Dragonfly Path . . .

I love the combo of elements on this card. I found this scrumptious paper made by DCWV (actually, it is from one of those GIANT paper pad/stack things . . . which I almost NEVER buy, but couldn't resist on this one!! It was on sale . . . and I hate to admit that I actually bought two other different ones as well). This paper is from the "La Creme" collection. It is felted and elegant and GAWgeous!!!

I also got to use some of my most favorite Spellbinders dies (as I am now the proud owner of more than I can count, thanks to being on the Design Team for over a year!).

I didn't have any large black brads, so I cheated. I took one that I had, dipped it in black craft ink, then clear embossed it. Voila!! Just what this little card needed!! It all came together very quickly, making this actually very easy and fast to put together.

I hate Mondays . . . I wish I could stay home and stamp all day, since I actually cleaned up my stamp room yesterday. But, alas, it is not to be, so I will just have to get my act together and get movin'!!

Have a great day, everyone!!

Stamps: Word Collection by Stamp Oasis
Ink: Basic Black Craft and Classic
Paper: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, DCWV La Creme
Accessories: Spellbinders Classic Frame (S5-102) and Bugs dies (S4-008), Stickles, black organza ribbon, pop-up glue dots, large brad, clear embossing powder

Butterflies are BACK!!

It has been many moons since I stamped at "official" Follow the Butterflies card!! Last time I did any was when I was in Phoenix visiting Karen (imastampin). I have one more to do to be caught back up . . . this makes FTB Card #93 . . . (if you don't have any clue what I am talking about, see the link and the slideshow on the sidebar to the right . . .)

I also combined SC232 (had to squeeze those little squares behind the image to make it fit the sketch!) and LSC224 - using blues and neutrals PLUS a brad, some ribbon AND paper piercing. Judy made us all work hard this week for the LSC!!

I have been doing nothing but BIG projects lately, so it was fun to stamp just a single card . . . I seem to be missing my mojo and may have to work a bit to get it back!!

Have a great weekend, friends!!

Stamps: Music Expressions, Symphony jumbo wheel
Paper: Very Vanilla, Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand
Ink: Not Quite Navy
Accessories: Spellbinders Mega Curved Rectangles (S5-006), paper piercing tool/mat, Not Quite Navy brad, kraft taffeta ribbon, pop-up glue dots, glue dots

More Weddings!!

I am in SERIOUS need of a vacation!! Man, oh man! The past two weeks have been a little too intense for me . . . I think I am totally DONE with hospitals, drama and deadlines!! Sheesh!!

Again, I can't say thank you enough for all of the lovely, heartfelt and sweet thoughts and prayers you have sent my way. My appreciation to everyone cannot even be measured. You have made an extremely difficult time a bit easier and my heavy burdens a bit lighter . . . hugs to everyone for your love and support!

Here is where I have been the past several days . . . my niece is getting married on July 12. I had promised her that I would have the invitations to her by last weekend, but since I had a few too many obstacles beyond my control, I just didn't get to it. Here are the invites that I actually mailed off TODAY (at the cost of $41 for express service! Sheesh . . . again!).

I got the idea for this particular layout from Corinne Somerville - aka Roxy (oddly enough, we BOTH ended up making 75 . . . any more than that and I would have gone OUT of my MIND!!).

Corinne's Wedding Announcements

The base piece is 8 1/2" x 10 1/2". It is scored along the 10 1/2" side at 4" and 8". The little pocket on the inside is 8 1/2" x 3". I marked a point in the center and drew lines from the outer corners to meet in the middle, then cut the "v-shape" with some paper snips.

My niece was THRILLED with how these came out. She is especially excited to have something totally unique, unlike anything else she has ever seen anyone else use. I am just excited to be finished with them. Maybe NOW I can stamp something fun with my new SU goodies (LOVE the new "In Colors" by the way . . .)

Here's how they look all packed up in the box ready for mailing . . . now I am planning to take a much needed rest (like, possibly for the next 8 hours). Thanks for lookin' and thanks again from your kinds words and friendship!!

Stamps: Touch of Nature, Small Letter Set by JustRite Stampers, Special Occasions Deluxe Kit by JustRite Stampers
Paper: Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Whisper White
Ink: Garden Green, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Spellbinders Scalloped Circle and Classic Circle Large/Small Nestabilities (S4-124 and S4-114), Cuttlebug Leafy Branch embossing folder, EK Success Zig Zag Border Punch, brown polka dot organza ribbon, pop-up glue dots, sponge, 1 3/8" circle punch, Scor-Bug, paper distressing tool

Thanks & Grads

You all have NO idea how your comments on my blog over the past several days have helped me through one of the most difficult weeks of my life! I have a Blackberry, you see, and as I was running around making funeral arrangements and picking up various family members at the airport and such, my Blackberry would ping me every single time another lovely comment was posted here. Those comments were such a HUGE lift . . . a true blessing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

As if my dad's passing and funeral weren't ENOUGH, my darling daughter had an appendicitis attack while we were at his viewing. I spent the entire night on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning in the Emergency Room at the children's hospital with her. As her symptoms were atypical, they were testing her ALL night long (after we had waited in the waiting room for over THREE hours!)! By the time they had actually determined that it WAS appendicitis, it was 5:30 a.m. (we got there at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday night). She didn't get into surgery until just after 9:00 a.m. By the time she got out of recovery it was approximately 10:30 a.m. My wonderful sister in law came and did the "mom fill in" for me while I rushed home, got cleaned up and drove out to my dad's funeral (I had been up for about 30 hours at this point). Did I mention that I was speaking at the funeral, too? By the time we had the funeral, drove to the graveside service, drove back to the church for a dinner provided by the church members then came home, changed clothes and went back to the hospital it was about 7:00 p.m. It took a while to get settled in . . . we had several visitors and the nurse had to hook my daughter up for the night. When did I get to bed? About 10:45 p.m. . . . a mere 41 hours since I had gotten up the day before!! I will NEVER use the term "exhausted" lightly again!!

Here is the graduation announcement I made for my son. Being cheap . . . I mean FRUGAL . . . I decided it would be better to make our OWN announcements instead of having to pay Jostens to make them for us! Here is what I came up with . . .

I did the "West High School - Class of 2009" medallion using WordArt in MS Word. The panther was something I scanned that is actually the icon that the school uses.

For the inside, I just created the photo panel and graduation info using Word Perfect (I don't usually use MS Word - actually, I kinda HATE the program, but I DO like the WordArt feature). I was pretty proud of this, too, because I took the photo on the left and the photo in the middle. LOVE how they turned out! I ended up making about 60 of these babies!! Watercolor paper is so much fun to work with. I'm just sad I couldn't run it through my printer. It is waaayyyy too thick!!

Stamps: None!
Paper: Watercolor, Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red
Ink: Printer ink
Accessories: Spellbinders Small Classic Circle Nestabilities (S4-116) and Large Labels (S4-168), 1 3/8" circle punch

Again . . . thanks, dear friends! You have brightened my days and lightened my burdens . . . HUGS to you ALL!

I Love You, Dad . . .

After years of chronic heart disease and a valiant life well lived, my dear sweet father returned to his heavenly home yesterday. I was looking through some photos on my computer this morning trying to find something that would be suitable for his obituary when I came across this photo of the two of us taken Christmas Day 2007. What a treasure this will be to me, as I didn't think I had any pictures of the two of us together that weren't from when I was 10 years old (as I am usually the one BEHIND the camera). This brought me to tears, yet I am so grateful that I have it, as I will treasure it all my days.

I love you, Dad. Your absence will leave a hole in my heart and you will be missed by so many who loved you dearly. I will always be your little girl . . .

Robert Ross Rantz
May 13, 1947 - May 30, 2009

Wedding Favors & Update

My sister-in-law's niece is getting married on June 8. The bride-to-be and her mother found these lovely little embossed favor boxes (if you click on the picture it will blow up bigger and you will be able to see the embossing on the box) and asked me if I could come up with something in her wedding colors that would dress them up a bit. This is what the final product looks like . . . I thought that embossing the flowers and petals looked really pretty. I also ordered these super large pearl stickers online only to have them arrive MUCH smaller than the ones in the picture I had seen. Luckily, the vendor was able to correct the error on the order and ship me replacements. Whew!! I was a bit worried for awhile there . . .

I ended up making 140 of these (they are being handed out at the wedding lunch). This box shows you half of them . . . I think that they look pretty cool all lined up in the box. It makes me feel like I really accomplished something!!

Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery, Wild Wasabi
Accessories: 5-petal flower punch, 1/2" circle punch, 10mm pearl stickers, Textile Cuttlebug embossing folder, celery organza ribbon, glue dots, pop-up glue dots, favor boxes

I was really glad that I finished these up last Tuesday before my dad went to the hospital, which brings me to the update . . .

We have been keeping a steady vigil at the hospital. It appears, after all that has been done for him, that in all likelihood he is not going to wake up. We have a neurologist coming in today to give us an assessment, but I am not feeling too hopeful. My heart is breaking. I have always been "Daddy's Little Girl" and I can scarcely imagine what it is going to be like without him around to give me advice and great big bear hugs. I cannot express enough how much I have appreciated all of the well wishes and prayers that you all have offered to me over the past several days. They have sustained me through this very difficult time. You are all the BEST!!

I am hoping and praying for a miracle, but am resigned to whatever the outcome may be. I am grateful for the faith that has helped me through this, as I don't know how else I would have survived this week. Blessings and many thanks to all of you . . .

- Wendy :)

Yet Another Hinged Card . . .

This card is going to be a very QUICK "fly-by" . . .

I did this card for TLC222, where Lynn linked my tutorial for how to make these fun little gems! I knew I had to play! Since it was Memorial Day, I was feeling patriotic . . . hence the theme of the card . . .











And here it is opened up . . .

I am not sure exactly when I will post again, as I am in the hospital on a vigil with my family on behalf of my dad. His heart stopped yesterday (he has had heart troubles for many years), and they weren't able to get it started until they arrived at the hospital. We are currently awaiting neurological testing (which won't start until late tonight/early tomorrow) to see if there is significant brain damage, as we are not quite sure how long his brain went without oxygen. Sorry for the personal nature of this post . . . it is just that I appreciate all of you who follow/comment on my blog and I wanted to let you know WHY there may be a lag for a few days. There is an internet connection at the hospital, but for some reason my Mac is not playing nicely with it. I have a few more things I COULD share with you, just not sure I will be able to (I will be doing a lot of sitting/waiting/praying over the next several days, so I am sure if I can get the 'net to cooperate, I will have time to share something with you all).

Thanks to all of you for all of your encouragement and support in everything I do. You are terrific!!

Stamps: Everyday Classics by Papertrey and Patriotic Background by Rubbernecker
Paper: Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White Craft
Accessories: tylized Silver hodegepodge hardware (star brad), 1/2" circle punch, zigzag border punch by EK Success, large and small star punches, red striped ribbon by SU, pop-up glue dots

Circle of Life

Well, it was my turn again to hostess the limited supplies challenge on SCS last Friday (LSC221). I really do have a lot of fun doing that! My challenge this time around was to think circular . . . circle-shaped cards, stamped circles, other images stamped IN a circular pattern . . . whatever they could think of! I also limited everyone to just ONE stamp set for everything . . . main image, background and/or sentiment! It was a lot of fun!

Truth be told, I almost didn't even post this card. I knew what I wanted, but was not very happy with the finished project. I posted it anyway, as I always like to have two samples. Well, guess what?? This card now holds the distinction in my SCS gallery as being the one with the most comments EVER (I think the last I check it was at 88!)!! I just can't figure it out!! I've made lots of other cards I have liked better that NO ONE seems to look at!! Go figure!!

I created this image by tracing a circle on my cardstock, then stamping the imagines around the circle. I have done this technique MANY times before, and I usually really like how they turn out.

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive, Cameo Coral, Shimmery White
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive, Cameo Coral
Accessories: 1 3/4", 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" circle punches, horizontal slot punch, olive polka dot taffeta ribbon, Scor-Bug

This second card was fun to make. I stamped the rose image from Fifth Avenue floral about 5 times, then cut out various portions of it and layered them on one another. I really like this stamp set. I would never have thought it to be so versatile! I also used the Manhatten Flower embossing folder in the background, along with some Nesties. I don't totally love this sentiment, but since I had already set the limits on this challenge, I just had to roll with it!!

Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral
Paper: Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Shimmery White
Ink: Perfect Plum, Pale Plum
Accessories: Spellbinders Large Scalloped Circle (S4-124) and Inverted Scalloped Circle (S4-194), Manhattan Flower embossing folder, wide oval punch, shimmery white organza, pop-up glue dots, sponge

Happy Memorial Day, friends!!

Simple Card???

I have the HARDEST time with simple cards . . . I always end up getting carried away. This is a card that just happened . . . I did it in about 15 minutes (an all-time record for me!). I really like how it turned out, too! I've been working on some grad announcements for my son and am embossing this same Nestabilities label die on the front. I really like this look . . . and it's SIMPLE!!!

I did this for WT219 on SCS - the challenge was to use the same image in repetition on your card. Cool! I do that ALL the time, so this was a snap for me! (And I'm back to one of my FAVE color combos, too! I think this is just so darn elegant!)

Thanks for lookin' and have a GREAT Memorial Day Weekend!!

Stamps: Thoughts & Prayers
Paper: Blush Blossom, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla
Ink: Blush Blossom, Always Artichoke
Accessories: Spellbinders Large Labels (S4-168) Nestabilities, Mellow Moss taffeta ribbon, Pretties Kit pearl sticker, pop up glue dots

Great Friend FAVE!

This is one stamp set that I am really hoping make the leap from mini catalog to "Big Catty" for Stampin' Up (guess we'll know pretty soon, eh?). I have made a LOT of cards using it . . . it's just so lovely and versatile. AND, of course, it has a BUTTERFLY!!

I also was able to make this card a "two-fer" . . . it encompasses TWO challenges - SC229 on SCS AND Jarons Creative Color Challenge #2.

I was able to stamp this card - start to finish - in less than 30 minutes. I LOVE it when that happens (which is not very often, mind you!)! Once in a while I even amaze myself!!!

Stamps: Great Friend
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Regal Rose, Rose Red
Accessories: Eyelet border punch, Matchbox Bigz XL die, Floral Fantasy Cuttlebug embossing folder, chocolate chip taffeta ribbon, pop-up glue dots