Fishing for a Happy Birthday

Making cards for boys (little and big ones) can be difficult for me sometimes. I'm not sure why that is, except that most of the time I don't want anything overly cutesy, and using embellishments, particularly ribbon, on boy cards can be tricky.

That said, I love the Ian stamps from The Greeting Farm. This little guy makes me smile every time! I made this card for my daughter's classmate, who celebrated his sixth birthday yesterday. The designer paper is from Stampin' Up's Jersey Shore collection, which is retired now, I think. The sentiment is from SU's Hip Hip Hooray set, also retired. I colored the image with Copic markers and highlighted the fish with a Spica Atyou Glitter pen.

I'm looking forward to some time spent in my craft room later today, so I should have a few new creations to share with you tomorrow. Hope you all have a happy Sunday!

A Bookmark for Karin

This week, I am hosting the Crafty Secrets' forum challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers. I challenged everyone to use pockets on their projects, and the gallery is full of wonderful creations.

I made this bookmark pocket card for my best friend, Karin, who's a nurse. She told me yesterday that it had arrived, so now I can share it with you. I used CS's Feeling Yucky set and colored the images with Copic markers.

I was so thrilled to see that my card was featured on Sandy Redburn's blog this week, along with a bunch of other really fabulous creations. That really made my day! Not only is Sandy the owner of my favorite stamp company, she is also an amazing, generous person.

Hope everyone is looking forward to a fun, relaxing weekend!

My Mum is Amazing!

I took this photo of my Mum painting at an on-location watercolor session of the Lakes Area Art Guild last summer.

My mum is a constant source of inspiration to me. As an artist and a writer, she continues to push her own boundaries, to experiment, to venture out of her comfort zone, to allow herself to make mistakes and learn from them. She is bold; she takes chances.



By example, she encourages me to do the same.
I need to leave the excuses behind, to attempt new techniques, and embrace new materials, to allow myself to fail...and to succeed.

Okay, you see this painting on the right? The photo she is working from is of a greenhouse. It depicts the many-paned glass wall filled with dozens of glass bottles, vases, etc. Light is being reflected off a myriad of surfaces.

Did I mention that she doesn't like angles or geometry? But she was determined to learn more about painting light, glass, and reflections. The fact that she would attempt this daunting subject is impressive to me, and not only did she attempt it, but she completed the painting beautifully. May I develop just a smidgeon of that kind of determination and desire to push myself.

Jack's World Thank You

Here's another simple card using an image from Cosmo Cricket's Jack's World line. Isn't that baby lion the cutest thing! This is an end-of-the-year thank you for my daughter's school administrator.

I aged the main image using an edge distresser from Heidi Swapp and swiping it with Ranger's Antique Linen Distress Ink. I carried through the school theme with ruler ribbon and plain, old, ordinary staples to decorate the corners.

We'll tuck a Dairy Queen gift card in there , and that will be one end-of-the-school-year gift we can cross off our list. :)

A New Hobby

Our daughter's school has a fundraiser auction every spring, and one of the things I bid on this year was knitting lessons from one of the other mums. I was so excited to win!

I had my first lesson Wednesday night, and Kristi is a fabulous teacher. She taught me how to cast on and to knit. I finished this scarf on Friday (it's much longer than it looks in the photo), and I'm looking forward to learning how to bind off. :)

I have a feeling this is the beginning of a fun, new hobby. It certainly is relaxing, and like Jell-o, there's always room for just one more hobby. Right? ;)

Buggy Birthday for Dad

Yesterday we celebrated my dad's birthday with a "big, fancy family dinner" (as the kids like to say) at our house. At 67 years old, my dad is one cool dude. Retired from 30 + years of teaching high school social studies, Dad is probably even busier in retirement in some ways. He runs or exercises every day (yesterday it was running for 67 minutes in honor of his b-day), and he is an antique dealer with spaces in two shops. He has a quick wit and loves groan-inducing puns (I think that's a teacher trait!) No matter how old I get, he'll always beat me hands down at Jeopardy, and he always knows what to say or do to cheer me up, even if it's just offering a hug. Love you, Dad!

I made Dad's card using Crafty Secrets' Bugs Life set. On the CS member forum at Splitcoast Stampers, Lori proposed an inspiration challenge. Basically, we choose something to be inspired by and make a project reflecting that inspiration. For this card, I chose my Pfaltzgraf Pistoulet dishes for my color inspiration. I colored the image using Copic markers, added shimmer to the wings with Stickles glitter glue, and made the eyes glossy with Plaid Clear Glass Finish.

Kitschy, Kitschy, Coo!

At my daughter's school today, they are having a surprise baby shower for the head teacher. So I broke into my stash of Jack's World stuff from Cosmo Cricket and made this quick square (4 1/4" x 4 1/4") card. I simply adore the Jack's World line. It's cheerful and kitschy, and it just makes me smile every time I look at it.

Hope you get to do something that makes you and someone else smile today!