Think Happy Thoughts

Life is complicated and messy, but surprising and wonderful all at the same time. It's so easy to become negative with all the chaos around us, but you can choose to be happy.

I will be 49 in March. That sounds so strange! Midlife, middle age...the wrong side of forty! Eh, it's just a number. I hit a turning point in my life this year and I choose to focus on happiness for the next half of it. It's very simple, if it doesn't feel good/right I don't want to do it. It may sound selfish, but if I walk away from an encounter feeling good, I bet the other person(s) feels pretty good too. That sounds more like giving to me! Happiness is contagious and it is so easy to spread. Think happy thoughts and you will fly!

Today's post is part of the Cupcake Inspirations cream, rose and black color theme challenge!

A Day for Daisies is our sponsor for this challenge and is generously providing a $12 gift certificate to our randomly chosen winner.

I used A Day for Daisies Penguin Flight digital stamp for the focal image on my card.

I typed up the sentiment in Photoshop Elements and added it to the document with the penguin digital image to create my card panel.

I printed on tan mixed media paper and colored the images with colored pencils and blended with gamsol and a paper stump.

I liked this so much I made another one in a different color scheme!

Click here for more inspiration from the Design Sweeties and the link join the challenge. I'll look for you in the gallery!

Do more of what makes you happy!

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Whiskey, Honey and a Little British Influence

My family rang in the new year with the flu. Happy Freaking New Year! Jake started running fever on New Year's Eve. After nursing him for two days, I got it too. Apparently, the flu was epidemic this year and the local pharmacies were out of tamiflu. Thank goodness for Pinterest and loads of home remedy recipes. I settled on the couch with a warm robe, fuzzy socks, a comfy Afghan and a hot toddy in my Royal Albert mug (gift from my sister Stephanie from her trip to England) to binge watch The Outlander. I'm always wary of watching my favorite books on screen, but I wasn't disappointed. I may have to watch it all over again before season 4 comes out in the fall! I started watching The Crown this morning on Netflix. I'm only on episode 3, but I actually cried in episode 2 when the king died. Yeah, I'm sappy like that!

Today starts the first Cupcake Inspirations challenge of the year. This year all the new challenges will come out on a Monday and you'll have two weeks to play!



Our sponsor this week is Lawn Fawn and they are generously providing a $25 gift certificate to our randomly chosen winner. They offer the CUTEST stamps with matching dies!



I created a snowy scene with a bit of British influence for our winter theme challenge!



I challenged myself to make a one layer card. I ended up adding the sentiment last. I can't stand it, I have to have something with a little dimension! I used stamp images from the London Calling kit from Club Scrap® . The kit is retired now as Club Scrap® offers limited edition monthly kits. So sorry! I stamped the background images using a Faber Castell Big Brush marker in cold gray. The phone booth and sentiment were stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I colored the phone booth with Derwent Coloursoft Colored Pencils and blended with a paper point dipped in Gamsol. I really like how it turned out! I'm definitely going to use that method again. I've tried it before, but not on mixed media paper. The paper made all the difference. It has a little tooth to it, so the colored pencils are vivid and blend really nicely. And last, some white gesso for some really nice opaque snow!

Be sure to check out what the rest of the Sweeties have created. There's lots of Lawn Fawn inspiration this week!

Charlotte

Danijela

Debbie

EK

Ishani

Sandy

Wendy (that's me!)

Click here to link up your creation for a chance to win!

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Just the Right Shoes

I am a shoe buying addict. I'm selective about the style, but I'll buy all the colors that are available if the style complements my feet. SHHHH! I have bunions and when I find just the right shoes, I snatch them up! I've learned to choose comfort over style. The turning point for me was a hard lesson on my 40th birthday. My sisters took me to Las Vegas and had quite an agenda planned that required LOTS of walking.



I packed some cute heels to wear out and a brand new pair of Nike's for trekking around...I suppose I should have broken them in first. I ended up with blisters on my heels after the first day, so I bought these while we were out and about.



I wore them the first night out. Vanity=Bad mistake. Now I had blisters between my big toes and the bottoms of my feet were numb! In desperation, I bought these.



At least I could walk without limping, though I ended up with plantar fasciitis for a year! Funny what you notice when your feet hurt...nothing but your feet. All I could think about was taking the next step! On our last night out, as we walked the 20 minute walk from our hotel to Caesar's palace, I enviously watched a group of twenty somethings walking in front of us in their ridiculously high heels and spray tanned legs. BUT, the tables were turned at 3:00 AM! That same group of girls were trudging back across the street, barefoot with dirty black feet, with the pretty heels dangling from tired fingers. I was thankful for my blisters that prevented wearing style over comfort! I still appreciate a pretty pair of shoes when I'm shopping though. I'll "ooohh and aaahh" over them, maybe even try them on, but they aren't coming home with me. I'll stick with my favorite pair of Birkenstocks and a pedicure and I'm good to go!

This sweet little creation is just the right shoe. It's pretty and won't cause blisters!

[caption id="attachment_12262" align="alignnone" width="4833"] Club Scrap® card stock and gems from the December 2017 A Night at the Met Deluxe kit.[/caption]

I found this template from Everyday Parties  on Pinterest. I just printed it on copy paper and traced it onto card stock using a sheet of carbon tracing paper. I trimmed out the pieces, scored on the dotted lines, folded and glued it together. The hardest part was choosing card stock!



I dressed it up a bit with a glamorous "shoe clip". This dragonfly stamp image is part of the stamptangle line from Just For Fun Rubber Stamps. The detail is just gorgeous!



Today's post is my design team contribution for the January Color Challenge on the Just For Fun Rubber Stamps blog.



Make something festive and link up for a chance to win a gift certificate to shop in the JFF Stamps online store! I'll look for you in the gallery!



SUPPLIES USED:

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Club Scrap®  A Night at the Met Deluxe kit

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