It IS a wonderful world. I can even say that on a Monday! The sun was out in full glory today . . . our thermometer read 88 degrees this afternoon. Its too early in the year to enjoy that kind of summer day on a regular basis, so we'll take it when it shows up. It was our nephew's 47th birthday too. I spent the day making potato salad and homemade apple pie for the family celebration. My card today was inspired by Penny Ward; she's always creating beautiful cards. She posted

It's a Magenta kind of day. After Dianne Johnson's Nuance class yesterday at Art 'n Soul, I couldn't resist purchasing Magenta stamps from their latest summer 2016 release. Mixing it up, I made this card as a result of looking at the "Freshly Made Sketches 232" challenge. On linen cardstock, lightly applied Bright Yellow & Turquoise Nuance watercolors. Once dry, stamped flower image over it with VersaFine. Colored with Copic alcohol markers. Fussy cut image and applied to a s

Another quickie card in the works today. Just found out some wonderful news from a family I know out-of-state and I wanted to send a note off immediately. What quicker way is there than to pull out my Nuance watercolors, embossing powder and die cutting machine! Inked with VersaMark; embossed with white embossing powder onto watercolor card stock. Misted with water and shook Nuance in several places. With a wet watercolor brush, moved the colors around. Blotted with a paper t

The term "black gold" is one used quite often by asphalt producers. They lay down millions of miles of black asphalt on our roadways every year. It's black and they make money. My card today is a "thank you" card to an asphalt paving company who invited us to their annual employee awards and recognition breakfast last month. All employees from all over Washington State and northwest Oregon are invited to attend; there must have been 3-400 people. Everyone is like family; this

UPDATED COMMENT: This post was to have posted early Saturday morning and it didn't. So here it is. The day didn't go quite as planned. I lost track of time after lunch and squeezed in too many errands before returning to Puyallup. That meant I had to cancel, AGAIN, my Italian tutoring lesson. Dang! Before dinner, I sorted through my stash of embossing folders; I hope I found them all! Inevitably, I came across a few duplicates. Then the Gonzaga U v. Syracuse basketball tourn

A leap year day! Mine started with a trip to the veterinarian because our soon-to-be 15 year-old puppy has developed a yeast infection in her ear. She was so relieved to be back in her car seat for the return trip home. And the day ended with a birthday celebration for my oldest granddaughter! I love it when a day ends on such a happy note. Birthday cards can be quite simple. Stamp from Magenta: Multilingual Happy Birthday (07.907.L) -- inked with VersaMark and embossed with

At the suggestion of a friend, I ordered Caran d'Ache Luminance colored pencils; they're made in Switzerland. I only ordered a set of 20 because they're a little spendy. They're a permanent pencil with a smooth lead and exceptional lightfastness, according to their literature. I had purchased 11 of them earleir but I think I left them in LaQuinta; of course, the resort cannot find anything left behind in our room. I'm so glad I re-ordered because I like the smoothness. The co

I've always loved the stamp designs from Magenta. Luckily, Art 'n Soul has been Magenta's Retailer of the Year for the past several years, which means there is always a fresh inventory of their stamps and other quality products available at the store. A while back, I purchased this vase stamp. I pulled it out again today and I combined it with Magenta's Nuance powdered watercolors. Magenta "Potted Plant" 0723.O Magenta word stamp: 07.818.H Magenta's Nuance in Raspberry (MNU0

The last of the 3 birthday cards features an older stamp from Hero Arts that I've always loved embossing with. Hero Arts Background Stamp Impression Obsession "You Can Do This" B14347 on Twinchie Square from Inchie Arts in White Ranger Mini Distress Ink Pad Kit #13 (TDPK46738) (Fossilized Amber; Abandoned Coral; Cracked Pistachio; Mermaid Lagoon) Tombow Marker #173 Corner Peel-offs and border trim (discontinued) from Magenta on Twinchie Square Queen & Co. Droplets VersaMark w

The lunch today was too much fun! We enjoyed a somewhat healthy menu of apple & butternut squash soup; roasted vegetable tossed salad with baby spinach and arugula; and a carrot cake with a cheesecake and glaze pecan topping. The last menu item is why I said "somewhat" healthy, although carrots, pecans, and cream cheese are low carb and limited quantities of sugar are used in both the carrot cake and the cheesecake. That's the story and all of us are sticking to it! The secon

Today I am hosting a casual birthday lunch for 3 friends who celebrated back in late November and early December when I was out of town. It's taken me this long to "catch up". The first card I made was borrowing from the many, many cards that I have seen using the "black and white" color theme. Rubbernecker Stamps: "Daisies Background" (699) Fiskars' Cloud 9 Design Stamp: "Simple Thoughts--Happy Birthday" (16 pieces) VersaMark watermark ink; VersaFine in Onyx Black; Ranger