a card.

Things are still pretty busy around here. And still no air in my stamping room :( We went to go get it today, but the one we wanted was already sold. We are supposed to look tomorrow after church at a different store. Really hoping we find one.

And here's a card. This really pretty stamp is from Unity. I use it entirely too much, I am sure :) The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I thought it was fun to keep the whole card in only black and white. I heat embossed the flowers and the sentiment, because I never can get just the white ink to show up bright enough on dark cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by today!! I hope you have a great day!

I'm so happy...

the weekend is here :) I'm always glad when the weekend arrives. I usually spend Saturday morning doing some cleaning and straightening, but I did that last night. So now, I got to take it even easier this morning.  extra fun :)

Here is a card I made yesterday. I hadn't used this pretty flowers from Unity in a long time, so I had fun breaking them out again. You can't see it very well in the photo, but I embossed the black panel with a woodgrain pattern.

I popped up the black panel too, for some extra dimension.


Thanks for stopping by today!! I hope you have an awesome weekend!!

new things.

I like "new" things. As in, I like change and having to do new things. That's I wasn't too worried about having to move and find new everything-- doctor, dentist, church, hair salon... I just think it makes things exciting :) But sometimes it can be hard, and you end up having to keep trying to find ones that suit you and your family. Leah wanted to get her hair done, so she and I tried out a salon. It can be hard enough just to find a place that you like, but it is even harder to find a place that knows what to do with non-asian hair. Unfortunately, it didn't really work out well *~* She really messed up Leah's long hair.....So we tried a different salon.  And after having him cut my hair, Levi's hair and Leah's hair, I'm am pertty impressed :) He totally saw what was wrong with Leah's and fixed it, made Levi's look cute, and even colored mine nicely. yay :)

see? :) Aren't they cute? :) There was a really big difference in how I felt after I left the salon. It was nice to feel like he actually listened and did what he could to give you what you asked for.

I know it probably doesn't seem like a big deal, but it was just nice to feel like I found one the many things we needed here. So today, I'm happy :)

And I do have a card too. I used stamps from Unity, Hero Arts, Impression Obsession and Papertrey Ink on this card. I thought about adding a sentiment, but I just couldn't seem to find a place to put it that I liked, so I just decided to go without.

Thanks for stopping by today!! I hope you are having a super fun day :)

sweet.

I have a card using pattern paper today(!) I know.... I really do rarely use pattern paper on my cards. And it's not for lack of choices in my stash, heehee :). For some reason I really seem to have a hard time working it on to my cards.

But I liked this one--it was easy to just use as a background without feeling like it overwhelmed everything. I stamped the text first and then the pretty silhouette flowers from Unity on top. I added 2 bows with twine, just for fun. And then I added butterflies, because everything is better with butterflies.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you had a relaxing weekend. I went through some closets and got rid of 5 big trash bags worth of stuff. Definitely feels good to declutter :)

this card

Is actually from a quite awhile ago. I really liked it when I made it, but for some reason I didn't post it. So, now I will :)

I used some of my favorite Unity flowers and my go-to background stamp, Hero Arts Friendship Definition. This was the first card I ever tried stitching around in a circle, and I was pretty proud of how I did :) Finished off with a clear butterfly.

Thanks so much for stopping in today :) Hope your week is going well!!

thinking of you...

I had fun making this card :) Used lots of my favorite stamps.

I really like stamping in layers--the text, the flourishes and then the flowers. The banner is just hand cut. I popped it up to add room for the twine under it. I punched the butterflies out of clear acetate and then inked the edges with white stazon. And...that's it :)

Thanks for stopping by today!!! Hope you are staying cool. It's supposed to be pretty hot here today...hoping to stay inside :)

Flowers.

How about a flower card?

This is a card I made when I first got this set and was just playing around with them. I can usually tell how much I'm going to enjoy using a set by how quickly things seem to come together when I first "play" with it. I can tell I will like this one a lot :)

I used gray for the stems and sentiment. I like how it gives a softer feel than black. The plaid background stamp is from Unity.

Thanks so much for stopping  by today!! The kids were playing with their cousins all day again today, which means I have to put things in order around the house now that we are back home :)

purple.

I realized I don' use a lot of purple in my cards. I use *plenty* of lavender, but not much "purple". But since I got a pack of purple cardstock, I thought I would sort of challenge myself to make some cards with i.

So far, I've made this 1. heehee. But I do think I like how it turned out :) It's a very deep purple, isn't? The houndstooth background is from Unity.

And the frame and sentiment are from Wplus9, the sprig is from Verve, and the flower is from Papertrey.hee. A lot of different stamp companies for this one.

Okay--I'm off to straighten up the house before Tomio and Leah get back from playing a round of golf today. Way too cold for me, but I guess they enjoy it... : ) Thanks so much for stopping by!!

another vintage-y card

at least a little bit. Definitely more than the cards I normally make.

I really like how the background turned out.I stamped the polka dots in versamark. Then I stamped the text on the edges, and last I added the flourishes. The sentiment and the butterfly are from Clear Dollar stamps. The ribbon is from Etsy.

Ok--that's it for me today. All of my peeps are under the weather today, and we are headed to the doctor. What did it have snow today? No one's up to playing in it :(

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are staying warm!!

Mr. and Mrs.

I have a wedding card today. Not something you need *all* the time, but definitely fun to make.

I really like the pattern paper, which is from Gina K. I don't usually use lace or metal charms, but they seemed to fit with the wedding-y feel. I'm not sure I love how I used the lace, but I do think I'll try to use some more often. (kind of wanting to try some crochet lace trim now too).

Thanks for popping in today! My little Miss Emma isn't feeling too well, so I'm off to cuddle her some more.

more...

Taylored Expressions :) See, I told you they were a new favorite of mine.

Actually, this card is made with Taylored Expressions and Unity, another fave of mine :)  Love the grid background, really does go with anything. The quote stamp is TE. And...yeah, that's about it lol. This was a really quick card to make.

Thanks for stopping by today! Has your week been going well? Ours was great, even though we did have our first full week back to school. Everyone (including me!) loving school is such a blessing.

last one?

Well, it's 7 at night on December 31st here in Japan. So I'm thinking this will be my last post of the year(!)
We are getting ready to have our traditional New Year's Eve dinner (that Tomio makes), so it'll be short and sweet today.

This was a card I just made for fun with some of my new stamps. I got some stamps from Taylored Expressions that I had had my eyes on for quite awhile. So glad I did :)  The grid in the background is from Unity.
Thanks SO much for stopping by today! I hope you have a great New Year's Eve! Tomorrow is Tomio'S birthday, so I'll be making a cake tonight after dinner :)

Christmas cards

I actually made several Christmas cards this year, but I actually used them before I got to take a pictures of th em. I think that is a first for me! oh well, that is the *real* reason we make the cards, right?! heehee. I do have one from earlier this year that I am pretty sure I haven't shared yet though. I can't go without showing any Christmas cards, right?

Not lots of stamping on this card, is there? I had fun though, and I really like how it turned out :) I tried out a little bit different stitch on the sides. I used a nice, big sparkly brad for his nose :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! As my kids keep reminding, me only 4 more days 'till Christmas Eve now!!

thinking of you

Here's just a quick thinking of you card I made.

I like how the wood grain looks when it is heat embossed. Usually it ends up a little more subtle and in the background, but this makes it stand out a little bit more :) And yes, I'm afraid I used the silhouette flowers from Larger than Life. I've had that cute little brad for ages, and I thought this was a fun way to use it.

Thanks for popping today!! I'm thinking it is time for some more Christmas-y cards now that it is actually December :) Are you ready for the weekend? I definitely am :)

date fun :)

Tomio and I went out on a date yesterday :) It was, must say, super fun :) We honestly don't get out just the 2 of  us very much at all (I'm pretty sure at most, this was the 2nd time this year...) Now, I love my 4 peeps and I really wouldn't have it any other way. But it was really fun. And the kids were thrilled to hear Mama and Daddy were going on a date, 'cause that meant they got to spend the afternoon with Nana and Papa. So it's win-win :) We had dinner and a movie--just like back when we were young and dating heehee. 17 years together and it's still fun :) We stayed out a little later than we had planned, and the kids still weren't ready to leave Nana and Papa's though.

Ok. I have another flower card today. Some more of my favorite Unity stamps. The sentiment is from PTI though. The card is made out of the blue, and then I used the white negative from the diecut label as a frame. I also impressed the white frame for some detail too.

Thanks for stopping by everyone!! Happy Thanksgiving :)

embossing...

I'll go through awhile where I don't any kind of heat embossing at all, and then I'll start up again. And then sometimes, I'll start something, but it won't turn out, so I'll leave it for months. Well, that's what happened with the tree on today's card. I stamped and embossed the tree ages ago, but I couldn't get it to turn out to my liking. I found it again the other day, and decided to use it :)

I actually barely did anything else to it. Just matted it and tied on the twine lol. I really like how it turned out though. I stamped and embossed the tree first. Then I stamped the text, and then I inked over it in 3 different colors of  distress ink. I love how the tree stays white since the ink on top just wipes off.

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope your weekend is moving along slowly :)

some books and a tree.

Well, a little over half of our new school books came:) 3 out of 5 boxes of books. Everyone was so excited, and can't wait for the last 2 boxes. Even Miss Emma kept asking "is this Emma's?" while we were dividing them up. Fortunately I have a few things planned for her "school" to keep her busy while I work with the others.  I'm really hoping the rest come today!!

As for the tree, well, we put our Christmas decorations :) Yes, the first week of November. And I have to say, I *love* having our decorations for up so long. I'm always already making Christmas cards and doing my Christmas shopping at this time anyway.

And now for a card. I have a "thing" for silhouette flowers. I just do. So these are from one of my favorite sets of flower silhouettes from Unity. Lots of pretty ones. And I have to say, that I have had nothing but the BEST customer service from Unity. Really helpful. And they even have had specials with free shipping overseas, and I am pretty sure that is first I have ever seen that. Thought I'd mention it, just in case :) I used Hero Arts envelope pattern for a little texture. Another must have for me :)

Thanks SO much for stopping by! I hope you have an awesome day!!

should have seen it coming.

Right? After taking care of my sickies for a days, yes, I caught it too :( Hence my absence from my blog. I have to say, though, my Rhys-ter was a huge help while I was sick. Part of the time both Tomio and Leah were gone for her golf, and he did a great job taking care of the littles enough for me to actually get some rest :) I'm also very happy to say that I am much better now. I even made a card :) And here it is:

Bright and cheery :) which is how I felt after getting better. And I really, really, love this pattern paper from Papertrey. I really don't use much pattern paper on my cards, often just like to make my own with background stamps. But this "bitty box paper" I could use on almost everything :) The pretty flowers are from Unity.

Thanks for stopping by!! Are you ready for a new week? I am :)

one last blue :)

So I have one more card I made while I was on my "blue kick" lol. I really like how this one turned out too. I find that if I just sit at my desk and just try to make a card, I often get stuck not knowing where to start. I think that's why some of my favorite cards that I have made I have actually made from extras just  left sitting  on my desk. So in this case, I went with the blues I had been using and kept them as a jumping off point. It definitely seems to help my mojo :)

I absolutely *LOVE* these flowers. I almost didn't get them and I almost thought I regretted getting the matching dies since they are pretty straightforward to cut out. But no.  So glad I have the dies too. I like the even trim and they are  so quick and easy that I don't think twice about using them like I might if had to cut them out by hand. And I love that they look great colored in or not. Oh and the really cute sentiment is from Unity. I actually stamped it on a clear transparency again and layered it under the die cut hole.

Thanks for stopping by! Since it's my "weekend" I'm planning on stamping and scrapping as much as possible .

unexpected...

Well, I had planned to post a little sooner. But Miss Emma wasn't feeling well and I had to take her in to the doctor today. Turns out she has an ear infection :( Got her some antibiotics though, and going back to the doctor tomorrow. I know kids supposedly get them all the time, but out of all 4 of mine, this is the first time. It's so pitiful too. Hoping she gets better really quickly :(

ANYWAY, haven't gotten any stamping done that I had planned, but  I do have a card I made last week that I haven't shared yet.

Just a really quick CAS card that I made. I had fun. I really this sentiment from Unity. The fonts are so fun :)

Sorry such a short and sweet post. Hopefully things will settle down here really soon. Thanks for stopping by!!