Flowers in a Teacup Card and Accident Update

Coffee of the Day - Marzipan

I must begun today's post by thanking all of you for the very kind and lovely comments you left yesterday about Tyler's accident, as well as the wonderful email messages I received. I have said it before, and I will say it again - y'all are the BEST! :)

Tyler took the day off from classes. His professors were very understanding, which meant a lot to me. His head bothered him for most of the day. He'll have a bit of a knot and abrasion, but so very thankful that is all. the 'what could have beens' are frightening. Thank You, God, for keeping my son safe!

our poor vehicle has been claimed as totalled by the repair shop. so Dave is perusing Craigslist for another for us. until then he'll work from home as he can until the group comes to Camp this weekend. Tyler's car has been repaired enough to get him to classes and back until they can work on it more and an ordered part arrives.

now on to something MUCH more fun! :)

I'm sharing the last of cards I made while on my blogging hiatus. This one was made for a very dear friend who had been quite ill.

image is by A Day for Daisies and was paper pieced. papers are from the Basic Grey Prism collection, flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts, banner die, punch, & sentiment stamp are SU!, buttons are vintage, and that fab rhinestone flourish is by ZVA Creative. some faux stitching was added with a white gel pen and distress stickles to the flower centers. a doily mats the main image. a little snippet of pink grosgrain ribbon completes the project.

again, thanks to all of you for your love and concern! if I don't see you back here before then, pop back on Friday for the Fall Coffee Lover's Blog Hop! :)

p.s. you can not only get a sneak preview of my 1st card for the coffee hop, but also pick up a great free sentiment to use if you head over to Create With TLC! :)

Challenges:
Craft Your Passion - anything goes
TTCRD - anything goes
Crafty Cardmakers - make it sparkle (rhinestones & stickles)
Glitter 'n Sparkle - use a punch or die cut (both: punch-tiny sentiment banner, dies lg. banner & main image)
Allsorts - sparkle (rhinestones & stickles)
Speedy Fox - banners
Suzy Bee;s Bloomin' Ch - vintage shabby chic
Catch the Bug - bingo: bling, player's choice (flowers), paper piecing
Wags 'n Whiskers - glitter and sparkle (rhinestones & stickles)
CRAFT - add some bling (rhinestones & stickles)

Enjoy Life Paper Doll

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice

Today's post is a bittersweet one for me. The card was supposed to be published. sadly, the magazine not only closed down before publication, but my cards were lost. They were supposed to be returned to me, but I never received them. so this photo is all I have left of all my hard work. :(  I will share the other card tomorrow.

The paper doll pieces are by A Day for Daisies. I don't think Tammy ever added them to her shop. she did add complete dolls though, so you can find some similar to this one and the one I post tomorrow. digital paper and elements are from the Basic Grey Out of Print collection. the doll itself was paper pieced and then lightly inked. dress was paper pieced as well with highlights added using both a wink of stella clear glitter pen and black spica glitter pen.

flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and Prima. the card base was created by using a Prima stencil (LOVE this doily!!!) and pink glimmer mist. trim is Prima also. all buttons and button card are vintage. the sentiment is from SRM Stickers.

I loved playing with paper dolls when I was a young girl. I hope you enjoy this card I have made. :)

Challenges:
Word Art Wed - anything encouraging (Congrats on Celebration!)
Little Red Wagon - digi do
Kraftin' Kimmie's Wonderful Wed - anything goes
Fan-tastic Tues - make it feminine and square or rectangle
Crafting From the Heart - anything goes
Love to Scrap - do a double take (I think I have 4 patterned papers here...)
Not Just Cards - anything goes
Stempelsonne - anything goes
Aud Sentiment - anything goes plus a sentiment
Hanna and Friends - use kraft cs
Fab 'n Funky - shabby chic (my fave!)

Quirky Rosettes Guest Designer - It's a Sweet Summer!

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice (because it's my all time fave!)

first of all, Happy Father's Day to all of the dads, grandpas, uncles, and single moms who have had to be all of the above.... days like this I miss my dad like crazy, but am so very thankful for the short time we had together and the wonderful example Dave is to our sons! :)

For my card today, I was asked to be a Guest Designer over at Quirky Crafts. the theme for the new challenge is 'Quirky Rosettes.' now I had never in my life made a rosette, so okay, challenge here we come! ;)

Thankfully I had a die I had never used before (shock! horrors! none of you have any of those, do you?!?) to the rescue marches the Tim Holtz mini snowflake rosette die. I know you are thinking, snowflakes? in the middle of summer? well, hey. it's all I had. so this gal was gonna make do!

I was provided this cutey pie image, 'Siannie,' by Kaz Kraftz at Stitchy Bear Digi Outlet. all of the papers and elements are from the Echo Park Country Drive collection.  her little dress was paper pieced, while the edges of each rosette were covered in stickles. her socks & the flowers in her hair were painted with shimmerz. buttons are from my stash, and flowers are an assortment of Wild Orchid Crafts & misc.  a doily peaks out from behind the main image.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I'll have my blog candy up in just a bit. :)

Challenges:
Sweet Sketch Wed - sketch
Double Click Skittles - summer fun
A Gem of a Challenge - summertime
Di's Digi Ch - summer fun
Really Reasonable Ribbon - sizzlin' summer colors
The Stamping Boutique - summer fun
Aud Sentiments - summertime sentiment
Hanna & Friends - in the garden
Crafting By Designs - summertime fun
Inky Impressions - summertime
Crafting Musketeers - Shades of Summer
Crafty Time Ch - girls, girls, girls
Lia Stampz - anything goes
Craft Your Passion - anything goes
Love to Scrap - anything goes
Melonheadz - bright colors
Stamp and Create - summer fun
613 Avenue Create - anything goes with optional sights, tastes, and sounds of summer (flowers & butterflies from sights column; child from sounds column)

Thanks a Latte!

Coffee of the Day - Sweet Potato

Crossing another card off of my 'honey do' list, and of course this one was loads of fun to make! :)

Some very special friends of ours sent me a most delicious package of coffee a little bit ago, so I wanted to make a coffee themed thank you card for them. Out came a stamp I had not used in ages - one of the cutey Riley & Co. moose stamps.

papers are from the Basic Grey Hey Boy collection, sentiment is from the My Favorite Things Perk Up set (another from this great set is stamped inside), flowers are a combo of Prima and Wild Orchid Crafts, linen thread is SU!,  and wood veneer pieces are by Latina Crafter. a Starbucks coffee cozy was re-purposed for a bit of fun! :)

a word of caution with these particular wood veneer pieces - as cute as they are, they are VERY THIN. the first banner I used broke apart just from trying to put glue on the back. quite flimsy. cute, but not easy to use. for the bigger pieces, it's not a big deal, but tricky with the banner. I decided to use foam pop ups on this one, just on the ends, to minimize the amount of handling required. it still almost broke apart. I'm a bit worried about how it is going to do going through the mail, even with all of the bubble wrap I added. crossing my fingers. I would recommend hand delivery for the future.

Hope you have a great weekend! :)

Challenges:
Digi Sketch - sketch with animals twist (both)
4 Crafty Chicks - chevrons
WAW - anything encouraging goes
Loves Rubberstamps - add a sentiment
Crafting From the Heart - anything goes
Craft Your Passion - anything goes
Make My Monday - coffee or tea
Not Just Cards - anything goes
613 Avenue Create - anything goes with celebration twist (only used a/g)
Pile it On - cute animal
Scribble and Scrap - anything goes
Chocolate, Coffee, and Cards - thank you
Wags 'n Whiskers - lots of layers
Crafts 4 Eternity - wood (veneer pieces)

Hello, Friend! ATC

Coffee of the Day - Vanilla Caramel Hazelnut

Hello, Friend! that is the theme of my post today! :)

I have been trying to do a bit of crafting here and there when I can. thank you once again for all of you leaving such wonderfully kind posts about my yuck-o seizures. they haven't let up any yet, but I am trying to not let them get the best of me. not always easy when it feels as if I'm on a permanent brain freeze along with 10 bajillion volts of electricity running through my body, but hey, we do what we can to get through the day. :)

thank goodness that each day brings oh, so many reasons to be thankful and find joy!

today I am showing a little ATC that I made. I haven't made one of these in a while, so thought it was about time. they are so fun to create! and the neat thing is that they fit right in a Project Life page or the new Pocket Pages so many people are making.

I've used images from the 'Hamlet PigWit Think Spring' digital set by From the Heart. the daffodil and polka dot digital papers are some I found for free online here.  dies are by Spellbinders and Lawn Fawn, linen thread is by SU!, while everything else comes from my stash. lots of distressing here, too. oh yes, our little piggy friend was paper pieced with paper from My Mind's Eye Indie Chic collection.

I'll be back tomorrow with another project to share! :)

Challenges:
Wicked Wed ATC - lilacs or daffodils
From the Heart - sketch #109 with a twist (cute, cute, cute)
Paper Shelter - charming
Crafty Ribbons - animals with ribbons
Inspiration Destination - anything goes
Fan-tastic Tues - square or rect with twist of flowers
TTCRD - anything goes
Top Tip Tues - animals
{pin}spriational - photo inspiration (butterfly & yellow)
Stamp and Create - May flowers (around here our daffodils don't bloom until late April/early May)
Pile it On - cute animal
Digitally Sweet - April Showers Bring May Flowers (digital images & papers)
Kitty Bee - in the garden
Paradise of Stamps - animal

A Wee Little Note

Coffee of the Day - Carrot Cake

I am showing a triple duty card today - it qualifies for a store's sketch challenge & monthly progressive challenge and will also let our youngest son know we are cheering him on as he starts finals next week! whew.... that is a lot of punch to pack into a piece of card stock! :)

I have used images out of  From the Heart's "Hamlet PigWit Being Shy" digital stamp set, which also happens to be the stamp set of the month. I've been away from their progressive challenge for a bit, so I'm glad to be taking part again. I've also played along in the weekly sketch challenge, but flipped the sketch on its side. I do wacky things like that all the time!

I paper pieced cutey Hamlet the pig, using papers from My Mind's Eye All Spice collection. just a few extra accents were painted in. little banners were cut with a SU! punch. linen thread is also by SU! some accent dots were added with a marker, paper edges distressed, and a button tied to the linen thread. pretty quick for me, plus easy to put in the mail to Ryan.  not to worry, I'll be back to my regular cards again. :)

do any of you ever burn candles in your home? I want to pass along a great deal my family and I have found. we are HUGE fans of the Ashland brand candles found at Michael's craft stores. they are almost always on sale for about $4 or less for a 17 oz candle. they burn for quite a long time, too, and come in the most luscious scents!

Challenges:
From the Heart - sketch 105 with quick card twist
FTH Stamp of the Month - progressive challenge
TTCRD - anything goes
Top Tip Tues - 3 of something (3 decorative papers)
Crafting From the Heart - anything goes
Dream Valley - let's get krafty
Eureka - 4 legged friends
Melonheadz - 2 or more designer papers (I have 3)
Scribble and Scrap - anything goes