A Wreath...

Another card using the floral corner stamp from Odd Bird Planet along with K&Co paper. This is a simple design but probably my favorite of the bunch. The wreath was created using two circle die cuts (Nestibilities) and my Cuttlebug. Once the image was stamped on the plain circle, I added a scalloped circle to the back, a bit of ribbon and a button finished off my wreath! Next time....we'll check out a tree...

Johnny, what can you make out of this?

Well, I could make a nest... Anyone see the 1980 movie Airplane? The "Johnny, what can you make out this?" line is what came to me as I was getting ready to make this post. That was one funny movie...of course I'm easily amused by stupid humor! LOL! If you haven't seen the movie and have no idea what I'm talking about...well...then I have gotten you very confused! Let's just say that Johnny made quite a few interesting things out of a piece of paper... ;-) And I used a floral border to make a bird's nest! Being part of the Odd Bird Planet design team means that I am not only surrounded by a boatload of talented women but I'm surrounded by talented women who have this ability to see pictures in images that I'd never think of in a million years! So I've been trying to do more thinking out of the box when creating with my OBP stamps. I had a few ideas when using the floral image and one of them was a nest. My nest has been filled with some comfy straw and it appears that Ms. Birdie is coming in for a landing and a good night's sleep! The paper is K&Co. and I used by Cuttlebug and Nestibilities to cut out the card and background paper. Artichoke paper is from SU! and the buttons are from my giant bag 'o buttons, where all buttons that need a home may retire. I'm off to North Carolina tomorrow for a business meeting so may be out of touch for a day or two...oh, wait a minute, that wouldn't different than any other week! LOL! Enjoy!

Fly Away With Me

Well...not me personally...but I think that might be what one bird is saying to the other bird on tonight's card. :-) This week I'll be sharing a few cards I created using only two stamps and paper from K&Co. This is my first card, showing the images, the bird and the floral border you see on the strip of kraft paper running behind the framed birds. The next few cards will demonstrate how to use these same images to create new images...humm...it's magic...be sure to check back... All of the papers used on this card are from K&Co, one of my favorite paper companies and both images are from justjohanna's Odd Bird Planet. The creation of this card is fairly straight forward so no lengthy explanation tonight. The chipboard frame is from SU! and has been covered in K&Co paper from the same paper pack. The bird image was stamped twice, colored with Copics, cut out and adhered inside the frame on dimensional tape. Enjoy!!

What Color is Your Ladybug?

Sorry for the long delay in posting, I've been up to my eyeballs in last minute summer fun! My regular job has been fairly quiet and I've really been enjoying more free time with the little ones. However, I can hardly believe that September is just a few short weeks away...Repeat with me, "I am not ready for Christmas!" I even uttered the words, "maybe you should put that on your Christmas wish list" to my oldest today! The summer has gone by too quickly...and apparently the days have gone by too quickly as I can hardly believe it's been almost a week since my last post! I've had this Papertreyink sketch challenge card in the 'ready to be posted' file for two weeks now! For the first time, I did not alter the layout! I did, however, alter my little ladybugs! For some reason, I just can't bring myself to make a red ladybug. I'm not sure why...For this card, at least, it was because I wanted my bugs to match the colors in my paper. (This is some fabulous Crate baby-themed paper!) And I figured yellow would be a good color for a baby congrats card! There you have it, my excuse (at least for this card) for why my ladybug is not red! How about you? Ever toy with the true color of an insect on your cards? Enjoy!

SALT Challenge - Obedience

This week it was my turn to set the challenge for the SALT design team and I chose obedience, based on a verse from the Psalms:

Psalm 119:60, “I made haste and did not delay to keep Your commandments.”

We use a phrase with our children, adopted from some close friends; obey right away. Delayed obedience is really disobedience. Thinking that you can obey God’s commands later, maybe when life’s circumstances are different, is dangerous thinking. For this attitude would prove that we have no serious intention of obeying at all. As the saying goes, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.” In our text we see that the psalmist “did not delay” to keep God’s commandments. His prompt response shows his love for God, faith in His Word, and wisdom in the application of Scripture to real life. He was not relying on his own feelings, conscience, or advice of family and friends to decide if he was living a life that was pleasing to God. How was the psalmist able to keep God’s commandments? Is it possible for anyone to perfectly keep God’s law? Not a chance! But this is the good news of the gospel! The more we see how sinful we are, the more we will know our need for God’s grace in Christ, who is the only One who kept the whole law of God. May we “make haste” to obey God’s commandments, putting away all excuses, repenting of our disobedience, and committing ourselves to a right relationship, gained only through trust in Christ, with our Creator! If you'd like to participate in this week's challenge, please hop on over to the SALT blog and leave us a comment with a link back to your blog or gallery. We'd be delighted to share in your creative process!

Here is a photo of my full card:

Enjoy!

PS - I would like to give credit to our Pastor for his assistance my write up, portions of it were taken from a message he preached on the above mentioned text. Thanks Pastor Meadows! :-)

Sneaky Priscilla

I'm off to the Cape tomorrow afternoon for an overnight visit with some friends so I will leave you with a view of Ms. Priscilla being oh so coy, peeking at her audience through tiny squares. A simple card made using inchies, Priscialla is on an inch square, the other are 1.25". The edges of the kitty squares have been embossed with silver embossing power. Tiny felt flowers and patterned paper are from SU! and that fab brown trimmed ribbon is from Maartha. All images are from Odd Bird Planet. Enjoy and I'll be back on Saturday!

Give it up for OBP and Flair!

OBP and Flair....kind of sounds like some hip club and the opening act, doesn't it? ;-) Well OBP (Odd Bird Planet) stamps are like totally hip man and Flair paper is the perfect partner! Here are another set of cards I created using OBP stamps and the "Ocean" paper collection from Flair. This set of paper also included some very fun stickers! More details below:

My first card features Ms. Priscilla enjoying her beach time hanging out in the bird bath. I think our sneaky kitty might be trying to nab herself a late afternoon snack...she looks so innocent, doesn't she?! LOL! Priscilla and her bath have been colored with Copics and her collar, although not so noticeable in the photo, has been dotted with pink rhinestones. The circle image on the green paper is also a stamp from OBP. Accessories are from SU!

Next in line we have shady Al peddling his ice cream cupcakes on the beach. When I went to the beach in NY, there were always these muscle bound men walking around the beach carrying huge coolers and yelling, "fudgie wudgie bars, get your fugie, wudgie bars here..." I think Al might be one of those guys...only this time he's found himself a sweet ride with an umbrella. No more lugging the cooler around the hot beach! ;-) Al's umbrella and cart have been paper pieced with some of the Ocean collection paper, he has been colored with Copics, and his way cool shades have been embossed to give them a bit of shine. The rest of the bike (and Al) have been colored with Copics and I stamped and cut out all of those teeny, tiny cupcakes and layered them in the basket. And because Al is from NY, I had to add just a touch of bling to each corner of the card.

And lastly, we have a dainty goldfish hanging out in her bowl looking for a little love...She seems to have a lot to offer; a lovely home filled with embossed water, some green vegetation, and she even blows rhinestone bubbles! This girl's got it all goin' on!

I hope you enjoyed our journey through today's OBP and Flair cards! I know I enjoyed making them and sharing them with you!!

Have a wonderful Monday!!

NY Reunion Recap

OK, so I know this is much more interesting to me than to anyone out there in blog land but I'm quite sure I'll at least provide you with a good laugh after you see me at the tender young age of 22! LOL!

This past weekend I went to NY for the weekend to attend a reunion hosted by the company I worked for from 1986 to 1998....I started when I was 19 and left when I was 31! (No doing the math to figure out how old I am now! hee hee) The folks I worked with at my old company were an amazing group of people. The company was very family oriented, even for a large, global company, and was big on promoting within. I was blessed to land a job as a receptionist just a few months after moving to NY and left as an events/marketing manager, which is still the field I'm in today at...gulp...41. :-) It was amazing to re-connect with people I hadn't seen in over 15 years. It was a really fun evening! So...without further delay...here I am at 22:

Can someone tell me what I was thinking here...matching red socks with black leggings and a red tee-shirt? And what is up with my make-up?? Egads - someone should have taken me to Lacome or someone to have that fixed! LOL! And I think I'm wearing Reeboks...remember when those first came out and everyone had them? I was so hip...

This version is just a wee bit better...at least I stayed with basic black and it doesn't look like I'll have to chisel off my make-up with a jack hammer! I've known my friend Michele for over 20 years...Wow - how does that much time go by?? We used to spend every weekend together before we both got married.I used to travel extensively...probably about 14 times a year, which meant I was never home! This handsome fellow was our VP of sales and was one of the group that I was on the road with. He's retired now but it was a blast to see him again as we always had such a great time at shows.This was the big surprise of the night for me...My friend Lisa, who I used to share an office with was at the event. I had no idea she would be there! I was pleased to hear that she and her husband had a third child, who is now an adorable three-year old! We used to laugh so much at work that I'm not sure we ever got much accomplished when we were together!And lastly, this is just a small portion of our tight-knit group that used to work and travel together. We were sad that a bunch of folks were unable to attend and have already started plotting our own mini reunion!

Thanks for letting me share my weekend photos...It was quite an event! The biggest news is that I was all alone for three days..no kiddies or hubby...boy was it quiet and I can't remember the last time I was able to drink a cup of coffee while remaining sitting! LOL! I also got to visit with my 92-year old Grandmother, who still lives alone and drives! She's amazing and it was a treat to visit with her!

Well speaking of kiddies...I've got one trying to crawl on my lap so I guess that's my signal to get off of the computer!