Happy Monday everyone. I was thinking recently about how often I tend to overcomplicate things and miss opportunities to create something simple and fun. (Well, I tend to overcomplicate and overthink everything in my life anyway! Am I the only one?) Several years ago I was really into making these simple little "brag books," "journals," or "mini scrapbooks." So I thought I'd make a few again. They are fun and easy to make, and make great little gifts for moms and grandmas. Cute baby shower gift too. They are just 8 1/2 x 11 pages of cardstock, cut in half to make 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch pages. (If you want to cut a bunch of cardstock at once, do what I do--take it to a copy center. They will cut stacks of it.) Decorate the cover and pages with rubber stamping or other papercrafting finds. I heat embossed the red car in the center. (If you've never heat embossed, you will be amazed at the glossy, raised results the first time you see it. It's a fun technique that adds a lot to stamped projects.) I punch two holes on the sides to bind them with ribbon, binder rings, twine, or whatever else I can find that suits the theme of the book. I threaded some wooden beads onto the twine this time. I usually add a little rectangle of heavy corrugated cardstock on the edge. It adds some weight and looks a bit more finished. Or wrap a strip of coordinating paper around the edge, for a bound look. Have fun making one of these!

I'm still mourning our return from the beach (would have stayed there forever if I could.) Here's one of my favorite shots from the week. It was taken with my little point and shoot (as were many photos of the trip), so the quality is not so great, but the light was so beautiful, and this photo makes me happy just to look at it. Hope you enjoy it too.

I've been away for a few days. I've been here...


That's the view from our balcony during our vacation last week on the gulf coast of Alabama (Orange Beach/Gulf Shores.) Not too hard to take at all! It was absolutely wonderful. My question is, with places as beautiful as this, why do I live so far away from them??? Anyway, I haven't worked on any projects (other than relaxing!), so I thought I would show you a picture of another project that I did several years ago--a collage card. I chalked a background and stamped on it, then tore it and inked the edges. The pressed flower is a real one, and the photo (copy of the photo actually) is a really old one of my grandmother (who passed away in 1985 at the age of 92. She attended the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, and I wish I had asked her more about that when I had the chance.) I have a bunch of stamps, little charms, doilies, etc. in drawers for this type of project, so I am going to make some more of these collage cards. In my earlier stamping days, I would always make my own backgrounds (instead of relying on printed papers. Lately I've been getting back to that old school stamping style and enjoying it. Plus, I have all of these products sitting idle in my "studio" basement that are begging to be used.) This card actually won a contest (sponsored by Buffalo Stampede, a stamp company that I think no longer exists.) They had some gorgeous unmounted stamps. (Yes, back then I had time for things like entering contests.)


Finally, here's a fun photo from vacation that cracks me up---my two comedians. Hope it makes you smile. (And are you all remembering my challenge to stop and smell the flowers? That's kind of what I was doing last week (although instead of flowers, it was sea air!)

Here's a card that can have just about any greeting inside. Today, the inside of this card would read, "Wishing you a day inside with air conditioning." It's 99 degrees here today. (And, I am INSIDE.) You can put just about any greeting inside though. It's a simple card--I just dry embossed the background with an embossing folder and chalked over the design (I used a Q-tip!) I punched a scalloped oval, stamped the Wishing you... on it, and attached it with a foam dot so it sits up a bit. (I inked the little scallops a little first.) Added a few little blingy gems and adhered it all to a pink card. Really simple, but nice I think. (This isn't the best photo, but you can still click it to see the detail if you like.)


Now, here's a shot of my little niece, taken at her "dance party" birthday last Saturday. Isn't she precious? (I officially have the most adorable nieces of all time--several of them.) She even had her own outdoor dance floor, with balloons galore. Her name for the day was "DJ Cozy." Thanks for the great day Cozy!

Well, a couple of challenges actually. See this sweet, adorable cat? (I'm just a tiny bit biased--she's mine.) She's taking time to smell the flowers. LET'S ALL DO THAT MORE OFTEN. Now, another challenge to myself this week is to create a card using this photo. I have been wanting to incorporate photos into my papercrafts for some time, apart from the obvious scrapbook layouts and mini books. Maybe stamp a border around the edges of the photo. (I hear Stazon ink works for this.) Or stamp the greeting directly onto it. Or maybe just layer it with some pretty papers. For this particular card, I will find some cardstock in my stash that coordinates with the colors in the photo (just as I would do for a scrapbook layout) and try to get inspired. My challenge to you is to find (or take) a photo that you love and create a card with it. Then send it to someone to bless you both!

Yes, I'm posting again! Life has been....eventful. Both good and bad events here. Son's high school graduation and college planning--good (and hectic!) Daughter's illness--bad. House hunting--? Not sure about that one. Whether we will ever find the right house is still unknown, so while it's been fun, it's been difficult too!