*I Can Dream, Can't I*

I'm going to share a card with spring colours and flowers today....  Just because it's still just barely above freezing and dreary here in Calgary doesn't mean a girl can't dream of the day that the sun shines, the weather warms up, and the flowers thrive.

My flowers that I purchased last week survived the blast of bad weather thanks to the protection of the patio table and a blanket.  I am hoping that the ground will dry a bit over the next couple days as the temperature warms up and I will plant them later in the week.

I truly hope that this was the last blast of really truly crappy weather until later in the fall.

I need warm weather.  I need sunshine.  I need to have my windows open to enjoy the fresh air.

So I will dream of flowers and spring for a few more days.... while you take a look at this card I created.

Items Used:
*Cardstock:  PaperTrey Ink White; Stampin' Up! Almost Amethyst, Certainly Celery, Rose Red
*Images:  Rhona Farrer Swirls; PaperTrey Ink Beautiful Blooms
*Ink:  Stampin' Up! Certainly Celery, Rose Red
*Challenges:  SC279


Quick, clean and simple!

*Happy Holidays*

It is very fitting that I am posting a Christmas card today.... it's currently just barely above the freezing mark here in Calgary and we had some snow overnight!  Thankfully I hadn't yet planted my bedding plants so I put them under the patio table and covered them with a sheet.  I was worried as they were predicting 10-20 cms of snow (that's 4-8 inches) and I didn't want them to get crushed under the weight of that much wet snow.

Thankfully we didn't get that much snow... not sure how much fell, but it's not deep in the grass at all.  And the roads and my driveway are only wet.

Yes, it really is the 28th of May

Sigh

Yesterday I played with two challenges to create these cards to show you.... one was Tracy's Christmas Card Challenge (see Tracy's blog by clicking on the link under CalGals to the right).  This month we had a colour challenge.... any shade of red, cream/vanilla, dark brown and kraft.  I combined that challenge with the FTL89 sketch at Clean and Simple.


First, the shot that shows I made five

And now one to show a little more detail (not that there is much for detail on a clean and simple card!

Items Used:
*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Kraft
*Images:  Verve Winerwonderland; Stampin' Up! Frosty
*Ink:  Stampin' Up! Riding Hood Red
*Tools:  Big Shot; Nestabilities
*Challenges:  Tracy's Christmas Card Challenge; FTL89


I don't know about the cards.....  I like them, but I think they need something.... but I think that's the point of a clean and simple layout....  so I will leave them alone!

Enjoy your weekend everyone.... I get to start mine off in a good way with an evening with the CalGals at Shannon's house tonight!

*Enjoy The Moment*

I'm so sorry for the long time between posts the last few weeks...  I was, as you know, in Regina with Mom and honestly, my blog wasn't the first thing on my mind.  Most days I don't know that it even made it into the top 10 LOL.

Bruce and the boyz drove out to Regina on Friday to spend the weekend with us, my sister returned on Sunday and I left with my family on Monday morning.  We all had yesterday off which was nice.  Bruce is back at work today and Matthew is back at school.  Alex has today off and will be back at school tomorrow... and for the first time in two and a half weeks I will have a day to myself.  I had hoped to go get a pedicure and get my fake nails on again but my favourite nail gal had to fly back to Vietnam because her Dad passed away.  So I think I'll try to have a stamping day instead.

This card was inspired by a card I saw over on Susan's Simplicity Blog... I just love her style!!

Items Used:
*Cardstock:  PaperTrey Ink White
*Images:  PC Studio Playful Expressions
*Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
*Embellishments:  Prima Flowers; Doodlebug brad


A very quick and easy card to put together....

*Wonderful Mother*

Happy Saturday everyone.... and a Happy May Long Weekend to my fellow Canadians.  Not sure what the weather is like in your neck of the woods, but here in the Prairies, the weather was wonderful all week and now it's cool, cloudy and wet.  Here at Mom's they forecast is for a months worth of rain in a mere few days!  Yippee?  I guess the rain is needed, but not on the first official long weekend of "summer".

I am in awe at how fast this year has gone by so far....  I can't believe it's the end of May....  a week and a bit and it's June, and then we're looking at final exams, report cards and then Summer Vacation!

I am still in Regina... coming up on the 2 week mark tomorrow.  Bruce and the boyz arrived safe and sound from Calgary yesterday to spend the long weekend here.  My sister will be flying back tomorrow morning and if all goes according to plan, I will be driving back to Calgary with my family on Monday.

Mom has been doing really well after her stay in the hospital last week.  They sprung her just before lunch on Tuesday, changed a bunch of her meds and I think that things have been going well.  I'm glad she's not hurting or feeling sick.

The card I am sharing today I created for my husband to give to his Mom for Mother's Day.  I created it for the Tuesday Morning Sketches challenges a few weeks ago.

Items Used:
*Cardstock:  PaperTrey Ink White; Bazzill Bling
*Patterned Paper:  Stamp It Australia
*Images:  Stampin' Up! Well Scripted
*Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
*Tools:  Big Shot; Nestabilities
*Embellishments:  Doodlebug Brads
*Challenges:  Tuesday Morning Sketches #44

*Another Rough Weekend*

Well, things took a turn on Friday here in Regina.  Mom spent Friday really not feeling well and by 3am on Saturday my sister and niece had her at the hospital.  My other sister and I joined the hospital party around 8am, waiting to find out results of an Xray of her belly .... they were thinking bowel obstruction.  The Xray wasn't as much help as they had hoped so they ordered a CT that happened later in the morning.

Thankfully there was no bowel obstruction but they decided to keep Mom for a few days to get things back to "normal" again.

We were up to visit her a few times today and she's doing much better.  She's more alert, feeling better, cracking jokes.

The doctor she spoke to this morning said that she'd probably be home "early this week"... not sure if that means Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday....

My niece Rachael left to head home this morning and her Mom (and my sister) who has been here for just over 2 weeks, left tonight to go home for a week. So I am here at Mom's house on my own for at least tonight, but probably another night or two.  That's a little strange.

I will spend portions of my days up visiting Mom in the hospital.... and will also try to enjoy some of the beautiful warm days we are enjoying!

I feel so bad for Mom and all the ups and downs of her disease....  it's been one hell of a ride in 2010!

And now, on to the card...

Items Used:
*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss
*Images:  Stampabilities
*Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
*Tools:  Big Shot;  Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder
*Embellishments:  Prima Flowers; Doodlebug Brad
*Challenges:  FTL87


I love this Fall to Layout from the Clean and Simple blog.  Quick and easy to throw together... and would work for so many different ideas!

I'm going to turn my attention back to Survivor....  Cheers!
 

*Happy Friday!*

Ahhhh, Friday.

I don't care how much you love your Monday to Friday job, the weekend is a wonderful thing!  A chance to relax, visit with friends, sleep in, get stuff done around the house.

Weekends rock!

Not a lot to report on from my temporary neck of the woods.  The way I usually say it is "same shit, different day".... and that pretty much sums it up.

And does it well.

This is one of the cards I created a few weeks ago, on that day that I made a whole schwack of cards.  It uses the Crazy4Challenges Challenge #34.  The challenge was to choose one of the cards created by the Crazy4Challenges team and copy it and make it your own.  Once I chose my patterend paper, it came together very quickly.

Items Used:
*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Buckaroo Blue
*Patterned Paper:  The Paper Loft
*Images:  Stampin' Up! So Many Sayings
*Ink:  VersaFine Onyx Black
*Tools:  Corner Chomper, paper piercing tool
*Embellishments:  PaperTrey Ink ribbon
*Challenges:  C4C34


By changing the sentiment, this could very easily be a birthday card for a guy....  something I usually find difficult to make.

I hope you all enjoy your weekend!

*Beautiful Beautiful Sunshine*

Some beautiful weather has come our way...  and it's supposed to stay wonderful for at least a week.  I spent a little time out on Mom's front porch this afternoon.  It wasn't too hot but the sun felt so wonderfully warm.  I love the sun.

Mom is doing OK... the new meds for her nausea seem to be helping and she's not sleeping nearly as much as she was before I got here.  Although she's slept a good part of this afternoon so maybe I spoke too soon.

I've decided that paper crafts and card makers are absolutely wonderful people....  in four days Mom has received 42 cards!!  Thanks to everyone who is helping to brighten her days be sending cards!!  She loves them!!!

I created this card a few weeks ago to give to a friend for her birthday...

Items Used:
*Cardstock:  PaperTrey Ink White;  Stampin' Up! Basic Black, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue
*Pattenered Paper:  Sonburn Designs
*Images:  Inkadinkadoo
*Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
*Tools:  Big Shot; Sizzix Daisies #2; Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder; Stampin' Up! border punch
*Embellishments:  Stampin' Up! ribbon; Kaiser Pearls
*Challenges:  Mojo136

*Happy Mothers Day!*

Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms who read my blog!  I started my Mothers Day at home with my family and have ended it here in Regina with my Mom!  I was sad to leave my husband and boyz while they were preparing Brunch for Bruce's Mom, but I was happy to see my Mom today as well.

Thankfully the new anti-nausea medication my Mom started on Friday seems to be helping and she is feeling better than she has in weeks.  She's been awake more than asleep since I got here which is surprising as she has been sleeping more than she's been awake for the last month.

My return flight is booked for Saturday afternoon however I may cancel that and stay with Mom longer.  It's kind of up in the air right now.

I created this card earlier this week during my Mojo-filled days.  I don't often post on Sundays but I wanted to make sure to get my entry in for the MojoMonday Sketch...

Items Used:
*Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze, Certainly Celery, Almost Amethyst, Rose Red, Pink Pirouette, Basic Black
*Patterned Paper:  Imaginisce
*Images:  Stampin' Up! Baroque Motifs; Impression Obsession
*Ink:  Stampin' Up! Certainly Celery, Rose Red
*Tools:  Stampin' Up! oval punches
*Embellishments:  Kaiser Pearls
*Challenges:  Mojo137


I hope you all enjoyed time with your Mothers or your kids today....  or enjoyed the memories of years past.  This was a bittersweet Mothers Day, knowing that it is probably the last one I will celebrate with my own Mom....  sigh....

*Congratulations!!*

I am so sorry for not posting a winner sooner... I've had a hell of a busy weekend and am now in Regina to spend some time with my Mom....

The papercrafting garage sale that I hosted on Saturday as awesome!  The 7 of us made a collective $1200!  Cool!!!

Now, on to the winner.... I have my niece Rachael pick a number between 1 and 42, the number of comments on my blog candy post.... and she chose #18.... I counted it out and would you believe that the winner is a Rachel???

Rachel D, please get in touch with me so I can order your gift certificate to PaperTreyInk

Thanks so much to everyone who played along!!

*The Post Where I Won't Talk About The Weather*

No sense talking about it.... not like there's anything new to report.

LOL

I had a wonderfully crafty day yesterday...  I got up and cleaned my house, got myself showered and dressed and then came down to my craft room and turned on iTunes (and later some TV).... and I managed to craft for several hours and make a grand total of 7 (yes SEVEN) cards!  I haven't been that productive in one day in a very very very very very very long time.  Of course, most of the cards I made used a sketch or a design I had found online, but that's OK with me!

This, however, is not one of the cards I created yesterday... but one from this week.  I wanted to get it posted for the Fall To Layout challenge this week over at the Clean and Simple blog.  I am finding myself more and more drawn to more simple cards lately.

Items Used:
*Cardstock:  Bazzill Bling; PaperTrey Ink White
*Patterned Paper:  Imaginisce
*Images:  Rhona Farrer Swirls; Stampin' Up! Baroque Motifs; Impress
*Ink:  Versamagic Key Lime; Brilliance Pearescent Orchid
*Tools:  Corner Chomper
*Embellishmens:  pink satin ribbon
*Challenges:  FTL88


The ribbon came off of the package of Crave Cupcakes Bruce bought me for Valentine's Day.  Usually they use that wonderful dark brown satin, but for Valentine's it was pink.  I don't get Crave often, but when I do, I savour every bite!

I think I may try a few of the layouts in the Go To Sketches magazine I bought at Michaels a few weeks ago and promptly forgot about... all while watching old episodes of "Lost".  I started watching "Lost" in January online, borrowed DVDs from my sister and am now watching the current season, only I'm about 8 episodes behind.  Yup, I'm catching up just in time for the damn show to end!  LOL!

Enjoy your Thursday!

*More Bad Weather*

I can't believe the crappy weather we've been getting so far this spring.  We were under another winter storm warning last night but thankfully it passed us by.  We have very high winds today (gusting to 95kph (about 59mph) at times) and snow is coming down now... or should I say it's flying sideways?  The wind was so bad last night that it kept waking me up.

I am really looking forward to some wonderfully warm weather!

Hopefully I don't have to wait too long!

I created this card for my friend Bonnie who celebrated her 40th birthday last week.  Her husband whisked her off to New York for a week so she should have gotten the card I mailed to her when she got home last night.

Items Used:
*Cardstock:  PaperTrey Ink White; Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip
*Patterned Paper:  SEI
*Images:  TPC Studio Playful Greetings
*Ink: Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip; Copic
*Tools:  Stampin' Up! flower punch
*Embellishments:  Michael's Bridal Flower coloured with Copic marker; Kaiser Pearl
*Challenges:  Unscripted Sketches #51


I love the saying that I used on this card... "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?"... I thought it was totally fitting since Bonnie turned 40....  and since she was trying to convince others on Facebook that because my youngest is older than her youngest that I must be older than her (despite the fact that my 40th isn't until summer!)

Today is a day full of thinking... first, it's the fourth annivesary of Dad's death....  I can't believe that it's been 4 years already.  I miss him every day.  On top of that, my Mom is at the hospital now for a procedure to extend her feeding tube into her small intestine.... we are hopeful that by by-passing the stomach she will have less nausea and the problems associated with that.  She's not been feeling well since the beginning of April.

I hate knowing that she's suffering.....