Madison's 2nd Birthday

Here is the first card I made using Aquarello Watercolor Paper by Fabriano. It really is nice!! I love how simple this card is-DH saw it and said it was his favorite! Loves the simplicity of it & the watercoloring. I used the little girl from All in the Family and new SAB set Birthday Whimsy (sentiment) I love the lowercase font. I used the heart balloon from Just so Hippy & added Crystal stickles to it for some sparkle. Madison is an adorable redhead - very petite so I think this card will be perfect.

Nominated for the Great Tip Award

Marilyn (Stamp with Marilyn) nominated me for the Great Tip Award - how sweet is she? Recently I met her at a leadership follow-up meeting because were sideline sisters! I love Marilyn's stamping and the way her sweet personality shines through her creations and her posts.

And so to pass it on, I have to nominate three other people:

Monika Davis (M.A.D. Stamper) - I totally enjoy all Monika's stuff and one of the great tips she is regular at posting are *Treasures of the Day* that she hunts down from other's blogs to share with her readers. I've found some awesome things/blogs that way!

Anna Wight (Sweet & Sassy Notes) - If you haven't seen any of Anna's work yet, you must be living under a rock. Recently she designed a new cling mount set by Whipper Snapper Designs Posies For You (did you see my post from yesterday with my first card made with this cute set? I have always admired her watercoloring, and asked her what she usually uses (as her white base) when she colors with a waterbrush & re-inkers. She replied with Artistico Watercolor Paper by Fabriano and Aquarello Watercolor Paper by Fabriano. I went to Hobbly Lobby today & got some of the Aquarello (yea) $5.99 for a 9.5x12.5" pad of 12 sheets for $5.99 and I had a 25% off coupon! The card I last posted was used for it. I am in LOVE with it - what a deal compared to SU! little sheets 3.75x5" (20 sheets for $6.95)! I am always for a good deal. It basically is the SAME at 140 lb!! This one I can use as a card base!

and last but not least - my friend Melanie Muenchinger (Hands, Head and Heart) I can't say enough about this lady's talent, it surpasses what little I thought when I first met her nearly 4 years ago when I was blown away by her out of the box stamping! I love her recently designed Just so Hippy set manufactured by Gina K Designs - wait til you see what she has in store NEXT! She is constantly coming up with new ideas - fresh & unique!!

Feel Better Posies

Here is my first posie card made with the sweet set Posies For You by Anna Wight aka Sweet Miss Daisy (who I bet is just as sweet as her set). I've always been a fan of Anna's stamping, photography, artistic talent in general so I knew I would adore using her set as well. Be sure to check out her blog Sweet & Sassy Notes to be inspired & blown away!


She designed this set for Whipper Snapper - it's their first cling 'set' of stamps. I was the 4th person to order it when it was released last week! The reason I know I was 4th to get it is because Whipper Snapper said that the first 100 sets to be sold would be signed copies by Anna. So when I got it yesterday it said 4/100. How cool is that?! I hope to meet her one day, she's a fellow Texan so perhaps it will be in the stars *wink*

I used Prismacolor Pencils & Gamsol (check out a great tutorial by Gina K just posted & you can win some cool buckets to store yours in) and added a little sparkle with my favorite glitter Star Dust Stickles!

Cool Tip: see the Wild Wasabi corners on the focal image? They were made with leftover scraps from cutting the set out (the whole sheet has a line perimeter around it) as I was cutting I realized several of the pieces could be saved & used. Neat, huh??

Wild Wasabi Cake (SAB Sneak Peek)

HA! Sounds gross...I love wasabi but it definitely won't go well with cake! Just wanted to show you a quick card I made using one of the Sale-a-Bration sets you will be able to get for FREE with a $50 purchase from Stampin' Up! between Feb 1 - March 17. There are 5 sets and a set of (4 sheets) of rub-ons to choose from! No limit to what you buy! As a hostess (you either have a catalog order of $150 or more) you can earn free product! If you want a traditional workshop where you invite your friends over for an evening of stamping fun you can earn free product (and special hostess only gifts from me) and when your workshop totals $300 or more you will get an additional SAB set free! Check out the whole catalog on the right in my side-bar.


Also - if you have ever had an inkling (pun intended) of joining the SU! family during SAB would be the PERFECT time - a starter kit (normally valued at $330) is $199 plus tax you get to choose from any set in the Spring/Summer Collection (value up to $47.95) for FREE in addition to what you get in your kit to get started!! I wish there had been that kind of promotion when I joined? Seriously, my love of stamping far surpassed any deal to be made - I was just ready to stamp my heart out & introduce it to others and have been for nearly 5 years now! If you have any questions, get in touch with a local demonstrator via the Stampin' Up! website or contact me. I'd be happy to help you along the way if you join 'The Stampamaniacs' Group!


I will post more new SAB samples, so check back with me!

FS51 - Birthday Roses

Here is my card for Featured Stamper on Sunday (FS 51 Stamping Pam) - using my new Kitchen Sink Stamps 3-step Hearts & Roses. Here is the beautiful card I cased from Pam Are You Ready For Spring CASE. I changed colors, set, embellishments.

I knew I'd love this set (was bummed when SU! retired Roses in Winter but I have to admit I am more drawn to realistic flowers most and this fits the bill PERFECTLY). It's so easy to use layering all the roses because they're clear and you can 'see' your placement. After I was done, I regretted not masking the flowers so I could make the leaves more realistic 'behind' the roses. But, I didn't really want to start over. Note to self for next time.

My 3-step colors for the roses (there are really 4) are Cameo Coral stamped off, Groovy Guava stamped off, Groovy Guava full, Really Rust.

My 3-step colors for the leaves (there are 3) are Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Always Artichoke.

I used the floral background on the guava base. Sentiment is Stampin' Up! Sincere Salutations, which was a Christmas gift to demos 2006 (I believe) and use it ALL the time as I love the mixed script & print.

Melanie's Ape Over Me *blush*

I finally found it! Melanie gave me this card when we met for lunch WEEKS ago and I was so bummed that evening (after showing it to my DH) it disappeared! I looked all over for it. Well, obviously not because as I was making my bed today (oh I just outed myself that I don't make my bed hat often - well DH is still sleeping when I leave in the morning and by the end of the day I quickly pull up the covers just to get in again so no, I really don't) Well, yesterday I saw a glimmer of it between the bed & my dresser - yea!! So here it is! Isn't it the cutest? I love the colors - Cool Caribbean, Blue Bayou & Real Red, her coloring, the layout & embellishments! Thanks, Melanie...the feeling's mutual!

Go check out her blog - if you have her set Just so Hippy - she is having a great contest & you can win her next release!! The contest ends Feb 8 so you have plenty of time to play if you want to order one.

Hanna Sketch Challenge & CC150

I made this card for Hanna Stamps Sketch Challenge 1 on the Hanna Stamps Forum from Kristi's party on Friday night. Decided to use CC150 - Real Soft Bayou (Real Red, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou) for my colors. I used the large polka dot backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms on my soft sky base. I used Prismacolor Pencils & OMS to color (FUN)

And since I had leftovers from the above card, I decided to make a birthday card with my Billboardabella from Stamping Bella.

Hanna Birthday Challenge & Beate's Sketch 32

Friday night was Kristi Ferro's (owner of Hanna Stamps) birthday party on SCS - it was fun!! They had sneak peeks of Riley & the Domestic Goddess set coming out this Friday and challenges. I created this for the Kristi's Favorite Colors challenge which are Charcoal Grey (I used Basic Grey), any Teal (I used Taken with Teal) and Pink (I used Pixie Pink). I also used the Sketch Challenge 32 by Beate for the layout. Colored with Prismacolor Pencils & OSM and didn't realize until later I didn't 'ground Hanna. Oh well - I still think it's cute. I used the Things Hanna Would Say sentiment 'Keep Your Head Up' and pink, teal primas with blue ice square rhinestone by SU!

This card is for a challenge to create a Hanna Thank You postcard for the business. I used the package backing for the logo on the bottom and paper-pieced her dress from it as well. I thought it turned out pretty cute - they aleady have the graphics for it - I pieced the sentiment from Things Hanna Would Say and added my own writing for the words that weren't in there (as best I could).

Melanie's One of a Kind

I made this card the other night to give to Melanie & oddly enough within a few days she spontaneously called me to see if we could meet at lunch because her & her little boy were going to the shopping center up the hill from my work. She loved this card, so did my DH...I used her set Just so Hippy that Gina K Designs released just a few weeks ago. Go check out her blog - she currently has some great candy to give away (and she named it Melanie's Munchies per my suggestion, cool, huh?) She not only honored me with that, but gave me a 'You Make My Day Award' yesterday and said such sweet, sincere words about me that moved me to tears. She took such great care with all her nominations saying something special about everyone. Thanks, Melanie!

Back to my card - I used my Basic Grey Two Scoops paper I got from All That Scraps and matching brads (used on the photo corner on the lower left-how cute are they?) I used the sentiment 'you are one of a kind' from Stampin' Up!'s new set One of a Kind. I colored the hippos & made grass with copics. Blush Blossom & Wild Wasabi cardstock was used.

Great mail day!

this cute, bright Stamping Sistahs bella card came from Monika Davis, M.A.D. Stamper - a Happy Blog Anniversary card! HA - when I showed to my DH he said, 'y'all just think of any excuse to send a card' and I said, 'yes, and any excuse to make one too' - so funny. Thanks, Monika...you're so sweet!!!
This pretty get well wishes card came from Marilyn Moseley of Stamp With Marilyn who up until last Saturday was a blogging buddy but is now a real life one too! We finally met at our up up-line's house for a meeting and as we were walking in together realized who we were! It was fun (and Marilyn it was not a bad thing about you not looking like your picture - you just looked different because you were dressed up & had your hair done differently) you have the sweetest looking face and it matches your personality. I love your card, but can't remember what technique you used on the base - polished stone? Thanks for sending me a card! Hope to see you again soon!

One of a Kind Kickstand - Best of Show Winner

This is my first kickstand card (sketch created by Kirsten -Confessions of a Naptime Stamper) and was Sketch Challenge 158 I used Boho Backgrounds and One of a Kind from the new SU! catalog (view it from a link on the right side of my blog). I was so excited to see fresh new bright colors or glitter! I also adore the new felt flowers! Just wish they had more than one combo of flowers - they are great quality and variety of sizes/shapes. See this picture by Jami of More is More who did a chart with them all for you to see what you get in the cute square tin just aching to be altered! The numbers represent the amount of the shown flowers you get.

Back to my card - it won BEST OF SHOW at my Upline's house by vote!!! There were only 8 entries (down from what it usually is) but it won anyway! I got $30 free product from the catalog - woohoo! I am finally going to get some of the great ribbon scissors (craft & paper) but they will be designated for ribbon only! I just had a hard time dishing out $30 of my own $ for a pair of scissors, but since they're FREE, have no problemo. I was so excited to see the Define Your Life set had a 'unique' definition which fits PERFECTLY with the sentiment (upper right corner) in the One of a Kind set.

I Pick You Penguin

Little Penguins by C.C. Designs is the CUTEST, isn't it?? I was so pleased to see the small oval from My Favorite Things set Icing on the Cake fit right under the penguin for a perfect shadow! I used a 4.25" square notecard by A*Muse that matched wonderfully with SU!'s retired Loves Me Designer Paper (polka dots) from last year's Spring mini. I had to pair the sentiment 'I Pick You' from the Things Hanna Would Say set by Hanna Stamps since the penguin is presenting a handpicked bouquet of flowers! It's amazing how you can pair up elements from all sorts of sets to make them work, huh? It's a lot of fun for me.

A Gallery Honor by Kitchen Sink Stamps

I am so excited to show you Maria (owner of Kitchen Sink Stamps) asked if she could post my 3-Step Daisy Monogram card in the Kitchen Sink Gallery & of course, I said yes - it is quite an honor! So check it out here - there are awesome projects in there! I am really looking forward to getting my 3-step Hearts & Roses I pre-ordered any day now!

Loads of Pink Love

How fun was this card to make?! totally! I hadn't played with it since the Fall when I put some pumpkins in the truck...I love all the accessories you can use (and pairing Lovely as a Tree as a background too) but I forget I have it sometimes! I was inspired by Mary Jo Albright to take it out for Valentine's Day. colored with prismas & gamsol and used a silver sharpie for the chrome on the truck. Ribbon from Michael's $1 spools.

So Lucky Valentine

I love these stick people by Clearly Wordsworth called Love Collection! I paired them with my Loves Me Designer Paper, how fitting, huh?? I love my Regal Rose Wide Grosgrain Ribbon by SU! (not sure why it took me so long to buy it!) I used my classic rectangle nestability for a 'classic' look on the focal image.

Gold Bridge

I love how simple you can design your cards around the quiet beauty of Cornish Heritage Farms' Thomas Kinkade images. I stamped the Cobblestone Bridge. I stamped it on Very Vanilla cardstock with Vintage Photo Distress ink and sponged the edges of the card base. I mounted the image on brushed metallci gold cardstock and tied a gold organdy ribbon I received from Ellen Hutson. Simple yet makes a statement.

I WON TAYLOR'S eP Cupcake Challenge!!

Can I get a whoop whoop! How exciting is that?? Thanks, Joy & Daisy! Y'all are awesome!

Right before I opened up the thread, I said under my breath, "I hope I won" (I actually checked several times today to see the winners)

Check out the post:

'Thanks to all of you who stamped and uploaded some really great creations in response to the eP birthday challenges hosted by Taylor VanBruggen and Jami Sibley over the weekend.

The winner of the Taylor's Cupcake Challenge is Donna Baker(donna b).
The winner of Jami's Birthday Ensemble Challenge is Katrina Koop(Kookie).

They each won a clear acrylic pail loaded with assorted Stampendous goodies. Congratulations, ladies! Email us your mailing address. If you haven't seen them all, go over to the Gallery and view all the SWEET creations that were uploaded by fellow friends and stampin' addicts.

Cheers! Daisy

Valentine's Stamp Camp

4-inch coaster frame with SCS 2008 calendar template - mod podged with Berry Bliss Designer Paper. Eastern Elegance rub-ons. Boho Backgrounds & Priceless sets used.

Glass heart votives (red & clear) purchased at Target $1 spot with Eastern Elegance Rub-ons.

Target mailbox - Berry Bliss paper, Eastern Elegance Rub-ons, Circle of Friendship set used.

Cami box with Peppermint patties

Mini card with mini envelope template - Simply Said & Boho Backgrounds sets used.

Everyone LOVED the projects - each project was a 'favorite'

of everyone that attended.

Of course my favorite was the photo desk calendar because my niece is on it.

Isn't she the sweetest??

Happy Birthday eP Double Cupcake Challenge (WINNER)

Taylor posted a fun cupcake challenge - to celebrate eP's 1-year birthday! I had to play because I had not yet used my stacked cupcakes I got a few months ago from Ellen's store (which was enabled my StamperSharon's card here) and decided to use Beate's weekend sketch WSC31 so here's my double challenge! Phew - that was a lot to say!

I used my new Basic Grey Two Scoops paper & matching brads I got from All That Scraps and love that it matches my new Wild Wasabi striped grosgrain ribbon by SU! The frosting on the cupcakes is also from Ellen's store - Liquid Pearls as well as the pearls on top which I colored pink with my copic marker. The sentiment, Happy Cupcake Day is from My Favorite Things, Essential Sentiments!

What a fun card this was to make!

Edited to Add: I JUST FOUND OUT I WON THE CONTEST!! HOW STINKIN' COOL IS THAT?! Right before I opened up the thread, I said under my breath, "I hope I won" (I actually checked several times today to see the winners)

Check it out:

Thanks to all of you who stamped and uploaded some really great creations in response to the eP birthday challenges hosted by Taylor VanBruggen and Jami Sibley over the weekend.

The winner of the Taylor's Cupcake Challenge is Donna Baker(donna b).

The winner of Jami's Birthday Ensemble Challenge is Katrina Koop(Kookie).

They each won a clear acrylic pail loaded with assorted Stampendous goodies. Congratulations, ladies! Email us your mailing address. If you haven't seen them all, go over to the Gallery and view all the SWEET creations that were uploaded by fellow friends and stampin' addicts. You c

Cheers! Daisy

Amie is the winner of the anniversary blog candy!!

Check out Amie's blog Life With the Boys - I'm listening to her play the piano & sing (beautifully, I might add). She is quite a scrapbooker, great layouts, and makes nice cards too!

Amie shared, "My cousin Suzie taught me a wonderful lesson to just never give up! Her fourth baby girl was born with serious heart defects. She had surgery after surgery after surgery. I'm positive they spent nearly 90% of 2007 in the hospital! The baby couldn't eat or digest food either, so she had a belly plug/feeding tube that she used for a year. As weeks went on, every email I got from Suzie I was afraid to open, afraid to read the words that the baby had finally passed on. But can you believe it, she has survived and thrived and is walking and eating on her own now. How my cousin ever kept up with a homebased business, 3 active healthy girls, and this one challenge/blessing, I'll never know. The best part is, my cousin Suzie always has a smile on her face and doesn't get down about her trial. Great lesson for me!Thanks for the opportunity! amie"

I will send out your stuff later this week because I plan to send MORE surprises along with what is pictured here - need time to work on it!

Thanks for everyone who played along & shared their person/lesson learned.

Hippy Valentines

I totally missed having Melanie's Just so Hippy set while I waited for my order from Gina K Designs since I had given Melanie hers back! So last night I started to play with it again and these 2 cards I put together quickly before work this morning! I LOVE how they turned out! I hadn't given the Hippo much love yet and now I feel like I had been missing out! I used my new Basic Grey Two Scoops paper and got my Prints Pack with Wild Wasabi paper & new striped grosgrain ribbon to match! How cute!! I also love the paper pieced balloons which is one of the many reasons I ADORE line art stamps!

Make sure you enter my blog candy anniversary by posting here all you have to do is share a story or lesson learned from someone (I'm enjoying reading how others have impacted your life)

Happy (Blog) Anniversary To Me...Happy (Blog) Anniversary to me...

Happy Candy to you!!

Well, today is the big day! I started my blog one year ago (actually it was a year ago yesterday since the 14th was on Sunday last year) HA

Anyway, here are pictures of what I am giving to one lucky person who responds on this post (only US residents please) sorry! The cat is a 2-yr calendar you can stamp a cover for.

This comes at a price, though - since Valentine's Day is fast approaching and it's a day to share your LOVE (not just with your spouse or significant other, or child) but with everyone you care about - I'd love for you to share a story of how a friend/loved one has impacted your life and taught you a valuable lesson so that every time you are reminded of it, you think fondly of them.
My story is about a friend I left behind in CA that I have lost touch with (not permanently but since it's been so long since we have chatted, it feels like it) her name is Nazmin and she really is one of the most beautiful woman I've ever met. She triumphed over a marriage to someone she was not in love with to escape an arranged marriage to someone she didn't know (cultural thing) and had the most gorgeous, smart little girl (who's not a little girl anymore but she was when I met her) and was immediately diagnosed with stage III Breast Cancer upon giving birth. She went on to stay in her marriage only to end up burying her husband when he killed himself with her right outside the door when she told him she was going to leave him. Soon after she was re-diagnosed with her Breast Cancer and Cervical Cancer. All the while she was falling madly in love with one of our co-workers (and he with her) and I was the first to notice. He was married at the time but knew his love for Nazmin was real and left his wife (they were not happy together for a long ime). Shortly after I left CA I heard they got married and are living happily together with their 2 daughters. I have received a few Christmas cards over the years back from them but not with updates and I miss her so much. She truly is the epitome of strength, courage, determination, drive, beauty and love. She supported me through a few trials of my own (like college woes, boy troubles and the loss of my mom), never judging me, always loving me and truly being a friend.

One of the many things I learned from Nazmin is something she learned from her mom - to not expect anything from anyone so you are not disappointed when they don't come through. It also will afford you the opportunity to be more grateful when you get something not expected. It's hard at times to remember this especially when as Christians we should serve in love. I expect my DH to act a certain way, to do certain things for me (without having to be told) and it can be a great source of frustration for me when he doesn't deliver. I have to sit back & relax and not sweat the small stuff. After all, I am not perfect and I do believe there are things he may expect from me that Ido not deliver as well. I will try to do better, I promise honey (DH actually reads my blog - it's something I don't expect but I sure appreciate!!)

If you stayed with me this whole way, thank you and tell me your 'person/lesson learned'

I will draw a winner on Saturday afternoon (3:00 central) you must either leave your email or your blog (a way for me to get in touch with you if you win).

E.T.A. I finally figured out how to keep a post at the top, so scroll down for new posts until the drawing.

Best Wishes Sketch

A co-worker is headed to Vegas today for her son Dustin's wedding and I know she is excited! She says his new wife and her 7 yr-old girl are so sweet (I've heard many stories and have seen pictures). So I made her this card to take to them. She said their colors are peach and chocolate brown. This is not the card I envisioned making but I'm sure glad it turned out so nicely. It was inspired by this card from Shannan Tuebner that I fell in love with the first time I saw it so I knew I was going to use the sketch by Jen Del Muro.

That's one thing I love about Google Reader (it allows you to STAR the projects you want to refer back to later) but it takes me a while to remember where a particular one is as I have over 140 in there). But it's great for those times that I don't have time but can go back later (this one was from Dec 1). The stick people are by Wordsworth and the bg of blush card base Spiral Bouquet by Papertrey.

Gratitude Flowers

A co-workers stopped me to ask if I had any Thank You cards today, and much to my surprise, I didn't so I had to make some. I got my inspiration from today's CC149 Rose Red, Apricot Appeal & Sage Shadow. These colors are pretty together! I kinda cheated and added Chocolate Chip, though. Since I was using Papertrey's Spiral Bouquet, I really felt like the big flower needed to stand out. I ended up making 6 of these plus 2 other different ones (but I'm only showing you the one I liked). I used my scallop nestability on the first one, those lend such a nice elegance to it.

You Make My Day Award

Thanks to Rose Ann of Paper Delightz who nominated me for he above award! Little does she know she makes my day too!! She is so sweet, very talented and is so encouraging!

The rules:
Give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about blogland! Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so that they can pass it on.

I'm going to try to pick some gals who haven't been chosen yet that do "Make My Day" and I am grateful for taking the time to check out my blog.

ANNOUNCEMENT - tomorrow, January 14 is my BLOG ANNIVERSARY! It will be one year since I started this blog to share my stamping, scrapping and a little of my life with anyone interested. I will be posting some BLOG CANDY tomorrow evening - stay tuned!!

My nominations:

Melanie Muenchinger - Hands, Head & Heart - if you read my blog you will see several posts about my local friend who just designed her first stamp set 'Just so Hippy' that Gina K Designs launched recently. I love this girl!

Ila - Artfully Ila (have you seen this woman's coloring technique? it's just fabulous!) She has some awesome cards on her blog!!!

Angie Tieman - Schwooo! I met (but not officially) at the N. Dallas SCS Shoebox Swap Oct '06 she gave a demonstration. She won SU! Artisan Award last year, she's got a great style about her & her stamping too!

Simone Collins - Daily Dose of Spazz - She is so cute! A single mom who loves to stamp & scrapbook who is doing a great job raising her boy Max.

Michelle Kovak - Thoughts of a Card-making Scrapbooker - check out Michelle's blog, she is very talented and seems like the greatest mom around!!

Jennifer Ofiana - Jen's Stampin' Spot - Jen is a great stamper! She was chosen for the C.C. Designs Design Team and I have enjoyed ALL she's made! We recently discovered we grew up in the same city! We have both moved on (she's still in CA but I'm not anymore). Small world, huh??

Nicole Cooke - The Stampin' Librarian - Nicole is the sweetest and on the design team of Kitchen Sink Stamps (quite an enabler because of it). I'll never forget she sent me my first blogger's RAK!

Dawn Easton - Treasure Oiler Designz - Dawn is a sweetheart, great stamper and mom!

Velta - Impressions by V - Velta has been so encouraging since she discovered my blog, even commenting that I should write a book *smile* She seems like a precious woman, check out her blog, she has wonderful creations on there!!

Kathy Hatzke - Kathat Stamps - Kathy is awesome! I love her cards, she also lives in the Bay Area & we plan to hook up next tme I visit my family (most likely May this year) and I'm looking forward to it!

Melissa Kaufman - Simply Pink. Melissa has a clean style to her cards that I love. She is a real sweetheart, leaving encouraging comments on my posts.

Embrace Life Everyday

This calendar is one of our projects for this month's stamp club. I am teaching watercoloring which is great because it's one f my FAVORITE things about stamping! This calendar was inspired by Lisa Somerville as well as Debbie Olson's Embrace Life card which is just gorgeous! I really love purples & greens together so pairing these colors with this rose from the Embrace Life set was such a no brainer (but of course I hadn't thought about it before feasting my eyes on Debbie' work of art! duh) I added some Dazzling Diamonds to the roses which I believe just completes the project.

Then, since I was playing with Melanie's Just so Hippy set by Gina K Designs, I decided to make her this (click on link to see her blog post). I gave it to her on Weds when we met for lunch and a little shopping at Memory Depot which was fun, thanks Melanie! *wink* She wanted/needed her set back but I completely understood (she was without it, after all for nearly 5 days!) I so appreciated it but now I'm having withdrawals from it & hope it arrives soon!! She also gave me the cutest card but I have to find it so I can take a picture & upload it.

Here is the gift I presented to this month's stamp club hostess (Pam) and she loved it. I decided to make 2 because I knew I wanted to have one on hand as a sample once I gave the other one away. This tote was created by Leslie Miller of Running with Scissors. She has great directions and the ones she did are lovely. I used my new Ginger Blossom paper by SU! which is available now in the Spring/Summer Collection. Inside are 4 notecards made from leftover cardstock & paper used to make the tote Kraft notecards. On the left is an assortment of the Ginger Blossom paper, guava & river rock ribbon, ruby red, river rock and guava c/s so she can make more cards for her tote once she gives them away.

Two Scoops New Set Sketch & Color

I was so excited yesterday - I got my new (small) order from SU! Spring/Summer Catalog and my Basic Grey Two Scoops order from All That Scraps! But, I had stamp club so I couldn't play until this morning. I love every 4th Friday I work 1:00 - 5:00. Get to sleep in, do my chores and run errands (usually grabbing some lunch & eating at my desk once I get there). So today I set aside a little time to play with my new stuff & do Beate's weekend sketch challenge 30 and since my Two Scoops paper has a lot of neat colors, the first I noticed were Wild Wasabi, Blue Bayou & Barely Banana - which just so happens to match this week's Color Challenge (Wild Bananas) on SCS! SCORE a 4-in-1!!

the new set I used by SU! is Boho Backgrounds. I don't have the photo corner punch yet (tragic) but I plan to get it real soon, so I faked it with the square punches. Don't ya just LOVE the new Basic Grey Glazed brad in the corner? Ooh and only $4!! and All That Scraps has FREE shipping on a $10 minimum order (it's certainly not hard to do). There's nothing worse than getting a great price on something & paying and arm & a leg for shipping! ugh

side note: now that I look at this card, I think it needs a sentiment somewhere. maybe on the green stripe.

Some Monkey Love for Melanie

This is for you, Melanie. I am giving up some 'Monkey Love' for the first set you designed for Gina K Designs. Since the debut last week, most people have said the Hippo or Giraffe was their favorite animal. I have to admit mine is the Giraffe too (because of the heart spots) but I also think the monkey is cute too! So when I was shopping at the $1 Target Spot the other day and saw this heart-shaped post-it pad I knew the monkey would be adorable on the front. The only way I figured to make it work was to keep it shut with the ribbon at the top because of the post-it shape. I just didn't have time to over-think it so this is how it turned out. I used my Hanna Stamps Perfect Package set for the bow on her head and added some stardust stickles to make it shine.

New Thomas Kinkade stamps at CHF

WOW! as if what they had wasn't enough - they came out with more and they are BEAUTIFUL! I am in awe. In honor of that, I want to share with you the first 2 cards I made with The Light of Peace & Cobblestone Bridge stamps. I knew I would have fun with these especially after all the great gallery inspiration on CHF's site as well as Debbie's Thinking Inking blog (check out all her new TK stuff here) Boy when I made my first purchase of these stamps it was hard because all of them are wonderful but I had to think about how/when I would use them & those were my motivators. For one, my oldest sister Val has a gorgeous framed piece of art of The Bridge of Faith (Cobblestoen Bridge) and I knew I would want to make her some notecards. Then, in the gallery Linda Bullard made a stamped candle with The Light of Peace. What a wonderful gift/home decor that makes so I knew that would be a future project. Wow, so many ideas, stamps, so little time & money.

For these cards I used my Versamagic dew drops for the images. The sentiment is by MFT Essential Sentiments. On the second card I used the Leaves #3 backgrounder by CHF. Again, after seeing what Debbie has done with hers (o.k. now I guess I may sound like a stalker, but really I get a LOT of inspiration and enabling from Debbie *wink* because I love her style). Thanks, Debbie - it's all good.

Teddy Bear Calendar

I made this calendar for a co-worker (male) whose wife recently had their 1st baby boy (they already had 2 girls ages 6 & 9) I didn't figure he'd keep this so I told him it was o.k. for him to pass on to his wife. Luckily before I gave it to him, I realized I had 2007 calendar instead of 2008 so I went on SCS real quickly & printed up the right one & put it together right. phew! I was inspired by Lisa Sommerville (Splendiferous Creations) post for this great little gift! Btw - he was very grateful for the gift and thought it was real nice.

Hey Baby FS Challenge 48

Featured Stamper Challenge 48 is Nancy Riley check out her blog iSTAMP. Here is the card I cased Fall Whimsy Swap Card. I used Just so Hippy and my color inspiration came from this ribbon I got in a blog candy win from Leigh O' Brien which I LOVE!! I changed the colors (hers were fall) and the stamps of course. I thought this sketch was a great way to showcase ALL of the animals in Melanie's set! Did I tell you how much I ADORE this set and how grateful I am she let me borrow it?? Thanks again, Mel!

I also was inspired by Debbie Olson again and got some Cornish Heritage Farms backgrounders - Large Polka Dot

This card was SO fun to make so I made 2!!!

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge - Just So Hippy Debut!

How many of you were in the Gina K Designs forum last night for the new stamps release party? At one time there were 216 gals (guys too?) in there! I stayed around an hour. There were 1,971 replies! It was fast & furious (they all are) but I wanted to support my friend Melanie Muenchinger of Hands, Head & Heart whose first stamp set was one of the releases called Just so Hippy just $17.95 for 18 images! And let me tell you, they are F-U-N to play with! Melanie and I hung out on Friday afternoon (I LOVE my 1/2 day Fridays schedule so I can do fun stuff like this!). She's a SAHM and the boys went across the street for a little while for us to chat & I could help her on her blog a little. Well, she let me bring her set home so I could play with it & of course I will be buying my own set because it is awesome!! btw, the welcome baby sentiment is not in the set, I typed & printed it up to go with the polyshrink baby hippo.

This card was made for Beate's weekly sketch challenge (week 29) I can hardly believe this is the first one I'm actually participating in; I have wanted to play for weeks now, but was just too busy with all the holiday stuff & other commitments. So here I am starting a new tradition to play.

My very own Monogrammed Notecards

Look! I made these for ME!! I had to, since I got my new Kitchen Sink Stamps 3-Step Daisy. I remember first noticing this company via SCS ad banner a few months ago. Then, Nicole Cooke started posting awesome projects using them. Make sure you check out her silk scarf stamping oh and while you're at it, try your hand at winning a set on her blog {but hurry, you only have until Jan 8}!

Well, I hemmed and hawwed (sp?) for a while and glad I did because right after Christmas, they had a sale! So, I got my set at a discount. It's been a while since SU! has had a 2-step set that I've LOVED since Roses in Winter but of course those were roses and these are daisies (fresh and great for Spring, Summer and well, it's winter right now but it was FUN to stamp these bright daisies last night!)

I decided to make these my monogram notecards since I also got Papertrey's Ambassador Monogram Edition Stamp set as well as the Borders & Corners Monogram Edition set which I knew would work beautifully with this set.

A set of monogram notecards makes a lovely gift set too.