Simplicity Sister sneak peek TWINS

Hello crafty friends : ) today is my turn to try to lure you into making BIG purchases at the Penny Black store! 

Here is a sneeky peek.... are you grabbing for your pocketbook yet?

Join me at the Penny Black Simplicity Blog to see my whole card!

Hey! I just bought a cured ham.... I wonder what it had!

Thank you for stopping by I appreciate you!

BIG (((HUGS)))

Stencil challenge with the Girls!

Hello friends : ) I can't believe a whole week has gone by since I posted.  I knew I would be getting busy but I didn't think I would be this busy this fast!!  I hope you are all doing well and enjoying a bright and warm spring!  As I write this it is actually raining and foggy here but I guess that is what it is supposed to do in spring! : ) I sure is wonderful to see GREEN! every where rather than white!

I'm here today, as a guest of the Just Us Girls Challenge blog to challenge you!: ).  This week the challenge is Stencils!!

I created this polka dotted tribute to my "adopted" Mom from whom I inherited my love of all things girly. I went wild with the stencils inside and out : )  But Mom's motto is... you can never have too many polka dots! so I know she'll like it I hope you do too.

Here is a good joke in honor of the ladies...... 

A husband and wife were arguing about who should make the coffee.  The wife said – “the bible says the husband is to make the coffee.”  He asked “where does it say that!” So she opened her bible… right here in “Hebrews”.

heeheehee I would like to send hugs and best wishes to all my children loving friends! whether you are a Mom or not : ) you know who you are!! *wink*

Please don't forget to link up your stenciled works of art!! at JUGS.

BIG (((HUGS)))

Invited guest at JUGS

It's true! I am an invited guest at the Just Us Girls Challenge Blog for the whole month!!

The thing I really love about challenges is how challenging they often are.  I felt like I needed some help with this challenge so I went to You Tube for some inspiration.  I found THIS VIDEO from 2013 that I based my "shadowing" on.

I didn't have the kinds of stamps that she did and so I created my "ghosting" with a white Prisma Pencil.  I guess in the end it really doesn't look much like hers but hey! what can I say I was inspired and I want to give credit where credit is due : )

Please join the girls at Just Us Girls Challenge blog with your "Shadow".  We would love to see your take on this challenge.  And I would also like to invite you to swing by the Penny Black Simplicity blog for a yummy dose of CAS inspiration!

If my card doesn't cheer you up maybe this will......  Did you hear about the two silk worms in a race? ........    They ended in a tie!

Supplies:
#40-616 Floral Medley
#51-221 Feel Better
Prisma Colored Pencils

Have a wonderful day and thanks a bunch for stopping by.

BIG (((HUGS)))

Merry Monday - no stamping

Ok girls here is a brain teaser for you.  I will give the answer at the bottom of my post : )

I travel all over the world but I always stay in my corner.... What am I??

Merry Monday challenges us to make our cards this week with no stamping on them! : ) I love LOVE love!! die cuts so I had lots of fun ideas in my head for this card.  I ended up choosing to use a piece of pre-printed paper from a Papertrey Ink Wonderland Kit and a favorite snowflake embossing folder. Easy Peasy!!

I hope you will join the talented gals at Merry Monday by entering your - no stamping - card in the gallery! : )

Over the next couple of weeks and months I will be in the throws of sorting, throwing, donating, garage selling and packing in preparation for our move New Mexico!! We are so excited now that we have made our decision to go but the work isn't going to get done by itself : ) For this reason I will be taking a semi-break from card making and might be a little bit sketchy on my visiting.  I will still have my English/card making classes with my Mexican friends and I will still have some obligations for Penny Black that I will be posting from time to time - I might even be forced!! to join some fun challenges : )  and naturally I will need to drop in for a joke or two heehee but I am excited for this part of the adventure to get under way so I hope you won't forget me. : )

With all that said I would like to invite you to stop back on Saturday morning to see what I have created as the May Guest Designer for Just Us Girls challenge blog. : )

Ok you've waited long enough.....  a stamp!!

Thanks a bunch for stopping by friends!! I appreciate you!

BIG (((HUGS)))

Just Us Girls Challenge

I absolutely LOVE this amazing photo that Vicki of Just Us Girls Challenge Blog selected for our inspiration this week.

This picture reminded me of my sister who loves "doodling".  She is actually a Doodle Artist! and is working on her own line of Doodles!!  I created this card for her birthday.  Thank you JUGS for the incredible inspiration!!

I did a bit of "Doodling" on a piece of white card stock before cutting it with the Wonky Squares die.  Then I cut another Wonky Square from black card stock and swapped out some of the centers with the doodled white pieces.  I cut a portion of the Floral Arrangement die and then inked on some color.  Finally I added two score lines at the bottom of the card. : ) A little time consuming but my baby sister is worth it!! : )

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you will join the girls over at JUGS to support their fun challenge!

I would also like to invite you to visit the Penny Black Simplicity Blog where my "Simplicity Sisters and I share CASolicious cards we hope will inspire you : )

All supplies I used are from Penny Black:

#51-424 Wonky Squares
#30-481 Radiant
#51-428 Floral Arrangement


Ok could you use a good laugh today? This one is one of my favorites - and it is really good advice too! .... here goes....

If you call one of those psychic hotlines and they don’t greet you by your name, you should hang up!

BIG (((HUGS)))

How does your garden grow?

Did you read the joke Vikki left as a comment on my Merry Friday post?  I laughed all day over this one and actually I'm still laughing!! Thanks a bunch Vikki : ) 

what do you get from sitting on the snow too long? ..... polaroids!!

Hi everyone : ) my garden is a bit tardy because of all the cold weather we have suffered this spring and now my card is a bit tardy too! You see I took inspiration from this week's Freshly Made Sketches but missed the deadline to submit my card to the gallery!

Oh well!! Freshly Made Sketches is a great challenge blog and I encourage you to check them out for their next challenge : )

I was also inspired by the Inspired By Challenge : ) Isn't this photograph lovely!? Tardy or not Spring has finally sprung!! I and I could not be happier : )

The supplies I used are from Papertrey Ink's Petite Places series.  I regret that am unable to link to PTI as I cannot access their site any longer because apparently my computer is too old : (.  I also used a scrap of card stock from my stash but the markings were not preserved so I can't share where it was from. I guess I am just plain outdated all the way around!  Good thing we aren't too old to laugh!! : )

Waiter! Shouted the furious diner.  How dare you serve me this! There is a TWIG in my soup!!  “My apologies, said the waiter, I’ll inform the branch manager. : )

Thank you so much for stopping by and enjoy your day!

BIG (((HUGS)))

Merry Friday!

Hello friends : )

Why did the one armed man cross the road?  ....because he wanted to get to the second hand shop!

It is Friday and the sun is shining and I have my windows open! We are predicted to see 70* this weekend and it is a GOOD day! so lets laugh!  : )

Have you noticed that it is much easier to make and enjoy Christmas cards when it is warm : )  I created my card for both the Merry Monday Challenge and the Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.  I hope you will join me in support of these two great challenges by entering your Christmas cards in their galleries.

I used an embossing folder from Stampin Up and some ancient patterned paper from who knows where and a Gingerbread house and sentiment from Papertrey Ink : ) If you need some specifics on the supplies I used please let me know : )  because I am off and running! I have a few hours to enjoy this beautiful day and I need to turn off this computer and go!! : )

Speaking of going..... where do cows go on Friday night?......  to the moooovies : )  Whatever you do with your Friday night I hope it is filled with blessings from Jesus!! : )

Thank you so much for stopping by I appreciate you!

BIG (((HUGS)))

Inspiración cupcake means Cupcake Inspiration

Hello friends, I am here to share a couple more cards my sweet Mexican student created at our English class/ Card Making Class : )

My first card was inspired by this yummy looking cupcake from the Cupcake Inspiration Challenge blog.

The colors of my frosting really are peach and lime green IRL even though they don't look like it!

As before I wanted a very simple design for Nayeli, my "Student" to recreate.  Here is a picture of her and my BFF, Diane, and the cards they made:

The die we used for this card  is an "I Love You" die from Penny Black. Nayeli added the "I" and "You" on the face of her card which I thought was really creative! but then she surprised me by taking the negative from the die cut and stenciling the whole sentiment on the inside of her card.  Really clever and sweet.  She said she would give her card to her daughter in Mexico City.

Thank you so much for all your kind and encouraging comments on my "yo no hablo español" post : ) You are the most wonderful and encouraging community I have ever seen! I am honored to call you friends!!

I would like to share one more picture in this post - a picture of "the whole group" this picture was taken on the 15th of this month - the day our friends arrived.  There are about 6 more to come before the middle of May!  We live in a very tiny little house that gets to bulge!! with the arrival of our friends!!  We just cram everyone in! LOL - no one seems to mind : ) I need to take a picture next time they come to cook for us.  Imagine 6 - 8 men in the kitchen!! you'll love seeing it.  I wish you could be here to not only enjoy the company but to taste the AMAZING!! food!! : ) 

I hate to make this longer than it already is but I need to be sure to give Vikki her daily joke *wink*   What did the farmer get when he crossed a centipede with a turkey?..... 100 drumsticks!! : P


BIG (((HUGS)))

Masculine Birthday!!

I really like the sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch!  I wanted to make a masculine card for my stash so I went looking for a color challenge and found inspiration at House of Cards : )

I'm really cutting it short to enter the CAS(E) challenge so I am going to make this short!!  Before I go.... here is a geometric joke to match up with the theme of my card : )

Why did the triangle refuse to be friends with the circle?  It found the circle to be pointless!!

BIG (((HUGS)))

yo no hablo español

Hello friends : ) that's right yo no hablo español means I don't speak Spanish! so how am I teaching an English class to Mexicans one might ask?

Each year a large group of Mexicans from Cancun come to Custer to work for the summer.  The reason for this is that many more people come to Custer during the summer than live in the area full time.  The restaurants and hotels here close in September.  They begin to re-open in April and by Memorial Day our sleepy little town is bursting with activity!!  This provides literally hundreds of jobs for 5 to 6 months so our government allows people from all over the world to come here to work for the season.

To say that we have befriended the Mexicans would be a very watered down picture - rather we have adopted each other! They have become family.  Never! in our lives have we enjoyed so much love poured out on us.

I know this is getting too long so I will try to quickly explain the reason for my post today.  This year there is a new gal from Mexico City to join the team.  She speaks a little bit of English but not really enough to enable her to work with the public.  Our friends have asked us to try to help her with conversational English.  So guess what we did for our first class?

We made cards! : )   She had never made cards before or played with all the many tools of our delightful hobby and she was thrilled!! It really was a challenge - especially at first but "Google Translate" to the rescue! and by the end of our session she had made some beautiful cards and improved her English vocabulary quite a bit : )

These are the cards that I created as samples for her to follow.  I wanted them to be very easy. I demonstrated each step from cutting the card stock to signing her name - and she in turn demonstrated the same process to my friend, Diane.

It turns out she is a natural!! I will be sure to photograph HER cards after we meet again tonight to play more!! : )

My cup runneth over! what could be better for this lonely Mom and Grandma than to be able to open my heart and crafty place to such fine people!! - sharing my love of cardmaking with someone who has never had the luxury of a hobby.

BIG (((HUGS)))

CAS Christmas - Ornament

Hello friends I am so happy you stopped by.  Today I have a card I created for Loll's CAS Christmas Card Challenge where the challenge is to use an ornament on your card.  This really was a challenge for me but I hope you will like my homemade ornament : )

I used a 5" square card base.  I cut a Papertrey Ink Let It Snow die from both a silver metallic card stock and a white card stock.  I did the same thing with a two part snowflake die (also from PTI) cutting the bottom from my silver metallic cs and the top, more detailed die cut, from white cs.  I tied a string and as easy as pie added another card to my Christmas card stash : )

I hope you will join Loll and her amazing DT at the CAS Chrsitmas Card Challenge while there is still time : )

BIG (((HUGS)))

Woofer - Twofer

It's all about "Pets" in Blogland right now in honor of Darnell's wonderful Twofer challenge!

I don't have any pets (other than Bob) but if I did have I would dress them up like these cute little pups.

This fun birthday card has a surprise inside!  When you open it up out pops an ice cream cone!!

I will link to the products from below but the stamp set and paper are from Inky Antics.  I was actually surprised when I did a search today to find that the product is still available as I purchased the stamp set and special Honeycomb paper years!! ago : ).  Check them out Inky Antics has quite a few different stamp sets that use the special paper like this one.  They really are fun for a kid's card.

My next card is an Encouragement card.

I stamped their britches on pp and pieced them on.  I like how this card turned out but I don't like that you can't see my clouds!! I just HAD to darken the picture down far enough for you to be able to see them.  In real life you can see them but....  all I can say is thank goodness for Photoshop! : )

That is all I have today except to remind you that when everything is coming your way! ... you're in the wrong lane! : )

Please join the fun at Darnell's Twofer Challenge Blog.  the current challenge runs until the 24th.

Thank you so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!!

Supplies:
Ice Cream Pup by Inky Antics
Honeycomb Paper by Inky Antics
Thanks for the Lift sentiment from Papertrey Ink (I'm sorry I am unable to link this product)
Sprinkles & Smiles Stamp Set by Penny Black


BIG (((HUGS)))