Life....

it just gets in the way of my crafting time..and reading time!  I have had to put my crafting and reading on the back burner for a bit to start prepping for graduation and All Night Grad party (which I am the chair for), putting our house on the market, and taking care of two new puppies.  



I did get these photo announcements made and mailed out as well as the formal ones.  In the next two weeks we have prom and then Graduation on the 16th with All Night Grad Party immediately following.  I still have 10 graduation cards to make, a couple of presents to pick up, props for prom pictures to find, and prom favors to make.  All the while taking care of the new pups, going to baseball games, and finalizing all the plans for All Night Grad Party.  

I have made some nice graduation cards that I will share this week, so stay tuned!

What are you crafting today?  
~Marie

Bunny Blooms Card

I colored this bunny up around Easter, but never got him onto a card.  With Easter long gone, I decided to make a friendship card with him.  He is a coloring page I found.  I colored him with my Prismacolor pencils, fussy cut, and then added "pop dots' for dimension.  I added a stamped sentiment, Prima flowers, and faux stitching with white dimensional paint.  Pretty cute!                                                          What are you working on?                                                  ~Marie

Reading Challenge Update

This week I read a memoir.  It was supposed to be a "political memoir", but I was really intrigued by this book, Dear Zari.  I wish it had been as good as I expected.  While I enjoyed the writing and the stories were moving, I was confused by the author's need to constantly interject her personal tales.  I found this to be, sometimes, distracting to the story.  However, I did find the stories enlightening.  They helped give me a better appreciation for the freedoms I have and what the Afghan women have to endure in their culture.  

Now, I need to read something lighter...

What are you reading?

~Marie

Reading Challenge:

I was trying to read a dystopian novel this week,  just couldn't get into it.  So I decided to read a "self improvement" book.  I did a search on Goodreads and came across The 52 Weeks.  When reading the description I could completely relate to being "stuck" in life, feeling stagnant.  So, I gave it a go.  Honestly, there is no new advice, it is all stuff we know; however, the fact that they actually DID IT and wrote about it is what makes it a good read.  The two authors try new things, reconnect with old interests, and create new habits.  I enjoyed it so much that I was inspired to create my own list.                                             

~Marie

Faux Cloisonne Cards

Scout & Jax...Mini Australian/
Border Collie mix 

So, I have not had a lot of crafting time in the past couple weeks because of these two.  Yes, we got two puppies..or I should say my husband surprised us with these two.  While they are adorable, and I know they will grow out of this baby stage, I do not suggest getting two puppies when you are trying to sell your house.  What a feat to get these two gathered up, then harness Thor, our older dog, and get out the door for buyers to look.  

I am finally getting them on a bit of a schedule and am starting to have a bit of time.  So, I decided to join in a swap.  It was a technique swap, we had to create a card using the Faux Cloisonne technique.  I have been wanting to try this one, so it was perfect timing.  I loved it!  I will definitely do it again.  

The aqua flowers were a mountain sky, the dark blue are from a night city scape, and the magenta are from an ad for raisins.

The technique is really quite simple, heat emboss on glossy magazine pages and then "fussy cut" your images.  Well, I actually cheated a bit, I used a set from Stampin' Up (flower shop) that had a matching punch...so "no fussy" cutting for me.  This, of course, made it much faster.  The fun was seeing how the images would come out from the various pages.I kept the backgrounds simple so the flowers were the focal points.  I did add centers to the flowers...gotta have a little bling!  

I will definitely keep this technique in my repertoire and I will be looking at magazines in a whole new way!

Thanks for looking!

~Marie

Reading Challenge: 2nd Quarter Off to a Good Start!

I am so ahead for this 2nd quarter!  Barely a month in and I have already read 3 books.  This week  I only planned to read "a book that will bring you joy", but I ended up also do the "book you can read in 1 day".  Both were by my favorite author, Richard Paul Evans.  I read The Mistletoe Promise and The Mistletoe Inn.  

 This was an extremely fast read, but his books usually are for me.  It is a lovely Christmas story filled with Evans' usually optimism and great characters.  




Initially I was a bit disappointed when I realized this was not a "part 2" to the first book, but I quickly got over that as I began meeting the new characters for this story.  Another well written, fun read.  

I am now reading a "dystopian novel".  I have to say, this genre is really not my thing, but....I decided to read something that I managed to avoid reading is high school, but thought I might appreciate at this age.  

What are you reading?

~Marie

Sorry

Quick share today...this is a card I made for a far away friend who recently lost her beloved dog, Oreo.  I am not sure where the image is from, it was in my stash.  After coloring it with my Prismacolor pencils, I added Glossy Accents to his nose and eyes.  I used scrap from my stash for the card, added some black baker's twine, and a paw punch.  I think he is adorable.  What do you think?

Thanks for looking!

~Marie