~Serenity~

 

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Today was a girls shopping day. I went with my friend to the Kirkland's and Home Goods stores. They are about a half hour away from my home. We spent almost 4 hours browsing through both stores and each of us bought a few things.

 

Then we got caught in a torrential downpour on the way home. I do not like driving on a highway when it's raining so hard you can't see and the water is ponding on the road. But, I exited as soon as I could and went home another way. It took a little longer but I felt better about driving on side roads.

 

I bought some wall sconces for my living room and when I unpacked the box at home one of them was broke. Now, I have to make another trip back to the store tomorrow. Friday's in that area are always so busy with traffic. Frustrating for sure.

 

Now onto my card for today. A few weeks ago I made this beach scene card. When I made it I sponged a couple of backgrounds and stamped the beach sand, sea oats and sand piper birds. So I had this one laying on my craft table. To finish it off, I decided to stamp a sailboat and a different sentiment. I stamped some birds in the sky and my card is done.

 

 Now I have another card to send off to my niece who is battling breast cancer. She completed her chemo and the surgeon did a lumpectomy. Her cancer is a rare aggressive type of cancer. She is doing her radiation now. I saw her a couple of weeks ago and I think she looks great. I am sending her cards to encourage her.

 

Well, it's late and time for me to dim the lights in Charmed Life Land for another day. So until next time.......God bless.

 

card details:

Stamps: : just beachy (Seaside Stampin' Ink), Sail Away (Great Impressions Stamps), scenic selections (Marks Finest Papers) 

Paper: : kraft, early espresso, whisper white (stampin-Up),    

Paper Size: A42   

Ink: soft sky, coastal cabana, crumb cake, early espresso 

Accessories:  mini ink blenders (Ranger) 

Techniques: sponging

 

I am also entering:  

1.  Crafting Musketeers has a shades of summer challenge.

2.  Life in Details has a summer/winter challenge.

3.  Sisters of Craft has an anything goes challenge.

4.  Crafty Gals Corner has an anything goes challenge.

5.  Ruby's Rainbow challenges has an at the seaside challenge.

 

 

~Sailboat Birthday~

 

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit at the Charmed Life Blog. I am back to trying to get my new craft room in order. But, I needed a little break so I decided to post on my Blog. Maybe that's the problem I am taking too many breaks from organization and that's the reason it's taking so long (lol)!!!

 

I want to have this completed by mid July since my son and daughter-in-law are coming for a visit. And, this mess was going on at Christmas time. My saga started with painting the room my 4 yr. old granddaughter sleeps in.

 

Then we moved the desktop computer out of that room. That was when my hubby suggested taking his den and making it my stamping studio. Oh yes, I jumped right on that one.

 

So we moved the computer and desk in there and started bringing my craft supplies up from the basement. That was right before Christmas- obviously my excitement got the better of me. I had no layout in mind for the room and no idea what to use for storage.

 

Now 6 months later I bought storage units from Ikea, Stamp 'N Storage and Home Depot. I am still in the midst of organizing and purging supplies. I have used some organization ideas from Jennifer McGuire. I took all of my Stampin'-Up wood mount stamps that I was keeping and converted them to clear mount. That in itself was a huge undertaking.

 

Today I am finishing organizing my Spellbinder dies and my PaperTrey Ink stamps and dies. Once that's done there is all my ribbon, embellishments and paper. The paper will be another huge project.

 

I will keep you posted on my progress. Wish I had some professionals to help me but alas I don't. So I need to stay focused and get this done.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for today's color challenge #536 on Splitcoaststampers. Maura is hostessing her first challenge and she chose real red, night of navy and marina mist as her color palette. Our option this week is to use enamel dots or sequins. I was so focused on the colors this week that I totally forgot the option (lol). 

 

real red, marina mist, night of navy

But, I did take Maura's suggestion to make a fun masculine card. I had some pieces left from a Stampin'-Up Paper Pumpkin kit and I decided to use them for my boat sails. I saw this card on Pinterest and used it for my inspiration. Changed it up to make it my style.

My water is stamped with the PaperTrey Ink "ombre builder" set in marina mist. Clouds stamped with same ink and the stamp is from A Muse.

For my boat bottom, I used a Spellbinders circle die and cut it in half. It's embossed with a Tim Holtz "woodgrain embossing folder" and run through my Sizzix Big Shot.

My birthday die is from PaperTrey ink cut in night of navy.  I decided to place it on the card at an angle. I like how this one turned out and now I have a masculine card for my stash.

 

Hope you can play along with us this week. We have some great colors and you may be our next fave of the week and that gives you a chance to guest design with the CC Team. Just go to this post on Splitcoaststampers and get all the details.

 

card details:

Stamps: ombre builder (PaperTrey Ink), clouds (A Muse) 

Paper: real red, night of navy, whisper white 

Ink: marina mist 

Accessories: Paper Pumpkin Kit (Jue 2014), birthday die (PaperTrey Ink), Spellbinder circle die, Woodgrain embossing folder (Tim Holtz/Ranger), Sizzix Big Shot

I am also entering:

1.  Cardz 4 Guyz has a die or punch challenge.

2.  Cuttlebug Mania has a "sentimental journey" challenge. Add a sentiment to card.

3.  Fan-Tastic Tuesday has an anything goes with a twist: touch of summer.

4.  Loves Rubberstamp has a die-cut challenge.

5.  Papertake Weekly has a trio-tastic challenge. I used 3 die cuts.

6.  The Challenge has a nautical theme challenge.

 

  

Happy Father's Day

 

Hello Blogger Friends! It's Sunday and we are celebrating Father's Day. My hubby is out cutting the grass (his choice) and then plans to spend the later afternoon and evening watching the US Open. It's being held near Seattle so that's a 3 hour time difference.

 

Our son here in Pittsburgh just returned from their trip last night and Ethan has a baseball game today. So we probably won't see them until later on in the week. And our son in California will call with his Father's Day wishes. We get to see them in another month. They are coming to Pittsburgh for our family reunion.

 

We returned Apollo, my son's dog, yesterday. He was so excited to see his family once again. It is a lot of work taking care of a dog if you don't have one. But, this morning I actually missed having him  here with us.

 

Now onto my card for today. This is one that I made for a friend who asked if I had any extra cards. She wanted one for her hubby, Dad and Father-in-law. I had only 2 extra ones so I put this one together for her. It is a Clean and simple design but I liked how it turned out.

 

This is a mainly Stampin'-Up only card. I don't make many of those but the other 2 I gave Kendra were this color scheme so I was trying to keep things somewhat similar. The card base is blackberry bliss and the designer paper is from the "Moonlight" collection.

 

My flag is cut in hello honey cardstock and I used a MFT die. My circle is embossed with the Stampin'-Up "on point" folder.

 

The sentiment is the stamp set that was included in the April Paper Pumpkin kit from Stampin'-Up. I have been getting those kits for a year now and I can say that I have loved every one of them.

 

To complete my card I added some extra thick bakers twine in blackberry bliss. This was part of an in-color accessory pack offered by Stampin'-Up during sale-a-bration this year.

 

Time to finish this post and start my hubby's Father's Day dinner.  My neighbor just sent over a big pot of homemade marinara sauce. It is really delicious. So I am going to make some chicken parmesan, a potato-kale casserole and a tossed salad. We have lots of garden lettuce growing. So until next time.........God bless.

 

card details:

stamps: love you a lot  (paper pumpkin April 2015 kit)

paper: blackberry bliss, hello honey,  whisper white, moonlight dsp (Stampin'-Up)

ink: blackberry bliss

accessories: MFT flag stax dies, Spellbinders circle dies, Sizzix on-point embossing folder

 

I am also entering:

1.  Dragonfly Dreams has a special occasions challenge. Mine this year is Father's Day.

2.  Glitter 'n Sparkle has a one for the boys challenge.

3.  Sentimental Sundays has a Father's Day challenge.

4.  Stamping Sensations has a die and punch challenge.

 

 

~Simple Pleasures~

 

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop by and visit the Charmed Life Blog. It's a rainy Friday here in Pittsburgh. In fact, it's been raining since last Saturday and it's supposed to continue for the next several days.

And our dog adventures are coming to an end tomorrow. My son and his family come back from the beach early tomorrow evening.

 

Last night I woke up around 4:00 and Apollo wasn't in his dog bed. So I got up to see where he went and lo and behold I found him in the living curled up on the couch. He even moved the pillow to get comfy.

 

I thought it would be best to have him in our bedroom since he sleeps in my grandson's bedroom. I had the bedroom door closed the night before and he was up several times walking around the room and whimpering to get out. I really didn't want him roaming around the house because I didn't want him on the couch or any of the other beds.

 

So tonight the door will be closed again. This is his last night here and all in all he did very well. He has a big backyard to run around and we took him for 2 long walks every day.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I mad for the color challenge #528 on Splitcoaststampers. Peggy was the hostess and she chose the color palette of sof sky, blushing bride and crumb cake. Our option was Crabby (beachy), Shabby (chic), or Fabby (anything else). As you can see I chose the beachy option.

soft sky, blushing bride, crumb cake

To create my sky I sponged soft sky, for the water I used coastal cabana, and for the sand I sponged crumb cake on glossy cardstock.

I then used several different beach stamps to create the scene of sea oats, sand and the birds. The stamps as well as the sentiment are from the "just beachy" collection by Seaside Stampin' Ink.

I stamped the images and the sentiment in early espresso. I cut a beach umbrella with the Spellbinders "surfs up" dies in blushing bride designer paper and my card is done.

Well, that's it for me for today. So until next time.........God bless.

card details:

 

Stamps: just beachy (Seaside Stampin' Ink) 

Paper: kraft, early espresso (stampin-Up), kromekote glossy cardstock 

Paper Size: A4

Ink: soft sky, coastal cabana, crumb cake, early espresso 

Accessories: surfs up dies (Spellbinders)., mini ink blenders (Ranger) 

Techniques: sponging 

 

I am also entering: 

1.  Bloggers Challenge is all about summertime.

2.  Frosted Designs has a summertime blues challenge.

3.  Sister Act Card Challenge is anything goes.

4.  Aud Sentiments Challenge Blog has a summertime sentiments challenge.


 

 

~Happy Birthday~

 

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. Well it's Wednesday and the 5th day of my dog adventure. I am taking care of my son's dog for a week. They went to the beach for a little r&r.

 

Apollo misses his family for sure. I decided to stay at my son's home for a few days because of all the rain we are having. His backyard is set up with a long dog run. But, he wasn't sleeping well and on Monday night woke me at 4:30 barking. Instant fear I tell you!!

 

Well, it started to rain very hard and it was thundering and lightning. The rain pounding on the roof caused the barking and he is afraid of the thunder. So I decided to bring him to my home which was the original plan.

 

He did well last night. He slept through the night and was good through the day. He even ate all his food today. That's the first time since they left on Saturday.  I have 2 more days yet with him and then I will take him back to his home on Saturday. My son and family should return early Saturday evening.

 

Well enough of my dog adventures let's get to the card for today. My feminine birthday card is a case of one I made previously. See the original masculine card here. 

 

My background paper on my birthday card is from Stampin-Up's "more amore" collection. The balloons and sentiment are from the Stampin'-Up "party this way" set.  I stamped them  in primrose petals ink and then fussy cut. Sentiment is stamped on an MFT bracket die.I cut some streamers from primrose petals card stock.

On the image panel,I used the Stampin'-Up set “gorgeous grunge” to add some background splatters in primrose petals ink. Punched a few raspberry ripple hearts from a Spellbinders die and added to an embossed panel to complete my card. 

 

Well, that's it for me for today. So until next time.......God bless.

 

card details:

Stamps: party this way, gorgeous grunge (Stampin-Up)   

Paper: primrose petals, very vanilla, raspberry ripple, more amore dsp (Stampin-Up)

Paper Size: A2 Ink: primrose petals (SU), tuxedo black (Memento) 

Accessories: Su border punch, Cuttlebug EF, MFT bracket die  

 

I am also entering:  

1.  Crafty Creations has an embossing challenge
2.  Sisters of Craft has an anything goes.
3.  Crafting From the Heart has an anything goes challenge.
 

~Class of 2015~

 

Hello blogger friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. It was a hot and humid Saturday here in Pittsburgh. We went to my nephew's high school graduation party. It is always a good time with the extended family.

 

I am also taking care of my son and daughter-in-law's dog for a week. They left today for the beach. So it will be an adventure with Apollo and I. We don't have any pets and already I see they are a lot of work.

 

He doesn't like going out in the back yard to run by himself. So I sit with him (lol). He chases the birds and butterflies and plays with his toys. We went for a walk today and he did good with me. I was concerned about that. He is a very strong dog and quite energetic.

 

Hubby and I are staying here tonight and tomorrow we head back to our home with the dog. He keeps going to the window and looking out. I know he misses his family. I am hoping that he will be okay in my home. If not we will come back here and stay.  

 

So now onto my card for today. This is the card I made for my nephew. His school colors and green and white with black accents. I started with my layout which is the sketch challenge #544 on Splitcoaststampers.

 

 

The card background is garden green. I wanted some texture but couldn't find my stars embossing folder. So I decided to use the Stampin'-Up alphabet press embossing folder. I thought it worked well.

 

My black angled strip is cut with the star die from the MFT Blueprints 18 dies. The "grad cap and class of" are dies also from MFT graduation accents set. The 2015 is also a die from MFT. I cut the sentiments and grad cap 3x and layered for more dimension.

 

Well, that's it for me for today. So until next time.......God bless.

card details:

Paper: basic black, garden green, white Paper Size: A2

Accessories: graduation accents, little numbers, blueprints 18 (MFT), Spellbinders matting Basics A & B , alphabet press (Stampin'-Up)  

I am also entering:
1.  Sister Act Card Challenge is anything goes.
2.  Just Us Girls has a stacked die cuts sentiment challenge.
3.  Scrapper's Delights has an anything goes #45 challenge.

  

~In Your Eyes~

 

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. I made some real progress on my stamping studio yesterday.

 

We went to Home depot and bought a metal storage shelf for the closet. This enabled me to move a lot of stuff from another bedroom to the shelf.

 

I still need to go through the supplies and organize them a little better but this was a big boost for me. I have had 2 bedrooms in disarray for months now.

 

In today's mail, I am expecting more of the Avery Elle stamp & die pockets. This will enable me to finish up with my clear stamp storage. I adopted the Jennifer McGuire system of stamp storage. See her idea here.

 

Plus my friend loaned me a die that will cut chipboard in the shape of a large spool of thread. It's flat of course. This will enable me to organize and condense my ribbon stash. Right now I have it stored by color in 5 photo boxes.

 

I just can't wait until this is all finished. It has been such a long process. And, I also dislike the clutter immensely.

 

Now, onto my card for today. This one I made for the color challenge #534 on Splitcoaststampers. Peggy is our hostess and she chose pool party, wisteria wonder and blackberry bliss as her color palette. Our option this week is to add stars.

 

pool party, wisteria wonder, blackberry bliss

My layout is this week's MojoMonday 401 sketch. 

 The background designer paper is from the Stampin'-Up "park lane" collection. I used the Cuttlebug folder  "just my type" on the blackberry bliss strip.

My flower is from the Verve set "be blessed". I stamped and cut it 2x for a bit more dimension on my card. I won this set with this card in a recent MojoMonday contest. It is cut with the matching petal points die.

The sentiment is from the same Verve set. I am sending this off to a friend of mine who has stood by my side over the past year.

Finished my card by adding some sequins. Well, that's it for me for today. So until next time.........God bless.

card details:

Stamps: Be Blessed (Verve) 

Paper: : wisteria wonder, blackberry bliss, whisper white, park lane dsp 

Paper Size: A2 Ink: blackberry bliss 

Accessories: petal points die, pastel sequin mix (Verve), just my type ef (Cuttlebug)

 

I am also entering:   

1.  Crafts Galore Encore has an anything goes challenge.

2.  Creative Craft Cottage has a flowers challenge

3.  LadyBug Crafts has a use your dies challenge.
4.  613 Avenue Create is anything goes. Optional: make something for your bff.

 

MOJO400 ~Love Comforts~

 

Hello Blogger friends! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog. It's a beautiful Sunday here in Pittsburgh. My bronchitis is gone and I was able to attend church services today. So it's a wonderful day for me.

 

Our Saturday was a busy one. I had a baby shower to attend for my niece and we were also invited to a graduation party. My hubby took care of the grad party and I went to the shower.

 

The favors and table decorations at the shower were so cute. My niece has a critters theme for her nursery. So the table decorations were along that line. We all received a different animal made from balsa wood. Mine was a raccoon.

 

We also received a muslin bag with some hand soap and lotion from Bath & Body works. The bag was decorated with a little squirrel. Then I won our table centerpiece. it was a mason jar painted in a rustic way with pink paint and filled with fresh flowers. She is having a girl.

 

We had some cookies on our table as well. They were mini acorns made from nutter butters and a mini chocolate kiss. Super cute!!!

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for the MOJO400 sketch. Congrats Julee on an incredible milestone!! For this sketch, Julee went back to the original sketch she posted way back in September of 2007.

 

And to celebrate this big milestone there is a contest and a fabulous prize on the MojoMonday blog. The prize is a spot on the MojoMonday blog team. How exciting. Yes, I want to be a MojoMonday designer.

 

 

So I mulled over a design for a few days, and today I put my thoughts to paper. I had this idea for the corner half circle to use the sun from the Stampin'-Up set "kinda eclectic".

 

I found some designer paper in my stash that had some background script. I remember buying this to do a scrapbook page several years ago but I never got around to it. So it was sitting waiting to be used today.

 

I stamped the sun in crushed curry ink and also 3 butterflies from the same set in the upper corner. I fussy cut another butterfly and layered it over a stamped one for some added interest.

 

My sentiment is from the Verve set "stronger love" and stamped in soft suede ink. I thought it carried my sunshine theme through. To complete the card I added some pale yellow sequins from the Verve "pastel sequin" mix.

 

Well, that's it for me for today. So until next time......God bless.

 

card details:

Stamps: stronger love (Verve), kinda eclectic (Stampin'-Up)

Ink: crushed curry, soft suede

Paper: crushed curry, naturals ivory, designer paper (

Accessories: Spellbinders Matting Basic A & B, Pastel Sequins (Verve)

 

 

 

~#1 DAD~

 

Hello Blogger Friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with the Charmed Life Blog. Well, I think I am over my bout with bronchitis- finally. This is the first morning in 2 weeks that I felt good when I woke up. Yay for me! The antibiotics are doing their work. 

 

Yesterday, my daughter-in-law came for a visit and brought their dog. They are going to the beach for a week, and I will be taking care of him. We took him out for a walk to see how I could handle him. That went ok. He has a lot of energy and I hope our week together goes well.

 

I didn't want to stay at their house for a week so I hope he acclimates to our house well. He wanted to run in the yard and I would like to let him do that. I will see how that goes after a few days of him being here.

 

Now onto my card for today. Another one I made for Father's Day.  I wanted to make a card with bowties on it for Father's Day and then I saw the sketch #543 on Splitcoaststampers and thought it would be perfect for my idea.

 

When I saw the sketch, I thought layers 1 & 2 looked just like the dies I have from MFT Blueprints 18. So I cut my background designer paper with those dies and used Stampin'-Up "kaleidoscope" designer paper . I was after a graphic, masculine look and these papers worked for that.

I made my bowties from the MFT dainty bows die and kaleidoscope designer paper . The #1 and Dad word are cut from the MFT "little numbers and letters dies. Well, that's it for me for today. So until next time........God bless.

 

card details:
Paper: black, bermuda bay, crushed curry, strawberry slush, kaleidoscope dsp 

Paper Size: A2 

Accessories: MFT Blueprints 18, little numbers & letters, dainty bows, Spellbinders square dies

I am also entering:
1.  Simon Says Stamp has a make it masculine challenge.

2.  LadyBug Crafts has a use your dies challenge.

3.  Crafting By Designs has an anything goes challenge.

4.  LovesRubberStamps has an anything goes challenge.

5.  PaperTake Weekly has an anything goes challenge with option of something summery. Father's Day always marks the start of summer for me.  

Pencil Thanks

 

Hello Blogger Friends!! Thanks for taking the time to visit the Charmed Life Blog.

 

I love the Spring season in Pittsburgh. We always have such temperature fluctuations. Sunday it was hot, humid and 88°. Today its overcast and cool with temps at 55°. It was so cool overnight that we used our comforter and had most of the windows closed.

 

Our gardens are blooming like crazy. We have had lettuce for a bout 3 weeks now. I just love going outside and being able to pick fresh to make a salad. We have 2 different varieties of leaf lettuce, spinach and kale.

 

My husband is going to do another planting because we want to have lettuce when my daughter-in-law and granddaughter come to visit in July.

 

The local farms also have the strawberries ready for picking. Last year I did that and made strawberry jam. I haven't decided yet if I am going to do that or not. It's a lot of work but having the jam on my pantry shelf is better than going to the grocery store shelves.

 

I also made a lot of pear butter in the fall and have lots of jars of that left. Which is the reason I am hesitating to make strawberry jam right now. have to decide quick because the strawberry season here is a short one.

 

Now onto my card for today. This one I made for the color challenge #533 on Splitcoaststampers. Karen is our hostess and she chose basic gray, crisp cantaloupe and calypso coral as her color palette. The option is to use bits of green and blue.

 

basic gray, crisp cantaloupe, calypso coral

 

 

Although these colors would be perfect for flowers, I needed a thank you card for one of my Pre-School families, so no flowers for me. I just purchased this new stamp set and dies from PaperTrey Ink. I thought it would make a great school themed thanks card.

My background designer paper is from the Stampin'-Up "afternoon picnic" collection. I thought it looked like graph paper for a school themed card.

The stamp set has different patterns for the pencils as well as solid colors. I stamped my pencils in the challenge colors and used crisp cantaloupe card stock for the eraser.

Cut my flag from the MFT flag stax die in basic gray. My thanks word is a die from Taylored Expressions cut in calypso coral. I received it as a thank you gift for an order I placed.

 

Well, that's it for me for today. So until next time.........God bless.

 

card details:
Stamps: pencil me in (PaperTrey Ink) 

Paper: calypso coral, basic gray, ww, afternoon picnic (Stampin'-Up) Paper Size: A2 

Ink: calypso coral, marina mist, old olive, crisp cantaloupe, memento tuxedo black   

Accessories: Spellbinders Matting Basics A & B, pencil dies (PaperTreyInk), flag stax die (MFT), Thanks die (Taylored Expressions)  

I am also entering:
1.  PaperTake Weekly has an anything goes challenge
2.  Artistic Inspirations has an anything goes with a twist of die cuts
3.  Hiding in my Craft Room has a freestyle challenge.