Flutter By Wednesday - Three or More Layers

Time for a new Flutter By Wednesday challenge. This week's challenge is to use three or more layers - and a butterfly or fairy, of course! Check out the blog for the details, to link your card, and to check out the wonderful creations by the design team.

I'm hoping that matting counts as layers! My butterfly was done on my Cameo Silhouette. The daisy was done with a scalloped circle Marvy punch with slits towards the center. I punched a circle from the patterned paper for the flower center, and then added Star Dust Stickles to it. The flower center is mounted on foam squares. The sentiment is from a Papertrey set. The butterfly is on foam squares, too. We'd love to have you join us!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Simple Birthday Wishes

I took a little time tonight for crafting. That was very nice!

This is a semi-CASE of a card from my friend, Donna. (Thanks again, Donna, for the wonderful card!) I used a punch for the circle cut out of the white layer, then I embossed with a Lifestyle Crafts folder. I added the sentiment (from a Papertrey Ink set) and the butterfly, which was punched with a Martha Stewart punch. I added a couple pearls for the butterfly's body and mounted it on a foam square. Totally CAS (Clean and Simple.)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

CASE-ing Dannie #2

Here is the other card I made, based on one of Danni's cards. The card I CASEd this time is this one.

I tried doing the Black Magic technique but didn't have much success. And rather than spend too much time on it right now, I thought I'd just use the white and call it good! I think it looks nice this way, and I didn't want too much brightness in a sympathy card, anyway. I used an ivory base, kraft for the matting layer, and black for the main image. The flowers image is from a Hero Arts set and the sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I used Sahara Sand ink from Stampin' Up! for the background stamping.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

CASE-ing Danni #1

Danni (of Flutter By Wednesday blog) has a little challenge for her Design Team members - to CASE any of her cards. I finally had some time for making cards today, and CASEd two of her cards. I'll share this one today and the other one soon. The card I CASEd today was this one.

The hearts are rubons from my "stash." I embossed the background with a Bubbles Cuttlebug folder. The matting is from Papertrey Ink, as is the ribbon. I cut the squares for the rubons with a Papertrey die and mounted them on foam squares.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Flutter By Wednesday #228 - a Sketch

Today's Flutter By Wednesday challenge is another sketch by Kathy. You can find the sketch to the left, or on the Flutter By Wednesday blog. We'd love to have you join along and make a card using this sketch. Please link your card up to the blog post.

Normally I follow a sketch pretty closely, but looking through my stamps and coming across this one from Repeat Impressions, I thought it would be OK for me to use a square instead of a circle. (And then leave off the bow and the embellishments, too!) I colored my image with Copic markers and cut it out. I added Star Dust Stickles to the flowers and butterfly. I mounted the image on Pop Dots. I punched the black layer with a Recollections punch and scored some lines with my Scor-Pal.

Edited to add: I forgot that I was going to add this card to the challenge on the Repeat Impressions blog, The House That Stamps Built. The current challenge is to use your favorite Repeat Impressions stamp. I have several, but this is definitely one of them! (If you don't own any RI stamps yet, you can just use any of your favorite stamps.)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Flutter By Wednesday #227 - Better Late Than Never:)

Yippee - I made a card! :) It's a belated Valentine's Day card for Jim. It's also for Flutter By Wednesday challenge for this week - to use hearts with your butterfly or fairy.

I cut the hearts with my Cameo Silhouette. The ovals were cut with Nestabilities. The butterflies were made with a Martha Stewart punch. The sentiment is from a Studio G set. I added pearls on the butterflies. That's about it.

Have a great weekend, everyone.
Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

This and That

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything. I still don't have any cards to share, but I hope to have something fairly soon. I just thought I'd update you on a couple things.

First, my mom. She ended up getting the stomach flu last week and spent a couple nights in the hospital. She is doing great now, though. She got her stitches out on Wednesday and saw the oncologist today. I haven't heard how that went yet, but I'll try to remember to update you on that, too, once I talk to my brother. Update of the update: The oncologist is recommending four or five weeks of radiation. She will see the radiologist on Friday and get his recommendation. They are still certain they got all the cancer, but don't want to take any chances.

This week's Flutter By Wednesday challenge is to use hearts along with your butterfly or fairy. Please visit this post for all the details and to see the wonderful cards made by the Design Team. Next week, I sure hope I'll have a card done!

Our new house is fairly settled, except for the garage (which is a mess and we still haven't brought all of our stuff over from the old house!) and my stamping room. I finally got the last piece of furniture in the stamping room and got all of my Stampin' Up! stamps on the shelves in the right order. I really feel like getting rid of all of them, but I don't want to just give them away. Plus, I still like them! I used to have a huge closet that held all of my non-stamping craft items, but I don't have that any more. So, now I have to figure out where to put those things, too. The logical place is my stamping room, but there is no storage for them in there. For now, they are just on the floor of our family room. I'll get that figured out soon, I'm sure. I'm about ready to start stamping! I have actually spent a little time (keyword: LITTLE!) playing with my Cameo Silhouette, but not enough to have made anything with the pieces. I think I'll let that sit for a little while longer, get my room in order, and make some cards!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Flutter By Wednesday #226

I'm sorry - I forgot to do this post yesterday. There is a new challenge on the Flutter By Wednesday blog, and it's open! Just be sure to use a fairy or a butterfly and then link up to the post. We are sponsored by Stamp Fairy this week, and one lucky winner will be the recipient of a $10 gift certificate from them!

Well, we have everything moved from the old house to the new house - except for quite a bit from the garage. The movers came on Tuesday and finished us up. I spent a lot of the day at the old house yesterday, cleaning while we had someone install the radon mitigation system. We're getting there! There are sure a lot of boxes and other stuff sitting around our new house, but at least I have had today to work on them. I've also been working on our "mountain" of laundry, but that's almost done now, too. Whew! A few rooms are finished except for decorative details - like pictures on the walls. Other rooms (the kitchen!) are just a total disaster! I want to get everything out in the open so I know what I'm working with. I'm just about to that point. 

My mom saw her surgeon yesterday and had some staples removed. She goes again on Wednesday to have the rest of the staples and stitches removed. (She had about 26 of each, I guess.) She will go a week from Friday to the oncologist to see if she will need any radiation or chemo. Thanks for all of your prayers! (The surgeon is pretty sure he got removed all of the cancer.)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Calendar Files Updated

This morning I took a little time and made the file for my 2014 calendar. That felt good! We have been SO busy with our move and everything involved with it that I just haven't had time for anything else. I have uploaded the file for you to use, if you'd like. So far, I just have the Excel one done. I will work on the Open Office one soon. Last year at this time I had already printed out and cut my 2013 calendar pages, and had even finished making the January ones. I also had made several Christmas cards. Here it is, barely February, and I'm already behind! LOL!

EDITED TO ADD: I have now uploaded the Open Office files, too. You can find the links under my blog header, on a separate blog page. Hope this helps, Celia. I don't know how to contact you!

We're so excited for our move. We will be moving into one home on Tuesday. Having things in two places is a bit of a pain! :) Soon I will get to create again. That will be wonderful!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

February Calendar Page

I'm kind of surprised I remembered to post my calendar page, with everything that's going on, but here it is!

I used a Quickutz die for the heart - the pink is textured paper. The sentiment is a from a dollar Studio G set.

My mom went home from the hospital yesterday. She has an appointment next week and will find out what's in store for her - if she will have to have radiation or not. Thanks again, so much, for your prayers for her.

We scheduled movers for Tuesday! We decided we needed someone to move our heavy furniture. We will have moved most everything else over there by then. Sure will be nice to only have one house to take care of again! And it will be awesome to be all settled.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Flutter By Wednesday #225 - Open

Today starts a new challenge from Danni on her Flutter By Wednesday blog. This week's challenge is open - you simply need to include a butterfly or fairy on your creation and link it up to the blog. While you're there, why don't you check out the design team members' blogs?

I still have very limited time for creating. I took a little while on Monday night to work on this card. It's hard to tell, but I paper-pieced the butterfly out of patterned orange paper. I adhered it to a light blue and cream paper that looked kind of like clouds to me. I have already forgotten what company made the stamps - sorry! I matted with black, mounted on foam squares and added bling to the corners. I matted the bottom layer with black, also.

My mom had her surgery yesterday. They are hopeful that they removed all the cancer. Last I talked to my sister, my mom was in her room eating ice chips. I'll update you all once I hear more. Thanks so much for all of your prayers!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Stampendous Stamp

I have been asked a couple times about the stamp I used on this card, and others. It's by Stampendous and is called Spring Sprigs. Here is a link to it at JoAnn's, but they no longer carry it. If you're interested in finding it, you might try Amazon, or just search for it by name. Hope that helps!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Brief Updates

Quick update on our house. It went on the market yesterday and tonight we signed the papers! It sold for five thousand more than what we were asking, so we are quite pleased with that:) We will close on it February 20. This is pending the inspection, which will be on Monday, but we're not worried about that. Thanks for your good wishes on it!

My mom's surgery will be on Tuesday. I would still appreciate prayers for her. Thanks again for that!!

Thanks for stopping by.

Simple Floral Birthday

This is the third card I got finished while I was playing in my stamping room on Monday night. In this photo you can see the true colors. In the second photo, you can see the dimension better.

The image stamp is from Gina K's Whimsical Spring stamp set. I stamped it on white cardstock with Memento black ink, colored it with Copic markers (G82, G94, G99, B93, B95, B97, E55, E57 and Y15) and placed it on the card front. I used the left-over/negative piece from yesterday's FBW card to put over the image as a frame. It's mounted on foam squares. The sentiment is from Papertrey's Round and Round set.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Flutter By Wednesday #224 - a Sketch

Time for your next Flutter By Wednesday challenge. Your challenge this week is this sketch by Kathy. Please make your card based on Kathy's sketch and include a butterfly or fairy. Then link it up to the Flutter By Wednesday blog. It's that simple:) Check out the cards made by the design team, too - they're fabulous!

I was sure I wasn't going to have a card for today, but I was able to get it made Monday evening while I was "playing hooky" from working on the house. LOL! I started by cutting the white oval. I sponged it with Brocade Blue and Eggplant Envy inks from Stampin' Up. I stamped the dandelions (from Gina K's Many Wishes set), embossed with a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, sanded it down a bit, and then misted it with my homemade shimmery mist. I matted with black and Eggplant Envy and mounted it on foam squares. I stamped the butterfly (from Gina K's Whimsical Spring) and colored with a couple Copic markers and used the shimmery mist on it. The patterned paper is from Recollections. The black strip across the center was punched with a Stampin' Up punch. I embossed the eggplant strip with a Cuttlebug border folder. The sentiment is from Gina K, also - from Whimsical Wishes.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Super Simple Birthday

I "snuck" over to our new house late yesterday afternoon and spent a few hours stamping. I wasn't very productive, but I sure had fun! I SO want to get my room finished and play with my "stuff" and especially I'm eager to try out my new Silhouette. So, I'm sharing this super simple card with you, just because:)

The candles stamp is from a Recollections set. I colored with very miscellaneous markers and added Stickles to the flames. The sentiment is from a Papertrey set. I matted the image with black.

A slight update on my mom. I ended up not going down to go with them to her appointments. But, her doctor said the cancer appeared to be "contained" so that sure sounds like a good thing! Her surgery is still scheduled for next week, and your prayers are still appreciated.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Little Update and a Prayer Request

I thought since I don't have another card to share yet, I'd update you on how we're doing. :)

We have our current house almost ready to put on the market. I have just a couple more things to clean and then the inside will be ready. We got the dining room painted (It used to have a wall paper border) and all the "clutter" has been moved out. Jim has insisted on completing his project of finishing the garage. We started it many years ago and quit when we reached a more complicated stage. He could never quite figure out what he wanted to do. Now that "crunch time" had arrived, he just went for it! We were working on it til after midnight on Saturday night, but it's almost done. We still have some trim pieces to put up, and then of course, clean up the mess. So, the end is in sight! Our plan was to list the house on Thursday, but I think we'll shoot for next week instead. Wish us luck! I'll try to share some pictures soon.

The painter at our new house has been very busy. He has the main living areas finished. He needs to put a second coat on the master bedroom. He also has yet to do the master bath and the lower level. Maybe he'll finish up this week. That would be awesome! We have some things in the garage that I'm eager to get moved into the house.

And now, the prayer request. My mom was diagnosed with Merkel Cell Carcinoma last week. It's a very rare and aggressive form of skin cancer. It can be treatable if caught soon enough. Our prayer is that it can all be removed and she can be cancer-free. She will be having surgery on January 29. I will be going down to go with her and my dad to her appointments today and tomorrow. My sister and brother will be coming up from Atlanta to be with them during her surgery. Thanks in advance for your prayers!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Flutter By Wednesday - White on White

Today's Flutter By Wednesday challenge is to use white on white - always an elegant look. You are to use only white, except you may color your image. Please be sure to use a butterfly or a fairy on your creations and then link them up to the Flutter By Wednesday blog.

For my card, I started by using an embossing folder for the background. I stamped my butterfly image three times across a piece of cardstock. I mounted the butterfly panel on foam squares. I'm not sure because my stamps are in my other house, but I THINK the butterfly is from Inkadinkado.

Our houses are coming right along. We were SOOOOO fortunate to find an awesome painter. He is painting our entire new house (except for the stamping room, which is already done.) He is also working on our current home. There has never been a ceiling in the downstairs bathroom and the furnace room has been unfinished. He is remedying those situations for us, too. He is amazing, truly, and so very reasonably priced. Our house should be ready to list next week. I'm hoping so, at least.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

Flutter By Wednesday #222

Today starts a new Flutter By Wednesday challenge. Thanks to all of you who joined in the fun last week! We hope you'll play along this week, too. This week's challenge is Open - just be sure to include a butterfly or fairy on your creation. We're sponsored this week by Bugaboo digital stamps and the design team members were allowed to choose an image. I chose Theodore - Flowers. You can check out their website here.

I actually created this card in my new stamping room - how fun! I printed the image and colored it with Copic markers. I rounded the corners on the image and also the black matting. The patterned paper is from Recollections and I matted that with black, also. I punched the top of it with a ladybug punch from Martha Stewart. The sentiment is from a Papertrey Ink set. The butterflies were punched with a Martha Stewart punch and I added black gemstones for their bodies.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!

More Progress

Well, I finally got so spend a couple hours working on my new stamping room. I went over there tonight to vacuum (after getting the carpets cleaned) but it was still damp, so I worked on unpacking my boxes instead. This is the main stamping area of my room. I could fill the shelf on the left, because I know that that one will stay there. I can't fill the shelf on the right yet, because it's possible I may have to move my table forward a little bit, and the shelf, too. Behind my table will be another piece of furniture - the bottom part of our old dining room hutch. There will be lots of storage in that, and also on top of it will be my paper storage. You can see part of my paper storage on the floor behind my table. Also on top of it will be my BIGkick and paper cutter. On second thought, I don't think that will all fit! I'll have to figure it out once it gets there. Right now we're using it for the TV in our family room at our current home. (That is a pack and play for Owen on the floor in front of the shelf. That will NOT be staying in my room:) )

In the corner are three boxes with my Stampin' Up! stamps and other wooden stamps. My plan is to put them on the empty shelves to the right of my table. I have a feeling they will not all fit! Not sure what I'll do with them if they don't. I have lots of built-in shelving in our current home where they were kept. The little bit of stuff on the floor is stuff I still need to deal with.

 Another view of the table. My new Cameo Silhouette will be on the computer desk, along with a printer. It looks a little crowded, but honestly, I like things close so that I can just swivel in my chair and reach as much as possible without getting up!

Empty boxes!!!!! I'll take them back home and fill them with something else.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you'll come back and visit again soon!