Little Things Make Me Happy

Last month I missed the challenge deadline at Jay Gee's Nook by a few hours.  I was so annoyed at myself but was determined not to miss the next one and am getting my card in nice and early.  I was inspired by the picture in the lower right corner of the photo collage - love that white octopus on the turquoise background.  I also wanted to join in with the challenge at All Things Unity which involves using butterflies.  It seems like almost every Unity set I have has a butterfly but I hadn't inked up this one yet so I thought I'd dust it off and try it out.

Supplies:  CS: PTI; Stamps: Unity & PTI; Inks: VersaMark & VersaMagic Cloud White; Embossing Powder: Ranger Seafoam White; Nestie: Lacey Circles

I was so excited earlier today to see a manta ray swimming around down by our dock!  I haven't seen one in our bay in years and he spent quite a while tootling around down there.  They really are gorgeous creatures and I am so blessed to have an aquarium in my back yard!

Funky Flower Thanks

***This is my 2nd post of the day!  Scroll down for my Embellish post!***

Before I get to my card I have super exciting news - my first publications!!!!!  CARDS has accepted 2 of my cards for the December 2011 issue and I am so excited!!!!  (Can you tell??) Talk about a great way to start my day!  :)

**Edited to Add:  And I just got a card accepted for the Jan/Feb 2012 issue of Paper Crafts!!!!  Wowee what a day!!!  ***

Now on to today's card...  For the first time when playing along with a Colour Cue challenge I actually have WPlus9 stamps to use.  I love the Funky Flowers set and all the different things you can do with it.  I die cut a few small Nesties and used them as the flower bases and then stamped over them.  I don't use my Nesties nearly enough so I felt good about giving them some love.  Have a great evening!    

Supplies:  CS: Bazzill, Paperbilities; Stamps: WPlus9; Inks: VersaFine Onyx Black, SU Concord Crush; Dies:  Nesties Labels 11, 15 & 16; Gems:  Doodlebug, Basic Grey

Rainbow Hearts

I've never played along with an Embellish challenge before but I look at them every time they're posted and I swear every time that this will be the challenge that I take part in.  And here I am.  Finally.  Took a rainbow to get me here but hey, whatever works! 

Supplies: CS: Bazzill & PTI; Stamps: Purple Onion Designs & Paper Smooches; Ink:  SU Real Red, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry

And with this card I christen my Purple Onion Designs stamps!  I have been eying up these stamps for ages and finally made a purchase which arrived last Thursday.  I got ragged on pretty hard at work as I spent my lunch break cooing over my new goodies.  LOL!  They can rib me all they want though because they buy plenty of cards!  :)  

It's Krafts-men, Dude!

Squeaking in at the last minute here with an entry for CAS-ual Fridays Krafts-men challenge.  I'm getting a little better at planning my cards out in advance.  Before I would often sit at my desk, pick a challenge and then draw a blank.  Now I'm finding I have ideas simmering in the back of my mind and I'm managing to hang on to them instead of forgetting them altogether.  (Making notes now and then helps too - when I can find the notes that is!)  So here it is, pretty much as I envisioned it, and I'm quite pleased with it!

CS: PTI; Stamps: PTI; Inks: SU Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake; Punches: EK Success, Marvy Uchida

We continue to be desperate for rain.  We put in an order for 4 more loads of water which we'll get in 7 days if we're lucky.  Today was really frustrating because it was thundering all morning and I could see all these dark clouds and knew that it was pouring with rain out over the water but not on the island.  It's like we have an anti-rain force field around us or something!     

My issue of Stamp It arrived today (along with a few other back issues I've missed) so I'm off to peruse them.  Have a lovely evening!

Inkspirations & Terrapins & Cats!

The challenge at Inkspirations this week is a colour challenge.  I've had extra work shifts this week so haven't had much time in the Craft Cave but managed to whip this up this afternoon.  I've had this Hero Arts stamp for a while but this is the first time I've inked it up.  I love those birdies and I have a few other ideas for them that I'll hopefully get to sooner rather than later!

A few interesting moments at work today.  We have a specialist from Boston who comes down a few times a year to do big orthopaedic surgeries.  (His name is Dr. Nick Trout and if you like animals and you like books then you should check out his book "Tell Me Where It Hurts").  Anyway a lady happened to turn up with a terrapin that had been run over by a car and the bottom half of his shell was split in half.  Since Dr. Trout was here he agreed to repair it.  The vet from the local aquarium and zoo came by to help get the little guy under anaethetic and then Dr. Trout, using pliers, heavy gage wire and Krazy Glue, patched him up!  Apparently it was his first terrapin surgery and despite taking ages to wake up the little guy came through just fine.

I also met a cat named Morris and thought I'd share a picture of him - all 22lbs of him!  There's a lot of Morris to love.  Amanda, the nurse in the picture with him, is barely a hundred pounds and she looks lost behind him!  LOL!  Never a dull moment at Endsmeet Animal Hospital!

Awesome Circles

I love the colours of this week's Play Date Cafe challenge and the cool picture that goes along with it.  This PTI impression plate was the first thing that came to mind when I saw the picture and the card came together pretty quickly after that.  Some Cuttlebug action, some fussy cutting, a few gems and voila!  Awesome.  :)

Despite the heat we took the dogs for a short walk this morning.  There are a ton of feral chickens in Bermuda and we usually pass a few groups (flocks?) of them when we go for our walks.  Normally they take off at the sight of us.  This morning, however, we came across a momma and her chicks.  As usual, Atticus was straining at his leash, wanting to check them out.  This momma didn't run though.  She did not appreciate the looks Atti was giving her babies and before I knew it she was in his face squawking and pecking and slapping him with her wings.  The look on Atti's face was priceless!  He had no idea what to make of this pissed off female and finally jumped behind me for cover!  Satisfied that she'd made her point, momma hustled her babies across the street, tossing a few choice clucks over her shoulder.  I'm guessing Atti got the message though as when we passed a few more chickens later on, he slowed down and graciously let me lead the way!  That's my boy - 90lbs of wimp!    

Plaid Thank You

I'm officially ready for fall.  The heat and humidity have really kicked in - we broke down and left the air conditioner on in the bedroom last night.  It's nice to sleep in but walking out of the room in the morning is like a slap in the face!  Blerg!


For this week's ColourQ challenge I tried to not only incorporate the colours but also the picture so I worked a little plaid into the card.  I thought this Hero Arts flower would be perfect and I tried to make the stripes plaid-esque.  I'm also going to enter this in the Moxie Fab stamping challenge.  

CS: Bazzill & SU; Stamps:  Hero Arts & PTI; Inks: VersaFine & SU;  Gem:  Doodlebug; Other: Glossy Accents

Tomorrow we'll be installing a new sink in our laundry room and then heading down to the dock to cool off.  I think we'll be spending a lot of time floating around the bay this summer!  Hope everyone in the US and Canada are enjoying their long holiday weekends!