Blue Roses

Tonight's post will be short! I didn't realize how late it had gotten, and my bubbles are gently calling me. Okay, I lied - the bubbles are yelling at me to get my act together or they will give me the "chilly treatment". I do have a good excuse though - the Cardinal's were winning a ball game, and desperately needed me to cheer them on. You know me and my baseball...


Sadly, a couple of sisters that I know lost their mother this week, so I needed to make them each a sympathy card. I chose to use this pretty soft CS that I bought at our LSS, O'Dear, What a Memory. It's double sided (plaid on the reverse), and is made by Chatterbox. I love the softness of the pattern. The sentiment stamp, by Verses Rubber Stamps, was purchased by my friend Shirley, from Inkeined to Stamp, and she kindly let me borrow it. The rose, is a beautiful stamp from Inkadinkado. The ink is Denim Blue, by Adirondack. The totally perfect bows were made with my fabulous Bow Easy that Shirley gave me for my birthday.


Sympathy cards, like CAS, are very hard for me. I'm always tempted to run to Hallmark, because I sit and stare at my CS and stamps, and just draw blanks. With that in mind, I think these turned out pretty. I hope you like it.


Thanks for stopping by. Off I go to my hot, well warm, or maybe lukewarm bubble bath! My job tomorrow is a full day of paperwork for DH!


Well, goodnight all - see you soon!


Patti J.

Thinking of You

Well, as the sun is mostly out today, hopefully some of my driveway will melt off! Keep your fingers crossed! My thoughts are with all of you that have mountains of the beautiful white fluffy stuff!

I have a short post today! Here is a card that I made from some scraps for a small workshop I am doing soon. I would love to know what you think!

The sentiment stamp is an Inkadinkado, which I purchased at O'Dear's. I used Versafine black ink. The background stamp is also Inkadinkado, purchased at The Red Rooster.

Have a great Thursday! I'm off to get a shower, check out your blogs, and then to

work on some more samples for the workshop!

Patti J.

Food for thought: If you look like the picture on your passport, you probably need the trip!

A Little Birdie Told Me...

You are all special! I appreciate every one of you!

DS is back from his vacation in Hawaii, the Cardinal's won and are now in 1st place, DD and DH are safe and sound, and today was a pretty decent day at work. I actually have some energy left over, so I think I'm going to do a little creating, and then work on our monthly reports for a couple of hours. Hopefully, UE will keep our power up and running so I can be on the computer!

I hope you enjoy this card. I made it for the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge, and I'm pretty happy with it. I flipped the card upside down, and side to side. I just happened to have a buckle punch, and decided to use it. I just love the DP - it's by The Scrapbook Wizard, and I picked it up the last time I was at O'Dear's. Cute DP and a great sketch just makes it so easy to figure out what to make! The Stamps are the cutest little set by Hero Arts. My friend Shirley gave me this set in one of her many 'goodie' packages she sends my way! (She's the best!) I am beginning to get the hang of clear stamps, and I'm really diggin' them. I love how you can see exactly where you want to place your image!



Speaking of cute stamps, OMG, have you seen the newest sets at Gina K. Designs? I'm lovin' the sports set that Melanie designed! (Bet you can't guess that it includes baseball stuff???)

I just finished this card for the first ever Polkadoodles Challenge! Hope you like it!

Well, I guess I need to get to my workspace and crank out another challenge - today IS Wednesday, after all, and a couple of these are due on Thursday!

Have a great night!

Patti J.
~The best exercise for the heart is reaching down and lifting someone else up.

Give a girl an inch....

AND she will make "Inchies" - lol!

Shirley, my friend, and I went down to O'Dear's today and took an "Inchies" class!

We had SO much fun! Our heads are just reeling with ideas. We had both 'piddled' with Inchie type things before, but had never been shown exactly what to do.

Well...Karin Braxton is a wonderful teacher, and had some beautiful projects for us to do. The 16 square black card could honestly be framed and hung on the wall. The photo's simply don't do it justice! There is one additional card that we didn't have time to do, so it was sent home with us for 'homework'!


And, as for O'Dear's, I certainly enjoy an 'excuse' to go there and shop! (I now have TWO sets of Spellbinder's!)...

Hope you have all enjoyed your Saturday so far! DD and DH left for St. Louis this a.m. about 5:30. She ran in a 5k race that was sponsored by the YMCA. She finished up just a few minutes before the rain began! Stan went on to get the oil changed in our little fun-mobile, and I went to my class. All is well with our world so far today!

Have a great night -


Patti J.

~We are the people our parents warned us about.

One and one...

Well, our beloved Redbirds are one and one on the season!

Pittsburgh wasn't very nice to them the first game, but we came back last night with a winner. I couldn't find the game televised, so was forced to flip between American Idol and Biggest Loser. I could, however, imagine how cute Yadier Molina looked when he hit his home run. He is so expressive - it's great fun to watch his face when he does something good!!!

My card tonight is for a Cuttlebug Challenge. The colors to be used were Kraft Card Stock, Black, and Ivory. There was no 'sketch', but it was to be kept fairly clean and simple. I chose to use the "D'Vine Swirl" Cuttlebug Embossing Folder on the large black oval and on the corners. I have had this great DP on hand by Design Originals. It's from the Linen Collection by Lisa Vallrath, and it was just screaming out to be used on this! There are several coordinating pages, of which I used a couple. This is just another one of those 'must haves' that I picked up at O'Dear's before Christmas! I used the Marvy Green and Pink scalloped oval punches, a paper flower, Kraft C.S., Palette Noir Ink, and a white pen and Gelly Roll Starburst pen. The stamps are from the Abundant Blessings set from Verve Stamps. I hope you like it! I love a monochromatic card, but am not very good at making them!

Have a good Wednesday night!

Patti J.
~Enthusiasm is the electricity of life. How do you get it? You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit. ~Gordon Parks

Challenges....

Before I get started rambling, there is a very talented 8 year old girl in the U.K. that has designed her very own card and posted it on her momma's blog. I think she did a fantastic job for as young as she is!!! If you get time today, please take a moment to visit Pat's blog, and leave Sarah an inspirational message! The blog is: http://clevercrafting.blogspot.com/

I am finding that I really enjoy the card challenges. It gives me an excuse to make something, and a sketch or main idea to work with. Sometimes, when I just sit and stare at paper and stamps, nothing happens!

This being said, the card I'm posting today is for The Corrosive Challenge #6 (Spring has Sprung) in which we were to use an Easter or Spring theme, AND for the Card Patterns challenge, which was to follow the given sketch (posted below also!). This was fun, trying to combine the two. I'm not crazy about the outcome, but I guess I'm not supposed to like them all!

The stamp sets are Fleur Birdies and Tag Tidbits, both by The Angel Company. The punches are by Marvy Uchida. The beautiful paper is Garden Party Green Floral Flat Glitter Paper, by K & Company. I picked it up on my last visit to O'Dear's. I can't wait until the 18th of April - am going down for a morning class, and will more than likely come back with a bag FULL of goodies!
Have a blessed Sunday - hope you get some rest, and some quality family time today.

Patti J.
~Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God. - Job 37:14

Love the Verve...

Hello Friends!

I must admit - the Verve stamps that I received this week are wonderful. They smell nice (really!), they stamp nicely, and I love that they are clear. The only thing bad about them is that I don't have the time to 'play' like I want to, and they certainly make me want to do so!

I stole just a few minutes away this a.m. and used some two sided DP to get something very quickly made up. I used the Abundant Blessings Set, and one of the Plain Janes (I can do all things...). The ink is TAC India Red and Pallette Noir. The two sided designer paper is by BIO (By Invitation Only) and is another great paper that I picked up at O'Dear's. I only had about 10 minutes to spare, so did no coloring or distressing : -( and you all know that I LOVE to distress!

Hope you like it - I'll have more time next week to explore this set further!

Happy Sunday - God Bless!

Patti J.

~Baseball is almost the only orderly thing in a very unorderly world. If you get three strikes, even the best lawyer in the world can’t get you off. (It's almost baseball season!!!!)

Happy Monday!

One down, four to go! Then we will have another weekend to bask in!

First of all, to any who prayed for Melissa's day to go well - thank you! She had a wonderful day, very much likes the new job, the people she is going to be working with, and the facility itself is overwhelmingly beautiful. Tami, today's first day on the job ring was the cute black one with the white stripes through it! (By the way chicka, we have some beads for you!!!)

Next, I just have to say that I've done some blog hopping the last few weeks, and I am so amazed and impressed by the wonderful folks out there that share the same love of paper, ink, stamps, ribbon, etc. The talent that I have seen is just incredible - God is indeed very good! I am reminded how good with every page I turn in "The Shack", which is what I am reading right now. I highly recommend it!



This card is Cloud Nine Designs Cardstock that I purchased at O'Dear's. The stamps are Angel Company, and the punch is a Martha Stewart border punch. The ink is Color Box Chalk Ink (Chestnut Roan), which I stamped and distressed the flower and all paper with.

Hope you like it!

I hope to have time to play the OCC Challenge again this week, but I have a ton of paperwork to do. It was a lot of fun to do the last couple of challenges. Many times, I'll come out and sit at my desk and not have any inspiration for a project. The challenges give inspiration, and a reason to be creating! I enjoy swaps for the same reason!

Happy Tuesday, hope to see you all tomorrow!

Patti J.
~Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good too.

Saturday - Gotta Love It!

My main man is on his way to New York to bring our DD and all of her belongings back to Mo. She's taken a job here in the area, and we are all pretty excited! She's been away for 10+ years, and we've missed her! She was even in Taipai, Taiwan for a full year, so we are not taking any of this for granted!

Since my DH is on a road trip, I've spent some time in the 'playroom' today! I wanted to create a card for the OCC Challenge this week, which was to make a card with a tag on the front, and one for the SCS Challenge this week, which was a pop-up card. Since time is a major issue for me, I made one card for both Challenges.

The stamps are all Angel Company. The bright delicious paper is some of the yummy Cloud 9 Designs that Deb O'Dear stocks in her store. The coloring was done with Kooh-I-Noor pencils and mineral spirits. It was pretty quick and easy! Hope you enjoy!

Patti J.

~Mama said there'd be days like this.....

Four in a Row...

Four in a row.... Days off, that is! I'm home sick today, so I guess I can't really count today, but I am just stubborn enough to do so anyway! Don't have to go back until Tuesday! For anyone working in education, the second semester is a killer. Not too many holidays, and very seldom any snow days. Makes for a long five months!

Hope you are all enjoying long weekends as well!

Yesterday, I made a quick card for a lady we know in Branson that has had surgery. She is an absolute sweetie, and I wanted something that had a bit of a 'blingy' feel for her. What should have been a very quick and easy surgery had her in the hospital for about a week. She's home now, and hopefully, will bounce back quickly. If you get a chance, send up a prayer or two for our Jean!

Here's what I made for her:

Card front

Cream background, blue layer (trimmed up with my cutter John got me for Christmas last

year - the little lighted one with the interchangeable blades! White layer was run through my Cuttlebug. Stamp is by: The Angel Company

The paper is by Cloud 9 Designs and is just yummy! I get it at O'Dear's! I used my Martha Stewart Scalloped Border Punch on both ends of the paper.

Card Inside - stamp is by: My Sentiments Exactly

Envelope - Stamp is by Stampendous.

I stamped and colored sentiment, and punched a piece of the cardstock with the Martha Stewart Scallop Border Punch.

I hope that you like it! I hope to get out into my workspace for a while tomorrow! Will try to post what I do. I think I'm going to ask for some Spellbinders (Nestabilities?) for my birthday! What fun!

Take care everyone! Have a nice weekend.

Patti J.

~I only play with paper on days that end in "Y"!