Welcome to my blog!

Thanks for visiting my blog. As the title suggests, I love to scrapbook, stamp, and sing! I will share cards and scrapbook pages I create, as well as information about my music - Barbershop harmony.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Wildflowers inspire a card

OMG - what a beautiful day today - it got up to 81 degrees!  We had a busy day, first getting everything ready for company.  My parents' friends Julie and David brought their daughter and new grandbaby, Helena (10 wks today) to visit and have lunch.  Mom made cranberry chicken and I did the baby red potatoes (yummy).  The baby is soooo darling - lots of black hair and super long eyelashes.  I took a group photo of them but that went on Mom's FB page :)

The company had barely left and the doorbell rang.  Neighbor Don stopped by to invite me to see his yard.  Most yards around here have rock instead of grass for their lawns - well, not only does Don have a vibrant patch of grass, he has grown oodles of wildflowers among the rocks along the edges of the lawn.  Here I am among the flowers:
Wildflowers

The sunny yellow flowers inspired me to make this card:
Sunshine Thank you
I used a little Hero Arts Frame Cut I brought from home, stamped with the HA Envelope Pattern and a sentiment from Say it All, a clear set. Added some Basic Grey Curio patterned paper to some Bazzill embossed dot cs. The ribbon is recycled from a stationery set.

Hope you're having a great weekend. Thanks for stopping!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Another beautiful day in AZ!

Hi all - it's 63 degrees and sunny - such a beautiful day!  I really love the light coming into the dining room in the morning - perfect for photographing cards made the night before!  We went to a Gospel music concert at a local church last night.  The Knox Brothers performed - 6 brothers from the Northwest US who have been performing together for 44 years.  When we got home, I had some time for crafting during the commercials for The Biggest Loser (such drama last night!!).

Here's a birthday card I made for an upcoming March birthday.  As usual, I was heading in a different direction when I found the label I brought from home - Hero Arts Earth Designer paper cut with the new Edge Frame Cut.  Since it had no green, I decided to stamp the HA Silhouette Spray I bought last year for the AZ stash (I think it might be going home me!)
Birthday Wishes
HA Newspaper Background, Envelope Pattern, Sending you Love clear set

I just love the bright green of the card base - came in a box of DCWV Bright cards.  I finished the card off with some HA gems and pearls.   Have a fun Wednesday & thanks for stopping!

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

It's a Girl - Helena Joelle!

I mentioned yesterday that my mom asked for a baby card for a friend who's bringing baby Helena over later this week.  I had no baby type stuff with me so we headed over to Crop Girls and found the 2010 Hero Arts set I saw there on Thursday.  The owner said I looked like I was on a mission as I raced to the back of the store!  Here's the card I created:
It's a girl - Helena Joelle!
Luckily I brought some Hero Arts Blush Designer papers with me (the grid with flowers - so pretty!) and some Blush Layering papers.  I stamped the carnation piece lightly with HA's Newpaper Background and then overstamped with a bunch of sentiments and words from HA's Baby clear set (inked with HA's new Bubble Gum mid-tone ink - love it!).  The ribbon is a soft wrinkled ribbon by May Arts topped with a Bazzill flower.  I put a satin rolled rose in the center and added bakers twine.  The buttons came from Mom's sewing box - they look a bit ivory compared to the bright white cs I used as a card base - oh well....  Mom loves the card and I'm sure her friend will too.

Thanks for stopping!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Happy Presidents' Day

Happy Presidents' Day, or I guess they changed it back to Washington's Birthday - LOL!  Hope you're having a great day off if you get one.  I'm enjoying my day off - went to the SCW parade this morning but missed the beginning where I might have seen Tony Orlando as the Grand Marshall - darn!  There were lots of fun vintage cars, plus golf carts that various local clubs decorated.  Several were filled with people dressed up as clowns - so darling - I wish I'd taken some photos!

I finished the card  I mentioned in my Saturday post.  Finally took a decent photo - all the photos I took yesterday had funny shadows so I waited until this morning. 
Sending hugs
I just love the Hero Arts Four Leaf Grid I bought on sale at Michael's last week - couldn't resist it!  I stamped it in HA's new Bubblegum Mid-tone ink, a really pretty ink.  The label is cut with one of HA's new Frame Cuts - their Classic Frame, which I thought made a fun piece behind my sentiment strip.  I used a sketch from HA's current contest - three great sketches this month!  Also love that adhesive lace made by Hero Arts!

My mom needs a baby congrats card for a friend who's bringing baby over to visit us on Thursday.  I didn't bring any baby stuff with me so we're headed shopping.  I saw a fun older HA set at Crop Girls the other day and I'm praying it's still there!

Thanks for stopping!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Scramble time again! Flowers and die cuts hosted by Barb!

Hi everyone - my sister and I were enjoying craft time this afternoon.  She was scrapbooking our last cruise (almost a year ago now) while I scrambled with Barb and the Hero Arts Flickr group.

As a reminder - a Scramble means 90 minutes to create, photograph and upload a project using the hostesses theme.  Today Barb longs for Spring so asked for flowers and a die cut to be included in our projects.  I managed to make two Scramble cards; here's #1:
Flower Thanks
The die cut is the key piece, done using a new Hero Arts Frame Cut which perfectly matches several of their stamps (this one from Untitled Keys).  Luckily I had a bunch of Prima flowers with me!  The background on the card base is an old fave - the envelope pattern from Hero Arts and the sentiment is from a clear set Say it All.  

Card two uses more Pool Designer papers and a bold Prima flower - love them!  I used the same sentiment and another of the stamps from the Untitled Keys cling set, also Frame Cut with the Rectangle Frame.  I had a great time cutting a bunch of these using my Vagabond!
Quick Thanks
Thanks for a fun Scramble, Barb!  And now back to the other card I was working on pre-Scramble.  I'll probably not post that one today since the light is already going for a decent photo.  Thanks for stopping!

Friday, February 17, 2012

Sweet Clare is having a give-away

Hi all - Clare, a Hero Arts Flickr friend, is having a giveaway on her blog - check it out!  Today, her prize is paper - now who doesn't love paper??!  Here's the photo she posted:
I love My Mind's Eye papers - second only to Basic Grey in my stash.  So check out Clare's give-aways which run for a week.

Now for a card.  I'm still on vacation and enjoying some crafting time.  This card was going a little too masculine, I thought, when I used the paper from BG's Little Black Dress.  I used a soft turquoise from - you guessed it - My Mind's Eye to soften the look and added some brown lace I found at this cute little shop called Crop Girls.  Stamps are from Hero Arts Art of the Card series - such a great line!
Thinking of you - key
I've been trying to make a card for my friend, Heather Maria.  I didn't think this one was her style so didn't send this.  Created and mailed something different today which I will share when she receives it.  Take care, Heather my friend!  Thanks for stopping everyone!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day! They say it's my birthday...

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Yes, my favorite holiday of the year since it's my birthday!  Also that of birthday twins, Brenda U - a Hero Arts Flickr group friend - and Lynn, a friend for many years and a sister Drum Corp alumnae.  I had a lovely birthday starting with my Dad making me pancakes for breakfast.  Then we all exchanged Valentine cards and chocolates (then we ate a few chocolates as our breakfast dessert - ha, ha). 

I made this Valentine for my parents:
A Devoted Pair
The little woman and man are from a wooden Hero Arts set called Three People (the third stamp is a girl). So cute! I have them holding hands like my parents still do.

And here are the birthday cards for my birthday twins. First, for Brenda:
Happy Birthday Brenda!

I used three of the heart images from the Four Hearts set by Hero Arts with some patterned paper from Basic Grey's Kissing Booth 6x6 pad.

And here's Lynn's card:
Happy Birthday Cupcake
I just love this Newspaper Cupcake by Hero Arts!  I topped it with a conversation heart from their fun clear Sweet Hearts set with bunches of conversation hearts.

My sister Tami and her hubby Dave joined us for my birthday dinner.  Here I am with my heart-shaped pizza:
Birthday pizza
I'm wearing thermal gloves as it just came from the oven!  It looked a whole lot more like a heart prior to baking - LOL.  Pizza came from Papa Murphy's and tasted delicious!!

You can't have a birthday at our house without cake.  Here I am with my cake:
Birthday cake 2012
Yummy cake from Sam's Club, though even the frosting lovers agreed it was a bit too much frosting!

Hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day and didn't eat too many sweets (like me!).

Friday, February 10, 2012

Lily Pad Cards CCC (Card Chain Challenge) for February

Hi all - just sharing a card I made for the current Hero Arts contest (to use die cuts) and for the Lily Pad Cards CCC.  Hey, I love Valentine's Day since that's my birthday.  So I used that theme for my card.
I just love the heart swirl image HA designed for the Silhouette.  I printed it off on white card stock and also cut it with the Silhouette using some pretty Basic Grey paper. Cut off the bitty hearts from the die cut swirl and just used those to add dimension to my card.  Just love the grey heart too, stamped with one of the clings from Four Hearts, a Hero Arts set.  I cut it out using their new Frame Cuts which fit their stamps perfectly! 

You still have until Feb. 15th to sign up if you'd like to participate in the CCC.  Thanks for stopping!