Hello Friend

 Hello there! Happy Monday!

I have a quick post to share. I got a few new goodies last week while out of town and had a chance to play with some of them yesterday.  I took advantage of some Labor Day sales at Poppy Stamps and Birch Press and I couldn't wait to use them.  I thought Karren's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches was perfect to showcase this lovely butterfly and background.  And I chose the colors from Sunday Stamps Challenge.

The background is Poppy Stamps Nordic Lacy coverplate.  The butterfly is Birch Press Block Print Radiant Butterfly.  Label die (Catherine Pooler). Sentiment (Waffle Flower). Circle die (Sizzix). Wreath die (Stash). Rounded tag die (Stash).

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The Hubs is off today and so it's yardwork and housework time.  I'd rather it be craft time again but having been out of town 45 out of the last 90 days, our house may revolt if we ignore things any longer.  LOL 

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

"To create one's world in any of the arts takes courage."

Georgia O'Keefe

Nance

All About You

Hello there! 

I cannot believe it's already Thursday. It's been a very busy week. We traveled the first few days. Hubs celebrated his 60th for three days. Now trying to get back to regular scheduled programming. 

I can't believe it's already the 2nd Thursday of the month and close to mid-month.  It's going too fast!  And since it is the 2nd Thursday, it's time for a new Topping over at Seize The Birthday.  Jenny is our hostess and she chose Embossing for our Topping.  

I used a beautiful embossing folder by Catherine Pooler and Sizzix I recently acquired.  I inked up the folder on the background side to create that bright and cheerful yellow background and boost those beautiful blooms.  I framed in on a lovely scalloped frame cut in silver and added a little silver embossing on some of the dry embossed areas. 

If you're not a Toppings person, you can always play in our Anything Goes Birthday challenge each time.  Either way, come play along and have fun with us while extending your stash of birthday cards!

For Other Challenges:

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment - Little Something (Catherine Pooler)

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock; Silver cardstock (Lawn Fawn)

Ink: Lemon Sorbet (Catherine Pooler).

Extras: Happy Garden EF (Catherine Pooler/Sizzix); Scallop frame die (Gina Marie); silver emboss powder (Stampin' Up)

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

"To create one's world in any of the arts takes courage."

Georgia O'Keefe

Nance

 

Spooktacular Wishes

Good evening!

A late post this Sunday for me.  

A little something cute and spooky for a couple challenges.  

Halloween is my favorite holiday(next to Christmas).  I love the decorations, the costumes, trick or treaters, the candy and the scary movies. I sooo love the scary movies season! I do have to specify, I love horror movies, but not slasher movies (there is a difference). In fact, as I make this post, I'm watching The Conjuring 2 and the Hubs agreed to watch it with me.  He is NOT a horror fan but will endure it with me sometimes. 

I was inspired by the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches this week to create a Halloween card with this cute little ghost dog die (Spellbinders) sitting in front of a full moon on Halloween. I created the moon with moon stencils from Spellbinders. I thought white clouds didn't look right so I cut black clouds and and inked some white on them for a more mysterious look.  The bat I sparkled a bit because, who says scary can't sparkle too? 

So while I love my movies dark, scary and all things supernatural creepy (think The Nun, Paranormal Activity, The Conjuring, etc), most of my cards I like to keep on the cutesy side of Halloween. How about you? 

For Following Challenges:

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge

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

"To create one's world in any of the arts takes courage."

Georgia O'Keefe

Nance

 

Rainbow of Hellos

 Hello again!

Who doesn't love a rainbow? This card was a fairly quick and simple ink blending project.  I debated which way to go about it - ink blend then cut or cut then inkblend.  Already having this die cut and in my stash answered that dilemma.  So I cut, taped everything together on the back, then ink blended.  I did cut it down in size so I would have a nice white border around it.  Added a die cut "hello" and I was done!  

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Supplies: 

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110 lb.

Ink: It's a Girl, Party Dress, Orange Twist, Limoncello, Grass Skirty, Oh Boy, Pixie Dust (Catherine Pooler).

Extras: Wave die cut (Altenew); Hello die (Catherine Pooler).

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

"To create one's world in any of the arts takes courage."

Georgia O'Keefe

Nance

Beautiful Floral Birthday

 Happy FriYAY!😎

Happy September too, I guess.  

I'm still in summer mode so it doesn't feel like September to me. I've been creating this week here and there and so I have some things to share over the next couple days. Today, I'm skirting in at last minute to The Paper Players challenge with Joanne's Tic Tac Toe Board and Cupcake Inspirations challenge.

I used the colors of Cupcake Inspiration with the top row of Joanne's tic tac toe board (Celebration, Flowers, Stencil).  I recently purchased this beautiful layered stencil by Catherine Pooler and Sizzix, Happy Garden. I used Lemon Sorbet, Creamsicle and Pistachio dye inks (Catherine Pooler). I added a decorative scalloped border (Catherine Pooler) inked from the Creamsicle as well. Below that I inked a small panel in Pistachio and embossed it with a wavy embossing folder (Sizzix/Stampin' Up).  The sentiment (My Favorite Things) I stamped in Twilight (Catherine Pooler) and cut from a banner die (Reverse Confetti). I added a little sparkle bling on the border and stenciled layer.

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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

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....

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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

Thanks For Being There

Hello there!

Happy Wednesday!

I took another break, unwillingly for a couple weeks.  Side effect of helping care for my mother and cleaning out her house after she passed - tendonitis in my right hand, my dominant hand.  So had to get a shot and  hopefully it gets rid of it. I'm just thankful I have no arthritis or anything else concerning.  

So I had to rest it some before I tried to craft again. I spent Monday at Bonnie's for a craft day, desperately needed.  We had a lot of fun catching up and sharing goodies and crafting.  I played with a couple of her stencils, including this beautiful one by Papertrey Ink, Sunflower Garden.  

I used Distress Inks for everything but my word die, which I used brown cardstock. I decided to ink up one of my geometric stencils when I got home to pair with it.  I used the basketweave stencil by My Favorite Things.  I did it twice and put one panel behind the sunflower panel and cut down the other one for a strip on the front behind my sentiment die.  Added another sentiment on some colored cardstock and was done. Both sentiments are by Catherine Pooler.

I'm slipping it in to the Stencil challenge at Just Us Girls before it ends today.

For Following Challenges:

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

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." 

- Maya Angelou 

Nance

Meowy & Bright

 Hello there! 

Happy Monday!

I got another card made this weekend.  This one is a Christmas card.   I had the cat die all cut and put together and sitting in my UFO stash since last fall.  So I pulled him out, added the gift, hat, sentiment and the background and DONE!  

For Following Challenges:

Krafty Chicks Challenge - Christmas

Card Supplies: 

Stamps: Sentiment -  Critter Christmas (Waffle Flower).

Paper: Neenah Solar White 110lb cardstock; Teal, pink, grey, bright green  cardstock (Stash); Patterned paper (Catherine Pooler).

Ink: Samba (CP Inks).

Extras: Cat, Christmas Accessories, Gift dies (Waffle Flower); Dashed Snowflake cover plate (Waffle Flower).

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

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." 

- Maya Angelou 

Nance

BeYOUtiful T-Shirt

 

Hello there!

Happy Sunday!

It's been two months since I was here and since I was in my craft room and crafted.  We had to go out of town unexpectedly in early June and wound up being gone for three weeks, as my mother became ill and then passed away.

I've been home for two weeks now and still not really back in my routine and a To Do List much longer than it was in early June.  I've managed to unpack our suitcases, do laundry, cook a couple times, took a short trip to Richmond this week to return our granddog and even straighten up my craft room. So last night, I finally sat down and actually crafted a little. 

So here is the result:

I had seen this cute die set from The Stamp Market, T-Shirt die.  All it is is the collar and some cute little extras like the hearts, a star, a flower, etc.  I figured that would make for a quick and easy card and it did for the most part.  My biggest decision was what patterned paper (Catherine Pooler) to use for the shirt.  The sentiment die is by Ellen Hutson. I used Samba ink from Catherine Pooler for the color and and the top layer of the sentiment.

I made this for the Color Hues Challenge, which ends tomorrow morning at 9am. 

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My beautiful, independent, selfless 91 year old mother had been having some health issues for a couple months and took a turn for the worse.  She was hospitalized June 7th and it was evident within a couple days that we would be taking her to her home in Conway, SC under Hospice care.  I went down on the 10th. My two brothers and I and our spouses spent the next week at her home with her, caring for her round the clock along with Hospice until she passed on June 19.  She passed peacefully and without pain, for which we were very thankful.  Dave and I then spent four days packing up her house to transport furniture and such to our home in NC and my brother in WV.  The funeral was planned for the following weekend so it made sense for us to stay and help pack up things.  She did not want her home to sit long and for all of us to be burdened with it. That was my mom - clear up to her last breath practically, thinking to make things easier for the rest of us first. We were home for 36 hours before turning around and going to WV with a Uhaul and for her funeral the following weekend.  And if that wasn't enough, my mother requested literally the day before she passed for my brothers and I to conduct her entire funeral service including doing the eulogy.  I don't know how we did it, but we did, along with our uncle, her brother.  All in all it was a very blurred, stressful, whirlwind three weeks physically and emotionally for all of us.  I miss her dearly already but after the last four months she had, I am thankful she is not suffering anymore.

🩷Edith Marlene Harrah 🩷

January 31, 1934 - June 19, 2025 

                   

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

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." 

- Maya Angelou 

Nance