Celebrate!......FMS188

New babies are always a reason to celebrate..........so are old babies........

My talented friend Karren Johnson designed a great sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches. Celebrate with us and play along!

Yum.......PPA252

Mmmm.....Watermelon Wonder......Mint Macaron......definitely yummy  new colors to use for such yummy treats!  The ice cream cones are made using the new SU! set Sprinkles of Life - fun for a birthday!  I am so glad it is ice cream cone season again in the Northeast......and look who had her very first ice cream cone ever this week......
                                           


                                                   




                             Treat yourself and join in the fun at Pals Paper Arts this week!



                                                      

Star Quality......FMS187

My mother celebrated her 90th birthday recently and was thrilled to receive over 100 cards!  Many of them were from stamping friends and she just marveled at how talented they all are - oh so true!

We celebrated with a family dinner on a beautiful late spring day.  Here's Mom instructing Emma on the finer points of blowing out candles.

At 90 years old my mother lived on her own and was on no medication......incredible right?  But life has its bumps in the road.  A few hours after returning home from her party she suffered a heart attack and wasn't expected to pull through. Well she has pulled through and after a week in the hospital has been transferred to a rehab center.  The staff is pretty confident that she will be able to recover enough to go into an assisted living facility nearby.  That's pretty incredible too!

This card is headed to her because throughout all of this she has handled herself with determination, strength and a no-nonsense attitude. In an instant her life changed totally and she will never live on her own again.  But after growing up in England during WWII she has always said she is a survivor and can handle anything. A change in living conditions is fine with her if she gets "a few more years to hang around!" Yes she is a star in my book......



A set of Blueprint Die Cuts from Simon Says Stamp and SU's Pictogram Punches teamed up very nicely on this card using  Cindy Lovell's delightful sketch from Freshly Made Sketches!  Hope you play along!

                                                 

The Stamp Review Crew: Four Feathers

A little mix of old and new for you today!  Four Feathers is a sweet set that is retiring soon.  I introduced it to two of Stampin' Up's new in colors and wow do they get along great!  Tip Top Taupe is so smart and classy and it looks wonderful with a splash of Delightful Dijon!  I used the splatter from Gorgeous Grunge and a sentiment from Sheltering Tree to complete my card.

Depending on which way you are hopping you can head back to Nancy Smith's blog or forward to Mike Funke's.  No matter which way you go you won't be disappointed - they are amazingly talented stampers!

I used the sketch from Case This Sketch as my inspiration.

On The Road Again........FMS186

 
1970.......it was green......with a big yellow flower on the back.....my first VW Beetle. I was in love! I learned how to shift, steer and scrape ice that formed on the inside of the windshield without missing a beat. That green bug was followed by a blue one and then a silver one.  I thought there was nothing that could separate me from my beetle.........until I had to wrestle a baby and a carseat in the back seat........


                   Jen Brum has a delightful sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!

                                                   

Let the Sun Shine! PPA250

It has been a glorious sunshine-y week here and yesterday was a perfect day for a homecoming! If you are a fan of The Voice then you know who Sawyer is.......and he happens to live not too far away from me.  A huge homecoming event was held for him at our local fairgrounds.  My neighbor was there and took this wonderful photo of this talented young man......he is a definite ray of sunshine! 

I am looking forward to next week's show!

                        In the meantime........ Pals Paper Arts has a warm and sunny color challenge!

                                        

Just Another Day in Paradise....FMS185

Someone I know is vacationing in Florida this week!  I took a cue from her dress and inked up the flowers from Hello Darling with bright colors! While Emma plays at Disney her grandfather and I are playing our own game of survival without a kitchen. It involves a lot of paper plates, plastic forks and take out food. There has been progress - we now have "everything but the kitchen sink". But as you may know living without a kitchen sink is not easy. Ten more days until our counter and sink are installed.....not that I'm counting or anything......

            Cindy Hall has a delightful sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!