Hang In There...

So...peeps! I went to the mailbox yesterday, and did the happy dance in front of too many people to count!

I had a package from Gina K. Designs, and it contained new stamps!

Ha! You all know how sinful it is to put new stamps away before inking them up, so I chose, instead, to put my ladder away for a while and 'play'!!!

With no further ado, Theresa Momber's newest set, Hang in There, accompanied me into my girl cave, where I nearly squealed with delight! How much fun these little critters are going to be!

I did this card today for Selma's 'Blast from the Past' challenge at StampTV.

The challenge called for paper piecing.

I pieced the frog with GKD's free (YES, FREE) downloadable green from the Timeless Solids package, and the tree trunk is pieced with the GKD free (YES, FREE) Wood Patterned Paper. The front is sponged with Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Antique Linen, and the stamping is done with Colorbox Chestnut Roan and Olive Chalk Ink. The sky is sponged with Stampin Up's Bashful Blue. You can't see in the photo, but his eye is paper pieced from the 'wood' paper, and is covered with glossy accents, so it looks like a real glossy eye!

Well, dear friends, I hope this cute little pop up froggie gets at least one squeal or giggle today!

I think he's darling!

Looks like he's perched up on that tree looking for his princess to kiss!

WARNING: No post tomorrow!

My best ever stamping buddy, Shirley, and I are taking a class from Michelle Zindorf in St. Louis.

Gasp! Gasp! Gasp!

I'm black and blue all over from pinching myself!!!

Hopefully the next thing I post will be a sheer work of art that I make in class tomorrow!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a great Day!

Patti J.

Sunflowers and Dragonflies Sketch Challenge

I have a card to show you today (I got to 'play' while new carpet was being put in) that I made for the Sketch Challenge at Sunflowers and Dragonflies.

Beth always issues the most fun and creative challenges, and I don't get to participate as often as I would like to, so today was fun for me!

Be sure to check out her blog, AND the Sunflowers and Dragonflies store - they have some adorable stamps!

I have used a Sara Kay stamp that I got from Sunflowers and Dragonflies.

All coloring is done with Koh-I-Noor Pencils. Hope you like it!

I'm off to call the dentist - just broke off a tooth. UGH!

Have a super Monday!

Patti J.

(I'll be back to cruise the blogosphere in a few hours!)

Lucky Bear seems to be distressed....

Hello everyone, and Happy Monday!

It is Nilla's week as challenge hostess at There's Magic in the Air. The challenge uses Nina's adorable image "Lucky Bear". Nilla asks that we use any technique for distressing, roughing up your paper with your scissors, distressing with inks, sanding, scraping, pounding (would work well if you are mad at someone) - any technique that you consider a method of distressing.

I chose to rough up my edges just a bit, and mostly distress with ink. I printed out Lucky Bear four times so that I could pop him up a bit, and gain some extra four leaf clover balloons! I need all the luck I can get - lol...




All coloring is done with Koh-I-Noor pencils, and the distressing is done with Color Box Chalk Ink, Chestnut Roan. The sentiment is hand written.



I hope that you like Lucky - he is definitely one of my favorites! Nina has just posted about 25 new images - be sure to run over to her store, Paper Cupcakes, and check out the new goodies! You won't be disappointed!

We have been SO busy this weekend! We decided last weekend that we really needed some new family room furniture. We were nearly sitting on the floor, our sofa was so dilapidated! So, we drove into the city, found some that we liked, but just couldn't make ourselves pay for it. We came home, sat on the old stuff again, and decided to look locally. Voila! The same Lazy Boy sofa and chairs were in the showroom about 5 minutes from home. So...we ordered a new sofa with dual recliners, a fabric recliner chair to match, and a leather recliner chair to match. These are to be delivered Tues. morning. Well, Thursday afternoon, DH calls, and says - go buy carpeting. No sense putting new furniture down on old rugs. Well, I never dreamed that the carpet could be measured for and put down by Monday, but guess what, it can!!! So then, he says, well, before we put new carpeting down, don't you think we (you) should paint the woodwork? Then, walking across the old flooring revealed some squeaks, so we ended up pulling up all the old carpeting ourselves so we could screw the dickens out of the floor boards and kill the squeaks! Anyway, point is, this girl has had NO - NADA - ZERO - ZILCH time in her girl cave!

Oh, and did I mention that while we were at Lowe's buying drywall screws, we picked out new tile and paint for the kitchen? And that when I start that job, all 47 drawers and doors, and bases will all have to be sanded and repainted? Sigh.... oh, well...it will be SO worth it when it's finished! We've made very few changes in the past 20 some odd years, and it's time! At our ages, this will probably be our last big remodel that we do ourselves, so it's actually a lot of fun!

Gotta get back to it!



Have a great week, and forgive me for not doing much blog hopping this week!



Big hugs - Patti J.

Pink, Purple, Gray, Get Well...

Wow! Two days of sunshine and no snow in a row! It was supposed to warm up a bit today, but the wind is still blowing pretty hard, so it does not feel warmer! I hope that you are all enjoying your day. I had intended to get out to run a couple of errands, but have not made it yet.

I took a few minutes a while ago to make a quick card. Those of you that know our Stef (a.k.a. Glitterbabe, the lampshade boogie queen), will certainly recognize her beautiful flower image here! I'm sure Stef meant this to be a vivid yellow Jonquil, but I took the liberty of coloring it pink to fit a challenge I was working on! Check out Stef's Etsy site, where you can find her wonderful images!

So, Helen Dooley has started up a new challenge site. It's called For Fun Challenges, and that's exactly what she is stressing - 'for fun'! Well, as I don't believe we girls can ever have enough fun, I'm going to give it a try! The challenge this week is to use Pink, Purple, and Gray. It's not very visible in the photo, but I have stippled around the flower in gray, and the dots on the ribbon are a silvery gray. Why don't you run over to Helen's very first challenge and give her a nice warm welcoming entry?!!?

I am also entering this card at Creative Card Crew. The challenge this week at CCC is "Get Well". You have GOT to run over and check out what their design team has posted this week - they are wonderful! There is even a Hangover Kit!!! lolololol..... I'm too old for that, but some of you youngsters might enjoy it! I may have to make up a few of those for 'just in case' occasions!

The dotted background, sentiment, and flourish are all TAC Stamps.

Have a great Wednesday, and I hope to be back tomorrow with something new. Take Care!

Patti J.

Workshop Goodies...

Hello!

My workshop was today. Everyone seemed pleased with what we made.

They did like the flourish card that I posted for you to see the other day, so good call!

Those of you that have followed me for a while know that when I do a class, all of the participants get a little something that I've made them, just for being there. Here's what they received today...mmm...chocolate!

The image and sentiment are from TAC's new sets: Brighten Your Day & Wonder and Joy. Coloring was all done with Koh-I-Noor Pencils and LOMS.

Speaking of chocolate, DD and I went to a nearby town, Ste. Geneveieve, Mo., last weekend. This quaint little town has an annual 'Chocolate Walk'. You stop at the first store, buy a ticket for $5, and walk all over town. There are approx. 25 shops on the list. Each shop that you visit has chocolate in some form out on a beautiful tray for you to try - everything from truffles to brownies. Very bad timing, as I had just started Weight Watchers! I tried to be a little careful, and we walked for a LONG time, so perhaps I walked off a few of the calories! Anyway, here, for your enjoyment, is a photo of the chocolate covered strawberries that I picked up for DH while there.

Then I came home to beautiful roses that DH had snuck in while we were gone!

Loads of red ones, and one white for each of our wonderful kids - what a keeper my man is!

All righty, off to clean up my messy craft corner! I'll be checking up on your blogs tonight and tomorrow!

Patti J.

A Fancy Surprise...

Happy Magical Monday!

I didn't get to use Nina's "Fancy Surprise" image when she released it at the time of our blog hop, so this week was just perfect for it.

Selma was our challenge hostess this week. We could choose any image that we desired, but with a couple of twists! We were to use at least one circle and lace! How much fun! I had this funky lace trim that I've been wanting to use on something, so that's what I did! You can't tell from the photo, but the icing, and ribbon are both shined up with some Glossy Accents! Due to some issues here at home, I had to work this up very quickly. I'm not crazy about it, but as some of you have said, "If all our cards were perfect, we couldn't call them challenges"! Hope you like it.

For this week's challenge, you can choose an image from TMITA/PCC that you already have, or you can grab what Nina has posted. Be sure to use some lace and at least one circle on your card. Come back to TMITA and link up your card with Mr. Linky for a chance to win this:

I can't wait to see what you create! Have a great week!

Patti J.

A CAS Card (really!)

Yes, I really did it! It's a CAS card from ME - those of you that know me well, know that I am terrified of CAS, therefore, this is really an exciting post! This is actually one of the several items we will make in my workshop on Tuesday, providing we don't get snowed out!







I sponged with Tim Hotz Antique Linen distress ink, then stamped with Color Box Chalk Ink, Olive. The sentiment is a Verve, Plain Jane.






Since CAS is not my thing, I would love some feedback! Feel free to 'moral support' me to pieces! lol...

Hugs and blessings...

Patti J.


Food for thought: Sign at a laundromat: "Anyone leaving garments here for more than 30 days will be disposed of.