RIP, Youth and Surprise

Hello Thursday!

I have some exciting news for today!  

This post is my debut as a Design Team Member for Seize the  Birthday! 🎈 

I was very thrilled when Nancy Leppek asked me if I would like to join the team.  Nanc' and I have become online crafty friends over the past months and I am a big fan of hers and her cards.  And I have always enjoyed playing along with Seize The Birthday challenge when I can and so now I will never miss an opportunity.  I am looking forward to being a part of such a talented team of card makers and cannot wait to get to know more of them. 

So, let me get to business. Here is the prompt for this week's Toppings, hosted by Linda:

Seize The Birthday #312 Toppings: Black & White

This Toppings came just at the right time. There is someone very special to me (my Hubs, Dave) who has a special birthday in 12 days.  You can find the clue in my card as to the "specialness".  

I love this Grim Reaper die by Spellbinders so I knew he might be used for one of Dave's cards this year.  I also made him wobble.  Below is a little video of him "wobbling".  I have to admit I'm not that good at making videos so hopefully it is ok.

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment - Sassy Birthday (Honey Bee); Background stamp - Hooray for Confetti (CP Designs).

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock; Midnight cardstock (CP Designs).

Ink: Midnight (CP Inks)

Extras: Grim Reaper Die- Dancin' Grim (Spellbinders); Frame die (Penny Black);  Balloon dies - Birthday Icons (CP Designs); Birthday banner die (stash- maybe Sizzix).

I hope you head over to the Seize the Birthday Challenge blog and check out the cards by the rest of the Design Team and our guests. Then come play along with us!

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. So do it.” – Kurt Vonnegut

Nance

 

Sailing on Sunshine

 Hello again!

Here is my other card for today - - 

Been wanting to play in Freshly Made Sketches for a long time and finally got the opportunity to do it. When I saw the sketch by Verena, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  I pulled out an old die, Oceanscape, by Honey Bee Stamps.  I didn't realize I haven't used this die for a couple years.  <GASP> It's a cool die and while may not look like it, but is pretty versatile.  I pulled out some watercolored backgrounds and went to town.  I think the hardest thing was choosing the colors for my sailboats and the cover plate for my background.  I am very happy with the finished product.  Those sailboats are by Catherine Pooler.  They are layered stamps and very fun to stamp once you choose your colors.  So I hope this brightens your Monday!

For Following Challenges:

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment - Itty Bitty Summer (My Favorite Things); Sailboats - Sail Away (CP Designs).

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock

Ink: Dress Blues, Blue, Raspberry, Samba, Catching Rays Something Blue(CP Inks)

Extras: Circle frame die - Nested Circles (CP Designs); Sea circle die - Oceanscape Die (Honey Bee Stamps); Sun Ray die (Lawn Fawn); Sailboat dies - Sail Away (CP Designs). 

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. So do it.” – Kurt Vonnegut

Nance

Rare & Beautiful

Good Morning Monday! 

Hope your day has begun with sunshine and smiles! I have sunshine and coffee and ready for a busy day.  Even on vaca, there are some chores like laundry. But before that, I have a couple cards to share. I was a crafting fool yesterday after enjoying a gorgeous coolish day by the river.  This is one of the fruits of that labor....

For Following Challenges:

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment - (My Favorite Things).

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock

Ink: Minted, Sixteen Candles & Glam (CP Inks)

Extras: Seashell Frame Die & Stencils (Waffle Flower); Wave Die (Lawn Fawn).

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. So do it.” – Kurt Vonnegut

Nance

Just Bee-cause

 Good afternoon Sunday!

Hope your weekend has been going well.  Gorgeous sunny day with low humidity here at the riverbank.  I was going to spend the entire day crafting, but the sun and scenery beckoned out for a while to soak it all up.   So now I have a card to share!  

Back in June, I was suppose to go for a crafty day at Bonnie's to spend with her and our mutual crafty friend, Nancy Kern-Leppek, who was visiting NC, but then my mother got ill and I had to go to SC and missed that day.  If you saw this post then you know my mom passed away a couple weeks later. When I finally got home three weeks later, I had many sympathy cards waiting for me, including one from Bonnie and one from Nancy.  Nancy's also included a few envelopes with various die cut cuttings.  One of these were these adorable bees and bee hive from Pixie Dust.  So when I saw this challenge the other day, I knew I had to use them.  Luckily I had included them in the crafty stash that made it to the river house with me.

For Following Challenges:

Double D Challenges - Bee Happy

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment - Hi Honey (Honey Bee Stamps).

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock

Ink: Midnight, Goldenrod(CP Inks)

Extras: Bee, bee hive, hexagon dies (Pixie Dust Designs); Hexagon Cover Plate (Honey Bee Stamps); gold gems.

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. So do it.” – Kurt Vonnegut

Nance

Relax & Enjoy

 Happy Weekend!

Wow, three posts in one week(so far)! That's a bit of a record for me lately.  Guess when you're enjoying solitude on a river bank and it rains/storms each afternoon, what are you going to do but be creative and listen to music or audiobooks? The rain hasn't really bothered me.  It's hot and muggy outside and the mosquitoes are HORRENDOUS so that's why I mobilized my craft room. LOL

For Following Challenges:

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment - Under the Sea (Waffle Flower).

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock

Ink: Midnight, Samba, Tiki Torch, Melon Ice, Grass Skirt, Blue Raspberry, Something Borrowed, Dress Blues (CP Inks)

Extras: Turtle die-Underwater Marine Life (Spellbinders); Coral - Dive Into Happiness(Spellbinders); Oval die cute to make stencil (CP Designs).

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. So do it.” – Kurt Vonnegut

Nance

Quilted Hugs

Happy Friday!

It's nice and sunny here at my "river retreat"!  

I've been a happy busy crafter today and with sunshine it's doubly nice. 

Squeaking in for the Inkspirational Challenge.  It's a mood board of pinks/oranges/yellow-orange, not a favorite combo of mine so I let it challenge me.  I used some Waffle Flower products from a couple releases back that I hadn't gotten to play with yet.  The cross-stitch frame I ink blended light pink at first, didn't like it so ink blended the darker pink, still wasn't sold, so on the bottom half I ink blended orange and the combo of the pink and orange kind of grew on me.  Happy accident maybe? LOL. The cat die has coordinating stencils and the background was a stencil.  I thoroughly enjoyed the process of this entire card with all the stenciling and ink blending. I have been finding stenciling/ink blending to be very satisfying and therapeutic at the same time lately. 

For Following Challenges:

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment - Quilted Sentiments (Waffle Flower).

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock

Ink: Cotton Candy, Be Mine, Tiara, Orange Twist, Tutti Frutti, Pebble, Twilight (CP Inks)

Extras: Quilted Floral Stencil (WF); Quilted Frames die (WF); Fabric Lover die & stencil (WF); Tiny Square Texture Die (WF); Oval die (CP Designs).

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. So do it.” – Kurt Vonnegut

Nance

 

Blooming Thank You

 Hello!

It seems my hiatuses from crafting keep happening. I am hoping the next couple weeks remedies that, beginning today. I've taken a self-imposed solo trip for much some needed rest and recharging for the next two weeks.  I've never taken a solo trip ever, but after the past four or so months in my personal life, I decided some ME time was desperately needed. I chose not too far from home but I am a tad remote, 15 miles from the nearest store and civilization, but I have a wonderful comfy little Airbnb tucked amidst trees on three sides and the river with a gorgeous panoramic view of it on the fourth side. All I hear is the river and sounds of nature.  Definitely soothing the soul. The hubs came with me for a few days and will come back at the end for a few days. AND, of course, I brought some crafting with me - - more like half my craft room!  LOL  

And so let me show you the first fruits (or flowers) of my solitude crafty retreat so far:

For Following Challenges:

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment - Simply Said Stamp Set (Waffle Flower).

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock

Ink: Rockin' Red, Catching Rays, Martini, Queen For A Day (CP Inks)

Extras: Colorful Expression Bloom die set (Spellbinders); EF - Enchanting Vines (Altenew).

Thought I'd share my river view with you:

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you come back soon!

“To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. So do it.” – Kurt Vonnegut

Nance