Birthday Bear

  Yesterday, my son came home and told me it was his teacher's birthday. I've missed a lot of birthdays already this year, but sometimes things just work out and I was able to make her a card and some cookies for today.

  Birthday cards have been on my mind anyway because I use them the most, I recently got the super cute mft birthday bears set, and it's the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge this week. Serendipity. My card is mega simple. The bear and balloon are stamped in versafine onyx on ranger watercolor paper (using a MISTI to ensure a solid image). I watercolored them using my fabulous gansai tambi watercolors, caran d'ache watercolor crayons, and an aqua brush. I tried this time, but I really don't know how to shade with watercolors. Maybe this summer I can take a class. Watercolor is awesome, though, because, no matter the results, it's just fun to play around. Last, I stamped the sentiment and mounted on a white card base. 

Sorry for the not so awesome phone photo.

  You should definitely check out the Simon challenge this week. It's their anniversary and there are septuple the chances to win! And who can't use some extra birthday inspiration? 

  In case you need a basic, but delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe, I'm including mine here. I've been using it since I was about 13. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c. unsalted butter

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/4 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 - 2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter, sugars, and vanilla. Add eggs, mix. In a separate bowl combine the flour, soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture and combine. Stir in chocolate chips. Place in mounds on cookie sheet with room to spread. Bake until edges are golden brown, 8-10 minutes. Let sit on cookie sheet 1 minute until moving to a cooling rack to cool completely. Or just eat them off the spatula. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps - MFT Birthday Bears

Ink - Versafine Onyx

Paper - Ranger watercolor paper, Recollections heavyweight white

Other - Gansai Tambi watercolor palette, Caran d'ache watercolor crayons, aqua brush, MISTI

Baby brain

So I didn't post last month like I wanted to, but it's also not 2018 so I'm calling this blogging progress.

My sister's birthday is today - Happy birthday, Yael! - and we went to see her Sunday. I wanted to make her a year specific card for 16. Pink is her favorite color so I decided to watercolor smoosh a bright pink background. Die cut a sparkly 16 and handwrote the 'sweet' since I was short on time and lining things up is not my forte.

Simple, but cute. Just what I needed. Except she turned 17 not 16!!! #doh! So now I owe her a birthday card and have one for my Hope You Can Cling To box in October. I'm linking this to Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge with an Anything Goes theme. Pretty sure getting your sister's birth year wrong is anything goes! (I did get just the right gift, though. Nice sketchpads. Artsy sisters are fun.)

Thanks for looking!

Ink - Stampin' Up! Pixie Pink, Melon Mambo

Paper - Recollections Heavyweight White cardstock, random black scrap, Ranger watercolor paper, black glitter paper (I think Recollections, but I'm not sure)

Other - Papertrey By the Numbers dies, Ranger Mini Mister, Project Life pen, 1/8 in scor-tape

Hello 2016 and Happy Leap Day!

Hello! Been a while I know. Over a year, lots of stuff has happened, good stuff, bad stuff, important stuff, not important, etc. I've meant to post several times - even started some - and just never sat down to finish. I'm not really awesome at follow-through. (This post, for example, was started on February 5 and has been edited severely.) But it seems appropriate to actually post on a day that only comes around once every four years, so Happy Leap Day!

What I'm doing now is taking care of our newborn! It's exhausting and so amazing. It's been four years since my last baby and I forgot how sweet and tiny they are at this age. How they smell, how they sound, how you can spend all day holding them, how some days they won't let you do anything but hold them. It's pretty darn awesome! 

In the last year, I've gotten back to reading a bit more frequently. I haven't been reading much this month, but I did read 4 books in January and 2 this month.. All good! Especially #3 and it's fiction! I'm always so excited when I read great fiction. Non-fiction just seems easier to choose somehow.

1. Parenting with Presence by Susan Stiffelman 
2. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
3. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
4. Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin
5. 2.am at the Cat's Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino
6. Love Does by Bob Goff

I have made a grand total of 10 cards this year, none of which I have take a decent picture. I have been crocheting the baby's blanket since last year and am starting my last skein of yarn today! Maybe I'll have a picture of it next month. So, since I don't like posting without a picture, here is my favorite new baby in a homemade hat.

I won't wait over a year for my next post. ;)

My Happy Place

Today, it was back to school after a long weekend. I needed a craft fix and it needed to be quick. Enter this cheater card (what i call cards so easy they're basically cheating). Fun patterned paper, cute sentiment, hand cut banner, washi tape. Done.  I love how they work together like this. Yes, Mom, you can have this card.

I HAD to have this Lawn Fawn library paper and I HAD to have this MFT Disney parks themed sentiment set and neither one of them have been used before. That's just wrong. A couple of friends and I are doing a little challenge to use our new, new to us, and barely used so they still feel new craft items. Friends who motivate you are the best!

I'm linking this at Simon Says Stamps Wednesday Challenge in my favorite theme of all, Anything Goes. ;) Thanks for looking!

Supplies:
Stamps - MFT Magical Memories
Ink - Memento Rich Cocoa
Paper - Lawn Fawn Dewey Decimal 6x6 pad, Recollections Heavyweight white, PTI Aqua Mist
Other - washi tape

Back to school

It's the end of a full summer. I'm not ready for my oldest to go back to school, but he is. And that makes me happy. We toured the new school, met the new teacher, brought the school supplies. Today, we got the booster seat (because who wants to show up for 1st grade in a car seat). All that's left is to get a hair cut. I even have this card ready for his lunch box on the first day.

This card is mash up of two adorable sets by two adorable companies. I used the book and sentiment from Lawn Fawn's Science of Love and the globe and pencil from Paper Smooches' Smarty Pants. I used colored pencils and school patterned papers (sent to me by the lovely Jaala) to give it an elementary school feeling. I'm not sure about the felt and twine. I did the felt to mimic the bookmark on the stamp and the twine is stapled on because school/office supplies again, but I don't know.

I hope my favorite 1st grader likes it! I'm linking this at Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Back to School Challenge. And to all the parents and all the kids and all the teachers at home, at school, at college: Have an AMAZING year!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies:
Stamps - Lawn Fawn Science of Love, Paper Smooches Smarty Pants
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - PTI Pure Poppy, DCWV school papers
Other - felt scrap, twine, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, Prismacolor pencils

Triangle Party

Hey, fly by post, but I couldn't resist the chance to post to the same challenge as my über talented friend Alyssa! (Jaala, we're getting you in on this next time!)

The card is a white mft triangle screen on pti soft stone cardstock. I watercolored several of the triangles with gelatos. The sentiment is an oldie wood mount a muse stamp that I cut into a banner. I wanted to staple it to the actual card, but my beloved tiny attacher doesn't have that much reach. So the smart person would have attached it before gluing the screen to the base, but yeah. The black dots are extra. I never feel like they look right when I do them, but I love them so I just keep on trying. 

Sorry for the crazy photo. This was a really last minute card and laster minute (yeah, I said that) post. And I promise to clean up all the little glue bits showing. Because yeesh.

Anyway, linking this to Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge for Anything Goes! 

Thanks for looking!

Hello with Sparkles

Well, hello blog and three friends and my mom who read my blog! So nice to see you again!

I've been meaning to post and have all sorts of things I'd like to write about: books I've read, blogs I love, and how sugar is the devil. But today is a quick card for the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge in my favorite theme of all, Anything Goes. (Am I the only one now humming Cole Porter? Yes? Okay then.)

This card was not the fastest thing ever but super easy. I taped my new Heidi Swapp stencil down with washi tape, picked my inks, and went to town with my Ranger blending tool. (No, not the cool new mini one. Sigh.) I decided the rainbow needed sparkles to go with and die cut pti's hello out of a black glitter paper from Michael's. I adhered it with Glossy Accents by oh so gently squeezing the tiniest but out and spreading it with the nozzle. Glossy Accents holds really well but I tend to get glue squish when I use it if I'm not super careful. The hardest part of this card was deciding on a green ink that wasn't too light or too olive. Suggestions for a bright green dye ink? (Like my fancy backdrop? Copy paper with a bend in it and a white shirt. Keepin' it classy.)

Thanks so much for looking! 

Supplies:

Ink - Memento Lady Bug, Tangelo, Dandelion, Paris Dusk, Grape Jelly, SU Wild Wasabi

Paper - PTI white, Recollections black, Recollections black glitter

Other - Glossy Accents, Ranger Ink Blending Tool, PTI hello die, Heidi Swapp stencil set Bird