Hi everyone and Happy Wednesday to ya wherever in the world you may be! So what are your thoughs on BLANKIES! LOL! Do your kids have a favorite item that they’ve had since they were very small? My two teens do although my son put his “Lovie” away last year—its in his nightstand but he doesn’t sleep with it anymore. (sniff sniff) He realized that he was a bit older and ready to put it away!---OR he realized that his friends might see and would rather die than suffer the pain of their torment about it! HOWEVER, my 15.5 yr old daughter has her baby blanket still and we’ve been trying to pack it away as it’s a bit shabby…hobo looking shabby…barely holding together shabby! (see pic) I mean its not even pretty, just kinda scary and she travels with THAT--ewwww? BUT she is resisting and after many attempts by my mom to fix it, it is now beyond repair LOL and the lady that made it for her is no longer alive sadly.
Alexa still sleeps with it but that is not where the problem lies. She carries it around the house with her and whenever she sits she likes to twirl/scrunch it in her hands which is why its come unraveled LOL. Even when she’s in bed at night its being twirled. Yes perhaps she has a bit of her ADD Mom in her system so shush--this post is not about me but her. Now I’m all for habits that comfort you as long as they are safe BUTTTTTTTTTT….the blanket needs to be packed away before its nothing but a ball of yarn Everyday I travel thru the house picking up pieces of yarn that have come off the blanket—drives me batty—although the cats love it--I mean I thought I could pass the point of cleaning up after her! My daughter is a bit like Charlie Brown's friend PigPen--yes this is her nickname I kid you not (yeahhhh you remember PigPen-the kid with the dirtball flowing around him). I told Alexa its time to pack it up so she can still have a piece of it for her memory box (and future kids). What do you all think? LOL—she doesn’t want to give it up and I don’t crochet so I’m not making a new one KWIM. And when I turned 5 I had to give my blankie to Santa (righhhhhtttt Mommmmmm) and it was traumatic for me--maybe this is why I still have Santa issues and put up 13 Christmas trees in hopes he'll bring my blankie back...hmmm (yep yep)! I liked to rub the silk edges of my blankie on my nose (yeah yeah I did so what’s it to ya LOL). BUT Alexa is 15 so it should be less traumatic and part of growing up, yes? OMGoodness this battle is ongoing so maybe Santa needs to take it on Christmas Eve hee hee…hmmmm…need to ponder on this me thinks!
PS—I got Pit tickets to see Eric Church and Brantley Gilbert in February and a backstage pass—whoot whooot, I’m stoked, loveeee them! BUT GUESS WHAT? YEP, LUKE BRYAN tix go on sale at 10 am today for fan club members (duh yeah I’m a member) and I’m so going to see him again. But shhhhhh don’t tell him, I don’t want him to think I’m a stalker…or something…hee hee!'
And oh, oh, oh---guess who followed me on TWITTER---OMGGGGGoshhhh I almost fell outta the chair yes I did. None other than his hotness Chuck Wicks....oh yeah....oh yeah....I'm doing the happy chicken dance right now gals..yep I am! Ohhhh I love himmmmmm and his songs and hissss music and hissss hotness hee hee! Yes hubby thinks I'm a TOTAL LOON...oh wait....yes I am...hee hee hee!
Today kicks off the sneaky peekies for the fabulous NEW Gina K releases that were released last night! You can purchase all the sets HERE—but if you hop along on the blog hop today and leave comments you will have the chance to win a GRAB BAG of Gina K Stamps (12 stamps in each bag—how cool)!!
I know masculine cards can be hard for some to make—even I find them difficult at times but I love a good challenge! I’m the person who LIKES to go outside of the box (yeah you read my blog so you know that huh LOL). So this card will actually be my Valentine’s Card for my hubby in 2012—I love this sentiment and its actually how I feel about my hubby (awwwww). So I kept all my papers vintage and shabby, colors to creams, browns and soft blues. I used the fabulous set called “Make a “State”ment” designed by Melanie Muenchinger for Gina K—love this set!
I chose to use the stamp of the US for my focal image. I stamped it onto my patterned paper (all papers by BoBunny, inked edges and added stickles to the edges for some subtle sparkle cuz all my projects must have a “tad” of sparkle LOL. The blue cs was embossed with a “clock” embossing folder and then inked. Some twine, pearls and button finish it all off. All my colored cardstock used on both of my projects is from Gina K’s “Luxury Line” here---nice weight and great for layering!
The second card today I combined two new sets “Stately Flowers” AND “Make a State-ment”—they pair beautifully together! I used some older K&Co papers because I wanted my Texas Bluebonnet stamp to be…well…blue LOL! The trims were done with a MS border punch. Then I created a fun sentiment banner that I bent softly and capped with a button.
Then I stamped that same US Stamp in blue, added the cute thumbtack stamp to the state of Texas and stickled the whole state LOL! Nope I’m not from Texas but I have spent a lot of time there and I love it! I’ll be in Texas in February to teach my classes too and cannot wait!
- Melanie Muenchinger – Illustrator Stately Flowers and Make a Statement
- Suzanne Dean (that’s me, thank u)
Suzanne, your cards are gorgeous. Beautiful colors.
ReplyDeleteThat blankie is a little shabby, but it still gives her comfort.
Does she know you put it up for the world to see?? :)
Just stunning with your coloring for sure!
ReplyDeleteWow! Suzanne, these are amazing! That old world map card is beyond stunning!
ReplyDeleteThese designs are both SO amazing, love every little thing about 'em! (Too funny on the blanky!)
ReplyDeleteSuzanne- gorgeous cards, especially your Valentine- fabulous!!!
ReplyDeleteSo love both of your cards. My favorite is the where you are card. Just awesome. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! I love the idea of the US stamp. We have kids in AZ and TX and siblings in WA and MD so it would be a super fun stamp to use!!
ReplyDeleteCute story about blankie's. We had them in our house too.
ReplyDeleteYour cards are stunning! Your sneak peak card is breathtaking! Love the look and layers!
Truly LOVE LOVE LOVE how you did the first card!!!! And I really like the flower with the map!! Great designs, GF!
ReplyDeleteI love your style!!! What great cards. These are just up my alley! Thank you!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous cards Suzanne.
ReplyDeleteHugs Riet.xx
Gorgeous cards!!! They are real works of art!!!! I just love reading your posts!! You make me laugh! I just subscribed to get your posts by email. I have to find out what you end up doing with the blanket!!! My 2 cents...I would let her keep it!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cards. Good luck with the blanket thing;)
ReplyDeleteGreat cards!
ReplyDeleteAs always I'm overwhelmed by your coloring skills. I want to grow up to be just like you. Love the cards. Your blankie story is too funny!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous vintage & I love the bluebonnets too!
ReplyDeleteAll beautiful as usual you are so inspirational, and I had a blankie till I was 16!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your "blanket saga" contribution, and your cards are simply stunning. Your layering definitely gives me something to aspire to-thanks for the great ideas.
ReplyDeleteGreat cards - love teh old world map!
ReplyDeleteLove the vintage style of your first card.
ReplyDeletebeautiful coloring on the florals. Love your samples.
ReplyDeleteStunning coloring!!! WOW!
ReplyDeleteGreat cards. Such a nice way of putting them together.
ReplyDeleteLove reading your stories! You have a great sense of humor :)
ReplyDeleteYour cards are fantatsic, love the shabby chic look on the first and the second one is just gorgeous!!
Striking color combinations who would have thought!
ReplyDeleteGreat cards!!!
ReplyDeleteOutstanding designs!! You have given me much inspiration. I especially love the Texas bluebonnets and map.
ReplyDeleteFabulous cards. Love how you have combined sets to create these.
ReplyDeleteMarcie
beautiful. love the way you did your cards great Idea with the map. thanks for sharing and for the chance to win.
ReplyDeleteabbraddock@msn.com
Suzanne,
ReplyDeleteI can top that my 35 year old cousin still has her baby blanket. I was at her house one day for something and she asked me to make up her bed for her and when I picked up her pillow what did I see but that baby blanket. You can not even tell that the thing used to be yellow and YES when we travel it is in her bag. You can see all of the filling in the thing it is just so horrible so I don't think you are going to get rid of that blanket anytime soon LOL!!!
Oh I forsee my daughters future in your daughter. I have an almost five year old who has not one but two blankies that she carries with her everywhere. They are exactly the same and I try to put one up so she can have one clean one to snuggle with when I have to wash the dirty one, but somehow she always ends up with both of them! We had to wash them both once when she got sick on them and it was and hour and a half of non stop crying until they were done! We call her Linus! I figure maybe when she goes away to college she will leave them behind, but then again maybe not!
ReplyDeleteLoving all those gorgeous layers! Stunning. The blanket problem will eventually take care of itself. When it disintegrates completely, it's gone. It's that simple.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous cards. Especially love the layering on the Texas card. Loved the story about the baby blanket. I actually still sleep with a stuffed bunny that has seen MUCH better days. The bunny is 40 years old!!! What started out as a white, fluffy bunny is now a grungy gray bunny with his arms and legs resewn back on I don't know how many times, with a chunk of glue holding his nose in place, and no clothes....lost his overalls years and years ago. LOL!!! It will be a sad, sad day for me when I finally have to give him up....just not yet. :)
ReplyDeleteGorgeous cards!
ReplyDeleteNoooo Suzanne don't make her give up the blankie! I freely admit to still having my childhood Pink Panther... he is not so pink these days and is looking much like an alopecia sufferer... Gorgeous card, just stunning and so vintage looking. Take Care, Lyns xx
ReplyDeleteLove the new Stamps from GinaK. You did some cute things with them. My kids had cloth character pillows that I made them. My son took his to college with him, and he still has it. He is married and has a child of his own. It is safely tucked in a box. Have no fear, the blankie will be placed in a safe place someday.
ReplyDeletegreat cards. thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteWow what beautiful cards. I love the colours.
ReplyDeleteOMGoodness Suzanne!!!! You have my state flower on your card and I love it.
ReplyDeleteBut everything that you do is gorgeous.I used bluebonnets on my
blog header they are my favorite
wild flower
big old Texas hug
Linda
Beautiful projects!
ReplyDeleteWow, gorgeous cards, Suzanne! thanks for sharing your talents with us.
ReplyDeleteSuzanne, these cards are amazing, the detail is fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI didnt have a blankie as a child, although I did have my fave teddy called tiger, he is a bear lol. He is in my loft now, but I could never part with him, It was right up until I met my husband that I put him away. My youngest has a blankie and she is not even 2 yet and its a right mess, fortunately another lovely blogger can repeat the crochet pattern to get her an extra one, I hate the day we have to try and wean her off it, maybe have a rule its for the bedroom only lol. Joey xx
Such fantastic creations! I love your colouring! I'm still dreaming of a copic collection. Thank you for sharing such awesome creations on the Gina K hop -- it was so much fun!
ReplyDeletehugs and blessings, from Australia,
Pauline
Gorgeous creations! Love the unique design of your first card and the gorgeous coloring and colors of your second one!
ReplyDeleteLove both cards. Coloring
ReplyDeleteis awesome.
Wonderful cards. It's always great to see a more masculine card.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cards, Suzanne. Love how you stamped the map. Keep the blankie.
ReplyDeleteAwesome cards, love the colors and the coloring.
ReplyDeleteWay cool... thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteVery cool card! Love you valentine, it's perfect!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter packed her blanket up in high school... Came back out when she went away for college. She graduated college in May and I'm like are we going to retire that again and she said no. grrrrrrrrr
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cards Suzanne, I particularly like the first one. I love that look. Now may I gingerly ask what will happen when you wash said baby blanket? I made my daughter give her pacifier to the baby birds that lived in our yard. Hey it worked!
ReplyDeleteSandy
You are hilarious! My niece has a "binky" that goes everywhere too...and I mean everywhere.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the intervention,
:)
Oh such pretty pretty cards! Aw.....blankies! I think my daughter, now 28, lost hers in the move around college time, so sad! Yellow thermal with a silky edge! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry her blanket is falling apart on the floor - maybe you can have someone else repair it so it's not falling apart. But replacing it with a new one won't work, it wouldn't be the same for her. I still sleep with a little pillow my mom made for me when I was 1, so it's 39 years old! I have created a new cover for it at least a few times. So it's more like a ball of fabric! It's about a 1/4 size of a normal pillow. But I can only sleep if it's covering my eyes and head. If I travel, it comes with me. And if I forget it, I ball up a bed sheet in a pillow case, but it's not as comfortable! But I don't carry it around the house! :-)
ReplyDeleteMy 7 year old son has a stuffed dog blanket. It's got a stuffed dog head, but the body of the dog is a blanket. He got it when he was 2 1/2 months old and has slept with it since he was 6 months old. We have two so that we can keep them washed. He will sleep with a stuffed animal sometimes instead but eventually goes back to "bobo" a few times a week.
In fact, in the Wags 'n Whiskers rubber stamps - the boy images like "Super Ryan" and "Ryan 'em Ryan" have bobo in the image!! LOL
~Lacey
www.stampandcreate.com
Wags 'n Whiskers Rubber Stamps
Great cards! I love the different papers you used.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cards. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThese are great. Beautiful colors!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cards. I soooooooo enjoy reading your blog....I can see your daughter walking down the aisle dressed in white and blankie under her flowers.......o boy...
ReplyDeleteJean McGee
Very interesting! Nice cards.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous as always! Love how you did the map card!
ReplyDeleteMy s-i-l still has a thin, holey blankie that is usually somewhere in her bed or under her pillow. She's 44!!! It's a better comfort than drinking or smoking, I figure. The shabby collage card is outstanding.
ReplyDeleteSuzanne, could have fooled me that you're from TEXAS! Wow, what beautiful cards! 1st one touches my heart - thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGreat cards!
ReplyDeleteMy 24 year old daughter STILL has her shabby baby blanket as well! The pieces of it I should say! I crocheted (in popcorn stitch) her the blanket when I was pregnant with her. We called it her finger-hole blankie because she would fall asleep pushing her fingers through the holes! Well, needless to say after all these years there one GIANT hole and some strings of yarn left! She keeps the pieces of it in a box now!
Kris in Alaska
funamom at yahoo dot com
Love your cards, especially the one made for your hubby. Yhanks
ReplyDeleteLoved the bluebonnets, thanks for sharing!.
ReplyDeleteOMGosh, I read this in bed this morning on my BB and just had to log on to see what the holey blankie looks like... hehehe It really is B-A-D Alexa...hahaha As a child I have always love rubbing the satin at the end of a blanket between my fingers, it used to make me sleep. Love the cards you have on display today Suzanne. Greetings from sunny SA, Sharon
ReplyDeleteAhh this is so sweet... I the fab paper and layout. They are adorable ;)
ReplyDeleteAnother fantastic card!!! My nearly 4 yr old daughter doesn't have a blankie but she has 2 pacifiers (we say 'dummies' in Australia). One she sucks on and the other she holds near her nose and rubs!! Just like you used to do with your blankie!!! Lol.
ReplyDeleteAll so pretty Suzanne...Way to go!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous card Suzanne! The first one is my favorite!!
ReplyDeleteI really liked your blankie story!
I have two daughters and my oldest slept with her blankie until she moved out of the house. But she still has it packed away and every once in awhile that 25 year old gal talks about bringing it out again. Mom of course just roll her eyes...lol!
My younger daughter is 9 and she has 5+ blankies. Her blankies consist of terry cloth burp blankets and a fuzzy Winnie the Pooh blanket. If she goes anywhere overnight they all must go with her!
LOL...Suzanne, you are a hoot. Love reading your blog. :) Sometimes we just have put those old things away so that the memories will never fade. Good luck to Alexa and hope the eventual separation isn't too traumatic.
ReplyDeleteStunning cards, Girlfriend. I love this stamp set. You can do so many things with them. These are just awesome.
Hugz,
Cathy Lee
I love your valentines day card for hubby. I'm going to bookmark and copy at a later date. TFS!
ReplyDeleteLovely cards. Great ideas for valentines.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous cards! Love the layering and the beautiful colors! I think it's so sweet that Alexa still has her baby blanket.
ReplyDeleteEven at her age having to give up her blakie could be tramatic and you never know what she would do to replace the comfort she gets from it. Since it doesn't seem to have much life left in it and she seems to be comforted by twirling her blakie I would suggest she save the bits of yarn and make tassles out of them. Attatch the tassles to a pillow case and tuck the remainding bits of the blanket in the pillow case. That way she'll still have the tassles to twirl.
ReplyDeleteLove Your cards
Blessings Bernie
Jeepers creepers, I LOVE YOUR COLORING.
ReplyDelete....such great choices to WOW us..
ReplyDeletemitz_zee@yahoodotcom
The layering and the beautiful colors are awesome.
ReplyDeletePrint vip cards
Transparent business cards
These travel cards are just like you. My son still takes his polar bear "Baby" to camp with him and he will be 21 (yikes!) on the 12th day of Christmas.
ReplyDeleteWoo-hoo for your ticket purchases! I was away at work training yesterday when our Jason Aldean/Luke Bryan concert tix went on sale for their February show in Green Bay....my hubby is so wonderful....he got our tickets! I am stoked to be going....we saw Luke Bryan 2x and love him but Jason Aldean is my total heart throb so I'm sooooo pumped to see him! I'm jealous you get to see Eric Church I hope he comes back to GB so I can stalk...I mean so see him! LOL!
ReplyDeleteHugs~ Kim
Pretty colors and papers, very nice cards!
ReplyDeleteSuzanne,
ReplyDeleteOur family had a good laugh sharing your the blanket story, my youngest who is 8 has a blanket named Polka that she loves much the same and after sharing this with her she has a message for Alexa- "If she doesn't want to give up her blanket she shouldn't, no matter how old you get"
Love your blog. Happy Holidays!
Loving that state card. Everything about it is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cards! Thanks!
ReplyDelete