I {heart} Butterflies

We have been having such beautiful weather in St. Louis lately. It doesn't feel like August--we should be sweltering in the upper 90s with high humidity by now, but for some reason we've had lows in the 60s and highs in the low to mid 80s without much humidity.

What does that have to do with butterflies you may ask? Nothing really, other than because of the beautiful weather we decided to take a quick trip to the zoo yesterday. I love the fact that we live close enough that we can take a short trip if we want. Admission is free, parking is free in Forest Park and we've lucked out finding close parking spots the last few times we've visited.

One of my favorite parts of the zoo is the geodesic flight dome cage that is part of the insectarium building. It is smaller than the Butterfly House in Chesterfield, but it is still full of beautiful rainforest plants and butterflies. I got a few pictures, but I'd love to be able to spend more time there and get a few more photos.

The first few could've been a little better, but I forgot to change the settings on my camera.

Right before I left I had my camera adjusted properly and was able to catch this black and white beauty with one shot. It was just hanging out right near the exit door.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Thanks for stopping by today. (The one shot worked perfectly for my blog header as well. Yes, I changed it again. LOL)

Animals Crack Me Up

Animals, and in particular my cat, crack me up. Last Saturday I bought my kitty a 3-story cat condo like the one pictured below. Of course she wouldn't go anywhere near it other than to sniff it and run away. Even hiding treats inside and on top was of no use--she'd grab the treats and run.





Last night out of frustration I asked the cat (yes I talk to my animals, even the fish) if Mommy had wasted her money on the cat condo, and if I should just give it to the kitties at the humane society who would appreciate it? That must've struck a chord because within an hour or so I got this picture.

You can see some of the treats (bribes) inside the bottom level. Well my little heart-to-heart must've worked. I'm not sure how often I'll see a repeat of the above, but she seems to enjoy laying on the top where she can look out the window--she enjoys it enough that she got up early today and instead of snuggling with me in bed she curled up on top of her condo. I'm so happy that she finally seems to realize that it's hers and is getting to like it.

I know that some people may disagree, but I think my cat can understand a lot more of what I say to her than I ever thought possible. Maybe she just picks up on how I'm feeling rather than what I say, but the end result is the same. IMO she's one smart kitty.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a great day.

A Couple of Challenge Cards

First up I have my card for last week's Casual Mid Week Challenge #18 at the PTI forum. I worked from a sketch created by Lynn and used a pink and brown color combo (I know surprise, surprise). The most exciting part of both of these cards is the fact that I got to use my new Fiskars Threading Water punch. I have been looking at my local craft stores for months and finally was rewarded.




For this week's challenge I designed the sketch. Well, actually I made a card first and then made the sketch. As usual I did it backwards. Still celebrating my new punch I decided to make scallops part of my sketch. I also made a point of using my script embossing folder that has been neglected for far too long. I am really pleased with how the colors came together for this card. I've had those flowers forever and once I saw them with the Hobby Lobby ribbon and PTI's Aqua Mist cardstock I knew it was a perfect match.

Thanks for stopping by today. If you want to check out any of the weekly challenges at PTI, here is the best place to start. http://forum.papertreyink.com/forum/gallery2.php?g2_itemId=8507&g2_GALLERYSID=012aacf4f907e4bbc0df82bca24e6bf4 .

New Layout

I've noticed a lot of bloggers out there sprucing up their pages and Imust've been bitten by the same bug. I'm sort of limited to the available templates Blogger has for now, but I like the colors and layout. The photo at the top is one that my bf took during his trip to Canada earlier this year. I'm going to have to see it for myself one day because his photos were breathtakingly beautiful.

My craft room is being neglected again so I have nothing else to show you, but hopefully I'll be back soon with something more to share.

Take care and have a great weekend.

I Won An Award!

Erica (http://1creativelife.blogspot.com) has honored me with an award. I check her blog regularly for creative inspiration whether it's coming from the craft room or the kitchen, or sometimes just about life in general. She was kind enough to pick my blog as one of her 7 to pass along the award to.


Here are the rules of the nomination and award acceptance:

1) The winner can post the logo on her blog

2) Link the person you received your award from

3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4) Put links of those blogs on yours

5) Leave a message on the blogs you've nominated

I'm having some technical issues right now linking the blogs I want to nominate, but hopefully I will have that resolved shortly. Until then, please feel free to check out my blogroll over on the left side of the page. Those are a few of my favorites.

I'm Back!

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything, but last night was the first time I've been back in my craft room in a week. It's been crazy enough at my house, but add in my parent's house being broken into and robbed the day after my birthday and it makes for a stressful and busy week.

My mom had asked me to make a few birthday cards for her so I got to work and made a few last night. I hope that she likes them. She had requested cards for a 75-yr old woman, a 90-yr old woman, and 1-yr old boy.

I used Papertrey Ink's Out on a Limb set for the first card and added some flowers made with a punch from Target's $1 spot. I love adding sparkle so each flower got a gem in the center.

The next card uses the Quilter's Sampler set from Papertrey Ink. I stamped the quilt squares and colored them with my Copic markers then stamped the sentiment on some of PTI's new linen vellum and layered it over the top and tied it with some Lemon Tart twill tape.





I had absolutely no idea what sort of card to make for a 1-yr old boy, especially one I've never met, but I figured the turtles would be good. They are from Papertrey Ink's Pond Life set.


The last card is one that I received in the mail this weekend from Lynn at PTI for my birthday. She apologized for being late, but I think it is such a great card that I'm happy to have it, no matter when it came. It has the perfect sentiment inside for a belated b-day card. When I saw it on her blog (http://stamperosity.blogspot.com/) I had no idea it was coming to me. It was a very nice surprise.



I hope you enjoyed the cards today. Hopefully I will be able to post more regularly now that things have settled down some. As always, thanks for visiting.

Happy Birthday to Me! :-)

It's my birthday today so I don't feel too bad about not having anything crafty to post. I haven't been in my craft room for days and I'm starting to have withdrawls so I'm sure I'll have an update soon.

Weekly Challenge Card

I finished another weekly challenge over on the Papertrey Ink forum. This was a sketch challenge hosted by Kimberly.

I used PTI's Sweet Blush and Dark Chocolate cardstock as well as some patterned paper from Basic Grey's Infuse line. The sentiment is from PTI's Simple Little Things set and it's stamped in Chestnut flluid chalk ink from Colorbox. I used a Fiskar's punch for my deco edge. Next I coated some chipboad flowers with glitter and layered them with some of those trusty bridal flowers from Michaels and some punched out flowers I made with my Target $1 Spot paper punch.

It feels weird, but this is my first time blogging from home--I usually do it while on the clock. Shhhhh, don't tell my boss! ;-)

I'm not sure if I'll have anything more to add for a few days so, as always, thanks for stopping by.

Have a great weekend!

What type of fruit are You?

I saw this on Annapurna's blog so I thought I'd give it a try too.

You Are a Strawberry

You are friendly, outgoing, and well liked by many people. You are popular, but there's nothing you ordinary or average about you. You a very interesting person, and you have many facets to your personality. Sometimes you feel very conflicted. Your different sides of your personality pull at you. You are a very sensual and passionate person. You are fiery... you can't help it. In general, you keep your passionate side under wraps. You are only wild in private.

I have to laugh because some of the things mentioned are also commonly used in horoscopes for Leos. I'm noticing a pattern here.......

Want to try it for yourself? Click here: http://www.blogthings.com/whattypeoffruitareyouquiz/

Sorry, I've been Neglecting the Craft Room

I'm sorry this week has been so quiet. I haven't spent much time in my craft room--too much has been going on. I had a very nice weekend with my honey. He usually works every weekend at his second job, but he finally quit so we took advantage and went to my parent's cabin at Innsbrook.

We took off early on Friday and headed out of town. We got settled in and relaxed/cooled off at the pool for a few hours. Then we had a VERY nice dinner--pan seared halibut with watermelon salsa (yummmmm!) and a nice bottle of wine.

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, BBQing, and even spent some time with my brother, sister in law, and the kids. It was a great time.

Once we got back home I tried to get into the craft room, but it's been hard. I got a new 160GB iPod for an early birthday present and so that has become a new obsession for now. I did manage to make a quick card for the weekly challenge at PTI. We had a sketch to follow and were supposed to use a PTI set that had yet to see ink. That was easy because I had just received my new goodies on Monday so they qualified. This isn't my best card-making effort, but it came together in the little time I had available.

My mom has requested that I make two birthday cards for her (a 90th and a 75th) for some ladies from her church. I have at least a week to make them so I'm sure I'll come up with something. I'll be sure to post once I have them completed.

Thanks for coming by. Have a great rest of today.

Memory Box

I finally used a stamp that I bought on my "Camp PTI" outing at the end of last month. It's a fun dandelion stamp with the small single seed mounted on the side of the main stamp for accents made by Memory Box. The sentiment is from PTI's Mixed Messages set.

I started with a base of Lavender Moon from PTI and added some patterned paper from Memory Box on the bottom. At the seam of the papers I used some lace and some Plum Pudding twill tape from PTI. The felt flowers are from American Crafts and I used a scrap of Spring Moss twill tape as an accent. This was a quick, but fun card with pretty purples.



Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully I'll be back soon with more cards. See ya then.

Blog Roll

I was going to post a new card, but blogger doesn't want to upload my picture right now so instead I just wanted to mention that I started a list of the blogs that I like to visit on a regular basis. It is in no way a complete list, but if I list them all I'd probably run out of room. ;-)

I find a lot of inspiration on-line and I hope that you do too. If there is anyone listed who would prefer not to be, please let me know and I will remove your blog ASAP.

Butterfly Kisses

Butterfly Kisses was my first stamp set from Papertrey Ink and it is still one of my favorites. The next two cards use that set and PTI's Vintage Cream, Sweet Blush, and Aqua Mist cardstocks. I'm on sort of a kick with the pink/blue/brown combo right now so bear with me.

This first card uses an ATC stamp from Red Lead Paperworks for the background (I got it free for spending $20 there on Saturday). The faux stitching is a stamp as well since I'm afraid I'd sew my fingers together with an actual sewing maching.



The next one was the first of my two Guest Star Stamper contest entries. I wanted it to look like the cover of a Fairy Tale book so I used the sentiment "Happily ever after" and some painted Grungeboard pieces to complete the look.

I do actually own other stamp sets, I swear. So this next card has nothing to do with Butterfly Kisses. Instead I used PTI's Out on a Limb set. After much searching, I found a lantern stamp from Inkadinkado to add to the branch. The velvet ric rack is from American crafts and the background paper is from Memory Maker's 5th Avenue collection.

Vintage Cream cardstock was my base again. I had never used cream paper before and I was a little skeptical about how often I'd use it, but I'm so glad I ordered it--almost every card I've made since has been on cream.



I've been making more of an effort to get into my craft room and start making things, and I've been much happier as a result. Card ideas have been coming to me pretty quickly and I am grateful for that because I know it doesn't always last. I've been hearing too many people talk about how their creative mojo is gone. I really hope for them it comes back soon.

Thanks for visiting and have a great rest of today.

Finally a Card (With More to Come)

I've been busy working a few cards but I can only show one of them today. The others are top secret for this month's Guest Star Stamper contest at PTI. LOL

This card is one of the weekly challenges from the Papertrey Ink forum. We had a sketch to work from, but could use any colors/theme we wanted.

I used PTI's vintage cream cardstock as my base and used a Marvy punch on some sweet blush cardstock for my oval. The rest of the paper is from Marcella's Angelica line (at Target). I used some $1 ribbon from Big Lots and some "bling" from Michael's. The sentiment is from PTI's Birthday Basics set--I stamped it in Chestnut fluid chalk ink from Colorbox and edged the oval with Rouge fluid calk ink. (I admit it may be a little off, but it's not really as crooked as it looks in this photo.)

I am very happy with how my GSS cards came out and I'll be sure to post them next week. In case I don't get a chance to post again, I hope everyone has a great weekend. Thanks for checking out my site.

Take Care.

More Flowers

I don't have any new cards to post today so I thought I'd show you something different. One of my fellow bloggers has been showing some beautiful lily photos from her garden and it immediately reminded me this particular lily that happens to be my favorite. I found this photo from a Google image search:



I took that photo to my local tattoo shop and after an hour or so I came out with this for my 30th birthday:

You'll have to excuse the photography on this shot for a few reasons: (a) the tattoo itself is a few years old now, (b) I'm not the best photographer anyway, and (c) it's really friggin' hard to take a close-up picture of something on your own back! :-)

I know many people do not like tattoos and I agree that they're not for everyone, but I happen to like the ones that I have. I planned/chose my images carefully and waited at least a year to make sure I still wanted them before going. To me they are reminders of some very significant times in my life and I have never regretted them--even now, 15 yrs after my first one.

I hope everyone is having a great day. If not, stop and take a minute to appreciate something small like a flower and see if it helps.

Hopefully I'll have a new card for you tomorrow. Until then, take care.

Fireworks and Flowers

This July 4th I decided to try to capture the beautiful fireworks display at Innsbrook on film. Now, I'm not the best photographer so I took about 75 pictures and got a few decent shots, but they don't do justice to this $100,000+ fireworks display. Many of the photos turned out blurry because I was holding the camera and trying to enjoy the show at the same time, but here are a few:

I also had to take a picture of some beautiful lilies that sprouted up in front of my parent's cabin. There are plenty of wildflowers growing all over the property, but these were right by the front steps sort of welcoming everyone.

I hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday and I hope you enjoyed seeing these photos from my weekend.

Take Care.

Happy 4th of July

I probably won't be near a computer for the next couple of days so I wanted to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July. Have a great, safe long weekend!

Papertrey Ink Customer Service

I know I rave about Papertrey Ink products(www.papertreyink.com), but I can't really say enough about how great their customer service is either.

In one of my previous posts (the card with the lily on it from 6-23-08) I used one of the semtiments from my Out on a Limb stamp set from PTI. When I looked at the photo, it appears as if I didn't ink it up properly because part of the "H" is missing from the word "much" in Thanks So Much. When I looked at my stamp, that part of the letter was missing--I must've damaged it previously while cleaning.

Long story short, I e-mailed customer service and today I recieved a new stamp in the mail, carefully wrapped in tissue paper, at no charge. (I promise to be more careful with this one!) When I think of how many companies would've done the same thing, my list is VERY short. I am very thankful I found such a great company.

My First Challenge

We have a casual weekly challenge going on over the the Papertrey Ink forum and this week was my first time as a host. I chose a color challenge--cream, pink, and brown. I was inspired by this paint sample from my local hardware store.

I chose colors that I already had, so I used PTI's Vintage Cream and Sweet Blush cardstocks along with a nice dark chocolate brown from Archiver's. I accented with some patterned paper from Basic Grey's Infuse collection and ribbon from Martha Stewart. The stamps used were Paper Tray (sentiment) and Simple Little Things.

I colored the stamped image with copics and framed it with a scalloped chipboard frame from Maya Road that I painted with acrylic paints (burnt umber first, then warm white for a vintage/distressed look). I used VersaMagic chalk ink in Jumbo Java for the decorative accents on the frame and the corners of the cards, then I paired it with Rouge Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink for the sentiment.

Last week's challenge had a sketch to follow and it had to include a hole in the front. I decided to use PTI's new Plum Pudding and Vintage Cream cardstocks. I embossed the cream cardstock with the Birds and Vines Cuttlebug folder and used my own patterned paper that I made with PTI's new Guide Lines set by stamping in Plum Pudding and Spring Moss and tying with a bit of Plum Pudding twill tape.

The sentiments are from Birthday Basics and the small scalloped corners on the window are a tiny scalloped frame from Maya Road that I cut into 4 pieces--it was already cream colored so I didn't have to do anything but cut and glue.



If you want to join in the weekly challenge come on over to PTI's forum: http://forum.papertreyink.com/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=19

Thanks for looking and have a great rest of today.