My Prayers are with You...

My dear friend lost her Dad unexpectedly the Friday before Christmas from a heart attack.  My heart aches for anyone who loses a loved one, but to lose a loved one near the holidays is especially difficult.

Stamping Up's Thought's and Prayers Set.  Pool Party ink.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Warm Wintery Birthday Wishes...

For my dear friend Terri for her birthday.  I don't get to spend near as much time hanging out and riding with Terri as I would like.  When we are together it's non stop chatter and laughter.  Love having her in my life!

I stamped My Favorite Things Pure Innocence Warm Wishes girl in Memento ink on Neenah cardstock, coloring her with copics, stickles on her fur trim, then fussy cutting her out.  Pool Party, Perfect Plum and Echo Park paper.  My Favorite Things border in Pool Party.  Sentiment from The Cat's Pajamas.

Terri and Me celebrating the 4th of July, 2018.

Thank you for looking!

Merry Christmas...

Christmas Season quickly came upon me...and I had no cards made.  I found this card on pinterest and thought it was so beautiful.  I quickly got to work and was able to create a few cards to send to my family and closest friends.  I hope to get back up to the 100 cards I use to create every year!

I used Stampin' Ups Snow Front Stamp set.  Crumb cake, Smoky Slate, Garden Green, Real Red, and White inks.  Crumb Cake, Real Red and White card stock.  Sentiment from Stampin' Ups Contempo Christmas set.

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A Heartfelt Thank-you...

Our #ttgsponsor, Steve with Bicycle Ranch blessed me with a FREE entry to El Tour de Tucson the week before the race.  I was so excited to tell my teammate Ermalinda that I would be riding with her while she completed her first century.  I couldn't thank Steve enough, it meant the world to me that I could be there for my teammate and friend, encouraging and motivating her while she reached her goal.  

I thought I was making a quick and simple card but, ha!  Little did I know how hard it was to line up all the cardstock...then oops, you apparently need a back to attach the cardstock to or you end up with scraps everywhere.  I think it took me 3 or 4 attempts to get the strips cut, lined up, the die-namics lined up, and into a card.  I really should've watched a tutorial for the simplest way to do this.  Lesson learned.  I used Bicycle Ranch's Store/Team colors, Black, Gray, Red, and White.  My favorite Things die-namics, and Hambo stamps.

Me and Steve, an amazing supporter!!!

Ermalinda and I after El Tour de Tucson.  She lost her race number off her helment...

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You'll Owlways be my Bestie...

I have the most amazing Bestie in the world.  We started a tradition on Sundays when I had Surgery in 2013...and have been getting together every Sunday since.  Kellye is always up for trying new things with me and it's always laughter when with her.  She's such a giving person with a beautiful soul...I am so very lucky to have her as my best friend.  And did I mention she makes the best salads in the world?!?! 

I was gifted this Owl image from Stamping Bella many years ago.  I recently found it while clearing out some crafting supplies.  Kellye loves owls so I knew this image needed to be made into a card for her.  I had no idea how to color the image and since I only had one, I had to make sure I didn't mess up.  So I looked on SCS and found the perfect image by paulatracy.  Paula is my favorite prismacolor colored pencil artist, I just love her work!  She used prismacolor pencils while I used copics.  My image isn't nearly as beautiful as hers but by following her coloring I was sure to not mess up this image!  I used old olive and basic gray patterned paper.

 Me and Kellye after our workout.

 Kellye and me at Thanksgiving.

Me and Kellye hanging out with family by the fire.

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The Best Days...

For my best friend Jeremy's mom, Linda.  She's such an amazing person and I just love her dearly.  I tell Kellye (Jeremy's wife) that she is so lucky to have such a wonderful mother-in-law.  She's so loving, caring, and supportive of everything that is going on in all of our lives.  It's awesome to get to spend the Holidays with her when she comes to see them.

I CASE'd a card I saw on pinterest, changing the colors.  I used Melon Mambo, Pool Party, Gorgeous Grape, and Granny Apple Green inks.  Melon Mambo, Pool Party and white card stock.  Rhinestones and ribbon.

 Me and Linda during one of her visits.

My puppy Jetta and Linda.

Thank you so much for visiting by blog.

Happy Thanksgiving...

I made a hand full of cards for Thanksgiving this year.  It's been a while since I created cards for a Holiday other than Christmas.

I used My Favorite Things Pure Innocence Corn Maze girl.  Stamping her in Memento ink, coloring her with copics and paper piecing her top.  Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, and Echo Park Papers Time and Season's Paper, and Stampin' Ups All Year Cheer Sentiment.

Thank you for stopping by!

Butterfly Birthday Wishes...

I saw a pink butterfly card on pinterest a long time ago that I fell in love with.  I knew I wanted to create it, but I had to find the right person to create it for.  Well, Brooke is that person.  She is an awesome athlete, triathlete, teammate, and person.  She is constantly training for a race or upcoming race...always going, going, going.  I'm in awe of her determination and endurance!  During the summer while she was training for El Tour de Tucson, I would get up bright and early (on my recovery day) in the morning to ride out with her for 20+ miles on her 80-90 mile loop, have coffee, then turn around and go home while she finished her training.  There's never a dull moment when Brooke is around...so fun and full of energy.  I love having her on our team and blessed to have her as a friend. 

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Highland heather, Crumb Cake, and Very Vanilla cardstock.  My Favorite Things Die-namics, Stampin' Up Butterfly, cuttlebug folder.

Me and Brooke at her coffee stop.

Happy Bright Beautiful Birthday Marie...

I love this image from Terry Medaris, it reminds me of my friend Marie.  Bright, beautiful, colorful, and brings and instant smile to your face.

I wasn't sure how to color the image, so I copied the coloring from Terry Medaris' page.  Black, Bermuda Bay and Neenah cardstock.

Marie and me after El Tour de Tucson in 2018.

Happiest of Howling Birthdays...

My best friend Jeremy's family has welcomed me into his family with open arms.  I made this for his stepdad, Ryan for his birthday.

I used Black, Baja Breeze and White cardstock.  Stampin' Ups Nature Silhouettes stamp set, cuttlebug folder, and hodgepodge hardware.  I can't remember which set the sentiment came from.

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Fall...

I made this for a very special friend who had a terrible cycling accident.  Pink is her favorite color so I got her a pink pumpkin and made her a card to brighten up her hospital room.  

I used Regal Rose, Old Olive, Chocolate chip, Crumb Cake, and White cardstock.  My Favorite Things Die-namics, Cuttlebug Folder, Lined Thread, and Stickles.

Thank you for looking!

Prickly...

My best friend, Jeremy started a tradition that we cook each other dinner requested by the other for their birthday.  It's by far one of my all time favorite traditions ever.  I'm lucky to have such a great best friend who has a great sense of humor!  Each year for his birthday I try to make him a humorous card.  Here's what I came up with for this year.

Jeremy likes to measures "how much I like a person/how much they mean to me" by how many layers I use on their card, lol.  It's an ongoing joke with every card.  He makes sure he counts the layers when I make him and his wife (my bestie too) a card and pokes fun if he feels there's not enough layers, ha!  Anyhow...I used Garden Green, Black, and White cardstock.  My Favorite Thinds Sweet Succulents Stamp Set, stamping the pot and cutting it out, adhering it with pop dots for dimension.  My hubs printed the sentiment for me.  

Me and Jeremy celebrating my birthday dinner.

Thank you for peeking at my blog.

Welcome to Tucson Full Time!!!

I was so excited to hear that my friend and teammate Tracey purchased a home to reside in Tucson full time!  I met Tracey earlier this year on one of our GABA Rides.  I was a brand new ride leader and so nervous to lead her and her friend by myself after my co-ride leader had a flat.  Anyhow, Tracey is a ray of sunshine...always so bright and cheerful, happy and bubbly.  I always walk away from her feeling so good about myself.  She decided to purchase a home here in Tucson and also join our racing team, Tolero.  I couldn't be happier to have such an amazing person in my life and on my team. 

I wanted to greet Tracey with some cacti...kept this very simple.  House is a $1 stamp from the Michael's bin.  Cactus from an older MFT set.  Sahara sand, Mint Macaroon, and white cardstock. 

My beautiful friend Tracey and Me.

 Me and Tracey at the Willcox Flyer

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Just Keep Swimming...

For my teammate and dear friend Amy.  She has encouraged, inspired, and motivated me in so many ways and helped me gain confidence and reach so many goals in my cycling.  I am beyond blessed to have her in my life.

Amy loves sea turtles so my hubs looked online for some printable art for me to color.  I fell in love with this image.  I colored it with copics, highlighting with a white gel pen.  

Amy, me, and Carolyn on the podium at the Nogales Road Race.

Me and Amy on top of Mt. Lemmon and the Observatory.  Her goal for me for a year!

Thank you for taking a look! 

Congratulations Karen...

The Spa I go to for my facials and massages is absolutely amazing.  They give back to the community in so many wonderful ways.  They had a "contest" where each of their providers had you nominate people for certain categories to win a free massage a month for 3 months.  I nominated my friend and teammate, Karen in the nurse's category.  She's an ER nurse.  She works incredibly hard at her jobs, works long hours, crazy shifts, and we all know working in the ER she is exposed to seeing some crazy, intense, and heartbreaking things...despite all of this, she is the sweetest, kindest, caring person and so very dedicated to her training.  She is also an amazing teammate and so encouraging to everyone on our team.  Katie, the spa owner sent me a message a few days prior to their fb announcement to let me know Karen was picked in the nurse's category.  So, I made this card for Karen and hand delivered it to her with the news.  She was so surprised, it was awesome! 

I used several cards as my inspiration for this card (an of course since I'm way behind on my blogging, I can't remember where I saw them, but they were on pinterest).  I used one for the layout, one for the colors, and one for how I colored the image.  Supplies I used were- My Favorite Things Pure Innocence Best Medicine, My Mind's Eye Brighter Day, Real Red, White and Crumb Cake card stock.

Me and my sweet teammate Karen.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Minecraft Celebration...

My middle grandson, Connor is in a Minecraft phase so I made him a Minecraft birthday card.

To be honest, I have no idea what this is or what I made, lol!  I bought him a Minecraft toy and made the image that was on the box.  I used My favorite things Die-namics.  Quick, clean and simple card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Wishes...

Some people come into your life and touch your heart in such a special way, Katelynn is one of those people.  She is so kind and caring...and such a wonderful teammate.  I enjoy my cycling time with her so much and am blessed to call her my friend.

This is my last week as a guest design for this month's color challenges, CC754. What fun it has been. Thank you ladies of splitcoaststampers for having me! This weeks color choices were-
Coastal Cabana, Lovely Lipstick, and Gorgeous Grape.  Dessert Option- Birthday

I used Denami Design Hot Pink for my base card since I didn't have Lovely Lipstick. Layered it with Gorgeous Grape. I stamped Fifth Avenue Floral Rose, coloring it with copics and mounting it on MFT Dizzy Doily Duo Die-namics with pop dots. Leaf Filled Flourish Die-namic in Coastal Cabana to give it some texture. I used a strip of white cardstock, ribbon and baker's twine to give it a bit more color.

Me and Katelynn.

Thank you for stopping by!

Hppy Birthday Cindy...

I made this for my friend Cindy who lives in Canada.  She's such a sweet lady and I'm blessed that I get to ride with her when she comes down to Tucson.  

I'm honored to be this month's guest designer for the color challenge CC753. This week our colors were Petal Pink, Calypso Coral, and Pear Pizza.  The inspiration for my card came from a painting hanging in my dr's office I saw last week.  I stamped the trees in black then did the leaves in Blush Blossom and Calypso Coral, then in Certainly Celery and Pear Pizza. I highlighted some of the trunk and branches with a white gel pen. I felt the white was very bright so I toned it down with a light sponging of crumb cake.

My card inspiration.

Cindy and me after El Tour de Tucson, 2018.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Happy Birthday Vicki...

My friend Vicki loves Flamingo's.  As soon as I saw the color challenge for the week I knew I had to make her a Flamino card for her birthday!!!

I'm honored to be selected as one the guest designers for the color challenge CC752 for the month of August. This week's colors were Pacific Point, Flirty Flamingo, and Daffodil Delight with a Dessert Option of an Embossing Folder.  As soon as I saw the color combo I thought Flamingo's. Flamingo is from Lawn Fawn Gnome Sweet Gnome set.  Sentiment from Skipping Stones Design.  My Favorite Things Die-namics.  I popped up the circle image, flamingo, sun, and cloud to give the card more dimension.

Thank you for looking!

Happy Birthday Sweet Eva...

Have you ever met a person that no matter what you do, that person is in your corner being your biggest supporter and cheerleader???  That would be my sweet and dear friend Eva.  She is always supporting, encouraging, motivating, and cheering for me and my teammates for every ride, race, and accomplishment we achieve.  She has such a huge heart of gold and I'm truly blessed to have her as a friend and nowI get to see her at my new gym.

I was honored to be selected as a guest designer for the Color Challenge CC751 for the month of August on splitcoaststampers, thank you design team! It was my first time being selected as a guest designer and totally made my day! The color selection for the week was- Rich Razzleberry, Pineapple Punch, Mango Melody, and Shaded Spruce with the dessert option of "anything goes", which I selected Smooch. I used the MFT die-namics Rose with Overlay and Layered Leaves. I put my copics to work...creating the Pineapple Punch and Mango Melody in the rose and Shaded Spruce for the leaves. I used Rich Razzleberry cardstock to make my ribbon and sentiment. I added some shimmer to the Rich Razzleberry cardstock and on the overlay on the rose and leaves with Smooch.

Me and my sweet friend Eva

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Birthday Linden...

Birthday card for my sweet friend, teammate, and co-ride leader, Linden.  She brightens my day every time I see her...she's so positive and encouraging, just a ray of sunshine!

I kept my card clean and simple.  I used the Penguin from Denami Designs, colored with copics, and diamond glaze on the balloon.  Black, White and hot pink cardstock.  My favorite things dienamics.

Linden stayed by my side for my first time up to Ski Valley.  She's an excellent hill climber, while I am a much slower hill climber.  It was so nice to have the company as I usually climb by myself.

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Birthday to my Mom by Love...

I made this for my best friend, Kellye's mom, Cathye.  Kellye's family has welcomed me with open arms and have become my family.  Cathye calls me her daughter by love, which makes me well up with tears everytime she says it.  Mom loves to spend time in her garden and do yard work so I wanted to create a card that symbolizes that.

I CASE'd a card from Michelle Zindorf's amazing gallery.  I used Black, White, and SU patterned paper.  Stampin' Up and Scene in a Garden stamp sets.  Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Smoky Slate, and Versamark inks.  Always Artichoke, More Mustard, Real Red and White markers.  Finished off the card with some brads. 

Thank you for looking!

Happy Birthday to my Hubs...

Card I made for my hubs last year in his 40's!!!

I used Baked Brown Sugar, Black and Very Vanilla Cardstock.  Echo Park Times & Seasons paper, Cuttlebug folder, Stampin' Up Favorite Greetings stamp set, Rhinestones, and Twine.

Thank you for looking at my blog!

American Made Birthday...

I have the best father-in-law ever.  He treats me like one of his daughters.  I love him dearly.  This is the card I made him for his birthday.

Night of Nave, Smoky Slate, Real Red cardstock and My Mind's Eye American Made paper. Stacking Stars and Fishtail Flags Die-namics.  Stampin' Up Afterthoughts stamp set.

Thank you for stopping by!

PJ Masks Birthday...

Birthday card for my youngest grandson, Tanner.  He loves PJ Masks.  

My hubs found some digital art online and printed Gecko, my grandsons favorite character from PJ Masks for me.  I colored him with copics.  Baked Brown Sugar, black, and neenah cardstock.

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy 50th Jackie...

For my cycling buddy and good friend, Jackie for her 50th birthday.

 I found inspiration for my card from a couple of cards I saw on pinterest.  I wanted to keep the card CAS and highlight the 50.  I used my very neglected cricut to make the 50.  Then used My Favorite Things Traditional Tags Stax Die-namics.  I ran a pice of Melon Mambo through a paper crimper and mounted the tag on top of the base card that was run through a cuddlebug embossing folder.  Topped it with a button and some ribbon.

 Jackie and I at Madera Canyon for our first time.

Me and Jackie cycling in Red Rock Canyon, NV...it was SO COLD!!!

Thank you for stopping by!

You're a Super Star...

For my Super Star, Erma...such a great cycling buddy, teammate, and amazing friend.  My day is always brighter when she's around, love you my dear friend!

I used the MFT You're Super Stamp Set and Die-namics and the Stary Sky Stencil.  My first time using both.  Colored the girl with copics and highlighted spots with a Clear Star gel pen. 

 Me and Erma at one of our races.

Me and Erma cycling from Globe to Show Low, Arizona.

Thank you for stopping by!