Miaou!

"In France, flirting is like a way of life – it is an art form to them. It is in their culture, in their nature, in their blood. Flirting is very innocent, sweet, and never negative (like how it is sometimes perceived in the American culture)[...]

Miaou!

Yes, “meow” is correct. In France, it is quite normal for a man to say this to a girl/woman he finds attractive. It is the French catcall – and unlike in America, women typically find this flattering."

Emmanuel N., Flirting in French: 25 Head-Turning Phrases You Need To Know, Take Lessons

I have heard my share of catcalls, but never a "meow"! That would have gotten my attention and a good laugh! Most of the time it was the "wolf-whistle"but never anything that I found offensive. If anything, it made me feel pretty damn good! The thing that sucks is the day you realize that "catcall" wasn't for you! (Insert howling laughter!) Sigh...C'est la vie!

I have an innocent, sweet card to share for the Cupcakes Inspiration Challenge...I've heard this one from my husband a time or two, along with some eyebrow raising! Jeez! I can't type that without laughing! He knows when I laugh, I'm caught!

[caption id="attachment_5529" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Newton Dreams of Paris stamps and matching die set. Colored with Kuretake Gansai Tambi Water Colors, 36-Color Set and Club Scrap® cardstock from the Paris Flea Market collection[/caption]

My card features the Newton Dreams of Paris stamp and die set from today's sponsor Newton's Nook Designs. They are generously providing a $25 gift certificate for the randomly chosen winner for this week's challenge.



I am NOT a cat person, but those Newton stamp sets are super cute! I ended up buying two sets with matching dies...*eyeroll*



They are so fun to color!



Check out what the rest of the design team created here, then go make a card and enter the challenges!

Do more of what makes you happy!



Challenges entered:

Cupcake Inspirations Challenge 396

MOJO Monday 485

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Two Lost Souls Swimming in a Fish Bowl

I tried to relax on the ride home from work. The weather was cool, I had the windows down and I was in the first stages of "Aaaaahhhh...it's Friday". Then, "Wish You Were Here" started playing on the Pandora station I was listening to...such a great chill out song!

How I wish, how I wish you were here. 

We're just two lost souls 

Swimming in a fish bowl, 

Year after year, 

Running over the same old ground.

And how we found

The same old fears. 

Wish you were here.

I was tired when I got home, but knew I needed to make a card for my blog post. I picked up a little bit and sat at my craft table. I wasn't in the mood...I had just bought some Kuretake Gansai Tambi Water Colors and decided to made a color swatch on some watercolor paper to engage my creativity.

I liked the rainbow effect, so I painted some on a card sized piece. I freed myself to explore and let my creativity flow, then the ideas started rolling! I had the JFF Stamptangle Fancy Fish, Fish Bowl  and Sentiment Hearts Mini Cube stamps sitting out on my craft table and my card came together!

I liked the "see-through" effect on the fish and added the little heart to look like it had sunk to the bottom of the fish bowl.

I wrote the sentiment with a Ranger - Perfect Pen and heat embossed with white embossing powder.

I distressed the edges of the card panel with a Tim Holtz Paper Distresser, added some paint spatters and highlighted the fish bowl with the silvery pearlescent water color. I mounted the card panel on Club Scrap® card stock. I love the grungy graffiti art look that evolved!

BLOG CANDY ALERT!

 (Enter the challenge to win a gift certificate!)

CLICK HERE to join the challenge and see more inspiration from the design team!

Do more of what makes you happy!

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Time for Tea

It took me a long time to learn to like hot tea.

I like the ceremony of it. But, tea is not for impatient people. There is a process to making a good cup and it shouldn't be rushed.  However, I am not a patient person. I'm especially not patient in the morning when I need a caffeine jolt! Given the everyday choice I will choose a cup of hot coffee over a cup of tea, but I do love hot spiced tea at Christmas, cold almond tea from The Cottage, and a sweet hot toddy when I have a bad cold. But, on a cold day when the house is quiet and I want to be cozy and read a good book, I'll take the time to make a good cup of tea!

Valentine's Day is Tuesday and this is the perfect card for a kindred spirit!



This week's Cupcake Inspirations Challenge is sponsored by STAMPlorations  and they are generously providing a $15 gift certificate to our randomly chosen winner. STAMPlorations also hosts numerous monthly challenges on their blog so be sure to hop over and see what's going on there too!



STAMPlorations offers the occasional free digi image for the Never-Ending Anything Goes Challenge and I found this Cup of Roses digi stamp by Sherry Russ to use for my focal image.



I flipped the image and added a sentiment that I designed in Photoshop Elements using the Jury Duty font.



I colored the images with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers on Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth Premium Cardstock and then cut out some of the edges of the leaves with a craft knife to pop them up for a little added dimension.



The black Club Scrap cardstock underneath gives it a nice shadow!



Check out what the rest of the design team created here (the STAMPlorations design team joined us this week as well!), then go make a card and enter the challenge! Can't wait to see what you create!

Do more of what makes you happy!



Challenges entered:

STAMPlorations Anything Goes Challenge

PDE Linky Party #159 Cards

 

 

 

 

 

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STOP and Smell the Roses!

My grandfather always had roses in his garden. Red ones, and they smelled good too! He also planted climbing roses that grew up around the front porch. (My dad is the handsome teenager on the right!)



When I was little, I would sit on the porch and pop off the thorns on the stems and he would get so mad! He always threatened to "pop" me, but he only did that once...He said he kept a switch on top of the refrigerator. When my sister and I would argue or get in trouble, he would point up there and say, "I'll pop you with that switch if you don't behave!" There wasn't really a switch up there, but we believed it! I don't remember what I did to get "spanked", but I remember the aftermath. It didn't hurt anything but my feelings and I remember throwing myself on the bed in the guestroom and carrying on for a LONG time. Poor Papaw...he kept saying he was sorry and patted my back trying to get me to quit crying. I must have been such a little brat because I milked that for awhile AND I told Memaw when she got home! He would playfully "pinch" us after that, then pat us and say, "You know Papaw loves you!" Good grief we were spoiled!

These American Beauties remind my of Papaw's roses...

[caption id="attachment_5218" align="aligncenter" width="519"] JFF Rubber Stamps American Beauties stamp image. Colored with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers (Pinks and Greens) on Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth Premium Cardstock and backed with Club Scrap® cardstock from the Paradise collection. Crystal and Lime Stickles and for sparkle. Memento Ink in Rose Bud for the inked edges.[/caption]

UPS just delivered my Spectrum Noir alcohol markers Wednesday and I couldn't wait to try them out. I watched a ton of tutorials on blending, tested them out on scratch paper and jumped right in with a no-line coloring technique. With a little more practice, this might become my new favorite medium!



I designed my sentiment in Photoshop Elements and printed on the Spectrum Noir card stock. I saved the .png file so that I can print and repeat as needed.

[caption id="attachment_5221" align="aligncenter" width="987"] Jury Duty, Beyond the Mountains and Bigelow Rules fonts.[/caption]

I was worried at first, but I didn't get any smudging when I colored over the lettering with the markers. I love how the Rose Bud ink matches the markers!

The American Beauties stamp is available in the JFF online store and it needs a good home. Not only is it beautiful, it can be any color you want!

BLOG CANDY ALERT!

 (Enter the challenge to win a gift certificate!)

CLICK HERE to join the challenge and see more inspiration from the design team!

Do more of what makes you happy!

 

Challenges entered:Spectrum Noir Anything Goes Challenge

 

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Sorry about the mess, but we LIVE here!

I live in a frat house.

Not really, but it feels like it sometimes! Two sons, a cousin, my husband and the dog. All male. I am the odd "man" out! I have to say that they are all pretty awesome housemates, though I am sure I get on their nerves with my constant nagging about mess. Hey, it's in my nature! I think it is a female trait to want things clean and organized. I can't help it! I used to kill myself cleaning when my kids were growing up. Saturday was my cleaning day, if there weren't ball games! I've gotten lazy in my old age, or is it that I realized that it wasn't the most important thing in the world to have a spotlessly clean house? Probably a little of both. It has taken 26 years for them to wear me down though!

You know you are doing something right when you can't wait to get home every day. This quote sums it all up for me.



I'm going to make this into a canvas because I love it so much! Don't you love the Just For Fun Rubber Stamps collaged row houses stamp?

[caption id="attachment_5087" align="alignnone" width="533"] Just For Fun Rubber Stamps Collaged Row Houses stamp paired with Club Scrap® card stock. Yellow and Crystal Stickles for sparkle. Velvet heart from my stash.[/caption]

I had the little velvet heart out on my craft table to add to another project, but it was perfect for this one!



I designed the sentiment in Photoshop Elements using the fonts Bigelow Rules, Jury Duty and Beyond the Mountains. The sentiment was designed to print on a 4.25 x 5.5 card panel, so that I can print and repeat as many times as I like!



Blog Candy Alert! Just For Fun Rubber Stamps (JFFRS) hosts a monthly challenge and the randomly chosen winner will receive a gift certificate to shop in their online store. Your project must include a rubber stamped image somewhere in the design. You DO NOT have to use a JFF stamp to be considered for the gift card,  but if you DO use a JFF stamp you will receive a second entry into the drawing doubling your chance to win! Sounds like a sweet thing to me!

[caption id="attachment_5131" align="aligncenter" width="399"] CLICK HERE to join the challenge and see more inspiration from the design team![/caption]

 

Do more of what makes you happy!

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Hedgehugs and Kisses

I know puns are cheesy, but they make me feel grate! (Ba-dum TSS!) My husband got a second date with a "punny" pick up line, and he asked for that second date because I laughed!  Classic Chris humor...One Saturday morning  we had an argument. He went outside to burn off steam doing yard work. The kids were being crazy, and I was hot, sweaty and angrily cleaning house. All of a sudden, he ran inside, slid across the dining room floor, grabbed me and said,"Oh my God are you OK?!" I gave him the WTH look and he chuckled and said," I thought you might have hurt yourself when you fell from heaven!" I started laughing hysterically, housework was forgotten and we had a hot date!

We don't usually go crazy for Valentine's Day, but I do like to make my Valentine a card!



Those hedgehogs made the CUTEST card for the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge starting today! My card features Gerda Steiner's hedgehog smooches digital image and Club Scrap® cardstock.



This week's theme challenge is sponsored by Gerda Steiner Designs (GSD) and she is graciously providing a $15 gift certificate to a randomly chosen winner. She also hosts a monthly challenge on her blog with a chance to win 3 GSD Digital Stamps of your choice or alternatively a $15 coupon to the store! Win! Win!

Check out what the rest of the design team created here, then go make a card and enter the challenges!

Do more of what makes you happy!



Challenges/Galleries entered:

GSD Monthly Challenge Hedgehog Smooches

GSD Flickr Group

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Color Me Happy!

I joined a photography challenge on January 1 called The Great 365 Project hosted on Diane Downs' photography website/blog and started posting my photos on Instagram . The January 18 daily prompt was "multiple" and I had just received my essential oils and bamboo diffuser from UPS! Don't you love this essential oil storage box ? I was really surprised to discover that my 30ml bottles fit in all of the slots. Lots of room for more oils!



I started pinning essential oil diffuser recipes on Pinterest and decided to make a little recipe book to keep with my supplies. I found this quick and easy, GLUE FREE, book tutorial on Club Scrap's blog. At 3x6 inches, it is the perfect size for what I wanted!



Isn't that card stock gorgeous?! It is from Club Scrap® 's January Color Me Happy kit. I used the sunshine stamp from the art nouveau unmounted stamp collection, and the sophisticated script alphabet from Concord and 9th and a small wooden alphabet stamp set from my stash to create the label on the belly band. The metallic dot is included in the embellishment pack with the (CMH) kit.



There are plenty of pages inside, 14 if you include the front and back inside covers, to house my collection of recipes! I created a .png file using the recommended fonts in the Club Scrap January 2017 Scrap Rap for my recipes so that they would be easy to print and trim out.



The spine cover makes it look so "finished"!





I'm linking up to the January 2017 Color Me Happy Club Scrap Blog Hop for a chance to win a Club Scrap gift certificate!

Do more of what makes you happy!

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