Fun in the Sun

I am trying my hand at CAS (clean and simple) today. I wanted to use waves, clouds, starfish and suns but held back and went with only Mimi and her swim ring. I have layered the duckie and added Glossy Accents for dimension. I even put the washi tape away .. that will be for another day.

I made this card for the challenge going on at the Penny Black Blog; it's called "Beat the Heat". I can't think of a better way to beat the heat than to head for the swimming pool... or sprinkler, lake or ocean!!

The challenge runs through August 5th so you still have time to enter. Penny Black is also featuring cards from their gallery on the blog this week. The next card featured could be yours!

I have been missing some favorite parks and lakes in Wisconsin. During the summer I would take the kids and their water toys along with a book for me and we would head to our favorite state park, Devils Lake. The kids would play in the water while I sat under a huge shade tree and watched people or read my book. Last Friday I discovered a lovely park, campground and marina within ten minutes of my home, situated on the beautiful Tennessee River!! What a treasure! Cooper and I will be spending time there this summer while the golfer of the family pursues his favorite sport. The perfect cure for homesickness!

THE WINNER OF THE PRIZE I OFFERED FOR THE HERO ARTS HOSTESS PICNIC BLOG HOP IS KIM M. OF CANADA (ART KEEPS ME SANE). THANKS TO ALL WHO VISITED AND LEFT COMMENTS!

Hope you have found a way to keep cool and beat the heat! Thanks for your visit!

Homemade by Penny Black

If you are looking for my Hostess Picnic Blog Hop post, please scroll down.

The only mice I think are cute are Penny Black mice!! Looks like these little guys got into the strawberry jam and are feeling a bit full!



I created the background with various patterned papers. I used a Sizzix die to cut the scalloped circle and the frame. I stamped and embossed the image on white cardstock and colored with Copics. I had to re-stamp the mice in order to fussy cut and paste the ends of their tails outside the circle!

I am accepting the "Beat the Heat" challenge at Penny Black's blog with this card, which reminds me of the summers a long time ago when I would make strawberry jam, store it in the freezer and open it "as needed" throughout the winter.

At that time, I lived in a 100 year old house which had many cracks in the foundation, a perfect entrance for mice escaping a harsh Wisconsin winter. The kids and I labeled one horrific year as "the winter of the mice". Believe me, they are not cute when they are running inside your walls and getting into the peanut butter. It took some serious extermination to be rid of them (after all amateur efforts failed).

There's still lots of time to share your summer stamping on the Penny Black blog.  Just go here for the details.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hero Hostess Summer Picnic Fun!

Welcome, welcome to Day 3 of the Hero Hostess Summer Picnic Blog Hop. I hope you've been joining the fun alI week! If you haven't checked in at the Hero Arts Club Blog each morning, you've missed a lot of fun! Be sure to check it out.

If you've been following along in order on today's hop, you should have arrived here from my very talented hostess friend Anita's blog.

And the happy news is that Hero Arts will be awarding prizes from randomly selected comments. For a chance to win, simply comment on any of the stops along the way on any day, including each day's starting post at the Hero Club Blog. If you find a broken link, you can return to the master list at the Hero Arts Club Blog. Please report any broken links to: blog@heroarts.com.

When I think summer, I think flowers!! Very colorful flowers!




I used Hero Arts cling stamp CG 525 Tall Flowers to make this card. I stamped and embossed the flowers on white cardstock. After coloring with Copics, I cut the stamped image in half horizontally, and made room in the middle of the two halves for the polka dotted paper to peek out as well as room for the large sentiment which is from Hero Arts clear set CL380 Truly Appreciated.

When I think of picnics, I think of family get togethers, filled with love and laughter! And when you are cooking for a crowd a batch of Sloppy Joe's is easy to make ahead and simple to serve. Over the years I tried several different recipes but the search was over when I attended a church pot luck and sampled this recipe. I tracked the cook down and this has become a family standard.

Sloppy Joe's:

2 lbs.ground sirloin
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup green pepper chopped
1 cup onion, diced
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 cup catsup

Begin by browning the ground sirloin in a heavy sauce pan. Add in the chopped celery, green pepper and onion. Saute for about 5 minutes. While the meat is browning, mix together the sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, tomato sauce and catsup. I often add more catsup, to taste. Lower the heat and simmer for about 45 minutes, until the celery is no longer crunchy! Serve on hamburger buns. This recipe will make 10 to 12 sandwiches. You can adjust amounts for serving a larger or smaller group. Enjoy!

I'm the last stop on the Hero Arts Summer Picnic Blog Hop for today. But there will be more hopping to do on Thursday and Friday. Be sure to check in at the Hero Arts Blog Club page to get started tomorrow.

Remember to leave a comment in order to be eligible for a prize! I will be drawing one name for a little gift from me, too.

Little did I know back in 2009 when I was invited to be one of the original Hero Hostesses that it would lead to the many friendships and strong connections among an amazing group of women! Thank you, Hero Arts, for the opportunity to be a part of this very special sorority!! And a big thank you to Deborah Nolan for keeping us organized and on track (and for the wonderful intro each day). Proud to call you sistahs!!

Penny Black Graceful

I have been accumulating Washi tape at a frightening pace!  The other day I sat myself down, resolved to use Washi tape on a card ... well, this card took care of about 4 inches!!  There, now I feel better.

I occasionally like to experiment with just black and white and this Graceful flower image by Penny Black works well for that.  I stamped and embossed the flower, cut it out and mounted it on white.  Provided a thin line of black cardstock behind the white and then stamped a sentiment from Penny Black Eloquence on the card.

But I couldn't resist adding the little red heart gem!!  I found the ribbon adorned paper clip at Michael's and I think that is what started the whole black and white theme!

There's a challenge going on at the Penny Black blog!

Be sure to check it out here.  It certainly is hot and humid here in Alabama!  We are eating watermelon and staying indoors ... except for the golfer in the family ...  he says it isn't hot on the golf course!

So glad you stopped by!!

Look what I did!

The morning started out with my wanting to be creative but with only blank space where my mojo should have been!! So I did what I could and gathered my acrylic blocks and gave them a good scrubbing. And then I proceeded to tidy my crafting space. And there, sitting in its packaging, were the mini canvases I purchased yesterday at Michael's.

They were just the right place to start! The surface was pre-pepped with gesso and was very forgiving as I experimented.

I stamped the flower from Penny Black's Blooming Garden and a sentiment from PB's Eloquence and then heat embossed. Then it was a matter of applying various inks with a sponge pad. The gesso provides a base that allows a lot of movement of the inks, even wiping them off if need be. When I got the look I wanted, I sprayed the finished canvas with a fixative. Added a wooden bird for balance. I found this neglected frame in the closet and presto! This will sit on my desk to fluff up my ego!!

In case you couldn't read the sentiment:




Too hot to be outdoors today! Big golf tournament on tv to keep husband entertained. I will have lots of time to play today. Hope you can do the same.

So glad you stopped by!!

Sweetness by Penny Black

Love this large slapstick background stamp by Penny Black. It makes a lovely card on its own, but this time I stamped the image a second time and colored and cut out two of the flowers. I mounted them with foam dots onto the first image. I added a bow and a mini tag with a sentiment from PB's Charms transparent set.

Life has assumed it's slower paced routine at our house. Evie is now one month old and thriving! Pictures arrive daily and it's a joy to watch her grow!

Our efforts this week are aimed at dealing with the heat and humidity of an Alabama July!! The golfer has conceded the need for a riding cart; the dog prefers very short walks and firmly plants his feet until you turn around to return to the air conditioning, and I have taken to crock pot meals that don't heat up the kitchen!

I am so happy my hobby takes place indoors where the Diet Pepsi stays cold and sunburn isn't an issue!! Hope you are coping with the heat (or cold if you are down-under). Most of all, I thank you for your visit.

Penny Black Blooming Garden

As a member of Penny Black's Stamp Squad, I have the joy of using their stamps to make cards and post them to my blog. Today's card is a thank you to be sent to family in Atlanta who hosted us for a wonderful weekend! How we loved sharing their busy life for a couple of days.

I stamped and heat embossed the poppies from Penny Black's transparent set, Blooming Garden. I cut and spread the flower image in order to stamp and emboss the sentiment from Penny Black's Sentimental set. The note card was first stamped with PB's slapstick stamp Dots in Space and the white card stock then attached. I colored little wooden hearts with Copic black ink and then attached the amber gem hearts. Of course, I had to stitch all the parts together.

I am blessed with grandchildren who write thank you notes and try to set a good example!! Hope your week goes well. As much as we love visiting family, it is good to be back to our slower-paced routine!

Thank you for your visit today!!

Evelyn Loves her Bath!

Evelyn's mom reports that she loves her bath! She certainly looks relaxed and calm in this photo!!

Digital technology is the greatest!! Sure beats taking photos with an Instamatic and waiting for your pictures to come back from the photo lab .. only to find out they were all blurry ...

Recovering from a weekend visit to Grandkids in Atlanta. The visit was wonderful; the trip to and from not so much. Cooper suffers from being car sick; we suffer from cleaning it up!!

Thanks for stopping by. More cards a bit later.

Homemade by Penny Black

Hope this brightens your Friday!! These cuties are from Penny Black's transparent set "Homemade". I have paper pieced the mice, added diecuts from PB's new creative die sets "leaves", "tag it" and "speech bubbles". Love the dimension that die cuts add. I channeled my inner Jill Foster for the colors: distress inks lemonade and spicy marmalade applied directly to the tag. I stitched the tag to the dotted note card. I added glitter glue to the dots in the lemonade (wondering if it's just lemonade!)


This is the second attempt to publish this post! Blogger is having a tantrum. If paragraphs don't show up, I apologize. Last time I tried to fix that, Blogger wiped everything out! Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by. We are off to Atlanta to watch the grandson play baseball and to hang out with the almost-teenaged granddaughter.

Graceful by Penny Black

I created the white overlay with my "chicken wire" die, and attached it to the tiny checked patterned paper that was a gift from my friend Sally.  I stamped the floral image on another die cut and colored it with Copics.  The little metal tag is from a package I found in the dollar bin at Michael's.

I've been having Blogger issues but have discovered a back door way to create a new post.  For some reason Blogger is saying I have a "page with an invalid ID" and will not allow me to copy and paste to create a post or edit a post once created!!  I am just grateful to have found this back door!!

I am having difficulty with re-entry after my week with Evie and family in Wisconsin.  I think it's withdrawal!!

Anyway, so glad you came by.  Back door friends are the best friends!!

Evelyn Rose

Here's Evelyn Rose trying out her crib. She is sleeping downstairs in a bassinet until Mommy is allowed to do the stairs. Honestly, I saw her growing and changing right before my eyes!

Evelyn is such a sweet and calm baby. Fusses a little when hungry. Eats and burps and sleeps. She is just fine when being passed around for cuddles.

I miss holding her and talking to her and teaching her to say "no", "mine" and "I don't wanna". All words every child needs to learn.

Thanks for your visit!

Bridal March

This is an image from Penny Black's woodblock stamp "Bridal March."  I've seen a lot of gold on cards lately and wanted to give gold embossing a try once again!! 

I stamped the image on vellum and embossed with gold.  The vellum layer was placed over a vibrant patterned paper in gold hues.  I used spray adhesive to attach the vellum and loved how it dealt with any warping of the vellum!

I used glossy gold paper to provide a border and added some salmon colored pearls for a bit of color.  I'm wondering if this card could be used for a golden wedding anniversary, too..... but alas!  No groom!  Kind of like the first wedding day, right?

I appreciate your visit!!  And I love comments!

Happy Independence Day!!

My collection of stamps doesn't include much for the 4th of July.  What to do, what to do.  I decided to use the tree from Penny Black's "Love Birds" set and decorate it with stars!

I stamped the tree onto grey patterned paper and embossed it with white.  I colored the 13 little wooden stars with Copic markers to add the necessary red and blue.  And one can never go wrong with a red gingham bow!

I am actually with family in Milwaukee for this holiday.  We will celebrate our freedoms and be mindful of those who sacrificed that we might enjoy our American lifestyle.  I hope you are having an enjoyable holiday and that it includes some time with people you love!!

Snapshot by Penny Black

When I am in the mood for "cute", I reach for my Penny Black stamps.  Of course, I do that when I want elegant or in between, too!

I made my own Polaroid frame by using a square Nestie and added the die cut sentiment.  The camera-happy kitty is colored with Copics.  I've added Glossy Accents to the camera and the little birdie.  Simple card with a big smile factor!!

It's amazing what the digital age has brought to photography.  I have so many boxes of photos stored in my house that I won't be able to sort them in my lifetime plus one more!!  I was always so sure I wanted to bring the experience home with me after we traveled.  And I recorded so many family events!  I love digital photos because you can see them instantly, adjust if needed and they don't take up closet space!!

Of course, since Evelyn Rose's arrival I have been connected to her by way of digital photos and the computer. Families that are scattered can have an instant connection without waiting for prints from the photo lab!!

Thanks for stopping by!