My friend...

I wonder how you are doing. I wonder if you've cried a lot. I wonder if you are identifying with the people you are meeting. I wonder if you've hit bottom yet. I wonder how your family is doing. I wonder if, since we've worked so closely together these past 4 years, if I've contributed to anything. I wonder if some days I should be right there with you. My friend, I miss you, a lot.

Stamp Something Fall????

Are you kidding me? When I saw this week's stamp challenge on the Stamp Something blog, I cringed. Are you kidding me...Fall?? I am just getting into summer! School just started (OK - 3 weeks ago, but it feels like yesterday). I am not ready for Fall - once Fall hits, I know I am going to be cold for the next 6 months. Good thing it is in God's hands, and not mine, or otherwise we would be in summer mode for 9 months out of the year.

School Days card

I went through all of my stamps, and this was IT as far as something that reminded me of school days. This is for the latest stamp challenge over at the Stamp Something Blog - stamping something for Back-To-School. But I have always liked this stamp because if I try real hard, I can make it look like a bunch of kids are holding hands. Also, I like this card because there is just something I like about the colors of yellow & grey together...it is so unexpected, I think. Again, I have plans for this card to go to someone who is not expecting it, and that has been sick lately, so say a quick prayer for this recipient!!

Reminder of Summer card

The challenge this week over at the Stamp Something blog was to stamp something, anything, that reminds me of summer. Since school has already started here, it does kind of make me feel like summer is coming to an end, although I refuse to let it go gracefully. So, knowing that I wanted to make a card for someone that has been on my mind lately, I made this one. The chair, flowers, straw hat...they all remind me of summer - as do the brown-eyed susan flowers on the ribbon (I LOVE those flowers!). Thanks for looking, and say a quick prayer for the recipient of this card - who doesn't know that I know they are going through hard times right now, but I am praying for them anyway!

40% Trouble

Here is my latest layout for the Summer of Scraplovin' Challenge #5 over at www.scraplove.com. The title is 40% Trouble!! I really like how it turned out - it was fun...no pressure on this one. The challenge was polka dots & a picture inspiration. My inspiration was the "ground" on the original picture, but I put mine on the side, and I included the swirls & funky dots on it. I was also inspired by the leaf "poofs" on the original picture, and tried to recreate it with wire. I loved the original colors & used pink, lime green & brown from it. Finally I added some traditional polka dots using paint & the end of a paint brush (one of my favorite things to do...). The title comes from my DD's shirt which says 60% Angel, 40% Trouble. It was actually her first day of 2nd grade (although this layout isn't about that, I'll do a different one on that later). The smilie face on the exclamation points was inspired by my DD - she likes to do that when she is creating. TFL!!

Blue, Pink & Green Card

I needed to make another card for my secret sister for the month of August, so I decided to use this week's challenge at Stamp Something as my inspiration. The challenge was to use the colors of blue, pink & green. I love these shades of all 3 colors, especially together. So bright & cheery. And oh, here's hoping my secret sister DOESN'T look at my blog!

Altered Music Canvas

Have not been here lately as I haven't had much to say, but for the last two nights I have busy stressing away making this altered canvas project. It is for Challenge #4 of the Summer of Scraplovin' Challenge series at scraplove.com. I have wanted to make an altered canvas for a long time...not stressful. I LOVED putting the paint on the canvas...not stressful. But from there on out...stressful!! I think I like how it turned out, although that is not how it looked in my mind. Now that it is done...not stressful. Thanks for looking!