Tea-rific Times.........FMS197

Who remembers the British invasion back in the 60's?  We thought those Brits were so stylish - remember the Mods and the Rockers?  And Twiggy? I spent a summer with relatives in England back then and I was definitely the plain Jane cousin from America!  But I had a great time - and returned home and made my mother shorten all of my skirts! This card is off to the gal I traveled with that summer - we still keep in touch.  And for whatever reason the pattern on this piece of Schoolhouse DSP reminded me of some of the designs, colors, and fabrics of that time - so of course I had to add a cup of tea!

More tea-rific news -  Freshly Made Sketches is approaching its 200th sketch!  I have been with the team from the beginning and can't believe we are headed for 200! We are going to celebrate for sure - stay tuned - we have wonderful sponsors and prizes lined up - and all you have to do is play along!

Jen Brum is so not a fan of circles but if you want to change her square to another shape it is OK with her!  Hope you join us at Freshly Made Sketches!

Queen Bees........FMS196

I have heard there can be only one Queen B in a hive.......so I guess we are pretty lucky that the two Queen B's in our "hive" get along so well.  

Emma and my mom have a great time together!  Today they practiced the alphabet!

Cindy Hall has a wonderful sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  I used Garden in Bloom and English Garden DSP on my card along with Hello Honey and Mossy Meadow Inks.

Glamping.........PPA260

It's always nice to receive flowers....even if they are only on paper!   English Garden DSP is gorgeous and makes a pretty background behind the unexpected pop of blue flowers from Butterfly Basics. A touch of the unexpected is always fun in a design or a wardrobe ensemble.  Miss Emma is into picking out her own wardrobe and accessories these days.  Doesn't everyone wear silver sequined shoes on a camping trip in the Adirondacks?  She probably thought her mom said "Come on, we are going glamping!"

We have a great sketch this week at Pals Paper Arts!  Hope you play along!

                                           

A Fresh Start.......FMS195

Nothing like a fresh start!  A new little guy will be arriving in the our neighborhood soon and this card is ready to greet him!  But he's not the only one starting anew. After eight weeks of physical therapy in a nursing home my mother has moved to assisted living! For the past two days I have been there to walk her to the cafeteria for lunch and dinner. Then I loiter in the hall and peek through the doorway to see if she is eating and chatting. I shouldn't have worried because today she told me to go home and that she knew perfectly well where to sit and had some new friends waiting for her!  A fresh start is possible even when you are 90!

And you may have noticed that my blog got a fresh start today as well!  The simple clean heading was designed by Lesley Croghan.......creator of Freshly Made Sketches!  She has a great eye for design!  

Someone else with a great eye for design - Kim Singdahlsen - drew our fun sketch this week!  It has us going in circles at Freshly Made Sketches .......but if those circles make you dizzy feel free to change up those shapes!  Have fun!

Stamp Sets: SU Bravo, PTI Baby Button Bits

Designer Paper: SU Cherry on Top

Soft and Sweet.......FMS194

If you are a regular reader here you know that I usually make just one of a kind cards with a specific person in mind. But there is an exception to my rule....sympathy cards. I don't want to be blithering all over the card stock trying to put one together! So I just create them when the mood strikes and then I have a stash to pick from when needed.  And it always strikes me as odd what puts me in that mood.......but I go with it......

I adore this picture my daughter took last weekend of Emma and the big guy walking back up to camp from the beach.  It is a sweet picture and makes me smile!  And somehow that soft sweet picture with the bit of pink led to my card......



I used Blushing Bride with b/w and several stamps - a splash from Work of Art, frames from Pretty Thankful, a butterfly from Garden in Bloom and a beautifully scripted sentiment from Oh Happy Day by Avery Elle. The DSP frame is from the fabulous b/w set called Everyday Chic.


I am hosting this week at Freshly Made Sketches! Come on over and check out our amazing Design Team! I would love to see what you create with my sketch! 


                                              

Stamp Review Crew: Sprinkles of Life

The Stamp Review Crew is featuring Sprinkles of Life this week. It is a wonderful set with lots of pieces and endless possibilities.  I stamped clouds on vellum and raindrops underneath to create gray skies.  Then I stamped a flower garden and used the birthday candle image on its side to make the flower bed.  A sheet from Pretty Petals DSP reminded me of raindrops so I used it as a backdrop!

We had tons of rain this week but it gave way to a beautiful Fourth of July weekend.  My two nieces and nephew arrived with their kiddos so all the cousins had a great time together!

I am sure you enjoyed your previous stop at Debra's blog. She always has something creative in store! If you started at the beginning then I am your last stop but if you didn't then head over to Tanya's blog.  Not only is she amazingly creative but she manages to keep the Review Crew organized and on track......and she creates all of the wonderful graphics!  

                                 

I used the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch to design my card.

                                            

Birthdays and Other Celebrations......PPA258, PP251

It's fun to get together to celebrate a birthday.......but actually it is fun to get together to celebrate anything! The stars aligned  this past weekend and I actually got to spend an afternoon with two of my favorite stampers.....Jen Timko and Jen Mitchell. A lot of stamping talk to be sure - and a lot of laughs.  Jen M brought a selfie stick - that she had never used before.  It was a strange experience and we couldn't stop laughing as you can see in the picture below!

I paired our cheery color combo at Pals Paper Arts along with Nance Leedy's cool sketch at The Paper Players to create my card.  That fabulous script sentiment is from a recent Paper Pumpkin kit.

                                                     

Happy Baby........FMS193

A new baby definitely causes happiness......especially if it is sweet, tiny and furry!  My son and his girlfriend added a new pup to their brood this week.  This little guy is delightful but Silas and Adirondack aren't too sure about him yet!

He is a spunky mix of poodle, dachshund and shih tsu.  They are still trying to settle on a name but in the meantime Emma calls him "my puppy".........

I love Rita's sketch this week! I used the giraffe from Zoo Babies, a word from Big News and new DSP called Cherry on Top. I took a few liberties with the design - and you can too!  Hope you join us at Freshly Made Sketches!