Throwback Thursday and a Little Update

Hey Everyone!! I have been a little MIA as of late. I do not have any air conditioning in my craft room and it was really HOT for a couple of weeks. Heat does not make me want to craft!! I am hoping to rectify this next year but right now it is pretty steamy.

Today I am sharing a photo of Charlotte and my father that was taken a few years ago. My father just had knee replacement surgery on Tuesday so that has been on my mind. So far he is doing all right. It always scares me to have him in the hospital because a few years ago he almost died from a really serious infection.

Charlotte and I spent a long weekend at my Aunt's house this past weekend. Her house is on Lake Champlain and it is one of the most peaceful places to visit. Charlotte went tubing for the first time ever and I even had a chance to go too.

One of my cousins lives there too and we had so much fun spending time with her children. I love that we can not see them for so long but how the kids love to be with each other when they do. All my childhood vacations were spent seeing family and staying with my Aunt and then staying at a different Uncle's. They were some of the happiest times and it is fun to laugh about it now. I was a HORRIBLE child-very fresh and not well behaved, especially on vacation, so there are a lot of stories!!

My Aunt took me to a flea market and then to some antique shops while I was there. I bought some depression glass at the flea market but the antique store was a bit to pricey for my blood-especially when a few pieces I saw at the antique store I had gotten from the flea market for so much cheaper!!

On Sunday, my Aunt drove around the town so Charlotte could get some Pokemon for her Pokemon Go game. I just love this woman!! No one else would have done this and she was so excited every time Charlotte caught one. I had fun seeing the town. I so wish I could live there!!

We were supposed to come home on Sunday but decided to stay an extra night and play BINGO. This was something that we used to do as kids when we came up to my Aunt's. We would go with her and my grandmother. I wanted Charlotte to have this same experience. It was always so much fun!!

Unfortunately I did not win anything but my Aunt did! Charlotte was one away from winning $1000! It was a "special" game where you had to cover the entire card. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

All this nostalgia has made me think about the past. My Aunt and I stayed up until 3:30 in the morning talking the first night I was there. She and my mother were extremely close and when I visit her, we always wind up talking about my mom. It just makes me miss my mother so much. I don't think about her daily but as I get closer to the age that my mom died, I think about her a lot more. It is hard to believe that she died almost 24 years ago. I still have so much guilt about so much that I did when I was young and I didn't have time to make any of it up to her. It is so hard to let it go.

So that is about it. Though I have not been blogging myself, every few days I do try to look at all my favorite bloggers. I try to leave a post when I visit. I will not be able to next week as we will be busy but I will be back the next.

I thank you for stopping by. Have a fabulous day!!

Stampin Smiles Designs Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge #15

It is August 1st so that means a new Stamping Smiles Design Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge!! It is Challenge #15 and this badge is fantastic. I don't know how Ka does it but each badge gets better and better!!

I decided to chose the middle row across for my project-word dies, sparkle and color blocking.

I went for a very simple design for my card this time. I also decided that I was only going to use minimal stamping. Rarely do I do this so this, in itself, just added to the challenge.

I started off by die cutting Pretty Pink Posh's "Storybook #1" die out of scraps of Black Bazzill, "Terracotta Tile," "Raspberry Fizz," and Aqua card stock. I trimmed the black panel, inlaid the different color die cuts inside like a puzzle and taped it on back so all the pieces would stay together.

I then adhered my color blocked rectangle to the center of a gray, A2 sized, top folding card. I used Mama Elephant's "Happy Script" die to die cut the word sentiment out of Die Cuts With a View silver sparkle paper.

I adhered the "happy" to the card. The last step was to add a strip of white card stock that I had stamped a sentiment from Mama Elephant's "Happy Everything" set in black over the die cut using foam adhesive.

I toyed with adding sequins but decided to just stop. Sometimes I can get carried away when a CAS is best.

I hope you hop on over to Stamping Smiles Designs Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge Blog to play with us. I cannot wait to see what you create!!

Thank you for stopping by. Have a fabulous day!!

Supplies;
Paper-Stamping Up! Gray, PaperTrey Ink "Raspberry Fizz" and "Terracotta Tile," Bazzill Black and Aqua, Hobby Lobby White Card stock, Die Cuts With a View-" "Glitzy Glitter" stack
Dies-Pretty Pink Posh "Storybook #1," Mama Elephant "Happy"
Other-Memento Tuxedo Black Dye Ink, Big Shot, Foam Adhesive, ATG Adhesive, Ranger Multi Matte

Inspiration for Stamping Smiles Designs Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge #14

Happy Thursday everyone!! I cannot believe that July is almost over!! Where has the summer gone?

I just wanted to let you know that it is my turn over at the Stamping Smiles Design Blog for a little inspiration for Challenge #14.

So far this badge has been MY FAVORITE!! Hop on over to see what I created. There is still time to play if you have not already.

Have a fabulous day!!

CAS-ual Fridays Inspiration

Happy Hump Day!!

It is my turn for inspiration over at CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog. I am sharing a card that I created using CAS-ual Fridays Stamps "Bring On the Snowflakes" stamp set with "Snowy Sayings." I decided to go with a "Christmas in July" theme.

I wanted to do something extremely simple because most people make Christmas cards in bulk and like easy designs. I decided to add some small elements like sequins and silver thread to jazz it up a bit, to make the card seem like it took longer to make then it did.

I started off by stamping the snowflakes from both CAS-ual Fridays stamp sets randomly with two different green inks and a gray dye ink onto a white card stock base measuring 4 1/4" by 5 1/2."

I then stamped the sentiment from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps "Snowy Sayings" with black archival ink. I trimmed the panel 1/8" on the top and on the the right side and wrapped silver thread along the top before adhering it to a gray card stock base.

My last step was to adhere sequins in different sizes in green, silver and clear to the middle of random snowflakes. Totally easy but I think the effect is so pretty!! This card would be really easy to make in stages, as well as in bulk. You could have all your home made holiday cards done in no time!

I thank you for taking the time to stop by. Have a wonderful day!!

Toodles!

Supplies:

Stamps-CAS-ual Friday Stamps-"Bring On the Snowflakes" and "Snowy Sayings"

Paper-White-Hobby Lobby, Gray-Stamping Up!

Inks-Hero Arts "Green Hills," Simon Says Stamp! "Green Leaf," WPlus9 "Silver Lining" and Ranger Archival "Jet Black"

Other-DMC Silver thread, Sequins

A Day Late and a Dollar Short for the MFT Camp Create Challenge: Inlaid Made Easy and our 20th Wedding Anniversary

Happy Saturday!! It is hotter then anything here and the humidity is AWFUL. I am spending the day in my craft room and then will be going out to dinner later with another couple. We rarely do this and am excited about it.

We went away for the day to NYC on Wednesday for our 20th Anniversary. We walked over 10 miles (plus took the subway) and my feet are still recovering. Note to self-wear sneakers even if you don't think they look good!!

Comfort is better then fashion!! I have blisters in places that I have never had them before.

This is Chris and I on our way home from our day. One of the things we did was to visit both the 9/11 Memorial Museum and the reflecting pools outside.

I have to say, I was really impressed with both. The museum was understated and powerful. It gave you time to roam around, stop and think about what you were seeing. Since it was a Wednesday, it was not terribly crowded either. Made me sad because I still remember this event so clearly but I thought the memorial was well done.

My camera on my phone is not working correctly so I did not get a ton of photos on this day. Kind of disappoints me-not that I would have taken a lot in the museum anyway. I wanted to take it all in and be present. However, I do like to get shots of fun things we see.

Okay, now on to my card!! I created for this card for MFT's Camp Create: Inlaid Made Easy. Makes me mad because I had this card completed BEFORE the deadline but just was too tired to photograph it. Ugg!!

I started off by die cutting a piece of Bristol Board with MFT's "Chunky Chevron Cover Up" die and  using foam adhesive on the back to adhere it to a white, top folding A2 sized card base. I took all the tiny chevrons and misted them with Heidi Swapp "Teal," "Tinsel" and "Gold" Colorshine, as well as a "Picket Fence" Distress Stain.

While the little pieces of chevron were drying, I adhered sequins in random empty chevrons on the card front. Using a "Blueprints 13" die-namics, I die cut my sentiment strip out of MFT "Berrylicous" card stock and used Hero Arts "Soft Granite" ink with a stamp from MFT's "About Sympathy" stamp set. Try to say all that fast!! I also die cut the hearts using MFT's "Staggered Heart Border" dies.

When the misted chevrons were dry, I did a bit of inlaying-both with foam tape and without-in random empty places on the card front.

The last step was to adhere the sentiment and the hearts, as well as using Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents on top of the "Berrylicious" heart.

This was fun to do but not sure I would be using this technique often. It takes a lot of time and a bit of effort to create a card. I am just to lazy to make this kind of effort for every card!!

Well, again, this was for My Favorite Things Camp Create: Inlaid Made Easy day.

 

Thank you for taking the time to stop by. Stay cool and enjoy the rest of your Saturday!!