Congratulations on Your Promotion!!!

Congratulations to our daughter!!!  She's been working with Verizon for 2 years and was just promoted to Retail Training Associate earlier this week.  She'll get to keep her position as Store Manager as well which she is happy about.  She is such a hard worker and goal oriented.  We are so incredibly proud of her!   

I of course wanted to make her a card to celebrate the occasion!  I really wanted to spell out Congratulations (I'm not big on saying "congrats") but there just wasn't enough room.  I had to make a slime line card just to spell out Congrats using My Favorite things High Rise Alphabet Lower Case Letters.  I also wanted to incorporate the red Verizon Check Mark.  So hubs went on line and printed it for me.  I laid it on top of Real Red card stock with some double sided tape and cut it out.  I put my panel on top of black card stock.  

 Me and our daughter, Mikaela during our trip to see them in Idaho this July.

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Happy Double Digit Birthday Connor!!!

Our middle grandson turns 10 today.  I'm not sure where the time goes!!!  It feels like yesterday that I was in the delivery room watching him being born!  Connor is just like his mom...he loves to read and he LOVES Harry Potter!  Since October he's read the whole Harry Potter series 4 times, plus other series.  I love that he loves to read.  

I wanted to try out this texture paste that I got using the brick stencil from My Favorite Things.  My goal was to try and make it look like a real brick wall.  How'd I do???  After I let the texture past dry, I went to work with inks.  I used an aqua pen and Basic Gray for the grout.  When that dried, I used Poppy Parade, Cajun Craze, and Cherry Cobbler for the bricks.  I sponged and sponged until I got it as dark as I wanted.  I used the copics opaque white pot to smudge around the bricks to try and make it appear a bit old and worn.  Next I made the circles.  I also sponged the circle with the same inks I used on the bricks.  I used the cricket storybook and black vinyl for the 9.  My Favorite Things Little Numbers with black vinyl for the 3 and 4.  It was a bit time consuming to make, but so fun seeing it's transformation.  

 

 Me and my hubs with our grandson, Connor this past July in Idaho.  
Happy Birthday Connor!
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Happy Birthday Mary!!!

For my gym instructor and friend, Mary.  She is an amazing instructor, I just love attending the classes she teaches.  From my very first class I went to of hers, she made me feel welcomed and comfortable AND has never called me out in class because I'm unable to do the moves due to Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.  She has such a high energy level and is always upbeat and positive for every class.  I miss not seeing her since COVID.  Speaking of COVID...she's reached out and messaged to check up on those of us who attend her classes to make sure we are doing ok and see if we need anything.  She has such a big heart and I'm happy to also call her my friend.

I used the current weeks SC815.  This layout was a big tricky for me.  I messed up two other images trying to get the cuts right, lol...glad I didn't color them first!  I also wasn't able to use the oval or place the sentiment strip in the right place since my image was so big.  It's close though!  My image is from Krista Smith Stamps.  Hubs printed her for me on Neenah and I colored her with copics.  I used a gel pen on the weights and her lips.  I got some MFT bubbles (finally) and used them.  Sentiment from SU Morning Meadow.

 Me, Mary and Ermalinda at Mary's Les Mills class.

Thank you for stopping by my blog!

Happy Birthday Joanie!!!

For my sweet friend Joanie for her birthday.  Joanie has such a kind heart and is always encouraging others to reach their goals.  She comes up with #thebesthashtags which always makes me laugh...or just touches my heart.  She's such a special lady!  

I thought this image suited Joanie well...a BIG cup of kindness.  I've had this Earl Grey Peep stamp from Stamping Bella for years, but this is the first time I've used it.  I wanted to try some new colors, this one kind of took a different turn.  I was aiming for Tiffany Blue and a soft pink, but...somehow I ended up with a bluegreen color and a darker pink.  I still like the color scheme even though it wasn't my original plan.  I used My Favorite Things Wonky Stitch on the main panel.  Neenah and Strawberry Slush card stock.  Sentiment from SU Express Yourself.

 Me and Joanie climbing Mt. Lemmon in 2018.

Thank you for stopping by!

BRAK Thank You #5...

I'm so pleased with myself for making it a goal to send BRAK Thank You's and following through with it.  I've loved all the cards everyone has made for me.  It's so nice to receive handmade cards.  I'm always the one making them and it's a very rare occasion that one pops up in my mailbox.  It was such a sweet surprise!

This card goes out to mcfadden on splitcoaststampers.  I kept with my color theme of crisp cantaloupe, crumb cake and white and using Beautiful Friendship.  

I just love the soft colors she used to make my card.  Of course the orange being my favorite!  I also love that printed paper!  So pretty!

Thank you for stopping by!

 

Bold, Beautiful, and Blingy...

Happy 90th Birthday Erin!!!  Haha, not really!  When you're around Erin, it's always laughs.  We went to Texas Roadhouse for her birthday one year and when they came to sing her Happy Birthday she told them she was 90!!!  The hostess kept saying, you look so good for your age, haha!  Erin is Bold, Beautiful, and Blingy...that's what I titled the card.  She's in her 70's, doing triathlons, racing bikes, running races, swimming...there's not anything she won't try.  She also loves all things green, purple, and blingy!

This is my first stamp from Colorado Craft Company.  It's called Sympathy & Friendship Rose.  Erin loves green, purple, and roses.  I knew I had to use my new stamp to make her birthday card.  I loved how blingy Debby's card is using this stamp.  I stepped out of my comfort zone and played a little to give it all the shimmer and bling that Erin loves.  I stamped my image on Neenah with Memento ink, coloring with copics.  I worked on this rose for a couple of days, coming back to it, adding coloring, shading, and just playing with it.  I also used copics and a colorless blender for the background.  I let it dry...then the fun began.  I blinged it out with liquid pearls, a pearl pen, baubles, rhinestones, sequins, copic opaque white pot (using a paper clip to make the dots) then finished it off with a few sprays of glimmer mist.  I may have gone a bit overboard, but it was so fun to make.

 Me and Erin when we first met in 2017.  We were doing a progressive 6 week climb up Mt. Lemmon.  I had just started cycling and was terrified to descend.  Erin on the other hand just loved to.  She waited for me (and went really slow I must add) so I could follow her down Mt. Lemmon.  I can never thank her enough for this day.  I slowly began to build confidence and now have a passion for descending.

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you have a great rest of your week!

BRAK Thank You #4...

A thank you for the beautiful BRAK I received from CJ Nalley on splitcoaststampers.  I wanted to let her know how much I appreciated her taking the time to create a card for me for my birthday.  Her card was stunning!

Keeping with my theme and color scheme of my birthday Thank you's...but making them all different.  I used Beautiful Friendship, Express Yourself (sentiment), Crisp Cantaloupe and Crumb Cake.  

  

CJ's beautiful card she sent me.  I thought it was a rose, but it's a Peony, lol!  Either way I love it!

Thank you for stopping by!

BRAK Thank You #3...

Thank you you card for Barbaralynn from splitcoaststampers for the awesome flamingo card she sent me for my birthday.  I just love it!!!  I've been in a flamino kick this year.  Bought a couple flamingo stamp sets, pj's, slippers...lol!!!  

Keeping with my color scheme and theme...I used Crumb Cake, Crispy Cantaloupe, Beautiful Friendship stamp set, My Favorite Things Big Greeting for the sentiment.  Another CAS thank you.

 BRAK I received from Barbaralynn.

Thank you for looking!

BRAK Thank You #2...

I received another beautiful BRAK in the mail and wanted to send a thank you card to the sender to let her know I appreciate the time she took to create it and also for thinking of me.  This one goes out to mybugandi45 on splitcoaststampers.  

I love this color combination, it's one of my favorites.  For my 40th birthday, I made the party favors and all my thank you cards in this color combo.  I also love roses.  Anyhow, I'm staying with the same color scheme and stamp set for my birthday thank you cards but making them a bit different.  I used Crumb Cake as my base.  Stamped the roses in Crisp Cantaloupe, the other stuffs in Crumb Cake.  I used the Sentiment from Morning Meadow, stamping it in black so it would stand out.  

 BRAK I received from mybuandi45.  I absolutely love it.  Definately going to CASE this!

Thank you for stopping by.  Hope you have a great week!

Wish We Were...

For the last two years we've floated down the river for my birthday with our best friends.  Unfortunately this year that won't be happening, sigh.  I made my bestie a card to let her know I was missing our annual birthday tradition, and her.  It's been 5 months since I've seen her...with this COVID stuff we haven't seen each other since our cruise in March.  Definitely miss our Sunday get togethers!

I used the digital image from Krista Smith Stamps, Lake Tubing.  I colored the image with copics.  Using opaque white on the glasses and a glaze pen on the lens.  My Favorite Things All the Encouragement and Banner Alpabet Sets.  Mounted the sentiment on pop dots.  Melon Mambo and black card stock.

Me and my bestie, Kellye on one of our river trips.

Thank you so much for stopping by.  Have a great weekend.

BRAK Thank You...

I've always wanted to make a card to send to and thank the amazing ladies who send me a BRAK for my birthday, but for some reason or another I never get around to doing it.  Well, this year I'm doing it!  This goes out to Paula O. on splitcoaststampers   for the lovely BRAK (birthday random act of kindness) card she sent me.  Thank you Paula O.!

 I used Crumb Cake through a cuttlebug folder as my base.  Beautiful Friendship with Groovy Guava and Crumb Cake inks.  Stamped the sentiment from MFT Big Greetings stamp set on Crumb Cake.  I used a corner punch on the end.  Topped it off with some pearl baubles.  

BRAK I received from Paula O. 

Thank you for taking a peek at my blog!

Easy Peasy Lemmon Squeasy...

Every year the Tucson Tri Girls host "Easy Peasy Lemmon Squeasy".  It's a 6 week progressive climb up our beloved Mt. Lemmon.  Mt. Lemmon is ranked 33rd on the top 100 toughest road bike climbs.  It's a 25 mile climb with an elevation gain of 5,500 feet (depending on which "top" you go to).  This year we did Easy Peasy a bit differently since our mountain caught fire on June 5th from a lightening strike and burned 119, 978 acres over 48 days.  We held our annual EPLS virtually over Zwift.  It was a lot of fun being able to ride with our TTG and our sponsors, but our hearts ache for the devastation the fire has cause to our mountain.  I made Thank You cards for our ride leaders.  It wasn't easy trying to do this each week and I wanted them to know their time was appreciated.

And since there's a thing in my house called "Tanya Math"...I had to make one more card...ooops!!!

I used the current week's SC812 for my layout.  Perfect Plum for my base and Basic Gray Kioshi paper.  I had a custom made TTG stamp made with our emblem.  I stamped it in Gorgeous Grape on Neenah card stock.  Sentiment from SU Morning Meadow set.  

Pictures below are from the fire.  They are not mine, just ones I grabbed from Google.

You can see the fire retardant from many miles away on the mountain.  

The planes were dropping it and water non stop.

I don't know how something so devastating can also be so beautiful.

Amazingly no structures, homes, or lives were lost in the fire.

It's just heartbreaking to see the damage the fire caused.

The firefighters worked in triple digit temps day in and day out.

During the 25 mile drive (or in our case, bicycle ride), you'll got through four distinct habitats, from Tucson's desert up through grasslands, woodlands and finally to the forests at the top.  You'll climb a total of 5,500 feet.  In terms of ecosystems and climate...starting at Mile Post 0, it's like driving from Mexico to Canada in one hour.

Happy Birthday Eva...

Happy Birthday Eva!!!  Today is my dear friend, Eva's birthday.  She's one of the sweetest ladies you'll ever meet.  She has the heart of gold, is the biggest cheerleader, will always encourage you to do your best, and gives the most amazing (((HUGS))).  I met Eva at my neighborhood gym, Zona Fitness which has went out of business last year.  I hadn't seen Eva in months...walk into the new gym I signed up for and there she was...and of course she gave me her most amazing (((HUGS))).  We no longer do the same classes, which is a bummer, but I see her as I'm finishing my class and she's going into class.  Thursday's are the best days!!!  Or...will be once we open up our gyms again, because I get to see Eva and get to (((HUG))) that sweet lady!

I fell in love with this card from the Stampin' Up catalog last year and had to buy the set just so I can make this card.  I love the colors and the elegance of the card.  I used Very Versailles stamp set, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Mint Macaron, and Very Vanilla Card Stock.  Mint Macaron and Crumb Cake ink.  Linen cord, baubles, pop dot, oval and square punch.

Me and Eva at the gym...one of our favorite places!

Thank you for taking a look at my blog.

In My Heart...

For my friend Julie who lost her son.  I can't even begin to imagine the pain she has suffered these last two years.  There are no words that can ever take away her pain or make her feel better.  My heart aches for her.  I wanted her to know that she is in my heart as the anniversary of his passing approaches.

My Favorite Things is celebrating their 500th Sketch Challenge and I wanted to play along.  I used the Heart Die-namic with Echo Park Country Drive Paper.  Elegant Eggplant and white card stock,  stamped with a sentiment from the Pure Innocence All My Heart set.  I stamped the girl from the PI Have Hope set coloring her with copics and mounting her on pop dots for dimension.  A glaze pen on the heart, shoes, and clip in her hair.

Thank you for stopping by.

Have a great week.