Hope to be back soon...

Good morning everyone!
I just wanted to stop in and let you know I am not intentionally ignoring my little blog.   In fact I am feeling under the weather and not feeling terribly bloggy as of late.  I had viral laryngitis all last week and just as that was starting to go away, I got slammed with a nasty cold.  It has completely drained me.   I managed to get last week's H2H challenge done before I started feeling too bad but I haven't had the energy or drive to take and post pictures.  I am hoping that another day or two and I'll get some of my mojo back and I'll maybe even get this week's challenge completed. 

Thanks for checking in...things will be back to normal soon!  :)

To Love, Honour and Cherish

We had a wedding to go to a couple of weeks ago and this is the card I made for the happy new couple!   It's been a while since I made a wedding card so this was a lot of fun for me.  I really wanted a frame for behind my main embellishments and I didn't have one that was quite right.  Then I remembered I had one of those Foundry Frames from a few years ago but it was the wrong colour.  I really didn't want to paint it as I liked it the way it was so I got the idea to use it like an embossing folder.  It worked like a charm!  I embossed the circle around the sentiment and layered on the flowers, pearls and rhinestones.  I stamped the two background papers at the bottom of the card as I didn't have what I wanted to match the Veranda paper that I had my mind set on.  Pretty happy with how it all turned out.

So today's lesson...when you don't have what you need...CREATE it!!  :)

 

 

 

Behind the Scenes - H2H Challenge

This week's challenge at Heart 2 Heart is to do a layout that tells a story.  I am not sure if there is enough journalling on this layout to really be storytelling but I had fun completing this one.  I NEVER scrapbook myself so it was kind of weird but it felt really good to do something about me for a change.  So here I am...sheesh.  What was I thinking!  ;)

*** Dang...I found a spelling mistake!  Ugh!  This is why so many of my layouts have yet to be journalled.  There's too much pressure!  ;)

Happy 40th Anniversary!

Over the weekend my parents celebrated 40 fantastic years of marriage!  Hard to believe!  I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful this very simple card turned out.  It actually turned out better than I pictured it.  It was quick and easy to do - it doesn't get better than that!  Not too much to explain on this one as it's pretty straight forward. 

Supplies (all CTMH):
Stamp set: Find Your Style
Paper:  Verandah paper pack (discontinued), Passages paper pack, Colonial White cs, Twilight cs
Ribbon:  Cocoa grosgrain (bulk)
Embellishments:  Filigree Charms, Pewter Mini Medley, Mocha Opaques Adhesive Gems
Ink:  Cocoa Exclusives Ink, Chocolate Distressing Ink

So sorry

            

This card actually started out as a birthday card but due to some events that happened just before my friends birthday the card shifted gears to one of encouragement and understanding.  The mood just needed to be different...I figure we'll just move her birthday to a later date when she feels more like celebrating.

This summer my friends 2 year old son noticed some random pink petunias growing in their flower garden that weren't planted there on purpose.  Upon his discovery he said "Mommy...the pink flowers make me so happy!  Do the pink flowers make you happy?"  So it has become our little thing in our circle of friends that we need to think about pink flowers when we're feeling down.  That is where the inspiration for this card came from. This card was a little bit different for me but I am very pleased with how it turned out.  Inside the card I put a short letter of encouragment and dropped off the card today with some pink flowers waiting for her to come home from work.

So rememember...smile whenever you see pink flowers.  :)

                           

Give Thanks...

This week's challenge has been posted over at Heart 2 Heart and I already have my entry completed...yeah me!  The challenge that was given this week was a sketch and this is my interpretation.

Since next weekend is the Thanksgiving long weekend here in Canada and Fall seems to be setting in very quickly that inspired my seasonally appropriate theme.  I used a real mish mash of supplies.  Some old...some really old!  I am gonna use it up I tell ya!  :)  I used the flourish paper from the now discontinued Perfect Day pack...love that pattern...for the background.  The vertical stripes were cut from the patterned stripe paper in the Grace pack but I used the reverse side which is neutral.  Love how that turned out.  I cut out the two shapes behind the harvest veggies from the Art Philosophy cart and really like how they accent the stamped image and all three layers are popped off of one another making it really stand out.   I am pretty happy with how it turned out.  Let me know what you think!

Supplies (all CTMH):

Paper:  Grace & Perfect Day paper packs (both now discontinued), Colonial white and Cocoa cardstock

Ribbon:  Cocoa Designer Ribbon Rounds (discontinued)

Stamps:  Give Thanks (discontinued) and Grateful Hearts

Inks:  Chocolate Distress Ink and Cocoa Exclusive Ink

Other:  CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

Blogtoberfest and what I've been up to...

Good Monday Morning Everyone!

~ If you want to skip my personal story...you can bypass this paragraph and head straight down to the part about Blogtoberfest.  :)

We had a crazy weekend and it's hard to believe it's already Monday.  We spent the weekend looking at houses and it was really bitter sweet.  My husband was laid off back in the fall of 2008 and decided to return to school.  He graduated at the top of his class this past spring and was hired immediately out of school into a secure and rewarding job that he truly loves.  The problem is that the dream job is in a not so dreamy location (for us anyways).  It's not that it's a bad place to live, it's just that we are small town people and our families all live here...all of them.  No one has EVER moved away...not cousins, aunts or uncles, sisters or brothers.  And we are very family orientated.  Matt spent 2 years away at school and now has been commuting back and forth to work since May and is only home on weekends so he has missed out on a lot the last 3 years.  Our girls are only 8 and 4 so they are at such wonderful ages and he misses them horribly and the girls miss him.  So we have made the decision to move to be with him as we can't afford to live in two different places especially since where he works it is REALLY expensive).  What would sell for $200,000 here would sell for $700,000 or more there.  Yikes!  But it is what we must do.  It will be hard leaving our families, friends and farm life but it will be nice to be a family again.  We will have to get used to urban living and living in a much smaller home in a more crowded neighbourhood but we will at least be a family again.  We won't be actually making a move until summer of next year as I don't want to move the girls part way through the school year.  That also gives me time to prepare the house and get it listed.  The market is slower in our town so it will take a while I am sure but that also gives us time to prepare both physically and emotionally!  Here's to a new adventure...

I know...blah, blah, blah...enough about my life!  Let's get to the REAL reason you are here!

The fantastic and Fabulously Artsy Stamp Goddess formerly known as Tresa Black  is hosting Blogtoberfest during the month of October.  Tresa is a supremely talented CTMH consultant and has an amazing blog with a ton of Followers...that's why she's the Stamp Goddess!  So if you've never visited her blog, hop on over and be sure to check out her fabulous video tutorials and stamped creations!

Ok...so what is Blogtoberfest you say??  Well it is a celebration of all things "bloggy".  Tresa will post blogging tips, challenges, artwork, tutorials and giveaways all month long so if you have been wanting to ramp up your blog, now is the time to do it!  So set a goal, get inspired and make yourself a better blog!  Head over to her blog to sign up and get your own Blog Button to add to your sidebar just like I did.

Happy Blogtoberfest to ya!