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Love is in the Air

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We're off this evening to the wedding of one of our long-time friend's daughters. I sent the gift to their home in Colorado, but made a card to take to the wedding.

WeddingCard 

Cardstock: American Craft & Aqua Mist (PTI); embossed cardstock: Creative Imaginations; dies: Beautiful Blooms (PTI); ribbon: Paper Source; gems: Memory Box; stick pin: Making Memories

And the inside of the card:

InsideWedding

Dies: Nestabilities Label 4 & Beautiful Blooms (PTI); sentiment: Delightful Dahlias (PTI)

A daughter of another dear friend got engaged a few weeks ago. Tracy was able to get to the party, but I had tickets to the RPO so missed it. I made this card to send to them.

4x4Congrats 

Cardstock: Dark Chocolate and Lemon Tart (PTI); patterned paper:  Letter Box (American Craft); die: Flower Layers 3 (Sizzix); embossing folder: Swiss Dots (Cuttlebug; Flair Badge: American Craft

About six weeks ago, I got an email from Tamron announcing a two-hour workshop "Eleven Secrets to Improve Your Photographs" at our local photography store. Since I own two Tamron lenses and the cost was minimal, I decided to sign up. The class was this morning, and although the first half of the material was familiar to me, I picked up enough tips to compensate both my time and the cost of the workshop. I also got a chance to try out the 60mm 2.0 macro lens that is on my wish list. The most helpful information for me was about lighting, filters, and using your flash. I have a lot of things I want to try out, and hopefully, I'll be able to incorporate them into the projects  for Creativity Bootcamp. The workshop pretty much solidified my choice of medium to photography. I'm looking forward to the first session tomorrow.

A Productive Day is Always a Good Day

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Some days I seem to get so much more done than others. Yesterday was a good day.

I paid bills. I balanced my checkbook.

We visited the garden. Sad to say the slugs are eating our beans and ate all the lettuce seedlings. 

Slugs&Beansw

The tomatoes, peppers, squash, and cucumbers are doing well.

ZuchinniBlossomw
Zucchini Blossom

FirstTomatow
First Tomato

I went to the dentist to have my temporary crown removed and the permanent one put on. The crown didn't fit as well as the dentist wanted, so it had to go back to the lab, so I have yet one more dental appointment next week.

I cleaned my desk.

I worked on the daily crossword.

I made 15 gift card holders. June 13th is Advisor Appreciation Sunday, and I am the chair of the Youth Ministry Committee. We are blessed with a dedicated Youth Ministry Director as well as advisors for the junior and senior highs in our church.

GiftCardHolders

All made from scraps in my scrap files.

I made a scrapbook layout.

CornHoleLO

Core'dinations (Jenni Bowlin) cardstock, sanded lightly; black cardstock from scraps; patterned paper: Bitty Box Basics (PTI); Jenni Bowlin Banner Stickers in red and black.

I took Matt to dinner at The Tap and Mallet since Tracy had a dinner-time meeting at church. We finished the crossword puzzle while we enjoyed our beers.

I ironed curtains and got them rehung. Ironed a few other pieces as well.

I read blogs and was surprised to find one of my Weekly Gratitude pages featured on the Weekly Gratitude blog. I had no idea they ever checked my blog.

I read some more of Making Toast, the library book which I just picked up two days ago. It is wonderful, but a real emotional roller coaster.

Maybe today will be just as good!

CKC Cards

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I took two classes with Making Memories on using the Slice at the Creating Keepsakes Convention last month. We didn't finish any of the cards in the class. We just created the different components. I much prefer that so I can put my own spin on the cards when I get home. The cards below are from the Slice 101 class. I didn't learn a lot in this class, but I enjoyed it and won a new cartridge which was really nice. They also gave a cartridge away to everyone in the class, so I came home with two new ones. I learned a lot more in the Tips and Techniques class. That was a layout class, and I'm not sure I'll ever put the layout together, but will probably use pieces of it on layouts in the future. In that class we learned how to emboss, cut shadow and mirror designs, and how to trouble-shoot some potential problems. 

The first two cards used the Flutter line from Making Memories and the Vintage Findings Design Card.

Butterfly1 

Butterfly2 

Butterfly3D

These cute baby cards use Making Memories' Pitter Patter line which just came out & the Baby and Animal Cracker Design Cards.

BabyBoy 

BabyGirl

Papertrey Challenge #2 and 2S4Y Challenge

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Flagw

First of all, Happy Memorial Day Weekend! I am always grateful for the sacrifice of men and women in the military that has assured our freedom for over 200 years. I do not take the freedoms we have in our country for granted, but do not often take the time for express my gratitude.

I've been working on another Papertrey Ink challenge this weekend as well as the one for the Pixies. This one was posted on the forum, and it was too good to pass up. It was a challenge to ink up all the stamps you own, but have never used. I knew I had a few, but there were more than I thought. I've ended up with a new stash of cards, however, and relieved some guilt in the process. The first card is also a card for today's challenge at 2Sketches4You.

Here's the sketch:

Sketch56 

And here's my card:

BeautifulBlooms

I used my Beautiful Blooms 2 set for this card. The beautiful border is Basic Grey's new "ribbon doilies" tapes. We used some of this on a layout in a class I took at CKC a week ago. It's self-adhesive and comes in a package with three different designs. The cardstock is Summer Sunrise & the buttons are from my stash.

The next set I used was the Fillable Frames #1. I thought I'd  get a lot of use from this set, and I'm sure I'm correct now that I've inked it up for this card:

HappyHappyBD
Cardstock: Pure Poppy (PTI); patterned paper: Early Bird (Cosmo Cricket); ribbon: Pure Poppy (PTI); Ripe Avocado button (PTI); button twine (PTI)

"Fly Away" is the next set. Like "Fillable Frames" it was a very affordable $5 and I love the little banner and sentiments that go in it. I bought just one piece of this cute patterned paper at CKC with this card in mind.

FlyAway

Cardstock:  Lemon Tart & Pure Poppy (PTI), patterned paper "Let's Roll, Fly High" (Imaginisce)

Take Three Summer was the next set. I have lots of ideas for this set and this is a super simple, quick to make card. I'm not sure I'd use the Raspberry Fizz next time, I think the Hibiscus might look better.

Take3Summer
See above; ribbon & rickrack from stash.

One of the things I learned this weekend is that stamping backgrounds is not my forte. I love the color combination of Ripe Avocado, Spring Moss, and Raspberry Fizz. I've had this "Guide Lines Two" for awhile and probably haven't used it because I'm not comfortable with making backgrounds. I do have a list of other possibilities so perhaps it will see more use soon.

GuideLines
Cardstock: Spring Moss, Raspberry Fizz, Select White, & Ripe Avocado (PTI), rhinestones from stash; stamps: Guide Lines Two & Giga Guide Lines

And last, "Outline Alphabet." I bought this set more for sentiments and scrapbook pages, but have seen a similar design several places and thought I'd give it a trip. Lining up the letters for the block takes the longest; after that the card goes quickly.

Hi
Cardstock: Hawaiian Shores & Select White (PTI); patterned paper: Green Boutique (PTI), Copic markers

Sad to say, I still have two sets left to use:  Fillable Frames #4 and Baby Button Bits, but with gardening and enjoying the holiday weekend, I simply ran out of time!

Happy Anniversary

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Today is Sarah and Adam's fourth anniversary. It seems so hard to believe that their wedding was really four years ago. It was a beautiful day in every way. Here's one of my favorite "out-takes." The best part is four years later, they're still having just as much fun with one another!

WeddingPhoto6x6w

And here's the card I sent them. I hope they've received it before they see it here. It's also the first card for a challenge on the Papertrey Ink forum to use stamp sets you own, but have never inked up. This uses the 2009 Anniversary Set which arrived over a month ago!

S&AAnniversarycard
Cardstock: Ripe Avocado (PTI); patterned paper: Quite Contrary (MME); stamps: Round and Round (PTI); mat stack 1 die (PTI), ribbon from stash, rhinestones (Kaisercraft)

CPS 168

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Like yesterday's blog hop, it's been awhile since I participated in the CPS Sketch challenge. This week's sketch reminded me that I had a couple packages of the American Craft Flairs that I hadn't used. I still have some scraps of AC "Dear Lizzy" papers as well so I decided to get busy tonight and get a card made for this week's sketch.

168
Here's my take on it:

CPS168
Everything is by American Crafts except the pink mat paper from my scraps file and the ribbon from my stash.

Papertrey Blog Hop

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Bloghoplogo

Tonight is the monthly Blog Hop sponsored by Papertrey Ink. I missed the last two so I was glad to be able to participate in this one. It also gave me an opportunity to get out some of my new die cuts and the beautiful felt that Papertrey has begun to sell.

Picture 3
And here's my take on the challenge:

FeltBlogHop

Cardstock: Ripe Avocado & Vintage Cream (PTI); patterned paper: DeLovely (Cosmo Cricket); stamps: Blooming Button Bits (PTI); dies: Beautiful Blooms 3 & Rickrack (PTI); felt: Raspberry Fizz & Vintage Cream; rhinestones: KaiserCraft; ink: Raspberry Fizz (PTI).

4 You

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I finally got the Copics I needed to finish this card from the class I took several weeks ago using Copic markers with Prisma colored pencils. This is my favorite of the three we made that day, and the only one we didn't have time to finish coloring.  I wish I knew a little boy to send it to!

Boy&Dog
Since I didn't choose the papers for this card, I can't credit the manufacturers for any of the card elements.

Three Cards

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We've finished all the "must do" items on our list before Sarah and Adam arrive tonight. They fly into Buffalo at 11:10 tonight. I hope they're on time since Tracy and I were wide awade at 5:00 this morning. It's only 8:00 their time so they'll be chipper! 🙂

After exercise class this morning I got to work on three cards that needed to be made. The first is for my BIL & SIL's anniversary tomorrow. Since they'll be here for the family party on Thursday I'll give it to them then. I saw the punched heart technique in a magazine I was browsing through at Barnes & Noble when we were keeping warm there on Saturday night, so I can't give credit for it. The mat on the focal panel is actually green, but came out really dark in this photo.

Anniversary

Card base: Impress; patterned paper: Scenic Route and unknown scrap; sentiment: Saavy Stamps; heart gem: A Muse

The next is a sympathy card; the message is on the inside.

Sympathy

Cardstock: Select White and Sweet Blush Papertrey Ink; embossed cardstock: Creative Imaginations; flower dies: Papertrey Ink; pearls: Michael's; silk ribbon purchased from Ellen Huston

Yesterday I got an early birthday gift from my friend, Mary, when we went out to lunch. It's this beautiful berry bowl. I have nothing like it and navy blue, red, and yellow are my happy colors.

BerryBowl1w

I had lots of fun making this thank you card for her.

Bowl&Cardw

Cardstock: Bo-Bunny & PTI New Leaf; patterned paper: Bitty Dots PTI; label and chipboard: Cosmo Cricket "Garden Variety;" alpha stickers: October Afternoon.

Here's the inside of the card:

BerryInside

Patterned paper strip: Cosmo Cricket; alpha stickers: Adorn It.

A question for anyone who has a Typepad account. In my draft, all the images in this post are centered, but none of them are in the published version. Any ideas why?

Three Cheers for Chairs Challenge

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Before our power went off yesterday, I got two cards made
for the Moxie Fab "Three Cheers for Chairs" challenge. For the first card, I debossed the chair to create the dotted
pattern and then colored it with Prisma colored pencils. I’ve wanted to try
this ever since I got the stamp nearly a year ago.


CupofTea

Cardstock: Lemon Tart
by PTI; patterned paper:  October
Afternoon “Thrift Shop,” button twine: PTI; distress ink:  PTI; stamp: Memory Box; ribbon: Paper Source; scalloped
punch: PTI; flower from stash.

The next card is for friends of ours who are celebrating
their anniversary this week. It gave me a chance to use my new “Chair-ished”
stamps from Papertrey that arrived last week.


PerfectPairHeart

Cardstock:  True Black & Vintage Cream PTI; patterned paper: Lush MME; stamps:  Chair-ished PTI; computer-generated sentiment, heart from stash.

Happy Mother’s Day

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Happy Mother’s Day from wintery Rochester! Yesterday a cold
front blew through taking with it our power and pulling down limbs and branches
all over the city. We still didn’t have power this morning and the RG&E’s
estimate was maybe by midnight tonight. Last night we ate dinner Buffalo Wild Wings,
and then headed over to Barnes & Noble. We hung out there until 9:30 when
we finally came home. Thanks to our camping lanterns we could read
in bed until we got sleepy.


Barnes&Noblew

This morning we woke up to SNOW!!!! I have to admit it put
me in a pretty unhappy mood. I really hate being cold (the house was down to
58° before we left for brunch), and I still have a lot on my “to do” list before Sarah and Adam get
here—all of which requires electricity. Ah, well. 

Here's the Mother's Day card I made for my mother-in-law:


Mother'sDayCard 

Cardstock: Dark Chocolate PTI; patterned papers: Jillibean and October Afternoon; stamps:  Just Rite and Papertrey Ink; ribbon: Pure Poppy PTI; Spellbinder's Oval Nestability & Standard Tags

With Tracy's sister, Jill, and her family, we took Ellie & Bill to brunch today. As we were leaving the street, an RG&E man told us it would be tomorrow before we'd be back online. Jill and Tom have a generator, however, and Tom was headed our way with it, when suddenly we had lights—and most importantly, heat! It was an unexpected and great Mother's Day gift. Hope your day has been filled with happiness and family.

Garden Update & Two Cards

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We're madly trying to finish up some household and major cleaning projects before Sarah and Adam come next Tuesday. Yesterday the plumber was here for three hours and made some much needed (and overdue) repairs to both bathrooms. We couldn't find appropriate fixtures for a 80 year old house in the city, so our plumber recommended a supply store in Livonia. The owner was very knowledgeable and we got the porcelain handles we wanted. On our way home, we stopped at the garden and got a lot of work done there. I cultivated the whole plot while Tracy weeded and mulched the paths around our plot. It still needs work before we can get plants in, but it looks a lot more like a garden than it did. Tracy's working on washing windows, painting the medicine cabinet doors, and I'm in the midst of cleaning.

Cultivatingw
Thank goodness for our battery-operated Black & Decker cultivator. It would have been a lot harder with a spade!

Mulchw 

GardenPlot2w

After working on some projects at home, Nancy and I went to Image City to see a new photography show and out to lunch. When I got back, I had time to make two cards, one for a friend who has just had major foot surgery (artificial joint replacement) and one for a young friend of ours who's birthday is Tuesday.

AdirondackChair
Stamp: Lockhart Stamps & Papertrey Vintage Picnic Sentiments; patterned paper: A Muse & scraps; Copic markers

EnjoyRide
Stamps: Paptertrey Ink Enjoy the Ride & A Little Argyle; cardstock from scrap files; buttons: PTI & stash.

This was my first attempt to use both Enjoy the Ride and A Little Argyle. I love both sets, but would have redone some of this if I had had time. It's going to take a bit more practice than I'm used to having to do.

Copics & Prisma

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Saturday my friend and I drove to Buffalo to take a class on using Copic markers with Prisma colored pencils. I've been using Copics for about a year now after taking a Copic Certification class last February. I've had Prisma pencils for years. It never occurred to me to put the two together. The instructor was quite knowledgeable, but had a tendency to want to "do it for you." Nonetheless I learned quite a bit. We completed two of three cards she had planned, and I have most of the coloring done for the third, but am waiting for an order with new Copic markers to arrive before I finish it. The images the instructor chose are very different from the stamps I use and own, but they were great practice vehicles.

ClassCard#1 

I have no idea who the manufacturer of this stamp is. If anyone knows, please leave a comment.

ClassCard#2
I actually really like this image. I changed the ribbon on the card when I got home. These are October Afternoon papers, but again, I don't know who makes the image. I was quite pleased with how these came out. The basic coloring was done with Copic markers. Then we added very small highlights with the Prisma pencils and blended them with Gamsol.

Yesterday I tried this technique on one of my new Papertrey Ink stamps, Delightful Dahlia. I think over time, I will get better at this and will enjoy blending these two mediums together in an image.

BlueDahlia

Cardstock: PTI Spring Rain, Select White; Cuttlebug embossing folder: Swiss Dots; sentiment: PTI Mega Mixed Messages; ribbon: Offray; ink: Brilliance.

PinkDahlia

Patterned paper: A Muse; Quickutz embossing folder: Vine Label; sentiment: PTI Mega Mixed Messages

Compose A Card

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Becky Oehlers has been posting some great card recipes on her blog for quite some time. I've downloaded all her pdf.s, but this is the first time I've played along. Here's the recipe:

Compose-a-card-9-1024x866 

And here's my take on it. I love these new October Afternoon papers from their new line "Thrift Shop."

ComposeACard9
Cardstock:  Colormates; patterned Paper:  October Afternoon; flower: unknown scraps; sentiment: Stampendous; brad: Sassafrass Lass; ribbon from stash

A friend and I are off to Buffalo to a class at Buffalo Stamps & Stuff on using Copic markers with Prisma colored pencils. It should be lots of fun.

Adam is Thirty!

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Today is Adam's 30th birthday. Have a fabulous day!

Adam&Minnie1 

Here's the birthday card I sent him. It's a close copy of one I made for Matt's graduation last year and a lift from one I think I saw on Heather Nichol's blog.

AdamBD

All the materials are from Papertrey Ink except the buttons which came from my stash.