Have a Sweet Day!

Life has been busy with lots of projects that weren't card related so it feels good to get back to some stamping. The 10 minute Craft Dash #18 was a great way to start. I didn't have time to over think!

My only panic moment was with the sentiment. I thought I would use this sentiment on the white fillable frame (shown below). Didn't like it at ALL! so I grabbed another one line sentiment from the set and thankfully it fit the green paper strip! wheee. That was almost a killer.

I used the Blueprints 1 die set which helped a lot because every piece is designed to work together. Time saver! My final time was 7:01. 

Playing along with the Viva la Verve Sketch challenge as well as CASology cue card - Bloom. 

Have a great day! ~Rhonda

Have a Sweet Day! card
Challenge: 10 Minute Craft Dash, CASology cue card - Bloom
Sketch: Viva la Verve May Week 1
stamps: PTI - Garden Variety
paper: PTI - Stamper's Select White, Winter Wisteria dots, Plum Pudding; Crate Paper - Restoration collection; Echo Park - For the Record
ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black
other: MFT - Plentiful Petals, Leaf-filled Flourish, Blueprints 1;

A chimney in the garden?

. . .well, at least part of the chimney made it do the garden. When we remodeled our home last year we took out a fireplace. We held onto the metal cylinders and finally we re-purposed them for the garden as planters.

My hubby used a reciprocating saw to cut them to the height I wanted. A couple of coats of spray paint in bright, spring colors was the next step. We buried them several inches into the ground and filled them with potting soil. They provide an unexpected height and color punch to the flower beds.

I planted succulents, flowers, and flowing grasses. They really look great. Your local hardware store should carry different sizes of ducts so you can do this project too. Let me know how yours turn out. ~Rhonda

Project Life - Week Fifteen

Project Life is so much easier when I have remembered to take lots of pictures. This was another busy week. 

 Both sides of the layout

My dear friend Karla was recognized for her volunteer hours at the Cook's Children's Hospital. What a great organization to support. 

 

Left side of layout

I had a great day of garage sale bargains. I am looking for things to decorate the High School Youth House. I found pillows, blanket throw, glass knobs, and a chair to play with. Bob's new car also arrived. He is thrilled. It is Black Ford Fusion Hybrid.

Right side of layout

I am off to Bible study! Have a great evening friends. ~Rhonda

Paper Organization

I am fortunate enough to have 2 drawers for paper. I had previously stored my paper by alphabetic order (paper color name) as I mainly had paper from one company. But as I have added paper from other companies I needed a better way to integrate all the colors. 

You can also see that the color labels are staggered and there is an occasionally folder of a different color as seen in the picture below with the arrows.

I decided to change and group by the color wheel. So all the neutrals, blues, greens, etc are together. I also decided to put all the labels for the neutrals for example in the same position. It is a great visual clue. I don't know about you but visual clutter is distracting and I don't think we even realize it tell we see the before and after. Don't you think the drawer looks much happier?

The second drawer holds my clear bags, paper bags, transparencies, inspiration files, etc. I had so many plastic bags. I did a major purge. 

The second drawer is once more organized and ready to go!

At the back of the drawer are files with labels that are ready to go for whatever new thing I bring home. Having these in place help keep it going.

How do you store your paper? ~Rhonda

MOM - you're the Best!

Happy Mother's Day to All the Moms - whether you are a Mom by blood or heart!  My parents are here for the weekend so I am able to share this day with my Mom.

My Mom is a travel agent so it only seems fitting to use travel as a theme. She has been a big part of my journey in this world. 

This is actually the first time I have inked up some of these stamps. The layout is inspired by the Mojo Monday #292.

I was hoping to give my Mom a Stoneface planter like mine but they are still out of stock so a gift card with an IOU will have to work.

Mom inspires me everyday! I pray we have many more adventures together. Enjoy your day. ~Rhonda



Mom - card
sketch: Mojo Monday 292
stamps: PTI - Destination, World Map, Fresh Alphabet, Framed; MFT - My Favorite Sentiments 6th bday; Precious Remembrance - Mom & Dad
ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black; Versamark
paper: My Mind's Eye - Away We Go; PTI - Vintage Cream, Chamomile
other: Spellbinder's Classic Rectangles small; PTI - LL 1 3/4" circles, Library Pocket, Rickrack border die; Zing - clear embossing powder

Project Life - Week 14

I'm moving right along into April with this project. Do you remember the advice - have the end project in mind so you know what you are aiming for?

 Both sides of layout

I don't just want to print my pages and put them into a page protector. I want a BOOK! I started exploring what company I would use. Eye opening experience!! It looks like I will have to go with a 12x12 book and use a template that has a 1" border so I can just upload my pages as is. To use my current template I would loose A LOT with binding. Does anyone have any other solutions? I may also have a take out a loan. These things are EXPENSIVE!

left side of layout

I decided to add photos of my current favorite television shows. I just went to their Fb pages and pulled images. I think it worked well.

right side of layout

We were honored to have a special guest visit our youth group. A PROFESSIONAL football player, Jason Fox. Super nice guy! Thankful he visited with us.

Enjoy the week people! Sun is shining here. ~Rhonda

Happy Birthday 2 You

 

This is the final sketch of April for the Viva la Verve challenge. You have until today (May 2nd) to complete ALL the sketches. I actually made 2 cards. The first one follows the sketch pretty closely. I took some creative liberties with the second card.

This large sentiment is great embossed. Without the embossing it looked a little flat. I used the Watercolor Wonder stamps with clear embossing to add interest to the impression plate numbers. 

I wanted to try something different for the top of the card instead of a banner. The starry die was perfect. I backed the pattern paper with vintage cream to lighten it up. I think this created a great masculine card. This is my favorite of the two. I used the starry die here too.

As a side note, can you believe it is already May??? Might as well start my Christmas list as fast as the year is going. People are seeing snow today. Crazy May ~ Rhonda

 

Happy Birthday 2 you card #1
sketch: Viva la Verve April Week 5
stamps: MFT - Birthday Sentiments; PTI - Watercolor Wonders
paper: Basic Grey - Life of the Party; PTI - Kraft, Blueberry,
ink: Versamark
other: PTI LL 2 1/12" circles, By the Numbers Impression Plate; MFT - Fishtail Flag Stax, Blueprint One dies; Zing embossing powder - Chestnut and clear

 

Happy Birthday 2 you card #2
sketch: Viva la Verve April Week 5
stamps: MFT - Birthday Sentiments
paper: Basic Grey - Life of the Party; PTI - Kraft, Vintage Cream;
ink: Versamark
other: PTI LL 2 1/12" circles, Aida Impression Plate; MFT - Fishtail Flag Stax, Blueprint One dies; Zing embossing powder - Chestnut

Project Life Week Twelve and Thirteen

Well my dilemma with this spread is NOT having enough pictures to do 2 pages for week 12 and enough pictures to do a 2 page for week 13. I decided to just do a page for each to stay consistent. 

Both sides of Week 12-13 layout

Week 12 was busy but I didn't get enough pictures taken. I loved the tulips that I stopped from my car. What would I do without my iPhone?

Left side of Week 12-13 layout

Reed's Criminal Justice Banquet was on Good Friday. We spend part of the day decorating. We hit the road early on Saturday for Oklahoma to spend Easter with my parents. We decorated eggs even though the boys weren't too thrilled but hey! if you want the Easter Bunny to bring something for your basket you play along. 

Right side of Week 12-13 layout

Have a great week! ~Rhonda 

supplies used:
Becky Higgins Digital Project Life Template A,
Jessica Sprague white outline box
September Blue -  Word Art Titles
Persnickety Prints - Black and White paper