Oh ....what a week!!!

  This has been one tough week.....a heat wave that's still hanging on, a dog having seizures and is now having side effects his meds, and a Puppy who has re-developed her timid side, which seems to be related to all the extra barking coming from her big brother....??  Yikes!!   I need a vacation for sure....unfortunately, there is not one coming in my near future, so I'm doing the best that I can.

    On the upside, I am very thankful that our house is fully air-conditioned and I also did have a great weekend of crafting.  I took a really fun "Dylusions" Workshop at my LSS on Saturday, which was really fun.  I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting Dyan Reaveley, last week and she'll be making a return to teach again in the Fall.  The idea of this class was to reintroduce use to her products and techniques and we worked on a fun little book, that is still a work in progress.  I had been really wiped out last week, so as much I loved getting out, I was tired and left about an hour early to make the drive back home.  

     Then on Sunday, I went to a fun little get together, hosted by Tobey, a local Innkeeper, who loves to create and who also now is an Amuse Demo.  She's been trying to find new crafters in our area and has been hosted a few events in the hopes of finding some new friends who also have a love to create. Unfortunately, with the heat and it being a very hot Sunday after, she didn't' have a great response, but I was happy to go and get out for a couple hours.

     We worked on four really fun cards, all of which were ideas that were inspired by Amuse and and I even earned some "Badges" for my efforts.   I also placed a order, of course and hope to get back down again next weekend, when Anne, an online craft friend, will be coming up for her annual week of Summer vacation here in Rockport and will be staying at the Inn.  Ironically, it was though Anne, that I met Tobey, and had no idea previously that she and her Hubby owned the Inn or that she was a crafter and that we both love to visit the same LSS.  It is really a small world!!

      This is the first card we created and it has turned out to be one of my favorites, and was very easy too. You can bet that I'll use this idea to create more cards in the very easy CAS Style.

   And next was this cute card, which is done in a technique known as "Bandana" which is exactly what it reminds me of, especially when it's done in red, white and black, as we did on this cute little note card.

 
 I actually ordered the Zinnia Stamp/Die Set that we used for the card above, as well as the wonderful Sentiment sets that contains that very cool looking "Hello".

  And next is this amazing feather card, where I learned a totally new and fun way to create feathers using Washi Tape.....so cool -- easy and the look is right on!!!

  Followed by this cute little card that was done with a set of Feather stamps, from Amuse.   Like I said, they were all really fun and I was very happy I felt up to going and didn't miss out!!

   My next few cards are all cards I made for a variety of challenges and it's taken me a few days to get them all done, photographed and uploaded, so it could be that I'm a bit late, but I tried.  My first card was one I actually started as soon as the challenge came out, and that is the Cas(E) This Sketch Challenge - Week # 33 which you can find HERE!   And it all started with this sketch, which is our inspiration for this week.

 My Card

   This one stumped me a bit and after a few ideas, I went with a heart theme and punched out three hearts and then coated all three with Versamark and Silver Embossing powder, to give them a look of metal, which unfortunately, is not showing so well in my photo.  I then stamped my sentiment on matching red cardstock and added both a black base which I had embossed in my Cuttlebug.  The little ribbon stamp, as well as the sentiment are both from stamps sets that Kristina Werner designed for Simon Says Stamp.  

  My next card was inspired by this week's new CASology challenge, where our CUE word is FREE.  For some reason, the very first thought that came to mind was "Butterflies" and I knew that would in some way be my theme.   And that all came from a very old song "Butterflies are Free".  

   

My Card

Card Two

   As you can see, I am sharing two cards (I actually created three), and even so to be honest, I did NOT LOVE any of them and one is long gone in the trash.   The vision I had in my mind just did not work on paper, as I had hoped, but I did stick with my Butterfly theme and chose the first card (actually the third of my day), as the card to submit for the challenge.   

   My butterfly is a brand new "Leanna Butterfly" die I had just bought from Simon Says Stamp and it's another of their exclusives.  I cut it several times from Hero's Pool cardstock and then adhered two/three together for each card to give it extra dimension.  I wanted a 'flying trail type' look and first failed and totally ruined my first card by trying to draw one...(it was bad), so I tried again using this die and the cut off the parts that would not work...even so it was not the right look and that's why I kept going!   

   Finally, I tried something even more simply and went with a very CAS one layer card, where I embossed my card in a dotted background, added my dimensional butterfly and little bling and then simply tied on a matching bow!  

  And my last card today is for my Mom and it will be given to her tomorrow on her 79th Birthday!!  It's hard to believe that she'll be 80 next year and with all the health issues she's been through this year, I hope that next year will be a much happier and healthy one.    I loved how this turned out and I knew I wanted something feminine with flowers, as that is her favorite style.  I started by heading over to Pinterest where I quickly found this card, that I had pinned to my Card Inspiration Board.  I then decide that was exactly the look that I wanted, so I basically "Cased" it and want to give credit to the original designer -- "Kiagc" who had her card posted over at SplitCoast!  Thanks for a fabulous idea!!!

   This is Kiagc's card !

Courtesy of Pinterest

 

   My Version

   I didn't have all of the exact same dies as "Kia" used, but I do own the same Fresh Daisy die, which is another favorite from SSS.  I also had a Fiskars border punch, that I thought looked pretty close and I changed the frame and the ribbon to use products from my stash.   I also punched a few extra flowers, as my frame was a bit larger and colored them with my Copics.   I am very happy with how it came out and think my Mom will really like it.   Another great thing I love about Pinterest....a fabulous place to find new ideas and inspiration!   Thanks again to "Kia" for sharing her card -- it's fabulous!!

  And I'm now done and hope that the week will continue to improve.  Scout, had not had any additional seizures, but is not feeling well and is not a happy Dachshund taking his meds.   All he did most of yesterday was bark and wanted me to feed him.  Excessive hunger and thirst are side effects of this meds and boy was it showing, on the higher dose, which luckily was only for four days.  He's been seizure free since his Vet increased the dose, but has also been very grumpy and I do hope the worst is over.  On top of that, little Miss Skye has gone back into her more timid stage and seems like all his "extra" barking is annoying or frightening her?   Poor little girl.   I guess she prefers the quiet, and I have to admit, I'm with her.  Scout typically only barks when someone comes to the door or if a strange dog is around...but the past couple of days...it's bark, bark and more barking...even I ended up with a headache last night.  I could NOT wait for him to go to sleep, hoping he would feel better!   He's also whining a bit, so I know he's not comfy, but there really is nothing I can do.  I can't feed him excess food, as that is not good and he's already overweight...Poor Guy!!  A rough week and I'm sure the 90+ temps and humidity are not making them real happy.   They don't like going outside much and we've walked a night or very early.  THis too shall pass, hopefully soon, as he's now back on the normal dose!  Phew!!

      Bye Bye for now, and as always -- Happy Crafting!!