Holding Hands By Holding Tails

For the CC today. When I saw the color challenge, the only thing I could think of was pink elephants! One of my favorite poems has these lines:
....And when they walk, it never fails,
They're holding hands by holding tails.
I hope you can see that's what they are doing.

Yesterday we went to Mom's to do some things for her, and concluded the day by attending a dinner meeting. The Italian restaurant had wonderful food, and the wine was flowing freely! I thought this was a fun card to send to the person who set it up, to let him know how much we enjoyed the "refreshments"! At the next meeting, there will be some talk about pink elephants, you can be sure!!

If this is the way my day is starting, I think it may be a lost day. My brain just may be a little soft!! It's all downhill from here!!! Oh boy!!!

Have a great day, and thanks for visiting. I love your comments...thanks for those too!!

Steve's 70th Birthday!

Steve has a real problem with numbers ending in zero. On those birthdays, he goes away with his childhood friend Tom, and they fish. No one mentions age, especially because Tom is older. After a few days, Steve returns, and life goes on. I don't know if he will get a kick out of this card (or I will!), but he really can't do anything about it.....our kids are married to each other!!!
Thanks for joining me here, and have a great day! (Oh! This is a case of Beate, the FS today!)

Falling in the Shower

Not a nice story for today. Yesterday my 40 year old son fell in the shower. Luckily his wife was there, called 911, and an ambulance took him to the hospital. He had 20 stitches in his face, and cracked some ribs. He will be very sore today! I made this card for the IC, and chose Fresh Squeezed, which was a fabric of lemons. This card is for my DS Paul, and will say inside, "don't slip on the peels!". I hope he will smile.....laughing would hurt! He could have been lots worse!!! Thanks for looking, and I'm sure your day will be better than his!!

Bloomin' Spring

Happy first day of Spring! Now if we could just get rid of the snow!!! But the sun is shining, and I have hope for nice weather eventually. The challenge today was for Spring colors and flowers, and that said tulips to me!! Thanks for looking, and I welcome your comments.

Stuck on Flowers

The challenge today was to use stickers and stamps to create a card. I used to have a zillion stickers when I was doing scrapbooking. I hardly do it at all, now that the kids are older and we don't see them as much. I had these wonderful stickers from Magenta that I have had for ages, but seldom used because they were a bugger to get off the sheet. This one came off perfectly, so I watercolored the flower, found a sentiment, and that's really all it took. Thanks for looking, and have a great day, wherever you are.

Trendy Trees Thank You

This morning I woke up in the dark with a migraine. I should have known this would be a lost day. I tried to work through it with the card for Sam and basketball for SCS. When I went to clean up my worktable, I saw the pieces I forgot to add to her card, and since it had already been put in the hands of my "letter carrier", there wasn't anything I could do. I took MORE of my Imitrex and Fiorinol with codeine, took a nap, and decided to try again. This tag is the result.

The dp is so pretty - green with blue flowers and butterflies - but you can't see much of them! I used these colors to satisfy the DDC today. This week's hostess is sleepyinseattle (Joanne) who dared us to make a gift tag with some green on it. Join us in the dare if you like...we love to have others make them too. I hope you can see how well everything matches...that is if my camera has been of any help today!

At any rate, I am feeling a little better (except for the drug-induced stomach ache), so I will probably say, "what the heck", and have a glass of wine. Can't hurt, right?????? Thanks for looking.

All-Star Samantha

My DGD Samantha, who prefers to be called Sam, played in the All-Star basketball game for her town. The girls are all middle schoolers, so you can imagine the game was very...well...interesting! Her team did not win, but they all played their hearts out, so I made this card for her. Another year will make a big difference! I hope she likes this, and that you do too.
The layout is the SC for today at SCS. Thanks for looking, and have a great day!

Woofies RED Collar

LilLuvsStampin(Charlene) is this week's hostess for the DDC. Her Dare was for us to make a gift tag with a "bit o' green" on it somewhere. I have plans for this later....a gift tag for the present I still have yet to buy for my Cousin Stef's baby shower. In the meantime, the CC, which posted late this morning, tempted me more, so here is Woofie in his RED collar. I had these great pawprints (TAC), and wonderful brads, and a new stamp from Inkadinkado. I hope you like it.

Ribbon Frame

The challenge today at SCS is called Ribbon Frame. Take a fast peek, because you will NEVER see me do this again! I am not proud of this. It was a lot of work, especially because I don't have some of the right tools. I should get a Scor-Pal!! You should see my table top.....it's at least a foot high in debris for me to clean up. IRL, everything matches. In the photo, hardly anything goes together...I guess you just have to take my word for it. If you decide to make one of these, good luck. I'm sure yours will come out better than mine! The only thing I can really say about it is....it's RED! Have a great day!

Weeds are pretty too!

The Featured Stamper today is Twinshappy. Her gallery is wonderful...you can see it here:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=60960.
I kept her layout, but changed the colors, paper, and used pearls which I colored to match the paper, instead of brads. Thanks for joinging me today, and enjoy her gallery.

Great Minds and an OOPS!

I hope my day gets better! I started off badly by falling back to sleep and having WEIRD dreams. Then I checked out the LSC, and made this card (with thanks to Chat for the layout!). As I posted it in the gallery, I realized I had blown it.....It had a bug (bee), there was no dp (only cb - Swiss Dots), but it was to be NO MORE THAN 4 LAYERS. The Layer Police may be after me today. I hope you like this enough to forgive me. And...I hope my day gets better!

Green All Through The Year

I sure wish it WAS Green All Through The Year! Right now we have a bare lawn that is brown and strewn with branches and debris! No snow predicted this week...so far so good. Maybe Spring is on the way, at last!! The title is the name of the stamp set I used for the WT today. I love Certainly Celery, and used a great dp that went with it. I took out the matching roller to the stamps and some Versamark, and my lonely crimper and some White Craft ink, and I was good to go. Hope you like it.

Easter Bunny

For two challenges today, the SC, and the DoubleDog Dare Challenge. This week's hostess is Fran (Francie G.) who challenged us to make a card with a bunny. (If you would like to join the DDC, just put those letters in the keyword so we can find it. ) I really like Penny Black stamps, and I think this bunny is the cutest!! The cutting is painful on a really dark and rainy day, but there it is. I thought I was all done with Easter cards, but APPARENTLY not!! Thanks for looking, and have a wonderful day, wherever you are!

Artichoke artichoke

My DH, the mathematician, would call this Artichoke squared! (He is crazy, of course!) This is for the CC, to use Artichoke, Rose, and Black. This big stamp has been just sitting around in my addict...ahem...craft room for a very long time, so it was time to ink it up. I think this photo really shows the green stickles well, but not the fact that there was really a LOT of CUTTING!
Thanks for looking.

Dreams of CANDY!

So, were you just dying to see some RED??? Mom is here for a couple of days, and was it ever convenient for us to make two of these cute purses! Sure made it easy to get a photo! You can guess who made which one...we'll never tell! The directions are on SCS under TLC211. We'll be taking these apart SOON, because they are filled with our favorite candy, kisses with cherry cordial!!!We had fun, and left a terrible mess in the kitchen, where there is more room to work, and brighter on a very dark day!! More SNOW...is Spring ever coming to Massachusetts???????? Hope it's sunny where you are, and thanks for joinging us today.

Swirling Butterfly

I was so happy today to see that the Featured Stamper today is Judy Rozema! I love her gallery, and look at it all the time. It's hard to case anything of hers, because changing any element is to destroy what she has done. With apologies, here is my feeble attempt at casing one of Judy's beauties!! Thanks for looking, and have a fabulous day! The sun is shining here (snow tonight...YUCK!)

Hello Bird!

I am back! And here is a stamp I have had for a while that has never seen ink. I love to use my CB...and have never used the Floral Screen until this morning. I rubbed Green Galore on the folder, and really like how the bg came out. There is glitter on the inside of the flowers. The out-of-the-box look is so interesting, but find it hard to do.....as you can see, this time it worked! Thanks for looking today, and thanks to you all for your get well wishes. I am feeling better each day, and eating REAL food again! YAY!!!

You're Still A Spring Chick!

The Doubledog Dare Challenge today was chosen by this week's hostess, sleepyinseattle (Joanne), and she required us to make a spring card with SEEDS on it. I combined this with the CC of Pink Passion, Chocolate Chip, and Old Olive. I hope you will join us in the dare. the only thing you need to do is put DDC in your keyword so we can find it. This may be my last card of the week. tomorrow I will finally have my gallbladder out, so I guess I will rest a bit (before I dig into pizzas and cake!!YAY!)
Thanks for joining me, and have a terrific day!!

Cherokee Prayer Blessing

What a fun challenge today....Crimped Envelope Pocket Card!! It took a long time to make, but I think it's one of the best things I've done. If you want to click on the picture, you can see it fully. Lots of inks, lots of stamps, a hand-cut tepee, and a fabulous sentiment. In case you can't read it, it says:
May the Warm Winds of Heaven blow softly upon your house. May the Great Spirit bless all who enter there. May your moccasins make happy tracks in many snows, and may the Rainbow always touch your shoulder.

We could make "happy tracks" in the snow easily...we are having a Nor'easter in MA...we expect 12 inches!

Thanks for joining me, and have a fabulous day!!!

Thistle Birthday

Kelly's gallery was just so wonderful I had to do another card for the FS. I hope you like this one!

90th Birthday Card

My Uncle Paul is turning 90! shortly. He has recently finished restoring an antique car that he has been working on for years. I thought this image by Stampabilities was perfect for him, under the circumstances! It was done for the featured Stamper at SCS, Kelly H, by casing a card from her wonderful gallery. You can view her card here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1129375?cat=500&ppuser=65016
I hope she likes it...and you too.

We are in the midst of the first day of yet ANOTHER snowstorm. DH is in Boston, officiating at the USATF Track and Field meet with participants from all over the country. He won't be home until around 9 tonight. Keep your fingers crossed that the snow we get today is minor, because we are to get another FOOT tomorrow! On Wednesday, I finally have my gallbladder removed, and that day is to be beautiful and sunny. Figures! I am hoping this will be my LAST surgery. I am healing up from the discs I had removed in my neck last November, but enough is enough!!

Have a wonderful day, wherever you are. Hugs to you all.

Coochie Coochie Coo!

For the IC today, I chose to be inspired by the sweet baby pillows. I needed a card for my cousin Stefanie, who is having her first baby in May/June. She and Dan don't want to know what they are having, and she HATES yellow, so these colors will have to do. I love the combination of lavender and green anyway, so it was no problem for me. Hope you like it.

Buggy Birthday

The LSC today was VERY limiting..... One set only, make your own bg dsp, sentiment from the set ONLY, and can be framed, and only ribbons and brads as embellishments. The hardest part was picking out the set.....and the card went together FAST. I thought this was pretty cute for a kid birthday....for a boy, I would remove the ribbon, and put googlie eyes on all the bugs. For a girl, I would put another ribbon...maybe on the snail. What do you think?? Do you think girls would be grossed out????!!!!!!!!!

Blimey! How old are you?

My cousin Stef's DH, Dan, has a birthday next week. The WT today was to be frugal, and how much more frugal can I be than to use up odds and ends???? Everything came from my scrap pile, except for the brads. This fun couple loves to get cards, and Stef has a WALL of cork in one room, and all the cards I have sent them are on display! How's that for my self-esteem!!! This card will go out in the mail today. It's like a postcard (not enough CS!) with a flap for the message, which I need to do right now so he will get it early enough! Thanks for looking. Have a great day!!!

Baskets and Plaid

Joan (joan ervin) is this week's hostess for the Doubledog Dare Challenge. We are to make something with a basket and plaid. The SC today is perfect for what I had in mind, and this Easter card will go to one of my grands. Please join us in the DDC and put that in the keyword so we can find it. Thanks for looking, and have a wonderful day

Stripes and Glitter

I tried to take this picture MANY times, and cannot get a good one. IRL it is bright! Oh well..... I called this Stripes and Glitter so you would know each of them are there..hard to see. I should have called this Not Quite Mine. I borrowed the stamp. I salvaged the ribbon. I traced the top layer (Top Note?), and enlarged it for the layer under it. The paper, however is mine, and so is the brad. This is for the CC today.....pumpkin pie, old olive, and summer sun. I love the earth colors, so this was right up my alley. Thanks for taking a look.

Casing Jami

The FS today is Jami (Sgt.Stamper), and her gallery is FAB - U - LOUS!! I chose one of her simpler layouts (after all, it is Sunday morning!!) This ruffled tulip is one of my favorite stamps, and really takes the marker beautifully! I hope you like it, and please check out Jami's cards on SCS. Have a wonderful day!

The Dublin Express

This St. Patrick's Day card is for the LSC at SCS today. It had to be green, and this sure fits. I just figured out that the Sizzix dies would work in the cb, so I hot-footed it and got a few and tried it out. In addition to this little engine, I also got a passenger car and a caboose. I cut the engine out of shamrock dp, and made the smoke with those in the set of Boatloads of Love, and popped them up. The words are computer generated. Inside it says,"wishing you a shamrock kind of day!". This will go to my Uncle who makes wooden trains as a hobby. I know he will like it, and I hope you do too. Thanks for looking, and have a great day!

Happy Stripes

John and Tommy, my 8 yr. old grands, have gone back home, and I am stamping and crafting alone again. It was great to have them one at a time to spoil! Thanks to all of you who made comments on their cards...they were thrilled! For the WT today, the challenge was stripes. I have had this paper for ages, and it was time I cut into it. I think this paper is so happy...going with that theme, I used this sentiment and butterflies. Hope it meets with your approval.

SC for Tommy and Me

Today, Tommy had a fabulous idea for the Sketch Challenge. He thought of his cat Bridie right away, and got right to work! I think he did a great job, don't you?

My card is for the SC and for the DDC, chosen by hostess Julia (artystamper). We were given a site of cute little "girls of the world", and obviously I chose the Asian girl.

Thanks for looking today, and have fun!

Easter Baskets

Today is a special day...John is having a little vacation with Grammy and Grampy. This morning we made Easter Baskets, and had lots of fun. John put lots and lots of flowers on his, and had very sticky fingers!

We hope you will like what we made today!

A Reversal...Go Braless!

The Inspiration Challenge on SCS today was a series of bras made by quilters for Breast Cancer Awareness. As a survivor, I am truly aware...and I think a sense of humor after dealing with this first hand is the only course to take. As a result, my entry is funny. I love this sentiment, and what better than an elephant to emphasize wrinkles. Makes me think of the old joke: Why do elephants have wrinkles? Did you ever try to IRON one??? I hope you enjoy what I have done,
realizing, of course, that I am a crazy person!! Have a great Valentine's Day!!!!!

Collage of 1944

The LSC today was to do something you don't normally do. With apologies to my GF One4Joy, I have attempted a collage. I like the results, but it may be the only one I ever try! This is for Mom....everything on this card represents some fond memory of hers. I will hand it to her, not mail it, because I want to see her reaction. Of course she will cry, but she will love it.

I included: her mother's "favorite" button (she had about 6 million of these!), a camera for taking photos at lighthouses, an ad for sewing thread, a picture at the beach, her favorite saying, an envelope from when I was born, music, dance, her favorite color ribbon, and the couple that is popped up looks just like her and my father as they were in 1944! The key and heart are self-explanatory.

I had fun on the walk down memory lane, just doing this. Thanks for joining me here today, and I love your comments, one and all!

Wild Spring!

The WT today really threw me for a loop! When my children were growing up, I had a dressmaking business, but had NO fabric left with which to do the challenge. (Don't forget my BABY is 37!) I gave my big expensive Bernina to DD, and got hers to just sew on paper. Then I remembered she had left a scrap in the cover to her machine, and I was all set. The fabric was wild and crazy, so I went with that...hence a WILD SPRING card. I hope if she sees it she will laugh. This is definitely not my style, but it was fun. Thanks for joining me!!

Doubledog Dare Challenge...the Dieter!

This week I am the hostess for the DDC, and I DARED the group to make a humorous card. This is my favorite funny image, and inside it says "All I've lost is thirty-one days!" I combined the Dare with today's SC, and I love how it turned out. I even used some paper I've been saving as too good to use!! Please join us in the Dare...put DDC in the keyword so we can find it. Have a great day, all!!

Pale Coneflowers.....and DUH!

Can you blame being DOPEY on a headcold?? I'd sure like to, because today for the CC I used the wrong color...Pale instead of Perfect Plum. It's too bad, too, because I really like it. And somewhere in the house, between my addic....ahem....craft room and my computer, there is another MS branch that was behind the ribbon and button. I hope this is not an indication of the rest of my day! (Maybe this morning I have gotten it all out of my system!)

Cut Out Poppies

The TLC today was to cut out something from patterned paper or CB. I have this fabulous paper from American Crafts called "Metropolitan", which makes no sense at all, but is really beautiful in blue, black and RED. It's sunny, and hard to get a good photo...I've tried over and over, and suffice it to say, you really don't see how blue it really is. I have micro beads everywhere, but I love to use them (and they're not as clingy as glitter!!). Thanks for looking, and have a wonderful day. P.S. My cold is getting better!

All together now...Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

If I'm gonna be singing this stupid song all morning I might as well have some company!! Dirty trick, I know! Today's card is a case of the FS. There were a lot of layouts I really liked, and have saved some to do later, but this one worked for me as an Easter card. I love the pastels of Spring, and am getting pretty anxious to GET RID OF WINTER, so I am thinking ahead. My cold is progressing nicely...coughing, blowing, sneezing...and DH is keeping right up with me. We are keeping Kleenex and cough drops in business! It's a sunny day for a change...that might help! Thanks for joining me here, and enjoy your Sunday.

It has been called to my attention that there is some fabulous blog candy is awaiting some lucky person here:http://elusiveimagesdesignteam.blogspot.com/...go check it out...the butterfly plates are fabulous!!!

Fabulous Pear

When you have friends who are a fabulous pair, and rather "fruity" what better than this for their anniversary! The IC at SCS today had a number of wonderful retro lampshades, and this is an approximation of one of them. The little circle at the bottom has the tiny word *celebrate*, in case you can't read it (even with my glasses it's tough!).

I always love your comments, so help yourself, and have a great weekend!

Two RAKS !!

Today I received two RAKS in the mail......A window card from Cook22 (Sabrina) and a tropical card from MishB (Michelle). Sabrina sent me her card because she put a RED flower in the front, which she said she never does, but did it for me because of my favorite color (and you know what that is!) The card from Michelle contained six(!) images of a froggie in a martini glass. I asked for an image for a friend who will laugh himself silly when he sees it. I guess more than one friend will enjoy this image. Thanks to both you sweet SCS friends!!!

No Idea Butterfly....In RED!

It's about time I stamped/created in RED, right? Today's LSC at SCS was to use ONLY a sentiment stamp. Now I have plenty of sentiments. I know where most of them came from, but on this one, no idea. I love this fabulous butterfly paper, but since I gave half of it to my BFF, and that half had the info, I have no idea where it came from. The ribbon was a piece of salvage....yup...no idea.

Thanks for looking...and I hope the rest of my day is better!

Had to share this.....

In the mail today, I received this card from my 86 year-old mother. She has a great sense of humor! She knows I have a terrible head cold, that I need cheering up, that I LOVE RED...... Inside it says "This red frog offered to hold the kleenex box on a card for you, hoping it will help your cold a bit! I accepted his offer, and I think he's doing a good job!"

Is this a FABULOUS card, or what???????????

Loaded Embellishments, A Comment, and a Gift!!

My card for the WT at SCS has a few embellishments at the bottom, as called for by Julia. I layered up the ribbon with punches, a flower, I added stamens, a butterfly and some blue gems. I don't think you can see the dp very well, but the lovely Anna Griffin design is also in the yellow and blue. I started to add a RED ladybug crawling up one of the stems, but it really didn't work. *sigh*...so no RED today.

And then........

I made a comment to Karen Church (kstamper) regarding a beautiful altered domino. She stamped my favorite giraffe and made a gorgeous necklace. She pm'ed me for my address! As a result, guess what arrived in the mail!!!!!! She also sent a card, and it's RED! Isn't she sweet, and aren't I lucky!! I told her I will wear the giraffe EVERY day. Thank you so very much, my friend!!

Butterfly Bling

I really love wednesdays. The SC is always FABULOUS (thanks, Roxie!), and I usually pair it with the Doubledog Dare Challenge. This week's hostess is Itsapassion (Anne), who sent each of us supplies. I think she will be surprised that I used some of everything she sent.

I traded sewing machines with DD this weekend, so I thought I would try hers out. She does some REAL sewing, and I don't any more, so she got my big expensive one. Hers is fine for sewing on paper, and worked okay for what I needed.

Thanks for the neat stuff, Anne, and thanks to you all for joining me here today.

Adapting

My Uncle had knee surgery and I have been sending him a lot of cards. He really enjoys getting them, and saves each one. The Dr. told him he was adapting nicely, so I thought chameleons were just the ticket! I loved the bright colors of the CC today, and it gave me a chance to use a much ignored stamp. Inside it will say "I hear you're adapting well!! Thanks for joining me today.