Groove issues....

Hi Folks....I am trying to get back into the crafting/blogging groove after a 2 1/2 months of sporadic craft play.  And honestly, I have missed it even though my life has been so full in it's other arenas.  My husband and I were walking the other night and were talking about balance and how summer really throws our house out of balance.  The kids are up later which means he and I are up later.  The noise level is higher and more constant as our house tends to have other kids over alot.  Which we LOVE but it is different when the kids are in school and I know I have a guaranteed "me" time during the day.  But like I said...my summer has been sooo nice and therefore I really can't complain....I just need to make choices and up to now my choices have been more outside time, more family time and less (well, honestly....hardly any at all ) time for crafting. On Sunday, for example, our son was part of a relay team for a triathlon with two of his friends.  He did the swimming leg while his two buds did the biking and running.  They are just going to be high school seniors this year but they won the whole relay division!  And, Sunday was going to be a mom day....but that all changed when this triathlon came up. My husband and I sort of found out that this was planned maybe around Monday/Tuesday for a Sunday meet. Really typical short notice of teen boys! So instead of crafting and fishing we woke up around 4 to get Corm up and then started to get ready ourselves to travel to the town where the race was held.  And would I change anything?  (Well, yes....I would probably change the starting time!)  No not really.....I mean can I pick a card or a scrapbook page over the "being there" for the actual event?  Absolutely not.  And I say this because I know of lots of moms who instead of being at their kids events on a Saturday they have their spouse take pics so they can stay home and scrap.....saturday after saturday after saturday.  And, I am not judging them because they have lots of wonderful scrapbooks made up while I have lots of pictures to still scrap!  But now that my kids are older and ready to leave the house I can sit and scrap and remember how good  it felt to be there with them at their successes and to hold them up at their failures.  When I was a new mom the scrapbooking craze was just starting and it was really a decision on my part....how much time could I devote to a hobby.  Like playing golf or any other sport.  How much time away could I take away from being with  my family?  And my answer was "not much".  So, as my time with my kids winds down....I say this as my oldest is 22 and living in another state, my middle is 19 and in college in another town and my youngest is 17 and a senior in high school who will be leaving for college this time next year.  I am glad that I have TONS of images to scrap....glad because I feel that will help me skip down memory lane when the door to my son's dorm closes next August and I go back to a house that is "kid-less".  I suppose this post is not what you were expecting.....this year is going to be a lot of "lasts" for me....last of sporting events, last of music festivals and concerts, last of plays and last HS graduation.  And that is all fine.  It is how it should be and I really believe that I am ready for the next phase of life.  And my husband and I have talked about what we will do....what we can do now that we will be a little free-er with our time and day to day responsibilities.  And we will be young still at 50!  So, I think that my blog will evolve to reflect that change.  I am still absolutely going to post my crafting pics....but crafting is just part of my overall life....as it is for all of you.  And so, here are a few pics of my fabulous Sunday morning watching my son emerge from the lake in his triathlon.

 And here is the pic my friend Kathy took of the two proud parent's who gave up an early morning fishing outing and a few hours of quiet crafting to see their son swim .  And, we have no regrets.  My husband always throws his fish back anyways,  and my inks and pens won't dry up but Corm....well, Corm will continue to grow and mature and find his path away from us.  Just as his sister's did before him.  As it should be.

Isn't this a good picture?  We laugh cuz as a family we generally take AWFUL photos....well, actually that is usually just me who takes bad pics!  But this one I like. I feel our "happy" just jumps off the page.  I can't wait to scrap it someday!

And I do have a card btw!  My son had his wisdom teeth removed the day after the triathlon so I had lots of time to sit with him and color and this little image is a quick one that I colored up for the lady that I am a chemo angel for.  I sent it to her along with some amazing natural healing balm for her to use on her radiation spots.  I love this little guy and the sentiment inside the card is "sending you a little sunshine".  Nice and to the point. 

I feel like I should have "grounded" this image but oh well, it is already packed and sent!  It's funny how some cards look good until you go back and look at the photo taken!  Take care!

Be well,

Sheila

Loving...

my summer!  It has been hot and happy around the Hnilicka household.  I am really not a true hot and humid weather person but for whatever reason it has been a wonderful summer to be outside and walking.  I have mentioned before but at the end of the month I will be doing the Susan G. Komen 60 mile walk and that also coincides with my 50th birthday.  What a better way to celebrate!  I have loved "training" this past summer and it has reintroduced me to the joys of walking...usually 2-3 hours a day and all the solitude and contentment that goes along with having that chunk of time to oneself.  Bliss.

I did make a card, finally!,  and I made it for my little lunch buddy.  Lunch buddy's are kids that are paired with an adult to have lunch with once a week through out the school year.  My little buddy from last year sent me an adorable card and letter that she had written and I wanted to return the favor to her.  I have only a few images that are fun and silly and this was one that I thought would be perfect.  On the inside I have a sentiment from Hero Arts that is perfect for this little girl.  Sorry for the quality of the pic....I took this on my phone as I forgot and left the camera in my husband's car ;-D  The image is a Whippersnapper Stamp Co image....made right here in Wisconsin!

I stamped the inside of the card with "You're so Special" in purple ink and then double matted it on patterned paper.  It looks adorable.  Would've been great had I thought to photograph it!  Oh well!  I hope you are having a wonderful day.  I am planning on going to a place called "Glaze" with my middle daughter today.  It is a place where you can paint pottery and then have it fired and glazed for pick up at a later date.  Take care!

Be well,
Sheila

A Birthday Card....

that has no coloring.  Whaaat?  Yep, you heard right-I have made a card that has no coloring on it whatsoever.  And, I actually had fun making it!  I love to coloring but with the house in redecorating uproar recently, I had to leave the making of my daughter's birthday card to the day of her birthday.  Not a good plan, I know.  Especially when I had a full bday meal to make!  So, no coloring but in the end I made a card I ended up really, really liking and was so excited to give her.  Clarice will be living in an apt. next year at college rather than a dorm and the card incorporates the colors of her bedding as well as the colors that she wants to accent her room with.  Her brother went to Costa Rica this summer and brought back each of his sisters a large, almost beach towel sized shawl that they each are going to display in their respective rooms.  Clarice's has deep, saturated jewel tones in her shawl and I thought this little card could be put on a night stand or dresser so she could see what I think of her each day.  I used Spellbinder's Label One, Splendid Circles and Circles for my dies and some lovely crocheted flowers that I picked up cheapcheapcheap at Hobby Lobby.  I cut a Hero Art's sentiment apart so I could create the "you are fabulous" phrase which is really more my style than the "you are so special" sentiment that it was.  This is my first time EVER cutting a stamp apart and it was only slightly painful ;-D  Inside the card I used Hero Art's again with the Happy Birthday sentiment, embossed.   Here is my card:

 I enjoyed tremendously the tiny amount of time that I had to make this card and it reminded how much I love that little lift that crafting gives me.  MUST MAKE TIME TO CRAFT!  I also popped over to the Hero Art's flickr site and saw the different comments regarding the upcoming Scrapfest in Minn.  I finally am able to make it there this year. Each year in the past there has been at least one of my kid's with a school meet happening that weekend or my husband would be out of town traveling.  But this year all the moons align and I am able to go.  I am really excited, first of all to be attending Scrapfest and taking part in the different classes but also to meet so many of the HA flickr friends in person!  I believe the number going is around 10 now!  Thank you so much for stopping by - I appreciate your time!

Be well,
Sheila

Hey Folks....

sorry to be MIA for so long.  It has been a crazy busy but wonderful summer.  Joe and I recently redecorated our bedroom and bath and that has really thrown the order of my days off kilter.  Mainly because I have had all the bedroom furniture stored in the office/crafting area...which is where the computer is. I have been visiting blogs but not much commenting I'm afraid.  I tend to mistype everything when I am on my ipad!  I hope to be up and crafting next week for sure but might be able to squeeze in a little bit of time tomorrow.  My Susan G Komen training has been going well even with all this incredible heat. I walk nearly every day and put in 2-3 hours and have found this "training" to be a gift in disguise.   A gift of solitude and reflection for me, myself and I!  I can't tell you how great that has been!  So, I do need to run off here as it is my middle daughter's birthday and I want to get a few supplies at the store for her dinner. So-off again but I will be back!

Be well,
Sheila

Which bow....

I made this card and felt it needed a bow....(really, don't most cards need a bow? hehehe) I had recently picked up a "bow easy" template and finally had a bit of time to sit down and watch a tutorial on how to use it. By the by, I love the bow easy! So I first made this card and topped it with a red bow and thought...."eh...maybe too much red."  Then I re-did the bow in white and I think I like the white much better.  Thoughts?  And, the stamp in a lovely block stamp by Stampendous.  Colored with copies and then mounted on a SPB die. So here is the red:

And here is the white:

I think I like the white better.  Thank you so much for stopping by.  I hope you are having a wonderful day.....it is lovely here in Wisconsin.  Sunny and low 80's..perfect walking weather ;-D

Be well,
Sheila

Am bummed...

out as we got home from a family reunion and my lovely computer was down. As in down and out. It is a large screen IMac and over the weekend it's LED light went out so I am trying to blog through my ipad. I hope it works! My son is teaching me to upload the pics through my ipad and then blog it all out..... I colored this card awhile ago but haven't had the chance to assemble it till yesterday and I really am SO pleased with how it turned out. Don't you love it when that happens? You just finish a card, sit back in your chair and then give a little satisfied nod. That's what happened with this card.

Ugh and double ugh....I could NOT make the iPad blogging work....so, here we try again.  I am now trying to use a pretty old computer and with some great help from my son Corm I think I have a way to upload and blog until my good computer is fixed.  Can't wait till I have it back.  It has been a while since I have blogged...with the 4th, a family reunion and a death my time has been pretty short.  I do have a card today though and hope to be able to schedule some "me" time in the next few days.  It is funny how much I miss putzing with papers and ink....and how much I miss my daily walks when something "larger" in my life takes over. With this card I used some Spellbinder's grand dies.  I love this die for a card shape!  I also picked up some great Spellbinder's dies from Micheals .....they had a great "buy one get one 50% off" deal going on and yes, I totally took advantage of that!  I used one of my favorite Northwoods Rubber Stamps and voila!  Here is my card!

Thank you for stopping by.  Now that we have this old computer up and running I plan on blogging stopping by you all.  

Be well,

Sheila

Thank You

cards.  Today I wanted to share with you some Thank You cards that I made up for the lady that I am a "Chemo Angel" to. I thought that it might be nice for her to have on hand some extra thank you cards that she can whip up and send or give at a moments notice.  Being  cardmakers ourselves we kind forget that other people actually have to venture out to get cards and so for a person who is going through chemo (really any illness) it is nice to have a stash on hand.  For that reason I like to give out card sets that aren't really sets but happen to be a collection of cards that cover a very broad spectrum of events.  Today, however, I stuck with thank you's and tried to go with pinks...the "official" color of breast cancer.  Here is a sampling of the cards that I sent out....I believe that I will make more and they will be used as my thank you's to the people who have been sending me support for my Susan G Komen walk.

I made up about a dozen or so....and with different patterned backgrounds.  Thank you for stopping by.  I hope your day is fab!

Be well,
Sheila