Fundraiser for Krafty Karen !

   I'd like to start my post today telling you about a special fundraiser I heard about this morning, from another crafty friend, Sara.  Sara sent me a message and a link to her blog, telling me all about a fundraiser that has been established for another crafter you may know as, Krafty Karen.  I first met Karen at 'The Outlawz' group, but also know her from several of the other craft groups and challenges we all belong too.   I did not realize she had been going through such a rough time and was happy to do my little part to help out.   You can read more about the fundraiser on Wendy's blog HERE! 

   If you know Karen and anyone who sufferers with any type of Chronic Pain illness, then I'm sure you'll relate to her story, just as I did.    I've since written to her directly and hope she will continue to pursue answers to her health concerns and also to let her know how much we all care.  I've found that crafters are some of the most kind and caring people, I've ever met and I'm always so impressed with how everyone rallies together to support each other through good times and bad.   I hope you'll all stop by her blog and do whatever you can to help her out through this difficult time.    I wish her the very best and hope she will find some relief and answers very soon!

   As for me, I can relate very much to her pain and can remember those days, before I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Degenerative Disc Disease.   Some of these types illnesses are often very difficult to diagnosis and in the meantime it's really hard to be suffering in pain and not have any answers.   As much as I never wanted to have ANY chronic illness, I was almost relieve when I finally had a diagnosis.  At least it finally felt like I was not losing my mind and could then work on a treatment plan.   I'm thankful now for the days that my pain is controlled, but it was a long road to get here and I would not want to be back at the beginning.   I feel for her and can totally understand how she feels and I know she is not alone.

    Today for me is another good day -- it's another of those gorgeous Sunny, blue sky days...my absolutely favorites and a day that I was able to get quite a bit done and not be hurting too bad.  I finally caught up on some household chores and a pile of paper-work that has been sitting on my desk.      All those little tasks we all seem to put aside and then next thing you know you need a day to catch up.  I'm very happy to report that  my pile is gone and I'm done, at least for this month.   Considering I worked in Finance and Accounting for close to twenty five years, you'd think this would be a breeze!   Nope -- not when you add in Fibro fog.  Now, any paperwork is a chore and for some reason my checkbook, never seems to balance right on my frist attempt.  In the end, it's always right, but just wants to annoy me while I'm in the process!    I'm sure happy that everyone is done and now filed away !

     After all that, I didn't have much time to work on any cards and only managed to get two done today, both of which were easy.   Both were also created based on the newest sketch challenge and 'The Outlawz' group.  I copied over the sketch to share with you here --  

    When I first saw the sketch, I was stumped.....I could not get that 'film strip' off my mind and kept thinking I needed to come up with something similar or maybe something in a movie theme.   I then looked at it again and remembered I had this cute Heart Trio from Bugaboo, which I thought would work out cute.  I printed it out and colored up my hearts in my favorite colors.  Once it was done, I felt like it was too blah, so I added quite a bit of distress ink onto the image and that now I see as a mistake.   I was not thrilled with the end result, but as always I'm sharing it with you here.    

   
   I have since printed out a second set to color and will attempt it again in new colors without any added Distress however in the meantime, my newsletter from Bugaboo arrived and I feel in love with this adorable new mini set!!   I hit the store bought the set and then began working on my second card for the challenge, which is shown below and ended up being the one I submitted!    I just love this little Mini Monsters and know I'll be using them a lot in the next few weeks.   

    I am also submitting my little Monster card to these challenges --  hope you'll play too!

• Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes
• Cards for Men  - G is for "Goblins"

   And that's it for today!  I'm now beat and still need to make something for dinner!  Luckily, the guys are all set and finishing up leftovers, but I'm not too hungry - I think I'm going to have some cereal and blueberries!  Yummy!! 

A terrific Tuesday....

....another gorgeous blue sky day -- my favorite days of all, with lots of sun and nice comfy temps.  I was up and out early to head to my Chiro appointment and very happy that my spine is doing well.  It's almost like night and days compared to how much pain I had been in just two weeks ago.  Woohoo!!

     I have also been really enjoying creating much more again and I'm very seriously considering going back to designing and give it a trial for a few months.   I even sent of a DT application yesterday, in a hope to see if I can make it work.   I'll be sure to let you all know how it turns out, but I really do think I'm ready to move forward and will need more to keep me busy with Fall and Winter coming next.

    Today, I have three new cards to share and each one was created with a variety of challenges in mind.  I started this first card yesterday and its' a cute little 'Back to School' card, which seems to be a very popular theme.   It's been awhile since I've had school-aged children, and as much as I kind of miss that, I don't miss the big expense of new clothes, supplies and all the other associated school fees.

    My image for this card comes from By Lori Boyd and for this project I paper-pieced her cute little outfit to match along with the set of digi papers I used for my card.    I started by picking my image and then choosing a digi paper pack that I recently bought at Shery K Designs - a store I love to shop at for my for digital elements:

    This fun little card is being submitted to each of these fun challenges:

• The Pink Elephant - # 114 - Paper Piecing
• Sentimental Sundays - Challenge # 70 - Back to School
• Creative Stamp Friends - Challenge # 32 - School Theme
• Allsorts Challenge Blog - # 118 - Back to School

     My next card was also inspired by a variety of new challenges and the first is the newest challenge over at the Color-Me Creative Classroom, which is Suzanne Dean's online classroom.   The Coloring Challenge is open to all and our them for this time is "Winged Things".   Everyone is welcome to play and you can join the group for FREE, all you need to do is sign up - you do NOT need to be enrolled in any of the classes to take part in the Challenge!

     This is the card that I started for this challenge making sure I used the correct colors and elements, so that it worked out for each of the fun challenges listed below.  My cute little digi is from Bugaboo and has been colored with Copics and Glitter!

• Color Me Creative Classroom - Copic Challenge - Winged Things
• Jelly park Friends - August 26 Challenge - Get Punchy
• Through the Craftroom Door - # 8 - Use Punches and the color Yellow
• The Outlawz Challenge Group - Color Comb - Two Blues & Yellow - Bird
• Stamps & Fun = Creativity - #62 - Dots & Stripes

  And my next card is a sweet little Angel card and this card was created with this week's Flutter-By Wednesday Challenge on my mind, but also fits in perfect with a few others!  This teeny little cutie is one of my very first rubber stamps and it's one I bought at Whipper Snapper!!   She's such a cutie -- I LOVE  Angels.

• Flutter By Wednesday - Challenge # 168 - Butterfly, Fairy or Angel Required
• Color Me Creative - Copics/Submission Two - 'Winged Things'
• Mark's Finest Papers - Challenge # 70 - Use Lace on your project
• Party Time Tuesdays - Challenge # 31 - Anything Goes

  And now I'm off to rest a bit and catch up on cleaning the disaster now sitting on my craft desk.  Tomorrow, is always one of my favorite crafting days, as there are lots of Fun challenges.   I have all day to create and do not have to go out for any appointments!  Yippee!!

   Hope you all are enjoying a gorgeous day!   I love this weather and it always helps me to feel happy and inspired!

Sunshine and blue skies....

....and what a gorgeous day it is here today!   I'm so thankful we did so well through the Hurricane and was happy that we never lost any power.   My heart goes out to ALL those who are still without power, have severe flooding and have had damage done to their homes and lives.   I do hope that the better weather will help everyone get out, start on the clean up and try and return to normal.   Sending all my friends a big HUG and hope you'll all be okay!!

    Hugs always make people feel better and it's also pretty much my favorite Sentiment and one I use on many of my cards.  Today, is one of those day that I create a cute Hug card and this one was inspired by two new challenge.   My image is from Bugaboo Stamps and was the Freebie from last week.  If you would like to add her to your collection, please visit Bugaboo and while you're there, check out the new $1 images -- they are all adorable. 

   
   This card was inspired and created for each of these challenges and I hope you'll join me and play along:

• Crafting By Designs - Let's Color Challenge - Color Animals/Fur
• The Outlawz - Monday Greeting Cards - Recipe Challenge
• Make It Monday - Weekly Challenge # 53- Anything Goes

    My second card today is another Fall-themed card and this one is a super cute Halloween Card.   My adorable image is from Pink Gem Designs and I just had to have it as soon as it saw it in the new Collection.  This cuties comes both in color or in black and white and this time, I chose to use the color version, which is totally adorable.

    I also created this card based on the new Sketch at the 'A Gem of a Challenge blog', and this is a copy of the sketch that I used as my inspiration:

    I changed it up a bit and made my card in more of a rectangle shape (versus square) and also chose papers that went with a Halloween theme.  I hope you'll enjoy it - I think little Josh is adorable and I love his cute costume!

 

Close up of  'Halloween Josh'

   This cutie is being submitted to these challenges:

• A Gem of a Challenge - # 22 - Sketch (See Above)
• Stamps R Us Challenge Blog - August 22  - Anything Goes
• Aly's Sunday Sketch Challenge - # 45 - Halloween

    And that's it for now!  I have a few more challenges printed out sitting on my desk and I hope to work on later today!  Tomorrow, I'm off for my Chiro appointment early and then will be back to create! 
 
   Have a wonderful afternoon and to everyone who is continuing to clean up from Irene, my thoughts will continue to be with you.  Considering how lucky we were, I've seen some really awful destruction and flooding on the news -- what a terrible storm she was for so many.

Fall Yesterday and Christmas Today!!!

   I want to start by sending out praying and thoughts to everyone who has been or is being affected by Hurricane (now Tropical Storm), Irene.   I feel very grateful that the storm seems to have really fizzled out and at least so far, it's pretty much a windy rainy day here in Northeastern, Massachusetts.   I'm also even more happy that we have power and HOPE it continues to stay on.   It has flickered several times, but thankfully has come back!   Phew!  :) 

   Being that it is such a lousy day, it's also a wonderful day to create and today I seem to be in a Christmas mode and have several new cards to share!   My very first two cards were inspired by a new challenge at The Pink Elephant and this week the challenge is to use this fun color swatch as our theme.   I think these colors are what started me on the Christmas idea, even though I often make most of my cards in non-traditional colors.

   And based on that color scheme, this was the very first card I created and it feature Baby Levi, an adorable digi that is from Lori's store.

   This cuties is being submitted to each of these challenge and everyone is welcome to play along:

• The Pink Elephant - Challenge #113 - Sketch Inspiration
• Creative Inspirations Paints - August 28th  - Lots of Layers
• Scrappy Frogs Challenge Blog - Time for some Bling 

    My second card today, was also created with the same cute  from Lori Boyd, but in this case, I created a card based on this week's Sketch at the Stars and Stamps Blog - (Operation Write Home).   This is a copy of Sketch # 84, which I have copied over to share -

  And this is my take on this sketch, which I made into a cute little Thank You card, all in the same color theme.   These images are so quick and easy to color and you can put them together with any colors to make some fun sweet cards.

    This little guy was Paper-Pieced into a great top and created to submit to each of these challenges:

• Operation White Home  - Sunday Sketch Challenge - No Glitter
• Clean & Simple Sunday Challenge - # 20 - Focal Point Sketch
• The Pink Elephant - Challenge #113 - Sketch Inspiration

     Next up today is another CAS style card inspired by today's new CAS Challenge over at The Outlawz group.  Our challenge this week to was use one of your tiniest stamps and to make it the focal point on your card.   I have to admit, I found I have a lot mine teeny stamps than I had imaged, so I stamped and colored several to use for other cards.  I actually made two cards for this one, after making this first card with was a bust.  My embossing buddy is MIA and with it being so humid here today, it made my embossing not work so well, I over embossed it and my card is now also all warped!  YUK!!    Even though I like to share my best cards, I also like to share to the bad ones, so I can learn not to make the same mistake!

   This card is the 'bust' card, what will now be taken apart and recycled!

Note:  I'm keeping the little stamped image and the bling

for a future card, the rest with be recycled!

  After that mess, I moved on and created this card which came out much better! 

   This card will be going into my Christmas Card stash and will also be submitted to each of these challenges:

• The Outlawz - CAS Challenge - Use a teeny stamp as your focal point
• Christmas Inspirations - Challenge # 31 - Clean & Simple (Christmas)
• Sparkles Forum - Challenge # 19 - Punch it 

       Update:  I won Top 3 at Christmas Inspiration with this card!   Thank YOU!!

 
    And I think that will be it for now!   I have a new challenge I want to work on and it's a Sketch Challenge over at Pink Gem Designs.  I bought a few new digis from the store yesterday and know exactly which one I want to use for my card.  

    If I do finish up any more cards today - I will try and come back to share - if not please stop by tomorrow.  I'm so happy to FINALLY be feeling pretty well again and now I'm finding I am having a wonderful time creating and always looking for new and fun challenges to join.

A feeling of Fall.....

    Today is the day that we have to make all the decisions about what preparations we need to do for the Storm?  As of early this morning, Hurricane is still expected to continue to weaken and thankfully when it huts our area, it will now be a tropical storm with 1-3" of rain and heavy winds here on the Coast.  We are a little less that a mile to the ocean, but up higher than sea level which keeps us pretty safe for any type of coastal surge.   Hubby wants to take out our AC units (we have the window units), but I don't want that, nor do I think we need too.  First I'll melt without them and secondly, he'll be off to work Monday and that will mean there is not chance of them getting back in until at least Monday night, if not even next weekend.  Not a good plan!! 

  As I start this post, (almost 3PM) the storm continues to weaken, so I think he's now planning on leaving them in!  Phew!  Of course, I would always rather be safe, but I really think we'll be just fine.  I'm the positive person in our home and hubby is also always the pessimistic one!   He did put away all our of deck furniture and I took in my potted plants and hanging plants, but otherwise, they is really not much else we need to do.  It's not a strong enough storm for us to have to board up windows and I think we've had far worse in the Winter.   I also noticed that all of our neighbors still have their AC units in, and some have not even taken in much of their yard stuff.  Mostly we all have our grills tied down and most have their yard furniture stacked or put in a more sheltered part of the yard.

    Taking in the plants and having the deck bare already, makes me thing that Summer has quickly ended and that Fall is now here, even though the temps are still very warm.  I'm so not ready for Fall in some ways, but as far as crafting goes, I'm ready for a change of season and actually have already started creating more in a fall theme or worked with Fall colors.  All of the projects I worked on today very much have that feeling of Fall and I had fun with them all!  

    My first card was created for the new 'Catch the Bug Challenge, and our challenge this week is to use 'Warm Colors' and also include some paper piecing on your project -- one of my favorite techniques.   Of course, I love Purple as your know and my next favorites are bright pink, aqua, so I guess deep down I'm a cool color gal, and those are definitely the colors I use most.  Until I looked at this cute little color chart (copied over from Bugaboo), I never realized now much of a cool color lover I am.   If you are NOT sure what you prefer, I'm sure this little chart will help you too!

     I also took the same image and made a second card, in a very clean and simple style.  For this card, I colored the image with Copics and added a hint of 3D Crystal Lacquer to the little Heart   Both my card bases are from new Hero Arts Sets that I've been buying lately.  I really like them, because the colors are nice and all the insides are white, making them perfect for OWH.   I also found a great deal on each of the sets from a seller on eBay.    I used Distress inks to add a pop of color to my embossed die cut and then tied on a matching ribbon.   Very easy and very fun!!    When I started on this I really thought I'd find quite a few Fall-Themed challenges, but was surprised that I really did not find ANY?  

  I was however, very happy to find these fun challenges, where I am submitting my cute little Pumpkin card:

• Craft us Crazy - Challenge # 15 - Anything Goes
• Moving Along with the Times Challenge - Tweet Tweet - Birdies

  And next I have a very different (for me) card that I created for today's new Paper a La Mode Challenge at The Outlawz.  The DT girlz have put together an fun challenge, where we had this image (see below) as our inspiration for any type of Paper Crafting project --

  And this is the card that I created based on the image.  I loved the color combination and also really thought the design concept was very cool.   So...I combined both along with a favorite digi from Wax Fruit Company, that I colored to match.   In the end this is my card - which I think is very Fall-like.

   And lastly, before I sign off, it's now about 4 pm and so far all the AC units are still in and it looks like hubby has hit the couch for the day!   Yippee!   I'm a happy girl and feel confident, that we'll be fine!  If the forecast for some reason, changes dramatically, we can always take them out tomorrow morning -- the storm is due to be here later in the afternoon.   But, as is often the case - I think we lucked out again and will not have much more than a rainy and windy afternoon.  

Friday....at last!!

  Yippee!   It's Friday and a gorgeous day here in Massachusetts.  It's hard to believe that we could very well be facing a major storm this weekend, especially by looking outside right now.  The Governor has now declared a State of Emergency for the entire State and here on the Coast, we are under a Hurricane Watch.   Yuk!!   I still HOPE that Irene will hopefully change paths, move further off the coast and keep us all safe.     I also want to express my concern for all my friends along the Eastern Seaboard and I hope by Sunday night, it will all be over and that everyone will be safe, not suffer and damage and be able to communicate with one another.

  In the meantime, I'm trying hard not to think about the weather and to let today be a very enjoyable day in my craft room and so far, that's exactly what it has been.    I have three new cards to share and although I had not realized it until just now, ALL my cards feature digi images from Bugaboo Stamps.   I really find they are some of my favorite images to color and always seem to really be happy with the cards I make with them.
 
  My first card today was inspired by the new Copic Coloring challenge over at 'The Outlawz' group and this week the girl's made it easy as the challenge is 'Anything Goes'.   This is the card that I created and will be submitted to the challenge.

   My next card was created for a new Challenge posted today over at Crafting by Designs and this challenge was to pull three pieces of scraps out of our stash, then add three circles and create a card.   Boy were all of my papers different, but because I could color a image to go with them, I was somewhat able to tie everything together to make this fun card.

  And I have one more that was made for fun and this one features one of my favorite images from Bugaboo, which is one of Jodie's Watering Can images.  This is the one that has the Tulips, which is one of my favorite flowers.

  I'm off now to work on some more cards and looking for some ideas and challenges to keep me busy.  If we do get a bad storm and lose power (praying we don't), I hope to have plenty to keep my busy during the day hours and hope we fare well with the storm.   A nice rainy day of crafting is not any problem for me, and that's exactly what I will hope for.  I have been through many storms in my life, living her on the coast and the worst part for me is being without power or not having my family all in a safe place.   As long as I know my family is safe and sound -- I will be fine!

   Update:   The latest forecast was VERY good news, at least for us here on the Northeastern Coast of Massachusetts.   It seems like Irene is slowing down and possibly even starting to fall apart a bit.   It even sounds like everyone in the path will have somewhat less of a storm to deal with and that's wonderful news to all.  We've now been changed to a Tropical Storm warning, downgraded from a Hurricane Watch and I'm still hopeful that it will not get any worse!  I'm very happy to hear this news and hope it continues to stay this way!  Yippee!!

   I'm back to share one more card today and this one was really fun to make.  I broke out a lot of my newest supplies and did some embossing and resist.   Whenever I plan to do embossing of inking techniques I like to create stamp several images, emboss them in a variety of colors and have then all ready to add paint, ink or other fun techniques.  I also used one of my favorite new stamps and this is another Hero Arts/Basic Grey Set that I fell in love with after seeing it on Jennifer's McGuire's Blog.

  I'm also excited because this worked out perfectly for a brand new challenge at Lily Pad that is being hosted by Simon Says Stamps and that's where I bought my newest stamp set, along with a lot of the supplies I used on this card!     This new Stamps set is called Butterflies and Wildflowers and you can find it in the store HERE!  

   This card was started by stamping the Wildflower image (with Versamark) on Glossy paper and then heat embossed with White Embossing Powder.   I then used a combination of Distress Stains and Distress Inks to paint over my image for the 'Resist Technique' - a technique I also learned from Jennifer.   Next, I picked out a HA Card  that matched and decided to make it a window cut out card.  I cut my window out with a Circle Shaped Nestie die and then cut my image even larger and adhere behind it on the inside of the card.   I then added a scalloped circle frame, a sweet Hero Art's sentiment and a Butterfly I cut with a Tim Holtz die in my Cuttlebug.  

   This is my latest card I and it was really FUN to create!  I'm also happy to be submitting it to my very first Challenge at Lily Pad!   Yippee!!

   And this is a close up view where you can see how I popped up the pink frame around my image! 

  And now I'm off for the day!  I need to pick up my room and put away the huge mess that is now covering my desk.  I've had a very creative day and I now have lots of things in mind to keep me busy if we do have a stormy weekend.   I'll be very crafting my heart out and hoping we do NOT have any power loss!!

Clean and simple....

 CAS is a style of cardmaking that I truly LOVE.   I still do not quite have it down, but really love to play along in challenges that help inspire me to create these cards.

  My first card today was created for this week's CAS card challenge over at The Outlawz Group and the challenge this week was to create a CAS card that included a handmade embellishment.   At first that really started to stump me, as I wanted to try something different.  In the end, I ended up making my card all from scraps and my flower with created with a Sizzix die and cut from some handmade background paper I made a few weeks ago.

   I went with a kraft card base and also used another Sizzix die to cut the label background.  I cut two flowers, embossed them in my Cuttlebug and then punched two circles for the center and added on a simple button.  It was an easy card to make and a perfect use for scraps.  Hope you like it.

   My second card was inspired by this week's Sketch over at the Stars and Stamps blog.   This is a copy of Sketch 83, which I copied over to share. 

   This card ended up being on of my favorites today and was actually quite easy to make.  I started with a basic kraft base, cut the pieces as shown in the sketch and then simply added some additional bling for my circle area.  The embossing on the cardstock was done in my Cuttlebug with one of my original Fall embossing folders.   I think this is a sketch I'll keep out and use often for a variety of cards!

   I'm off now to check on the latest news on the Hurricane and still wishing it would turn a lot more East.  Last I heard, it sounds like the track is moving more West and that's NOT good for anyone on the coast.  I also read a blog post from a crafty friend (Julia in Puerto Rico) and they were hit by the storm before it reached Hurricane strength, yet they suffered quite a bit of damage and she was still without any power.   That's the the hardest thing, no power, no internet, no cooking, no AC...no laundry...nothing and if it's bad it can take days to get it back!!    Let's ALL hope the track still changes in time to spare much of the East Coast!  I do NOT want a Hurricane - No, Thank you!! 

New cards and old friends!

    I am happy to continue to be feeling better and also love being back in my craft room.   I have a few cards to share today and I have to admit that I am having a hard time finding my Mojo?  

    All three of today's cards were inspired by new challenges and the first card I completed is this Winter Themed card that was created for this week's Color Combo Challenge over at The Outlawz Group.  The inspiratoin for this week was to create a card, using the colors shown below, along with some type of water element. 

 

My very first thought was to make a beach or ocean scene card, but I then decided I wanted to do something different and went with a Winter Theme, making my water actually turn to Ice and Snow!!   My image is one of my favorite's from Bugaboo.

    I also incorporated my card to work out for the new Copic Coloring Challenge over at the Color Me Creative Classroom, where the challenge was 'Winged Things', and for me it's this cute skating bird that is my little winged thing.

    My next two card were created today for three new challenges and my first card was created with two challenges in mind.  The first is today's new Wacky Wednesday Challenge that Bugaboo hosts at CDAC and also at PCP.   Our challenge this week was to created a Birthday Card for a female, that included the color red and bling! 

    I also used this SKETCH (shown below), from today's challenge over at The Outlawz, as my inspiraton for the card design.  When it was all done, this is the card I made for all the challenges:

   And my last card today was inspired by today's Midweek Throwdown Challenge that is hosted every Wednesday over at OWH's Stars and Stamps Blog.   The challenge for today is to create Any Hero cards with a Thanksgiving theme.   

  Once I dug out my box looking for Fall Themes and colors, I realized that it's time to start thinking about making more cards in a Fall theme and also for Halloween and I found lots of cute things in my stash.  I'm not ready to say goodby to Summer, as far as weather goes, but I do think I'm ready to move on my cardmaking.  

   Oh...and my other big news is that I found a long lost friend this past week through Facebook.   I knew these friends from back in the early 80's and met them when I was working for a local Trucking Company.   I first met Frank, the Hubby, who was a cross-country truck driver.  He has been hauling for us for a couple of years and was a very sweet guy.  During the time, we both married and then he would travel with his wife, Karen and we all became good friends.   Whenever, they would be in town we would get together and gou out for Dinner and eventually they even would come as stay with us at our apartment.    We always looking forward to seeing them, even though it was often only 6 or 7 times each year.   I am not exactly sure how or why we lost touch, I guess it must have been because I eventually left that company and also ended up divorced from my first hubby.   I did remember that they had a baby girl shortly before we lost touch and I have thought about them on and off for years.   Well, after my former boss died (a few weeks ago), I started thinking about people I had met through that company and it made me think about Frank and Karen and that's when I thought about using the Internet and/or Facebook to try and find them.  I knew they had lived in Ohio, but really had no clue, if they still did or anything else about them.    After a few hours, I quickly found Karen on Facebook and sent her a message and friend request.  She did not receive it right away and then at first did not recognize my name.    She's new to Facebook and doesn't use it often.  I had a wonderful surprise late last week, when she found my friend request and wrote me back.  She had also wondered what we were up to and I wrote her again.   I was excited to be in touch and then today, I received a surprise phone call from Frank.   It was so fun to talk to him again -- he sounded exactly the same and we laughed about things form the past.   As it turns out, we both have children almost the same age and they had been back here once or twice after we lost touch, but did not know how to find me.  I'm so excited that we are now going to catch up again and hopefully get together at some time.  Frank no longer drives cross country, he now owns his own company and Karen is in the appraisal business.  They have two girls, where I have two boys and two of our kids are only born a month a part.  

    It's funny how after all these years, we both recognized each other's voice and remembered lots of things we had done when they would come and stay.  Ironically, I can hardly believe how much I had remembered, considering some days I cant' remember what I did last week.   It was really a joy to catch up and I'm looking forward to getting to know more about their girls and all that we've missed in this time.   It just goes to show that the Internet and Facebook really are so helpful in bringing people back into your life and I was thrilled to find two dear friends!    That's been my first real experience of finding old friends online and it's really been a joy to talk to them again. 

   Hope you all have a wonderful week and for every one along the East Coast....let's all HOPE that Hurricane Irene moves more East and keeps all of us on the coast safe and away for harm.  As of now, it sounds like we will have very heavy rains and winds and it could hit Southern Massachusetts, maybe even at a Category 2 Storm!   That would be huge for this area so I'm praying the course changes and the she will move further off the coast and keep us ALL safe. 

Oh what a DAY!!!

   Boy, does it feel good to be almost back to normal and to continue to feel better each and every day!  I HOPE I never have a flare that bad again and pray that no one else will either.  I'm still hoping for a cure for Fibromyalgia or at least, a better way to treat the illness.

   I'm very excited that I was able to make it through the full Memory Box class I attended at my LSS yesterday.   Dave, is such a friendly and awesome teacher and we also had the opportunity to meet his family.   They've had quite a Summer traveling across the country, teaching along the way.   We were their very last stop and I'm so glad they made the trip to Massachusetts.   I'm also very thankful that my store owner, Kate is so current and keep the store full of the latest and great products and also has some fabulous guest artists.

  My next classes there will be taught by Karen Lockhart of Lockhart Stamps and I'm sure they will also be awesome.  I signed up yesterday to take two that she'll be teaching here on September 23rd.  Yippee!!!

   I also had a wonderful time shopping at the store and was very lucky to have a gift certificate and lots of Birthday cash to add some wonderful new goodies to my stash.  I bought quite a few Memory Box products and was really impressed and happy to know that all of their products are made in the USA!!!   Way to go Dave!!  I also loved hearing his story about how stamping came into his life and how successful it turned out to be for he and his family.   A really nice story of how life's upsets can sometimes lead you to a better path.

   I'm now here to share the five cards were worked in class.   The class was jam packed full of info and we did most of the coloirng, but I did not finish any of my cards until today.  I also changed a few things around to make them my own, but I love each one and now have the supplies to re-create my favorites.   This first card is actually one of my favorites and I bought the new and the wonderful background papers too!

    All of these cards were colored with Prismacolor pencils, which is not usually a fun way for me to color.  I find it really makes my hands ache too much when I need to add deep color, but I also found that because we were not coloring large images, but was easier than I had expected.   Dave's coloirng style was also easier and he is not use Gamsol, which I also liked.   I will now have the option to color these with both Pencil or with my Copics and love the variety.

   I also created two new cards today and the first one was created with a variety of challenge in mind.  It's a cute little digi image from Bugaboo Stamps and I decided since I was already working on a Fall/Winter theme that I would make another card for my Christmas Supply.
 
   I also used two of my favorite new Memory Box dies to create the snowflakes and the snow designed border on these cards - I am officially addicted to these dies and think they designs are all amazing.   I also added the Holly vine Die (shown in the class cards) and three more to my collection.

   This card was inspired and is being submitted to each of these fun new challenges:

• Catch the Bug Challenge Blog - Bugaboo - Birds n Bees Challenge
• Color Me Creative Classroom - Copic Coloring Challenge - Thing with Wings
• The Outlawz - Greeting Cards - Anything Goes/Sentiment Required
• Copic Creations - Challenge # 56- Blue Greens

   And my last card was a card I created just for FUN!  I did not have any challenges in mind, I simply LOVED the colors of this adorable bird and matched it up with some card stock from my Stash to make this really bright card -- good for any occasion.

 
I'm now going to rest for the remainder of the day, so that I do not end up back in awful pain.  I wish everyone a wonderful day and hope you enjoying some craft time too!!

I've been Chibi'd!

Off to create!!!!

  I am very happy and thrilled to be feeling well enough to head off my LSS (Absolutely Everything) for some shopping - and a fantastic afternoon Card Class being taught by Dave Brethaeur of Memory Box!!  YIPPEE!!

  This is the class I am taking and have been looking forward to it for weeks -

 Memory Box Holiday Card Class - By Dave Brethaeur

  Come and learn about color, blending and shading while using Memory Box images and papers and our latest dies!   Each student will make 5 cards using colored pencil techniques that will make you color like a pro. We'll put color to work in analogous and complementary colors schemes to really make your greeting cards stand out! Dave will be using the Prismacolor brand of pencils.

           

     Thankfully, my back is cooperating and I'm going to take it slow and easy.    It's a short 2 hour class, so I think I'll be okay and I'll leave early and do my shopping before class!  If, my back starts to give out, I can always pack up and bring what I have not finished back home!

      
     I finally found some time yesterday to make a few cards for some of my favorite challenges that I had missed and I'm sharing them with you now.  

      This first card was for this week's Color Combo Challenge over at The Outlawz Challenge Group.   Our colors this week were these, which I love:

   Note:  In the photo my aqua looks a lot more blue, but was all done in teal with BG Copic Colors.   I didn't realize until now, that i really looks much different than the swatch!!   Hum??

    Oh, and before I forget, I was thrilled to be the second place winner at last Saturday's Catch the Bug (Bugaboo), challenge and won a new blinkie for my blog along with 4 new images!   Yippee!  Here is a copy of the card that won, (Shabby Chic) and also a my new badge, which has been added to my Challenge Wins/Award Page!    

   

   And my next card was created for another challenge at The Outlawz and this is for the Twisted Thursday challenge, where this week were we inspired to create a project using ONLY a Sentiment as our main image and focal Point.   This is my card, which I really loved making!!

  And my last card, but one of my favorites, was created for a Copic Coloring Challenge being hosted over at Crafting by Designs, a new group that I really enjoy!!   The theme for this week's is one that is very popular right now and that is - Back to School.

   In addition to this week's challenge at CBD, this card was also created for the new challenge being hosted at Through The Craftroom Door, which you'll find HERE!    The current challenge is to create a project using at least two different punches.   

     I'm so happy to be feeling better and it's been awesome to be back to crafting.  I really missed it and hope this week, I'll continue to improve and have even more time to create!   Wishing everyone a super Sunday - I'm just about ready to leave and can't wait to do a bit of shopping!!    Crafting and Shopping - two things I totally LOVE!!!