Hi ladies!! Yes - I'm still around! I have been tied up the past few months with family health issues, job stuff and a Wilton cake decorating course......

I've occasionally stalked the threads ....and did not forget that I am posting the May 1 challenge!!!

So without further ado.....

Baby Cards!!!! In honor of my soon to be born great niece Tristyn....I want to see loads of baby cards.....can be girl, boy or neutral!!!!!

Hope everyone is well...

I'll be making some cards this weekend......see you soon in the gallery!!!!! Have a great week!

Carol, this is uncanny! My DD is expecting her first babe (a boy) in one week! We had a baby shower yesterday and I just put together a quick card, but I want to make something nicer for the actual birth.

Oh Ina!! I love when stuff like this happens....like it was fate or something! I too was at a baby shower yesterday for my niece and what made me think of it was telling myself that I need to make her a real nice card for when the baby is born!

So Ina....from here on out - let's say you and I are 'net sisters!!!!!!

Woo hoo, another sister! I spent the first 23 years of my life with no sisters, and then my brothers started to get married, and I did too, so I got SILs and now I have a net sister too!

I don't know of anyone having a baby any time soon. Might have to make one to keep handy, though. You just never know.

Hey girls!
I got the CCC12 thread caught up tonight. Will catch you guys up tomorrow and get the names drawn.

Welcome back, Carol. Hope things are settling down for you. I've added your Post # and KEYWORD to the Master List

Oh no! What happened to May?
Congrats Ina, on new grandbaby coming. Is this first one?

:)
Sharon

Great challenge Carol! I need to get some baby cards in my stash! Always someone at church having a baby!
:)
Sharon

April Challenge Winner!
 

And the winner is....

Plain Jane!

Your envie will go out on Thu. or Fri.

Congratulations! :-)

On to May!

Congratulations Jane!
Sharon, this is the first Canadian grandchild for me, but I have three grandsons in Texas. They are aged 17, 13, and 6, so it's been awhile since we had a baby in the family. My girls decided to wait until they were in their 30's. We went shopping for cloth diapers yesterday.....do you have any idea what's on the market now? There are fitted panties that you put liners inside and they cost $27.99 apiece and the saleswoman suggested we needed about 24 of them. Oh yes, the liners are $7.95 apiece! Unbelievable! My DD has decided to go with a diaper service for $19.99 a week for the first few weeks and in the meantime, I can go to the fabric store and buy some cotton and sew up some diapers.

Congrats, Jane. Enjoy your surprise.

Oh my goodness! I had no idea! My gks are 15, 11, and almost 9! So, Wow!
:)
Sharon

Oh and congratulations Jane! :)

Here is my first card for May. My card for my mother for Mothers Day. I am working on a graduation card and then have to do a bday for DH.

:)
Sharon

Maggie, sounds like you're going to have lots of fun this weekend. Looks like I'm going to have to make a bunch of thank you cards to take with me when I go visit my DD. She got out of the hospital this morning and has lots of friends who are taking care of her until I get there. They're taking turns taking her dog out, feeding the dog and cat, and bringing her food. And letting her sleep.

Maggie, DD had a hysterctomy on Thursday. They found tumors in her uterus which turned out to be cancer. It was caught very early and they were able to get all of it with surgery. Her blood counts are back to normal and she went home this morning. I didn't even give the blog hop a thought when I tried making cards this afternoon. I kept getting interrupted so only made two.

Maggie, I think I might do just that. I have lots more cards to make. I have no idea how many DD is going to need. Thanks for your prayers. I'm pretty sure she'll make a quick recovery. She says she feels better after this surgery than her two C-sections. Of course, this time around she doesn't have any kids to take care of until I get there. Then the girls will go home. She's been sleeping a lot.

Today is a great day for stamping. It's raining here. My laundry's done so there's nothing I absolutely have to do but pack for my trip.

Master Challenge List Update
 

Good morning, ladies

I've gone back through the Master Challenge List and provided links to every challenge post. This way you won't have to hunt for a post. A simple click will take you to the challenge!

I'm posting a card to my blog this morning using SophieCat's challenge to use at least 3 pieces of ribbon. I used 10 + a piece of lace for my MIL's Mother's Day card.

Kelly, that is a gorgelus Mothers day card. I love that paper and all that ribbon. You made a perfect Mothers Day card with that challenge!
:)
Sharon

Thanks, Sharon. When I went hunting for the magazine inspiration and spotted that card, I knew it would be perfect for Lily's challenge. I hope to pick up a couple more of them later in the week.

Geez, how did I miss this??? I have been so dippy lately...too much sunshine I guess (we aren't used to it around here).

THANK YOU!!!!!

Well, whatever happened to April?? It's May and I'm already behind. (I still need to make my April Christmas cards for CCC12.)

I think I got all my all occasion cards made for April, but haven't had time to post most of them. I forgot to take photos of 4 of them. drat!

For May, I need 8 birthday cards and have already sent four of them from my stash. I need one sympathy card (so far) and will use one from my stash. I can't think of any baby cards that I might need. I'll need 8 cards for my S.S. class shut-ins. The first two of those have already been sent. I'll try to get them posted soon. I should probably send at least 2 thank you cards too. I'll have to make those.

So, I will need to make about 8 to 10 more for May. Not so bad. Of course I also want to catch up with April Christmas cards and make the 8 for May too.

Loved visiting the gallery; left some love here and there.

Don't drive yourself looney, Val :-) For THIS AOCC you only have to post 1 card per month to be eligible for the drawing. BUT you do get bonuses for the Challenges. You dont' have to post EVERY card you need for the month. See... less pressure already :-)

AOCC12J Challenge - May 15, 2012
 

There are so many things happening in May!

In my yard birds are raising their babies, and in my neighborhood the �For Sale� signs are going up�and coming down�as people relocate at the end of the school year. It�s graduation time, too, which means our babies are growing up (sniff!).

So what do these all have in common? NESTS!

My challenge for you is to make a card celebrating any sort of nesting (or empty-nesting) event�graduation, new home, new neighbors, or whatever nesting sort of occasion is happening in your life.

(And no, you don�t have to include a nest image on the card!!)

Challenge keyword: AOCC12J

Great challenge, Jane! Yep, it fits. I'm going to make sure our Quackers know about this challenge as we have one of our group uprooting and relocating to live their dream in FL (from GA). They have almost 2 rocky years of trying to get their home sold.. a couple of 'almosts' in there. They finally closed on the sale of their home yesterday and are headed out. I think this would make a lovely way for us to greet them with 'welcome to your temporary nest' kind of card.

they'll be renting while they build their dream home... with her dream paper/ quilting studio. Lucky girl!

Oooh...she is SO lucky! My dream studio is still waiting to be converted from a garage...sigh. Maybe by the time I'm too old to stamp, lol!

Never too old to stamp Jane!
We have a new baby in the nest! Born yesterday at 8 pounds even. His first name will be Rockefeller(Rocky for short)

Good challenge, Jane. Now I just need to get myself organized enough to start stamping again. I got home yesterday from my trip to NE. The week went by too fast for me. Next time I go, it'll be when school's out so I can spend a lot more time with my oldest DGD. The youngest one kept me well entertained. She keeps you on your toes. I miss them so much already. They might be coming to MT after all the end of next month. Because of DD's surgery, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to make the trip. Her ex-husband's aunt and uncle are going to help her with her rent so they can make the trip. They are awesome people.

I thought I posted this here. Don't know where I posted it. But here is my card for your challenge Jane. I had to do a graduation card, so I found a tutatorial for this graduation cap card. Mine isn't as great as the one I CASED, but I thought it was kind of cool
:)
Sharon

Sharon, you posted the link in the May thread. Yours is just as great as the one you cased. You are not losing your mind.... yet.

Hee-hee! I found both links, Sharon! And it is a great graduation card - love the little tassel!

If you ARE losing your mind, let me know where it went so I can see if mine has joined it...

Hehee! I can't keep track of all these threads or the challenges!
Thank you both for the nice comments.

And where is everyone? Seems quiet on SCS lately.

:)
Sharon

Sometimes I wonder where my mind went, too. Do you think our minds are having a conference somewhere? I'm still trying to get back into a normal routine after my trip. It's almost too quiet around here without kids. Hopefully, the girls will be coming to MT the end of next month. I'm praying things work out so they can make the trip. Hopefully soon I'll be able to take time to make some cards.

Sharon, I know what you mean about keeping the challenges and threads straight. I took a notebook and put the name of the forums at the top, then I add each week's challenges. Does it work? Only if I actually open the notebook after I put the info in it. It's that mind thing again.

Debbie, as has been said many times here.........family comes first! You've been very busy and under stress, so naturally you must be tired and the brain gets tired too!

You are so right, Ina. I'm happy to say that a lot of the family stress has disappeared. My son is talking to us again and it looks like my daughter is cancer-free. Life is good right now. Today would be a great day to hole up in my craft room. It's raining and has cooled down a bit. The rain is a welcome sight.