Gift Card Set

I have these very dear friends who gladly (I think??) indulge me on my birthday. My birthday is a HUGE deal; I love it, I celebrate ALL-DAY-LONG and annoy everyone I'm sure. How much do I love it? I wore a tiara all day long; I warned everyone a month in advance my birthday was coming...well, you get the idea, right?

I never know what to get these friends as I always want it to be something unique; so this year, their birthdays came and went and I hadn't gotten them a thing! But alas, an idea came to me. I saw this great layout on a blog....well, I thought it was Taylored Expressions blog, but I couldn't find it there. Anyway, I CASEd; the idea form SOMEONE!

I made 10 sets of cards for each friend and then made a magnetic paper clip - guess I didn't get a picture of the cool magnetic paperclip; but here's the cards I made.

And last is a picture of all the colors; bliss blue, almost amethyst, pink passion (which you see in the first two pictures) and tempting turquoise.

I hope they enjoy the cards; I had a great time making them!

Thanks for peeking in; have a great week!!! ~M.

Lola says THANKS!

A dear friend has a black lab named Lola and dear Lola needed to send a thank you card for some treats she received; so here's her card:

The base card is Ruby Red (I think); layered with So Saffron stamped with Ruby Red flowers (stamped off 2 times before stamping on the Saffron). The bottom portion is some misc. patterned paper. Little Lola was stamped on Whisper White then colored with Aquacolors and Odorless Mineral Spirits.

She's then layered on So Saffron and a Ruby Red Scalloped Oval. I added white polka dots to the Scalloped Oval, all tied off with So Saffron ribbon. Even though the stamp isn't a black lab, I think it'll work! I hope the receiver of Lola's card likes it.

Thanks for stopping by; hope you have a great day!

~M.

Wild About You!

I just got this stamp set from Stampin' Up, Wild About You; (I know, the rest of you got it 6 mos. ago) - LOL!! I love all the samples of the giraffe I've seen on really bright, colorful, cheery paper - so I opted for some colorful paper myself.

The base paper is used as a mat around the giraffe on the opposite card, kinda hard to see in the pictures! One giraffe has a large green brad; the other has a So Saffron bow. Both say Wild About You on the outside and are birthday cards on the inside. On one giraffe, I colored all his spots green; the other I colored with green and yellow. I also added a mane to each giraffe with the green color. On the card with the circle background, to the right of the giraffe, I punched 3 holes in 3 large circles. The red and green circle I left empty so you can see the yellow base card showing through; but on the yellow dot, I added the spot I punched from the red circle - thought it was neat and different.

Hope you're having a great week; check back as I have more new things to load this week! Thanks for peeking in; hope to see you back again soon. Hugs, ~M.

Check out my Slide Show!

Thinking of You

This card is actually on a delicate yellow cardstock - but the picture kinda ruined that. Sorry. It's really done in fall colors and was quick and simple.

Not many details here; but something quick, simple and fun!

Thanks for stopping by; have a great week! ~M.

Anniversary Roses in Winter

This past weekend some very dear friends celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary! The husband was my principal in high school and LOVES to tell my children, if they ever get in trouble, just give him a call, he'll tell them lots of things about me - yeah, whatever, I was really a good kid...except for that one time. Hmmmm.....maybe I'll tell that story here in a bit.

Anyway, last year his lovely wife was diagnosed with lymphoma and suffered several strokes. Her test results lately have been very good and she's making such incredible progress. It was great to see them, they're such a delight to everyone - and I do mean everyone. There were a TON of people at the anniversary party.

They have 4 children and they have all turned out great with beautiful grandchildren!!! Of course, my hubby and I are in the middle of raising 3 kids wondering how you get them to 'turn out right'. LOL (anyone have any hints??)

OK, here's the card I made for them:


Do you like the colors? Yeah, you guessed it - more smooshing of the roses....I kinda like that technique, have you noticed?

The outside says "To Love and To Cherish"; the inside says "Happy Anniversary" in the same cursive lettering - I love that!

Of course, I got to the very end and found a mistake that I just couldn't cover up...so I had to use that dratted brad and flower! :(

OK, if you're still here, let's tell that little high school story! Each day at lunch, when you were old enough to drive, you could go home and back for lunch OR you could walk over to the quick stop a block away...but you could not drive anywhere else.

I returned from lunch one day with a cup of pop from the quick stop...but it wasn't the quick stop a block away - oops. My principal was standing at the end of the hall and saw my cup. Now let me back up and say my principal and his family lived right across the street from us and we did everything together. I played with their kids, we had fish fries, all kinds of things.

So....he pulls me aside and says something like "it makes it hard since I'm friends with your parents and you've obviously gone to a quick stop you weren't supposed to go to at lunch". My reply? A typical teenage response "well, don't be friends with my family". DID I REALLY SAY THAT? Yeah...I did. ROFL!!!

I love them dearly, I "think" I'm forgiven. We're greatly blessed to still have a friendship with their entire family. Great people, great friends!!!

Another Bella Chick!

I have had some time to play this week - that's always a special treat. There's something about getting the babes ready for school that makes me think I'm on a merry-go-round and I just WANT TO GET OFF! LOL So much to do to get them ready!

I had some new paper and a new stamp set, so I decided to combine them with one of my favorite bella chicks, Imeldabella. Isn't she the cutest thing?

I colored her clothes with Aquacolor Crayons and Odorless Mineral Spirits; then I did the presents with metallic inks - just having fun pulling all the colors together. The inside says "If the shoe fits, buy one in every color." Great advice, don't you think?

Thanks for peeking in; hope you're having a great week!

Card Details:
Memory Box Cotton Candy card
Embossed with Cuttlebug Swirl Folder highlighted with SU White Craft Ink
Prima flower with light pink rhinestone in center
Imeldabella stamped with SU Black Ink and colored with Aquacolor Crayons & OMS
Packages are colored with metallic pens

Is it possible?

Is our oldest REALLY old enough for church camp? Guess so....cuz she's GONE! They left Sunday, July 22 on a big charter bus. Please note, there were 5 chartered buses. Camp is for middle school AND high school, although they are going to the same place, the high school kids will be at a different camp. This first picture was taken at 5:45 a.m. as we were leaving home to head to the church; they had to check in at 6:00 a.m.

Our daughter did call home last night; but we only got to talk about 2 minutes - long enough for her to tell me she did a 650 ft. zip line - is that POSSIBLE? I bet it was fun, but my oh my!

Here are some great pictures...okay, so I'm the mom and biased - big deal! :) She was very excited leading up to the trip; but got a little anxious as we checked in and it was time to leave.

This picture is when we pulled into the parking lot at the church; she's tired, a bit nervous but trying with all her might to give me a smile. Oh she's a doll!!!


Boarding the bus!

Hippest of Cats

Isn't this funny? I think so; hope you do too! Click on the picture to see it up close.

I made this as a birthday card for a friend's mother; she sent me a picture of her mom's cat - he's big, fat and happy! He's several colors so I just made him a 'hip' cat with many colors. Those 'paws' on the hips just crack me up.

I broke into a stash of patterned paper I had purchased at Hobby Lobby quite some time ago - do you like? I think it's deeeelish! :)
The base card is SU's Pixie Pink, layered with Certainly Celery, then layered with the floral printed paper and argyle paper. I used the green ribbon with white polka dots to hide where the two pieces of paper come together.

Now the cat and saying were RAK gifts from Cindy and Cindi - how's that, those two girls stepping up to help this cat-less girl out! Thanks ladies, I owe you!!

The cat is stamped on watercolor paper and colored with Aquacolor Crayons and Odorless Mineral Spirts. He's then layered on SU Pixie Pink paper and mounted to the card with dimensionals. The saying is layered onto SU Certainly Celery and then I added the pink gems; aren't they cute?

I made two of these cards, anyone need a cat birthday card? :)

Hope you're having a great week. Thanks for stopping by! ~M.

Another Year Without Croaking

Well...I've almost made it another year without croaking! Yep, that's right, my birthday is just around the corner...let's see.......TWO DAYS AWAY. Okay, okay, I'm much too old to enjoy my birthday T-H-I-S much; but I do. I drive my family and friends nuts, what can I say?

I actually made this card a few weeks ago for a friend. The inside says "You made it another year without croaking"; always appropriate for a birthday OR a teacher who survived another year of school! I stamped polka dots on the blue cardstock; then embossed the patterned paper with the Swirl Cuttlebug folder lightly sponged with white ink; then cut out the 'waves'.

The frog was colored with watercolor crayons and odorless mineral spirits on off-white cardstock; then mounted to a blue scalloped oval with dimensionals. (I know, I know Amy, I HAD to use the punches - LOL). I added the white polka dots to the scalloped circle. A cute and quick card.

Hope you are all having a great week; I sure am! We're counting down to my birthday at work, I'm in a new job, so I've annoyed my co-workers already; and I've reminded my children each day how many days are left. And then 5 days after my birthday, we'll celebrate my hubby's birthday. July is always a fun month in our household!

Take care and thanks for peeking in. ~M.