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... 

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!  

 

Summertime: Share Joy Challenge

My 17 year old stepson has been staying with us all summer.  It's an annual thing, so nothing really new.  But, this year did prove to be quite a bit more fun than the last several.  Case has grown into a nice young man.  We don't have much in common, so bonding has always been tough, but with the Pokemon Go craze the last few weeks has given us something to do together.  As silly as the game is, we've had a lot of fun.  

A rare photo fo Case and I, here we are at the San Antonio Riverwalk hunting for Pokemon.  

After about 2 weeks of us playing, his dad got involved...

This summer, I also discovered a new papercrafting company and I just love their products.  Check out Taylored Expressions here.  I'll be adding some of their cutest stamps to my wishlist for sure!  

They also have a weekly card challenge called the Share Joy Challenge that I'm excited to participate in.  Not only do the folks at TE's Shared Joy Challenge ask for particpants to share their card designs, they also ask us to share who we are sending our cards to. What great encouragement to spread happiness! 

Here is this week's Share Joy Sketch and Inspiration Challenge. 

I chose to enter the sketch challenge.  Since I don't have any TE products yet, I used the Time to Blossom stamp from Verve Stamps and plaid paper from My Favorite Things.  

 I've been trying to get into the watercolor trend, but the idea of the free-flowing colors really throws me for a loop.  But, here's a good try...