Life is hard: Share Joy Sketch Challenge

I used this week's Taylored Expression Share Joy Sketch Challenge to help me get ready for all the fall birthdays in our family.   This card was made with one special little boy in mind. 

One of the stamp sets I received in the mail this week was Stacking Animals from Simon Says Stamp.  The silly critters in this set are fun to use and color, but I need to rethink my decision not to purchase the dies to accompany them.  

Here's a look at my couch-mate for the evening while I color and watch tv.  Monkey is a riot.  You can tell her life is unbelievably hard... 

Rainy Day: MFT Sketch Challenge 294

Texas has been in severe drought conditions for the last several weeks.  With temps hovering just above 100* and no rain, the area I live in has been like a desert.  Then, all of a sudden, it started raining and it hasn't stopped in a week. It's great!  The grass is green again and the temps have dropped to the 80s.  

On this rainy day, I am, of course, in the craft room.  I received multiple stamp orders this week, so I've been playing with the sets for the last few days.  One of my favorites that I've been waiting to order since it was released earlier this summer, is My Favorite Things Fun in the Sun.  And, no big surprise, I used it for this week's MFT Sketch Challenge...

Several years ago, I picked up this wave border punch on clearance and have NEVER used it.  I'm glad to finally be able to pull it out of storage and put it to good use! Although you can't see it, there is a third layer of waves under the sentiment... 

Since the theme of the card is swimming, I took the card out to the pool to photograph.  It had to be a quick shoot so the wind wouldn't whip the card off into the pool. 

A is for Avery

A is for Avery is a 12x12 scrapbook page highlighting this super cute photo of Avery and I playing on the swingset this winter.  

The wild colors on this page were inspired by the My Favorite Things Color Challenge #51 and the Let's Go Wild Challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge! 

Harvest Blessings: MFT Sketch Challenge

The Harvest Mouse set of stamps from My Favorite Things is so fun for autumn!  I ordered them back in the spring, knowing that I would have fun with them come late summer and fall.  

I did not, however, consider purchasing the dies for the Harvest Mouse set, and am now kicking myself in the tush. There are too many small details to cut by hand and still have nice looking images.  

I chose to this set for this week's Sketch Challenge over at the MFT challenge blog without cutting the detailed images out.  I stamped the scene directly onto white cardstock and colored them with colored pencils and OMS.  Because of my penchant for mistakes, this is not a technique I choose to use often!  

I lightly colored a little green for grass and a very light blue for the sky, but you can't really see it in the photo.  I also used the tab die from MFT's Blueprints #22. 

The original sketch is on the vertical, like so... 

Keeping my fingers crossed for a challenge win soon so I can order the dies for this adorable set! :P

Unwanted Cuddles: Share Joy Sketch Challenge

This week's sketch challenge over at the Taylored Expressions Share Joy Challenge screamed "SCRAP ME"!  And I had the perfect photo sitting on my craft table.

The sketch for Challenge #48 is pictured below.  Can't you see a simple scrapbook page in there?

The photo that I was thinking of is of my 2 year old Boxador, Monkey, and my elderly cat, Molly. Monkey was snoozing in the recliner and Molly was sitting in my lap.  When I got up, I transferred Molly onto the recliner with Monkey.  Molly didn't mind the move, but poor Monkey was frozen. Scared to move. It was definitely photo worthy, especially considering that just a few months later we lost Miss Molly.  

Here's the page I created. 

The Sweetest: Share Joy Sketch Challenge

Sometimes, no matter how hard I work to create a design, it just doesn't come out right.  I spent over an hour this afternoon trying to get my Cricut to cut and write on a tag that I needed 4 of.  When my patience finally gave out, I had 1 completed tag that I could not duplicate and 3 botched tags, all different.  
I set that project aside with the hopes of returning to it later.  We will see.  

In the meantime, I visited the Taylored Expressions challenge blog and was newly inspired with their sketch of the week.  Thank goodness.  If I hadn't found either more patience or new inspiration, I probably would have ended up on the couch binge watching another season of Shameless.  

I was able to use my botched tags on these cards.  Each tag is a different size, so got stamped with a different sentiment.  They ended up being perfect!