Ellie's Birthday Card

My good friend, Ellie, is having a birthday on August 6. But she and I are having lunch on Tuesday, so I thought I would give her birthday card to her then instead of waiting. (Besides, it's much easier to hand-deliver the cards I make than it is to mail them!) So, Ellie, if you are reading this before we have lunch, proceed at your own risk. Of course, if you want to see your card before you open it, by all means, keep reading! ;^)

Before I get to Ellie's card there are a couple of items I would like to mention.

First, I want to thank all of you for your well-wishes for my sister, Merrilyn. Her surgery last Tuesday went very well, and she felt great that night. However, not so much on Wednesday or Thursday. She had quite the reaction to all the anesthesia and pain medication she received. So she was sick to her stomach, (that's a nice way of saying she puked her guts out--oh, did I just say that?), on Wednesday and Thursday. She was able to proceed with her physical therapy in spite of her nausea, and really doesn't remember much about being ill. Sometimes drugs are wonderful. They help you forget those nasty bits you don't want to keep in your memory! The hospital finally got everything regulated, and Merrilyn went home o Friday feeling pretty good. She says her knee hurts, but not any more than it did before her surgery. And this pain will go away eventually. So she is a happy camper, albeit one who sleeps at the drop of a hat now.

BTW, her therapist told her that she was doing remarkably well with her walking and her exercises. I told you she built up her leg muscles by swimming, and it really has paid off for her. My other sister is attempting to do the very same thing before her surgery in September. I wish her every success, because that will make her recovery easier, too! 

I would also like to mention that I read two books this week that were really great reads. Both are selections by Suzanne Dean for her Bookendz Book Club this month. I needed to get them read quickly as the month is about over! The first book, very well-written, is The Kashmir Shawl by Rosie Thomas, which I really loved. The second book is Promises to Keep by Jane Green, which is also very well-written, but can be a bit of a tear-jerker. Just sayin'. So, beware if you cannot deal with angst.

To the right of the beginning of this post, (no, your other right), is a short video for a blog giveaway by Darlene Lyons at Scrappy Dues. Check it out; she has 200+ followers now, and she is celebrating by giving us the chance to win some great stuff!

OK, on to Ellie's card. I picked out this digital image in the middle of March. I fell in love with it, as I have with all the Saturated Canary images. But I bought it because it is called Ellie's Birthday, and I wanted to use it for Ellie's card! It is just lucky that I remembered this plan of mine four months later. The old grey mare just ain't what she used to be and neither is her memory! Gosh, that was a bit snarky, wasn't it? Good thing I was talking about myself and not one of you! Where was I? Oh, yeah, Ellie's card. So I picked out a Create with TLC sentiment that I thought would go with the SC image. Both the image and the sentiment were printed out on Cryogen CS.

My paper choice is from the Basic Grey Life of the Party collection. And I paired it with some Stampin' Up CS. I added flowers, a stick pin, and a crown pin from Wild Orchid Crafts, some baker's twine from SU, bow die cuts from a Cheery Lynn die, a Tim Holtz Adage Ticket and Mini Paper Clip, and some cheesecloth. Just because I could. And I liked it. So there. Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Or not.

I colored the image and the sentiment with my Copics: YR000, YR12, YR14, YR16, B000, B91, B95, B97, B99, E000, E00, E11, E13, E25, E31, E50. I added some Glossy Accents to Ellie's eyes and lips. I was planning to add some to the balloons, but chose not to because of the hair hanging in front of one of them. I felt I would make a mess of that, so I chickened out. And too bad if you think I should have done it anyway. Why don't you just come on over to my house and do it for me? My eyesight just isn't what it once was. Pffffft!!! Oh, and I did manage to accent the image with a bit of white gel pen. I think that should just about do it for this episode.

I am going to enter this card into the following:

Cheery Lynn Celebrations Challenge

Divas by Design Happy Birthday Challenge

Fashionista Baby or Birthday Challenge

Inky Impressions Dies or Punches Challenge

Outlawz CPC Anything Goes

Simon Says Anything Goes

Oozak Bright Colors Challenge

Here's wishing everyone everywhere a wonderful week. And, if you're watching, enjoy the Olympics!

Merrilyn's Get Well Card

My sister, Merrilyn, is having knee replacement surgery today. I know she is really anxious about it, (who wouldn't be?), but I also know she will do just fine. She has done an amazing job this past year of getting ready for her surgery. She took off a great deal of weight by swimming for an hour every day, and by changing her diet completely. She eats healthful foods and enjoys what she eats. (Geesh, wish I could say that!) So she has strengthened her leg muscles and reduced the pressure on her knees, which is really going to help her recover more quickly. And she will be so happy to walk like a normal person again! 

BTW, she is not the only sister who is having knee replacement surgery. My other sister, Barbara, will be having hers in September. Kinda like when it rains, it pours, right?! But don't look for me to be having that surgery any time soon. My knees are doing just fine, thank you very much! Besides, I am much younger than both of my sisters! (Let's see how soon I hear about that crack!) These siblings do keep me busy making cards!

I certainly couldn't do a CAS card for Merrilyn. She likes the layered ones; says she likes them better in person so she can see the 3-d effect. I would hate to disappoint her in her hour of need. Therefore, she is getting a layered card. (Yeah, like that's the only reason I would do a layered card. Riiiiight!)

OK, well I looked at different challenges for some inspiration and, boy howdy, I surely did find it! One challenge, Sketch Saturday, gave me the basic sketch, which I tried to stick to, really I did! And two other challenges, Saturated Canary and Craft Your Passion, gave me the color scheme, which is black and white plus one other color. Another challenge, Stamptacular Sunday, calls for two or more dies, and just when do I not use two or more? For that challenge I just hit the Staples Easy button. (Is that ad even on TV anymore?) A fifth challenge, CMC Copic Challenge, called for anything goes with a girly twist. OK, that one really had me stumped. Oh, just kidding. And the last challenge, The Corrosive Challenge, calls for something cheeky, saucy, or sassy. So I felt my Saturated Canary image, Zombie Niamh, along with my Create with TLC sentiment would fit that bill rather nicely. It should be fairly simple for me to be a bit cheeky, saucy, and sassy, don't you think? At least my parents certainly thought so years ago. But that's another story for another time. Or not.

Here is the sketch I tried my best to follow:

I printed the image and the sentiment on Cryogen CS. I chose Authentique Journey patterned paper, which I paired with Stampin' Up CS. I used the following dies: Spellbinders Circles and Scalloped Circles, and Cheery Lynn's Lace Corner Deco B. My flowers are from Prima and Wild Orchid Crafts. The stick pins are WOC. I applied glossy accents to the eyes of Niamh and her cat, as well as to the cat's nose. I added Stickles to Niamh's hair bands, lips, and the heart on her stocking. And, as usual, I accented the image with a little white gel pen. The image was (shockingly) colored with Copics: R20, E0000, E000, E00, E11, E13, B0000, B000, B91, B93, B95, C00, C0, C2, C3, C5, C7, C9.

 

I will be giving it to Merrilyn today after her surgery, but I doubt that she will even know that I did. She will still be under the effects of the anesthesia, I would imagine. Which could make for an interesting conversation, if I play my cards right. And my sister, Barbara, who is arriving today for our sister's surgery, will probably play along with me! Oh, look out, Merrilyn!

In case you are looking for a good book to devour, I just finished The Rose Garden, by Susanna Kearsley. (It was recommended by my soon-to-be robo-sister, Merrilyn. Ha, wait 'til she reads that comment! My name is Mud.)

Wishing you a wonderful week!

No Copics? Really!

Just wanted to get a quick card made for a color challenge on the Outlawz . I know, I know, no Copics is really weird for me. Will wonders never cease?

Anyway, I am entering this into the Outlawz Color Challenge with a twist: Things with Wings. And I had this wonderful sentiment by Paulette at Create with TLC to use on this card. I used Tempting Turquoise, Black, and White CS by Stampin' Up for the colors in the challenge. I just got this beautiful Orchard Tree Frame die from Memory Box for the outline, and then embossed a piece of cs with a Cuttlebug Tiny Mosaics folder to fit behind it. The butterflies are all made from Cheery Lynn dies. The die used for the sentiment is a Spellbinders Labels 8 die.

That's it for now. I am off to make a card for my sister, Merrilyn, who is having knee replacement surgery on Tuesday.

Wishing everyone everywhere a safe and wonderful week.

I am so sorry...

OK, I am absolutely horrified about the Colorado shootings. Just to get that out there in blog-land. I will never, ever understand the thought processes that lead a person to mindlessly kill another human being, much less many other human beings. I simply cannot fathom this. I want to send everyone, who has been impacted, my deepest sympathies and wishes for strength to get through the madness you find yourselves in now.

Sending you the biggest hugs possible, Penny

Another Tag She's It

It's been a while since I created something, due to reading The Hunger Games series. I just couldn't put the books down until I found out how the story ended. Thank heavens I am done with that! So I got back into my craft-room last night and got to work. I decided to make a tag to enter into Mayzy's current challenge, so I picked the MayzyArt image, Jean. CMC is having a dark blue challenge, so that set my color scheme. And I found a wonderful sentiment by Paulette at Create with TLC to go with my image. I worked until 3:00 a.m., and then I awakened at 5:30 a.m. when Gary's alarm went off. Would you believe he set it so he could go golfing? Old poop.

I am a little bleary-eyed after a couple of hours of sleep. I take that back. I am very bleary-eyed right now. I am going to keep this post brief, as I want to go take a nap before Kelsey's birthday party this afternoon. I don't want to arrive as the crabby grandma, which is what I will be without more sleep! (Perhaps, if you ask the girls, they might say I am the crabby grandma all the time! Ya never know.)

I printed Jean on Cryogen CS. I colored her with my Copics: YR21, RV21, RV23, RV25, B34, B37, B39, E000, E00, E11, E13, E15, E18, E40, E41, E42, E43.  I accented her with: a Signo Uniball white gel pen; Stickles on her barrettes, jewelry, lips, and belt buckle, as well as the cupcake frosting; and Glossy Accents on her eyes.

I rubbed Stampin' Up ink on the edges of cardboard and Bazzill Beach House paper, which was combined with Stampin' Up CS. I used the following dies: Spellbinders Labels 20, scalloped oval, and grand scalloped oval; Cheery Lynn Nautical Wheeler Doily; and Magnolia Doohickey flourish. I added some cheesecloth, lace died with my Copics, two Wild Orchid Crafts crown pins, some ric rac, twine, and miscellaneous blue trim. I also colored some Recollections adhesive rhinestone swirls with my Copics. I think that covers it.

I am entering this tag into the following:

MayzyArt Cardless Challenge
CMC Navy Blue/Dark Blues Challenge
Bunny Zoe's Swirls and Lace Challenge

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! I'm off to take a nap. I hope.

Belated Birthday Dinner: A Long Story by Penny Mull

Oh, where to start? Welllllllll...Gary had to decline a 5:00 meeting in order to get home in time to take me to my special belated birthday dinner. So glad he did! OMG! What a dinner I was in for. (Oh, gosh, I just did that double preposition at the end of a sentence again!) As I suspected, we were headed to Kai. (Insert very big grin here!)

For those of you who don't know, Kai is located at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass resort on the tribal lands of the Gila River Indian Community. Kai is the only Arizona restaurant given a 5-star rating by the Forbes Travel Guide in their 54th annual listing of worldwide 5-star and 4-star hospitality establishments. And there are only 25 five-star restaurants in North America! Kai also received a 5-diamond award from AAA for their 2012 five-diamond winners. Not that anyone is keeping count or anything, but this is Kai's fourth 5-star rating and sixth 5-diamond rating. So you can see, going to Kai to eat is a really big thing!

I also need to mention that we were not dining in the main room. No, we were in another private room for, wait for it, a wine dinner! Oooooh! I was thrilled, as wine dinners are my favorite kind of meal! (Lush!)

We were the first guests to arrive for the wine dinner. We met Kai's sommelier, Pillsbury's sommelier, and the wine producer, Sam Pillsbury--who used to be a film maker. He is a very interesting man; he was born in Connecticut, but moved to New Zealand as a boy. He fell in love with Arizona when he came here to do a film, and decided to become a winemaker here. He offered us a glass of a white blend that he had just bottled that day. Never had a wine that "fresh" before; and he said it probably had "bottle shock", but he just wanted us to try a brand new wine, so to speak. It was fairly good, so I suspect it will be wonderful when it's had some time in the bottle.

When we finished the new wine, we were served Sam's Chardonnay. Now that is a wine that has had time to mature, and it was delicious. They refilled my glass, which I realized later was a mistake. But I drank it down, because I was taught to clean my plate and glass of everything served to me! Oh, and they came around with some hors d' oeuvres, and I tried two of them: one was a scrumptious empanada and the other was a fabulous scallop seviche.

OK, then the bread course began, and we had a pepper bread, a sweet bread and one of four traditional American Indian breads, (I had the sweet one--they seemed to know me too well). They had poured Queen Creek olive oil, (pressed from olives grown at the Gila Community) into tiny bowls containing seeds, to dip our breads into. Yummy, yummy, yummy! And we still hadn't started the dinner with wine pairings. Then we were served an amuse bouche; oh, heavens! It was a little puff pastry filled with yummy salmon. Melt in your mouth! I realized, at this point, that I could be very full at the end, which I was, but not uncomfortably so. I guess the meal took so long, (and the portions were not gigantic), that we had time to digest as we ate. Good thing, too. I had enough trouble being tipsy when we left; I didn't need to be stuffed, too!

I scanned the menu, shown here. They gave each of us a card with the menu printed on it--the artwork is done by Mike Medicine Horse Zillioux, a member of the Gila River Indian community. Prior to serving the first course, a staff member told all of us briefly how the area and tribes were named by settlers. Very interesting. And he then opened up the drapes to let us view the setting sun, which was flat-out gorgeous last night. Such an intense orange appearing over the mountain range. Lovely! The first photo is the front of my menu card, the second is the front of Gary's menu, and the last is (duh!) the menu.

The first wine was poured and then the first course started to arrive. Oh, my! I had seen that foie gras was on the menu, which I had sworn I would never eat. OK, see, I have a real problem with how the birds are raised for their livers. It's inhumane. But I knew that Gary wanted me to try everything, so I did. OMG! OMG! OMG! I could not believe how delish it was! The wait staff came around and caramelized the top of the foie gras with little torches. Luckily that's all that got torched. (Snort!) The liver absolutely melted in your mouth. Truly. It was sensational! Little bits of fruit were scattered across the plate. They were ripe and tasty with the other food served. The duck confit, the three little beignets, the coulis, foam and brioche were fabulous, and I nearly licked the platter clean! And every single item paired beautifully with the Viognier that was poured. Oh, my! I took a photo with my iPhone, which does not have a flash (old 3G version), and I cut off the beignets. Drat! So I am showing you the photo Gary took. Gorgeous platter, isn't it? :^)

The second course arrived after the light red blend was poured--this was my favorite, (as well as Gary's), wine of the night. And, they kept refilling glasses, so I have no idea how much wine I actually drank. Goober. Anyway, the tiny quail was stuffed with wild game pate. I. do. not. like. wild. game. And. I. loved. this! Oh, help it was so beautifully seasoned and just disappeared down my throat sooo quickly! You can see the caramel corn & nuts in a strip down the side of the plate--so unusual, but went so well with the quail, as did the yummy polenta. Oh, my. Here's Gary's photo because mine showed my dirty bread plate next to it. Classy. Remember, people, I was drinking wine and had a phone camera. The two are not conducive for taking good pictures! That's my excuse, and I am sticking to it. I have no idea why Gary could photograph the food so much better than I did. (Yes, yes, I do.)

We had a palate cleanser next, so that we could get ready for the entree. It was a fantastic fruit sorbet with gooseberry sauce that I inhaled. Honestly. They gave me mouth-to-mouth immediately. It obviously helped. I'm still here. Oh, no, not really. I'm just pulling your leg--figuratively speaking, of course!

Our next wine was a big red--very nice, but not as good as the last pour! Our third course, the entree, was out-of-this-world wonderful. The chef explained that he had started the mole rub on the pork tenderloin a week prior, in order to infuse the flavors he wanted to achieve. Oh, did he achieve them! And then some. Tenderloin is my favorite cut of pork or beef. And he did this one justice! I tasted pork belly once, and found it delicious, but I don't order it. It's just too, too terrible for your cholesterol levels, truly! But, I ate every scrap of pork belly on my plate, don't you just know! It was sooooo gooooood! The potato gratin (I have never had better), the parsnips, and the rhubarb worked perfectly with the pork duo. And everything paired wonderfully with the big red blend! This chef really knows how to construct a dish for a wine pairing!

Before I finish this description, I must tell you, (yes, yes, I must), that for each course, depending on what would be served, either chilled or warmed silverware was placed before us. I mean, good grief, no wonder they are a 5-star restaurant! I don't remember this part from my previous visit to Kai. But perhaps my memory is failing me. Nawww. Yeah. Probably. I am older than dirt, after all.

Next up was a very nice Petite Syrah, which the dessert chef paired with chocolate. I think that's a no-brainer. His dessert was really good. But Gary and I both felt it was our least-favorite course of the night. And it was planned and prepared by a different chef, after all. And, by this time, we were full. And tipsy. Yes, yes, we were, although Gary sobered up quite quickly. Good thing, as he had to drive us home! But, me, not so much. I remember absolutely everything; but I had the giggles all the way home. Not really the giggles. More like very loud cackling. Poor Gary. He had to listen to that for at least a half hour. It sucks to be him. Here's the dessert photo:

I must admit it was a very pretty course. You probably cannot see it, but the dark chocolate on the top has "Kai" imprinted into it. Cool, huh?

We did sit in the lobby for a bit before we went home. That was, as I mentioned before, so Gary would feel secure about driving us home. Meanwhile, I was behaving myself in the lobby. It wasn't until after we left that I got really goofy. I need to tell you that when you leave Kai, the valet brings your car around with two bottles of Voss Water, a small box with two chocolates in it, and a thank-you card. Now, is that a class act, or what? Yup, 5-star, for sure.

Honestly, if you are in the Phoenix area, try to give Kai a go. It is soooo worth it!

Neither Gary nor I slept worth beans last night. I think there was too much rich food and too much wine.

I had to take a long nap today. Gary had to go to work. What's wrong with this picture? As far as I am concerned, absolutely nothing!

Oh, I must mention, and this has nothing to do with dinner, that I got a wonderful surprise when I got home. I found out that I was a winner, twice, in the Outlawz 2000 Member Party! How cool is that? And congratulations to all the other winners!

Have a great rest of the week. Bon appetit!

Puff the Magic Dragon

Well, my first blog hop went really well, thanks to all of you who visited! I had a crazy time posting comments as Gary took me to another Diamondbacks game Sunday, (we won again--woohoooooo), and I was posting from my phone between innings. Then I had to figure out which ones I had posted after I got home--because all the posts come into my computer after I start it up, so I saw the same posts twice! Crazy, I tell ya! But I managed to get all of your wonderful comments posted and thank you's posted to each, though you probably don't realize I do that. I think I am going to do what so many of you do--put a thank you in before the comments, (as soon as I can figure out how), as I want everyone to know how very much I appreciate the time it takes to comment. I know how busy you are. Many of you actually have jobs to go to each day. Ugh! I remember those days, and I am sooo glad they are over for me! And many of you are on multiple DT's, and I don't know how you keep them all straight! I would need a personal secretary to guide me! Or a dog. Most of the time my dog is smarter than I am, so...

I have a friend from the old neighborhood, (no, that's not a dig at the fact it was a retirement community), who has been ill and was in the hospital for a couple of days. Fortunately, she is home now, and doing better. But I wanted to send her a card to let her know I am thinking about her. What to do? What to make? Well, I looked at Create with TLC, and found an image and sentiment that I thought she would get a kick out of. (Gee, I just ended a sentence with not one, but two prepositions. My high school English teacher would be horrified. Oh, wait a minute, she's probably long gone. So, perhaps she is turning over in her grave.) But I digress...

I started the card by choosing some paper that went with the dragon image--from the Kaisercraft Hippy Girl collection. (No, that's no reflection on the recipient, (more like a reflection on the card-maker!) I used some Bazzill CS and some Stampin' Up CS for the base and the die cuts. I printed the image on Cryogen CS and the sentiment on SU CS. And then I went a little crazy again. Must be the weather. It is really hot here--you know, like 114 degrees! And don't let anybody tell you that 114 isn't much different than 100. It IS, people! It truly IS!

I digress again. Sorry. I colored the dragon with so few Copics, even I can't believe it! They are: YG01, YG95, BG11, BG13, BG15. It was actually fun to color something without skin or hair for a change of pace. I added some clear Copics Spica to the dragon's spots, eyes, and teeth. It is hard to see that in the photo, but in person, you can see the shimmer. I matted the sentiment with Spellbinders circles, lacey circles, grand circles, and a MFT High Tea Party Doily. I added a die cut using a Spellbinders Twisted Metal Accents and Tags die, and made leaves with a Spellbinders leaf die. My flowers are from Prima, Webster's Pages, and Wild Orchid Crafts. My opals are from MS Birthstone Gem Stickers. The baker's twine, which you can see if you look very, very closely, is from We R Memory Keepers. I got the netting at Joann's. Stick pins are from Wild Orchid Crafts--btw, I love that company! As soon as you are done reading this, hurry to their website and order some fun stuff--you will love it! (I am enabling you, so go for it!)

I am entering this card into the The Corrosive Challenge Sentimentally Yours. I will be back tomorrow with the deets on my belated birthday dinner tonight with Gary. It is a surprise, but he asked me to guess where we are going. I told him I think we are going to Kai, because that is my very favorite restaurant and we haven't been there for about 4 years or so. We shall see. :^)

Have a great Wednesday!



  

Create with TLC Blog Hop--Words, Timeless and Beautiful

Welcome to the Create with TLC Blog Hop! Paulette and the Design Team are excited to show you what we created using the theme of "Words, Timeless and Beautiful"! If you arrived here from Karen's blog, you are hopping in the right order. If not, you might want to begin your hop at Cynthia's blog. Paulette, our generous benefactor, gave each Design Team member an image to use on our creations. You can pick up these images as freebies at each stop, so be sure to visit each blog! All you have to do is right click on the images and "save as" to your computer; then you, too, can use Paulette's pretty images for your creations!

Here is my "Words, Timeless and Beautiful" image:

And here is what I created with this image:

I printed the image on Cryogen CS. This image felt very Victorian to me, so I went with a "more is better" approach to my card. (What? Me? Put lots of stuff on my cards? Really?) Ahem...I colored this image with my Copics: G40, G82, G85, V01, V12, V15, R81, R83, R85. I added some accents with a Signo Uniball white gel pen, and used a Copics Clear Spica pen on the butterfly to give it some shimmer. I chose designer paper from the Bo Bunny Smoochable Collection and used Stampin' Up CS for my layers, vines, and butterflies. Several dies were used: Cheery Lynn Fanciful Flourish and medium and small lacy butterflies; and two leafy flourishes by Memory Box. I punched out the baby butterflies with a Marvy Uchida punch. Pearls from Martha Stewart Birthstone Gem Stickers were added as accents. The flowers, crystal heart chandelier, and stick pins are by Wild Orchid Crafts. The tulle was colored with my Copic refill ink. Whew! I think that covers it!

Thank you for hop-stopping! Your next destination is Marsha's inspirational blog. You will want to see her wonderful creation and freebie! I hope you enjoy the rest of the hop; if you should get lost, here is the entire hop list:  

Cynthia
Karen
Penny (you are here)
Marsha
Carla
Lisa Lynn
Rhonda - Printables
Jennifer - Alumni

Hetty - Alumni  

TlcCreations

Here's wishing you a super Sunday!

Tag, She's It!

Thought I would whip up a tag using a cool sentiment from Create with TLC. I have a wonderful digi image by MayzyArt, called Shawna with Latte, which I felt would go perfectly with the sentiment that I die-cut with a Spellbinders Labels 13 die.

I used a base of Bazzill Kraft CS, and layered it with a bit of burlap and some Stampin' Up DSP from the First Edition and Mocha Morning collections. The papers were distressed using my Zutter Distrezz-It-All and sponged with SU ink. Instead of traditional ribbon, I used twine, ric-rac, and MS baker's twine. The embellishments I chose were a SU mini clothespin, a Tim Holtz trinket pin, a Tim Holtz mini paper clip, a Tim Holtz philosophy tag, and a Tim Holtz chain tassel.

I colored Shawna with my Copics: G17, B23, YR20, W00, W2, W4, W6, W8, E000, E00, E07, E11, E13, E31, E35, E50, E51, E53, E55. Copics Opaque White was used to accent the image. Copics Clear Spica was added to Shawna's belt, earrings, and flower. Shawna's eyes were given a coat of Glossy Accents.

This tag was made to enter the Simon Says Tags or ATC's Challenge. But I saw that The Octopode Factory also has a tags challenge here: Toff tag challenge, so I decided to enter that as well.

Stay tuned for the TLC blog hop this morning! See you then!

TLC Blog Hop on Sunday!

Don't forget that our Create with TLC blog hop will be this Sunday, July 8th! There will be cool creations by the TLC DT and freebies for you! Yes, you! So don't forget. Don't be square--be there!  ;^)

Thank You!

Just a very brief post to thank all of you for the lovely birthday wishes! It has been a great day! Got to talk to both of my sisters and to my brother! Got to have a yummy lunch at Cantina Laredo and fun shopping excursion to Chico's with my DD, Angela! And then finished the day with Gary at the Diamondbacks game. It was a bit of a frustrating game, as they lost; but on the bright side, I had delicious kettle corn again! ;^) We left the stadium before the fireworks started, and then stopped on the way to watch them from the Phoenix street scene--very cool, and we missed the heavy stadium traffic that way! So it was a wonderful birthday, all in all! Thank you again from the bottom of my pea-picking heart! :^)

Hugs,

Penny

P.S. Yes, when I was a wee one, I thought all the 4th of July hoopla was just for me on my birthday! I was sooo disappointed to find out it wasn't! :^) Hope all of you had a safe and fun 4th!

Kelsey's Birthday Card

July 7th is my older granddaughter's 10th birthday. OMG! She'll be in double digits! I simply cannot tell you how old that makes me feel. But it would be something on the order of ancient, OK? Anyway, Kelsey was born prematurely, but grabbed life by the throat, and she hasn't let go! She is cute, intelligent, athletic, musical, a voracious reader, (hence the card I made for her), loving, and deeply sensitive. She is quite the kid, let me tell you. Now I am not saying she is perfect; like all children she does have her issues. But she is a special little girl, who is growing up so fast it scares her grandma!

I bought the Saturated Canary "Books and Bedhead" image a few months ago. In March to be exact. I knew when I saw it that I would have to use it for Kelsey. This girl reads. All the time. 24/7. Yes, yes, she does. Oh, OK, no, she does not. But she reads a lot. An awful lot. She goes to bed at night and reads for quite a while before turning out her light. So this image is perfect for her. And I expect that the Create with TLC sentiment is perfect for her, too! (If Kelsey is anything like I was as a kid, she'd be reading instead of cleaning. Oh, who am I trying to fool. I still like to read instead of clean!)

I am so happy that I got Photoshop Elements 10! I was able to scale the size of my images to suit my purposes! Kewl! I printed "B&B" on Cryogen CS. I printed the sentiment on Stampin' Up CS. The patterned paper is from the Bo Bunny "of Liberty Collection", which was chosen to meet a couple of card challenges. I used white SU CS, red DCWV CS, Martha Stewart baker's twine, a Tim Holtz Adage Ticket, some Wild Orchid items (flowers, pins, and a heart stem), a bit of netting from Joann's, a Spellbinder's classic heart die, and a Cheery Lynn Lace Corner Deco B die. I accented the image and heart sentiment with Ranger Distress Ink, Tsukineko Versa Magic Ink, SU ink, and Copic Opaque White. I added Glossy Accents to the eyes and lips of "B&B" and to the light bulb. The image was colored with Copics: YR20, Y0000, Y21, Y23, Y26, R20, R22, R24, R27, R29, BV02, BV04, BV08, C0, C1, EE0000, E000, E00, E11, E13, E30, E31, E35, E40, E41, E42, E43.

So there you have it. A card for a 10-year old. Sigh...

I am entering this card into the following:

Saturated Canary Red, White And Blue Challenge 
CMC Big Hair Challenge
Outlawz Greeting Your Country Party Challenge
Simon Says Sporty/Patriotic Challenge
Oozak Bright Colors Challenge
Love to Create Stars & Stripes Challenge
MarkerPop Fur/Hair Challenge

I'll be back for sure at the end of the week, as our TLC blog hop starts on Sunday. Hope you are all keeping as cool as possible in this blessed heat!