I Love Saturdays, Don't you?!

So glad it's Saturday! I've just finished giving my craft space a good cleaning and was able to make a couple of cards. One I don't like and one I do. There are big storms coming soon, so I'll make this fast. I worry about the computer being on during a storm.

I used the Long Stem Flowers stamp for this card. Felt like coloring today. I like the way it turned out. I thought it would be fun to add some white dots to the poppies and the punched butterflies. I found some fun papers to go along with the poppies and the sentiment is one of my favorites. It's from the Hero Arts Anytime Messages set.



I need to run out to the deck to pull the flower pots off to the side and batten down the patio furniture! Just heard this storm could get real bad! Lots of wind, rotation in the sky and golf ball-size hail! Yikes!

Hope your Saturday is going well! Thanks for the visit!

Flower Trio

Happy Friday!

I would like to thank everyone for the wonderful, kind and fun-to-read comments yesterday! It warms my heart knowing that you all give me your support and encouragement. It was very difficult being at work yesterday, that's for sure! I work later this morning again, but I'm so glad it's Friday! That means I have the day off tomorrow! My hubby and I are going to a local pool to catch some rays and do a bit of swimming! It's suppose to be 90 degrees! We both love the sun and dream of someday living much further south, preferably near an ocean! I can dream, can't I?

So, I've had this butterfly in my stash for the longest time. It's from the Hero Arts Antique Engravings clear set. I never really liked it and couldn't figure out why I colored it green and added magenta Stickles to it. But I hate to throw anything away. So I decided to pull out my Hero Arts Flower Trio and try to use some Copics to match the Stickles color. I only used two of the three flowers and ended up hand drawing the stems.



The sentiment is from this set here.

Thanks for droppin' in! I'm off to work. Lots and lots of gorgeous bouquets coming into the shop today. Love when they're so fresh and pretty. I hope you all have a fabulous Friday and a great start to your weekend!

Can't Believe I'm a Hero Hostess!

Hello blogging buddies,

Yup. . . .You read it correctly. . .I am a Hero Hostess! I've been just about ready to burst ever since I received the invitation. It was so hard not telling anyone! And I'm very excited to show you my card today. It was featured on the Hero Arts Blog, along with all the other wonderful cards from my fellow hostesses. If you haven't seen all their amazing creations, you can click here. I'm very honored to be included in this talented group! (Someone pinch me, I think I must be dreaming!) I'm also hoping that the next three months don't go by too quickly, because I know I'm going to love every minute of it, and not want it to end. Thank you, Hero Arts, for this fun opportunity! I still can't believe it's actually happening!

Okay, so I must have brainstormed for days, made several cards, threw some away, took pictures of others (and ended up not liking them). . . . it was quite nerve racking at first. Then I talked to a couple of my fellow hostesses and they calmed me down and made me feel better. Thank you ladies! So I ended up submitting this card for the Hero Blog today.



Our theme for these first cards as hostesses was "Hello." Kind of a way to say hi to everyone as they introduced us all. I used the Decorative Lamps set and stamped just the stands in a green ColorBox ink and clear embossed. I then inked up just the shades with a blue and a purple color, also from ColorBox. I cut the shades out and attached them to the card with dimensional adhesives. I added Glossy Accents to each shade. The distressed edges are done with the same purple ink. I added the panel with the image to some fun, sparkly patterned paper and attached the whole thing to a white card. The sentiment is from the Thinking of You clear set.

Here's a close-up of the shades.

I love the look you get when using lots of Glossy Accents!

Thanks for stopping by on this special day! It's not going to be very easy to concentrate at work. Wish I had the day off!

I'm planning on having tons of fun in the next three months and hoping I'll be able to fill the amazing, talented shoes of previous hostesses. Keep an eye out for my light blue apron on Flickr! (Thanks, Nancy!)

July CCC

Just a real quick post today.

I love Deborah's Card Chain Challenge! This month I had the pleasure of sending a card to Joy (known as dustypenny on Flickr.)


I used the Hero Arts Dots and Flowers stamp for the background and found some pretty floral ribbon I had in my stash. I colored the white flower with Tumbled Glass distress ink and added a fun, stitched brad from BasicGrey, to the center. I wanted to add one more color and thought a pop of red would be nice, so I adhered the gems and a butterfly.

Here's a close-up of the flower.


One more thing. If you'd like, you can click here to see my last post. It's a tribute to my mom.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope the start to your week is going well!

A Tribute to My Mom

Hi everyone.

I have been working on this post for a few days now and think it's finally ready. I just want to share some thoughts and photos with you so you can get a better understanding of who my mom was. I also wanted to do this for myself and for her.

When I get sad, I try to remember what my mom would say or want me to do. She very rarely complained about anything. We found a small piece of paper in her wallet that had a lovely little saying: "If you don't like something in your life, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude about it. Always live with an open mind." That is exactly how my mom lived her life. She had such optimism, a deep faith in God, a love for life and an amazing positive attitude. No wonder she had such a good life. In the end she was not afraid to die, which was very comforting to all of us. She knew she was going to a better place and would finally be with my father again. I remember what she said to my sister a few weeks ago, when Nancy was starting to cry. My mom said, "No tears, Nancy. There are worse things than death, ya know." That was typical mom. She was a tough little lady. She also told us many times that she was ready, because she had lived a good, long life.

I want to share a few pictures of my mom with you. They all come from a little book that my sister made for my mom for her birthday, using shutterfly.com. She surprised us that day by giving each one of us our own copy. I took photos of the pictures in the book, so they're not the best. Hopefully you can see them alright. My mom was so beautiful, not only on the outside, but inside too!

This first one is the cover of the book. It shows all 6 of us kids together. The title reads, Summers...Growing Up. (My maiden name is Summers.) I'm the one in the middle, sitting on my older sister's lap.


This photo is of my mom and dad when they were dating. Love the sled!


Here is my parents' engagement picture.


This is my mom and dad right after they were married. Love this picture!


My mom and oldest brother Steve looking to see how Santa comes in the house on Christmas Eve.


My brother Steve and sister Nancy with mom. I love the way Steve is looking at her!


Here is the six of us kids on Christmas morning. (I'm in the bottom row all the way to the left.)


This is my mom all dressed up for my brother Mike's Groom's Dinner.


I love this picture of my mom and dad!


I don't know why I like this picture, but I just think she looks so cute here.


This photo was taken in Arizona. My mom and dad took my sister Nancy there to look at colleges.


And here is a more recent one of my mom with my brothers Steve, on the left and Mike on the right.


What a gift this book is to me! It's filled with many, many more pictures of all six kids and mom and dad. Too many to show. I will treasure it always!

I am trying hard to live the way my mom would want me to live.....with a positive, happy, optimistic attitude and a love for life. I find myself getting sad at times of course. The other day something really fun happened and for a split second I thought, "I have to call mom and tell her!" Then it hit me again. I know the pain of missing her will ease with time.

Thank you, Mom, for loving me the way you did. For being the kind of mother any child would be lucky to have. For teaching me a wonderful way to live my life. I miss you and love you so much!