{CPS 59}

HYBRID???? are you kidding me??? I think I broke into hives before I ever started! Now, I'm new to this whole blogging thing and frankly, I'm new to sharing my cards, but I decided that I needed to do the CPS Weekly Sketch because layout is often a real problem for me.........I did it the first week (last week) and I survived---but I went there this week and I saw HYBRID!!!!

OK, I'll settle down now! Here's my very humble version of a hybrid card. My thought was that I would make this my Mother's Day card because of the "Mom" paper there---but, we'll just have to see!I had just been downloading several "digikits" from Shabby Princess, but I wasn't ready to USE them! I didn't have much time today, so I just took something that looked really pretty on my screen----but when I printed it out it was just sort of, hmmmmmmmmmmmm. I found the colors that I thought were the closest to the patterned papers and started---I keep telling myself, I just have to try things---if they don't work, that's fine---no one says I have to actually give the card to anyone--Let's take the scalloped piece on the bottom for instance, I haven't bought the SU! corner rounder because I already have two of Creative Memories' corner rounders and I think it is crazy to get another one (again with the Frugal Stamper theme!) But after trying to make that scalloped piece today---I'll call Susanne and get one ASAP!!! YIKES!


My daughter just came in and really liked the card, so that made me feel a little better. Of course, she really loves me, so I'm not sure if I can count that as a compliment!!! I don't really like the circles on the left----I struggled with that last week, too---maybe some jumbo eyelets would look better??? I don't know---what do you think? I chose the "thank you over and over again for everything"---because that is certainly how I feel about my mom---now that I'm a mom (for nearly 19 years) I appreciate her more with every passing year. (PULLLEEEEEASE forgive the sideways picture below---I kept rotating it, but when it would upload it was sideways---I decided that most of you could get over that in order to see what the stamp actually says!!! Sorry I'm still learning!) Let me know what you think---I'm pretty thick skinned, so please give me some advice if something jumps out at you~ The recipe is below---thanks for looking!



I'm off to see Enloe High School's "Little Women" tonight with my daughter. I love how "drama" kids support the arts and their friends all over this city. I, for one, am encouraged about the future when I hang around my daughters' friends!





Stamps: Circle of Friendship, So Very (SU!)
Paper: Shabby Mommy (free download April 2005--still available online) from Shabby Princess; Rose Red, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie CS
Ink: So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Rose Red
Accessories: 5/8" Burgundy Grosgrain, 1/4" Pumpkin Pie grosgrain, 1 1/4" Circle punch, slit punch for the scallops, Hodgepodge Hardware

{Crab & Company}

Well, it was back to reality today---Spring Break 2008 is over and I headed back to Trinity Academy of Raleigh today. I do love my job, so I can't complain, but ugh! 5:20 came awfully early today! I LOVE Wednesdays and Fridays even more, because those are the days that I don't work!!! But, moving on.........I made this card several weeks ago. I was sad that I didn't have a cupcake stamp (horrors!!!) and I realized that a piece of cake would work just fine (remember, the Frugal Stamper theme...)----I'm not crazy about the layout, but I LOVE the paper. It was screaming for me to use it, so I did. I'm going to use more sketches from people who have more experience than I because I feel like I really struggle with the layout---anyway, I always need more birthday cards and I could send this with my 7 year old, or my 16 year old and all would be well! Nothing too exciting here--just a fast simple card. The recipe is below! Now off to watch the NCAA Final Game---mainly, I just want to see "One Shining Moment" at the end----even though, I'd love to see Kansas win---sorry Memphis fans!

Have a blessed day~
Kathleen

Stamps: Crab & Company (SU!) PTI Borders and Corners Monogram Edition
Paper: (SU!) Wild Wasabi, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White CS, Basic Grey Romani Collection, Gypsy
Ink: Black Stazon
Accessories: Wild Wasabi Double Stitched ribbon, Pumpkin Pie Grosgrain Ribbon, Target $1 spot ribbon, Target $1 spot brads, Word Window Punch (SU!), 1 1/4" circle punch, Marvy Scalloped Circle Punch (blue---the names confuse me!) Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise, YoYo Yellow Markers

{Happy Birthday}

Well---it's my sweet husband's birthday today! Sunday's are busy days at the Nelson house, so we didn't have our typical day and dinner out---we went to church and then we went to Winston's Grille. It's one of our favorite places to go here in Raleigh. My daughters were texting their father all week to see if he wanted to go to Winston's for lunch for his birthday---they were only thinking of him, of course!!! Anyway, we came home and did the gift time and then attempted to take the "Sunday afternoon nap"---a ritual at our house!!!

Anyway, here's the card I made for him---I did it in about 10 minutes & it's a little juvenile, but I got one made and it had no flowers on it! He likes everything I do when it comes to this, so he was great with it. I sort of used Beate's WSC 42 again----but my pieces are probably a little large!

I'll keep this short---I need to read with Joshua before bedtime. Speaking of reading---have you read the Mercy Watson books by Kate DiCamillo with your children? She is the Newbery winning author of The Tale of Despereaux (2004) and Because of Winn-Dixie (2001). No, I don't know her and I get no money for recommending them :) ----I just know that my son has really enjoyed them and I know your children will, too. Back to the Mercy series......they are such great books for your young reader. They are funny and entertaining chapter books and your young child will LOVE that he can read them himself. They were recently recommended to us by a librarian and I'm so glad we found them. Check them out at your nearest library or Barnes and Noble! Gotta run! The "recipe" to the card is below.

Have a blessed day~
Kathleen

Stamps: Unfrogettable (SU!)
Ink: Stazon Timber Brown, Wild Wasabi
Paper:Wild Wasabi, River Rock, East Coast Prep DP
Accessories: Wild Wasabi Double Stitched ribbon, River Rock Double Stitched ribbon, crystal effects (for the eyes), blender pen to color the Frog

{Howdy}

Well, I'm still learning all of this! I added my last card to Beate's comment section and the link didn't work----I thought I had copied it just right, but obviously not!

I LOVE this cowboy! I originally "needed" him *wink* for a birthday party invitation for my son---which ended up being a Star Wars party........we used the cowboy anyway..........Harrison Ford is sort of like a cowboy in Star Wars, right?

Anyway, I love this little guy. I paper pieced him and I can't remember the names of the papers---SORRY, but it was various Basic Grey. I used the Papertrey Ink Borders and Corners Monogram Edition circles for the background. I had seen Nichole Heady do this on one of her projects and I LOVED it. I love her stamps. I'd own every one if I could. I started to call my blog "The Frugal Stamper" because I just can't afford to buy stuff every single week like I see some bloggers do----Don't get me wrong, I have more than enough stuff, but it seems in this craft there is always something new to buy!!! (and everything is a set---nestabilities, Copic Markers, etc!!)

Here's the recipe:
Stamps: Cowboy Kid (SU!), PTI Borders and Corners Monogram Edition
Paper: Sahara Sand, Ruby Red, Whisper White, various Basic Grey
Ink: SU! White Craft, Timber Brown Stazon
Accessories: Chocolate Chip marker, Vintage Brads, Martha Stewart 9/16" Coffee Bean Twill tape
Techniques: Paper Piecing, Sponging

Thanks for looking!
Have a blessed day~
Kathleen

{WSC 42 and no 'Mother of the Year' award for me}

Here's a card I made for Beate's Weekend Sketch. It isn't quite the right thing, but I thought it was close enough to pass. I'm still learning how to take a good picture, so this one isn't great, but I thought you could still see it well enough.

I'm going to put it in my SCS gallery. It will be my first one---it may take me all day to do it! I really like this sketch. I'm going to use it to make my husband's birthday card....it's tomorrow....nothing like putting it off, huh? It's so crazy to me that I can have 365 days to do something, but I'll still put it off until the last minute!

Here's the recipe for the card. I hope you like it!
Stamps: Merci (SU!)
Paper:-Close to Cocoa & Chocolate Chip CS, Berry Bliss DP, Water Color Paper--all SU!
Ink: Timber Brown Stazon
Accessories: Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink SU! Markers, 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, Marvy Circle Scallop Punch (blue one??), 1 1/2" circle punch, Paper Piercer

OK, now to the rest of my title. We went to the dentist on Thursday---it's Spring Break, so I took my two who are at home and myself for the semi-annual jaunt. Well, the hygienist (who is also a family friend) came out to tell me they needed to take two x-rays of Joshua---that doesn't seem unusual---no problem---then she proceeds to tell me that she thinks two of this teeth are abscessed and the dentist (another family friend) will tell me what he's going to do---WHAT? HOW DOES YOUR SEVEN YEAR OLD HAVE TWO ABSCESSED TEETH AND YOU DON'T KNOW IT? So, they take the x-rays and sure enough---two abscesses----so, they pull one of them and put him on an antibiotic and we have an appointment to pull the other one next week---No one (including me) could believe that he wasn't screaming in pain for these last few weeks, but he wasn't. We all decided that he must have a very high pain tolerance to have put up with that pain and not complain---so, here he is---having a Chick-fil-a Chocolate Milkshake (amazing shake, by the way) that he "needed" to help him feel better---at that point, I would have given him anything he wanted---well, almost!



Have a blessed day~
Kathleen

{be gentle}

OK, here's my first ever card upload---I've lurked, and lurked for years now---even on SCS, I have never had the courage to upload---silly, I know. I used CPS #58 (Card Positioning Systems) sketch. I think it helped me get inspired to "go public". I'm not really carried away with this card, but I decided I had to start with an upload somewhere! I'm not really a Prima fan, but after seeing the sketch, this was about the only thing I could think of to put at the bottom of the card---since I made it, I have thought of all sorts of other options, but that's just the way it goes sometimes.

ETA: As I was uploading this to SCS, I realized how many things I had left off of this recipe! I distressed the River Rock CS after messing it up while I was punching holes for my brads---so I decided to distress everything!! Ingenuity!!!

The "recipe" for the card is below. Well, I told my sweet husband that I'm doing this----and he didn't get too sick! Again, like I said in my first post----I'll try not to embarrass him too much!

Recipe:
Stamps: SU! Friendship Blooms
Ink: SU! Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Regal Rose
Paper: SU! Ginger Blossoms DP, River Rock, Ruby Red
Accessories: River Rock double stitched ribbon, Vintage Brads, Rub ons-Love and Happiness, Ticket Corner Punch, Slot punch for ribbon to slide through (all SU!) and finally Prima flowers from Target

While I was making one, I decided to do another similar card using the same sketch, so here's that one. The recipe is basically the same---


Have a blessed day~

The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell there in,
for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.
He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.

PSALM 24: 1-6

{My kids}

OK--I haven't been here in almost a week---the whole blog thing is something I'm having to learn---(spoken by a girl who doesn't really understand how to use her digital camera yet!) It's Spring Break for our family this week (well, for 3 of us---my husband and oldest daughter already had their break). I told myself I'd get a lot done this week toward learning about this blog---well, it's only Tuesday, right?

These are my lovely children on Easter Sunday. It was way too cold to take their picture outside, so we settled for the couch----the seven year old was acting....well, uh......seven!

We are blessed with great kids---Hannah, 16, Joshua, 7 & Caitlin 18. I'm sure one or both of the girls will not like this picture, but again, I'm just glad I got one to upload! Yea for me!

Have a blessed day~
Kathleen