2011 July »

OWH quadruple challenges... whooooo!

Jul 312011

Yes – I have combined four different Operation Write Home challenges in both of the cards in today’s post. Yay me! 🙂

I’ve had some of the challenges from the 4th of July weekend in the back of my mind for the last few weeks. I finally pulled out this owl stamp set and decided to mask a moon behind the owls for Marianne’s Howl at the Moon challenge. The sentiment I picked met the Play on Words challenge that Lisa hosted. I also decided to step up to Sandy’s Two Cards challenge – to make cards for two different seasons using the same stamp image. I did all of that with the OWH Stars and Stamps Blog sketch #79 layout.

I had summer in mind when I created this card, but I suppose it could also work for spring:

… and now, you need to imagine that a few months have passed. Now it’s fall and the leaves have turned colors:

I had fun combining these challenges… and it’s nice to have two more cards for my OWH stash!

Supplies are listed for Summer/Fall:
Stamps: Owl Always Love You (Gina K. Designs)
Cardstock: Vintage Cream [for image panel] – Papertrey Ink; Daffodil Delight/Close to Cocoa (Stampin’ Up); Moss/Sage designer papers from Green at Heart 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); Summer Sun (SU); Faded Jeans distress ink (Tim Holtz)
Other: markers (Copic); sponges; Stamp-a-ma-jig

Freaky Friday - Christmas in July!

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Jul 292011

Because we have an “extra” Friday this month, the Paper Therapy Design Team is throwing out another challenge! This time, we’d like to see you make a card or scrapbooking layout showcasing your favorite holiday. That’s not too difficult, right? 😉 Be sure to upload your project to the Paper Therapy challenge forum thread for July 29.

I love the happiness and wonder of the Christmas season so I decided to make a Christmas card. I wanted to start on some Christmas cards for Operation Write Home anyway, so I went with a design that would be easy to mail. I originally intended to use a “Merry Christmas” stamp for the sentiment, but I felt that this one filled the space on the card better than any of my other holiday sentiments. I also like that the script “holidays” kind of coordinates with the swirls behind the poinsettia.

Supplies:
Stamps: Season of Joy (Stampin’ Up); Seasonal Sayings (Gina K. Designs)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green (SU)
Other: 5-Petal Flower punch (SU)

simply smiling

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Jul 272011

Today’s card is an incredibly quick and easy one I included in my last shipment to Operation Write Home. Really – it’s sooo simple I’m almost embarrassed to show it off, but I’m sharing it because I think it’s pretty darn cute.

I used sketch #53 from the OWH Stars and Stamps blog for the layout. I thought the sentiment worked really well with the jumping smiley face image. The monochromatic color scheme made finding coordinating designer papers an easy task.

Supplies:
Stamps: Jump – Smileys (Uptown Design Company); sentiment stamp (Studio G)
Cardstock: So Saffron, Whisper White, Tea Party designer series paper, Prints designer series paper (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: marker (Copic)

CAS tag challenge

1 Response »

Jul 252011

I’m super excited to be this week’s Guest Designer for the Splitcoaststampers Clean and Simple Challenges! The challenge this week is to use a tag of some sort on your project. I’d picked up some laminate sample chips from either Lowe’s or Home Depot about 5 or 6 years ago and decided to use one of them for my tag.

Supplies:
Stamps: Stipple Shells (Stampin’ Up); Everyday Sayings (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Kraft, Basic Black (SU)
Ink: Jet Black (StazOn)
Other: Basic Black grosgrain ribbon (SU); laminate chip

Paper Therapy recipe challenge!

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Jul 222011

The first time I saw the sentiment that I used on today’s card, I knew I had to buy the stamp. I thought it would be a fun way to tease some of my older friends about their age and forgetfulness.

Today’s card is going to one of those friends, but I also created it for the current Paper Therapy Design Team challenge. This time we have a recipe challenge – your project must contain two designer papers, ribbon or twine, bling, distressing, and the color blue. I decided using designer paper with blue in it would be an easy way to incorporate those elements. I added a little sponging to the sentiment panel before I lightly distressed the edges of it. I have to admit that the bling requirement threw me off at first. I tend to think of rhinestones and sparkly stuff when I hear the word “bling”. Then I remembered I had these dark half pearls and they worked with the dark colors in the designer papers I’d chosen. The ribbon is a bit brighter than I’d like to go next to the leafy designer paper, but if you look carefully at the striped part of the paper at the bottom, the ribbon is a good match to the blue in it.

So come on and join us in the Paper Therapy challenge! We’d love to see your work. Just upload it to the July 22 challenge thread in the Paper Therapy forums by August 3.

Supplies:
Stamps: Ageless (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Confetti Cream (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Memoirs 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Inque Boutique)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)
Other: ribbon (Really Reasonable Ribbon); half pearls (KaiserCraft); Labels 4 Nestabilities die (Spellbinders)

anniversary wishes

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Jul 202011

Making anniversary cards for my parents often seems harder than I think it should be – probably because I always think I need to try to strike a balance between feminine (flowers and such) and masculine (anything without flowers). This year, the flowers won out. I’d admired a card in the Splitcoaststampers gallery a couple months ago and tweaked it to suit the products I own. I don’t have any leafy dies, so I stamped the leaves for my image. Because the leaves were a solid image, I didn’t think textured cardstock like in my inspiration piece would be a good idea, so I used smooth cardstock. I also took the liberty of shrinking the card down to a 4.25″ square and rounding the bottom corners.

Supplies:
Stamps: Best Blossoms (Stampin’ Up); Sophie’s Sentiments (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Wild Wasabi (SU)
Other: flowers (Prima); pearls (KaiserCraft)

welcome baby boy

1 Response »

Jul 182011

Saturday I attended my cousin’s baby shower. Today I’m sharing the card I made to go with the gift I gave her. I drew a lot of inspiration for it from a card I’d seen in the Splitcoaststampers gallery. Once I finally figured out what I wanted to do, the card came together pretty quickly and easily.

Supplies:
Stamps: By Ones & By Twos, Short & Sweet (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Close to Cocoa, Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla (SU); designer paper from Memoirs 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Inque Boutique)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); Close to Cocoa (SU)
Other: twine (Really Reasonable Ribbon); Ribbon Tags Trio die (Spellbinders)

hello chickadee

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Jul 162011

Here’s a quick, simple card I made for the July Sketch For You To Try challenge. I rotated the sketch 180° for my card. I pulled out some pretty old designer papers for this one but I thought they fit the farm country feel of the card. (It’s hard to see, but the strip with the sentiment is speckled.) The only difficult thing about this card was making sure I didn’t cut off the little chicks’ feet!

Here’s what the original sketch looks like:

Supplies:
Stamps: Critters on the Farm (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Barely Banana textured, Very Vanilla (Stampin’ Up); designer papers from Cottage Papers strips (Keeping Memories Alive)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: Premier colored pencils (Prismacolor); odorless mineral spirits (Houston Arts)

Christmas in July

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Jul 132011

Hopefully a Christmas card will help provide a mental break from the heat and humidity. It’s not too early to start making winter holiday cards for Operation Write Home!

Today’s card uses five of the ten elements from the current Desert Islands Crafts Challenge itinerary. I cut the focal panel and its mat with Nestabilities dies. The ornaments are colored with Copic markers, with just a touch of a silver pen for the thingies where the hook attaches to the ornament. I added a few crystals to two of the ornaments. The focal panel is attached with pop dots so that the ribbon fits nicely underneath it. The layout is based off an older Lizzie Anne Designs sketch.

It’s so cloudy today that it was hard to get a good photo of the card, so you’ll just have to trust me that the green cardstock and ribbon match the designer paper better in real life than in the picture.

Supplies:
Stamps: The Key to Happiness (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Wild Wasabi, Naturals Ivory (Stampin’ Up); Berry Branch designer paper from Fruitcake collection (Basic Grey)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: markers (Copic); classic rectangles plain and small labels Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); clear crystals (Bazzill); Wild Wasabi ribbon, dimensionals (SU); silver Precious Element pen (Creative Memories)

birthday fishes

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Jul 112011

Here’s another card I made for the OWH Virtual Cardmaking Party last week. Sheila at 2 Paw Prints presented the challenge of making a card with a fishbowl on it. That was the perfect opportunity for me to pull out one of my Stampin’ Up stamp sets that I hadn’t used in a long time. I decided to use some bright colors to make this card suitable for any person of any age. I used an old Lizzie Anne Designs sketch for the layout.

Supplies:
Stamps: Little Hellos, Birthday Whimsy (Stampin’ Up)
Cardstock: Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point, Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Other: Premier colored pencils (Prismacolor); odorless mineral spirits (Houston Arts); standard circle and big scalloped circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders); Spots & Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug); ribbon (Really Reasonable Ribbon); piercing tool (Making Memories)

mixed up world

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Jul 082011

The idea for this card has been bouncing in my head all week, and I finally was able to put it to cardstock and designer paper today. For the Operation Write Home Virtual Cardmaking Party, Tammy at My Craft Central challenged everyone to make a card with crazy, non-traditional colors. I thought it would be fun to create a scene with mixed up colors. I chose some Lawn Fawn stamps and scraps of Basic Grey designer paper to carry out my idea. The sentiment was generated using Microsoft Word and printed onto the orange designer paper. Then I added some sponging to the orange for shading. The tree’s leaves are attached with dimensional adhesive. I thought the flying snail and having the dog say “meow” would fit right in with the unexpectedness of the color scheme. The “meow” is from the sentiment included in the stamp set I used.

Yes, it’s pretty crazy and mixed up, but I really like it. 🙂 I also like that it fits into the “miss you” theme for Operation Write Home cards without saying exactly those words.

Supplies:
Stamps: Critters from the ‘Burbs (Lawn Fawn)
Cardstock: Green Galore (Stampin’ Up); scraps from Phoebe and Gypsy 6″ x 6″ paper pads (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Pumpkin Pie (SU)
Other: Basic Black marker, dimensionals (SU)

Paper Therapy Challenge - sketches!

1 Response »

Jul 082011

It’s time for another Paper Therapy Design Team challenge! Today’s challenge is to use a sketch for the layout of your project. You can find sketches at a myriad of sites online, or you can use one from a cardmaking magazine. It’s up to you! Just post your card and your sketch (or at least a link to the sketch) to the Paper Therapy challenges forum thread for the July 8 challenge by July 20. I hope you’ll join us!

Anyone who has read my blog from time to time should already know that I *love* sketch challenges! I think they are easiest for me because I don’t have to worry about the composition of the layout elements. I just have to choose colors and images to fit the sketch. For the Paper Therapy challenge, I chose sketch #75 from the OWH Stars and Stamps blog. I didn’t have a chance to try the sketch when it was first introduced, but I liked the looks of it too much to just let it pass by. I also combined this challenge with one of the Splitcoaststampers CAS July 4th holiday challenges, to create a monochromatic card using either all white, shades of red, or shades of blue. I decided to use some of my all-time favorite Stampin’ Up blues, Soft Sky and Blue Bayou. And here’s what I created:

Supplies:
Stamps: Wavy Wishes (Hero Arts)
Cardstock: Basics White (Papertrey Ink); Soft Sky Prints designer series paper (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Blue Bayou (SU)
Other: Blue Bayou ribbon (SU); sponge

challenges, challenges

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Jul 052011

Hi! Thanks for stopping by my blog today! If you’re still making your way through the Celebrate Summer Blog Hop, that post is here –> Celebrate Summer. If you’re looking for the challenge I hosted in the Operation Write Home Virtual Cardmaking Party, you’ll want to go here –> Easy as 1, 2, 3.

There were SOOOOO many cardmaking challenges presented over the last few days, my brain couldn’t keep up! Today I’m sharing cards I’ve made for two of them. I’ll have more (to make and to share, lol) for my next several blog posts.

First is a card that pulls double duty for the 16th OWH Virtual Cardmaking Party challenge and the first of the Splitcoaststampers CAS July 4th Holiday challenges. Trish at Mouse Print Creations gave us a mission to create a card with an animal on it. Jen at SCS provided a sketch. I still had this Basic Grey paper out on my desk from making the monster card in my last post and liked it enough to use it on another card right away. (Actually, I wish I’d bought several of these Basic Grey paper pads before they retired – I ♥ the colors in it!) The dog and his party hat are paper pieced from some other scraps from the same Basic Grey pad. (I seem to have a thing for paper piecing lately…)

Next is a card using this week’s Stars & Stamps Blog Sketch layout and the 12th OWH Cardmaking Party challenge. Sarah at Sarah’s Stamping and Stuff wished everyone a “foody or fruity Fourth” and asked us to make a card with some sort of food or fruit on it. I started to use a different apple stamp with the same sentiment (but in a different font), but decided to go serious rather than cutesy and pulled out this stamp set instead.

So… that’s two challenges down but still over 3 dozen to go if I decide to try all of them! (Good thing I can combine two, maybe 3, challenges into one card whenever possible.) So many challenges, so little time!

Supplies for the hot dog card:
Stamps: Party Animals (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink); designer papers from Phoebe 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)

Supplies for the apple card:
Stamps: Simply Sweet (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Confetti White (Stampin’ Up); apple designer paper from Autumn Mix digital paper (LAD)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (SU)
Other: markers (Copic); circle cutting system (Creative Memories)

OWH Virtual Cardmaking Party!

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Jul 032011

Hello! Welcome to Operation Write Home’s Virtual Cardmaking Party! If you came here looking for the Celebrate Summer Blog Hop, I hope you’ll allow yourself the chance to get sidetracked and consider helping Operation Write Home 🙂 but otherwise, you’ll want to click here –> Celebrate Summer
If you’re here for OWH and feel like taking a little break from your cardmaking, you are welcome to check out all the creative fabulousness on the blog hop! (Don’t worry, by OWH standards this is a short hop, with less than 30 participating blogs.)

If you’ve ever been intimidated by challenges in the past, I’m here today to show you that challenges can be as Easy As 1, 2, 3. My challenge for you is to create a card (which I hope you’ll send to Operation Write Home!) with the following elements:

1 piece of designer paper
2 different images (any combination of rubber stamps, digital images, or die cuts is OK, but you can’t use more than two distinct images)
3 or more words in the sentiment, which must be shown on the card front (the sentiment does NOT count as one of the two images)

The theme of the card, layout, and color scheme are all up to you. You’re welcome to include any embellishments you wish EXCEPT glitter, because glitter can flake off and be detected on night vision goggles, creating a hazard for our troops. Really lumpy, bumpy embellishments aren’t a good idea either because they can get caught in postal service machinery and make a card undeliverable. If you have any questions about OWH’s requirements, deadlines, and/or shipping info, please click here –> link to lots of very helpful information! If you have any questions about my challenge, please leave a comment on this blog post, and I’ll reply to you ASAP.

In the right sidebar you’ll see an announcement for OWH’s Beat the Heat card drive – to create a shipment that’s half cards for fall and winter holidays, and half general occasion cards. I had that in mind as I was making my sample cards for this challenge. I also kept my cards pretty simple to go along with the “easy” part of my challenge.

First is a Halloween card. I went digging way back in the OWH sketch challenge archives for the layout for this one. This is sketch challenge 12. I added a couple layers behind the designer paper, to mimic the mats around the focal panel.

I can only imagine how difficult it must be for our heroes serving overseas to leave their families, especially their children. So in my packages for OWH I always like to include cards that can be sent home to kids. My second card is a birthday card that I hope is neutral enough for either a boy or a girl. I used one of my favorite OWH sketches, #43, for this one. The sentiment reads, “Hope you have a monstrously cool birthday!” I was sooooo tempted to add birthday hats to the monsters, but that would have messed up the two image requirement for the challenge.

So, now it’s up to you! Let me see your cards using one designer paper, two images, and a sentiment with 3 or more words! Mr. Linky should be visible at the bottom of this post, underneath my supplies list, so you can share your work. You’ll be able to link your creations over the next month, but keep in mind that OWH is awarding prizes to random participants who link their cards by 11:59 pm Pacific time Monday, July 5.

Supplies for the Halloween card:
Stamps: Halloween Set (Purple Onion Designs)
Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso, Naturals White (Stampin’ Up); Pome designer paper from Ambrosia 6″ x 6″ pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Early Espresso (SU)
Other: markers (Copic)

Supplies for the birthday monster card:
Stamps: Little Monsters (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Cool Caribbean, Green Galore (Stampin’ Up); Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink); Telegraph Hill designer paper from Phoebe 6″ x 6″ pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic)

Thanks for visiting my blog today! 🙂

Celebrate Summer Blog Hop!

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Jul 022011

Welcome to my stop on the Celebrate Summer Blog Hop! If you’re following the hop, you should have arrived from Lynn’s blog, Stamperosity. If you just dropped by, I have the entire blog hop order listed later on in this post so you can start from the beginning and work your way through. You won’t want to miss all the talent being shared by all the fantastic crafters!

I have two cards to share with you today, but first, I thought you’d like to know that 13 great prizes are going to be given away to randomly selected people who leave comments on the participating blogs by 6:00 pm EST Tuesday, July 5! In other words – the more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win! (I *will* be checking for any spam comments that sneak past the spam filter. Spammers won’t get prize eligibility!) Thank you to all the generous sponsors who are donating the following goodies:

* Stampendous: THREE prizes: a Cling Jumbo Tulip set, a Cling Jumbo Tiger Lily set, and a Cling Jumbo Dogwood set. Each set will come with a Jumbo Perfectly Clear Handle.
* Chi Chi Memories: a digital stamp set of the winner’s choice
* Pixie Dust Studio: two digital images of the winner’s choice
* Dreamweaver Stencils: one prize pack (of their choice)
* Karber Digital Studio: two digital images of the winner’s choice
* Maria Levine: an Ippity Stamp kit
* Skipping Stones Design: a clear stamp set (of their choosing)
* Cindy Coutts and Christian Paper Crafts: one Stampin’ Up Fast & Fabulous set (you must be a US resident to win this)
* Sunghee Chon: an a muse studio catalog and one stamp set (up to a $12.00 value) of the winner’s choice (you must be a US resident to win this)
* Sunghee Chon: $20 gift certificate to Little Potato House, her amazing digital template store
* Karen from Your Next Stamp: one Ellie Loves the Beach cling rubber stamp

All 13 winners will be posted next week on Taylor Usry’s blog, The Quiet Moments.

Now, on to today’s cards! Since the theme for the hop is celebrating summer, I’ve used some summery images from InStyle Stamps’ latest digital release, Patty Summer Luvin. Patty has gone to the beach and built a sandcastle:

Supplies:
Digital Image: Patty Summer Luvin (InStyle Stamps)
Sentiment: Everyday Sayings (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Naturals Ivory, Marina Mist, Very Vanilla (Stampin’ Up); designer paper from Nature’s Whisper collection (Creative Memories)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); printer ink
Other: twill tape (SU); Premier colored pencils (Prismacolor); odorless mineral spirits (Houston Arts)

Patty also knows that July is National Ice Cream Month. How awesome is that, to have another reason to eat ice cream! 😉 She’s decided to share some with a friend:

(Note to self: In order to retain sanity, do not paper piece the little bitty cherries on the tops of the ice cream cones again.)

Supplies:
Digital Image: Patty Summer Luvin (InStyle Stamps)
Sentiment: Summertime Celebration (Lizzie Anne Designs)
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla (Stampin’ Up); various papers from Blush 6″ x 6″ paper pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine); printer ink
Other: Chocolate Chip twill ribbon (SU); small scalloped border die (Papertrey Ink)

I hope you’ll enjoy all the terrific projects made by all the other crafters in this blog hop! The next stop is Alison’s blog, 21st Century Pillow Book. Here is the complete list of participants:

Taylor — https://taylorusry.blogspot.com
Cyndi — https://scrappychickcyndi.blogspot.com
Lynn — https://www.stamperosity.com
Patricia — https://thinkingofinking.splitcoaststampers.com <— YOU ARE HERE
Alison — https://alisonsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com
Berenice — https://karbersweetescape.blogspot.com
Erica — https://www.inkedupandreadytoplay.com
Mary — https://softangelkisses.blogspot.com
Janelle — https://rainpuddlesdesign.blogspot.com
Erin — https://stamptillucramp.blogspot.com
Maria — https://riacreations.blogspot.com
Jennifer D — https://just4funcrafts.blogspot.com
Pam — https://1pamperedstamper.blogspot.com
Angelique — https://scrapping-angel.blogspot.com
Sandie — https://sandieshores.blogspot.com
Wendy P — https://paperinkandsmiles.blogspot.com
Suzi — https://mrsweyremaster.blogspot.com
Kathy — https://pixieduststudio.blogspot.com
Beth — https://inkyfingersrule.blogspot.com
Wendy J — https://papertherapy-wendy.blogspot.com
Kerry — https://kerryischilling.blogspot.com
Louise – https://www.artfullyarticulate.blogspot.com
Liz — https://www.blackcatsstudios.blogspot.com
Laura – https://www.rememberinglifesmoments.blogspot.com
Lee — https://www.leekellogg.typepad.com
Jennifer I — https://www.justjingle.blogspot.com
Krissy – https://www.paperinkspirations.blogspot.com
Sunghee — https://www.creativityinprogress.com/blog

In the spirit of full disclosure, the images used on both of today’s projects were provided to me by InStyle Stamps to aid in promoting their products.

Older Entries

OWH quadruple challenges... whooooo!

Freaky Friday - Christmas in July!

simply smiling

CAS tag challenge

Paper Therapy recipe challenge!

anniversary wishes

welcome baby boy

hello chickadee

Christmas in July

birthday fishes

mixed up world

Paper Therapy Challenge - sketches!

challenges, challenges

OWH Virtual Cardmaking Party!

Celebrate Summer Blog Hop!

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Design Team Experience

Really great links

Really great shopping

Some fun stuff

Thank you for visiting!

Follow me via email

Contact me

The Important Stuff

Translate this Page

I *heart*

Archives

Meta

I heart