I spoke too soon.

Okay, *now* it's cold! So thankful for our heaters. And our timers so  I can them come on in the morning before we get up. Now we just need to get a little heater for our bath/shower room. That's on the agenda for this weekend.

And here's a card. I layered a few different stamps on the side. I love doing that on simple cards.
The butterflies are from Hero Arts, all the others are from Papertrey Ink.

Thanks for stopping by today! I'm so happy it's the weekend :)

last day.

 Today was the last day of "summer break". Of course we are taking time off next week for our 13th wedding anniversary :) We will all go to Disneyland. It's kind of a tradition. But to be honest, I am looking forward to school starting again. I like teaching my kiddos :) And with our current curriculum, they actually love school too :)

Ok... here's today's card.

 I really like these colors. The pretty label die and stamp are from Wplus9. Yes, those are my favorite butterflies from Hero Arts again :)

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

rain.

It's raining here. I don't really mind, it cools things off and all. Except that it is raining for Leah and Tomio too. They are in Nagoya for the All Japan Golf Tournament. Leah was 7th in all of Kanto, so she made it :) But it is *pouring* there :( I hope they just reschedule for tomorrow instead.

I finally got some pictures of the cards I made lately.

My new favorite butterflies from Hero Arts again. I just can't stop using them! The sentiment is from Beautiful  Butterflies from Papertrey. I used Hero Arts layering paper for the base again. And...yeah, that's it :)

Thanks for stopping by today!!

last day...

Today was the last day of school for us :) Definitely going to enjoy some time off from school. I plan to spend most of my time packing though. We've got less than 8 weeks till we move, so I want to keep things moving along.

Here's the card for today. Another simple butterfly card. I couldn't help it :) I used my linen/canvas impression plate for just a little more interest. I was sure to stamp the sentiment first. I never like how it turns out when I try to stamp after adding the texture.

Thanks for stopping by today! We are off to swimming class. Hoping it's not *too* hot waiting for the bus today.

supposed to be

a little bit cooler today. I nice break considering the heat we've been having here.

Another simple butterfly card :) This is another Hero Arts butterfly. This one is actually a wood mounted stamp(!). Up until now, the only wood mounted stamps I had were my big background stamps. But I really like this and one other Hero Arts butterfly that was wood mounted, so I got them. Really glad I did--they are  so pretty :) I popped up the butterfly on foam squares. I debated awhile about adding a sentiment, but in the end I just went without.

Thanks for stopping by today!! Are you enjoying your summer break? Tomio's break from work starts this weekend. Yay :)

so far so good...

Today went pretty good for a Monday. Not too bad for a start of a new week. Even managed to get some stamping time in :)

Very simple for today's card. But I really like how it turned out. I used my new favorite butterflies with matching dies. They are from Hero Arts. So super easy to use! And yes, I used this sentiment again. Really, it just goes with any card.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a great Monday :)

another thank you.

You can never have too many thank you cards on hand, so when I'm not sure which kind I want to make, that is usually what I go with

I used that gorgeous sentiment from Sweet and Sassy stamps again. It actually came in a masculine set, but  I find it goes with just about anything :) The flower is from a new-to-me set from Hero Arts. *LOVE* how it comes with matching dies that are super easy to use. The cardstock is mocha from Hero Arts too.

Thanks for stopping by today!! It's another scorcher today here. Planning to spend some time stamping instead of cleaning and organizing today. Yay :)

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 :)

I did it :)

Yay!  I actually am participating in a CR8T4FN challenge twice in a row. I loved this week's colors even more than last time's.

See, so pretty! But for some reason I actually had a harder time coming up with what I wanted to make.
In the end this is what I came up with:

I think I like it lol. I surprised myself and only used a tiny bit of the lavender, even though it was my favorite color out of the three.

The pretty butterfly is from Clear Dollar stamps--I love the matching dies. The sentiment is from Papertrey's Gracious Vases. Oh, and the background text is from Hero Arts ( use it entirely way too much lol).

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I'm off to check out all the other lovely creations submitted for the challenge this time :) And then I'm going to enjoy this great weather we have here today and take my peeps out for a walk.

not quite ready.

I'm not quite ready for Monday. I'm pretty sure I need at least another day and a half...But I did have a good weekend :) I got some "happy mail" from 2 different magazines:) yay :)

Anyway, here is a card I made right after I got my new Wplus9 stamps. I used just a single damask image to make the background, and it was surprisingly easy. Then  I stamped over it with Hero Arts Friendship definition background stamp. I get *a lot* of use out of that stamp :)

Then I just finished off with a couple of buttons and as sentiment from Wplus9 too.

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you are a little more ready for Monday than I am...

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!!

Hello~?

I know. It feels like I have been away for like, forever.... But I honestly have not even been able to make anything lately. Which is kind of rare for me, because, well it's what I *like* to do. I think I have done pretty well on menu plans~yay! Only a couple days in, but definitely smoother for cooking and shopping :) But I feel like my brain is on overload working out our homeschool plans for the next year. Now, I am usually *not* an over-thinker, or hardly much of a planner at all. But this time working out all the plans for next year seems to have put my brain in overload. Every time I sit at my desk, I kind of just veg for a bit. I think I'm almost done with my planning finally, though, so I'm hoping for my mojo to come back soon. But, since the kids and I are ALL really excited about the new school plans, I definitely think it was worth it :)

For now, I do have a card I made a little bit ago to share though :) Nothing really fancy or special, just one of the cards I made when I was playing with my new stamps :) And I love them all, by the way :) Especially the envelope background from Hero Arts that I used on this card. It was one of  the ones that when in and out of my cart several times. So glad I left it in :)

Thanks for stopping by! Hope your week is going great!!

Be Mine...

It's almost October, which means it's almost time for me to start making and sharing Christmas cards :) My absolute favorite kind of card to make. So before I start with those, I thought I would share a Valentine one. Hmmm...I guess that is even MORE out of season, isn't it? Oh well... I am the only one who just makes whatever kind of card they feel like, no matter what season it is? I just enjoy it more that way :)

I ended up making this one from several scraps left on my desk from other cards. But it turned out to be my favorite Valentine card I made this year. I love the Distressed dot paper from Papertrey. I used pop dots behind the pink layer to make even with the button and make the heart window "deeper".

Thanks SO much for stopping by today! I have several new stamp sets that I am hoping to ink up today :)

17 years...

 We celebrated our 12th anniversary this year.  While it's been 12 years since we got married, it has been 17 years, today, since we met. Now we don't usually make a huge deal out of it or anything, we do always remember it :) Tomio got me some ice cream and we are going out to dinner to celebrate too :) heehee. Wow, 17 years... it really doesn't seem like it has been that long!!

I thought this card seemed kind of fitting for an anniversary. I liked using these kind of masculine stamps with the pink colors. I don't have the stamps that match these labels yet, so I masked off a circle and stamped the text on top. Then  I curved the sentiment on the clear block to match the circle shape. I used the cream colored twine for the first time on this card, and I really liked it :)

Thanks for stopping by today!! So happy it has finally cooled off here!

normal?

Just when you think things are back to "normal", something else happens... Among other things, Leah got the fever too. I feel like we have been to the doctor a thousand times lately. I must say though, that every time I go, I am so grateful that kids' doctor visits are free. Once they hit Leah's age they cost a little, but definitely not enough to break the bank. That is such blessing.

Speaking of blessings, here is a "blessed" card I made (ok maybe that was a bit of a stretch...)  A really different color combo for me, but I think I like how it turned out. These flourish stamps from Papertrey are gorgeous, and I really don't use them nearly enough.

Well, that's it for me today. My friend from Junior High is getting married today, and I'm invited to the wedding. All my kids seemed pretty shocked to see me dressed up when I was finding something to wear...lol. Thanks for stopping by today!

enjoying the cool...

I have really been enjoying the cooler weather the last week or so. Seriously,  I don't think I can remember a year where there have been this many cool days in July since I've lived in Japan (and I've been here about 20 years!) Not that I really go out in the heat all that much anyway lol. But since we don't have central air, it's nice not to have to get all sweaty just going to the potty heehee :) And I'm also pretty thrilled with my little Miss Emma lately. Remember, this is the girl that had to go to the corner screaming rather than eat her cookie at the  table. So yesterday she got a "preacher cookie" and promptly walked to the sofa and sat down. So like always, I said "Eat at the table Emma." She looked at me.... and I finished saying "don't want to make a mess on the sofa, right? So we eat at the table." And she did :) She said "I eat at table". I'm not sure if I'm conveying the significance of this, but trust me, it's huge :)

And now for a card.


I've been thinking of making a card with kraft and black for awhile, and I finally did :) I lov bee how they go together, so I will definitely be doing it again. This cute little butterfly is from Hero Arts. Since I cut it out and the antennae were gone, I used some twine instead.

Thanks for popping in today!! Hope you have a great weekend!!

no more stitches.

Miss Emma got her stitches out today. I knew we were going to have to walk to the doctor this morning to get them out, so I was a little worried when it started to POUR last night. Cats and dogs. But, luckily this morning it was totally cleared up. No clouds at all. After hearing her *scream* when they were stitching her up, I was pretty sure she wouldn't be too thrilled when they wanted her to lie down so they could snip them out. And in case I haven't mentioned it before...she is a tad strong-willed. just a tad :) (seriously, she is my 4th, so it's not like I don't have any experience with 2 year olds, but she is nothing like the others) She did cling to me for all she was worth, but surprisingly, after her initial crying, she stayed pretty still and calm while they took them out. As soon as they were done, she was ready.to.go. Glad it's done though, and the doctor said it healed up really well :) So glad the doctor is so close too. Made the whole ordeal a lot easier.

Anyway, here's today's card.

This one came together really quickly. I had made each of the elements before, they just happened to work really well together. I really love the Embellishments images and the pretty fonts. And having the dies to match is so fun. Pretty sure I wouldn't try cutting it out otherwise lol. The pattern papers are from Fancy Pants. I also used my new Hero Arts Solid Dots background for some subtle depth. And I'm definitely making a dent in my stash of too many flowers :)

Thanks for stopping by! Hope your week started off well.  Hoping for lots of crafty time this week. (As I do each week lol )

goings on

This week is "spring break" around here. Now really since I homeschool, it doesn't always apply to us. But this time, we are having spring break at this time too. Both Leah and Rhys have fun sports activities going on all week. Leah is getting some special golf lessons everyday and Rhys is going to a soccer camp each day.I'm so happy for both of them to get to do some fun things. But wow, it's weird. I only have  2 little kids at home with me all day. I'm not used to that anymore lol. Levi is enjoying being the "older" kid while they are gone though. I think it's good for everyone. So that's what's going on here....

And here's a card :)

 A few of my "go-to" faves on this card. Silhouette flowers, light blue, kraft and dark brown, text and grid backgrounds :) I used  my favorite Quickutz label die and a ricrac die from C.C. Designs. And finished off with some gems and stitching (as usual!)

 I hope your week is going well. Mine's good. Tomio went to several different stores to find me some Coke since it seems to have gotten really popular and scarce since the earthquake. But he did find me some :) And I didn't ask me to, he just did :) Thanks for stopping by!!