Girl Time!

Just a quick post today. I'm headed down to The Cape for a couple days with a coworker to visit a friend! :) We always have fun crafting, shopping, and doing lots of eating!! Probably going with cocktail rather than cocktails this year since one of the gals is expecting her first little girl.  This is her last big outing before the munchkin arrives and we are hoping she don't appear until after mom is back home. :)

I raided my scraps bin for this card.  The envie is from the sale bin at Target, the ribbon is more of what I dyed myself, the image is Amuse, the sentiment is Avery Elle, the button is MFT, and the cherry paper is a scrap from "I have no idea" (what a prolific company LOL!)

Enjoy your Monday either with or without cocktails!

Simple Sympathy & Beach Cida

I have a simple sympathy card to share today.  These kinda cards can be a challenge to make and so when the spirit moved me to make this I went with it.  You never know when you need a sympathy card and I always want these very special cards to evoke a peacefulness for the recipient.

The paper is from BG fresh cut & October Afternoon sailboat (I think), the bouquet is BG fresh cut, the die is MFT, and the sentiment is an old wood mounted one from Amuse .  I had an envelope in my stash in a light aqua that paired nicely with the card that I got ages ago from If It's Paper in Greenville SC.  A

We took Cida to the beach last week.  He wasn't so sure about it at first, but when he saw the kids playing and smelled all the "new smells" he was hooked!  He is still more keen on running back to the boardwalk instead of running from it, but we shall work on that. :)

Of course I can't blame him too much for being excited to head for the boardwalk.  Not too far from the beach is where my DH's aunt and uncle have a place.  On one of our last days up there last week we stopped by and Cida got to play with his aunt's dog Star.  I was pretty keen on the visit because I finally got to meet Cathy over at Acorn Hollow!  We knocked on the door and Cathy came down to let us know DH's aunt was on the phone.  Then she saw Cida and said "Oh I know who you are!". Ha-Ha!  We met in blogland not even knowing we had DH's aunt in common!!!  We had no idea she was still visiting so it was a wonderful surprise!  Small world huh. :)

Summer Resolutions 2014

It's time to post some summer resolutions!  I'm much better about dedicating myself to these resolutions when I post them for all of you to read.  Let's see how many I can cross off the list by Labor Day weekend...

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Summer Resolutions 2014

1.  Get Cida housebroken

2.  Donate 10 boxes of "stuff from the house" to charity (likely my closet!!!)

3.  Get clothes I am keeping tailored (I'm short and lazy with my sewing machine)

4.  Gather crafty goods not being used to either purge or sell

5. Plant succulents on back deck

6. Mulch pathway & generally give love to backyard

7.  Sit outside to read or eat 2-3 times a week (if it is pretty I should admire it!)

8. Get upstairs toilet & shower fixed (both are using too much water!)

9.  Get curtains for bedroom (seriously we've been in the house like 8 years and only used shades!)

10.  Fix hole in ceiling our poor friend Jeff made whilst in our attic. :)

11.  Use treadmill 5 times a week (if I tell y'all I'm gonna do it, I'll feel guilty if I don't)

12. Blog and comment at least 2 times a week (y'all are so inspiring I gotta get my mojo going again!)

13.  Add more details to my creation posts

14.  Design & create 3 new banners

15.  Don't spend any money (other than bills & food) for the next 3 weeks 

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And since no post is complete without a fun creation to look at, I've got this little cutie for y'all.  It is a teacher thanks card I created back for Teacher Appreciation Week.  The sentiment is Amuse, the image Unity, the ribbon I dyed myself, and sadly I'm hanging my head in shame because I'm already failing at a resolution!  I can't tell you where the dp came from 'cause I pulled it from my scrap bin!! ACK!  Okay, okay.  Tomorrow will be better right?

Happy Friday!!!

Welcome Cida!

As promised, here is the big surprise!!!!

He is a Cardigan Welsh Corgi (like Cad) and his name is pronounced "Key-dah". This pic is from when we went to meet him and his parents on Flag Day (July 14th).  DH wanted me to keep Cida's arrival off any social media until we brought him home.  Now I'm usually the very superstitious type in our relationship (my Pennsylvania Dutch heritage running rampant), but he was super scared this would fall through somehow, so only immediate family/friends knew and all were sworn off saying anything on FB.

The owner will only let you take pups after he meets you in person and checks your refs.  That, to me, was incredibly comforting because it meant he wanted to make sure his pups were going to good people, not just people with cash.  He also never ships pups.  I would never be comfortable with that anyway.  I've heard too many tragic stories.  We thought this was the fella we wanted from scoping out the blog pics, but when we got there and they put our all the pups we were sooooo torn!  6 puppies with wobbly legs and wagging tails.  Cuteness to the max!!!!!  In the end we went with our first instincts and are so glad we did!

July 4, 2014

 





So where did we get the name Cida?  We went the Welsh route.  Ci (key) and gi(gea) mean "dog" in Welsh and da(dah) is supposed to mean "good".  So basically we named our new fella "good dog".  Not terribly creative, but corgi means "dwarf dog" in Welsh so we didn't have much of a bar to trip over. LOL!

July 5, 2014 with his new bone



I'm a big one for thinking about meaning first and sound second.  Not gonna name my dog "fast runner" or "fierce protector" cause I don't want to be chasing after it, or keeping it from biting everyone who comes near me.  Told you I was the traditionally superstitious one!  We ran through the idea of naming Cida, "little brother", "second", "smart dog", or "black and white".  None of them seemed pronounceable or they were too boring to say.  We even toyed with something patriotic since we met him on Flag Day and knew we would bring him home on The Fourth of July.  No dice though because the words were too hard to say, too unwieldy, or just meh.  Cida (which btw my spellcheck HATES and keeps trying to make Vida or Coda) was one we kept coming back to and we said it enough that it stuck. :)

DH has never owned a puppy and I haven't had one in 30 years!  This is going to be an adventure for sure.  Stay tuned as the adventure continues...

My Beacon

Happy Birthday America!  Happy Anniversary to my DH!  Yup, 13 years today, married anyway.  We were together for ages before we got married, so it is probably something like our 20th anniversary today. 

Since we spent the last week near the beach in LA and we will be headed back to ME this weekend, I thought a nautical theme in red/white/blue was so perfect for today!  This stamp is a favorite of mine.  I'm sure I have mentioned it before, but this was used for save-the-date cards for a friends wedding.  Hey that's another reason this card is great for today!  It's my wedding anniversary and we used this stamp for her wedding.  There are so many levels of awesomeness to this card. LOL!

The goods are all scraps from the scrap pile so, sadly, I am at a loss to tell you anything about who made what.  I looked back at my other nautical posts to see if I could find who made the stamp (I'm still poolside in LA so I can't peek at this stamp) & it appears that I have shafted y'all multiple times with regard to this fabulous stamp!  UGH!  I will add it to my Summer Resolutions list to get y'all the name.

Brace yourselves.  I have many more posts of nautical goodness in the works!  I was inspired by Jessica over at The Paper Parade.  She is part of the coolest group of gals that take turns making kits for each other.  Check out the master blog that explains it all--12 Kits of Occasions.  Their May kit was all nautical.  I'm still drooling- and inspired!

Don't forget to swing by tomorrow for my news.  I'll give you a hint.  Think furry. :)

Belated Father's Day

Well, Father's Day was ages ago already, but this is a creation ages in the making so its all good. :)

I stamped and colored these Amuse(?) images years ago.  Lit-er-al-ly YEARS.  Like 5 or 6 of them!  They sat in the scraps bucket patiently waiting for me to pick them a la the toys from The Land of Misfit Toys.  The happy ending came for these images just like it came for those toys though.  :)

***Side note, I am a HUGE Christmas movie addict.  I LIVE for the Hallmark movie marathons at Christmas.  Well, I saw last week that they will be running a Christmas in July movie marathon beginning on July 4th.  For all you Christmas junkies- you are welcome. ;D***

This card got sold to our guidance counselor to give to her husband at Father's Day this year.  She commented that she just loved the colors and the image.  Yay!  That's what it is all about.  Bringing smiles through handmade cards.  Makes me happy just thinking about it. :)

Don't forget to stop by on Saturday (probably late in the day) for a super fun top secret reveal.  You'll be glad you did!!!

Can I Get a Ride?

Back again today!  Can you believe it!?!  I'm on a roll. :). Today I thought I'd share a birthday card I made to sell at work, or Etsy, or use when I forget to have a card ready.  Oh but that NEVER happens to any of us right?  We all ALWAYS have the right card, for the right person, ready well in advance huh. *wink, wink*

This also seemed like a good day to share a flower birthday card because today would have been my mom's 66th birthday.  She loved flowers and I like to think she would have loved this card too. :)

I know the layout for this card was inspired by one that I saw either hopping blogs, or on Pinterest, but at this particular moment I cannot remember which!  I had a bunch of these pieces left from other experiments (read cards that looked yucky so I bagged before gluing) and grabbed them to create this fun birthday ride through the flowers. :)

 

The image and circle dies are from PTI, the flower ppr (I believe) is Crate Paper, the scalloped paper and card base are MB, the leaves are MFT dies and scrap paper, the ribbon I dyed myself, and the cutie-patootie button was a gift. 

 

My soapbox message to you today.  If you still have the pleasure of your mom, call her today and tell her how much you love her.  You just never know when you will lose you chance.

 

I am hopping into this pickup truck to party here:

Catered Crop- Summer Lovin' (for us it is all about birthdays- at least one a week until Sept!)

Cas-ual Fridays- Summer Lovin'

Ladybug Crafts- Summer Flowers

 

A New Mr. & Mrs.

Oh my goodness, I just love this card.  It's going to be my new go-to design for wedding/bridal shower cards.  One of my co-workers is getting hitched this summer and I was stumped about what to do about a card!!!  There were 4 of us who went in on a gift for her, and yours truly was tapped to create the card.  No pressure! LOL! :)

 I used to make a super cute square card, but the company stopped making the card I liked to use for the base.   I could have just created it myself, but it was sooooo easy to use and I took it as a sign to get more creative.  Yatzee, mission accomplished!  I totally lifted this from my Jolly Roger card in a moment of inspiration as I was drifting to sleep two days before I needed the card.  Thank goodness for that moment of creativity!

The image is Hero Arts (I think), the sentiment is Amuse, the card base is MB, and the grey dp is escaping me as I sit poolside in LA.  If you really want to know, leave a comment and I promise to get you the answer when I get back to New England!

I'm walking this bride down the aisle here:
Simon Says Stamp- W is for White (white wedding dress)
Hiding in My Craftroom- Wedding
Dream Valley Challenge- Inspired by a Movie, Song, or Book (Chapel of Love by The Dixie Cups)