Card-a-Copia: Summer's Here!

Sheesh!  What a long school year.  Old age and new dog also added to the exhaustion of the past few months.  I am always amazed at the people who work all day and still manage to come home and get their creative on; this is SOOO not how it works at my house!

As of this afternoon, I am a free woman for the next umpteen weeks.  I sat down at the craft table and rocked out the following 5 X 5 card.  The image is from Eat Cake Graphics (Pearl Enjoys Ice Cream) and features some paper I didn't think out very well as I was stamping!  (Those circles are just a little too prefectly placed for my comfort!)  Fortunately it doesn't look really "naughty" at the end of the day!  Click the pictures for a closer look at the shiny ice cream!

Stamps:  Pearl Enjoys Ice Cream (Eat Cake Graphics)

Papers: Georgia-Pacific covestock, White-Out Collection (W R Memory Keepers), Bittersweet "Crushed Berry" and Green at Heart "Pea" (Basic Grey)  

Inks:  Copics

Misc.:  large floral embellishment (My Mind's Eye), flower punch, Crystal Effects, and eyelets (Stampin' Up!), computer generated sentiment (Rebekah's Birthday font)

And...
MORE TO COME!

Card-a-Copia: Post-Dog Crafting

As some of you know, I recently adopted a rescue dog and BOY, has my life changed!  Here's a photo of Bianca after her first grooming.  She was so matted on the back end, the groomer had to shave her down.  She's good on her leash and has almost learned "Stay."  (Not doing too great with not barking at/chasing the cats, but that will come when I better know how to train her!)  She currently has a dislocated hip that may require surgery.  I'm waiting to hear back from the vet to know about that.

Because she's a rescue dog, I don't know anything for sure about her, but here's what I THINK:


1.  She is about two years old.
2.  She's a poodle mix.
3.  When she's actually got hair, she's white.  (Hence the name:  Bianca means white in Italian.


Here's the "bounty" of the past three weeks, which is especially feeble given the new addition.  Apologies for the photos, I have TRIED and TRIED to take a good picture with this fancy, expensive new phone I bought, and it just isn't working very well.  (But, thank you, Sparkle Smith, for helping me learn a few new things about the process today!)



Stamp: This Little Piggy Had Chardonnay (Suzanne Urban - Squigglefly)
Ink:  Copics
Cardstock: unknown pre-designed cards
Misc.: green hemp (unknown), yellow rhinestones (Michael's)

Card-a-Copia: I'm in recovery

Several nights of good sleep and afternoon naps have helped restore some of my missing mojo!  I have, however, discovered that I'm stuck in primary colors right now.  I will be hiding the primary colors tomorrow and moving on to some pastels and  something grungy!

Stamps:  Cupcake the Dog (Eat Cake Graphics)
Paper:  Splash Sunshine (Echo Park), It's My Party Time and It's My Party Cut-Ups (Bo-Bunny)
Inks:  Copics
Misc.: dragonback paper edgers 

Stamps:  Bella Carrying the Cake (Mo Manning)

Inks:  Copics
Papers: Hip-Hooray Boy Party Paper (My Mind's Eye) and Splash Sunshine and Fish (Echo Park), Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)
Misc:  blue pom-pom, computer-generated sentiment

Stamps:  Edna Wedgewurt Yells (Eat Cake Graphics)
Inks:  Copics
Papers:  card base (Georgia-Pacific), Deena's Penny Lane Feeling Groovy (My Mind's Eye), green grid (Bo Bunny), red (Core'dinations)  
Misc.:  twine (Whisker Graphics)

Card-a-Copia: Are you kidding? ONE card?

It was a lovely day with my Saturday Stamping and Scrapping buddies.  Mojo was in the air.  Not in the air I was breathing it seems, but it was in the air!

So, eight hours later, here's what I had to show for my day - that's right, ONE card.  BUT it's a pretty fun card!  I'm hoping that my mojo shows up today.  (Surely it was the pall of my uncompleted income tax that had hampered me yesterday, which shouldn't be the problem today now that I've done my civic duty!)

Stamp: Tandem Lady Bugs (Monica Estill - Squigglefly)
Ink:  Copics
Paper: Hip-Hooray Boy Party Paper (My Mind's Eye) and Splash Sunshine and Fish (Echo Park), Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)
Misc.:  brads (Stampin' Up!) 

Card-a-Copia: A Recipe for Stamping Together Divas

Oh. My. Word.  I can't believe how long it took for Spring Break to get here.  I'm just EXHAUSTED and need to recharge so I can go find my mojo!  I'm on my way this morning to meet with a hypnotherapist to see if hypnosis can help me with my eating habits and ultimately provide me with better health and better sleep.  It's pricey but if it works, it'll be worth it!

Here's the card I'm contributing to the Stamping Together Diva's Crafty Contagion 3-2-1 Recipe challenge - 3 patterned papers, 2 ribbons, and 1 punch.  I kind of cheated with the patterned papers because they are designed to go together, but given my lack of mojo, I thought it would be better than what I might put together independently!

Stamps:  "Wonderful" sentiment (Stampin' Up!)

Papers: Only Orange and Old Olive (Stampin' Up!), Bloom & Grow patterns (My Mind's Eye)

Inks:  Copics, Only Orange (Stampin' Up!)

Misc.:  corner punch (Stampin' Up!), ribbon (Michael's), twine (Whisker Graphics), handmade flower, brad (Stampin' Up!)

Card-a-Copia: Thanks You's and So On

I'm always amazed at how much I need another break after the holiday break in December.  I guess I just have one of those jobs that sucks the life out of ya.  My weekend crafting moments are few and far between this time of year, so I'm really looking forward to Spring Break.  I've got some housework planned and lots of crafty time.  Until then, though, I'll keep trying to find a time to stamp between loads of laundry and lesson planning!

This weekend, I knocked out two designs.  This digital image, called "girl with thank you bunting" is a fund-raiser from Claire Keay's JellyPark.  I wanted to go with bold and fell back into one of my usual color combos.  Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Stamp:  Girl with Thank You Bunting (JellyPark)
Inks:  Copics
Paper:  black and orange (Stampin' Up!), green (Cored'inations), scraps
Misc.:  plastic flower (unknown), fibers (Making Memories), photo corner punch (Stampin' Up!), brad (American Crafts), computer-generated sentiment 





I also made a super-easy card that features an image from Eat Cake Graphics called Tiny Toby.  The card base with the window opening is pre-made - got them free from a gal on FreeCycle - so the hardest part of the card was making the insert the correct size and moderately interesting.  The window could be created quite easily, though, and adds a nice element to the card.

The sentiment is computer-generated and I created some thank you's, some birthday's, and some general sentiments (seen here) to be able to quickly pull a card together.  After I photographed the card, I went back and added Crystal Effects to the eyeballs for a little extra punch!

Stamps:  Tiny Toby (Eat Cake Graphics)
Inks:  Copics
Paper:  unknown
Misc.:  rhinestones (Recollections), ribbon (May Arts)

This will probably do it for another week.  Sigh.  Hopefully I'll come up with something a bit more complex and a bit more creative next weekend.  (Or we could have a horrible March snowstorm, canceling school for several days, so I can spend a couple extra days relaxing...)

Card-a-Copia: Spring Stuff

Love, love, love that it is light when I go to work and light when I leave work.  (Which, of course, will be changing this weekend when we switch to Daylight Savings time!)  The redbud trees are about to pop open and I'm seeing dainty little daffodils swaying in the breeze.  

Must be time for a late-season ice storm, right?  (Yeah, it's the glass-half-empty side of me  "springing" up again!)

This card is designed for Stamping Together Diva's "Crafty Contagion" Spring challenge.  Loved the paper and went on a serious safari for a lop-eared bunny to go with it.  (You can't really tell, but there are bunnies sprinkled throughout the paper.)  Success!



Stamps:  Bunny Wabbit (Clear Dollar Stamps)
Inks:  Copics
Paper:  greens:  Core'dinations, Lollia "Large Plaid"  (SandyLion), bunny paper...I'll get back to ya!
Misc.:  ribbon (Stampin' Up!), Nestabilities