Hoppy Day!

Today's card is a very special card.  It's my son's birthday card.  He turns 6 tomorrow - Wednesday, May 18th.  He was born on a Wednesday at 5:55 p.m. after I was in labor for 20 hours.  I had an epidural at 5:55 a.m.  (or thereabouts).  

I went into labor on Tuesday night about 10:00, the day before I was going to be induced, so we were getting ready for the family to descend on us arrive. I was dusting the furniture upstairs when I stood up and my water broke.  I thought I had peed my pants, and was mad I had one more thing to deal with before bedtime.  After I realized that I hadn't, I was relieved, and called to my husband to get the phone and call the doctor.  My husband was as cool as a cucumber throughout the entire experience.  That was his Method of Operation.  He hardly ever got frazzled at anything.  He was an engineer, logical thinker, analytical.  

We arrived at the hospital, checked in and got settled.  I tried to go as long as I could with natural labor, but I knew from the beginning that I'd get an epidural.  After being up 7 hours in labor, we were both exhausted, and there wasn't an end in sight.  The doctor did the epidural in the dark.  That's how good he was.  We got some sleep and began calling friends and family later that morning.  They were all coming anyway, they just had to speed things up a bit.  I was upset that I hadn't gotten the pedicure I had planned to get.

I ended up having to have a C-section early in the evening.  The boy just wasn't going to go down any further than he already was, and my doctor was getting nervous about time.  My water had been broken too long and she wanted to go and get him.  He wasn't in distress or anything; he just needed another way out.

I will spare you the details of the surgery.  I'll just say that there were a couple of things that I wished someone had told me before I went in.  Now, anytime someone I know is pregnant, I tell them what I wish I had known, just in case they end up having a C-section.  

The first thing that my doctor said when she saw my son was, "Oh, Lee Anne, he has strawberry-blond hair!"  I said, "I know!!"  Even though I hadn't seen him yet.  I had dreamed two or three times that my little boy was a blondy.  Mother's know.  (It turns out that the cord was wrapped around the neck two times, which is why he didn't get any further.  Thank God I had a C-section!)

My grandmother used to say that when she was pregnant with my dad, she used to tell everyone, "I just want a son that looks just like his Daddy."  So, I continued that tradition and said it to everyone all the time.  My husband was handsome, so this would be a winning situation.  

The first thing my husband said to me after seeing our son was, "You got your wish.  He looks just like me."  Oh, I was thrilled.  And he did.  My husband's hospital picture and my son's hospital picture are almost identical.  It is frightening. 

Fast forward six years.  Here we are.  For those of you who have been around for the last few months, you can imagine that tomorrow is not going to be as happy as it should for me, but I will try to make the best of it.  It starts with a card in the morning, a present in the bathroom, one at the kitchen table, one in his carseat and so forth.  He'll be happy with the presents, but he's a pretty smart dude.  He knows something is missing.  He'll say something, no doubt.  But tomorrow is about being happy, not sad, right?

So, here's my son's card:

Inside:

If you've made it this far in the post, you probably don't want to know all the steps to make the card.  Suffice it to say that dies, impression plates, and punches were all involved in the process.  None were hurt in the making of this card, however.

I'm submitting this card to two challenges:  This week's challenge at Off the Wall Craftiness (again!) and this week's challenge at CAS-ual Friday(again!).  You should join in on the fun at both challenges!  I'm thankful for these challenges because they provided me with ideas and a starting place for this special card. 

Here's their inspiration:

 

Thanks so much for visiting My Happy Place!

Peas, Love, Happiness

This card is for two challenges - both of which are near and dear to my heart.  I've loved Off the Wall Craftiness since I found it.  Kim's color combos are amazing, and some put me out of my comfort zone.  Love that.   Here is her inspiration again for this week's challenge, in case you forgot it since yesterday:

By the way, as I was tucking in my son tonight, I realized why I like this combo so much.  It's the one that he has on his bedspread.  Funny!

The other challenge that I love is the new one, CAS-ual Friday.  I love being able to be comfortable completing a CAS card.  I usually only have about 20 minutes to work in the evening since I do so while my son is bathing.  It's always a good thing when he wants to splash around a little bit longer.  Here's this week's challenge at CAS-ual Friday:

 

Buttons and twine...I can get into that!  

Here's my card:

I used some of my new stamps from Paper Smooches - Vegtastic - for this card.  The peas and sentiment came from them.  I paperpieced the peas from the Bitty Dot Basics in Simply Chartreuse (Papertrey Ink) and then cut the peas out from a solid piece and popped them up to give them some dimension.  The circle stamp is from Wilson Designs - Everything's Owlright - I heat embossed it to give it a little shine.  

After securing down all of the paper, I threaded all the buttons with Rustic White twine.  

By then, bath time was over, and I had to be done.  So this is what I accomplished.  I should rename my blog, "What I accomplish during bathtime!"

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

 

OTWC #53

This week's color combo at Off the Wall Craftiness is one of my favorites! Here is Kim's inspiration she found for us:

Kraft - with anything - you can't really go wrong.  Add in the green and blue and it is perfect for summer.  Beautiful green grass - beautiful blue skies.

Here's my card using Kim's set Everything's Owlright.

I have 3 friends at school with birthdays this week.  This will go to one of them!

I used Aqua Mist and Simply Chartreuse from Papertrey Ink for the color combo.  The grass is a piece of patterned paper from Jillibean Soup.  I paperpieced Kim's cute owl using Kraft paper and for the belly, I stamped and cut it from Aqua Mist again.  The little tag and leaves are from PTI, and the flowers were part of a Mother's Day gift from my blogging friend, Renee! Thanks, Renee! (You should go and visit her blog.  I've been on the receiving end of some of her creations.  Not only is she amazingly talented, but she can write a story that will have you laughing out loud.)  Go...go now!

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

You're Too Kind

This is the second time I'm posting this project, because the first post was deleted by Blogger.  Funny - it happened on today, Friday the 13th.  Coincidence?

Here's my second submission to the CAS-ual Friday challenge using Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream, Kraft and JilliBean Canvas Flowers:

Here's a close-up of the flowers that you have to go buy right now!

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place...again.  And seeing the same project...again.  Did anyone else's get messed up?

Make It Monday 14

This week's Make It Monday was brought to us by Erin Lincoln.  It involves "selective inking," not be confused with "selective hearing" that my almost-six-year-old suffers from.  (It's a dreadful disease!) Erin encourages us to stop the masking and use selective inking when you need a stamp to stamp in different colors.

Lisa Johnson's Life set is made for this technique!  I've used it several times with this technique.  Here's my latest - again using colors from Play Date Cafe this week, but I think I've reached my limit in submissions for them this week:

I stamped the leaves in Ripe Avocado and then the blooms were stamped in Orange Zest with a little Pure Poppy rolled on the edges.  After I got the color down, I stamped the blooms again in Versamark and embossed them with my new Holographic embossing powder.

Then I scored the frame to highlight the images.

The sentiment is also done with the selective inking technique Erin is highlighting this week.  The orange part of the sentiment is one long strip, but I wanted it on two lines, so I only inked it up a little at a time. 

Another fun week at PTI.  This challenge along with the big release week has me losing some sleep!  What's on your Wish List?  I haven't taken the plunge with Year Of Flowers yet, so the mini-set looks very appealing.  I also love the Fruit Fusion, all the Floral Fusion, Think Big and Tag Its sets!  I thought I would take it easy this month, but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen!

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Here are a couple of other cards I've made with Life and selective inking.

 

 

No One Like You

Once again, I'm hooked on the color combination from Play Date Cafe this week.  It's a great combo, and one I never really would have put together.  Here's their inspiration photo:

I wanted to use some Paper Smooches stamps that I haven't had a chance to ink up yet.  I chose the pepper for this card:

I stamped the pepper on Pure Poppy and Orange Zest cardstock.  After stamping the large Gingham strip, I added the piece of Pure Poppy rik-rak.  I wanted it to look kind of like a happy picnic.  The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set and is stamped on one of the Double Ended Banner dies. 

Here's a close-up of the orange pepper - popped up a bit for emphasis:

We have several teachers & staff leaving our campus this year due to budget cuts and life-changing events, so I'm trying to get some cards made to send them off with smiles. This one goes in that stack. I better get busy; we only have 12.5 days left in this school year - but who's counting?

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Casual Friday #1

There's a new challenge blog!  Did you hear?  I'm thrilled about the theme of the blog too - it's all about CAS (clean and simple) and it's called "CAS-ual Fridays!"  It doesn't hurt that two of my PTI forum friends are on the design team, either.  I've admired their work and styles for a long time!  (Waving at Laurie and Dana!!)

This week is the first challenge from the blog and it's all about adding text to your project:

GREAT challenge and a great way to kick off this blog.  You can see the details and all the entries for this week here.  I loved the typewriter in the image, and wanted to use my stamp from Hero Arts that I HAD to have back in December.  It does not get enough love, that is for sure.

Here's my card:

Is it still CAS if I cut out the image and put buttons on the typewriter?  I hope so.  I curled the paper coming out of the typewriter a little so it would pop off the base a little.  I love Kraft with red and black.  I don't use it enough either.

I'm excited about this new blog and can't wait for the next challenge!

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Play Date Cafe #80

This week's challenge at the Play Date Cafe is beautiful!  Here's the link to play along, and here's the inspiration photo:

You don't see red paired with orange too often, so this was a bit of a challenge.  I've seen a lot of designers using white panels on white card bases lately, and haven't tried it yet.  I gave it a try with this challenge and here's how it ended up:

I used the Vineyard Impression plate from Papertrey Ink on the card base, and cut the panel for the flowers on a 4x4 square.  After I stamped the flowers, I added some holographic embossing powder to the images to give them a bit of shimmer.  The bow is made from Orange Zest satin ribbon and the little tag is from PTI's Tiny Tags set and die. 

I'm considering a couple of other cards with this color combo, but have to take a nap first before I attempt them! 

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Bee Happy!

I love the new line of stamps from Paper Smooches!  I want them all, but since I have a child to clothe and feed, I have resisted the urge to order them!  Kim also provides her blog readers with some digital stamps too!  Love that!

I wanted to use the chubby little bee digi-stamp for a card, but I wasn't sure exactly how it was going come together.  So, last night, before I went to bed, I colored the bees with Aquacolor pencils, and then outlined the eyes and colored in the wings and stingers with my Sakura Stardust pen.  After adding some Glossy Accents to the eyes to help them stand out, I let them sit overnight.

This morning, I wasn't really sure where to go from there.  Then I saw a fabulous sketch at Unscripted Sketches, and everything seemed to fit together for me.

Here's my card using Kim's digi-stamps and the sketch:

Here's a close-up of one of the little cuties.  Hopefully, you can see the accents and sparkle on him:

This was a super-fun card to make! 

Thanks so much for visiting My Happy Place!

More Wee Memories

Did I tell you that I loved paper-piecing?  LOVE IT!  I think I love it so much because by stamping on patterned paper, I really don't have to color in the images, which takes some time.  Time.  We all need more time, don't we?  Boy, there's a blog post waiting to happen - really an entire blog should be devoted to that topic, but then, who has the time for that?

I digress.

I love paper piecing and wanted to play along again with Jenny @ Wee Memories this week.  I had a little "sussie" to give to one of my friends at school, and wanted a cute tag to go along with it.  Here it is:

Do the bugs make you giddy?  Good! They should, because they are from Paper Smooches "Giddy Bugs" set.   Oh, they are cute, cute, cute, and perfect to paper-piece!

Here's a closeup where you can see the sparkle in the sentiment and on the lightning bug:

I'm blessed to have friends to which I can give gifts.  I hope she likes it.

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Paper Dolls #36

Jen Carter has recently brought us a wonderful challenge at the Paper Dolls Blog.  It's really no surprise to me because I have always admired Jen's creative color combos that she comes up with for her projects.  Here is the inspiration photo that she used for the challenge - and she also bought the fabulous quilt!

I love quilts.  I sleep with an old, old handmade quilt every night, so I loved this photo and want to go and find this quilt for myself.

Here's what I came up with:

I used the stamp set Sending You from Papertrey Ink and stamped the flowers in Hawaiian Shores and Pure Poppy.  The leaves were stamped in Simply Chartreuse.  After stamping the sentiment and matting the panel on Hawaiin Shores, and then mounting it on Harvest Gold, I filled in the centers with some yellow stickles, which had to be left to dry for quite some time.

It looks a little "folksy" to me, which is something I haven't really ever tried.

You should come and play along with this challenge by clicking here.  All of the Dolls' challenges are open for quite awhile and anyone can play along.  We are just trying to have fun and enable each other!  Join us!  The more the merrier!

Thanks for visiting My Happy Place!

Wee Memories & Play Date Cafe

As I promised yesterday, I have another card using the AWESOME color challenge from this week's Play Date Cafe.  You can click here for the challenge information.  Here's the inspiration photo:

I also wanted to play in the Wee Memories challenge for the week, which is paper piecing.

 
I LOVE paper piecing!  It may be my favorite stamping technique.  Here's what I came up with for these two challenges:

This card has so much of what I love!  Scattered Showers stamp set from Papertrey Ink, Fiskars grass border punch, paper piecing, polka dots, dies, and a little bling.

I die cut the clouds from the white cardstock and matted it with the grey patterned paper so it could peek out from behind.  I paper-pieced the umbrella using Bitty Dot Basics from PTI.  After I secured everything and stamped the sentiment, I felt like there was too much white space, so I added the silver beads to resemble rain drops.  I was really happy with how it turned out.

Here's the inside:

I hope you have some time to play along with these two challenges! Thanks for taking the time to visit My Happy Place!