Imagine the Possibilities

As soon as I saw Valita's blog on making this gorgeous corner fold dress, I KNEW I just HAD to make it! I have made three different dress cards but this one is by far my favorite. I love the Stampin' Up red glitter paper combined with the black pattern paper from the Neutrals stack. I'll have to try and play around with the lighting to get a good photo of this beauty. For now, this scan will have to do. :) Tomorrow is Friday and the start to a very busy weekend. I hope you all are doing well.

Wish Big!

I decided that I would make this 3d cake for my daughter's birthday instead of a card. Her actual cake will be made Saturday before her party. :) This cutie is made using the Pop-up Three Tier Cake die, Melon Mambo cardstock and printed paper, Chocolate Chip cardstock, Crumb Cake ink, Versamark ink, White Embossing Powder, Melon Mambo Pompom Trim and Pearls. A bit of advice......add the pearls and pompom trim BEFORE you assemble the cake. Trust me. It is MUCH easier! :) My trim would have been all even if I had thought of that first. I hope you are getting some crafty time this week. It feels FANTASTIC to be creating again. I might just end up with two blog posts today! :)

Peaceful Bird Card

This card is the one I chose for my Mystery Hostess Party. I saw the idea on someone's blog but can't find it now. I know the inking over embossed images is in several places though. :) I stamped the Always Elegant swirly heart in Early Espresso onto Whisper White cardstock. I then stamped it again in Versamark and embossed it in clear embossing powder. I inked the entire card front in Early Espresso and Crumb Cake. The base is Perfect Plum that has Perfect Plum ink sponged on the edges. The bird is stamped using Perfect Plum ink and the Punch Potpourri bird stamp. I punched it out then with the bird punch. I also punched the branch again in the Early Espresso cardstock. I decided I wanted the branch double so I inked the white branch in Crumb Cake. I used Stampin Dimensionals to attach the bird but it doesn't show much in this scan. One day I will make a photo booth for capturing the photos of my cards better.I hope your week is going well. Today is my daughter's birthday. Her party is this weekend so I will post pics of everything after everything is finished. Tonight was the family dinner at Chili's.

The latest from our area of Japan

We are still safe & sound here in our little corner of Japan. As Col. Feather says, "The water is tasty and the chow is hot!" OK, only my gals & guys here at Yokota will "get" that one. lol Really though....we are fine. They monitor the air and water numerous times a day here. Our water does not come from Tokyo so it does not affect us when they say the water in Tokyo is unsafe for babies. Yokota is the airlift hub for the military rescue efforts. Things are busy to say the least. Several friends & their kiddos have taken part in the voluntary departure. My friend Kate is helping with the relief efforts. I've been gathering supplies to bring to her. I believe the last count for aftershocks since the 9.0 was somewhere over 700. We havent felt them all in our area. However, there have been some decent ones. I won't lie.....sometimes it DOES rattle your nerves. I often wonder "What if" with each shake. What if this is another big one....what if I can't get to my kids....what if it happens when we are sleeping. Then I remind myself of something. Its just like one of our DJs on Eagle810 here said, "You can't keep playing the what if game."
I'm trying to stay busy myself. I've been baking cookies to donate to the relief workers. I'm plan to do something crafty every day. Now I need to make sure that I set aside blog time too! I hope to try a different technique each day. Some of them are new to me and others are not. Today, I plan to work on a canvas. Not sure what it will turn into. I just want to CREATE. Since I am watching or rather listening to Jeff Dunham who knows what it will look like. lol
Taylor's 12th birthday is tomorrow. Her party will be this weekend. Im not sure yet how many kids will make it. So many are gone with the voluntary departure. We will make it fun no matter what. Its a pink pirate theme. She wants a cake that looks like a bar of gold. Should be easy...right?? I'll post pics along the way.

We're safe here in Japan!

I just wanted to post real quick to let y'all know we are ok here. We are about 270 miles from the epicenter. We felt all the rocking and rolling. We are not near any of the tsunami affected areas. I will be back later with a more detailed report of everything. Please continue to keep the people of Japan in your prayers during this difficult time.