seize the birthday

hey tracey, momma, friends old and new!

so yesterday...i lied.  i shared with you a little bit of a card that i was using in the upcoming paper plunge challenge.  well, i decided to use that card for another challenge and create a new one for thursday's post at the paper plunge.

having said that, here is my tall and skinny card for seize the birthday...

it was fun to do...using stampin' write markers to color in the flowers on baked brown sugar.  i also added my own little ditty by drawing on the card with the chalk marker for a little extra sumthin' sumthin'!  

"be stubborn about your goals and flexible about your methods"...just read that quote and decided it was perfect for today.  i would like to post more often=goal.  i needed to steal yesterday's card=method!  

have a lovely day.  hope to share another card with you soon!

thanks for stopping by-

i appreciate you.

until next time-

peace be with you.

a creative blog hop

hi there tracey, momma, friends old and new!

last week, (okay, so it was not last week...maybe couple weeks ago...), helen from blue dahlia designs nominated me to participate in the creative blog hop.  i was tickled pink, to say the least.  i met helen on a plane out of philly last year when i was on my way to stampin' up!s convention in utah.  she was sooo sweet right off the bat and outstretched her hand, which i gladly accepted...she asked me to join her on a tour of the salt flats.  the rest is history!  when i returned home, she asked me to consider becoming a designer for the paper plunge and i have been connected to her ever since!  i love helen for being nice to me that day!  i enjoy her blog and her amazing talents...and you will, too.  i promise!

1.  What am I working on right now?  this one is kinda easy...my next submission for the paper plunge!  here is a little sneak peak:

i'm sure you are curious about the challenge for next week, huh?  in addition to creating for the paper plunge, i am holding a club this friday with six wonderfully amazing ladies!  i am in the middle of deciding what our theme will be so that is on my brain and all over my table.  

2.  How does my work differ from others in my genre?  when it comes to card making, the trend is clean and simple.  it is also pretty eclectic...with washi tape, gorgeous grunge and splashes of color here and there.  i love the new look.  i, however, am a traditional butterfly and flower kinda girl.  i LOVE lots of layers and fussy cutting!  simple cards are the hardest for me to make...i can't help it!  here are a couple of my favorites..

3.  Why do I create what I do?  plain and simple...it makes me happy.  working in my lady cave is pure joy for me, especially when i am coloring and cutting.  i also find myself thinking about whether or not my crafty ladies would like a project...they tend to dictate some of what i do.  their successes and pure joy in what they can do also makes me happy!

4.  How does my creative process work?  most of the time, i am inspired by a challenge, another card i have seen, a color combination or by some thing i saw (one of my favorite inspirations came from a blouse a woman was wearing in front of me at church!).  from there, an idea/design will pop into my head...usually as i'm trying to fall asleep! gah!  then it's down to the lady cave and i let the magic happen.  some cards come to me quickly and some may take me hours to make...all the same, it's time i love!

i hope you have enjoyed getting to know a bit more about me as much as i have loved sharing with you!  i am humbled by helen asking me to participate in this hop.  be sure to back track beginning with helen's blog to get your creative juices flowing and for some incredible inspiration!  

now...i get to nominate someone to share their creativity with you!  Jodi McKinney from the life in between is a lovely lady i happen to have a blog crush on...as my daughter would say!  we have never actually met, but after reading her daily posts, i think we would be great friends if we did!  jodi is quite simply, very talented!  she has such an eye for colors, whether in paper crafting or painting, shares wonderful recipes and photographs, or tells a wonderful story...i know you will enjoy her work if you have not had the pleasure of seeing it already!  check out her blog next week to see what drives her creativity and talents!

thank you for stopping by-

i appreciate you.

until next time-

peace be with you.

double dippin'...pp#30

hi tracey, momma, friends old and new!

this week at the paper plunge, we are asking everyone to take our challenge sketch and meld it with another challenge in the world of paper crafting.  i decided to use the card concept along with our own sketch.  i needed to make a card for a friend and thought these two ideas really worked together. (you may need to use your imagination to see the sketch in mine...it was late and i was tired!)

this is what i came up with...

the card concept has defined styles...i would call mine classy and elegant.  i took the liberty to use silver in place of gray...i think they are in the same family, right?  

i just spent the weekend with my hubby...most of which was on the motorcycle.  it was finally a gorgeous day, so off to new hope, pa, we went!  it was so nice to be outside riding the winding roads...okay...so the winding roads took us to my favorite ice cream place, but still, it was wonderful! 

so i guess balance is the name of the game!  the fun part about the weekend?  i did a little bit of all the things i love...stamp, ride, cook, eat, indulge.  my heart is happy!

in eat, pray, love by liz gilbert, (i met her in her store in frenchtown.  i called her elizabeth.  she replied, "oh, please.  call me liz!"), she wrote... 

"he showed me a sketch he'd drawn once during meditation.  it was an androgynous human figure, standing up, hands clasped in prayer.  but this figure had four legs, and no head.  where the head should have been, there was only a wild foliage of ferns and flowers.  there was a small, smiling face drawn over the heart.  to find the balance you want," ketut spoke through his translator, "this is what you must become.  you must keep your feet grounded so firmly on the earth that it's like you have four legs, instead of two.  that way, you can stay in the world, but you must stop looking at the world through your head.  you must look through your heart, instead."

i hope that you will think of ketut's words this week...follow your heart in all you do.

thank you for stopping by-

i appreciate you.

until next time-

peace be with you.

april showers...pp#29

hi tracey, momma, friends old and new!

today at the paper plunge#29, we are creating april showers...for babies and brides that is!!  with all of the young women i work with, i am bound to need a baby shower card before long!  here's what i did:

stamps:  zoo babies

ink:  stazon black, baked brown sugar

paper:  baked brown sugar, whisper white, daffodil delight, regal designer series paper

extras:  ribbon and frayed burlap, polka dot ef, finishing touches edgelits, my big brother's homemade bow maker

i also entered this card in a sketch challenge from the challenge#29.  it was very simple to use...classic!

i'm sitting here right now with my sister-in-law, stacy, and her daughter, hailey.  they are both having so much fun tangling their own pens while we listen to spa music.  feeling very zen.  feeling very blessed.  these two lovely girlies are so wonderful and i'm so happy i married into their family.  

hailey can only be described as sunshine...she follows her own drummer constantly...and it takes her to some fun places!  i think she has been around this meatball planet before...an old soul.  a wonderful little girl.  

i sometimes  forget i have only known stacy for 8 years...i think our true unconditional connection makes us soul sistas!  i am so grateful for her friendship!  i love our time together...laughing, talking, indulging, philosophizing, dancing in the middle of the living room...and tomorrow we are even going to try the octopus challenge at hoffman's ice cream-8 scoops, 8 toppings in 8 minutes!  cross your fingers!  i really want the tee shirt!!

sometimes being a sister is better than being a princess.

thank you for stopping by-

i appreciate you.

until next time-

peace be with you

happy easter-pp#28

hi tracey, momma, friends old and new!

today at the paper plunge, we are celebrating spring with easter-themed cards and paper crafts!  i have been dying to try my hand at watercoloring...it's all over the place.  i think i need a bit more practice, however, not bad for my first time!

i was a bit heavy-handed with the background colors, but as i sit here and look at it, i am somehow reminded of when we used to go to sunrise service at a local park for easter.  there was such a holiness about the morning...and the colors in the sky, as well as the reflection in the water, just all seemed to be muted and beautiful.  the halo effect of the background just seems to say, "He is risen!  He has risen indeed!"

stamps:  blessed easter, gorgeous grunge

paper:  watercolor paper, whisper white

ink:  stazon black, crushed curry, pumpkin pie, old olive, real red

extras:  aqua painters, watercolor brush

i have a confession to make...i have another obsession.  i know, i know.  i feel like i am cheating on my stamps and inks...but i can't help myself.  i have fallen in love with zentangle.  i can sit and tangle for hours.  i am self-taught as of right now, however, i look forward to the day i will be taught and certified by its creators, maria and richard.  here is a little zentangle-inspired art on some pens my husband 'turned' for me.  it's a beautiful thing that we can come together with our art and create something so beautiful!

i wish you a happy easter or happy passover.  remember...this is the season where everything is new again!

thank you for stopping by-

i appreciate you.

until the next time-

peace be with you.

this little light...pp#27

hey tracey, momma, friends old and new!

today at the paper plunge, we are shining the light...well, not really.  we are featuring projects that use the spotlight technique.  not sure what that is, look here!  there are so many ways to get this fun look...coloring, punch outs with color underneath, or what i did...add a splash of color with a 'tile'.  anyway you choose, this technique makes a clean and simple card pop with color!

i decided to go old school and use the marble technique to spotlight part of this dahlia...

stamp set:  regarding dahlias, gorgeous grunge

paper:  blackberry bliss, very vanilla, black, glossy

ink:  stazon black, blackberry bliss

extras:  alcohol, cotton balls, neutrals candy dots

my inspiration came from one of the very first swaps i made for the very first stampin' up! convention i had ever attended many years ago.  here is that card...

i remember putting this card in a huge collection box, hoping someone would notice me.  well, they did!  a few weeks later, my card was one of the cards featured on the stampin' up! website...and this was before we uploaded our own work!

tonight was fun...

i just spent the evening cooking with carlo, a wonderful event held every month in a local restaurant.  you listen to stories about the food the chefs prepared, drink wine with every course, and enjoy the company of others.  carlo and his sons share their passion for food and wine and truly make you feel like family.  

this evening is one of my favorites for many reasons...spending time with my husband, john, meeting new people, listening to mike play any kind of song on the organ...however, having a standing date with my friend sue is the best part.  she is quite an amazing, beautiful person, both inside and out.  she is so kind, smart, funny and one of the best special education teachers i know.  she is dedicated and passionate in every area of her life.  i know when i'm sitting on the porch with God, sharing a diet pepsi, i will be sure to tell Him..."thank you for lending me sue."

i hope you have a good friend...they are truly priceless.

thank you for stopping by-

i appreciate you.

until next time-

peace be with you

metal on mine...pp #26

hi tracey, momma, friends old and new!

today's paper plunge challenge  is all about adding a metal embellishment to your card.  i chose to add metal brads to complete the porthole look.  i've used this theme/stamp set before, but i just had to reinvent the card because...well, i just love this look!

stamps:  by the tide

paper:  marina mist, chocolate chip, adventure bound, bermuda bay, very vanilla

ink:  crumbcake, cajun craze, basic gray, marina mist bermuda bay

extras:  top note bigz, deco labels and circles thinlits, mini brads, rhinestone, dazzling diamonds, sponges, mister

the difference between this card and my previous fish...i tried the 'joy' fold.  i'm unsure as to who joy is or why this fancy fold is referred to as such, but it's fun!  you'll find a wonderful tutorial by beate johns here. it's just something different! 

notice the way it opens?  pretty cool, huh?

speaking of joy...

i always try to do things, everyday, for the people i love, with love.  that way of thinking truly turns the mundane into something worth doing...especially when you don't feel like it.  tonight was one of those nights i didn't live by my own rules.  i let my tired take control of my feelings, words and i suppose actions and it didn't feel good.

i once read that you should be a person that children and animals run to...they are the best judges of character.  they prefer joyful people...not cranky or mean people.  just something i need to remind myself of once in awhile! 

in the meantime, consider mother teresa's words... "spread love everywhere you go.  let no one ever come to you without leaving happier."  

thank you for stopping by-

i appreciate you

until next time-

peace be with you

leslie