The best laid plans

Hi stampers!  Well I'm actually surprised to say that I have something to show you!  As I may have mentioned, I have not been in the mood to stamp much lately and then I took Friday and Monday off to go help my mom with her new house (I will be happy to NEVER hang another curtain rod, lol) so I knew I wouldn't get much stamping in over the weekend.  And then of course things took more time than I had anticipated so I stayed until Monday morning when I was planning on coming home Sunday afternoon.  That's how things go right?  But I have to say the house looks AMAZING!  My mom has finally learned to listen to me about home decorating, lol! NOW, if I could just get them all moved in there which they still are not:-)

So, I sat down last night and vowed I was going to stamp...I even skipped my workout which was not a good thing:-)  I did get one card done (I cased it which I don't normally do but sometimes doing that helps me get back into the groove) but then my mom texted me and was sad because she was with my great aunt in the ER in town (I knew they were coming since my aunts son was out of town and my mom is "next on the list" and of course offered to come but mom said I didn't need to) and said she was sad because it brought back sad memories of all the time she spent with my granny in the hospital:(  Well, I couldn't let her sit there and be sad, especially when I live like less than five minutes from the hospital AND since she moved away I never pass up a chance to see her (even though she'll be in town today through the weekend, hehe).  I spent about two hours there and was glad to be able to support my mom and help explain all the medical mumbo jumbo.  My aunt is ok for the time being, has a blood clot in her arm they are trying to dissolve.  But it just figures that the night I am resolved to stamp that my aunt would fall and her son would be out of town and we'd be on call:-)

So by the time I got home it was late and I "should" have gone to bed but I was kind of keyed up and also worried about my parents driving back to the farm so late.  My step dad gets kind of sleepy since he gets up around 4 am (which is just plain NUTS for a retired person if you ask me, lol).  I wanted to make sure they made it home ok so I stayed up and stamped!  I'm paying for it now (sleepy) but I did get a couple of cards done!

The one I have to show you today combines two challenges again.  I have a bunch that I want to do again this week and am again short on time with working late Friday night and then having a class all day Saturday!  I really wish there was a pause button on the clock and or calendar this time of year!!!!  So, I used the sketch challenge from Mojo Monday this week and the color challenge from The Paper Players.  I have to say that I LOVE both of these challenges and will be used again and again!!!!  I'm in a rush to get to the gym early for once today so I don't have time to post the pics of the challenges but click on the links to hop on over and check them out!

  

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Bright Christmas (retired), distressed dots, music notes wheel
Paper:  Very vanilla, river rock, always artichoke, riding hood red
Ink:  River rock, always artichoke, riding hood red
Accessories:  Neutrals buttons, basic pears & rhinestones, petals-a-plenty embossing folder, northern flurry strip, linen thread

You'll have to forgive my use of another retired stamp but I have SO many that I love so I have to pull them out from time to time and seemed like last year's holiday mini had so many wonderful stamps!  And you all know my love for word stamps:-)  The card is pretty straight forward.  I did do some sponging on the two colored strips.

So, thanks for sticking with me this morning....was a bit chatty wasn't I?  And now you know more about my life than you probably want to:-)  But at least I finally have a card to share!  Happy stamping!