Texas

I'm from Texas, and I'll be the first to admit that for the most part, Texans are snobs as far as state pride goes.  We are a friendly bunch, that is for sure, but we are raised to believe that there is no better place to live than Texas.

I remember going on out-of-state trips with my family and we'd stop at every state line to take our picture sitting on the marble stone carving of the state.  When we would return back, my dad would always comment that he sure felt better once we crossed back into Texas.  Home.  We were home.  Even though we were still 600 miles from home, at least we were in Texas. 

Late in her life, my grandmother traveled to Philadelphia to see my cousin get married.  Philadelphia.  You really don't get more historic than that city.  Upon completing her tour of the main, historical sites, she looked at my uncle and said, "We have better history in Texas." 

Wow.  See - snobby.

I can't say that I am doing anything differently in raising my son.  We touched down at DFW airport after spending a week in California.  What does he say to me?  "Texas.  Home, sweet home." 

We toured the Capitol building this weekend along with the Texas State History Museum.  In the gift shop I spied a magnet that I knew I had to get for my sister.  It had a quote on it that we have heard and spoken many times growing up.  I grabbed it.  Then I saw another one with a different design and the same quote.  I couldn't decide which I wanted to get for her, so I did what anyone else would do.  I bought both.  She recently purchased a new house, so I thought it would be fitting to get her a little something - complete with a card.

Here's my card:

PTI:  Scattered Showers, Wreath for All Seasons, Woodgrain IP

The magnet?  Well, it's a famous quote by Davy Crockett spoken after he lost a United States Congress election.  It summed up how my dad felt about Texas, and I suppose I do too.

Here are the magnets:

I know.  Snobby.

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place today.  I won't be such a snob tomorrow, when I have a very, very special post honoring one of my favorite blogging friends - and she's not even from Texas.

P.S.

Love you!

I submitted three cards to the recent Paper Crafts publication call, and one of them got picked up.  I can't show that one to you now, but I will show you one that didn't make it into the issue.

This one didn't make it:

The theme for the call was Valentine cards since the issue will be for January/February.

I used Kim Wilson's set titled Everything's Owlright.  I stamped the owls on Kraft, red and pink cardstock and paper pieced them onto the moon, which was impressed with the canvas impression plate from PTI.  The heart stamp, sentiment, cloud and heart tag are also from PTI.  

(Click for link.)

Last night I  finished a HUGE project - my son's Kindergarten year scrapbook which was done with Project Life.  I began last year on June 1 and continued it through this last May.  When I picked it back up to finish, I had only printed pictures from January through April, and hadn't done any journaling.  So, I had to sort pictures, insert them, write dates and journaling for the five missing months.  Then, I had to select pictures for all of May and get those printed also.  There were a LOT of blank places that didn't have pictures, but I had to get over that and just cut patterned paper and inserted the pieces into the sleeves.  MOVE ON!  

I didn't fancy anything up in the project like some people are doing. I used what was in the kit with only a couple of extra pieces of paper.  If I do it again for another year, I think I'll be able to use more embellishments and make it more my style.  But for now, I'm just happy that I have pictures, journaling and mementos all in one place.  

When I began this project last summer, I knew it would be an important year to capture.  Kindergarten, after all, is a huge milestone.  Little did I know just how important documenting this particular year would be.  It's been a huge life-changing year for our family, and I have it all in one little big binder.  And that is what scrapbooking is all about - keeping track of our history.

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Thank you, Amber Ink!

I have had a blast working with the girls at Amber Ink for this month.  If you head over to their blog here, you will see that it is time for me to pass to torch to the next torchbearer, a wonderful girl named:

Suzanne!

She is ready to grab the torch and run with it.  You will be amazed at her ability to use patterned paper, combine different patterns perfectly and use different color combos that you have never thought about.

She is a gem inside and out.  Go and visit her blog

(Click to be amazed!)

and welcome her to the group.  You may want to bookmark her blog or add it to your Reader, because believe me, you don't want to miss a thing she posts!

Again, thanks to Amber Ink!  Your products are amazing and I appreciate the time you gave to me to design projects for you!

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Make It Monday 25

 

Here's my THIRD post today!

Heather challenged us to use our Fresh Snow ink to color in images.  After looking through my stamps for a good outlined image, I finally settled on Flower Garden.  If you follow me at all, you know it's my favorite floral set.  FAVORITE!

I stamped it in green and colored it in with Fresh Snow ink.  Then I used my kraft knife to cute out a couple of the petals so that I could tuck in the white panel.  I thought the loop on the sentiment went perfectly with the loops in the vines.  

You can see Heather's video and play along if you click here. 

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place...again!

Papertrey Ink's July Blog Hop!

This is my second post for the day.  I know.  Crazy.  Please scroll down to see the first one!

This month's inspiration for Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop is this amazing photo: 

Nichole said:  "Look closely and there are so many directions to go in!  You can choose to focus on the colors, the motifs or the overall design!"

I think I focused on the colors and the design for my project.  I love Papertrey Ink's colors of Ocean Tides, Aqua Mist and Orange Zest.  So, I used those colors, along with a technique Nichole challenged us to use in the Stamp-a-faire Challenge #10.  It is to add a stamped focal point over a stamped background, all in the same layer!

Here's my card for the Blog Hop and the Stamp-a-faire challenge:

You can play along with both challenges by heading over to Nichole's blog here. 

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place today!

Wishing You Sunshine - Amber Ink!

Today is my last day as Torch Bearer for Amber Ink, and I have one more project to share with you.  This one is for a sketch challenge over at Stamp, Scrap and Doodle.  You can see the details and play along with this week's challenge if you click here.  The prize is a $15.00 gift certificate to Amber Ink.  With that kind of money, you can get A LOT of images, so it is worth the time to head on over and play along!

Here's the sketch for this week:

I wanted to use some more of Amber Ink's iPaper, so I printed out a sheet of their Boots and 'Brellas paper, used it to create a mat and a die cut umbrella.  Here's my card:

It's been a fun month being on Amber Ink's team.  I really learned a lot about digital images and am no longer skeptical about using them in my projects.  They offer a lot of versatility in color, sizes and orientation - and don't take up a lot of room.  If you haven't tried out digital images yet, head over to Amber Ink and get a few images and iPaper to get you started.

Here are all of my projects together:

I'll be back tomorrow to pass the torch on to a fabulous cardmaker.  Just wait and see what she does with Amber Ink's products!

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Christmas in July with Amber Ink

It's been a busy week at Amber Ink this week!  Were you able to hop along for the big birthday bash? Winners are announced over on the Amber Ink blog.  You can click here to see if you won.  Good luck!

This week, Amber Ink is sponsoring the challenge at Christmas Stampin' All Year Long.  With temperatures soaring over 100 degrees lately, it was nice to think of a cooler time of year for just a bit.  The challenge this week is to create a card with our favorite color(s).  My favorite color is green, so this was pretty easy to pull off with a Christmas theme. 

Here's my card using Amber Ink's images from 'Tis the Season:

To get started, I printed the Holiday Cheer Green iPaper, then put it back in the printer and printed the tree image over the green.  Then I printed the tree image on white paper and then Kraft.  After cutting out the image from the green and white papers, I adhered the white paper down on the Kraft mat and applied some glue and glitter to make it sparkle.  Then I used some dimensionals to adhere the tree and give it some lift.  The star on top is also from the 'Tis the Season set.

After stamping the sentiment, adding the ribbon and some ink on the edges, I was finished.

Here's a close-up so you can get a better view of that new, awesome iPaper from Amber Ink:

If you want to play along with this week's challenge at Christmas Stampin' All Year Long and maybe win some awesome goodies from Amber Ink, click here.

I'll be back tomorrow for my last project as a torch bearer!

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Happy Birthday, Amber Ink!

Are you here for the party?  It's a big one isn't it? Amber Ink is one-year old and I am lucky enough to be celebrating with them.  Here's what they have to say:

Twelve short months ago

we made our big debut,
So now we'd like to commemorate
our 1st birthday with you!

This flash mob of torchbearers
always light our way.
Won't you please jog along
on our special day?

Leave your comments here and there
over the next 48
On Friday we'll announce the loot
Don't wait...let's CELEBRATE!

So, come on - visit each blog listed below, leave a comment and then go back to Amber Ink on Friday to see if you are a prize winner!  Easy peasy!  

Here's my birthday card for Amber Ink:

The train images are new from Amber Ink - even the hearts and the stars are in the set.  I loved using Photoshop to color the images and flip them around the way I wanted.  I cut out each piece and popped them up on the white panel.  The gingham paper is from Amber Ink as well.

I hope you enjoy the hop over the next couple of days.  Sit back, relax and be prepared to be inspired.  Here's a list of the hoppers:

Card Camp - Week 4

I love this week's color combo at Summer Card Camp!  Blues and greens - awesome!  It's been a fun four weeks of camp with a ton of inspiration, videos, color combos and wonderful prizes!  I'm hoping to keep all the PDFs in a file and look to them when I need an extra push to create.

Here's my card I created last night:

I used ink and a soft cloth to create the sky and grass on a piece of Vintage Cream cardstock.  After stamping and coloring in the leaves of the tree, I added Glossy Accents to give them some dimension.  The bird is die-cut from Blueberry Sky paper with a few Stickles on the wing for sparkle.  The three flowers have some sparkle to them as well since I colored them in with my Sakura Stardust pen.  I added some texture in the clouds by running them through my Big Shot with the Canvas Impression plate. 

This card is for a very special friend of mine, but I won't say who because sometimes she reads my blog.  She's getting ready for some changes in her career, and I want her to know I'm thinking about her.

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

 

Welcome Summer

I live in Texas.  It's hot.  In recent history, our hottest summer where I live was in 2009.  Temperatures skyrocketed to over 100 degrees 68 times that summer.  We were miserable.  Back then, we knew we would talk of it as the hottest summer ever.

Fast forward just 2 years.  Our temperatures reached over 90 degrees on April 1!  We knew then that it would be a record-setting summer.  Now, the middle of July, we have reached over 100 degrees 31 times already.  On this same date back in 2009, the hottest summer ever, we had "only" reached that point 28 times.  We are ahead of schedule. 

So, this week's challenge at Wee Memories was to create a Summertime themed project.  This wasn't hard for me to do since I've been living in summertime since April 1.  You can get all the information here.   

Here's what I came up with:

See that gingham paper?  Everyone wants/needs gingham paper, right?  It's from Amber Ink.  You can get it here.  They have several colors, and are super-easy to work with. 

I wanted to go for a bright, colorful card, and I wanted to use the cherry set from Fruit Fusion.  It had gone uninked for too long.  The banner die is from Spellbinders.  After embossing it in my Big Shot, I left it in the die and sponged some ink over the parts that were showing.  This gives the banner a little edge to it, which I love.

Cherries are my favorite summer fruit.  I get them as often as possible, as long as they aren't $5.00 a pound.  

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!  See you tomorrow!

Card Camp Week 3

This is another card for this week's Make It Monday, where Dawn inspired us to create pockets as focal points for our cards.  You can see the video and sample cards by clicking here.

I'm in my 3rd week of the Summer Card Camp classes with Kristina Werner and Jennifer McGuire.  The videos, tutorials, samples are colors are very inspiring.   I love this week's color combo! 

Red with cream and brown is a favorite combo for me, but three shades of brown was a bit difficult. I think I was able to pull it off with the use of some real wood birch paper.

Here's my card:

The idea behind the Make It Monday challenge is to use the edger dies from Papertrey Ink to create the borders.  I don't have any edger dies and turn my head quickly from my monitor anytime I see one used - and chant in my head, "I do not need that.  I do not need that."  I tried that with the impression plates too, but now I own a half-dozen of those.  Maybe I'll be stronger about the edgers.

So, I used a punch - and one of my favorites.  I know I've told you how much I love the grass punch from Fiskars I used on my other Make It Monday card, but I also love this bracket border punch from EK Success.  It punches and embosses. 

It's also the same shape as the side of Mat Stack 4 - a happy coincidence.  So that is what I used as my tag that fits in my pocket.

I'm hoping to get another card done for the Card Camp before Sunday night!  We'll see if time is on my side!

Tomorrow I'll be back with a summery card for Jenny's Wee Memories Challenge!  Should be fun!

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

More Amber Ink

I know I promised you another Make It Monday card using the colors from this week's Card Camp, but I couldn't wait.  I wanted to post a new project from Amber Ink, using this Pink Blossom iPaper and this cute sentiment. 

 

Have I told you how awesome Amber Ink's paper is once you actually have it in your sweet, little hands?  Wow!  I am still amazed about how well it prints and looks on projects.  I love the Pink Blossom paper, along with the Green Blossom paper I showed a couple of weeks ago.  It is very happy paper and I loved using it!

I die cut several flowers from one copy of the paper, printed another piece (because it's right there on my hard drive and I don't have to worry about wasting a precious piece!) to create the bottom panel.  Can you see the stitching?  I stitched around the entire mat with yellow thread.

The sentiment is very fun with that little heart in the middle of the "O."  Little details like that make Amber Ink products FUN to work with!

Go. Check. Them. Out.  (here)

OK - so TOMORROW - I will have that other card I told you about!  Promises, promises.

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Make It Monday-Pockets

It has been awhile since I was able to participate in a Make It Monday challenge, so I wanted to make sure and get a head start on Dawn's challenge this week.  You can see the video and sample cards by clicking here. 

Dawn challenged us to use edger dies to create pockets as focal points on our cards.  I don't have any edger dies...yet...so I opted to use a border punch - my favorite one right now, the grass punch from Fiskars.

Here is my first card for this week's challenge:

I used patterned paper from Echo Park to create the sky portion of the card, and Jillibean Soup to create the ground, lilly pad and leaves for the flower. The flower was die cut with Vintage Cream and Ocean Tides felt.

Here's a picture of the little tag I created for the pocket.  It's intended to be a bookmark for my little boy.  He's totally into chapter books right now, specifically The Boxcar Children books, so I thought I'd create something special for him to use.

I popped the frog on the lilly pad up with pop dots so that he would slide into the pocket and over the grass.

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!  I'll be back tomorrow with another pocket card using the colors from this week's Summer Card Camp!

Hello Friend!

This is my third card for this week's camp.  I'm hoping to dig out some patterned paper and see if I can get one more in for this week.  For this card, I kept it simple using dies, an impression plate and buttons.

I talked myself out of the Sunshine Impression plate from PTI so many times I can't even count them. So glad that I finally left it in my cart.  It's one of my favorites.

The only hard part about this card was threading the twine through the buttons - that took some time, but I like them better with the twine.  Do you have a preference for buttons - with twine or without?  I'd love to know what you think!

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Apple of My Eye!

This is my second card for this week's Summer Card Camp.  I haven't gotten around to using any patterned paper for the challenge yet - maybe later. 

I haven't had a chance to play around with my Fruit Fusion stamps and dies that I got from PTI yet, so I knew I wanted to use them.  Seems that every time I go to the produce section, I see every color of apple imaginable, so I thought now would be a good time to use the apple set.  Even though technically, apples are a fall fruit!

Here's my card:

I'm also going to link this card to my blog group's challenge:

Deena's challenge is to use a background stamp.  In my card I used Background Basics: Tin Type from PTI.  I love how it echoes the pattern in the apple!  You should come play along with us.  We have challenges every couple of weeks - just for fun, no pressure.  Here's the link to our blog. 

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!  I'll be back tomorrow with one more card for this week's camp.