Good Sunday Morning, Friends! I am glad to be sitting upright this morning, taking nourishment and watching the daily ferry activity on the Sound. I have been down with a terrible stomach flu for the last 36 hours and utterly miserable. I am much better today and glad for it. Still a little residual headache going, but that I can manage!

Today's card is quick and easy, using ready made die cuts, with some glitter added. I am bound and determined to clean up my scraps as we continue to get our household goods ready for moving in June (or before if we sell our house! Please Lord, sell that house!) when Jeff has finished the school year. SO, scraps it is. I love the use of precuts where you can actually stamp a sentiment of my choice to customize.

Hope your Sunday is fully of blessings!

Thanks for looking!

TTFN!

Artha

Celebrate!

Happy Friday, dear Friends! I hope your week buzzed along famously! I had a great week here in my new job and little apartment. DH was able to come up to Seattle last weekend for a 4-day weekend and we did theater, Home Show, The King's Speech and some wandering around downtown, Chinatown and the International District as well as driving around up north for some home options. It is always hard to put him on the train, but we both have plenty to do and keep our ultimate goals in mind: learning my new job, finishing the school year and selling the house! We can do it!!!

This card was for one of the sons-in-law's birthdays earlier in February. Very quick, using a large die cut as the focal point. I always have trouble with masculine cards - and you know my motto - make it quick and get it in the mailbox!

One of my favorite go-to blogs (besides Daughter Carissa's at Domiciliary Artillery!) is Me, My Stamps and I and today she had a fun thing to read that I thought I would share. Eight Things you might not know about me.......

EIGHT THINGS ABOUT ME (DRUM ROLL)

# 8. My favorite color is GREEN

# 7. I'm originally from Indiana and we take our basketball seriously!

# 6. There are 1600 bulbs in my backyard (and I won't get to see them since I moved)

# 5. I am an only child

# 4. I love to read British Mysteries - no gore, just a really difficult puzzler please

# 3. I have a bunch of funny, editorial comments, some taken from my Indiana Grammy (like, "Life is too short to wear tight shoes!")

# 2. I hate to be cold, but hate being hot even more

# 1. If I won a million dollars, guess what is going to be on my top list to buy- stamps!

A Flower for Spring!!

Happy Saturday, Stampin' Friends! This card is another Artha quick version. I used DP scraps on a white PTI card base and added a pre-made die cut flower and topped it with some SU ribbon. The sentiment is from Verve stamps. I tell you if I did not LOVE Verve and Papertrey Ink designs, I would not have a stamp to stamp with! What a talented pair of business women! I have a HUGE order of PTI's newest release coming to my NEW Seattle address! I can hardly wait!

My hubby flew up from Oregon for the long weekend and we have packed it full of fun Seattle things to do! We went to Ivar's for chowder and seafood last night, are headed for the Home Show at Qwest Field this morning, the movies downtown for the King's Speech tonight, Church at Mars Hill Ballard campus tomorrow morning and the play Great Expectations for the matinee in a theater down by the Space Needle tomorrow. What a blessing to have Monday off! I don't think I have ever had President's Day off in 22 years of working in Manufacturing! I LOVE this new company.

TTFN! Friends! Have a GREAT weekend!

Tea for Two!!

Happy Thursday. Friends! I have uploaded a simple birthday greeting today which uses Papertrey Ink's Tea for Two set and a few scraps of designer paper, a bow and a simple birthday sentiment. This card I actually stamped some time ago and when I was cleaning out my stamp are to come to move to Seattle, I found it in a pile of lost cards (kind of like the land of lost toys!)

I am still enjoying Seattle and my new job. I am so excited for this opportunity and the change. I am also excited because my husband Jeff is flying up tomorrow for the long weekend. We have been apart for 2 weeks so I will be so glad to see him and see the sites around the city!!

Have a blest day!

Pure Innocence

Hello Stampin' Friends! And friends in general!

This card was a valentine I made for Granddaughter Sweet Iyla. She is 2-1/2 and she looks just like the Pure Innocence sweetie from My Favorite Things and we used to play peek-a-boo all the time when she and Carissa stayed with us Iyla's first year as her her husband is in the Army. My Copic coloring still leaves a lot to be desired, but I used some scrap Designer Paper, the Martha Stewart heart edger and just mounted my image onto the card, tied a bow and put it in the mail. When Carissa asked her who the little girl was she said, "that's Iyla and she's cryin' and sad." Oh well, you can't win them all!

Hope you enjoy the inspiration because I for one am enjoying the 8 hour days of my new job in Seattle and the privilege of stamping once again!! YAY!!!

Stamping in Seattle!

Happy Tuesday! I have been gone so long that I thought I would post TWO cards today. Both maintain the simple Artha style. This first card is a general encouragement/any occasion card. I yanked out the ol' Cuttlebug and rolled the card base through the flowers folder. I added some some scraps of Designer Paper and mounted up this beautiful Psalm from Verve as the sentiment. Add some Martha ribbon and I was DONE! Card #2 uses the same card format. Cuttle Bugged the card base, but this time added a precut glittered die cut flower, some smashing PTI buttons and another stampin' Psalm from Verve. Another bow and off I go to the mail box.

Here I am in my little Seattle apartment stamping and snapping photos with my Iphone. I realize the photo quality needs work. I will need to practice with lighting and card display to get a better representation of colors and perspective. The good news is I have a new life with TIME to work on my photo taking! YAY!!

Man it is good to be back in the stampin' saddle! Hope you are inspired and encouraged!

TTFN!

Artha

I Have Surfaced!

Dear Fellow Stampers! I have been on an interesting journey for over a month and during this time there has been little to no time to stamp. BUT NOW........there will be MORE than enough time. I have taken a new job and moved to Seattle!! This has been rift of much thought and prayer and consideration of every angle and opportunity. For many years, I have been in a position where work has taken over and just driven my personal life into the ground. I faithfully did my work as to the Lord and my best to contribute to developing a quality system to support all the requirements demanded of it. There has been little to no help through the years, but I kept plugging thinking I could make a difference. An old friend who gave up on our company a year ago, sent me a link to an opportunity that she thought I might find interesting and was a good fit for my skill set in quality/regulatory affairs. I applied just as a fleece to see if an old dried up regulatory/quality person had any value elsewhere, because I was sure I had no value where I was. After several months and a series of interviews, I was offered the job - an amazing job with a team of about 10 working with me to support about 30% of the responsibility I currently had. I snapped it up! But it meant moving. So I gave my notice, my husband retired after about 37 years of teaching and we are in transition. Jeff will finish the school year, but I am already here, my first day was Monday and I am having a ball. I have a beautiful temporary apt which I just moved into tonight, a view of the harbor where I just saw a ferry come in and a great group of co-workers who I am willing to go to the mat for and roll up my sleeves and help in any way I can. WOW!! The Word says God will provide abundantly beyond what we think or ask and I can stand up on a chair and tell you it's TRUE! I am sad to leave my church and dear friends, but I just finally drew a line in the sand and said, "I am tired of giving up my life for a corporate machine with a value system which I can no longer embrace or even support." SO I packed up a few boxes, including my basic stamp stuff and a little bit of paper and I will come home to this little apt after a challenging but effective work day, make a cup of tea, a bowl of soup and look out at the harbor and have a life. I can hardly wait til Jeff gets here. SO, hopefully I have not wrecked any of the small following of fellow stampers I had accumulated. I am back in the stampin' chair!! I promise!!! And if Puget Sound can't inspire me than I am in big trouble! I think I will be able to come up with some great stuff looking out on this view of God's handiwork.

TTFN!!!

Artha