP://bitbythecricutbug.blogspot.com/

34. jessica http://thatzuneek.blogspot.com/

35.christine http://www.scrapbookingtechnique.blogspot.com/

36. Debbie- http://scrapbydebbie.blogspot.com/

So, make sure you hit Meighen's blog next!  Enjoy the hop and thanks for stopping!

Sophisms

I am sorry I haven't posted since the blog hop.  :(  I have really been meaning to, but I just haven't quite gotten to it, but today is the day!  (Every time I say today is the day, I want to finish it off my a Finding Nemo quote..."Today is the day! The sun is shining, the tank is clean and were going to get out of....(GASP) the tanks is clean.  The tank is clean!"  I know, I know, I have watched that movie WAY to many times...)

But before we get to that, I just wanted to share some funny little things my daughter says just for fun.  I like to call them Sophisms.  There are so many I can't remember most of them, but here are some recent ones:
1) "lightsaver"= little yellow glow stick
2) "m'nees"= M&M's
3) "mingos or mangos"= flamingos

And last but not least, my most recetn favorite:

4) "band-aid head" = headband

So the card I am showing you today was inspired by the colors I used.  I wanted to use a couple of different shades of orange (Peach Parfait and Tangerine Tango), brown (Choc Chip), bright blue (Bermuda) and a neutral (White or vanilla).  This is how it turned out, not quite as I'd imagined and it took me about 25 minutes just to figure out the right placement of the ribbon and flower (no really, I was having a hard time with this!!!).  So it isn't perfect, but I like how the blue stands out and that the birds symbolize moving upward "in the direction of your dreams".  I stamped both birds with Bermuda Bay ink, one on BB paper and the other on Bashful Blue so they would stand apart from one another.  I enjoyed using my sewing machine to stitch the different orange peices together.  What are your thoughts?  What could make this better (other than a better picture)?  What would you use it for, a graduation, becoming an entrepeneur?

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful day!

Beautiful Buttons Blog Hop

Welcome to the Denami Designs Beautiful Buttons (any my very first!!!) Blog Hop!  I am so excited to be participating in my first blog hop, so much fun!  I think you should be excited too because....wait for it...there are prizes!  Yep, they are giving away six $20 gift cards to their website!!!  Whoo-hooo!  All you have to do is leave a comment on each of the blogs to win.  You have until 11:59 pm PST on 2/14 to be eligible to win. 

Here is the fun card I made for the hop using my little Denami sheepy. :)  They have the cutest little stamps, especially all the chicks, make sure to check them out.

You should have come here from Ruza's blog (if not, please go back and make sure to visit her).  Next on the list after you've visited me is Melissa so be sure to stop there and leave your comment.  If you've just stopped here by chance and want to start at the beginning of the hop go here. Thanks for stopping by and hope you have fun on the hop!

Top 5

Time is such a funny thing!  Often I feel there is never enough time in the day but other times things seem to move much more slowly then I want them too.  Maybe it is just what I am doing with my time to much of certain things that I "have" to do and not enough time doing what I "want" to do.  Oh well, this is what I've got, so I'll just have to spend it the best way I can right!?!?

There are a few ways that I really love spending my time most.  Here is my top five list:
5. Sleeping.  I know it seems like a waste, but I am ALWAYS tired, so it feels like a good use of time to me.
4. Reading.  A good book is the perfect escape for me when I need it, and it can be done on the bus!
3. Laughing. Laughter is such good medicine, especially when done with friends and family!
2. Crafting.  I love stamping and making cards.  It is a good escape, creativity heals, AND you can easily spread your creations to others and share the job.

1. Loving.  First and foremost on my list is spending time with my family, especially cuddling my hubby and kissing my sweet pea Soph.  Poor girl gets so sick of my kisses! 

So what are the top 5 things you like to do?  Maybe I am missing something I didn't even know was out there!?

While you are here, check out this fun card I made for my friend Jessica for Handmade-Pay-It-Forward-2011.  Jess always makes me laugh, she is a fun, bubbly and predictably- unpredictable person.  She loves all things bright and enjoys sewing.  I think this was the perfect card for her.

Spectrum Stamping

Usually when I am stamping or making cards, my process starts with some product I want to use, like a specific stamp or paper.  Last weekend I  *REALLY* wanted to make something because I had some free time, but I wasn't feeling all that inspired.  What to do?!  Well, in the most recent issue of Stamp It! Magazine, they featured some fun techniques and so I decided to try my hand at a little spectrum stamping. 

I am not sure if I actually "Spectrum Stamped" in the true sense of the word, but I think you can see there is definitely a band of colors here.  When trying to pick out my paper and stamps I went for my Fox & Friends set that hadn't seen the light of day for a while.  It was fun to color and cut these little guys and out and stack them on top of one another.  Now that I think about it, this might be a good thank you card with some sentiment inside like, "thanks for giving me a lift" or "I can really count on you!", that would be cute.  Anyway, here you have it, some funny colored turtles smelling flowers. :)