Hedgehog birthday

Well, I think I've gotten all my "main" cards done for the year. Whew! Feels good to have them completed and filed away for birthday deliveries. I still have to make some children birthday cards as there's always parties going on and it's so nice to have a stash for the kids to choose from and not be scrambling to make something.

This card is for one of my nieces. In our move I rediscovered many single stamps I had boxed up. I found as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator many of these stamps got pushed aside as I focused on my business and tried to be strictly SU. Admittedly it's nice to have the freedom to play again and so all these packaged stamps have been brought out again! :)

I went through a "hedgehog" phase many years ago. Just fell in love with their cuteness!

This is a pretty simple card. Coloring was done with Copic markers, and I added stickles to each flower (hard to tell in the photo) so they all shimmer :) What little girl doesn't like a little shimmer! I ran the paper (PTI) through my cuttlebug and because it's white on the other side I was able to sand it and reveal white bumps :) I thought that was fantastic (and something new for me!) A simple mat and bow to complete it.

The hot water tank is getting replaced today -- started leaking last week. UGH. Thankfully it was able to get replaced before baby's arrival. Tomorrow is the original DUE DATE, but I think the doctor has changed it to the 20th now. Nothing like hitting that nine month mark only to have another week and a half added to it! HA.

My Mom arrives Saturday and she said her suitcase is full of fabrics and projects... so that will keep us busily sewing until baby decides to make his entrance! I will post some of the projects we make along the way... and hopefully soon news about our little boy's arrival.

♥

We've arrived.

Wow, what an insane week. Between no trailers to rent, a storage unit that seemed to shrink in size as we filled it, to a second one becoming available 30 minutes before our request, to having to move out earlier than anticipated to ..... yeah, quite a week! But, we're here. We've arrived. And as we try to relax, we've been back & forth with a possible sale on the house. Exciting and stressful and discouraging all at the same time. Emotions are at an all-time high! LOL.

But the worst is behind us (right?). And although the truck starting acting up on our trip, it brought us here. We had a fabulous time at the Calgary Zoo - and dinners in bed in our hotel room - love that! Need to focus on the good, and try to push out the stresses.... a good day of stamping will cure that I bet! :) Ha. Need to unpack and organize all that good stuff! Next week, next week.

This is a card I made for a male :) Thought it used up scraps & worked....
Both image & sentiment are by Penny Black.

Thanks for the few comments while I've been away - love to hear from you, even if it's just a hello :)

.j.

Thusday.

Already? Weekend tomorrow? WOW. Kids are home (technically on Spring Break), but with the move they're home now and will complete the year (what's left of this school year - where did that go???!!)at home. So that will be a change for us - kids home all day. Love it though. Simplifies life a bit without all the rushing. Although I have to stay organized to keep things running smoothly. I operate well with things organized, chaos drives me insane!
This was one of those cards that slowly evolved...and yes, it evolved yet again from the scrap bin! HA. It started as pieces that I put together. Thought it was missing something so I added the star brads, then added a couple more star brads. Then as it sat on the shelf waiting for its photo I realized it was still needing *something*...so I found a metal edged tag (found these little ones at Staples way back when for cheap cheap!). I hand-doodled a little outline, then punched out a star and used some foam tape to pop it up off the tag. All in all for a mish-mash type of card, I think it came out ok. :) The image is from PennyBlack and the "wish" is a rub on from my stash.
Enjoy your weekend - I wonder how many boxes I can get packed.....
.j.

Enjoy your day.

How's your week starting out? Ours is moving along quickly as per usual. Hoping hubby has a day off tomorrow - he's worked 21 out of the lat 26 days and we're all feeling tuckered out!
As I said, lots of birthdays coming up, so I've been on a birthday card kick these days. This is another pennyblack image... tried to use "boy" colors as this one is for my nephew. Avoided the ribbon this time and used my cuttlebug arrow diecut to make the little arrows pointing to the rub-on greeting.... simple. I like simple.
Off to hunt for a recipe.. think it's spinach lasagna for dinner tonight? Hmmm... not sure I have any mozza cheese.... might be heading to the grocery store.....
.j.

Hello Friday.

Don'tcha just luuuve fridays! Means the weekend has arrived and rest is on its way. Ok... not really. Means some family time is here and I love that! I don't have to think about the laundry, or messy rooms.... we enjoy some R&R - love it.
Ok. I'm sure you thinking ENOUGH already with this stamp image Ipromise to lay off it for awhile! But I thought I'd attempt a more masculine version of the card. I'm happy with the results. It's base is Real Red. Yes, another snippet of the Karen Foster Designer paper. I pulled out my sewing machine & did some rough stitching along the edge... didn't want anything perfect looking so my old, skip-a-stitch machine was perfect for this job! LOL. Use it up FRIDAY!! HA. Do you hoard? Man, I do! I pulled out some star eyelets and USED THEM! There's a challenge for you this weekend if you're stamping... use something you're saving... USE IT! ... then of course tell me about it :) What do you save? I still have Stampin' Up! confetti tan cardstock. LOVE it... and yes, I do use it - sparingly. I was so sad when they retired that a few years ago.

Hope you have a great weekend ahead of you. I'm excited with some new cards to share with you next week! Finally been keeping up with my blog again. :) You might even see a Christmas card? That is if *I* get some stamping time this weekend.

Thanks for your comments & questions. Kinda lonely up here so it's nice to hear from you!

enjoy your day,

.j.

For a friend...

We've hit Thursday again -- wow are these weeks every whippin' by! Anyone else feeling that?! I heard someone the other day mention there were only 12 weeks until CHRISTMAS. WHAT?! Life needs to slow down a bit for me. It was photo day at our school yesterday and so the back & forth on how to do one's hair & what to wear. All the nervous tummies over picture day. Can't say I liked picture day myself - awaiting to see what photo would end up forever in the yearbook! LOL. Anyway....
I am really loving these chicken's by PennyBlack -- might have to stick a few more on my Christmas Wish List. I guess if Christmas is only 12 weeks away it's time to work on those lists! This card is for a friend of mine (happy to say it's already in the mail!). October seems to be another month of birthday's so I need to get my butt in gear and start stamping again :). Who has started on their Christmas Cards? I have no idea what I want to do yet -- need to play I guess.
I saw a great tutorial on the COPIC MARKERS. I know a few of you have asked questions about them. I personally love them, but still needing to practice -- takes a bit of a learning curve to get the hang of them. I found this blog the other day and she has a little video of her usage of these markers that I thought I would pass along if you're curious. Check her out at: KiyomiKrafts
Click on her name there & it'll take you right to her site.
Ok - must get some chores done so I can stamp... maybe tomorrow. Wow, that's friday already!
enjoy your day,
.j.

A Day Off....

Kids are off school today -- so I was able to enjoy a lovely sleep-in! How wonderful is that! :) Kids were excited about a big family breakfast, so I did need to drag myself up for that. Now my tummy is full & kids are ready to head out and enjoy our chilly day off :) Perhaps a family hike or walk around the lake.

Here's a Birthday card to share with you. I didn't find stamping time yesterday (although a few new sets arrived so I MUST PLAY!!! crossing my fingers for today!!) I had scraps around my table (some run through the cuttlebug, some with score lines, some plain....) I decided to round them up & sew them on the card as my background.

A simple card with some coloring :) AHHHH... just noticed one of those cuttlebug strips (blue!) is on UPSIDE DOWN! Egads! Guess it'll go in the 5yrs and under birthday bin! LOL. Sheesh, wonder how I didn't notice that one.
Stampin' Up! has some amazing specials on right now... I'll post some of that info as well for you.
Enjoy your weekend. Hope you find time for you!
.j.

Hello Tuesday.

I love the "work-week" starting on Tuesday! Just makes me happy to think we're almost mid-week again, weekend is approaching, Daddy is home in THREE sleeps and all will be wonderful in the world again. How's that for optimism? I've been trying to run my 10K 2-3 times a week so had a great week last week & got in a good run this morning. Wasn't too sure if I was going to run this morning... had the "I don't waaaannnna ruuuun...." whine going on today. But, after my first set I was feelin' good. Love that.
It's almost time for me (OK, honestly, I'm behind!) to get going on my Christmas cards. Need to make my list & figure out how many I need. Don't think I'm going to do as many this year... we'll see. I always say that & then I'm doing my stacks again. HOWEVER - I will NOT use THICK ribbon. Sheesh. Last year I remember all my cards were too thick so I had to pay $1 each -- OUCH! So keep that in mind if you mail out a lot of holiday cards.
Here's another PennyBlack card to show you :) I'm getting my birthday card box for kids LOADED UP so I'm not scrambling. I used the corner rounder punch on this card. I don't often pull that one out, but thought I'd give it a try :)

Have a happy day. I think we might even get sunshine today :)
.j.

The ending of a long weekend....

Final few hours of the long weekend, and quite frankly I'm exhausted. Single-parenthood is one of the most difficult things I tell ya. But we're on the downhill slope of the countdown to Daddy being home -- only four more sleeps!!! We've had really stormy weather, so I'm really hoping our power stays strong. My Mom & her hubby JUST got back from Mexico (loved hearing her stories of sunshine & beaches!!) I thought I'd make them a welcome home card :) Love this stamp -- too cute!

Enjoy your week!
.j.

Sunny Saturday

After a big sleepover here last night I'm needing a vacation! LOL. Five boys... YIKES. I'm used to my ONE boy and TWO girls. LOL. I seemed to handle things until everyone figured it was morning at 5AM! :S... gonna be a long day. Hence the reason they created coffee! LOL.
I made this card for my Mom's hubby. I thought it was soooo cute. Hopefully he's not offended with all them candles! nyuk, nyuk!


Hope you are all sleeping in (I'm SO very jealous if you are!) :)....
.j.

Gotta love Friday!

It's the weekend, & in our house that means there MUST be a birthday party somewhere to attend! My oldest is off to a slumber party tonight so I pulled out one of my new PennyBlack stamps & had so much fun coloring & playing with these adorable chickens! How fun is this stamp?! I got a few other ones & a cow or two -- I'm sure you'll see more :) I added a little rhinestone to the center of the bow on the gift -- every little girl likes some sparkle! :)

Enjoy the first day of a wonderful long weekend :)
.j.