Home is where the heart is....

Hello there! Long time no see, huh?! I have been running around like that proverbial chicken.....still! There was lots of company last month, a kidlet birthday that actually stretched three weeks into this month, a four day scrapbook retreat which takes a couple of days to pack for, two or three times that to unpack (I write this as we are still tripping over my dozen plus bags in our entry way), and a couple of weeks to recover from the uber late nights! We also had the usuals, school, homework, art projects, games, playdates, and the typical daily stuff. And one of my best friends unexpectedly lost her father.

I've been in shock since receiving the news and can only imagine her and her mother's grief. They were an extremely tight family and loved each other so much. We said good-bye to this wonderful man on Friday night. My friend asked us to hug our loved ones and enjoy them for whatever time we do have with them. She also asked and hoped that whatever we learned from her father, we take out into the rest of our worlds. He was an optimist, a problem solver, warm, loving, and opened his home and heart so willingly. And his whole family makes me smile!

Hmmmmm..........I suppose I've surprised myself as this is not where I was going to go with this post. But, because I think so much of this man and his wife and daughter, my friend, I am going to leave this in here.

And just so you do not think I have completely abandoned creative pursuits, including card making, I'll share a card with you as well. There are four of us best friends and I made this card for another gal in this group, my best friend that I met over twenty years ago.

My apologies for the shadows. I did not realize they were so strong when I took the pic and I have already given her the card and cannot retake the pic. I stamped images from PTI's Boards & Beams. The small topiary trees, I colored with Prismacolor colored pencils and then cut out with a craft knife. I stamped the house twice and cut the windows out on one of the images with a craft knife as well. I then layered the cut house on top of the uncut house with foam tape for depth. I wanted you to be able to look inside the windows. And as I have discovered many times now, I seem to like the graphic look of stamped images uncolored.

Here you can see those layers a bit better. I layered all of the pieces on a Kraft base, stamped the first half of the sentiment on the bottom, and added a Sweet Blush satin bow. On the inside, I stamped and punched out a heart from PTI's Heart Prints and stamped the othe half of the sentiment from Boards & Beams.

I chose to share this card today because the sentiment rings so true. My friend's parents built their last two homes and chose every detail, but it was the people inside that made them homes that they relished being in.

My own home definitely needs updates, new carpet, a redone kitchen, and some pruning in our yards. But, it is my family that lives inside these walls with me that warms my heart, makes me smile, share hugs with, laughter, and even tears that make my life what it is. And today, I am choosing to smile as football is on the tube, my daughter playing in imagination land under the dining table, my son yelling out at the top of his lungs for every touchdown, Hubby enjoying his first real down time day in over two weeks, and me, in the middle of all of them and finally checking back in with all of you! :> What are you smiling about today?

Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampers Select White, Kraft - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Onyx, Sepia - Versafine
Stamps: Heart Prints, Boards & Beams - Papertrey Ink
Ribbon: Sweet Blush Satin - Papertrey Ink
Punch: Small heart - EK Success (from PTI)
Other: Craft knife & Prismacolor Colored Pencils

CPS 118

A card for our anniversary using Card Positioning Systems sketch 118 was in the cards today. Actually, this is Take Two on making my hubby an anniversary card. Don't worry, I won't upload this card on our family computer, like I made the mistake of doing last time!! We have been together for eleven years and are coming up on our ninth anniversary. Its amazing how sometimes it feels like we've been with each other for a lifetime and yet other times, it feels as if the time has passed in the blink of an eye.

The CPS sketch was my jumping off point. At first, I thought I might have combined it with Dawn McVey's color challenge, but I wanted to keep the pink out since I had made his Valentine's card full of light pinks! The sketch started me, but the materials really led me the rest of the way. Pulling the little game pieces for the 'U' and the 'ME', led to the brown painted ampersand wrapped in gold thread (yes, it took awhile, but it gave my hands something to do while I watched "Aladin" with my kidlets). I stamped the half circle piece with Papertrey Ink's Heart Prints in Versamark ink on Pure Poppy cardstock. And then when laying the card out, I could see where it needed a few small embellishments......a small piece of red felt, stitched in the same gold thread for under the 'U' game piece and some tiny red buttons also tied off with gold thread (if you enlarge the pic, you might see some white under the buttons....its the glue, it was not quite dry when I photographed it, but it will dry clear).

I am quite happy that this card uses so much from my stash! And I think hubby will like it, especially the game pieces! Thank you for taking a peek. I so enjoy your comments, they stamp a big smile on my face when I read them! Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Lemon Tart, Dark Chocolate, Pure Poppy - PTI

Ink: Versamark
Stamps: Heart Prints - PTI
Chipboard: Ampersand - JoAnns
Buttons: Stash
Other: Red Game Pieces - Li'l Davis; Red Felt - Kunin; Metallic Gold Thread - Coats & Clark; Velvet (brown) acrylic paint - Delta Ceramcoat

PTI's Bitty Dot Sketch Challenge

Saturday mornings are a delight for me as my husband gets up with the kidlets and I can sleep in if I want (and if we have no plans in the a.m.). Well, no such luck this morning. My head was spinning with ideas for a couple of altered items to give out in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, the inspiration and motivation keep flowing and I get them done in time. And maybe they'll make their way onto here! But, I digress.....onto today's project.

With 95 spools of gorgeous ribbon on the line, of course I just had to participate in Papertrey Ink's Bitty Dot Sketch Challenge on Nichole's blog. PTI's Heart Prints has definitely been my most used stamp set as of late, so I immediately grabbed it for this card.



The card base is black cardstock (from my stash....I'm almost out though, so it will be a good excuse to add some of PTI's True Black to my next order wink wink), layered with PTI's Raspberry Fizz stamped with SU's Craft White ink (which for some reason I was really arguing with today....usually, we are pretty good friends!) using a stamp from PTI's Polka Dot Basics set. On top of that is PTI's Pure Poppy cardstock. The sentiment and hearts are from Heart Prints, stamped in SU's Craft White ink and PTI's Raspberry Fizz Perfect Match ink, respectively. The small heart is glittered with JoAnne's ultrafine pink glitter, outlined with Ranger's Xmas Red Stickles, and popped up on foam. It is WAY more sparkly IRL, but I lost the sun before I was able to go outside to take a picture. The hearts are punched out using the Heart EK Success punches that PTI sells to go with the stamp set. And to finish the card off, I used some narrow red satin ribbon from my stash and three red Me & My Big Ideas icons bling. I wonder what Nichole has in store for us tomorrow!