Mother's Little Helper

From Awesome to Paw-some

I have survived this week! That definitely calls for a

Whew! First up was a day I've been dreading for almost 19 years: my oldest has flown the coop and left for college. I've had lots of teary moments, but ultimately, I'm grateful for the opportunities he has before him, for this exciting time in his life (I LOVED both college and law school -- good times!), and that he's launched in a way I couldn't have even dreamed of when he was a baby. So far, so good -- so what's the use of belly-aching, right?

Next up, Pinterest and what-not convinced me I had to make all sorts of teachers/para/staff gifts for Carter's 1st Day of School (grade 5). And, believe it or not, I did it! They turned out pretty cute. I will try to show you them in a post this weekend, however, if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you've seen them and/or can check them out now. If you don't follow me, you should (not to shame you, or anything, but I am a teeny bit entertaining. I mean, you're reading this -- that social media type stuff is way shorter... ;) ). But just in case those venues aren't your thing, I do have a sweet 1st Day story later on in the post. 

So, back to where we started: TGIF!  And not only is it F, it's FF!  Meaning: Fun Friday, in Your Next Stamp speak.  This week, I opted to make something with the newest Color Challenge, which looks a little something like so:

Here's what I created with this summery-scheme, using the adorable new Pheobe With Her Wagon stamp set and coordinating dies:

I can't tell you how thrilled I am that YNS's longtime illustrator, Fhiona, is creating new characters and stamp sets for YNS. Fhiona was the initial flagship illustrator for YNS, and a big reason why I fell in love with this sweet company. And the fact that her first set in a long time has a Daisy-looking dog?

To get a gander at how this week's participating YNS Design Team members interpreted the current sketch and/or color challenge, head on over to the YNS Blog. You'll also find information there about how to participate in the challenge and be eligible to win up to $20 in YNS moola and/or be selected as the YNS Top Pick. Top Pick-ers get featured on the YNS Blog and a nifty badge to wear on their blog, proclaiming them as a winner of this major award. FAME & FORTUNE could be YOURS!

(Insert seamless transition...) Check out this first day of school photo, taken early a.m. yesterday:

That good looking young man to the left is my youngest son Carter. The guy to the right is a friend of Truman (my oldest son)'s, named Neil Patel. Neil is a great friend to Truman, and Carter, too. Like a few of Truman's friends, he sees Carter as a little brother. Neil will be a senior in high school this year, and a couple of weeks ago, he contacted me via Messenger on FaceBook. He told me how he remembered how sad & lonely it was to take 1st Day of School pictures right after his older (and only) brother left for college, and he volunteered to come over and take 1st Day photos with Carter.

Is that not one of the sweetest, most thoughtful things you've ever heard a teenaged boy do? I will tell you, I've adored Neil since the moment I met him. But now? I'd seriously consider adoption...

Thanks so much for stopping by today, friends.  I'll be seeing you very shortly!

YNS - Pheobe With Her Wagon stamp set	YNS Phoebe With Her Wagon coordinating dies	YNS - Rainbow Fun die set	YNS Fun Faces stamp set
YNS Silver Tinsel Gumdrops	Doodlebug Designs - Hello, Sunshine 6"x6" pad	MFT Card Stock	Copic X-Press Blending Card Stock
Memento Tuxedo Black	VersaMark	Copic Sketch Markers	Jody's Foam Boosters
PTI - Rustic Cream Button Twine	MISTI

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Mojo Monday -- Woof!

Howdy, pups!  It's Monday, so you know what that means: time for a brand-new Mojo Monday Sketch to spark your creativity. Know what else it means? That tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day!

How do you plan to celebrate? Me, well, I've got good news and bad news. The bad news: Carter will be undergoing another surgery at Gillette Children's Specialty Hospital in St. Paul, MN. Fortunately,it's not a "major" surgery, according to our orthopedic surgeon. Of course, the last time he said that, it took Carter 3 or 4 months to get back on his feet. But the doctor promised this surgery was much less invasive than the last, so we'll see. Speaking of Carter, it's been a while since I showed a picture of him, and he's grown quite a bit. And gotten even more handsome, if I do say so myself.  Don't believe me? Then check out this cutie-pie...

Now for the good news: since we'll be in MN, and my BSF Amy Rohl lives just over the border in Wisconsin, she's coming to visit me on Tuesday! Yay! It's been far too long since I've had a chance to see her, so I'm looking forward to hugging her neck.

So that's what I'm doing. Not so fun, then fun. Kind of a metaphor for life, no?

Ready to see the card I made for Mojo Monday?  It's a two-fer, and I have to admit, I think it's pretty darn cute.  I combined this week's sketch with the current My Favorite Things Color Challenge, which looks like so:  Here's what I put together:

As a mom to two rescue girlies, the new Pure Innocence Woof You set is a must-have. First, I stamped puppy Daisy (there are lots of ways to tell my dogs apart if you know them, but to the unitiated, Daisy is the dog with the brown patch on her eye) and masked her, then stamped Miss PI. That step ended up not being necessary, because I decided to stamp Daisy out again on Primitive White card stock (because she's more Primitive White than stark white in color). I then colored her eye, nose, collar, and shadows with Copics, cut her out and put her to the side. I colored Miss PI in, using Color Challenge-friendly colors. 

To create the various patterns on the different shades of card stock, I used three different MFT Background stamps (Linen, Small Brick, and Paw Print), inked in Coral Crush Pigment Dye Ink, Steel Blue Hybrid Ink, and Tropical Teal Pigment Dye Ink.  I used a stitched-scallop Die-namic from Blueprints 23 for the Steel Blue horizontal detail, topped with a strip of Primitive White. The side embellishment was created using Pet Accents Die-namics, Platinum Shimmer bakers twine from The Twinery, and a button from my stash.

Here's a look at the brand-new Mojo Monday Sketch (#389!):

Be sure to visit the Mojo Monday blog to learn how to play along with this week's sketch, and go see these lovely ladies interpretations for more inspiration:

• Debbie Carriere
• Julee Tilman (Owner)
• Marisa Ritzen
• Mary Fish
• Sarah Bigelow
• Teresa Kline
• Wanda Cullen

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Erin go Bragh!

MOTHER'S LITTLE HELPER: I always like to make the hair color of the images on my cards match those of the eventual recipient.  Most of the time, however, I don't know who will receive a particular card when I initially make it. My solution: color everyone blonde at first. It's super-easy to go back in and darken hair color, but you can't go back and lighten it.  

Happy 2015! And a YNS Sneak Peek...

Hello, friends! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and are looking forward to this new year. I, for one, am glad to leave 2014 behind. It was one of those character building years, if you know what I mean. Hopefully, 2015 will not give me as many opportunities for growth and let me coast a little.  Still, 2014 ended on a couple of high notes. The biggest and best moment of the entire year for me: my oldest son, Truman (now 18 and a high school senior), received the amazing news on Dec. 11 that he has been accepted, early admission, to Harvard! For reals! Color me a proud mama...

Then, from Dec. 26 - 30, our family (including my in-laws and my sister-in-law's family) went on a 4 night Disney Cruise to the Bahamas & Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. It was our first cruise ever, and we had the best time. I was kind of skeptical; as a big fan of David Foster Wallace, I was leery that it would be "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again"¹. Au contraire - every one of us enjoyed it immensely. And even though it was a Disney Cruise, it wasn't overdone Disneyana. Super clean, the food was great, and the service was amazing.  A little pricey, but still: I recommend!

Okily dokily. Enough about me. How are you? Do tell. Leave a comment and let me know what you're up to, what your New Year's Resolutions are, how your pets are doing, whatever. Just talk to me! Be interactive. Give a little bit of your time to me².

Ready to see one of the super cute new stamp sets being released tomorrow by Your Next Stamp? This is a little Irish number called MAGICALLY DELICIOUS:

Doesn't that leprechaun make you want to do a little jig?  The set comes with lots of images and sentiments, including a little Irish lass, a rainbow, a pot of gold, several shamrocks, etc. See what I mean?

Here's a closer look at Fightin' McTavern³...

Now, you may be wondering what those shamrock-y things covering his eyes are.  Come on folks, you know me -- those are BEER GOGGLES!  And yes, they do come with this fabulous new stamp set. You'll note that I added a little beard (he seemed to young for the beer goggles without it), and please observe his ruddy complexion, complete with gin blossom. Hey -- I'm Irish and Scottish, so I'm allowed to utilize these stereotypes.  As for the layout, I was inspired by these cards created by my sweet friend, Susan Liles. (Hi, Sus!). 

To see peeks of all EIGHT of the new stamp sets and all FIVE of the new die sets, head on over to the YNS Blog for links to all of my fabulous fellow design team members and our guest designers.  You'll be ever so glad you did!

Come back tomorrow for the YNS New Release Blog Hop, okay?  See you then!

Footnotes:

1.  This is a link to a PDF of DFW's essay, which was originally titled "Shipping Out" for Harpers Magazine.  The essay was re-titled "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" when a collection of DFW's essays were published in a book by the same name.

2.  Did that make you start singing "Give a Little Bit" by Supertramp? 

3.  Fightin' McTavern is my leprechaun name.  What's yours?

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Magically Delicious (YNS)

Dies: Whatnot Seasons (YNS), Circles (YNS), Flower Fun Scallop Die (YNS), Fishtail Banner Stacklets (MFT)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Gumdrop Green (MFT)

Paper: Doodlebug Designs Kraft in Color 6x6 pad, Kraft, Solar White (Neenah), Sour Apple (MFT), Classic Yellow Green (Prism)

Accessories: Green Apple Glittered Gumdrops (YNS), Wink of Stella Glitter pen (YNS), solid green twine (Divine Twine), Dots embossing folder, Copic Markers, Jody's Foam Boosters

Wonders Never Cease!

It's true! I bet you thought I'd fallen off the face of the earth, huh? Well, fear not -- I am alive and well, if a little longer in tooth and wider in girth (I'm working on that, though. The girth part. Can't do much about the teeth. I suppose I could get veneers or something, but I digress). Lots and lots has been going on in my wee corner of the world, of which I am sure I will fill you in on one of these days. For now, though, I don't want our heads to explode, what with my sudden reappearance here on the blog-o-sphere (is that still a word people use?), the fact that I've actually stamped for the first time in 2014 (REALLY!), plus all of my personal news... it would just be too much to take for a Thursday morning.

I will give you a couple of bullet-points, though.  Because I'm a giver...

• We've moved. We still live in the great state of Oklahoma, but instead of Claremore, America, we now reside about 3.5 hours south in Durant. Durant is located in the southeastern part of the state, and is just north of the Oklahoma/Texas border. Why the move? Well, the husband (aka Sean) took a new position as President of Southeastern Oklahoma State University, which is located in Durant.  We live on campus in a beautiful old home that was built in 1916 (or maybe 1918 - I can never remember which; I need to go outside and read the plaque to be sure) and is known as Magnolia House. Here's a picture of it, in case you're curious...

Not the greatest photo (I took it), but you get the idea. See the cartoon bison wearning the yellow shirt and blue shorts, leaning up against the front porch? That's Bolt, the SE Savage Storm mascot. Since I'm at it, might as well show you a recent photo of the fam taken on the front porch for a campus publication...

There's Truman, now a high school senior, Carter, who's now in 4th grade and about to turn 10 this weekend (can you believe it?!), Sean, me, and Sweet Pea and Daisy. (Sadly, Ringo, our big, unruly German Shepherd didn't make the cut for this particular adventure. Instead, he has a new family and lives on a farm -- for reals -- about 5 miles from our new home.)

• My new crafty space is located in the basement. It's a good deal smaller, but at least it's not off of the front of the house anymore, where everyone who walked in would see the unholy mess that is its chronic state. I've got it barely functional at the moment -- consider it a work in progress.

See that pipe under the foil-insulated-looking pipe?  It's about 5 feet off of the ground.  I'm 5'6" and, I swear, I hit my head on it at least three times a day. Painful!

Okay, okay, okay. See? This is exactly what I didn't want to get started today: a long ol' post about me and my new environment and so forth. I just wanted to simply say a brief "hello" and let you know I'm intending to resume my crafty/bloggy ways. Then, I was going to show you my first effort to dip my foot back in the pool again, so to speak. *sigh*  I can't even stick to my own script... Oh, well. Without further adieu, here's a little number I created for my M-I-L's birthday, which is tomorrow.  I used this week's MFT Sketch (#192) and the color challenge from this week's Color Throwdown (Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo & Pumpkin Pie):

Ta-da!  I love the fun, graphic images from My Favorite Things' Office Space set, and I was hoping that using bits of washi tape cut with pinking edged scissors would reinforce the idea of tacking something up with tape. To add a birthday embellishment, I used dies from MFT's Lollipop Treats Die-Namics, a sentiment from Lollipop Additions - Birthday, and some orange Hemptique twine.

There you have it, folks. I'm winded now! I hope all of you have been well, and I'd love to hear what new adventures you've been having since I last poked up my head (or hit it on that dang pipe...)

 

 

MFT WSC 192	CTD 308	MFT Office Space Stamps	MFT Office Space Die-Namics	MFT Lollipop Additions Birthday
MFT Lollipop Treats Die-Namics	MFT Cardstock	MFT Razzle Berry Hybrid Ink	MFT Lemon Drop Hybrid Ink	MFT Hybrid Ink - Orange Fizz
Stampin' Up Card Stock	Jody's Foam Boosters

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Taylored Expressions December Spotlight: Showered With Love

Guten tag, liebchen!
(I like a good beer buzz, early in the mornin', and Billy likes to peel the labels from his bottles of Bud...)

I actually have a reason for greeting you in German; the Sheryl Crow lyrics just happend to fit with the most German smiley I could come up with (and appreciate).  Did you watch The Sound of Music Live! last night?  I DVR'd it so I wouldn't have to sit through the commercials (and so I could watch my DVR'd American Horror Story: Coven, which I L-O-V-E!), but my first impression based on nothing: I love my Okla-home girl, Carrie Underwood, but to take on the magnificence that is Julie Andrews' Maria is a recipe for "Meh."  I adore Seth Rogan, but if he remade Citizen Kane, I'd be giving him the same advice. 

Actually, now that I think about it, a Seth Rogan-ized Citizen Kane might be brilliantly hilarious -- ooh, better yet: Danny McBride as Citizen Kane! This needs a visual:

  =

As gorgeous and talented as Carrie Underwood is, she ain't got what it takes to make me believe she can tame the seven unruly Von Trapp children and win the Captain's heart, let alone escape the Nazis. That's merely my personal opinion. No need to pelt me with cyber rocks and garbage. I'll watch it sometime this weekend and let you know if my proclamation still stands. If it doesn't, I will humbly recant.

Another thing I must humbly and regretfully tell you: this is my last month as a member of the Taylored Expressions' Baker's Dozen.  I have loved, loved, loved being on this design team, but as I alluded to in an earlier post, I have a new job on the horizon.

Actually I have two new jobs, but only one of them is full-time, starting in January: I'm going back to where I was before I started this whole bloggy-stampy thing! I'm resuming (?) my job as a college professor at Rogers State University (here in beautiful Claremore, America), in the School of Business and Technology, teaching courses such as Legal Environment of Business (aka Business Law), Professional Ethics, and Business Communications. That doesn't mean I'll be stopping this blog or papercrafting, but it may mean that I'm DT-free until I'm able to discern how/if I'm able to juggle other deadlines.

The good news: I discourage students from coming to my office hours. (That's a joke, but not really: I'm MUCH nicer/funnier/entertaining in class than I am when someone comes to my office, just like many professors I had as an undergrad. I think this makes me seem super-intellectual and intimidating, don't you?) That means I'll have more time for blogging! If anyone passes my office and sees me typing on my computer, it will totally look like I'm working!!! WOOT!  Thus, those of you who come here for the writing are in luck. If you come here for the purty pictures, well, I hope you like stock/borrowed-yet-given-credit photos from elsewhere.  It'll be like a very warped version of Papercraft's Moxie Fab.

 

Other good news: my job at RSU will enable me to get back into my retirement/pension program, and continue on the same fabulous state insurance program that we have now, once my DH retires from the state Senate, which is (THANK HEAVENS!) after this next session. As you know, our profoundly-adorable-smart-funny-kind youngest son, Carter, has cerebral palsy, and having good health insurance is of utmost importance to our family.

So, it's all good, even if I wish it could be a different. Such is life, no? One of the quotes I live by are the words of Wendell Berry: "We live the given life, not the planned." And guess what? It's ALL good. :)

Moving right along, I still have a month left to show you all the awesomeness that is Taylored Expressions, and this particular card comes with a little bit of local history. As I mention frequently, I live in the lovely small town of Claremore, Oklahoma, through which runs the Mother Road of Route 66. Just south of us by a few miles is Catoosa, and Catoosa is home to a Route 66 icon, The Big Blue Whale.

I absolutely ADORE beyond words this awesome beloved beluga. It's a famous Route 66 roadside attraction/homage to true love (a hubby built it for his whale-fancier wife), and though folks are no longer able swim, slide, or dive off of it, take a look at how cool it would have been to do so, back in the day:

Anywhoodle, when I got my hands on the new Petite-a-palooza set, SHOWERED WITH LOVE, I knew I had to make a tribute to this local legend.  Take a look-see:

I love me a whale stamp, especially when it comes with a die for easy-peasy die cutting!

I know you're on the edge of your seats to see what the rest of the Baker's Dozen has up their creative sleeves for you, so skeedaddle on over to:

• Carole Burrage
• Charmaine Ikach
• Courtney Kelley
• Jen Shults
• Joan Ervin
• Kerri Michaud
• Sankari Wegman
• Shannon White
• Shelly Mercado
• Stephanie Kraft
• Taylor VanBruggen
• Wanda Guess

PS - the second job I've got going on?  I'll tell you more later, but here's a hint...

 

*showered with love with coordinating dies	*pinking circle stacklets	*medium scallop border	*foam tape - 1/8" thick
*choice snow white cardstock	*memento tuxedo black full pad	*doodlebug 6x6 pad - stars & stripes*doodlebug 6x6 pad - stars & stripes*doodlebug 6x6 pad - stars &	*copic markers
*best glue ever	*precision applicator metal tip	*metal adapter shim

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