Happy Halloween!

  My life has been occupied with our St. Louis Cardinals. I can't even begin to tell you how much time I've spent helping them win the World Series. At the end of this post, I'm putting a picture of my husband and I at the winning game. It really was an incredible experience!

What is also incredible is that I even made a single Halloween card! This one is for a couple of challenges. First, the Victorine Originals Challenge (VO20) to use Black & Orange. Challenge 2, is the Card Positioning Systems 242 (CPS242) to use the sketch below. As you can tell, I flipped the sketch. It worked perfectly with this fun cat image called Meow.

Supplies:

Stamps: Meow (1242D) and All Occasions Set (10512X) Victorine Originals

Paper: Basic Black, Peach Parfait, So Saffron, Daffodil Delight (SU!); White (Neenah); Designer Paper: Halloween Collection (Echo Park)

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Momento), So Saffron (SU!)

Accessories: Corner rounder and Scalloped Circle punches (SU!), Small flower punch (Nellie Snellen); Pumpkin brads (stash-many years old)

Here were are before Game 7 on Friday night! 

Beautiful Sedona

No cards from me today as my husband and I are on a little get away in Sedona Arizona celebrating our 30 year wedding anniversary. We are having a wonderful time seeing the red rocks from all angles, hiking a bit and enjoying the weather. I'll be back this upcoming weekend with some paper crafts. Until then...have a wonderful week!
Hugs, Marilyn

I'll be back soon!

Hello all! Just wanted to let you know all is well & I should be back next week sometime. The studio (and entire) upstairs of our home is getting new flooring. I am about ready to move back all my supplies. It will be a great opportunity to reorganize too. But first this weekend we will have college graduation celebrations for my dear daughter!

Here, there, & nearly everywhere...except in my studio!

Here, there and everywhere...that's is where I have been except in my studio. It has been a whirlwind of personal fun and professional adventures but I have missed my stamps and creating. It all started the week of March 5th with my oldest daughter coming home for her college spring break~ lots of shopping, movies, chit chatting and relaxing with some good meals in between.

The following week, March 12th, my younger daughter gets home for her college spring break. A few days of overlap where we were all together as a family. Exit older daughter- back to college, more shopping, chit chatting, movies and relaxing with some good meals with younger daughter.

Next, I leave for Atlanta for a professional conference~a very special one that occurs only every 10 years & lucky me, I presented a poster of my teams' work. What an honor! I stayed at a wonderfully luxurious hotel in downtown Atlanta from the 18th-22nd of March. {Secretly, I was wishing I did not have to leave my daughter on her last days before she headed back to college and also I was longing for my own bed.}

Fly home from Atlanta, I'm home for a little over a week, where I scramble to get caught up at work & home- answer tons of emails, do taxes, laundry...you know this part of the story. Then Friday 4/2, hubby and I leave for Indianapolis for the NCAA men's final four basketball tournament.

Another hotel, lots of basketball, lots of people talking about basketball, lots of people buying basketball stuff & lots of TV with basketball & people talking about basketball. It was a blast! On Easter Sunday, we went to church at one of the oldest churches in Indy. This is one of my most favorite things to do when I travel- visit the old churches- the architecture, the art and craftmanship is incredible.

We get home late morning Tuesday, I pack another bag & drive two hours to another professional conference. This was a short one & yesterday I got home around 4 p.m. It has never felt so good to sleep in my own bed. But before going to bed, I made this card for one of my best girlfriends who just became a grandmother. I used the SCS sketch challenge, SC275.

Tomorrow is a pure fun day! The Creating Keepsakes Convention is here!! I took tomorrow off work (even though I am still not quite caught up) and I will also attend on Saturday. A girl's gotta have her priorities & I am sure I can count on it still being there on Monday.

So that's where I've been...here, there, and nearly everywhere. There are a few pictures of my adventures. Whew...what fun, and I am glad to be back with a plan to be in my studio for as long as possible!


Card supplies- all SU! products:
Image: Punches Three
Paper: Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, White, DP- Pretty in Pink from retired Print Pack
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo
Accessories: 1/4" grosgrain-Pretty in Pink, 3/4" polka dot grosgrain- Melon Mambo, brads- pretty in pink. I did use my bow easy for the tiny corner bows~ gotta' love that bow easy!

Puppy Congrats

We just returned home today from sunny California; boy~~ was it nice to get away from the cold and snow. Brian had a business trip and I tagged along. While he was working, I was reading, sitting in the sun, or shopping. What luxury & I really needed a break from work! Yesterday, we went to Huntington Gardens and Museum (in Pasadena). We saw one of the few remaining Gutenberg bibles and a few famous pieces of art such as 'Blue Boy" by Thomas Gainsborough & Pinkie by Thomas Lawrence. We walked in the Japenese Gardens~ oh, how beautiful!

I am happy that I got home early enough to play the Featured Stamper Challenge on SCS because one of my favorite ladies, Judi Rose (aka jovialjudi) was our FS. I chose this card of Judi's to case. I kept the basic design and the Swiss dot CB background. I changed the image, the colors and sentiment. I used both sponging and the spritzer tool for the background. In onder to achieve the white border around the dog, I used my clear dog stamp and held it in place (like I was stamping but without the mount) and sponged and spritzed away. I like this look and it is a lot easier than making a mask.

Supplies:
Stamps: Dogs, Round Frames (Inkadinkado)
Paper: Soft Suede, Basic Black (SU!), White (neenah), DP- Doggie Words (Paper Studio)
Ink: Soft Suede (SU)
Accessories: Small oval punch, 3/4 circle punch (SU), Oval and scallop oval nestabilities (Spellbinders), white pen (Signo), sponge, Spritzer tool, Cuttlebug

Have a great week!

Best Friend

My fifteen year old nephew had a birthday earlier this month & this is the card I made for him. The breed of dog on the card is a Cairn Terrier & this is same breed as his dog. This is also the same kind of dog that I have. Both our dogs are a light tan color, thus the choice of ink color- creamy caramel.

I stamped the background with the 'ruff', the 'bark', and the paw & bone acrylic stamps from Inkadinkado's dog set using creamy caramel. Then using the color spritzer tool and my chocolate chip marker, I misted ink over the craft card stock. That look is especially great for guy cards as it adds color and dimension without adding 'girly' embellishments.

Below is a picture of my little dog, Karlee.
Have a great day!

Marilyn

Card Recipe:
Image: Terrier (Stamp Gallery), Dogs (Inkadinkado), Happy Birthday (Teeny Tiny Wishes)
Paper: Craft, Creamy Caramel, More Mustard, Chocolate chip, Vanilla
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Twine, Spritzer tool.

Fore Brother

My older brother's birthday was this past Tuesday (5th). He is a huge golf fanatic so I purchased this Stampabilities "Vintage Golfer" stamp with him in mind several months ago. His birthday sometimes catches me off guard because it is so close to the holidays, but I was prepared this year. I am trying something new this year. SPecifically, I will make all my birthday cards for the month in the preceding month and prepare the envelopes for mailing. This month I chose cards from my existing stock for many of the January birthdays. Let's see how this works~ I am hoping to be better at getting cards to their destination on time.

On a bitter-sweet note, my 89 year old mother passed away last evening. Mom moved to a nursing home about four miles from my home in late May. She had been living with my sister for four years~ a real blessing for all of us & so giving of my sister; but Mom became increasingly weaker so it was time for round the clock care. Nearly thirty years ago, I moved from my home town to St. Louis (about a 3 hour drive). So when Mom moved near me in May, I was able to see her nearly every evening; something that was not possible since I was a young adult. What a blessing to be able to spend so much time together! Unfortunately, her health continued to deteriorate and last evening I was at her bedside when she passed peacefully.

The pictures below are from December 27th, when I organized a family holiday gathering at the nursing home for my family- my siblings and our children. Not all of Mom's grandkids could make it, but we had a small family crowd. My mom loved it! The first picture is Mom and all her children (Mom, me and my three siblings). The second picture is me with my family~my husband, and my two daughters. Although I am sad to have lost the best mom and the best role model in the world, I am happy as she is free of pain and with her love, my dad. If you have a spare minute or two, say a little prayer for Mom and my family.

Busy!

We have been so busy since about 5-14-09 that I have hardly had time to make a card. My mother moved to the St. Louis area to a care center 5-29; we had a wedding shower for my niece on 5-30; and my youngest daughter graduated from HS on 5-14. I am grateful for all these wonderful blessings. I have some professional activities that will keep me busy until 6-15, so I doubt I'll have many cards for uploading, but I'll be back- promise. In the meantime, I hope your days are filled with love and peace.

Spring Break Paradise

We just returned home from a week in Paradise~ Cancun, Mexico. A week of fun in the sun refreshes your spirit. Just look at this picture~ who wouldn't be happy spending a week without obligations. The resort was an all-inclusive where food and drink were always available.

A few times I missed my stamps and studio, but life could be tougher, right?