My Brother's Birthday Card

My brother's birthday was this past week. When I talked to him on his actual birthday, he hadn't received his card yet due to the blizzard that hit the northeast over the weekend. Hopefully he has gotten it by now!   But he doesn't read my blog (he probably doesn't know that I have one!), so I am not worried that he will see it here before he gets it in the mail.

I enjoyed making this card. I wanted to make a scenic card built around the focal image stamp.   The trees in the background were stamped and drawn with various stamps.  The sentiment is an Elizabeth Craft Quietfire die.

Flower Card

I saw this card on Pinterest and fell in love with the stampset. It is now retired, so I had to find it on Ebay.  I was fortunate enough to get a good deal on it, though.

Here is my CASE  (Copy And Share Everything):

I used the same stampset, color scheme, and layout as the card from

Kirsty Brown's blog.  Most of the inks are Tim Holtz distress inks, so after I was finished stamping, I spritzed the image with water so that the inks would bleed and blend.

I  used Dee's Distinctively Dies "Thinking of You" die instead of stamping the sentiment.  I colored over the die cut with a clear glitter pen.

Forest Scene

I drew this forest scene several weeks ago, and  saw it again last night as I was flipping through my art journal . So I thought I would post it.

It was very easy!  I used colored pencils and followed This Tutorial that I found on Pinterest.  It's certainly not perfect, but I am happy with the results. 

Lasting Hearts Card Drive (update)

 Here are most of the cards that I sent to the Lasting Hearts card drive. The stamp & die set used on the cards in the first pic were purchsed from Simon Says Stamps.  

These cards are also posted on my Pinterest "My Cards" board

Lasting Hearts - Card Drive

Instead of rewriting all of the information, I thought it would be easier to post a link to Sandy Alnock's blog post about the card drive for Lasting Hearts:

Sandy Alnock - Lasting Hearts


Lasting Hearts is a ministry for families who have lost a child due to a miscarriage.  The grief is real and can be long lasting, as I know all too well after having lost a baby due to an ectopic pregnancy in 1989.

If you feel led to donate some cards to Lasting Hearts, here are a few guidelines from the Give Forward page seen here:

Cards with "Thinking of You," "Hugs,"  or "Sorry For Your Loss" as the sentiment are probably best.

You can either leave the inside blank, or sign it very simply. A suggested signature is  "You are in my thoughts and prayers" and then your first name and state.

Put the cards inside unsealed envelopes.

The address to mail the cards is:

              2892 N Bellflower Blvd Ste 216              
              Long Beach Ca 90815

Thank you.

Happy Anniversary

This is the card that I sent to my stamping friend and her husband for their wedding anniversary.  It was a quick and simple white-on-white card, but it sure did help jump start my creative mojo that took a vacation over the holidays!

Card size – 5-1/2" square
Paper – Stampin’ Up 2015 Sale-A-Bration DSP, Georgia Pacific base
Accessories – Tim Holtz die (sentiment) and Darice die (foliage)

Happy New Year! My Word for 2016

Wow!  Time is flying by  (just like my mother told me it would when I was a kid  lol)

My word for 2016 is "Focus."   There are things that I need & want to focus on and they are:

1. My relationships with God, family (immediate and extended), and friends 

This is especially true for the man in my life.  We are two very different types of people and so it makes our relationship interesting, especially given that we live in separate homes.  He is a night owl and I am an early bird. He works long hours, so he is more relaxed about keeping his house tidy and I am somewhat of a neatnik!

My talent & ministry is cardmaking so I want to send out more cards througout the year. More than birthdays, anniversaries, or Christmas; I want to send cards for no reason other than I was thinking about that person.  I also want to donate more cards to local organizations such as assisted living facilities for the residents to use or charitable organizations that serve animals.

2. My finances  

I want to pay down my credit card debt this year; the best way to do that is to take control of my spending habits and "shop" from my stash of art supplies first.

Paying down my credit card debt will free up money so that I will be able to donate more money to my favorite animal charity, The Mr. Mo Project .  This organization saves senior dogs from shelters around the country, finds fosters for the dogs, then pays for the transportation to get the dog to the foster, AND they pay all of the dog's medical bills for the rest if its life.

3. My art and my blog  

Once again, I have let life get in the way of both. I am not going to commit to posting here every day or even every week, but I do want to make a concerted effort to post more often.  However, one commitment that I can make is to spend time every week day in my studio, even if it is just to clean up or reorganize.

4. "Lighten My Load"  

This is an ongoing project and one that I will make progress, even if just baby steps, if I shop my art stash first.  I have joined a Facebook group called 40 Bags in 40 Days and read the posts daily as added inspiration to lighten my load.  My 40 day start date is tomorrow, Jan 6th, and my plan is to start in my art studio.


So, there you have it, Friends. In my mind, putting this into print seems to solidify my accountability.