Things are happening in 3's!

Hello!

And the crazy card making extravaganza continues!  Got another three made yesterday.  Really though, I attribute this creative binge on ALL the new goodies I have received.  I'm just so excited to try out everything and thrilled that this results in so many new cards in my stash!

Card #1:

On this one, I actually started with the bird cage (Jane's Doodles), then added the little bird (TAWS), and then went on the hunt for a complimentary piece of patterned paper.  When I spotted this grey polka dotted little number I knew it was what I wanted to use.  Unfortunately though, my original design plan was a little different, so I sliced it up to work with that design.  Which I didn't end up liking.  Which was even more disappointing because that little 6x6 piece of patterned paper was the only one I had!  Dang it - I no longer had enough to cover the card front.  So after stressing, I decided to do some surgery!  I *tried* to mend two pieces back together!  Fortunately the pattern is a little wonky, so it made it a little easier to do this, but I can still totally tell :(  See if you can tell (it won't be hard to spot!!).

Card #2:

I wanted to try out my new triangle stencil with my HA mint julep ink.  Really love how the stenciling turned out, even though it is quite loud!  I'm not sure if the images I used were enough to tone it down a bit, but that's okay, I think it's kind of fun!

Card #3:

I've said before that I'm not big on pink, and I have no idea what led to all the pinkness on this card!  I hadn't planned on it.  I actually started with the sheep image, and then decided to frame him with the pink frame to pick up on the colours I used on her nose.  I tried to find some patterned paper to work with this and while I was searching for it, I switched gears and decided to use my other stencil with embossing paste.  I tinted the paste with pink.  I only picked it because I was experimenting with tinting and it happened to be the colour right in front of me.  So I went for it.  Then I thought it needed something else, so I used the same pink to highlight the edges of the card.  And voila, a very pink card!  I did add a bit of water to the edges to "water stain" the card just for a little extra something something.  I really wanted to use "ewe" in the sentiment, so made it a thank ewe card by white embossing on vellum with a PS banner and using the Lawn Fawn Milo's ABCs set to customize.

Well, that was a lot of yacking!!  A much longer post than I'd intended, but hope you liked it!  Really hoping to make more cards today...after I get a few chores done (they are in desperate need of doing! - cards have trumped cleaning hands down this week!).

Have a good day!
Shannon

A Trio

Hello!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!  We had a relatively quiet, but nice one.  My husband and I don't have kids, so traditionally we, along with my parents, meet at my sister's home to watch her three kids tear open the packages, followed by a family breakfast.  But we did break tradition for Christmas dinner.  In the past, we'd always spent it with my Mom's side of the family, but not this year.  We switched it up for the first time in 40 years and ended up spending it with my Dad's side of the family.  It was nice seeing and celebrating with them! 

Which brings me to my first card - a thank you to my cousin for having an extra nine people at her dinner table!  Here it is:

I used my HA chevron stencil with some lime green dylusions spray for the background, and just added that sweet little TAWS reindeer with a PS sentiment.  Easy peasy.

My second card is for a very good friend of mine who is a New Year's baby.  Here it is:

I spent forever trying to "arrange" these flowers, but finally got them just how I wanted them.  Not only did the arrangement take forever, so did cutting out each and every one of them (I still don't have a die cutting machine - but I have my name down for one now - so I'm *this* close to having one in my hot little hands!)!  But it was all worth it.  I really like how this one turned out.  All WPlus9.

And my third card:

I think I can honestly say this is one of my favourite cards I've ever made!  It just makes me happy!  It's a mish mash of all different products - any questions, just let me know!  Hope you like it as much as I do :)

Okay, I've kept you long enough!  Thank you so much for stopping by - I always love and appreciate it!!
Shannon

And...another two

Hello!

I don't know what's gotten into me, but whatever it is, I love it!  I've been crafting like crazy!  And having so much fun.  Here's are a few more cards for you to see  :)

Card #1:

I actually made this one a few weeks ago but forgot to post it.  I stamped it with my Momento Luxe inks - seriously, I love that ink - and also some new Savvy stamps I got in my last order.  I honestly thought my wood block / rubber stamp days were pretty much over.  I'm definitely a clear stamp kind of girl.  But when I saw these stamps, I couldn't resist - just thought they were so pretty, and so versatile!  The sentiment is PS, and I added a little Studio Calico wood veneer heart under the bow.

Card # 2:

I made this for the Case This Sketch Challenge #58.  Here's the sketch it was based on:

I promised myself that I would start playing along with challenges again in the new year, but I'm happy to say that I've jumped the gun a bit.  I've already done some for this week's PS Sparks challenge (it's an Anything Goes!), and now CTS!  I used in image from my new Mama Elephant baby-themed set for this one.  Love that little teddy!  I dressed her up with a little Lawn Fawn heart, and a little bow on her head from PS Woofers and Tweeters.  The sentiment is also PS from Sentiment Sampler.

Hoping to spend even more time playing this week.  All of my Christmas shopping is pretty much done and aside from some baking and cooking (oh, and cleaning too :( ) that needs to be done, I should have a little extra time to sneak into my card room :)

Until next time, thank you for coming by!
Shannon

Another Two!

Hello!

Eeek!  SO close to Christmas now!!  And just in time for Christmas, we got our first snowfall yesterday.  A perfect excuse to stay inside and make cards!  I had so much fun making these.

I managed to get two done.  Here's the first:

I was totally and completely inspired by this card by Joni nina Andaya from Papell with Love.  Have you seen her work?  If not, you MUST!  One word: stunning.  I think you'll agree.  Please go have a peek!  Her distress inking and blending is divine.  So is everything else she does, but it was the inking that inspired me on this one.  I used WPlus9, Lawn Fawn and PS stamps, mixing pretty with whimsical.  A bit different for me, but I enjoyed experimenting!  What I didn't enjoy, was when I trimmed the left side of the card, when I meant to trim the right, and my sweet little flower that *was* in the corner, shifted off centre!!  oh well...!!!

And here's the second card:

I'm entering this into the Paper Smooches SPARKS Anything Goes Challenge.  And this one did challenge me.  I tried so many different things, but in the end, I was pleased with the results!  That little guy is still one of my fave images!

That's it for me today.  Hope to be back again before Christmas!!
Shannon

Three Quickies

Hello!

Just popping in to share three cards that I made quite quickly over the past few days.  As I frantically tried to finish up my last few Christmas cards, I also had to make cards for three other occasions this week: my parents' anniversary, my mother-in-law's birthday and my brother-in-law's birthday!  Got them all whipped up just in the nick of time!  Here they are:

My parents' card:

Nothing new here - I know this look has been "done" many times before, but I just wanted to try it out with my new Wplus9 stamps, Hero Arts inks, stencil and those liquid emamel.  LOVE all of these supplies!

My mother-in-law's card:

My husband made a special request for the bird stamp!  The background is new from Hero Arts, and the green ink is new as well - Momento Luxe.  Love that ink!!!

My brother-in-law's card:

Again, nothing new, it's been done before.  But I wanted to try out the technique of popping up a portion of the sentiment.  And I can now breath a sigh of relief that the guy card is done.  I get so worked up trying to think of ideas for these!!

Thank you so much for stopping by!
Shannon

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAROL!!!

Hi everyone!  It's a very special day today...

To my dear sweet Carol, Happy Birthday!!!  Oh Carol, where do I even begin?!!  I don't know what I ever did to have this caring, thoughtful, incredible woman come into my life.  It's been almost a year to the day now since we "met".  I started my blog on January 1, 2013 and Carol was one of the very first to leave me a sweet, supportive, encouraging comment like only Carol can!  She just has a way.  A way of making you feel like a million bucks and of making you smile with every comment she leaves and every post she writes.  Funny, endearing, warm, and a heart the size of Texas (or in our Canadian equivalent, Quebec!).  Not only has she become a blog friend, she has become a true friend.  My bestie!  She has been there with me through the good time and the bad, has laughed with me through the good and lifted me up during the not so good.  I honestly don't know what I would do without her.  And guess what, I have never even met her (hopefully that will change one day SOON)!   What an amazing gift blogging has been to make this friendship possible, and what an amazing gift she is.  HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAROL!!!  YOU are the BEST and SWEETEST friend ever!!!

I got to play with my Lawn Fawn Into the Woods set - I have been looking forward to getting this set in my hot little hands ever since I saw it!  It just arrived last week, and what a treat to use it for the first time on Carol's card!!  The frame is from WPlus9, another new set for me (I am really falling in love with their images too!).  The little heart and the sentiments are also Lawn Fawn - I used Milo's ABCs to create the customized part of the sentiment and am loving the versatility of that set.  You get multiples of each letter so you can easily put together your own message.  The "friend" is PS, stamped in one of my new Hero Arts inks - Pool.  (yup, I did a lot of Black Friday shopping!).  Oh, and that paper behind the frame - it's from Ellen Hutson - she sent it to me - for free!!!  Let me tell you how impressed (and giddy!) I was when I opened my Black Friday order from her (it was like Christmas had come early!) and I found not one, not two, but THREE little surprises inside from Ellen thanking me for my order.  A 6x6 paper pack (which is where this paper came from), a bottle of Tim Holtz distress paint and some rock candy glitter.  I will definitely order from her again!

So those are the details on this card for a VERY special friend!  Love ya, Carol!  In the words of Kelly Marie Alvarez, I hope you have an AMAZING day!!!

Shannon

Two Cards and a lot of Babbling!

Hi everyone!

Hope you are maintaining your sanity in this crazy hustle and bustle of the season!!  I'm not sure I had any sanity to begin with, so can't say I'm maintaining any of my own - ha!  It has been very busy though, as it is for everyone at this time of the year.  Each year though, I try more and more to really acquaint myself with what's important, and "let go" of the rest.  I want to give myself a chance to enjoy the season.  Not an easy task, but I continuously remind myself that it only comes once a year, and it seems to come and go so quickly.  I try to slow it down just a little bit, and take it all in.  Of course there are blips in this "journey" to slow down and enjoy - like the other day when I realized that I needed oh, about double the amount of Christmas cards I had made!  Slowing it down went out the window, and was replaced by chaos as I madly made the rest of the cards that I needed!  Only two to go now, and I have a bit of time this afternoon, so I should be able to easily get those done, and shift back into "slow it down" mode!  And that will include my annual viewing of my favourite movie of all time  - nope, it's not one of the great classics - nope!  It's The Holiday!!  Iris just reminds me SO much of myself and I fall in love with the movie more and more every year!

Okay, I've babbled on for long enough (I haven't posted for a while - I think I'm making up for lost time!)!  Time to share some cards!

This is one of the Christmas cards I made in the "oh no, I don't have enough cards frenzy":

This was the only new design - all the rest were just copies of ones I had previously made - no time to come up with something new!

And this is a card I made for a friend.  She was telling me about another friend of hers who has cancer (can we just rid the world of that???  Please.) who is going out of country for surgery next week.  Her friend loves my friend's dog, named Lexie and it's become a bit of a running theme through her treatment that Lexie is there for her.  When she leaves next week for her surgery, my friend wanted to have a little care package waiting for her when she arrives.  I asked her if I could make a card to accompany the care package and I was so thrilled that she said yes!  Here it is:

I'm going to link both of these up to the PS Anything Goes Challenge!  I haven't played along with a challenge for WAY too long!

Thank you for stopping by and enduring my ramblings!  Have an awesome day!
Shannon

Feast or Famine

Hello!

It seems to be all or nothing with me these days.  Flurries of cards, followed by...nothing!  I think that I've realized that my creativity has a mind of it's own!  It comes...and just like that, it goes!  And I just can't force it (no matter how much I try!).  Hopefully it will start to come more often, since I just submitted a ridiculous order to Ellen Hutson (stayed up til midnight last night to take advantage of the 25% off sale!!!) and will be receiving some new goodies soon!  So excited!  As if that wasn't bad enough, I also spent a ton of money at the local store, who were offering 40% off of any product from one manufacturer.  So I chose Ranger, and stocked up, mostly on a lot of distress inks.  I've been wanting to try them out for a while, and now I've got an ink pad (or ten!) to play with!  How could I resist 40% off?!!  Love Black Friday!

My creativity did make a very brief appearance the other day (and quickly left!), and I came up with this card:

I really do need to make a little extra effort in photographing my cards!! 

It looks so much better in real life!

One of the new Simon Says Stamps (I think it's the one in their December kit) featured some xo stamps.  It sparked the idea to create a Christmas tree out of "hugs and kisses"!  I used the x an o from the Paper Smooches Alphadots set and just eyeballed the placement best as I could.  It's not perfect, but it will do!

Hope you like this little guy!  And thank you so much for coming by to see me!
Have a good weekend, everyone!  And a VERY (belated) Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends!!
Shannon

A Quick Hello

Hello!

Just dropping in quickly today to share a couple more Christmas cards I made.  This first card is the fastest card I have ever made!  That snowflake being the focal point just did all the work for me!  The second card is similar to one of the cards I sent to the Caring Hearts drive.  I haven't posted the original yet, because it's still on the camera that won't download my photos!

And without further ado, voila!

That's it for me today!  Thanks for coming by, and I hope you are all having a lovely, crafty weekend!!
Shannon

Another Post!

Hello again!

Two posts in one day!  CRAZY!  Just wanted to whip this little guy up for the Unscripted Sketches Challenge.  The ever-talented Kimberly Wiener is now on the design team there and I just had to make a card to celebrate her new posting!  Make sure to check out Kimberly's blog - prepare to be inspired!

Here's this week's sketch:

And here's my take:

Just a quick and simple one.  I was totally inspired by Emily Liephart to tuck the little heart in between the hamster's hands.  I've seen her do this a few times, and just LOVE it.  So sweet!  (I take no credit for that at all!).  She always just adds the sweetest finishing touches on all of her cards! 

And that's it for me today.  No more trips to the craft room until tomorrow.
Thanks for dropping by - I love it when you do!
Shannon

Feeling Girlie!

Hello!

Today's Christmas card is brought to you by the colour pink!  I'm not normally a big fan of pink.  I love it for baby girl cards, and like to use it as an accent, but rarely do I use it as the main theme.  But today I embraced the pink and went full on girlie!  But I think little Miss Snow-woman wears it well! 

Here's what I came up with:

I came across a stash of chipboard snowflakes - who knows how long I've had them.  But when I spotted them yesterday, I knew I had to use them!  I'm sure you will see more cards in the near future displaying similar flakes!  I just heat embossed this one to make it white.  Instead of using glitter along the fallen snow, I thought I'd try it with Perfect Pearls.  And I kind of like it!  It gives a nice little shimmer.  I added some teeny tiny little pearl drops to three of the snow dots as well, just to carry the shimmer "up"!  Looking at it now, I'm not sure if I should have added a few more drops - what do you think?

Hope you are having an awesome day!  I'm hoping to squeeze in a little more craft time if I can!
Shannon

...by the Chimney with Care

Hello!

Just sharing another Christmas card today!  I stamped and fussy cut five of these sweet holly branches with the intention of making a wreath.  Which I did.  And while the wreath looked good, I was struggling (who knows why!) with the card design.  So I went with a new direction and created a bough with them instead. 

And here's what resulted:

I don't know what made me decide to throw in purple for the stockings - it was on a whim!  But I kind of like it with the green and red.  Who knew!  Almost all images are from TAWS, with the exception of the bows at each end of the bough - they are from PS (Spring Fling). 

Hope you like it!  And hopefully I can sneak into my craft room again today - hope you can too!
Thanks for coming by today :)
Shannon

A Christmas Card Bonanza!

Hello!

I made three more Christmas cards last night!  I'm laughing at myself - going from "I'm just going to take a break for a *little* while longer" only a few days ago, to full-on card bonanza!!  Whaaaattt happened there?!!  ha ha!!!

I just sat down last night and played.  Again, no challenges, just allowing my mind to go wherever it felt like going!

And here they are:

I am definitely on a craft base kick.  Donna Mikasa is the inspiration for that.  She makes THE most beautiful cards using a craft base.  And her style is just incredible! 

I have a few things on the go today, but I'm hoping to make at least one card today.  Yup, the bug is back!!!

Thanks so much for dropping by for a visit!
Shannon

Colourful snow?

Hello!

Hope you are all well!  I've got another Christmas card to share with you!  No challenges on this one.  Just trying to get back into the swing of things.  And obviously I'm out of practice, since I missed the deadline for CAS on Sundays for one of the cards I made yesterday!  Oopsie!

Here's the latest:

This one is all PS.  I went a little abstract with the "snow fall", using patterned paper with colourful drops to depict the snow!  Might be a little too abstract - but I am a lover of the non-traditional!  I glittered up the fallen snow and wrapped the penguin in a little scarf, just to add a little fun!

Hope you like it, and hope you're having a fun, crafty day!
Shannon

I Just Couldn't Stay Away!

Hello!

So I said yesterday that I was going to keep my break going for just a little while longer, but that I was already getting the itch!  Well, guess what I did right after I posted yesterday?!  I made two cards!  So I guess we can consider my break officially over!  Plus, even though my camera is not fixed, I realized from yesterday's post that my phone takes pictures just as well (if not better!) than my cheapy point and shoot!  I do have a bunch of photos of cards I made over the past month sitting on the old camera waiting to be downloaded - I will share those as soon as I do get around to dealing with that!!  But for now, I'm sharing the two cards I made yesterday.

Both are Christmas cards.  Before I show them, I want to encourage everyone, if you haven't already, to send in cards to the Caring Hearts Card Drive.  It is such a good cause!  I sent in five a month or so ago, and did photograph them, but of course they are sitting on the old camera waiting to downloaded!  I will share as soon as I can!  For my fellow Canadians, the organizers have made it even easier for you - Anita Recksiedler is collecting cards from Canadians!  This helps in the postage for sure!

And here are the cards:

Well, the camera quality might be better, but I can't say the same
for my photography skills!  Sorry for the giant shadow!!

I had a ton of fun putting card #1 together - it's a mix of TAWS and PS.  Card #2 was inspired by this week's CAS on Sunday Challenge (my first time entering!), and also by the amazing Kay Miller.  Have you seen here amazing PS cards?!!  You have to check out her blog! 

Hope you enjoyed the cards!  So glad to be back!  Have a good weekend, everyone!
Shannon

A Quick Break from my Break!

Hello!

First, just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who left a little comment of support regarding my little break!  Every one of them made me smile!!!

Just putting my break on hold for a wee little bit and popping in to share a card for Miss Lisa Arana's Wanna Sketch challenge.  She has the BEST sketches!  I thought I had actually made a card for this before my "hiatus", but nope!  So I just had to come out of hiding to sneak one in for the challenge!  Come and play along with me if you can!!!

Here's the sketch:

And here's my card (taken with my i phone since my camera is still on the blink - still haven't gotten my act together enough to do that yet!!):

I made this for a sweet lady who is the admin assistant in my husband's office.  She's been off work for a while with an injury, and my husband asked if I can make a card for her return.  Of course I can!!  Mix of TAWS and PS - what else?!!  Hope you like it!

Heading back into retirement now, but I just know I won't be able to stay away for long!  I'm already getting the itch!!

Thanks for stopping by!!
Shannon

Taking a Little Break

Hello!

So, my 14 year old niece texted me this morning:
 "you know, Auntie, you should write a blog post telling the people of your blog that your camera isn't working and that's why you're neglecting them"! 
I'm still trying to get over the reference to "the people of your blog"!!  Good grief!!!  But you know, she's right, I should say something...!!!

So just a quick little note to say that my camera has been on the blink ever since we returned from our vacation almost a month ago!  I can take photos, just can't download, then upload them!  So cards have been made (but not nearly as many as I would have liked), but I haven't been able to post anything because of said reason!  However, the same niece did remind me - "uh Auntie, you can take pictures with your phone, you know!"

But I have decided to use the camera excuse for a little break!  Not a long one, just for a few more weeks, until I get that dang camera fixed, and for life to settle down a bit.  It's been kind of cray (ok, "crazy" - I really should not be using words like cray and adorbs at my age - I know, I know!) around here lately, and my creative energy has been somewhat lethargic to say the least!  But while I'm re-fueling, I'll still be out to visit all of your inspiring creations!

Hope to be back soon!
Shannon

Quick and Easy Cards

Hello!

I have two cards today!  That's because they were so quick and easy to do, I was actually able to make them in half the time that it normally takes me to make one!  The wedding card was definitely done in under ten minutes and the birthday card, maybe just a tiny bit over ten minutes, only because of the embossing. 

Both cards are Paper Smooches.  A little explanation probably required for the birthday card!  It is for my work BFF.  We have worked together for ten years, and I don't know what I would do without her.  She is AWESOME!  We support each other, we laugh together and we also like to tease each other!  She hates it, HATES it whenever I use words that I am FAR too old to be using, so of course, I use them all them time around her!  "Adorbs" is her all-time most-hated!  Well, that meant I would stamp it as many times as I could on her card!  I giggled the whole time I was making he card!

And onto the cards...

The birthday card:

The inside of the birthday card (because she hates "totes" almost as much!):

And the wedding card:

It was really nice to be able to whip these up in little time!

Hope you're having a TOTES awesome day!!!
Shannon

The Great Escape!

Hello!

I had a chance to play Lisa Arana's Wanna Sketch Challenge #9 today.  No way I was going to miss out on this baby!  I'm going to be away for a few weeks, starting Sunday, so I wanted to make sure I squeaked this one in before I go.  I just love Lisa's sketches - they are so inspiring!

Here's the sketch:

Here's my card:

As you can see, I'm still experimenting with my crazy, hand drawn borders!  I'm not sure if this one makes the card too busy, but I thought it was kind of fun!  The birds and the banner are Lawn Fawn and the bird cage is Jane Doodles.  All the letters in the sentiments are PS - had to do some more creative masking to get the sentiment I wanted :).  The card is for a sweet co-worker of my husband's who has been transferred to another office.  She is quite happy to be "escaping" and looking forward to the change.  I made the "c ya" to represent the flight trail - good thing I didn't have much more room, because I was tempted to make it c ya suckas, just to be cheeky!!

Hope you're having an awesome day!!
Shannon

Do Bones Grow on Trees?

Hello!

Today's card is a little different...a little crazy!!  Well, maybe not crazy, but it just seems like it to me!  I think it's the boldness of it!  It was inspired by four things: 
- the CAS(E) this Sketch challenge for this week
- a card from Savannah O'Gwynn.  She used the little doggie for her tutorial over at Virtual Smooches last week, and I forgot just how adorable this puppy is.  Don't know how I forgot, since Woofers and Tweeters is one of my all-time favourite sets!!  Oh and her card is FABULOUS!  Check it out!
- and a card made by Christine Urias at Scrap Time whom I discovered last week via the Simon Says Stamp blog - I just loved the cards she made!  Check them out here!
- Bev's birthday!  It's so crazy, but I haven't crossed paths much yet with Bev.  I know, where have I been?!!  But when I heard from my friends Carol and Geri that she was celebrating her birthday and that a blog party had been planned, I wanted make a little something to wish her a BIG Happy Birthday!

Here's the sketch:

And here's my card:

Like I said, it's bold!  I hand drew the loop-de-loop border (yup, still loving making my own borders right now!) which was totally inspired by Christine's card.  The sentiment is a masking project that took a bit of time, but I think it was worth it!  And then to add a little humour, I decided to have bones growing on the trees, making the little dog's birthday wish come true, as the sentiment says!

Hope you like it, and hope you are having a lovely day!  AND, Happy Birthday Bev!!
Shannon

A Card for a Good Cause

Hello!

Happy Sunday!   Today's card is for a special challenge over at the Friday Mash Up.  I haven't played along with this challenge before, but I will be in the future!  It is a fabulous challenge!  When I read Barb's post, I knew I just had to play along too.  The challenge is inspired by an organization called H.A.N.D.S. - Hope After Neonatal Death through Sharing.  Please have a look and maybe consider playing along!

Here's the challenge:

And here's my card:

It was very much inspired by a card Kim Singdahlsen at Joyful Creations made a few months back.  I fell in love with it the moment I saw it and always wanted to CASE it.  I thought it was perfect for this challenge.  The sentiments are Paper Smooches (including the "you" - cut out by hand, since I STILL don't have a die cutting machine!) and the sweet little bird house is from Lawn Fawn.  The heart is from Studio Calico, and the rest is just patterned paper and twine.

Hope you like it!
Thanks for stopping by!
Shannon

Card Drive for Grayson

Hello!

Something about me: it takes a lot to upset me.  I'm totally laid back and like to choose to be happy.  But there are a few things that do really hit me, hard.  Mean, rude, thoughtless people do it to me every time.  I have no time for that.  And there are a few other things, of course.  But nothing, NOTHING upsets me more than childhood illness.  My heart breaks every time I hear of any child suffering.  Recently I read a post at the Neat and Tangled blog about a sweet little boy named Grayson and his little brother, Aydan.  Please go over and read their story.  It is heart wrenching.  If sending a card to Grayson and Aydan could put a little smile on their sweet faces, it was the least I could do. 

Here's my card for the boys:

I will be putting it in the mail today (just have to buy a US stamp!).  I would like to encourage anyone reading this post to please take a moment to send a little card of their own to Grayson and Aydan.  I know everyone is so busy but if you can squeak in a little time to do this, your small gesture can make a huge difference!

Thank you SO much for reading this post, and of course for your visit!  It always means so much to me.

Shannon

A Sketch Stretch!

Hello!

I've got a CAS(E) this Sketch (challenge #44) entry for you today!  Although, "CAS(E) + artistic license this Sketch" might be more like it in this case!  I needed to make an anniversary card for my sister and her husband, so I sat down with the sketch and started playing.   It did look like the sketch at the beginning, but then it, um, evolved!  So yeah, I veered off course, but the sketch was the inspiration.  Maybe you can see it???  :)

Here's the sketch:

And my take:

I was so lucky to be selected as a PS Pro Stamper for the SPARKS challenge a few weeks ago.  Such a huge honour!  And such a generous prize!  I just received my prize (and  a *few* extras I HAD to tack on!!) and got to use them for this card!  The speech bubbles, some of the sentiments, the little man and little woman - all from the new stash!  Eeek, it was so exciting to get these in the mail!  Thank you PS!!!  Not a lot to explain on this card - pretty straight forward!  Although I have been totally into creating my own imperfect scalloped borders with white highlight these days! 

I think my sis and her hubby will like this - it is SO them!

Thanks so much for visiting!
Shannon