Sending out My Sympathies

I am proud to say that I managed to get a little crafting in over the weekend...not quite as much as I was hoping to do, but I have to start somewhere! Still behind on some birthday and anniversary cards and the Christmas cards still have yet to be designed, but who's counting...oh yeah, I am! Oh well...I will catch up here sometime. Although I already have to take a bit of a break as I got our vacation photos and around 800 others developed and I really would like to get them all in some albums! Vacation pictures first, but here's hoping for some productive nights!

This card wasn't my first card back, but I wanted to post it first as it is a bit more important. Sympathy cards are always so hard to create...finding the right balance of pretty and simple. Unfortunately, I was in need of about 3 sympathy cards...my sister-in-law lost her Grandmother, my husband's coworker lost his pregnant wife, and a fellow crafter lost her 3 year old son. The last one was the hardest to hear because the thought of losing one of my kids is obviously one of the biggest fears as a parent. I will say upfront, that I do not know Sarah, but her story touched my heart and I desparately wanted to reach out to her and her family. I heard about the loss of her 3 year old son Henry via Kim (Crafts By Kim)...Kim is organizing a Blog Candy for a Cause to collect cards for Sarah and her family. I have a wee bit of experience in organizing a Blog Candy for a Cause :), so I knew I needed to send Sarah a card. So since I know you have been so kind to help me out when I was collecting cards for someone in need, I ask you to click on over to Kim's blog and find out how you can help too!

I won't bore you with details on this card...it was kept simple, but I do want to mention that it is based on Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #108. I have missed me my Mojo Monday...hoping to get back into doing them regularly, but have I mentioned the laundry list of things I need to do...and maybe actually some laundry as well!

Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Beautiful You (Verve Stamps), Botanicals (retured SU!); Paper - Kraft, Very Vanilla, Baja Breeze (Stampin' Up!); Ink - Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla Craft; Accessories - Satin Ribbon (Offray), dimensionals

MIA

Missing in Action....I guess that is what you can say I have been, at least from the blogging and even crafting world! October was just one of those months and I think I am still trying to get things in order from it. It was filled with a HUGE trip for my husband and I, sickness (the kids and me...all right before our trip mind you), more sickness (my daughter after we got home, thank goodness), editing and printing all of those fantastic photos from our trip (over 300), and all of the Halloween activities! Whew! Needless to say, my crafting time and mojo pretty much disappeared and am I just starting to get the itch back. It is kind of being forced back as I have a need for about 5 - 6 cards right now for stuff this week!!

My husband and I went on a Mediterranean Cruise in celebration of our 10 year wedding anniversary, but ended up falling on our 11 year anniversary. Last year our daughter was too small to leave, so the trip had to wait till this year. It was a fantastic trip! Started in Istanbul, Turkey and hit Ephesus (near Izmir, Turkey), some Greek islands (Santorini was our favorite), Alexandria, Egypt (we were there overnight so we were able to hit Cairo and see the pyramids), some more Greek islands, and finally ending in Athens. The places were saw were simply amazing and it was hard to wrap your mind around how old the stuff was...I mean the Pyramids are over 4000 years old....crazy! The kids got lots of Oma/Opa and Grandma/Grandpa time while we were gone, so they had lots of fun too! But man getting ready for that trip, and coming home from that trip was rough. I had a near heart attack when we thought one of our flights was cancelled and I was trying to figure out if some pressure I had in my ear was going to go away in time. And then adjusting back to the correct time (7 hours difference) took a good 4 days...I mean I was literally passing out right after putting the kids to bed! Anyway, getting back into the groove and all of the impending birthdays and Holidays are giving my mojo a jumpstart...although the bags and bags of leaves I raked today are making my body want to go to sleep again. So hopefully I will have more to share this month than last.

This card is one that I did for a Stamp Camp I held which unfortunately never got more than 2 people. I meant to post it in time for Halloween, but obviously that didn't happen! It is using the Bouncing Brayer technique...fun technique and I really love it with the moon! The tree was embossed over top of the brayered moonlit sky. Then a torn strip of Basic Black and a white grosgrain ribbon dyed with Barely Banana ink was add to the bottom. Nothing too complicated but I liked its simplicity. Plus I may just use it for a non Halloween card...this doesn't scream Halloween does it??

Well that is all for me...hoping to try some stamping tonight...we will see. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Branch Out (Stampin' Up!); Paper - Elegant Eggplant, Barely Banana, Basic Black, Whisper White; Ink - Barely Banana, Not Quite Navy, Elegant Eggplant, Versamark; Accessories - Black embossing powder, White 1/4" Grograin Ribbon, Brayer, Sponge, Post-it Notes, 1" Circle Punch, dimensionals, heat gun