Dots card

Here's a new card I finished today. I was trying to work on it all week and there was so much other stuff going on I just didn't have the time to finish it. It ended up differently than I had planned -- I had planned to have the card open the other way and have everything running horizontally -- but I like it this way.

As I'm playing around with all this stuff I keep on thinking of more and more things I need to do it right! I don't have any circle punches so I had to cut my circles by hand and they're far from perfect. That's okay though.

The rest of my life has quieted down now, thankfully, and life is returning to normal.

Sharon

Geo Dot Border stamp by Stampendous in versamark ink on green Martha Stewart paper, happy birthday stamp by Inkadinkadoo in Stampin Up Brocade blue on blue paper by the Paper Company (seaside colors value pack), blue ribbon by Bobbin Ribbon, green self-adhesive ribbon by k i memories.

And it's only Tuesday

I was up late last night, unable to sleep because of some difficult inter-personal stuff (not my husband or son, thankfully) going on in my life. Ever feel totally misunderstood? I went downstairs and turned on the tv to watch a little Seinfeld. At that moment Elaine walked in Jerry's apartment and said, "I will never understand people!" to which Jerry replied, "They're the worst!" I just had to laugh because it was exactly how I was feeling.

Today, our adorable little puppy, Brenna, found a red pen in my son's room, chewed it, broke it and spread red ink all over the floor. So in between unpleasant phone calls, I was trying to get all that red ink cleaned up. Good times.

To work out my frustration I played some lovely Chopin pieces. It's always my first choice when I'm having a bad day.

As difficult as this day has been, God, as always, redeems my mistakes and shortcomings and works things out for His glory.

Sharon

2 Valentine's cards

These are a couple of cards I worked on this week. I wanted to get something done for Valentine's Day. I can't believe it will be February on Friday! I went yesterday and bought a few more stamping supplies at JoAnn's. I was going to do some embossing and asked Scott where the heat gun was and he said, "Oh, I broke that." Oh well. I picked up some paper and ribbon too.

I had a hard time with that little ribbon on the first card! The dots are only printed on one side so I was constantly trying to figure out how to keep those dots on top.

Well, I played piano at church this morning so it's been a long day...

Oh! The heart stamp is from the Stampin Up Delightful Doodles set, the paper is just plain old red cardstock, the letters are from the Stampin Up Straight Up Alphabet set, the ribbon is American Crafts.

Sharon

Dixon Tigonderoga

Anybody remember in the movie "You've Got Mail" when they talk about bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils?

This is a picture of one of my favorite things: Dixon Tigonderoga #2 pencils. I love these things! Unlike most pencils you buy, these things actually sharpen without breaking. The graphite is perfectly centered so you don't get that weird lop-sided thing going. I got a new box of them this weekend and sharpened them all in my little electric sharpener. Who wants to reach for a pencil and find that it's flat?! I know, mechanical pencils are always sharp, but there's no way a box of mechanical pencils would look this beautiful on my desk.

It's the simple things that make me happy. :o)

Sharon

Snowman card

Today I tried the challenge over at splitcoaststampers.com. I don't have a background stamp yet, so I used a small snowflake stamp and stamped it in silver ink on light blue paper and navy paper.

The stamp set is a 1995 Stampin Up set.

Sharon

Card #1

One of my new hobbies is rubber stamping. It's so fun to do and I get to see the results relatively quickly. This is a card I made for my niece's birthday. I wanted to add another element to the front but the cake element was so big, I couldn't figure out how to do it. So, I just focused on making sure everything lined up as perfectly as possible. Hope she likes it!

Sharon

Sunset in the Caribbean

One of the main reasons I wanted to start this blog is to post my artistic endeavors. My goal for this year is to post at least something once a week. This is a photo I took of a sunset while we were on a cruise this summer.

Takes me back.

Sharon