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. ;)