Four GRAND Reasons I've Been AWOL

It's been a week since I've posted or even worked in my studio!  Mom and I just got back from a trip to northwest Iowa to see some of my family.  Here are four of my GRAND nephews and nieces:

 Zander, nearly 5 years old

 Dylan (Zander's brother), 3 years old (going on 13!)

 Sienna, nearly 5 years old

Cohen (Sienna's brother), 3 months old

It is always so much fun to be with these little ones.  Zander always makes sure I have my camera with me.  Dylan is full of surprises. He had on a Batman t-shirt because he loves super heroes.  I asked him if he (Dylan) was Robin and he very firmly said "Robin is not a super hero! Only Batman is!"

Sienna likes to play coy at first, then she gets flirty with the camera.  Cohen, well he just sleeps -- sometimes! 

Dylan, Zander and Sienna playing a game with the biggest kid, my brother "Uncle Andy". 

I've been trying to keep up with everyone on Google Reader --- Wow, y'all have been busy!  I'll catch up soon, I hope! 

Brothers

Finally, the fourth of the four cards I made last Wednesday!  When Mom and I made our Mother's Day tour to Iowa last month I had the opportunity to take lots of photos, especially of my two grand-nephews, Zander and Dylan.  They were playing catch with their dad and my son.  The action shots were great fun and I put all the photos on CDs for them.  This card was a simple notecard to go with the CD. 

From the first time I saw Mo Manning's image called "Brothers" I thought about Zander and Dylan.  This image is colored with Copics and I practiced more of the fluffy little clouds I like to do with the colorless blender.

Here's a close-up of the colored image.

This is the real Zander, age 4. He is the intellectual and there is no getting anything past him!

And here is the real Dylan, age 2 1/2.  Can you tell he is a little pistol??

Thanks for stopping by today and letting me share these precious boys with you!

Birthday Card for My Sister

Last night I posted one of the four cards I made on Wednesday, a birthday card for my son.  Well, this is the season for birthdays in my family and tomorrow is my sister's birthday.  So this is the card I made for Patty.  Patty doesn't look like this, but I do! So I thank Mo Manning for giving us images that reflect our outer beauty, even though we wish we looked more like a Barbie doll.  This image is called Veronica.  She actually makes me feel glamourous!

I'm not at home as I write this so I can't run to the cabinet to look, but the dp is from a beautiful stack that is called Mariposa, I think, by DCWV, I think.  Anyway, it is gorgeous paper full of butterflies and bird cages.

The image is colored with Copics. I kept the layout pretty simple to show off the image and the paper.  The butterfly attached to the lower left corner is cut out from the corner of the paper I didn't use. The sentiment and background die cuts are Nestibilities.

So, Happy Birthday, little sister! I love you!

A Birthday Card for My Son

I am so sorry I've been MIA the past month or so. Actually, just missing, no action.  I don't know if my mojo totally abandoned me or I just go burned out, but it certainly has been a creative desert in my studio.  Good news, that spell might be over!  Yesterday I colored four images and made four cards, so the next few days I have new posts!  Woo hoo!

My son's birthday starts in 31 minutes, as I write this.  I am actually at his new house in Bellevue, NE for a couple of days to celebrate with him and his fiance.  I arrived to a delicious lasagna dinner, then a rousing game of Phase 10.  Below is the card I made for him.  Many of his birthdays have been near a beach or on a ship, but since he is land-locked for a few years I thought he might like a beach scene.  This was made possible by Mo Manning's fun new digital images Beach Elements and Surfer Dude.

The background and sand castle are from the Beach Elements collection and I added Surfer Dude.  These made a very fun image!  The whole scene is colored with Copics. I kept the design simple but colorful.  The collection of sea shells has been sitting in my embellies cabinet for ages and made a nice finishing touch here.

Here's a close-up of the sand castle.

And here is Surfer Dude himself.  I merged the images together and the possibilities are endless.  In fact, you will see another beach scene in the coming days.  I just don't have that one colored yet.

Thanks for stopping by today and sticking with me.  I feel myself coming out of this slump and I hope for good!  Have a great weekend, everyone!

Birthday "Cars" for a Grandson

First: A lesson to learn from my ordeal. Computer problems stopped me in my tracks last night and I am finally up and running. The router for my wireless network just stopped working. Four technicians at two companies couldn't figure out the problem. Frustrated and thinking the router died and would need to be replaced I tried one more thing. All cords and cables had been unplugged and replugged except one --- the ethernet cable at the back of the computer (the hardest place to get to). I unplugged it and replugged it and Voila! everything came back! I have no idea what happened except that we had storms in the area and maybe something went through that complex pathway and pushed the connection so it was slightly off. So, lesson learned: unplug and reconnect everything first.

Enough of that! On to.....

Happy Birthday, Grandson!

It is so hard to believe that three years Jerry's son called and said "You have a grandson!" Wow, that little cutie Leland is growing up so fast! I haven't seen him for over a year but, in his travels, Jerry is able to spend time with them. I've got to get a new picture of him!

Anyway, like most kids these days, Leland loves the Disney "Cars". We sent him sheets and a comforter in the "Cars" theme for his new big boy bed. This card is on the way to him. There isn't a single stamped image on it but lots of 3D stickers and the Happy Birthday was cut with my Cricket. The border is ribbon I found at Walmart. Quick, easy and very fun!

Happy Birthday, Leland!

Thanks for stopping by!

Barb

In God We Trust