Royally Challenged

It's time for a new cue word challenge over at CASology!

 

My mind immediately went to all those regal things we take a great interest in:  jewels, fine robes, scepters, etc.  I was feeling a bit rebellious, though, not wanting to do the obvious.  I finally compromised with myself and used a simple crown, the color purple (a symbol of royalty) and a sentiment I feel represents the overall aura of royalty.  However, in this case, the sentiment is referring to an individual celebrating a birthday!

Stamps:  My Favorite Things
Paper:  Paper Trey cardstock (white)
Ink:  SU
Accessories:  clear gemstones, foam dot, corner rounder

I masked off a square and then sponged with three different colors of purple.  I then stamped the sentiment and popped up the crown image, adding tiny gemstones as embellishments.  I finished things off by rounding the upper right corner of the card.

Be sure and visit the other design teams members' blogs as well as the blog of our fantastic guest designer, Kim!

Tracey McNeely

 Rosemary Dennis

Meghan McMillan

Maureen Merritt

Judy Marino

Jen Wills

Ardyth Percy-Robb

Guest Designer:  Kim

Then, don't forget to link up your own ROYAL creation on the challenge blog by Sunday at 4:00 p.m. (CDT)!

Our special company heads for home today.  Time always seems to fly when they're here and we don't like seeing them go!  I love the comfort of the saying that says, "We say goodbye so we can say hello again!"

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Masculine Monday: Automobile Missing

Things are still in full swing with grandparents today! It's amazing just how gifted grandparents are at wearing out their grandchildren! DS2 took a 3-hour nap on Saturday! That is something he very rarely does anymore, especially on a day other than Sunday! I'm quite sure grandchildren are very adept at wearing out their grandparents too, though! Good days!

I created today's card to stick in the mailbox when these special grandparents start for home tomorrow!

Stamps:  Paper Smooches
Paper:  SU cardstock (Basic Black), Paper Trey cardstock (white)
Ink:  SU (Basic Black, Real Red)
Accessories:  black gemstones, foam dots

The car, its wheels and the road are popped up for dimension.  I have a feeling I'm going to be using this set a bit more in the weeks ahead!  It's just too full of cuteness!

Have a marvelous Monday!

Happiness is...

...the great outdoors.

...fresh morning air.

...a good day's work.

...time well spent.

...a grandparent's love.

...curiosity.

...a good night's sleep.

Get Well Wishes

It's a gorgeous day here on the home front and I'm soaking it all in!  Company will be arriving in approximately six hours, but I'm feeling rather relaxed!  We ended up having overnight guests again this Wednesday night into Thursday, so things are somewhat tidy around the house, at least.  I have a few things on my to do list that I'd like to get done yet, but it's no big deal if I don't get them done!  Love that feeling!

I thought I'd peek in (while putting my feet up) and share one of those cards I mentioned were made earlier in the week when I was having a little sanity time!  I had a get well card brewing on my brain when three out of the five of us came down with some kind of short-lived stomach bug starting last Friday.  The other two of us must have crossed our fingers well enough not to be bitten by it (...or are just that much more ornery than the other three).  Whew!

Stamps:  Paper Smooches
Paper:  SU cardstock (Basic Gray, So Saffron), Paper Trey cardstock (white)
Ink:  SU (Whisper White, Basic Gray)
Accessories:  Stickles (silver), foam dots

I layered a panel of SU's Basic Gray and So Saffron cardstocks after stamping the simple sentiment.  After stamping the spoon and little bird images, I cut them out and mounted them on the card using foam dots for dimension.  The Stickles I added as some elixir to make the medicine seem a little more appealing!

I hope your week is wrapping up nicely for you!  Have a fabulous Friday!

A White Hello

It's time for a little white therapy!  I decided to use white and only white on a card for today since I don't often do that!

Paper:  Paper Trey cardstock (white)
Accessories:  Paper Trey impression plate & die, foam dots

Talk about a quick card!  This took me less than ten minutes to make!  Just perfect when there is a full weekend of family fun with the in-loves staring at me from close by!  The boys are going to be spoiled, spoiled, spoiled, I'm afraid, and when all is said and done, they're going to be exhausted too!

Have a great Thursday!

Wordless Wednesday: Mousse-stache

Beautiful Blooms

It's Tuesday and that means it's time for a new cue word challenge over at CASology!

It appears spring is finally here (and maybe even scooting over for summer to take over)!  With it, the trees are greening up nicely and a visit to the local arboretum reveals plenty of flowers are blooming!

I chose to take the cue word literally and used a bright bloom on my mostly white card.  I added a little texture with an impression plate.  Then, I used a "hello" die to cut out the bold sentiment.  I added some polka dot decorative paper behind it.  The flower's center was popped up after adding some clear Stickles for shine.  The embossed panel and flower are both popped up with foam dots.  The card corners were rounded to finish things.

Stamps:  SU
Paper:  Paper Trey cardstock (white), SU cardstock (Daffodil Delight), SU decorative paper
Ink:  SU (Pumpkin Pie)
Accessories:  Paper Trey die, SU punches (circle, scalloped circle), corner rounder, clear Stickles, foam dots, Paper Trey impression plate

Be sure and take some time to visit the rest of the design team members' blogs as well as this week's guest designer's blog!  There are lots of bright, cheerful cards this week to inspire you!  Then, don't forget to link up your own BLOOM'in image on the CASology blog by Sunday at 4:00 p.m. (CDT)!

Tracey McNeely

 Rosemary Dennis

Meghan McMillan

Maureen Merritt

Judy Marino

Jen Wills

Ardyth Percy-Robb
 

Guest Designer:  Barb 

Today is bound to be a wonderful day here on the home front!  The kitchen painting is as good as done!  I just need to put outlet covers back on and clean a little!  Always such a good feeling to have a fresh coat of paint on things and life once again returning to the daily routines!

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Masculine Monday: Good Ole Dad

Ah, Monday!  A new week has begun!  While I did indeed do some more painting in the kitchen Saturday (Someone please remind me next time that kitchens are a lot of tedious detail work...), I took some sanity time in my craft room and created not one, but three cards that I'll be sharing on different days throughout the week!  I made sure I made a masculine card as I wanted to be on time today with that weekly promise!

Since Mother's Day has now come and gone, my mind seems to automatically start thinking about Father's Day!

Stamps:  Paper Trey (Enjoy the Ride, Pond Life), The Craft's Meow
Paper:  SU cardstock (Brushed Silver, Pacific Point)
Ink:  Encore (Silver), SU (Pacific Point, Basic Black)
Accessories:  gemstones, foam dots

I stamped a strip of dots to ground my design.  I then stamped the car image on SU's Brushed Silver cardstock and cut it out, popping it up on top of the dots.  I stamped a simple sentiment and added clear gemstones to the headlights just for fun.  You can probably guess what the inside says!

DS3 and I will be running errands this morning since the day is starting off with a chilly greeting.  Once groceries are put away, it will be back to painting for me!

This is a peek at the BEFORE:

The grey and yellow are going as well as that red window panel!  The grey was there when we bought the home, as was the red decor, but it's time for a change!  The majority of the trim work is done, so that is good!  The paint rolling goes a lot faster and DH hopes to get home from work a little earlier than usual today, so that will help!

Have a marvelous Monday!

Happiness is...

 

...new life.

...a change of scenery.

...banana bread, warm out of the oven.

...a fresh coat of paint.

...a beautiful sunrise.

 ...an open mind.

...a family, united.

...a mother's love.

Finally Friday!

I can't tell you how happy I am that it is Friday!  I'm not typically one who can't wait until the end of the week, but this week has been one of those weeks around here!

We had last minute overnight guests Wednesday night into Thursday afternoon.  Usually, I'm good to go with such things, but this week, the phone call came just before 7 a.m. on Wednesday morning after I was already off to my morning of work at the dental office.  I arrived home at noon to DH telling me we had overnight guests coming!  Can you say mini panic attack?!  Our guests stay in DS1/DS2's bedroom right now since we don't have an official guest room yet.  Their room needed a good cleaning and I needed to tidy a house that had been a bit neglected the past week due to a grand ambition of mine to start painting the kitchen!  Needless to say, the painting was quickly put on hold and a whirlwind of cleaning began!

Those guests have gone on their way now, but we have more overnight guests coming tonight and DS2 stayed home today with an ear infection in addition to DS3 coming down with a doozy of a cold overnight!  Thank goodness the house is pretty well in order this time around!  Life has hit the fast lane!

I squeaked out a little sanity time in my craft room this afternoon while DS3 was napping and DS2 was engrossed in a quiet computer activity.  I felt some bright, happy colors were in order!

Stamps:  Paper Trey
Paper:  SU cardstock (Island Indigo, Daffodil Delight)
Ink:  SU (Island Indigo)
Accessories:  yellow gemstones, foam dots, impression plate (Paper Trey)

I hope your week has been fairly uneventful!  It's on into the weekend here.  After our guests leave tomorrow, I hope to get back to my painting project!  Next week's weather forecast is looking rather warm, so I need to finish things up while the windows can still be open wide!

Enjoy your weekend!