Teenagers

One of my nephews turned 13 this year. He has already exhibited the traits of a teenager. He no longer tells his mother he loves her in front of his friends. He walks into another room when his cell phone rings. And of course, he knows everything.

Let me tell you how difficult it is to design a card for a teenage boy. I don't know that I succeed but at least he said, "This one pops up." It could be worse. He could have said, "This sucks."

It's the little things really.

Baby Shower

One of my co-workers is pregnant. This gave me a wonderful opportunity to throw a party. More specifically, a baby shower. This will be the first baby shower that I have hosted and I can't wait to throw another one. All of my friends need to get pregnant this very instant. Baby showers are so much fun to plan. Plus she already knows she is having a girl so I got to use alot of pink and make pretty things.

Over the course of the next week I will post the party favors, banner, flower arrangements, and table scape.  But first we must start with the invitation.

I used my New Arrival Cricut cartridge to make the outfit and the duck. I used my fiskars boarder punch for the bottom edge and I rounded the top two corners. They came out super cute.

No two are exactly the same. I used different papers for the base of the card as well as for the outfit. A great party always starts with a great invitation.

The Big 3-0

My best friend turns 30 today. For her special birthday, I wanted to make her a special gift. I've been dabbing in mini albums lately and came across a tutorial on a mini album made out of No 10 envelopes. I love how it turned out.

It's an accordion style design - 5 envelopes made 10 pockets and 10 surfaces to design on. 

Here are the front and back covers...or the back and front cover depending on which way you start.

Here is the side view. Once I added all the embellishments and tags, it got thick. 

A view of the inside. 

A few of the tags.

I also made her a card

I love the bright colors...although I don't believe the yellow background was the right choice for the picture.

Happy Birthday BFF.

Happy Birthday Mama

My mother's birthday is this week. We never know what to get her for her birthday. If you ask her, she says he doesn't want anything or need anything. There are only so many perfume bottles, lottery tickets, and Sears gift cards a lady needs. I still don't know what to get her but at least I have her card ready to go.

I picked this patterned paper because she is an amazing seamstress. She doesn't need a pattern to make anything. She just needs to look at a garment, make a few notes, and she is able to reproduce it perfectly. Same goes for knitting, crochet,  embroidery etc. I wish I could do half the things she is able to do.

Happy Birthday Mama - I love you.

What's a serger?

I made this birthday card for a very good friend of mine who is turning 33 this week. I value our friendship more than she knows...even though she says I'm an old lady.

Don't be deceived by the paper design, she doesn't know how to sew. As far as I know, she has never picked up a needle and thread. I fell in love with the colors and the layout.

Happy Birthday dear friend!

Kid at Heart

Some of the best fathers are those who are kids at heart. The ones that look forward to racing home to play with their children. Although they realize the importance of doing homework and completing chores, they love to play everything from Wii to Candy Land to a game of basketball with their little ones. This card goes out to the biggest kid at heart I know.

I have seen him play video games with his 11 year old son and 15 year old daughter. Taunting them the entire time, even laughing an evil little laugh when he won. Then he hugs them, kisses them on the cheek, and asks them to play another game. This time, in between taunts, he asks about their day. He knows how to be their friend but still their father.

Happy Father's Day to the Kid at Heart!!!
The next time I am in town, I challenge you to a mean game of Pac Man!

The Loss of a Fighting Irishman

The loss of someone you love,whether expected or unexpected, is very difficult to bare. Going from one day having that person in your life to the next never seeing him again is more than heartbreaking, it can change your soul. 

Recently, one of my sister-in-laws lost her father. Although she was surrounded by loving family and friends (she lives out of state), we wanted to be there for her, my brother, and my niece and nephews. We all called and tried to put into words what our hearts were feeling but words failed us. We knew nothing we said would bring him back or ease their pain. We simply said we loved them and we were thinking of them.

I am not a fan of sympathy cards but I felt I should send them something. This is what I came up with. I hope it warmed their hearts - if only for a moment. 

Favorite Mama

I'm sure you guessed it, I saved the best for last. My favorite kind of mama is MY MAMA!!! Now I know that most people think their mama is the best. But hands down, my mother can beat your mother in a mother contest....whatever that would entail.

I always tell her she is my favorite mama to which she replies, "But I am your only mama" (my mom is smart as well as adorable). My response is "But if I had other mothers, you would be my favorite." And it's true. She would be my favorite.

She is the cuties 4 ft 10 inch - 73 year old - nicely round and squishy mother you will ever come across. She is soft in all the right places; the perfect partner to snuggle up with. She makes the best tortillas this side of the border. And she has this laugh.....I can't explain it, you have to hear it to fully understand what it does to you.  No matter what we are doing - whether it's playing Wii bowling (yes, she is in an senior citizens  Wii bowling league) or playing cards (you better watch her - she cheats) or just sitting on the couch talking, I always have the best time.

Happy Mother's Day to my FAVORITE MAMA!!!! I love you!

And Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there. Thank you for being your child's favorite mother!

Special Mama

There are many different ways of showing support for your child. You can be on the sidelines of every single game, you can give a standing ovation to a performance you know sucked, or buy a violin after you were promised (for the 4th time) that this is the one. But there are a select few who go a step or two further.

It's instinctual to want to protect your child. It's in a parents DNA. When you see your child hurting, all you want to do is fix it. Kiss it and make it all better. Unfortunately, there are situations in which a kiss won't fix it. And there are situations in which perhaps, a mother should not get involved. This story could possibly be one of those situations.

Rumor has it, there was a lovely girl who like a boy. The lovely girl told her best friend that she liked this boy. Evidently, the "best friend" also liked the same boy and began telling the boy lies about the lovely girl. The lovely girl found out what was happening and was understandably very upset. She went home crying and told her special mom what had happened. This mother did what any..what most....what some...what few mothers would do -she called the "best friend's" mother. The outcome is not relevant. Sufficed to say, there was yelling, perhaps naming calling, a few tears shed - but in the end, the lovely girl went to bed knowing her mother had her back.

 Happy Mother's Day Special Mama. You are in a class by yourself.

Working Mama

Stay at home mothers are never fully appreciated for all that they do. They not only run the house, they are taxi drivers, coaches, tutors, and sometimes medics. They do so much for others that they often forget about themselves and their needs. As if all of this was not enough, there are those mothers that also work - they must be superhuman.

The woman that is recieving this card rejoined the work force after more than 15yrs as a stay at home mom. She was nervous at first. Unsure if she could handle the stress and demand of a job. She wondered what skills she possessed and what she could offer an employer. Turns out she had nothing to worry about. She is hard working, reliable and capable of anything.

Happy Mother's Day Working Mom!!! I always knew you had it in you!

Adoptive Mama

Adoptive parents are wonderful souls. They open their homes and hearts to another human being and become a family. Some people adopt a baby because they can't have one on their own. Others adopt because they want to share their family with someone who lost theirs.

The lovely lady that is receiving this card adopted a beautiful baby girl, not because she couldn't have any of her own (she gave birth to three babies) but because she fell in love with this little girl the moment she saw her. She new this little girl was family from day one.

Love is thicker than blood.
Happy Mother's Day Adoptive Mama!

Godmother Mama

I admire women who give birth and raise nothing but boys. To be the only woman in a house filled with dirty stinky boys takes a certain type of person. Someone who isn't afraid of washing a load of whites - which haven't looked white since the day they came out of the package. The type of woman who has learned to no longer ask where a stain came from or why a pair of tidy whities with three holes is in the laundry basket instead of the trash. Between stories of video games and gross bugs they find outside and bring inside, I am amazed at how a mother of boys keeps her sanity. But they do because that is a mother's love - to love what others wouldn't. To see the beauty in bugs, the poetry of the stories, the humor in the laundry. 

My godmother is a mother of four boys. She raised them practically on her own. They have grown up to be wonderful young men who are kind and giving. They love her so much and would do anything for her. They are no longer dirty or stinky, however I doubt it very much if they throw underwear away once there's a hole in it - its some kind of guy thing they never grow out of. I would be willing to bet that Adam had holes in his underwear and Eve couldn't convince him to throw them away either.

Happy Mother's Day Godmother Mama!

New Mama

Motherly instinct is a wonderful mystery. Although modern medicine and science try to explain the phenomena of instinct there are no words or definitions that can nail it down. When a woman becomes a mother she somehow taps into a psychic and connected power with her child. That's how they know you are sneaking Oreos to your room and that you are dating your ex for the third time. Most mothers worry whether or not they will be good enough for their baby. They worry about organic vs processed baby food, Barny - is he really worth it, and will their child love them more than they love their father. They will read many books on parenting hoping that someone has the answer and is willing to share. But in the end, all they have to do is follow their instinct.

This card goes out to a mother of one adorable baby boy.  She is a new mom and like most new moms she was worried for nothing. She is perfect. She spoils him just enough (and allows the grandmas to spoil him rotten like every good mom should), she talks to him in English instead of baby gibberish, and she is not worried if he stands up and bumps his head on the table - according to her, how else will he learn to be careful.

It is my firm belief that in the end, all that mothers have to do is love their child more than anything else in the world. As for the rest - let psychiatrists figure it out.

Happy mothers day New Mama. You're doing great!

Salsa Mama

Mothers can make you feel better when you are having a bad day.....or make you feel like you should have worn a cardigan over your v-neck shirt even though you ARE leaving something to the imagination. And then there are those mothers that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside....by feeding you chips and salsa when you go visit.

I will never admit this out loud and I will swear on a stack of bibles that I did not type this on my blog, but there is one lovely lady I know who makes salsa better than my mother. I can (and possibly have), drink this stuff.

She is a mother of three and there is nothing she wouldn't do for them. Her two oldest are grown but always go to her for advice and guidance. Her youngest has the energy of three little boys (and the sweat to prove it). She tries her best to keep up with him and most of the time she is successful. There is however, this rumor going around that she watched and cheered her heart of for her son during a football game....only the little boy on the field was not her son.....nor was she watching the right game......nor was she cheering for the correct jersey number. But you know what they say about rumors - the funny ones are always true.

I made this card for her because after I eat her salsa all I want to do is give her a big hug and kiss....and drink a big cup of water.

Happy Mother's Day Salsa Mama! Your salsa rocks but it is NOT better than my moms ;) Hi mom! I love you mom!

Buffalo Bills Mama

Mother, mom, mama, ma, madre, however you say it, the feelings and memories that follow is almost always the same - love, warmth, cuddly,  soft, judgmental, hugs, kisses, safe, laughter, busy body, cookies, your favorite sandwich with the crust cut off - I could go on. Mothers are superhuman. They know everything, see everything, and can do anything. Being a mother is a full time job they will have for the rest of their life. I am over 30 years old and I still call my mother when I have a bad dream. What?.... she makes me feel better.

This year I have decided to show my appreciation to all the mothers in my life - sisters, sister-in-laws, and friends - by creating and sending them a card for mother's day.  Here is card 1 of 8.

The lovely mother that is receiving this card has a very giving heart. She always makes you feel right at home when you go over to visit. She'll make your favorite food, play your favorite card game, she'll even let you watch whatever you like on TV. But come football season look out - she is a wonderful hostess up until the Buffalo Bills lose. Then she is in a bad mood for the rest of the day and it is best to stay out of her way. Unfortunately for her family, that's almost every Sunday from August to January :)

She has one child - a teenage boy. He is polite, giving, smart, and will undoubtedly become a wonderful young man. But for now he is a teenager which means he can be a butt-head. I love how she reminds him that no matter how cool he thinks he is, she can still tell him to put his underwear away...loud enough so his girlfriend can hear in the other room. Cracks me up. She is awesome.

Happy mother's day to my Buffalo Bills mama.

97 miles down - 85 left to go

I am very happy to report my brother made it through the first day without having to use the butt cream. He breezed through the first 97 miles in just five hours. Once the riders arrive in La Grange (the half way point), they are told to take a shower and sign up for massages. There are several shower trailers lined up but the lines are still long.

Each team has a tent where the riders and their families eat lunch and dinner. For those riders who were not lucky enough to reserve a hotel room they sleep in the tent as well - my brother was one of them. Some of the teams have the most interesting bbq pits. This one belongs to a sanitation team.

Unfortunately there is a flash flood watch in La Grange this evening. My brother was told to remove any items from the floor to avoid getting wet, which was very funny seeing as how his blow up mattress was on the floor. But looking on the bright side of things, he could turn this bike ride into a triathlon if the flood waters do come. That is on his bucket list as well. 

Below is a card I made him for the second day just in case he needed a little pick me up.

MS 150

The MS 150 is a bike ride from Houston to Austin. It takes place over a two day period. Riders ask for sponsorship to help support this great cause. Although it is called MS 150 the ride is over 180 miles. My brother has been training for the MS 150 since October of last year. He took it up as a form of inexpensive exercise. Little did he know the bike, the shoes, the gear, the training classes, the butt cream, and cycling classes would add up to over a $1,000 - but he has loved almost every minute of it - the times he has had to use the butt cream - not so much :)

This will be his first year in the event and he is so excited - I am nervous. There are thousands of riders every year and unfortunately its raining and a bit yucky this weekend. I know he is well trained and he will be carefully but it's the people around him I'm most nervous about. He is part of an awesome team The Hammer Heads. His team leader has been doing this event for many years and is very detailed oriented, qualities both my brother and I admire in a leader. For example, below is one of many emails my brother has received leading up to this event - notice this is a MINIMUM packing list. 

Here is the suggested minimum packing list...

Bike and both wheels

Helmet

Cycling clothes (both days)

Cycling shoes

Cycling gloves (2 pairs)

Cycling socks (2 pairs)

Cycling sun glasses

Change of Clothes for after ride (both days)

Change of shoes

2 Towels

Toiletries

Cool weather clothes (jacket, tights, etc.)

Ride packet (including numbers)

Cell phone - please leave it off while riding unless you are on call or need to make an emergency call

Plastic grocery bag (for bike seat in LaGrange)

Rain jacket

Bike computer

Saddle bag

Water bottles

2 (or more) spare tubes

Prescription or reading glasses

Aspirin, Advil, Tylenol etc. (we will have Ibuprofen in the tent and a first-aid kit for small items)

Medication (as needed)

Lip balm and sunscreen

Cash and a credit card

Copy of Identification & insurance card (put this in your seat pack)

Cable & lock (optional, if used, be sure to NOT lock or block any other bikes) 

As of 9am (central time) he has completed 38 miles and has 62 left for the day. There will be a small group of us meeting him for dinner in La Grange. I can't wait to see him. This will be such a wonderful accomplishment for him.

Below is a card I made for him to help kick off the event.  Hopefully it helped calm any nerves he might have had this morning. 

The sentiment was stamped using two different stamp sets. The dragonfly is a brad and the border was made using a fiskars border punch. I really liked how it turned out. I hope he did too. I will be taking pictures of the event throughout the day and posting them this evening and tomorrow. I have no doubt he will successfully complete this bike ride and be able check it off of his bucket list. GO HAMMER HEADS!

Laugh

One of the ladies I work with has a very unique laugh. It's the kind of laugh that makes you jump a little because its loud and unexpected. The kind of laugh that would make a person with a weak bladder wet themselves just a little (my bladder is very strong - case you were wondering).

I work in a suite across the hall from her and although we are more than 30 feet away, I can hear laugh through walls and hallways. It makes me smile every time.  She has a wonderful sense of humor and finds something to laugh about every day - even if it's herself. If I haven't heard her laugh by 9am, I know she is either in a meeting or not in the office.

Sadly, I didn't hear laugh once today. She had a four hour presentation and she was a bit nervous.  Although I was confident she would knock their socks off, I thought a little note wishing her well would bring a smile to her face.

 The sentiment and image are from Hero Arts. The yellow flower on the sentiment is a brad. I embossed the flower design above the striped paper with clear embossing powder. For the sparkly centers I used white stickles*. The blue flower in the top left hand corner is a punch out and a yellow brad was placed in the center. The white swirly dotted line was made with a white pen. For the border I used the Fiskars scalloped punch.

*If you don't know what stickles are or have never used stickles before - you have to buy some. I love it. It has become one of my new favorite craft items. Stickles adds a little glitter without adding the mess. They come in all kinds of colors and you can find them at Michael's and Hobby Lobby.

Patterned Paper

Patterned paper has multiple uses. The primary use, in regards to cards, is to add some visual appeal. In this post I will discuss a second use. 

The images themselves can be used directly. In the card below, the square cutouts were punched (using 1.5 inch square punch from fiskars) from two different types of patterned paper and lined up in two rows.  They were adhered with raised pop dots to add interest to the card. The scallop border on the bottom of the card was cut from a patterned paper that consisted of nothing but scalloped lines. I selected a brown scalloped line because I liked how it looked with the pink card stock. I adhered it to the bottom of the top flap with tombo mono adhesive. The top flap was cut a bit shorted to accommodate the scallop. The sentiment, hugs and kisses was added using a stamp and brown chalk ink. 

Take a second look at your patterned paper and see what images you jump out at you.

Just a Note

I am experimenting with different weight, texture, and types of papers. For this card I am using kraft paper. One of the other blogs that I follow (kwernerdesign) absolutely loves kraft paper. So I purchased a 20 pack of cards from Michaels (at 50% off - coupons are your friends). I figured, worse case, I can use them for template cards. I have to say, I am not impressed. I loved all the cards kwerener designed with kraft but it was not inspiring to me. I think it's all the brown. Maybe it will grow on me over time. 

The card below is a very simple card. I used a floral punch from fiskars on the green card stock to add a decorative element. The owl is a stamp that was cut out and raised using a pop dot. The dotted "flying" line was created using a fine tip 0.5mm black pen. A rounded corner punch was used for the bottom two corners and ribbon was added for interest. 

A note about stamping - it is important that you go straight down on your paper. You don't want to rock or push too hard down on your stamp. It could cause your stamp to bleed or not stamp correctly. As you can see, I had some issues with my sentiment. 

(Lighting is getting better I think)