Daylight Savings Time

Does Daylight Savings Time mess you up? Boy, it takes me time to adjust! It's almost 8:00 PM and the sky is still light.

I've been up early the past two days, and busily working on a card to share. I had this card in my head for such a long time. I wanted to wait until I got a different kind of watercolor paper. When DH went to Vegas on Friday, he brought a couple of sheets home for me to test. I like it! Don't ask me what it is as I haven't a clue! A little background. Shortly after high school, young men in my church go on 18 month missions somewhere around the globe. Just before they leave for their missionary training, they have a "Farewell." It's a special time. So, I thought I'd make a Farewell Card using Edwin. Here it is:



Oh, how I wish you could see the clarity of the colors on this. They are very vivid in real life. I've elevated Edwin and his trunk on pop dots so it stands out a bit more. I colored the image with distress inks - my new love! Edwin's face is a bit darker than it is showing. I think I had the light aimed too closely to his face. The colors of the card are dark green, beige, and brown. I wanted to keep it masculine, so there are no frills.



The stamp is a Magnolia stamp. It's an interesting stamp as it has little dots around a couple of the letters. It sort of bothers me because they look like bad stamping! LOL



This page is for a special message from the sender to the recipient. I thought that shape was a nice one in size and shape.

This is the card inside:



This card is available for purchase in my Etsy Shop.

I would like to submit this card for the following challenges:

1. Magnolia-licious Challenge Blog - green
2. Dream Valley Challenges - new beginnings
3. Paper Sundaes - keep it simple
4. CES Challenge Blog - men
5. Crazy 4 Challenges - trees
6. Color Create Challenge Blog - green, cream, brown, black

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog. I hope you liked my card! I loved that you took the time to visit.

Blessings,
Chris

Such Trying Times

My heart aches. I feel helpless and wish I could do something huge to help those in need in Japan. What a huge tragedy! I know my prayers help, but I wish I could do more. Such loss.

I did get a card done this week. It turned out better than I've been doing! LOL I love the inked images. The colors are hot pink, lime green and yellow. Here it is:



I did use distress inks on the stamped image. There are lots of layers, machine stitching, a gold tone metal corner, some pretty ribbon, and a Prima flower. The green on the flower does match the card, but got skewed when I took the photo. Now, it looks more mint than lime.

Here are photos of the interior:



I think the card is bright and cheery. I think I should have upped the contrast a bit, but it's hard to tell as I lose contrast when I post to my blog or even Etsy. It just dulls. I never know how it is going to be viewed after I post it. The balloons are elevated on pop dots. Again, lots of layers and machine stitching was used.

Here is the opposite side. It's not doing well on Etsy. Should I stamp a sentiment in the empty square?





This card is available for purchase in my Etsy Shop.

I would like to submit this card for the following challenges:

1. Fun With Shapes and More - Birthday/die cut
2. Aud Sentiments Challenge Blog - birthday
3. Cute Card Thursday - birthday card for three year old
4. DYSU Challenge Blog - layers
5. Paper Romance Challenges - colors
6. Simon Says Stamp Challenge - anything goes
7. Paper Take Weekly - Bright and Zingy
8. Wild Orchid Crafts - Anything Goes

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog. I hope you liked my card! I loved that you took the time to visit.

Blessings,
Chris

Spring is in the Air

Oh, the glorious fresh air of Spring! I've had the windows open all day and has it felt wonderfully! It was in the mid to high 60s today and such a difference from a week ago! I wish I could bottle it and keep it this way for the next six months! It is just so perfect outside!

Not much happening around here. I've been working on cards and playing with lighting and taking better photos. I worked on three cards over the past few days. My scrap room is a mess! LOL I've had things pulled for each of the three cards. I think I figured out it isn't that smart to simultaneously work on multiple cards!

I think my Cuttlebug is dying. It's been a great tool over the past seven or so years. It's getting persnickety about allowing things to roll through. Of course, I want to give myself a good kick for NOT taking advantage of a recent sale at Joann's when die cutting machines were in sale with free shipping. I passed on getting the Big Shot Pro. I just wasn't sure which machine would work for the Cuttlebug, Sizzix, Nesties, etc. I want one that will work for ALL. If you have a suggestion, I am soooooo open to hear it! HELP!

I'd like to share a St. Patrick's Day card with you. It's one I finally finished today. I had fun and loved that I think Tilda's red hair looks pretty good on both images! I surprised myself when they both matched! For me, that's a miracle! Here she is:









I used lots of layering, multiple papers, some pretty ribbon, die cuts, flowers with gem centers, gold coin paper embellishments, and machine stitching. There's a lot packed into this little card! I have to tell you a funny story about the shamrocks on the dancing Tilda inside the card. I had this unopened package of glittered shamrocks in my St. Patrick's Day stuff and thought they'd look cute. Well, I opened the package only to discover that the adhesive had been put on the wrong side of the sticker sheet! What's with that? LOL So, I got creative and cut them out using a knife. Then, I glued them to the paper. Instead of having the adhesive on the back, they put the adhesive on the front of each shamrock! Too funny! I've never had that happen before!

This card is available for purchase in my Etsy Shop.

I would like to submit this card to the following challenges:

1. House of Gilli - Green
2. Flourishes - St. Patrick's Day
3. Bling it On - anything goes
4. The Paper Variety - Green
5. Shelly's Images Blog - layers
6. Sassy Studio Designs - green
7. DYSI Challenge - Green It Up
8. 4 Crafty Chicks - Stitching

Thank you so much for stopping by! I so appreciate your visit and know that it takes time to do so. Thank you! It means the world to me!

Have a wonderful weekend - it's just a day away!

Blessings,

XO,
Chris

Goodbye February, Hello March!

I don't know what it's like in your neck of the woods, but after a cold, wet weekend with a snow line just up the road a little bit, today is bright, blue, and sunny! I had so hoped the snow level would drop just a little more so we'd get a final dusting. When I got up early Sunday morning, everything outside was iced over from the rain that had fallen and then froze. But, Spring is just around the corner. It usually begins to warm up here in March and then stays hot until November. Yuk!

I have a variation of a favorite card to share today. I liked the older one for a couple of reasons and decided to make another with a few differences. I love this vintage Tilda stamp. It is perfect for dressing up! LOL I had leftover papers and ribbon, so why not? I'm really trying to get the lighting right when taking my shots. I think I'm getting worse. I just can't seem to get it right. The card below looks all washed out and that isn't even using a flash! Ugh! Back to the card - I colored this card with distress inks, made her dress from matching paper, used pink photo corners as well as die cuts and Stickles. The inside features a sentiment area made from my Nesties, charms (that's a dragonfly in the sentiment area), pretty ribbons, and additional die cuts and flower. The dragonfly paper has a glossy surface which enhances the look a bit.

Here it is:





See what I mean about the lighting? The pink on the bottom card is pretty accurate while the top looks red. When there was less contrast, the yellow looked all washed out. Now, you can see the yellow, but the pink is so ugly. I just give up with the photo lighting for a while! Today was frustrating. Even DH tried to help get the lighting right. Nothing seemed to work.

I'm going to enter this card into the following challenges. Hopefully those sponsoring the challenge will look past the crummy, inconsistent colors, and see the elements.

1. Scrap Creations - birthday
2. Outlawz - birthday
3. Paper Sundaes - how charming
4. Squigglefly - scraps
5. Totally Stampalicious - Recipe
6. Woodware Clear Stamps - anything goes
7. Birthday Sundaes - birthday card
8. Sugar Creek Hollow - inside out challenge


This card is available for purchase in my Etsy Shop.

Thanks for stopping by. I know how busy your life is! That makes your visit even more treasured! Have a wonderful start to March!

Blessings,

XO,
Chris

Way Out in the Land of the Setting Sun...

where the wind blows wild and free, there's a lovely spot, just the only one, that means home sweet home to me... Those are the words to the State Song of Nevada by Bertha Rafetto. Even though I am in Utah, those words ring true for here as well. The desert is so lovely at sunset and sunrise. The colors of orange, red, yellow, and blue are so vivid against the black or deep purple shadowed mountains. I have never experienced such beautiful sunsets as I have in the desert (although there have been some heart stopper sunsets along the Oregon Coast as well). Those desert sunsets were the springboard for this western themed card.

In this card, I've included a little friend for Tilda. Tilda and friend - I'll call him Beau - as well as all other colored areas have been colored using distress inks. I tried to make Beau's shirt look like green corduroy and his chaps like brown suede. I distressed the paper's edges, added burlap for texture, and lots of layering, and included a copper tag holder on the front. I also fringed and removed strands from the burlap strip to make it more interesting. Hey, I tried! LOL I've had this card in my head for such a long time. I just loved creating this card!

Here it is:










This card is available for purchase in my Etsy Shop.

I have entered this card into the following challenge:

Magnolia Down Under - sketch


Thank you so very much for stopping by! I hope you liked my little creation. If you would like to leave a comment, I would love it!

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Blessings,
Chris

Love is in the Air

Are you ready for this month's holiday? What do you have planned? We have reservations, but for some reason, I want to stay home. I have goodies in the freezer that would make a very romantic dinner. DH wants to go out to a steakhouse. It's his day, too, so we'll probably go out. I just know that I'll eat too many bad things, LOL. You see, the restaurant is fun - you start out with a cheese fondue. Next comes the salad. This is followed by cooking your steak on your own lava rock placed in front of you. The dinner is completed with a chocolate fondue. Now, you know why I want to stay home.....

I have a Never Ending card to share with you today. It's my first attempt. I have to say that the photos aren't that hot. I did go and get a frog for future photos, but these were already taken and I didn't want to retake them. I had fun with it, though. I used a variety of Magnolia stamps as well as other embellishments. This is the card I'll be giving to my sweet husband. The sentiment will go on the page with the circles. Here are the photos:

This is the cover of the card. The papers are so pretty in that there is a subtle sheen. The flowers sparkle. I used a mini Tilda stamp, Tilda with Hearts, available at Magnolia-licious. The bunny stamp is an older Magnolia which I always though was so cute! It's one of the first I ever got many years ago, LOL.



Page two is where I will write a personal message to my sweetheart. The glittery paper is "sugar coated" and sparkles so nicely. I used epoxy stickers and punched hearts from my stash.



The next page features another mini as well as additional Magnolia stamps. I apologize for the horrible photo. The card looks so much better in real life. My stamped images do NOT look all splotchy and the colors are very even and graduated. I did place a piece of clear packaging over the surface of the candy jar so that it looks like the cookies are behind glass. The embellishments are elevated.



For the final page, I used a Magnolia doohickey tag die. There are also some smaller epoxy stickers as well as punched shapes (heart and squares). All stamped images have been colored with distress inks.




I'll be submitting this card to the following challenges:

All That Scraps - Queen of Hearts
Totally Tilda- Tilda w/ Lots of Hearts
7 Kids College Fund Challenge Blog - I {heart} You
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge #97 - Hearts Gone Wild!
Crafter's Companion Monthly Challenge - Romance
A Spoonfull of Sugar - Just Show Some Love
PapertakeWeekly - Have a Heart
Stamping Scrapping Challenge Central - Valentine's

Thank you so much for visiting my blog and tolerating my horrid photos of my never ending card! I so appreciate your visits!

Blessings,
Chris

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Black and yellow, black and yellow - green and gold, green and gold - decisions, decisions - which one will win? I think I'll be neutral and wear all yellow tomorrow! LOL I'll look like a lemon, but that's OK, right?

Are you doing anything special for Superbowl Sunday - a party, friends over, CRAFTING? I'm a sweet wife, so I'll be my hubby's football companion otherwise he'd be watching the game all alone. He'll appreciate that. I hate football. What can I say? Love means never having to say...oh, wait, that's wrong...Love means sharing what he likes to do!

There are a couple of commercials that I think are too funny - the one is a Dorito commercial where two guys are discussing Doritos. At the very end, one guy sticks the Dorito flavored index finger of the other guy right into his mouth! The second one is for Pepsi, I think. A couple is sitting on a park bench having a bite to eat. A gorgeous jogger runs by and sits on the bench next to the couple. The male half of the couple is distracted by the gorgeous jogger. The female half notices the distraction and tosses her hamburger (or was it a can of Pepsi?) at the guy who, right at the same time, bends over! The result is that whatever is thrown hits the jogger on the side of her head, knocks her right off the bench and onto the ground. The couple runs away leaving the gal on the ground. Both commercials have that unexpected twist which I find to be the best aspect. You didn't see "that" coming!

I have a couple of snack goodies all lined up. One is mini BLTs in puff pastry. It's easy and self contained! The other is soup. For us, soup is a must on Superbowl Sunday. I'm thinking cream of almond soup or split pea (hubby's fav). That's quite a contrast of flavors, isn't it? LOL Then, I got it into my head to go back in time and make a Chex Mix from the 1960s. When I looked for the recipe, I found one that said it was the original recipe. When I read it, it included pita chips! I don't think so! Pita chips weren't heard of back then! I dug a little deeper and found one that I think is the original as I remember it. We'll see.

I have been busy, busy, busy! I'd like to share a Valentine card with you. It's my second ever easel card. I had a little fun with it by placing Edwin inside the dry embossed bird cage, LOL. Of course, DH had a lot of "guy things" to say about Edwin in the cage. I won't share them here, ahem. I used punches, ribbon, pearls, Stickles, Bazzill, patterned papers by Bo Bunny, Distress Inks, and, of course, Magnolia Stamps. Tilda has been elevated on pop dots as are the little butterflies (which are also Magnolia stamped images). On the back is a little, white vellum envelope for a love note. I wish you could see all the embossed details on the bird cage, but white just isn't a good color for showing embossing. The cage is so beautiful!

Here's my creation:





I'm going to enter my card into the following challenges:

Crafty Emma - Red and Romance

Crazy 4 Challenges - Valentines

Creative Inspirations - Valentine's Day/Love

Paperplay Challenges - Stamp It Out

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Show Some Love


Thank you so very much for stopping by. I so love that you took the time to visit. Have fun tomorrow!

Blessings,
Chris