K.I.S.S. plus one

Happy Sunday! I hope everyone has had a good weekend. Mine was okay...weather was nicer than expected so hubby put the battery in his Harley and rode most of the day yesterday. His body is telling him that he got REALLY out of shape this winter! *ROFL* Cordell and Devin went outside for a couple of hours for some fresh air - Devin walking, Cordell skateboarding. Aidan stayed in playing games, which meant that I had time to craft. But I didn't. Instead, I worked on adding pages to my blog and going through old posts here, getting them all labeled, and emptying out my e-mail boxes. It was long and tedious, but it's DONE!

Today's K.I.S.S. is a sympathy card for Chris' boss' family. They lost a 10 year old boy last week in an accidental shooting. I used Kraft cardstock, white ink, a white gel pen, and some TAC stamps ("Bless Your Heart"- level A hostess set & "Watercolor Plants").

I used the gel pen & a ruler going around the perimeter of the card, 1/4" in from all the edges.
Two of the flowers out of the set.
I used the gel pen again on the inside of the card, repeating the perimeter outline and I wrote the sentiment "Please accept our most heartfelt sympathies for your loss. Our thoughts are with your family during this difficult time."
Chris didn't like it...his old eyes can't see white on kraft, so it irritated him! I think the family will like it, though...the color combo, to me, is very soothing.

Now for the "plus one." This is a lovely free digital image from Nina B of "Crafting in Croatia." It reminded me of a Nikko blue hydrangea that I once had, so I downloaded and printed it last week. Got a chance on Friday to sit and color it up, then found the background paper from ProvoCraft in my stash, and a green velvet ribbon. Nina designed this in honor of her grandmother and I think it would make a lovely Mother's Day card.
Here's a close-up of the image. I cut it out with my large Classic Ovals Nestie & colored it with my COPIC markers. I did the centers with my buttermilk Atyou Spica glitter pen & used 3 jumbo half pearls from Recollections (a Michael's store brand).
That's it for me. I'm going to print off some digital images that I found the other day, let them dry while I'm having supper, and settle down with a DVD of Doctor Who and my COPICs for the evening. Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!

Sharing a sympathy card

Not sure if you remember my "aunt by heart" that passed away in late September of 2008...anyway, her older sister was found Monday afternoon, dead in her favorite chair. She told someone last Wednesday night that on Thursday she was getting out to run some errands. Apparently, she'd been having some heart issues the week before and when Thursday came around, she had gotten dressed, sat down in the chair and just never got back up. Bobbie was a very sweet lady (my sister & I called her "aunt Bobbie") - she had three boys, just like my aunt Paula and so when my sister and I would visit her, she would spoil us girls rotten. They doted on us every chance they got & she will be sorely missed. I still chuckle at her clucking over my sister because she absolutely refused to wear a dress to church, even when it was our Missionettes meeting night! *LOL*

I thought I would show you the card I made for her sons & their families...

I had to put the card in a bubble mailer because of the texture of the roses. Didn't want the Post Office machines to eat the card.

Card recipe:

Kraft pre-made base (size A2)

Whisper White craft ink from Stampin Up!

Paper roses (two left the original cream color, other 2 colored with Copic RV11 & Ranger Distress Ink in Tattered Rose)

swirl stamp on card inside from Inkadinkado

Phrase stamp from Stampabilities

flower, butterfly, swallow, and frame stamps from SeeDs

butterfly punches from Martha Stewart (elegant butterfly & butterfly trio)

rose leaf punches from Martha Stewart

Sakura stardust clear gel pen on wings of khaki butterflies & leaf veins

Quickie Glue Pen for the butterflies & rose leaves

Tombow aqua glue for the roses

Tomorrow I'll show ya how I got hold of those neat little roses. I've been looking for the ones from Prima that I've been seeing on so many blogs with no success and the solution I came up with is one that YOU might be able to do, too! Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!

Made this last night

This is a sympathy card going to Sapulpa, Oklahoma to my Uncle Gary. My Aunt Paula passed away from complications caused by cancer on Saturday afternoon. My sister & I took her death very hard, because 1/3 to 1/2 of our happiest memories included this very special lady. She's not tied to us by blood, but by heartstrings (she was family by CHOICE, which made her more special) ~ there were times that she was more of a mother to us than our own ever was. She had 3 boys (just like I do) and was my first exposure to professional crafting. I remember helping her get ready for Christmas shows by sewing lace on quilted photo albums and baskets. She also made dolls. Every time I made a skirt, blouse, or dress she was the one that I went to for praise & critiques. We'd been separated by time, distance, and some dumb stunts by my mother, but over the last year, we'd been reconnecting & catching up. I'm really going to miss her...