Mix It Up Monday!

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

I made this card for the current "Mix It Up" Challenge at Essentials by Ellen's "the Classroom". We are to use products by Essentials by Ellen and Technique Tuesday. So, I broke out my all-tame favorite Mondo Magnolia stamp and matching dies.

As an aside, I was having such difficulty aligning the flower center die onto my image - it was so frustrating! When I recently took a class from the super-amazing Julie Ebersole (who designed this set and many others for Ellen), I mentioned it to her. She suggested die-cutting first, then stamping the center onto it. By gosh, it worked like a dream and I am a happy gal. Yay, Julie!

I used watercolor paper and Wink of Luna. The center is heat embossed and embellished with some "Prims" (sounds very British! - something I felt I had to buy when I tried them in a class and they haven't been used). I kind of curled the flower.

The background is spattered with some Heidi Swapp gold to go with the amazing foiled paper I used for the sentiment. The sentiment is "Missing You" by Technique Tuesday.

I love the elegance of this card! Thanks for the sweet visit and have a wonderful week!

Pattern Play - Day 3

Yep, I can't believe the cards and the blog posts I am cranking out this week. This class really has me stretching - and I love it! Today's card is inspired by a lesson and card done by Kristina Werner, one of the most amazing cardmakers ever.

We learned how to use bold paper in unique ways that seriously work. I LOVE this card! I made it for the current challenge at CASology, which is about songs. I don't often do this challenge because clean and simple styles are so difficult for me, but I am ALL about songs. I am always singing and dancing......

I had to laugh at the challenge page because it warned that they may be able to guess our "approximate age" by our music choice. Ha! You all know that I am a child of the 1950's and I came of age in the marvelous and crazy 1960's - and I'm proud of it. My music choices reflect it. I simply don't know any new tunes!

So, I made this card to reflect a sign of my times - Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In, sung  by the 5th Dimension! Love it - I've been singing it all day. Here it is.

I made the embellishment from the paper and the sentiment is from "Bring on the Sun" by Ali Edwards, Technique Tuesday.

Thanks for the visit - enjoy the day; the weekend is well on its way!

Celebrating Fifteen and Bon Voyage!

Last week (while many of you were at Scrapfest!) Gary and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. Now, I know that 15 years isn't much compared to many of you, but it is a milestone for us (like my pal Robin, we can't wait for our 40th to celebrate).

Each of us waited patiently for decades until we found our perfect match. I had actually given up on the idea of marriage and was quite happy and fulfilled as a single gal.

We finally met when we were in our mid-40's. It was as if we had known each other all our lives - similar backgrounds, values, personalities. I thought we would be best pals, but Gary had other ideas!

Some were concerned that we had each been so independent for so long that we would find marriage difficult, but we celebrate every single day - laughing, supporting and loving! Our only regret is that we don't get to have grandkids, but Gary has blessed me with the BEST extended family and dear friends who are like family. It is all good and just keeps getting better.

I love this Penny Black stamp (Tom & Tilly) because you don't see the faces, so it really could be US! I paper-pieced it to represent the clothes that we wear. The perfect inside sentiment is Technique Tuesday by Ali Edwards (I love her work!). That brilliance is from shiny Candi embellishments.

Thanks so much for checking in. We are heading out for special anniversary cruise, so I will be unplugged for a few of weeks - I'll miss you all! Happy crafting!

Water Words

Okay, so I know I said no blues for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge. But it just kept tickling my little brain. I wasn't too happy with yesterday's card, so I tackled another. Clean and Simple - I am determined! I selected a blue-grey color, which is often what we see here along the coast in the SF Bay Area with our famous fog.

I love the sentiments on this wonderful set from Ali Edwards by Technique Tuesday called "Bring on the Sun". The thoughts and the fonts all rock. I also unearthed an old (2001) Stampin' Up set called Wonderful Woodcuts and used Nestibilities Lables 21 (I trimmed off the bottom). No bling, no distressing, no embellishments, no coloring.........all good!

I hope the sunshine breaks through any fog you may be in.....thanks for your interest and support!