Autumn....

Wow, the weather here has been GORGEOUS!! It's like Mother Nature is making up for the CRAPPY summer we had!!





I love how this picture turned out! I'm not great at photographing flowers, but this one not only turned out, I got a bonus bee!! I love the asters & mums & ALL the flowers of fall!!

I have not been feeling very crafty lately. Shocking, I know. Actually I have the ideas in my head, but I go blank when I sit down at my table at the end of the day. So I usually end up blurfing & perusing Facebook, & calling it a night without even touching a stamp or an ink pad.

Lots of stuff going on in my personal life. It seems like not a week goes by that someone isn't in the hospital having something done. Today it was my grandma, & the procedure of choice was a cardiac ablation. She now has to completely depend on her pacemaker for the rest of her life. I hope she has a Duracell battery in there, & not one of those cheapy generic batteries that only last a month!! She is doing well....but at 91 it has drained her. She's been in the hospital for a week & really just wants to go home. My mom is doing well....she does get tired easily BUT after more than 40 years of smoking....she has quit!!!!! Yeah, I posted it on my blog & now everyone knows.....so there is no going back EVER!! I'm so proud of her!!!!!!!

So....one of these days I will come home from work & everyone will be home, safe & sound. No one will be sick, no one will be injured, no one will be in the hospital........it will be a boring day & I will have nothing to do but create!! That day is just around the corner.....I can feel it......

Bobbing for apples

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!! I'm continuing my fall/Halloween card trend & dug out one of my very favorite stamp sets ever --SU's Halloween Hedgehogs. I love the hedgies & wish they would bring them back!




I stamped the image onto SU's Natural Ivory & colored it with Prismas. The papers are Recollections (from Michael's last year)....added some stitching & Quickutz swirls....a bit of glitter & of course some shine for the apples.





I was in a hurry so I couldn't get a very good close up ---just imagine shiny apples :)

I'm hoping to finish the inside tomorrow so I can get it listed on Ebay. Or Etsy. It's always a crap shoot where to put it, lol!!


On a personal note, my mom had her surgery on Friday & it was one of the longest days of my life! We were there by 6:30 am & I didn't get to see her until after 8:00 at night. But she is home, recuperating & doing well!! Thank you all for your good thoughts!

Corner bookmark

Happy Hump Day!! Since I haven't had much creative time....I thought I would try something that I *thought* would be quick & easy!! Turns out, not so much!





I've seen a lot of corner bookmarks floating around lately & really wanted to try one. I found the tutorial that Beate did on SCS HERE & thought "easy peasy". Well if you know me, you know that I am project challenged! If it's not a card, I will have a problem making it. Simple directions...but I really need to learn to measure twice & cut once!! It turned out ok....if you tilt your head a bit because parts are crooked....but I do think you can't do wrong with ANY Magnolia image!!

This is Dreamy Tilda....one of my first Tildas.....& I colored her with Copic markers. I used DCWV Citrus papers, & cut the image out with my Blossom Nesties. Added some Stickles....some ribbon....& some half pearls although I don't know how those will hold up considering this is a bookmark, but the bottom looked bare without them!!




Voila ---- my first bookmark!! The directions really are easy for a regular person to follow. Now that I "get it" I will be making more. I would like to add a bunch of these to my Etsy shop in the next few weeks....the holiday shoppers will be out & about!!





Wasn't sure what I was supposed to do with the back, so I kept it simple. Once it's in a book nobody will see the back anyway!!

Well my mom's surgery is this Friday, finally. Seems like we've waiting a loooong time. She was diagnosed back in July!! I will be so glad when it's over. We have to be at the hospital at 7, & the surgery is supposed to last around 7 hours. Thank goodness for my aunt, who will be joining me for the long wait. Please send good thoughts our way!! I just want it to be over!

Happy Halloween!

Good Sunday morning to you all!! Told ya I'd be back with a card!!! I bet you thought I was lying!! Well I did manage to get one done last night.....& it's a Halloween card so I'm ahead of the game!! The weather has been so nice & cool that last couple of days that I'm now in the mood for FALL & Halloween!!!



I used Tilda with Spider that I had purchased from 7 Kids College Fund last year, but I must have bought her after Halloween because she had never been inked!! One of those must-have-it-even-though-it's-not-the-right-time-of-year-for-it items! I kept the card pretty simple because I thought the spider web paper was so cool, I didn't want to cover it with a lot of other papers & stuff. Both papers are Basic Grey Eerie, also from last year. Heck I haven't bought anything new for months, since I haven't had time to play. Nothing worse than having brand new STUFF & not getting to play with it!




The sentiment is a dollar stamp from Michael's from either last year or the year before. The bats are a Martha Stewart punch, also from last year. I punched them out of white paper & sponged them with SU Basic Gray ink, then sponged the edges a little darker. I think they're cute with their beady little eyes!!

I listed this card on EBAY last night if anyone is interested!!

***I apologize for the photos......it was late & just as my stamping has been on hold, I also have not taken too many pictures lately. Forgot all the little ins & outs of my camera!!

I'm hoping to get back into the groove now that I've made one card. I started a paper bag album last year. It's a fall theme, & when fall came & went & I hadn't finished it, I set it aside. I refuse to let it slide this year!! I'm also hoping to get back to the tear bears that I had started doing. I really enjoyed learning how to make them & a sweet friend sent me a bunch of papers & punches & stuff so I *have* to get back to making them!!

I hope you are enjoying your weekend!!! I LOOOOOOOVE this 60 degree weather we're having....after a summer of storms & flooding & 90 degrees & humidity & skeeters....bring it on!!!!!

Happy Labor Day weekend!!

My first paid holiday in 11 years.....I'm so excited!! And....I actually started a card last night!! I don't think I've created anything since I started my job 2 months ago. I am just too exhausted at the end of the day. But my older son went to an overnight birthday party last night at a hotel/water park....so needless to say I didn't really sleep well. Figured I may as well use my time creatively! I hope to get it done tonight so I can finally post something fun here on my blog, lol!!

I still have tons of stamps for sale. If they don't sell in the next few days I will put them on Ebay. Speaking of Ebay, I added a few cards. They're not new, I just moved them from my Etsy shop, hoping to get them OUT of here. Click HERE to see what I have for sale. I'm really hoping to start listing regularly on Ebay again. I miss it. Etsy is great for some things, but with the holiday season just around the corner I think Ebay will be the way to go. Who couldn't use a little extra spending money??

Speaking of spending money...... & debt....which of course we all have our fair share of.....I came across this web site recently, & I was completely in awe.

SAVE KARYN

I thought it was new, but I see it's from 2002. And once I got more into it, the more it did sound familiar. I remember hearing about her & her site on Oprah a few years ago. Strangers actually helped her pay off her debt!! Seriously??? Will they pay off MY debt?? Where do I sign up???? It's a good thing I have a Paypal account to make it easier for everyone to give me money! This crazy chick is my new idol :)

I will be back in a day or two with that card!!!! Enjoy the beautiful weekend!!!!!