Thankful Oak

These cards were inspired by Terry (Terrore3), who is the Featured Stamper on SCS today and I was inspired by this card of hers. I kept her general color scheme and layout but changed the following:
1. masked off the middle and sponged the outside vs. the inside
2. changed flower to a tree
3. positioned main image in the middle
4. no paper piercing here
5. added a chord to the top
6. some swirls and the outside of the main image panel (which is popped up on dimensionals) are outlined in gold

I also need to credit Michelle Zindorf, who is one of my stampin' heroes, and whose tutorials I read religiously! She is an amazing artist; I can't get enough of her creations. She's gotten me addicted to sponging! I love it - inky fingers and all!

These are going to a couple of our elders that came and prayed over me a few weeks ago. It was such a sweet time of fellowship and I really appreciated them spending a couple of hours to come over, pray for me, and encourage me. It really impacted me and I want to thank them! I really love this layout and am considering using it for my Thanksgiving or Christmas cards.

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Swirl (by Rhonna Ferrar)
Paper: Bravo Burgandy, Very Vanilla
Ink: Tree stamped with Always Artichoke and for Sponging: Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Ruby Red, Bravo Burgandy
Accessories: gold cord, gold gel pen, gold paint pen

Happy stamping. I'm off to get ready for church!

Moose You

I made this for Dad & Kathy. I thought this moose was too cute and just had to have this Nature Calls set from My Favorite Things. I love all of the animals and of course the cute hiker chick! I still haven't used her yet, but I will soon.

I'm off to study. I've got to get busy...lots of reading to do!

Happy stamping!

Howly Jowly Owly

Today's Limited Supplies Challenge on SCS was to make a Christmas card using animal stamps, only embellishing with ribbon. It's been a while since I had played dress-up with Dudley, so I pulled him out and dressed him up as Santa. When I got him all dressed up, I realized that his beard just didn't fit, so he's staying cool without one. I drew the suit on him, complete with belt and buckle and used liquid applique for all the fuzzies.

Stamps: U R A Hoot (by CHF)
Paper: Real Red, White, Green Galore, Black Small Dots (by Making Memories)
Ink: Black Stazon, Real Red, Garden Green (sponged onto holly)
Accessories: CB snowflake folder, red satin ribbon, liquid applique, red & white bling (chrystal stickers), brown Kohinoor pencil & blending stump with baby oil, gold pen

Happy stamping!

Belated Birthdays

September snuck up on me so quickly and I was late getting these birthday cards out, but I guess better late than never!
Happy Belated Birthday, Shwa! (Mountain Man's cousin, Sept. 13) - This is a photo of Shwa soaring over a competitor during his ultimate frisbee tourney here in Washington. We had fun watching him play and his team did so well, placing 3rd! They are one of the top teams in the nation, so it was a real treat to watch them play.
Happy Belated Birthday, Ma! (My sweet mother-in-law, Sept. 16) - Jan, my sweet MIL, bought the beautiful 3-D alphabet stickers for me when I visited last time, so I wanted to use them for her. Matched with the expensive but oh-so-worth it Fabriano card, they're so sophisticated. A very simple but sweet thought.

Happy stamping! I'm off to make dinner and then head to class.

Happy Anniversary Dad & Kathy!

Very happy anniversary wishes to Dad & Kathy! I love you both and hope you have a wonderful day basking in your love! :)

And here's their card that they should receive today! I took this photo in Junction, Texas this year when we camped at the South Llano State Park. Can you believe the prickly pear cactus was shaped as a heart?! I thought it was so cute (for a cactus)! Also, did you notice the corners? I just got the corner punch from SU! and I LOVE it!


I'm off to do homework before heading off to school. It's been tough getting back in the swing of things, but I guess I'll make it!

TTFN!

Spa Day

I had a fun spa day with my good friend, Brooke, yesterday afternoon.

Brooke (Isn't she so cute?!)

We went to Hector's in downtown Kirkland for lunch (YUMMY!) and then on to the spa for some pampering. We had fun with the ladies there, who happened to be all sisters! We had the works - manicures and pedicures, complete with wax! It's definitely not something I can do regularly, but it was fun to have a girlie day. And for the first time ever, my fingernails were long enough to have a regular manicure. (I've always gotten acrylics put on.)

And just for my parents who probably won't believe that my nails could actually get this long, here are my fingernails before:

Thanks for a fun day, my friend!

Go Bearcats!

I went with the McPhetridges last night to watch Megs play volleyball. Wow, is her team good! Megs is a home-schooled junior but she plays with the Monroe Bearcats. She's even a starter! Let me tell you, she is one fantastic player! She can pass, hit, serve, dig, block - she can do it all!

Watching high school volleyball sure brought back old memories! Those were fun times. I was a setter/hitter and played on the varsity team from my sophomore year on. It's so strange to see how so many rules have changed since then. I really enjoyed being there and watching them play (especially Megs). It was a quick night; they won very easily in 3 straight games. I'm looking forward to seeing her play some more. She's also in a very competitive club volleyball team that starts up soon, so I'm hoping to see some of those games. They play all over the country, so I might not make very many of those, but they're much more competitive and I've heard more exciting to watch.

These pictures aren't great. The gym lighting was terrible and most of the time, I used my bigger lens (without a tripod), so most didn't turn out that great. Here are a few that I salvaged. (She's the beautiful blonde, number 8!)

Megs passing

Megs serving
Megs blocking
Passing again

And this little princess is her sister

Hope your weekend is fabulous! We've got a busy one with Heidelfest all day tomorrow and a fun Sunday planned with Brooke.