Whale of a Time

There have been six or so days thus far this spring that have warrented the comment, "I think this is the nicest day we've had so far this year." Up until today, however, none of those days had been consecutive. With two in a row under our belts, I am hoping for a third nice day tomorrow. Sunshine is good for the soul.

I started this card last week and finally finished it today after giving up on the original sketch I had selected. I colored the whale (from The Cat's Pajamas' "Whale of a Time" set) with Copic markers and paper-pieced his sailor hat. Look for baby cards made with this cute little set in the future.



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Just like I said they would be, the boys are here and will be until tomorrow when their dad and Sarah get done with work. There isn't much to "taking care" of them anymore. At six and seven, they entertain themselves a good part of the time. I even had to do some convincing to get Bjorn to go to the park. I perservered, however, determined that we were not going to waste a beautiful day sitting around the house. Kids need to be outside. Grandma said so! LOL.

I hope yours was a wonderful day. Thanks for stopping by!

Sympathy Card

Here is a sympathy card I made recently. While my initial thought was that it might be a little to bright, I think it will be OK under the right circumstances. Anyway, I am happy to say we didn't need it at the time I made it. Rather, it's a card for my stash.

I used Stampin' Up's Elements of Style and  Impression Obsession's Sympathy Sentiments stamp sets. I also used a new-to-me embossing folder, Framed Tulips from Stampin' Up. The image was colored with Copic markers.



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How was your weekend? Regardless of my plan to stay awake yesterday, I "dropped" relatively early - right after I laid little Mari down for a nap late yesterday morning, and I slept until almost 10 o'clock last night. So much for getting back into a regular routine. LOL.

With school out for the summer, Bjorn and Mathias will be spending Mondays and Tuesdays and Thursday and Friday afternoons with us every other week. I am so looking forward to having this time with them. They are growing up so fast.

I hope you have a wonderful week. Thanks for stopping by!

Good Morning!

Happy Weekend! Here is a card I made a couple of days ago. It is based on CPS #220, which is the current sketch on the Card Positioning Systems blog. There are Pop Dots under the small flower, and the ribbon is black velvet. I used Close To My Heart's Dreams Come True and Say in in Style stamp sets.



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Usually, when I get done with work at 7 am, I come home and go to bed. Today, I am trying something different. I'm staying up until ... Well, until I drop over. LOL. My thoughts are that if I can stay up all day and go to bed at a "normal" time tonight, I will fall back into a regular routine more easily. Besides, Mari is here today, and  Grandma doesn't want to waste time in bed when there is a baby to play with! And she's a busy baby, too, reaching for everything and hard to keep in one spot for very long.

In other news, I took three hours of vacation time last night, so Mom and I could attend the season's first Community Arts Council production. A one-woman musical comedy , "Blame it on the Walleye" was most enjoyable.

Do you have plans for the weekend? We're hoping for nice weather - warm and sunny - for no reason other than the fact we are due. So far, the really nice days have been interspersed with cool/cold and wet.

Whatever you're doing, I hope you enjoy yourself. Take care, friends. I'll be "seeing" you again soon.



Shamefully Simple

The UPS man brought be a small, albeit heavy, package from Stampin' Up on Tuesday. The contents included a Little Leaves Sizzlits die. Of course, I wanted to try it out right away and did so with a scrap of Topiary cardstock. As the block of time I had to make a card was small, I simply glued the leaves to a piece of White Daisy textured cardstock and added a somewhat centered sentiment. Here is my CAS 10-minute card.

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One workday/night down, two to go. Last night was productive and relatively uncomplicated. What it was I photographed, I don't really know, but whatever it was, I didn't have to tell those little electronic components to smile or sit still. LOL.

And now, it's off to the shower. I hope you are having a wonderful week. "See" you soon!

What's with the Runaway Calendar?

Is it just me, or did May fly by with incredible speed? Darn. LOL. Seriously, I'm good. How 'bout you?

Here's a card I made last week. I used Close To My Heart's new (and very sweet) Baby Love set and Sophia paper packet. The card is based on this sketch, which was featured recently on the Clean & Simple Stamping blog.



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So, what's happening in my runaway life?  It seem like there has been something going on nearly every day for the past couple of weeks.

For now, I need to sign off and get a few things done before work. With a few cards made and "in reserve," I should be stopping back over the course of the next few days. I hope so, because when I'm not blogging, I am missing my blogosphere buddies. A lot.

Happy Hump Day!

Hump Day has definitely lost its significance for me. Instead of my work week being half over, Wednesday is my Monday. I'm cool though and actually looking forward to going to work in a few minutes.

This has been a two-funeral week for the husband again. The 95-year-old  mother of a friend on Monday and a 67-year-old friend yesterday. Today, he's playing golf, and I'm glad.

I had one sympathy card for him to use and about 15 minutes to make another one. Here's what I came up with. Soothing green is my favorite color for sympathy cards. I used my Three Ferns stamp from Hero Arts and Impression Obsession's Sympathy Sentiments set.



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 I think I mentioned the word "projects" in my last post. Well, that's what I've been doin' for the past couple of days. And the project I've been working on is one I've mentioned so many times, it is embarrassing. I finally painted my kitchen chairs - with the first coat anyway. I know, too, why those chairs were first green for a long time and then green with some dark red primer on them for a few years. As ugly as they were, I put up with them for so long, because I really do not like to paint. Now, we will see how long it takes to apply the much needed second coat of black paint. As I am liking the way they look, it might not take very long - not years, anyway. LOL .

No, I had better go make myself something to eat - fortification for the long night ahead. I hope your week is going well. "See" you soon.

Just Because

Happy Monday! The very best thing about my job is the fact that I don't have to work on Mondays. It makes being tired on Saturdays worthwhile. I know. I'm weird. LOL.

Today's card is one I put together last night with an image I colored (with Copics) a while back. The flowers are from Penny Black's Flower Gallery set. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Mixed Messages set. Instead of searching for patterned paper to coordinate with the flowers, I "Cuttlebugged" a piece of Hollyhock cardstock using Stampin' Up's Square Lattice embossing folder.



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The weather is absolutely beautiful here today - 66 degrees with no clouds in sight. I think spring has finally sprung in the frozen tundra. It's a good thing as summer (according to the calendar) is little more than a month away.

I don't have anything else to report, because I haven't done much so far today. That, however, is about to change. As much as I would rather be outside, that isn't where the housework and projects are, so I'll have to settle for windows wide open. I hope you are having a fantastic day. "See" you tomorrow.