Stretch your stamps, day 1

If you're looking for my CSS release day post, click here.

 I was asked to create an anniversary card with this sentiment.  The former-english-lit major in me recalled a favorite poem, by e.e. cummings:

i carry your heart with me

i carry it in my heart

i am never without it

anywhere i go you go, my dear;

and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling

i fear no fate

for you are my fate, my sweet

i want no world

for beautiful you are my world, my true

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

here is the root of the root

and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;

which grows higher than soul can hope or mind can hide

and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart

i carry it in my heart

Here's to celebrating love any day of the year.

I'm linking this card up to the stretch your stamps online class gallery - I used the hero arts grid pattern background stamp.

Thanks for stopping by!

make 'em laugh.

I don't usually post on the weekends, but I wanted to create a little something fun before I go on official birthday burn-out (is it even possible to be on burnout for something that hasn't happened yet?)

Sofia's sewing party is in 6 days... and so far:

banners and decor.... created.
favors boxes... made and filled.
altered t-shirts for the girls... done.
embroidery hoop craft.... ready.

Things are under control for her party, but I have a week of house-cleaning, cooking, and baking to look forward to.  And, somewhere in there, I have to start crafting for Thomas' monster party (which is scheduled for the next Saturday... ) oh man.

So, instead of party-crafting, I did the obvious I'm-a-little-stressed thing and I created this card to add to the lawn fawn "make 'em laugh" pool, using the newest retro-sketch:

Awwww, the poor little turtle thinks he's flying... *giggle*

Someone go flip him over again!

Right?  Right???? (is this mic on? *tap, tap*)

sigh.

A few card details: I omitted the ice pack from the turtle's head (from "on the mend") and drew in a little bit of what was missing from his shell with a memento black marker.  The grass strip is from "gnome sweet gnome" and I computer-generated the greeting.

Happy Sunday, and see you tomorrow!

Magical castle birthday card.

Gabriel's party on Saturday.

Another party on Sunday.  For a girl named Sofia.  My Sofia finds this confusing and funny all at the same time...  I let her pick what would go on the card (sidebar: usually, she creates cards for her own friends, but since the rest of my family is now dropping like sick flies....) and she immediately grabbed for all things princess.

I stamped the Hero Arts castle onto patterned paper (my mind's eye), and colored in the turrets and the front door.  The windows were stamped on a separate sheet of white paper, fussy cut and added in.  While Sofia monitored my progress, I drew in some girly blinds and curtains :)

I cut into some pink patterned paper (studio calico) with PTI's "edgers #3" - what's more girly than a castle up in pink and white clouds?

Before I adhered the castle and all of the clouds, I sprayed the white mat with a healthy dose of pink shimmer spray.  I got a real smile out of my sick girl for that one...

Thanks for peeking!

My happy.

After the messy desk fiasco that came with making *this* card, I felt the need to scale back a bit...

One set.

It came in the mail earlier this week, and I just wanted to play.  I stamped the line pattern in SU's peach parfait ink, and rested the bird's branch right at the top.  The sentiment was stamped right under the bird's "squawk" lines, since he's doing the talking for me...

I then grabbed my post-it notes, stamped the sentiment again, and cut it out to create a mask.  I also masked the peach pattern under the bird before stamping the frame in aqua mist ink (PTI).  I did a quick coloring of the bird and flowers with copics, and added some glossy accents to the little flower-buds.

I know I do alot of masking, but honestly - it's such an easy technique, and there's a "how'd you do that" factor to it - I'm in it for the glory, don't you know.

The grid pattern is from a studio calico mini paper pack - I wish half the pack were this pattern!  It was hard to cut it up and use it on a card.... oh, those crafty-hoarding-tendencies...

BUT, I did use up a flower gem! yay me!  Isn't pretty?  It's SU, and I love it.

I'm entering this bad boy into the "animal antics" challenge over at the Simon Say Stamp blog.

Here's wishing all of you an amazing weekend!

birthday drive-by.

I know I said I would do an "elegant" card next, but ummm.... baby steps, m'kay?  There are no googly-eyes on this card, and only a mildly punny sentiment.  I would like to think I'm moving in the right direction :)

I stamped the truck (from SU's loads of love set) onto some Basic Grey designer paper.  The gifts got stamped on the other side of the same paper.  I love paper-piecing as an alternative to coloring the images sometimes - it gives such a different look!

The background was stamped with the Hero Arts clouds background stamp, and I softened it a bit by sponging some blue ink around the edges.  The grass was created by snipping a fringe all along a strip of Old Olive paper.  The whole thing was foam-mounted onto some Kraft paper.  I stamped SU's A to Z onto the kraft base, so it could peek through the "hole" I punch out of the cloud layer.  The "driving by" sentiment was tucked into the curves of the car.  Thought it looked smart that way.

On a completely unrelated note, do any of you moms with little ones ever get embarrassed by your kids?  Not when they're babies and throwing a tantrum.  That happens to all of us (I hope).  I mean, I took my 2 older ones to a birthday party and my usually too-cute-for-words 4 year old was yelling at some other little boy with his hands on his hips:  "you just don't do that!  that's not nice and don't ever do that again!"  The boy (who is older and much bigger than Thomas, which I think only makes it more ridiculous) was just standing there with his arms up in the air, all "what did I do?  what did I do?"  HA.  And that was just one of many off-putting moments for me.  So please, make me feel better by sharing your own story.  Or advice.  Or contempt for the fact that I was really embarrassed by my own son :)

Happy weekend!

ice cream, is anything more delectable than...

ice-cream... (anyone else remember that song from the Anne of Green Gables musical?  anyone?)  I'm probably all alone there, but I was alternatively humming that tune and *internally* yelling: "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM" while crafting last night... hee.

I think I've determined that all food-image stamps should have faces on them.  Remember those cute vegetables from Paper Smooches?  These ice-cream cones from Basic Grey are pretty awesome too.  And I think I made them even more adorable by adding some googly to their eyes...  but some of them turned out a little too googly *coughpinkonecough*.

I broke out my newest PTI set for the background (chevron stripes) - I seriously love it.  A little PTI sentiment on one of the ticket stubs finished it off for me.  I need more cards like this in my stash - all-purpose cards that I can use for whenever.  Thanks for looking!