Once Is Enough

My father-in-law recently celebrated his 87th birthday.  And what do you do for a man who has lived that many years and has pretty much everything he needs?  Try to make him a special card, of course.  I wanted to make a show of his uniqueness, so I thought this stamp might be appropriate to do just that.  You'll see what I mean when you read the inside sentiment............

As you can see, the card itself is made very simply.  The sentiments are from Stampin'Up and the main image stamp comes from Lost Coast Stamps.  The sentiment reads, "You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough."  I hope dear fil took it in the manner in which it was intended.  I believe he did.

The second card is my dd's card to her granddad.  We wanted it to be a bit more playful so we had a little fun with it, and put sentiments on the front, the inside, and even the back!

The back reads, "Today, I eat cake. (yum yum)"  As you can see, I carried the dp from the front to the inside and back as well for continuity, keeping the stripes going in the same direction each time.  Spellbinders Deckled Edge Rectangles and Labels Four were used for the front and inside.  Stamps are Pink By Design, Stampin'Up and Hampton Art.  Papers are Recollections and Generations.

I hope you're enjoying your day.  It's very dreary here, but my dd and I have been enjoying episodes of "Downton Abbey," a series from PBS' Masterpiece Theatre.  We both love a good 'costumer,' and there's lots of British upstairs/downstairs intrigue.

See you again soon.  Until then keep your creative genius flowing................

CHRISTINE

18 Hours Later.......

It's melting like crazy here today.  I gave it 'til Tuesday, but I think it will have disappeared by tomorrow.  The pretty pink blossoms didn't survive, but the two bradford pear trees are still looking gorgeous.  Nope, that isn't snow on them now!  Isn't the sky the most exquisite blue.................

Couldn't resist showing these to you.  I'll be back with the cards later.

CHRISTINE

Six More Hours of Snow

Just thought I'd show you a few pics of our little visit of winter today.  It started with a long loud peal of thunder which ended in a boom, and the snow came shortly after.  Been snowing all afternoon, and it's forecast to continue until around midnight.  If I didn't know it would be gone by Tuesday, I'd probably be feeling really bummed right now.  The first photo is out the back door to our deck.

This picture was taken from dd's bedroom window down the hill.

My last picture was taken out the front door across the street.  What was a beautiful little tree full of pink blossoms is now covered in white snow.  I don't know if you can see traces of the pink -- it looked so pretty yesterday.

Hope your weather is nicer where you are.  I'll be back tomorrow with some cards for you.  Thanks for stopping by!!

Big warm hugs!

CHRISTINE

Blessings

Hello, my friends.  I have one new card to show you today.  It's another card that my daughter requested for some friends who lost a family member.  She wasn't sure what she wanted on the card this time, but I know this family a bit, so I came up with an idea based on that knowledge.  My daughter was pleased with the result.

This card is very simple in design.  The frame around the cross is actually a piece left from a mat that I cut for another card.  The cross and the sentiments, inside and out, are embossed in gold, and the background stamp is in brown ink.

The script stamp is from Inkadinkado.  The cross and sentiments are from the Crosses of Hope set by Stampin' Up!

Sympathy cards are always a bit difficult to design.  More than other cards, they need to convey just the right feeling.  I believe this card did that for my daughter.

Thanks for your visit today.  I hope you're enjoying these early days of Spring, and remember,

keep your creative genius flowing........................

CHRISTINE 

I'm finally doing the TANGLE

Happy Friday everyone!  I can't believe how fast this week has gone, but I'm keeping my promise about getting back to posting
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I'm sure you've all heard about Zentangle.  But, if you haven't, it's a form of drawing in repeating patterns.  It's not unlike doodling in it's basic form, but it goes beyond because it uses patterns that can be taught, whereas doodling is totally spur-of-the-moment mostly mindless drawing.  There are certified Zentanglers out there - I am NOT one of them, and books and lots of info on the web if you're interested in more detail.

I first heard of Zentangle when one of my local shops was having a 'demo day.'  They had lots of other things going on, but this was the only one I had never heard of before.  It was shortly before Halloween, so our demo included stamped images of witches' hats and pumpkins.  The explanation we were given wasn't especially true to the Zentangle code, and I don't think I captured the spirit in my two sample pieces.

This is my first sample, a witch's hat.  Knowing what I know now about Zentangle, I think this first effort is really lacking in depth, but, still, it was fun to do.  It was done with an ordinary ball point pen.

My second attempt, I think, is a bit better, but still bland.  It's a funky pumpkin.  Also done with ball point pen.

My more recent effort is done in the way Zentangle is initially taught.  That is, using a roughly 3X3" tile and a good quality art drawing pen, in my case a Sakura Micron 01.  Also, all the patterns I used are among the 'official' Zentangle patterns.  I must say, I am much more pleased with this one.  Pleased enough, in fact, that I will do more of this Zentangling.

I hope you enjoyed my first foray into this trendy art form.  It's been taking the crafting world by storm!

As always, thanks so much for visiting, and remember to keep your creative genius flowing...................

CHRISTINE 

I'm Still Here

Hi, lovely friends!  Just a note to let you know that I am, indeed, still here and will begin posting creative goodies again this week.  I have missed you all very much, but I've been having some issues which have kept me away.  No nothing serious; just enough to keep me out of things.  Also, I'll be making my way around visiting as many of you as I can in the coming days; you are all so very inspiring.

So, I hope you'll be back to visit.  I already have a few things to show you.  I just need to get them into my computer! lol  Thanks for stopping by.

Here's to getting my own creative genie-ous flowing again......................

CHRISTINE

Just a Quick Update

Well, I am soooo happy to say that we have dodged the proverbial bullet once again.  Guess we're just living right.  LOL  Seriously, we ended up with such a small amount of snow, it's almost laughable.  But on top of the sleet, it really was a nasty situation.  I am so, so sorry for those of you who have been on the receiving end of the big thunder snow.  I know exactly how you feel Carole and Audrey, and so very many others.  Just stay in and be safe and keep as warm and cozy as you can.  Definitely hot chocolate weather!

Take care everyone.  Sending hugs.............
CHRISTINE

The Storm

Hi everyone.  After reading some comments, I thought I might be a little clearer about what was in my pictures in my last post.  I know it didn't look like much, but it was all sleet out there, and it kept coming down much of the day.  It didn't turn to snow until after dark, so I didn't take any new pics.  I think the official measurement of the sleet in our immediate area was 2".  As treacherous as it was, it could have been much worse if it had been freezing rain.  The trees were getting very heavy with the ice, and bending with the wind.  We have a pretty good snow coming down now, as I write, and the wind has been quite blustery most of the day and evening.  No telling what we'll wake up to. Some areas not far from us already had 10" to 12" of snow by about one or two in the afternoon.  Highways were closed through much of the state due to white-out conditions.  With the sleet hanging on by us as long as it did, our snow totals should be much less than some had anticipated.  Still significant, though, and our area isn't nearly as well prepared as some to handle blizzard conditions since we don't see that kind of weather too often.

 Being from Chicago, I'm no stranger to heavy city snows.  I'll never forget the first thunder snow I experienced during the two-foot dumping we got in '67.  We'd never heard of 'snow days' at that time, and we didn't ride a school bus, so we trudged off to school in the morning, arriving to the news that we had to turn around and trudge back home.  I remember dumping my books and wet coat, hat, etc., and telling whomever had passed on the news that I wasn't going anywhere until I had dried off and warmed up.  I do believe we managed to snag a city bus for part of the trip home.  They were moving really slowly, but at least they were dry.  Brings back some good memories to think about that storm.

It's well past time for me to turn in, so I'll sign off for now.   I'll pop in again later.  I hope everyone in areas hit by this weather can manage to stay safe and warm.  Be careful if you absolutely need to go out.


Hugs,
CHRISTINE 

Winter Rages On

Thought I'd post some pics of conditions here in the St. Louis metro southwest area. Doesn't look like much yet, but it's really treacherous out there. We're awaiting the arrival of the thunder snow-embedded blizzard. Stay safe out there everyone.

These are from about 9:30 am central.  I'll try to show more later as the conditions change.

Warm hugs,
CHRISTINE

Part 2: Sisters Playing Nicely

Hi, everyone!!  I'm still having issues with my eye, so I haven't been in a very talkative mood; going back to see the doc today.  But I wanted to show you the rest of what I managed to get done at my sister's during our last whirlwind visit.  First, though, I need to tell you about the visit we had behind our house yesterday.  We live in a rather typical sub-division, but it's a little bit hilly and has nice, fairly large wooded common areas, one of which is behind our block.  We see the usual small wildlife out there, such as squirrels, bunnies, owls and several various other birds.  Last week we spotted a fox for the first time.  Occasionally, we have seen a deer in parts of the sub-division, but never near our house.  Well, yesterday there were four of them grazing in our woods.  They were so beautiful, and I took out my binoculars to get a better look.  I didn't get any photos because my camera doesn't have great range, and I didn't want to open doors or windows for fear of scaring them away with the sound.  We still have snow on the ground which is why, I think, we were able to see them so well.  They stayed in view for quite some time -- just awesome.  I know they are overpopulated in some areas, and even considered pests by some, but we don't see them that often so it is still really a treat for us to have them nearby.

Now, onto the cards.  I told you in my last post about using my sister's leftovers.  Well, they're not nice, neat little pieces of paper in organized little stacks.  They're big and little and cut and punched and all catching on everything else, and I got to the point where I just couldn't deal with it.  (Yes, I admit, I do have a little OCD.  My house doesn't reflect that, but it is organized chaos after all.)  Of course, I had to sort it all out so that I had a better idea of what there was to work with and my sis would have an easier time finding bits later (really, I had no expectations that this would continue for long).  It was therapeutic for me, anyway, and while I sorted, she did some cutting and punching to neaten up some of the unwieldy pieces.  When I had all the piles of bits sorted into color groups, I thought it would be fun if we both chose a colorway, and then worked with it until we used it up or couldn't stand it anymore or simply had to quit because it was 3AM again (seems to be our usual bedtime when we're playing).  She chose the yellow/orange group (the smallest one, if I'm not mistaken), and I took purple, which is my favorite color, but also the biggest pile as it was the color from her daughter's bridal shower and wedding.  Without further ado, or much explanation since I don't know the origin of many of her supplies, here are the cards I came up with:

The first card is a simple mosaic I created using four teabag fold leftovers my sister kept telling me to throw away (I knew I could use them) and some squares she punched while I was sorting. Sorry for the glare; the cardstock is a shiny one, one of the largest 'scrap' pieces available.

Next up is a card made on a base with a pre-cut window, thus the inside cover-up.  Other than the base, the only new bits were the bling flower centers.

I found a piece of plaid dp that I loved and knew I had to use it somewhere.  It became  a 'table-top' for a flower vase.  The flower was made using circles for the petals and a glitter paper for the center.  I think the bitty butterflies are just too sweet.  I didn't get a pic of the inside, but it's got a nice "just because" stamped there.

More bitty butterflies!  Aren't they just the cutest? ; )   The focal point of this card is the beautiful dp oval.  Yes, it was a scrap, already cut and waiting to be used.  I know it doesn't show up in pics, but this paper is just gorgeous.  It has it's own dimension and glimmer.  All it needed were some, yes, butterflies.  Don't you love the tiny bow?  My sister tied it for me; my fingers aren't quite so nimble anymore.

The last card might be my favorite of this group.  The focal 'thank you' came from the wedding thank yous my sister made.  I love the way it pops here.  The little flower was made the same way as the 'flower pot' one was made but with extra layers added.  Another sweet teensy bow made by my sis, and a few jewels just for fun.

I hope you've enjoyed our scrapventure (new word -- well, probably used before ??).  I've had a great time bringing it to you.  If you have, I hope you'll take a moment to comment.  I so appreciate it when you do!!

Do remember:  keep your creative genius flowing.

Hugs!
CHRISTINE

I'm Baaa-ack!! and Sisters Playing Nicely Together

Hello lovely people.  I've missed you.  'Course it's not you who have been gone, is it?  Sorry to have been absent for so long.  I was back in my home town, the Windy City, having a delayed Christmas celebration with my family.  It was so fun, but more on that in a minute.  Then, when I cam home I started having some sort of eye problem.  It hurt, just at first, as though it was scratched.  Then it was a bit red and itchy and watery and gritty.  So, I decided I'd better get it checked out.  The doc said there was no infection (forehead swipe), and it looked scratched - duh.  Well, she gave me ointment and drops and sent me home.  It still feels a little funky, but it's better.

Now for the fun part.  As you may have read in earlier posts, my sister does some scrapbooking and makes cards, and she's done some party goodies.  So, when we're together these days we tend to start playing with our paper stuff (unless we're shopping for paper stuff).  Since we were at her place, of course it was her stuff this time.  Having done parties, she has lots of leftovers from favors, invitations, thank yous, etc, etc, etc.  The first night we played was just a nice relaxing time using whatever we came up with.  The other night we played was a little different; I'll get to that in another post.  Now, I have to tell you, neither of us is exactly Miss Speedy when making our cards (or pages or whatevers), especially when we're together, I think, and the hour starts getting wee (as in after midnight).  I'll start something, and she'll make some suggestions.  She'll be working on something, and I'll put in my two cents.  And it just goes along like that.  Veerrrry slowly, although the time speeds by.  I'm sure you understand what I'm talking about.  We tend to get really excited when we actually have a finished item.  But we also try to test out techniques we haven't done before.  That always takes us a little longer 'cause we often don't have a clue what we're doing.  But it's all fun!!!  Here are the cards I came up with that first night....................

 We both love making flowers, so these are our own.  I wish I could give you deets, but, as I said, we were mostly working with leftovers.  I know the flower parts, ovals and squares were cut with Spellbinders dies, and the embossed piece used a Cuttlebug folder.  The brads and rhinestones probably came from Michaels.  That's about all I can tell you.

I am really pleased with all three of these cards.  I can't even pick a favorite.  I hope you like them, too.  Let me know what you think.

Added later:  I've decided to enter the first card into this challenge:

Catered Crop Recipe Challenge FTR4 

 I followed the recipe by using kraft cs and square and oval regular and scalloped die cuts!

And I entered the last card into this challenge:

That's Krafty Thursday at The Spotted Chick 

Remember, keep your creative genius flowing...............

CHRISTINE

Sad Day, but Good Memories

Today was my dad's birthday.  He would have been 87 years young, or, as he would have told you, 49.  He was always full of stories, he was very good at everything he did, always puttering around, and very often up for a good argument.  I have lots of fond memories of my dad; we lost him three years ago.  Today my daughter told me a friend of hers from school just lost her dad, and she asked if I could make a card for her to send.  Of course, I was only too happy to do that for her.  They may be adults, but still at a tender age to have lost a parent.  Christi, my daughter, said that her friend, Jane, always had loads of stuffed animals in her dorm room, so she wanted a sweet card with a teddy bear.  Here it is for you.

Thanks for visiting.

CHRISTINE

CREATIVE COWGIRLS CHALLENGE BLOG

They're having a Valentine HOP.  Check it out here or click on the badge to the right.  They are a very fun bunch!!

SUNSHINE AND LAUGHTER

I'm off and running - well trotting -- maybe walking slowly.  Here is my first offering towards my 'use all my Cricut carts this year' goal.  I have actually used three, yes 3, cartridges on this first card.  I also had decided to see what scraps I could use up, so everything except the balloon, the hair and cone and the fence are from scrap (not counting the card base).  I hope you like my little girl; please let me know.  Sorry it's not the best picture, but I didn't want to wait any longer to post.  Thanks for stopping by!!

Carts used:  Everyday Paper Dolls, Paper Doll Dress-up, Wild Card
Papers:  PAPERTREY ink, DCWV, Recollections, Generations
Stamp:  My Pink Stamper


Keep your creative genius flowing......... 

CHRISTINE 

For My Lovely God-daughter, Allie....................

Hello Dear People!!

I must apologize for my neglect yesterday.  I know I promised something new, but I was simply not having a very good day; relatively minor physical issues that just get in the way of life sometimes.  But today I present one of my favorites.  I admit it is not brand new, so I cannot count it towards my goal for this year, but it does, indeed, come from my Cricut.  Well, half of it does.  The other half displays one of my other favorite creative outlets, sewing and embroidery.  May I present........................

This card and the accompanying ring pillow were made for my niece's wedding.  No, I did not hand embroider the pillow.  I did it on my wonderful Baby Lock machine.  I was quite pleased with the way it turned out, and the bride seemed to like it fairly well, also.  The card was made using Wild Card and Beyond Birthdays.  I used some of the test cuts and extra pieces to decorate the inside of the card a bit as it seemed like such a vast expanse of empty space.  If I remember correctly, the dp is from DCWV.  You may have noticed there is no stamping on this card - that has become extremely rare for me.  I did use my pens a bit to color the branches the doves are carrying.

Hope you've been having a good day, and I always hope you enjoy your visits with me.  Thanks for stopping by.

Keep your creative genius flowing.........

CHRISTINE

I Don't Believe in NY Resolutions!!!

But I DO believe in goals.  I hinted the other day about my new goal for 2011 that you, as my followers, could help me achieve.  I don't want to let my beautiful Cricut cartridges stay hidden and languishing in my wonderful new Scrap'n Tote.  We all know how easy it is to pick a favorite of something, and just keep using it for everything.  Well, my big goal for this year is to use every single one of my cartridges at least once.  So, if you don't see something from a different Cricut cart at least once each week, you should start bugging me about it.  Who knows, there might even be some blog candy involved!?!

I also decided I might as well go a little further and set a second goal.  That is to enter some challenges this year.  Your lovely comments have lifted my confidence and given me tremendous encouragement.  If you saw the update in my previous post, you already know that I have actually entered my first challenge (invited by Barbara - thanks!) with the card shown!!  It's the Creative Cowgirls Challenge Blog Challenge #4 Something New.  The 'something new' for me was my first pop-up.  There's a link to that challenge in the other post.  Now that I've taken the plunge, it should get easier.

I suppose I should show you something tonight, buuuuttt I think I'll wait 'til tomorrow.  I'll be much more energetic then.  Once again, thanks so very much to all my new followers and friends, not to mention those who have been with me from my very recent beginning.  I love reading all your comments, and, if I haven't already, please know that I will be visiting all your blogs as well in the very near future to see how you're keeping your creative genius flowing.

Love and hugs to all,
CHRISTINE

ANTICIPATION

I have been having such a good time visiting blogs and making new friends on the Feline Playful event.  Your work has been beautiful to see and very inspiring.  Those of you who have joined me have left so much love and wonderful comments.  You have really brightened my days.  The title of today's post reflects tomorrow as day 5 (that's me, I'm #5), and I'm looking forward to even more new friends and fun.  It is also suitable for the card I've chosen to show today.

 This card is one my daughter wanted to make for her grandmother's birthday.  I designed it from her basic ideas, and we worked on it together.  We had such a blast!!  It took awhile to choose the elements and the papers and the colors, but that's mostly because we were having so much fun.  I took lots of pics to show all the parts of the card.  I hope you enjoy looking as much as we enjoyed creating.  It's quite a multi-dimensional card as well as my first pop-up.

 

I hope you were able to see all the fun texture in the card.  Thanks so much for popping in.

 Be sure to keep your creative genius flowing.........

CHRISTINE 

UPDATE:  Barbara invited me to enter my card into the Creative Cowgirls Something New Challenge, so I did.  Another first for me!!  You can find the challenge here.

GRATEFUL GREETINGS !!!

Welcome new followers!  It's so much fun to have new friends and see your comments.  I really appreciate them.  I promise I'm not going to just gab today, but an update is in order.  My daughter lost.  Well, maybe lost isn't exactly the right word, but I'm afraid I couldn't wait as long as Mother's Day with all the super deals on cartridges out there.  Yes, I gave in to temptation,  but it's all worth it when I can spend time making lovely crafty things.  Oh, and my Xyron (another gift - see I told you it was on the way) arrived as well, so I have a machine for my refill.  Now it will be so much easier to attach smaller bits.

Now for cards............The first one is a card made for my sweet hubby for our recent anniversary.  Yes, he was a TCU Frog.  Yippee, they won the Rose Bowl!!!  The card was cut at 6" from the Mini Monsters cart.  I just love him; my hubby, naturally, but I really love this frog. ; )   The words were cut from Beyond Birthdays, but, of course, I inserted an 'O' where the 'A' would be in happy.  Paper is from PapertreyInk and some generic.

 My second card was made for a baby shower for a distant cousin.  I was really happy with how it turned out.  This card and envelope were cut from Wild Card at just about 5.5".  I used some stickles to add a little sparkle.  The stamps are TCP Studio, paper is DCWV and K and Company, and the ink is VersaMagic Chalk.

I certainly hope you've enjoyed your visit today, and that you'll stop by again soon.  I'm going to announce my big goal for the coming year, and your visits will help me reach it.  More later............

Keep your creative genius flowing.........

CHRISTINE