Birthday Fishes & Oceans of Joy

Supplies: stamps from Hero Arts; Palette Noir ink;
All papers from Cosmo Cricket "Delovely;"
white gel pen; confetti balloons & happy faces; shrink plastic for window

 Hard to get a photo of a shaker card, but anyway - the whale is paper-pieced, and the flowers on the whale stamp are coloured in with white gel pen. The yellow flowers are on the patterned paper itself. I had a hard time getting my hands on acetate sheets (without buying a whole box for $30...that puts a serious dent in the craft budget!) so I tried using shrink plastic. I actually like it better - it's sturdier, still see-through, and less staticky than regular overhead sheets. It's a little bit more expensive, but since I can buy a year's supply for $5 instead of a lifetime's supply, I don't mind so much!

Supplies: All stamps from Hero Arts; Palette Noir ink;
watercoloured with ink pads;
Versamarker, clear embossing powder; Sakura stardust glitter pen;
paper from K & Co "Citronella;"
white banner tails from Martha Stewart banner diecut,
trimmed and tucked behind each end of the sentiment banner

Usually I don't bother creating scenes that require masking - I'm not patient enough. I usually end up trying to get away with cutting only one mask, and then trying to move it before it's dry and smearing everything. Or, somehow I don't align it properly & I end up with a white ghost shadow instead of a smooth line...I just find it a pain in the rear. I'm pretty impressed that I managed this one in only 2 tries (hah!) and even used masking successfully on the envelope. Ta-da!

The tempation to use my blog as a diary is overwhelming sometimes. Does anyone else get that urge to over-share? Things have been rough here lately, to understate it. Yesterday I got some really scary news from a close friend, who will need surgery shortly. Cancer? Don't know. It's hard to be supportive when you're busy freaking out yourself. It does put my problems in perspective, but it doesn't get rid of them. To add to that worry, I will probably be gone when the surgery happens, so I will be absolutely no help. I'm going home for my first visit in 5 years in 11 more sleeps, thanks to my family who are spiriting me away for a break. Alone. It's been a long time since I've gone away, so I think it will be easier for the kids than it was the last time.

Let's end with a funny, shall we? Yesterday Riley was goofing around, and Connor gave him a withering look and said "Riley, you're such a weirdo." Hello, pot, meet kettle? It made us laugh, anyhow :)

xoxo,
Jessi