Good Morning Friends! I've got Morning Glories for you today! I colored these awhile ago and just got around to turning them in to a card. I do that alot... lots of half done stuff on my desk. Anyway today's card uses PTI YOF Morning Glories (although I think the sentiment is from a different YOF set), copic markers, royal velvet cardstock, and a nestie lacy circle. Pretty simple and aside from all the coloring goes together very quickly.

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On the diet front I am doing pretty good. I lost 2 lbs last week. I only fell off the wagon once last week (damn you hostess snack cake!), I made it to the gym four days. All good things. With the new week I've been to the gym once so far. Plan on going today, Wed, Thur, and Friday. That would make 5 days which would be an improvement. We shall see.

Sweet Peas

Hello Friends! Thanks for your sweet comments on yesterday's Wise Owl Post. I love those owls. Today I have for you some sweet peas from Papertrey Ink. I have been coloring a lot lately, practice makes perfect right? I have loads of colored images on my desk just waiting to be cards. I really like the sweet pea image because its generously sized. It makes a really nice focal point on a card.

Wise Owl Meet Lawn Fawn (Mash Up)

Hello! I don't have an actual card today, just a really fun discovery I made while out shopping yesterday. If you know me from the PTI message board, you know I have a great love for the Wise Owl stamp set. Well while I was out shopping at my local stamp shop I saw a cute little Lawn Fawn set called Hats off to you. As soon as I saw it I knew those hats would fit my beloved owl. So I had no recourse but to buy the set. And then I ran home and started masking and stamping. Here are the first four. Eventually they will get turned into cards but for now, just look at this cuteness....Its Prince and Princess Owl! OMG the cuteness! LOL
And here we have Graduate Owl and Leprechaun Owl. Is that not the cutest? A tiny bit of masking is all it takes... and I still have more hats to explore... Santa Owl, Witch Owl, Birthday Owl, Pilgram Owl.... I will keep you posted.

Shady Tree Blossoms... no coloring!

Hi there! Here is that card I was talking about way back during the STS release. Its those pretty blossoms but this time in all their line drawn glory with no coloring. I love this card. I used a kraft base with echo park paper, harvest gold ribbon and lots of tea dye ink. I couldnt figure out where to put the sentiment so I left it off. Thats all there is to it! So hey, thats it for crafting today. I am going to keep updating the ends of my posts with the weight loss journey. Its keeping me accountable but dont feel like you have to read it! See you soon!
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So day three of the diet is almost over. I did fabulous today. Every calorie accounted for, no mindless gobbling and I went to the gym. Its almost too good to be true! I have been eating a huge container of lettuce (and other veggies) for lunch with a bit of protein mixed in and its been working quite well. I have tried very hard to stay out of our staff room because it is nothing but junk in there! Trust me. So there you have it, a good day!

Shady Tree Wednesday

Good Morning and happy Wednesday to you! I have a lovely STS card for you today. I made it last week but I am just getting around to posting it today. Its from the new Backyard Spring set.
Its two stamps. The bunny and fence are separate. I stamped the bunny first and then masked him with some scrap paper. I stamped the fence on top, pulled away the mask and voila! Lovely bunny at the fence. I remember being very impressed with masking when I first started stamping.

The card base is PTI kraft rubbed with tea dye ink. The patterned papers are from Echo Park and Cosmo Cricket. Bunny is colored with copics. Wonderful sentiment is from Waltzingmouse.

Oh and I almost forgot his little tail is all full of stickles. So cute and sparkly. This concludes the crafty portion of the post. If you want to read about me and my fat just continue on, otherwise have a great day!

So fat, I've got plenty! Its been an ongoing battle since I was about 11 or so. I think 11 is the first time I went on a diet. Anyway I have never had trouble losing weight until I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (this is the more serious, insulin dependent kind). Before the dx I was a happy yoyo dieter. I would get fat and then lose a lot of weight and then slowly pack on the pounds. Probably not the best method but overtime it kept me in check. Since getting diabetes (ironically at my healthiest adult weight! when I was working out 5 days a week! wearing cute clothes from the Gap not the fat lady store!) its been so difficult to shed those pounds. So I have slowed the weight gain but since there is no weight loss, the fat continues to grow. As I mentioned previously my Dr. (whom I love dearly) mentioned I am getting too fat. I know it, knew it before I went in. I am well aware of what I weigh and how much over the line it is. Sigh. So today. Day 1 of the diet. It actually went pretty well. Except for the damn Ding Dong I had for dinner. In a fit of low blood sugar. (Did you know the main side effect of insulin is weight gain? Yep, I am proof). So I am sipping my tea (black no sugar, yep I like it that way) and hoping to go to bed so I can wake up soon and eat breakfast. Thats how its going here. Thanks for reading this far! See you back soon I hope!

Bitty Backgrounds

Wasn't going to get this set. I put it on the wish list but then my BFF bought it for me for my birthday. I really love those little squares. For this card I used Bitty Backgrounds, Floral Fusion 1 and Technique Tuesday (stitches). I used my spellbinders for the lacy circle and also the tag. The ribbon is from Martha Stewarts (a Big Lots steal).
So how are things with all of you? I pulled a muscle at the gym about a month ago. Its my glute aka butt muscle and it still hurts. I took 3 weeks off the gym to let it get better but its not working. So I went back to the gym today. I know, I know, go to the doctor already. I have not. I probably won't . I hate being doctored. I have to visit my endocrinologist every three months and thats more than enough doctoring for me. So anyway back at the gym today. Didn't hurt during the actual exercise and i took it easy. Hurts now though, but no more than it did yesterday so I guess all is well. Anyway my doctor told me I am too fat. She's right. I am too fat. Trust me on this. So I am now dieting. Which I completely hate. But its necessary. Wish me luck ok? I need to lose a good 50 pounds or so but hell I would be happy with 25. I need to my pants to fit again. Well enough rambling for today. I am off to watch the Bachelor and check out the PTI release party tonite. New stamps will be coming home with me tonite... LOL!

Shady Tree/ PTI Mash Up

Good Morning to you! Its almost noon here and I am dragging, thanks to Daylight Savings. I do not like Spring ahead. I have a "mash up" for you today. Mash up is my term for mixing stamp manufacturers. Whenever I use more then one company I call it a mash up. Today I have stamps from PTI and Shady Tree Studio.

I am in love with this card. LOL, not very modest of me, I know. I started by cutting out the white frame with a PTI mat stack 4 die. Next I stamped the coordinating stamp. Inside the circle I have the adorable bunny butt from STS Backyard Spring. The tiny sentiment is from PTI Tag It. The label stamp is from PTI mat stack 4. I added some hero arts bling. For the base I used polka dot basics (PTI) and some green PTI ribbon. The edge of the card is die cut with the PTI edgers 1 die.
Here's a close up of the bunny butt. I added some stickles for sparkle.
Finally we have my cat Duncan. He would not be denied. When he wants to be petted, its in your best interest to comply! :)

Shady Tree Studio Day 3 Backyard Spring

Good Morning and Welcome back for day 3 of Backyard Spring from Shady Tree Studios. Today is the release day so all stamp sets will be available today at the Shady Tree Store. Nancy is also offering a free digi stamp with purchase. Isn't that awesome?My first card uses the big flowers from Backyard Spring. I colored this image while at my copic cert. class last weekend. When I got home I cut it out and mounted it on some purple cardstock.
This is one of my favorite cards. I have some pp from echo park on a bright orange base. The big duck is a separate stamp from the baby ducky image. I colored this at my class as well and then came home and put it all together. I added a WMS sentiment. I think its a perfect mother's day card.

Shady Tree Studio Day 2 Backyard Spring

Welcome back for day 2 of Shady Tree Studio's release peeks. All stamps will go on sale tomorrow. Be sure to check out all the DT blogs as well as the Shady Tree Studio blog. Links are in the sidebar under the Shady Tree Button.

Also today is my birthday! So how about a little present for you? I have an extra (single) image of the the little duckies in the boot. Would you like to win it? Leave me a comment (any old comment will do) and I will pick a winner tomorrow.

These are the little duckies I was referring to. Aren't they so cute? I colored them up with my copics and turned them into a little Easter card. Tomorrow I have another card with the same image that I made into a mother's day card. Be sure to come back and check it out.
This is one of my favorite floral images. There is nothing I do not like about this stamp. I used it yesterday in the background of the bird bath card. This time I colored it with my copics. I scalloped the edge and tied on a pretty ribbon. These were the last two things I had colored before going to my copic class. Tomorrow I will have images from after the class... maybe you will be able to see if I have improved!
Card Deets: All paper products from PTI, ribbon from PTI, gems from Hero Arts, Stamps from Shady Tree Studio

New Stamps from Shady Tree Studio!

Shady Tree Studio has some new stamps out this Friday! You are going to love these sets, especially if you like to color. The set I will be working with is called Backyard Spring. Its probably my most favorite since Come To Me Autumn. I really like the stamps on this set. I have two cards to share with you today. I will have more peeks tomorrow and then one more peek on Friday. Backyard Spring is packed full of springy goodness and the best thing about it is that its not "holiday" orientated. It does have some cute Easter stuff but mostly its just lots of multipurpose springy goodness. You will get lots of use out of this.My first card is a "holiday card". I used the cute little bunny. I stamped him three times. I colored him with copics and then stickled his tail. I stamped the Happy Easter sentiment below. I added some rhinestones and then hand drew a brown frame. The whole thing is matted on kraft cardstock. A full supply list is below.
My second card begins with another craft base. I stamped the large flower stamp three times in dark chocolate ink. Honestly I was loving that look all by its self. In fact I have another card that just uses that image with the craft. I'll be showing that in a few days. Next I stamped this adorable bird on cream cardstock. I colored him with my copics. A little hint, when using a softer paper like the cream for coloring, leave your markers some room to bleed. They spread much more on this type of paper. I cut him out with an oval nestie and then matted him on a brown scalloped nestie. I finished off the card with a sentiment from Waltzingmouse, Spring Baskets. I am using a WMS sentiment here because my early set of Backyard Spring had some damaged sentiments. Nancy is a stickler for quality so she made sure that all the real sets were fixed. My new set is on its way. As soon as I get it I will stamp some cards using her beautiful sentiments, she has some very nice ones in the set. In the meantime my WMS makes a nice stand in. Honestly, I love mixing sets- dont you?

Well thats it for me. Be sure to check out the other ladies on the DT:

Lisa
Roxie
Tracy
Jennifer

Another PC Reject

Here's another card I submitted for the sketch challenge from papercrafts. I apologize for not knowing the sketch number. It was basically exactly as seen here,lol. I used a whole bunch of bitty box paper. I love how it turned out. I would have picked it! hahaha! Anyhow, scalloped die, bitty boxes paper, twill, sentiment from tiny treats, valentine. I am off to the endocrinologist now. Such a joy, NOT.

Happy Sunday to you!

Happy Copic Certification Class Day to me! Can you tell I am just a wee bit excited? Hoping to improve my coloring skills today. I have a couple of pics for you today. The first is another hot air balloon card. I used a spring moss base, die cut with the PTI card edger die. I added some vellum, punched with a fiskars punch. On top of that is a label one die, sponged with spring rain ink and stamped with Everyday Button bits. A little pink polka dot ribbon finishes things off.
This next picture is badly lit, sorry its a cell phone picture. I made these cute little birdie cupcakes for our school's bake sale. I got the idea from Martha Stewart. Hers were cuter. Just thought I would share.

PaperCrafts Sketch Reject

Hi there! Happy weekend to you! I've been a busy girl here, lots going on with the kids and work. Not so much going on with the crafting. I had submitted a few cards to the latest PC call but none got picked up this time. Ah well, working from sketches is not something I do terribly well. Anyway, this card is one of the rejects. I can't remember which sketch it was from. But its nearly identical to the sketch. I used all Papertrey products. Palette and dew drops ink.