Card Patterns #5

Good morning!!
It's a beautiful sunny day
& I'm headed to bible study.
I finally had a chance to work with Card Patterns #5.
I loved this sketch,
but really had to think about what I wanted to do.
I ended up with lots of Jenni Bowlin
& a little flower/button/stick pin trick
I learned from this ever-so-talented lady, Danni.
If you've ever seen her work,
you understand how she's so inspiring.

Camryn is back at school today
& Ashlyn is doing good so far w/FCAT.
I hope you have a blessed day.

2Sketches 4 U - MONDAY!!

*edited to add my card for the regular sketch @ 2Sketches 4 U this week*
I had a few minutes to do a card for Laura's weekly sketch.
My little one does have an ear-infection
We were at the Drs. office over an hour
& she was miserable,
but she's finally sleeping
& hopefully antibiotics will kick in soon!!

It's Monday & we all know what that means!!
A wonderful sketch from Laura at 2Sketches 4 U.
We were generously sponsored by Starving Artistamps
& their stamps are wonderful.
I got some of the cutest monkeys, cupcake & owl,
from their Doodlefactory Valentine Remix.
Here's a picture of the 2 monkeys, owl & cupcake I received.

The other design team members got
backgrounds, giraffes, florals & girls, plus more.
They have such a wide variety to choose from.
I hope you will check them out
& don't forget about the prize being offered!!
This week was my turn for a bonus sketch.
I've never done a sketch before,
so this was very fun for me
& I hope you'll get a chance to play with it.

In other news,
I had a wonderful weekend of scrapping.
I didn't get as much done as I would have liked,
but it was nice, just the same.
This morning my 4-year old awoke w/an ear infection,
so we're waiting for her Dr. appt, as she is miserable.
I'll be posting some things I did this past weekend,
later this week, plus hoping to work with more sketches.
I hope this Monday finds you well & blessed!!

I never claimed to be a stamper....

I was reading Lea's blog one day
& she brought up something I had noticed,
but had never really given a term to:
there are 2 types of cardmakers;
stampers & scrappers.
I fall in the latter & am fine with that.
But, when I decided to tackle the Color Inspiration Challenge #44
& mix it with the current 2Sketches 4 U - Kazan #21 sketch,
I challenged myself to use stamps only
& no patterned paper.
I realize stampers use patterned paper too,
but I have seen so many gorgeous cards
created with nothing but cardstock & stamps.
It always amazes me how beautiful these cards are with so few supplies.
And if a stamper saw my stamp stash,
they would probably cry to see them so neglected.
So, before you see my card,
I only ask that you be gentle.
It's simple & very amateur,
but I have to work at getting better at this thing called stamping:)
So, here it is............"grow,"
& aptly name, I might add!!
And there I go with the derned butterflies again!!

Every month when I get my copy of Scrapbooks Etc.,
I lovingly browse each page & am completely inspired.
And, every month I say I'm going to go through the magazine
& scraplift every layout I find inspiring.
I never do it though,
until this past weekend.
I went upstairs & got busy.
I was pleased to get 4 layouts done that day.
I'm not above scraplifting....
it's refreshing, I feel good about getting so much done
& I love that others inspire me with their work.
So, the first 3 layouts were from March's issue,
with the first being a "loose" interpretation
but the other 2 being almost identical scraplifts.

This last one was taken from Simple Scrapbooks.
I used to be a very clean, line scrapper
& I love to go back to that every now & again.
I had taken this picture 2-years ago
& today, I miss these tennis shoes.
Why?
Because my 4-year old won't wear tennis shoes!!

And,
I'm so excited because my mil is getting the girls around 5:00 this evening.
So, I'll be able to scrap until about 9:30.
THEN, my parents are getting them tomorrow
to plant their Spring garden,
which means I'll have most of the day to myself again!!
I don't even know where to begin with all I can get done,
but I kinda want to take the time for "me."
So, we'll see what happens.
I hope your weekend is as beautiful as mine will be.

CPS 105

It's a glorious day here in sunny FL.
I reluctantly got out of bed
got the girls off to school
& immediately did my work-out.
Yep..........the challenge has been thrown down.
My sister has hired a personal trainer for 3-months
& that's the nudge I needed to start exercising again.
I'm not in it to lose weight,
simply to tone & be healthy.
I'm anxious to see what she looks like
come July when me & the girls make our summer visit.
I'm scrapping today.
Tuesdays are my "I'm not the taxi" days,
so I get to lounge around & scrap.
I'm hoping to get lots done
& I started with CPS 105.
I'm sure you're sick of seeing my butterfly cards
& I can't say why I'm so obsessed with them,
but I do love them in any shape or color.
Here I hand-stitched a border,
sewed sequin to their body middles
& added Cosmo Cricket Blackboard
with Pink Paislee letters.
There are no "black smudges" on the card.
I'm having a time w/my pics turning out decent.
So, I sat it in my windowsill,
which being a 2nd-story window,
isn't clean:)

That's all I have for now.
If I'm going to get anything done,
I need to scat!!
Thanks for visiting me!

new 2 Sketches 4 U sketcharoo!!

It's Monday,
which means a fabulous sketch,
by Kazan, over at 2Sketches 4 U.
This week, we were graciously sponsored by Scor-It.
We received a Mini Scor-It & some Teresa Collins
die-cut cards & envelopes.
FABULOUS product.
If you've never tried a Scor-It,
this wonderful tool makes scoring your projects a breeze
& these precut die-cut cards & envelopes are PERFECT
to use with the Scor-It for making a quick card.
Here's what the Teresa Collins die-cut sheet looks like BEFORE.

And below is the card & envelope
I made, using the Scor-It.

For whatever reason,
I decided to cut an opening in the card,
score the left side, so it would open
then glue the card together.
I also cut the flourish thingy out,
using an exacto knife
& then pop-dotted it for dimension.

Here's what the inside looks like:

I hope you will check out the rest of the design team projects.
I'm off to do that myself,
as I'm sure theirs are gorgeous, as usual.
I can't wait to see what each of you designs
with this weeks sketch!!
Have a blessed Monday!