Birthday Flamingo

I needed a birthday card for a friend and I needed it in a hurry! Fortunately, I had everything I needed laying out on the work table. I had a digital image of a flamingo all colored up in a box next to the desk. The other papers had been pulled for another project that never happened some time ago. I had just purchased the punch and hadn't put it in its home yet, so it was also sitting out. I just had to reach up a little to get the bling from the drawer on my desk...and her it is. Quick and simple!! I can't remember who makes the digital image, but he sure is cute. I colored him with Copics. My friend is a flamingo fan so it is perfect for her. DSP is retired SU!
I have another very busy day of projects ahead of me. I am working on a tip jar for the restaurant that my son's MIL manages. It took me weeks to decide how to design it and now that it's in my head, I'm hoping it comes out like I have envisioned it...or at least close to it! Also working on a toy box for Kyli and shelves to house the tea pot collection I brought home from my dad's. My grandmother collected them and I brought home the ones that survived my aunt's wrath after my grandmother died. Most came from overseas while my dad was in the service for WWII. I am quickly running out of summer!!!

More Punched Edges

Here are two more of the punched edge cards that I made a while back. I haven't found a bad punch to use on these! In fact, I bought two more punches a couple of weeks ago, but haven't had time to try them for this technique yet.
The flowers on the blue card are a digital file I have had for ages and unfortunately, I can't remember where I got them. I had to cut them out by hand and I added glitter to them to dress them up.
The second one is very similar to the first card I saw done with this technique. I changed the colors and stamp set, but the use of the retired SU! ribbon border punch is how I first came in contact with this style of card.
Had a little scare with Kyli today. Running to the hospital is the new normal, but we've had a long spell without a temperature spike. Today it happened, but she got to come home. We are headed down soon to spend some time with her, so no stamping time tonight! With her home from the hospital, I can deal with the trade off!!

Punched Edge Cards

These cards were made back in May when I went on a stamping retreat with a group of friends. We spent the whole weekend at a house on the Withlacoochee River and stamped and stamped and stamped... One of the things we got to playing with was this technique of using punches down both sides of a card to make a pretty border for a thin image. I fell in love with this technique and so did some of the other girls. We had quite a collection by the time we were done! Here are three of the cards I made using the punches. I love that they look so fancy but are really simple to make. That really appeals to my apparent need to do complicated cards.

Learning to Love Starfruit and a Benefit Ride

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The hubby and I got away for a couple of weeks!! I can't say it was a vacation, because we went to my dad's house in Ohio to help him get the grounds and house ready to sell. My dad has lived on the property since 1947 is a bit of a collector. Needless to say, he has acquired a large amount of "stuff" over the years. Some of it is really cool stuff that others would be interested in and we were able to sell some of it while we were there. Unfortunately, a large amount of it has been ruined over the years and is only suitable for the scrap pile. He worked in the automobile industry for most of his life, so much of the junk qualified as scrap metal and we were able to haul it off in exchange for $$$$$ from the scrapyard. We hauled about eleven loads there. I also made two trips to Goodwill and several runs to the recycling center with my truck. Things are looking up there, but after two weeks, we still aren't done, so we will be going back later this month for another couple of weeks...so much for my summer vacation!!! But it's good to be able to help out my dad, so it's all good!
Before we left, I was able to pull together this one card using a new LaLaLand stamp, Kimono Marci. Now, I have to say that when I got the collection of new SU! In-Color card stock, I was less than thrilled with the color Summer Starfruit....well, actually, I hated it...YUCK!!! GAG!!! Then a friend of mine put it up to a piece of Echo Park paper she was playing with and WOW!!! All the new colors were a perfect match and it actually made the SS color look good!!! I had the same paper at home, so I had to put together a card using the combination and this is what I came up with. It's been a while since I've done an easel card and it was fun putting this together. I colored it with SU! markers, something I haven't done in ages!!
On a more personal note, we returned home from Ohio a few days earlier than originally planned because a benefit ride had been organized for my granddaughter Kyli and her battle with leukemia. Harley Davidson of Ocala put together the event which included a ride that ended at Apple's Bar and Grill, also in Ocala. The ride included two world-famous bikes, The Flying Pan and the Red Knuckle, with an additional famous bike parked inside Apple's, the Detroit Motors Goodfellas bike.

Kyli arrived at Apple's just before the bikes got there. She was really excited about the idea of all those people being there for her, but was a little overwhelmed by all the attention. When she got tired, the hubby and I took her home and stayed with her until her parents got home. The guys from HD of Ocala are awesome and incredibly generous. They fell in love with my girl, but what's not to love, and inspired generosity among all the guests and participants for a very successful fundraiser!! Thanks so much guys!!! Here they are with Kyli in the middle.

I know this has been a long post if you are still with me, but one last picture! We rarely get the opportunity to get family shots (someone always manages to be left out), but we were lucky enough to get this one taken that day so I have to share. Me, Kenny (the hubby), my son, his wife, and the guest of honor, my granddaughter Kyli!

Seaside Class

 I made these cards for a class at the LSS using Just Rite images and the border punch technique I love so much. For the second card, I used Spellbinder's dies. I also used cork to for the matt on the second card.

Blue Roses

I saw this technique done on a blog somewhere and I just fell in love with it. I carried all my border punches to a stamping retreat and the next thing you know, all the girls were making card bases using every imaginable color/punch combination. We even got a few cards completed using our experiments! A few days later, I found this Martha Stewart punch and I had ideas popping into my head right away. I had to play right away, so I got into Bonnie's scrap pile at Priceless (the LSS) and I ended up with blue roses. This card currently lives at Priceless, so if you live in the area, you can see it live and in person if you stop in. Can you see the glitter???? You know it had to be there!
On a personal note, my son and his wife got all moved into their new home (new to them) which is so more bright and cheerful (not to mention cleaner) than the old one that was just not suitable for Kyli's current health needs. There is no carpeting in this house which makes keeping it clean much easier. Her new bedroom is so bright and cheery! She just loves being there and is content to play there much of the time instead of dragging all her toys out to the living room. It's where I spend most of my time when I visit because that's where Kyli is!
Her other grandmother bought her a new bedroom set, all in white. It had these really pretty hearts and ribbons carved into it and my son decided right away that they needed to be painted pink and purple and glittered up. The other grandmother almost had a heart attack as the ink wasn't even dry on her credit card receipt when Robbie told her he wanted to paint it. When he explained that he was going to have me do it, so relaxed considerably. I spent about three days working on this project as I had to do it in sections and I think it turned out pretty cool. Kyli loves it and even helped a little. Robbie is very pleased and the other grandmother even loves it!! So I guess I did okay! Here's a few shots of the project:

Of course, it's very glittery...because I did it!

Housework Fairy

I ran across this photo this morning and realized I had never posted it. It's a card a made for a friend for her birthday using an image from Mo Manning. This little fairy is just adorable and I couldn't resist using her to make the card...especially since she was all colored up and ready to go when I found out I needed a card because my friend was coming to the scrapbook store to play and it was her birthday. I needed a card....QUICK!!
Kyli update: She is home for a while. She had surgery Thursday to put in her port. It's still a little sore, but she is home and in good spirits. I was called in to stay with her for several hours the past two days so Mommy and Daddy could finish up some moving details and other errands that needed to be taken care of. While they were working, Kyli and I painted the hearts and ribbons on her new bed. I still have a few finishing touches to do on them, but they are looking good. I hope to get them done tomorrow and then I will post some pictures.
School is out now and I have the summer off, so hopefully, I will get some stamping time in....starting today!! Maybe I can get into a pattern and be able to get back to my blog and stamping regularly! Thanks for stopping in!