Precious Baby - Curtain Call: Baby Booties, Cure for the Monday Blues #12, Retro sketches #109

Hi again,
Another card to share before I a) forget and links close and b) call to chat with my niece and nephew, who I haven't talked to in such a long time!

Brief story:  while we were away, my brother took his family and my mom to a cousin's wedding way, way, way up north.  I'm so happy he did, because Mom hasn't been to her home town for quite a while and it was opportunity for my niece and nephew to meet the huge clan of aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins on my mom's side. Added to that: a good ol' big small town wedding (300+ guests) - and that, in and of itself, was an eye-opening, ton of fun for the little ones.  My niece was excited, because she got to dance with the "princess" - the bride - and my nephew, well...he was just a hit in general.  Here's a photo of Mr. Dude, all decked out in his 'city-slicker' best to wow the relatives and rock up a storm:

I know I'm biased Aunty C, but I think he's a cutie patootie!!  

My niece, to the left, is navigating him (she likes to 'herd' her people sometimes. Way  too funny!).  

I am beyond excited to see them over Easter!!

Back to my card...from butterflies to babies.  My inspiration for images/theme comes from  Curtain Call: Baby Booties,

and Cure for the Monday Blues #12, where I was inspired by the sweet colours and the notion of 'cuddles' because baby-cuddling is so good for the spirit, (Taheerah selects the coolest inspiration photos - check out the shoes on the lower left. Want!)

My layout was Retro sketches #109 inspired

Isn't that elephant stamp/die adorable!!  Love this onesie!!

Thanks so much for dropping by; your visit and comments make my day!

Butterflies...CASE Study #185, CAS(E) this Sketch #71, TIME Out Challenge #2, The Card Concept #7

Hello all!  Home on Sunday, back to the 'routine' yesterday (pouting *grin*), still travel-lagged, and reunited with my cuttlebug and dies! Yes *fist pump*!!

Now, because my ability to string together coherent thoughts is still compromised - as evidenced by the oh-so-jazzy, let's-capture-the-audience's-attention' post title (uh  huh, real snazzy! Not!) - I'll keep this short. My simple title, however, speaks the truth. More butterflies from me: surprise!  A number of challenges inviting butterflies: Yayyy!  How can I resist!

As is obvious with my cards of late, and as I've confessed repeatedly, yours truly is butterfly obsessed, and I completely understand if you're bored with my 'common theme.'  If not, thank you for sticking around to view today's duo.  I'm 'trying' to make each one different...'trying' being the operative word here.

Okay, both are going to the new and delightful TIME OUT challenge #2, with this fabulous bedroom photo

as well as to 'older' and delightful  The Card Concept #7, where I think they fall into the 'clean and simple' or perhaps 'clean and layered' categories. 

My first card is also going to CASE Study #185, where soft grey and pops of red are featured (isn't this card stunning!).

Here's my take:

My second, entered into CAS(E) this Sketch #71,

is this little number:

Okay, enough butterflies for a day or two...

Thank you so much for dropping by; your visit and comments make my day!

Just a Butterfly Note...Seize the Sketch #17, Butterfly Challenge #4: Spring Time at Last

Second post this morning (before heading off on pursuit of the cinnamon buns that were sold out yesterday. Earlier start...and then I found a sweet little clothing shop that may require some sauntering through...)

Another butterfly and sentiment combination, inspired by two challenges: first, Seize the Sketch #17 for the layout,

and second, Butterfly Challenge #4: Spring Time at Last, where our charming hostess, Mrs. A, has invited us to use yellow, in some fashion, on our cards.

My Just a Note butterfly card...

In a rather interesting twist of 'quirkiness', I was rummaging through my inks (hahahaha..if you can call sorting through 16 mini inks 'rummaging'), housed in their Swiffer container, and what should my wandering eye spy but three little pink embellishments, obviously dislodged from their proper packaging. Perfect timing to find those sweet gems and also a sign that some major re-organizing/straightening up is required when I get back. How they landed in there, who knows...messy me!

Thanks so much for dropping by; your visit and comments make my day!

Congrats...Unscripted Sketches #250

Friday already...and the time for heading home draws ever closer.  I'm ready, though; looking forward to being back in my own surroundings, closer to my family, reunited with my cuttlebug *grin*..

A couple of posts to share a couple of cards.  The first is for Unscripted Sketches #250,

and features my N&T Ink Splashes and the oh-so-pretty Uniko sentiment. I quite like these splashes, and the quality of the stamps is WOW; however,the how, where and when to use them 'appropriately' often has me befuddled.  I'm not 100% certain that ink blobs are are a proper fit for a congratulations card, however, I did make them rainbow-y festive, so hopefully that works.  Now, if only I'd brought along my Wink of Stella pen...oh, those splashes would be glittery celebratory - kind of like fireworks.  A touch up when I get back...

Thanks so much for dropping by; your visit and comments make my day!

Mini Album...Eileen Hull: Art with Heart Challenge

Hello - hope your day is off to a wonderful start.  We've venturing off in pursuit of...cinnamon buns today! Sticky, sweet, decadent,  bakery shoppe cinnamon buns. I. am. stoked.

Several days ago, I found out that Michelle over at Pinch Your Chic, was invited to be a designer for Eileen Hull. Such a well-deserved and wonderful opportunity for her, because she is one creative, inspiring talented crafter! Part of her exciting post was also a link to a challenge over at Eileen's site, called Art with Heart,

where we're invited to share 3D creations we've made.  Now, I'm not sure if the challenge is still open, as I believe the winners have already been selected, but since the Linky doors aren't close quite yet, I thought I'd share "just because."

As you know, if you've been following my blog, I absolutely and completely love x love x love my sister-in-law. She is, in a word, awesome!  One of the many fabulous things about her, is that in her *BMMB* (before meeting my brother) days, she attended the Royal Ballet School, in London, England. Yes: WOW! We've not had the opportunity to see her perform in any 'professional' shows (she is quite the dancer in general - and continues to pursue dance through her work responsibilities, more in terms of 'exercise' type dancing), but oh my, the photos we've seen show her as a most elegant, exquisite ballerina.  Finesse, flair, style...gorgeous! And her mega-watt smile in her poses convey beautifully her love for this art form.  My niece, I know, will likely follow in her mom's ballet shoes at some point; or so I've been told, from Ms. Niece herself: "Aunty C, when I'm 'pive' (holding up five fingers), I'm going to do ballet dancing" and she flounces off with a flourish of spins and sort-of pirouettes, to punctuate her proclamation.  I can already picture her in a tutu...

Anyway, a while back, I made a mini album for my sister-in-law, using the oh-so-lovely Nutcracker Suite photos from Graphic 45.  I did have 'visions of sugar plums' dancing in my head, because I had zero clue about what I was doing.  Oh, the concept was figured out - a series of little cards to hold photos, using my MCT mini card die - but a cover?  Binding the 'pages' together?  Yeeshhh...Let's just say that I managed to figure it all out (umm...lots of internet research!), with a final result that worked out 'reasonably' well, for a first mini album.  I do have aspirations to make more, sized to hold bigger photos than little minis, however, those are in 'thinking' stages.

My photos aren't great, but they'll give you a concept of what I made for the best sister-in-law EVER!!

 The cover - using fancy stitched labels and my roses dies from MCT

The album's 'insides': a total of 12 little 'pages.'  I figured she could select a 'feature photo' for each month of the year....

Close up of one of the 'pages/cards' with labels on the outside to write details (and an upside down ballerina...sighhh...but the paper sure is pretty, isn't it?)

And the album closed, ready to deliver...Let's not talk about the binding production. 

Yeesh...knowing what I know now, things would have been different, and much neater!!

I'm not sure why I didn't post this before - most likely because I was caught up with the Christmas tag-making extrvaganza - but I'm happy to do so now.  It's not about the album; it's about my sister-in-law.  

She truly is just soooooo marvelous....By the way, she loved it when I gave to her a couple visits ago, which sure made me mega-watt smile!!

Thanks so much for dropping by; your visit and comments make my day!

Fabulous Wow!...Retrosketches #108, Craftin' Desert Divas Challenge #28: Anything Goes, Just Us Girls #234

Hello again! A fun day, toodling around in the car, while my husband rode his new road bike. It truly is a pretty bike, although I'm glad that he was the one sitting on that seat, rather than me.  That's my #1 issue with road bikes: uncomfortable seats.  Anyway...

Time for a quick post before tackling supper preparations.  Apparently, I liked the Just Us Girls Tall and Skinny challenge so much, that a repeat was in order (hope that's okay with the team),

with Retrosketches #108 providing layout inspiration.

Another 'big sentiment' to share, as well, along with a return of the Explosion stamp that I used last week (oh my..."last week"...which means counting down the days - or not! - until returning to work.  Time flies...sighhhh).

I've also discovered another new-to-me challenge, Craftin' Desert Divas, who are inviting us to their Anything Goes challenge.

It looks like a most welcoming place to play! Thanks, Tara, for giving us another place to share our creations!

I'm quite loving those 'big' Uniko Studio fonts...still have a few more to play with! Yayy...

Since you're here, I thought I'd show you photos (not particularly good ones, though) of my "mobile crafting unit," for your amusement and entertainment. 

First up...my travelin' stash of four paper pads, and a minimal assortment of stamps...

Next, nestled into a Swiffer's container (not a very deep one) are my stamping, adhesing and cutting supplies.  This is "not" a limited stash, folks...this is all I own...so the whole kit-n-kaboodle have come along for the drive.  See...proof that my ink supplies are pa-thet-ic (two sets of HA cube dies, four sets of Memento Dew Drops plus a couple random ones, and two black inks.  Not a whole lot....

And...this is the Mobile Crafting Unit all packed up - one Swiffer container and one other 'shoebox' size container.  When it's all packed up, everthing fits into a reusable sized grocery bag, with the cardstock (not shown) tucked along the side.  There's even room for more stuff - like my three books - and the cross-stitch project for my nephew I was 'supposed' to be working on, to fit on top.  Mobile...

About that dish of chocolates - those are courtesy of the vacation rental owners.  How nice! I'm amazed we haven't hoovered them yet, but there's still time...

Thanks so much for dropping by; your visit and comments make my day!

Just A Coffee Note...Sweet Sunday Sketch #213, Just Us Girls #234, Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge

Hello - and Happy April!  Hope that wherever you may be, Spring is in full swing.  We're still on our little venture, with coolish temperatures, but a cloudless blue sky, which means that once the day's a bit warmer, my husband will be out on his new bike.  Me...I may just drive along as his "caravan" support - sort of a lazy way to see the scenery, but no way am I riding 100km (60 miles) on my bike!  I'll bring along a thermos of coffee, a novel (I've actually read two so far:  Mr.Penumbra's 24 Hour Book Store, and The Art of Hearing Heartbeats - both rather delightful in their own ways) and tag along, stopping every 10 miles or so until he catches up.  Hop-scotch riding-and-driving: works for me!

Before the internet fades out, a quick post to share another creation a la the ingredients in my mobile crafting unit.  I pre-cut a couple of my coffee cup+sleeve dies, brought along the accompanying stamps and 'hoped' that maybe they'd work in a challenge.  Well...turns out they did!

Today's card is off to Sweet Sunday Sketch #213, for the layout inspiration (no two little embellishments, though, as I didn't think to add those to my traveling stash. Another card that will get its 'make-up' once we're back),

to Just Us Girls #234, for the 'tall and skinny size' inspiration (mine's 3.5 x 5.5),

 and to Craftyhazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge for the 'obvious' inspiration - nearly 'wall to wall', or rather 'edge to edge' patterned paper on this one.  My sentiment, Just a Note, has the most fabulous 'big' font, so a 'must use' was fulfilled.

 The paper is Simple Stories' "Daily Grind', so I figure the coffee cup is an okay fit.  Speaking of coffee...off to brew a pot, dabble with another card-spark, and then, get ready for a drive. 

Thanks so much for dropping by; your visit and comments make my day!