Flight of Ideas...

For those of you know don't know what the term FLIGHT OF IDEAS means (it's a medical term) meaning a nearly continuous flow of rapid speech that jumps from topic to topic, usually based on discernible associations, distractions, or plays on words, but in severe cases so rapid as to be disorganized and incoherent. It is most commonly seen in manic episodes but may also occur in other mental disorders such as in manic phases of schizophrenia. 

I use this term humorously, though I understand the disorder to be serious...


I haven't been blogging as much as I would like, but do have a few things to share because well I don't always HAVE to showcase cards right? I mean I am this time, but maybe next time we can chat about my vision board or that my 10 year old is hitting a personality bump that has me kind of pondering my mothering skills? Right? 

So here is something I ran into that has me laughing...

I made this little card for my mother in law who celebrated her birthday last week and I will be seeing her tomorrow. She is pretty awesome and I wanted her to know it! The girl is from Dear Lizzy and the sentiment is from Avery Elle. 

Speaking of my mother in law...I had to share this. I travel to Columbus Monday to Wednesday for my work and while I am there, I stay with my inlaws. One day I came home from work and no one was there. THIS was waiting for me to eat with delicious cheese and crackers!!

Ok well catch you later. We are going to DC for the 4th. I suppose it's very timely, no? :)

A Card Maker without any Cards and some Cards Humor

Ever make a ton of cards and give them away thinking you got plenty more and then need one and have NONE?! So I sat down and made a bunch of much needed cards. Here is the first of a few more that I will be showing in the weeks to come.

I found a new challenge and well this is perfect. Darnell started a challenge which is supposed to help you open up those wonderful stamps and get to inking! It's called NBUS (never before used schtuff) and the theme this week is friendship.

 I was sent this deliciously cute set for Avery Elle by JJ Bolton herself! How I wanted to ink it up and never got to until now. The set is called Red & Goldie. I made another card using this set and Sophia, my 10 year old wanted to color the little girl so she colored the one above. Then she just LEFT it on the table. I noticed it and thought she was cute...so here she is. I was not allowed to post it unless I specifically gave her credit. Sheesh!

Here is the other card I made with the cutie pie...

I can't get over her cuteness, how her braids just poke out so perfectly. LOL!

So back to studying for me. There is so much to learn and I am enjoying every single minute. It is everything I imagined the job to be! I am going to leave you with some Cardiology humor!

A Card, A Quote and a POWERFUL video

The Colorado Crafting crew took a trip to a craft store in Colorado Springs. I was VERY disciplined and walked away with a SINGLE sheet of 12x12 paper by SEI. Now this was no ordinary paper. It was flocked/textured/raised. It was prettier than wallpaper. I came home and cut it up into strips (only a portion of it), after all, these types of papers need to be used with great care. 

The stamps are from Penny Black --the flower is called POPPY TRIO and SUNNY HELLO. They are inked in gold. It's hard to tell but the flowers have a shimmer to them.  I have become so lazy with my blogging...no watermark, no linking or mention of products. What has become of me?!

I have been really inspired by words lately. I will be traveling to Columbus for work now and look forward to all the books I will be audio reading (is that a word??). In any event, I am going to leave you with this quote which really really inspired me.

Lastly, I started a new job in Cardiology recently (I mentioned that right?).  During the first week, we were shown a video. It is so POWERFUL. I am in the business of making people better and to be part of their lives during a challenging time.  I am so proud of that.  It is a gift. I wanted to share with you...

On the Crate Blog...Stationary Sets!

Stationary to me means coordinating sets of pretty papers and envelopes, so that's what I set out to do for my project today on the Crate Paper Blog. I used the Open Road Collection to make a stationary gift set. I started with coordinating double sided papers that had both a masculine side and a feminine side and made envelopes. Based on the design of those, I made 4 cards. Here is one of them. Check out the blog to see the entire set HERE!!

Cristina is a Published Author, and I am Her Friend.

My friend and fellow cardmaker, Cristina Kowalczyk, has some exciting news. She’s also an author (she writes under her maiden name – Cristina Henriquez), and her novel, The Book of Unknown Americans, comes out TODAY! To celebrate, I, along with a few other crafty friends, are helping her spread the word about her book.

Ben Fountain said it was “a triumph of storytelling,” Heidi Julavits called it “extraordinary,” and Amazon editor Chris Schluep chose it as his “must read for summer,” saying, “This novel snuck up on me. It’s moving and beautifully written, never overwrought, and I read it virtually in one sitting. It’s compelling, tragic, sometimes funny, uplifting and heart-wrenching. I can’t stop thinking about these people.”

Cristina is giving away 5 signed, first-edition copies of The Book of Unknown Americans. And because this is all about spreading the word, there are four ways to enter.

1.     Tweet about The Book of Unknown Americans (#UnknownAmericans)

2.     Write a Facebook post telling your friends about the book

3.     Pin the cover of the book on Pinterest

4.     Or simply leave a comment on Cristina’s blog

If you do all four of those, that’s four entries! (On Cristina’s blog, submit one comment per entry. For example: “I tweeted!” “I put it on FB!” “I pinned it!” etc.)

From all the comments on her blog, Cristina will choose 5 people to win a copy of the novel. Plus, one lucky person will win the grand prize, a signed book plus a giant stash of craft supplies – stamps, dies, inks, you name it!

For more info about the book and other ways that you can show your support, head over to Cristina’s blog.

I thought it would be fun to make a card using the card as inspiration. Here is the card I made:

Here are some amazing crafters who are celebrating the book release also, so check out their blogs too!

Julie Ebersole : http://papertrufflez.com/

Virginia Lu : http://virginialusblog.blogspot.ca/

Maile Belles : http://mailebelles.blogspot.ca/

Debby Hughes : http://limedoodledesign.com/

Wida Miller : http://beachorado.blogspot.ca/

Laura Bassen : http://laurafadora.wordpress.com/

Jennifer McGuire : http://www.jennifermcguireink.com/

I am so honored to have such a talented friend who I hope to meet in 2014 so help me! LOL! Hopefully, I will get my autographed copy in person.  ;)

Wida