Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Simple Thanks


I've had my Thanks embossing folder forever & it's the first time I used it for this card. Sorry the angle of the card is wonky, so it's hard to see the layering of the focal sentiment. It's simple yet perfectly gets the point across to say thank you.
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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

TLC165 - Birthday Gift card holder


I just realized my Godson's 13th birthday is less than 3 weeks away! I'm looking forward to seeing him when we go to CA for the arrival of my nephew - we arrive 2 days after his birthday so I definitely will bring his present with me (which will either be a gift card or cash) and I plan to slip it in his holder I made. This was for Try a New Technique Challenge last week (TLC165)

Since it's for a boy - I kept the design simple & didn't out too much on the inside. Plus, for a 13 yr-old boy - it's more about the contents.
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Monday, April 28, 2008

WSC45 - Hippy New Baby Girl


My DH's 2nd cousin had her 3rd baby this past week & this is the card I made to send using Melanie's new set Hip Hop Accessories by Gina K. I used Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge 45 See the binky sticking out of the baby giraffe's mouth? Too cute. Used my DCWV glitter stack.
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Sunday, April 27, 2008

TECC13 - Sweets



I hadn't played in Taylor's Cupcake Challenge in a while & have missed it. I combined TECC13 with SCS color challenge on SCS this week CC163 - Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink & Chocolate Chip. I thought Kim Hughes' Baked with Love by Cornish Heritage Farms with the 'SWEETS' would be great for this! Afterward I thought it turned out a little 'busy' because of the DCWV glitter paper but loved the colors & circles. Also realized these colors look great with Kraft cardstock - surprise!
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Saturday, April 26, 2008

Get Whale Soon, k?



I love this SU! set Pun Fun - when you purchase by the end of April you get the Sweet Stars wheel (on the paper in the lower card) for free!
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Happy Birthday now let's play Dress-Up Gabby!!


Today my sweet niece turns 2! I haven't talked with her yet because the party animal was still asleep a while ago because she burned the midnight oil by staying up past 1:00 a.m.! Mommy was trying to get ready for the big party this afternoon (insert sad face because we can't be there). We will see her in 3 1/2 weeks though - I'll be starting to count down the days! She is such a HUGE blessing to us all & everyone's lives now center around her (even mine and I live over 1,000 miles away!) We'll start sharing the love with her brother soon though.

In a few days I should have some birthday pics from my cousin Andrea, but above is an adorable one taken a few weeks ago where she reminds me of Lily in the set Dress Up Lily I knew when I saw this set from Pink Cat Studio that I would use it a lot because of this precious little girl. What's so cool is that she now personalizes the set for just $1 so I had her make mine Dress Up Gabby. How cute is that?! Of course, I will keep the stamps *wink* but I can use these not only for cards & projects for her but for scrapbook pages too! Talk about getting a lot of mileage out of a set!!

Here is my first project that I envisioned when I first saw the set! Do you remember Colorforms? Do you remember paperdolls? Well those 2 were some of my favorite toys growing up! I had a monchichi colorforms set that I ADORED! Well, I decided to make Gabby her own modern set incorporating my love of stamping! This project turned out to be the most intensive labor of love just yet for my sweet niece but she TOTALLY deserves it! I got my set on Thursday evening & went to work on it right away and just finished it up this afternoon. I started with stamping & coloring LOTS of the images. Then, I cut them out & laminated them, cut AGAIN and stuck magnets on the back of EACH of the pieces. Last year I bought this magnetic bulletin board from clearance at Michael's for $4 and had NO clue what I was going to use it for but when the idea came for Gabby's paperdolls I knew it would be PERFECT! score....


Next, I got Melanie's What's in Your Tin set 1 by Gina K (which coincidentally arrived yesterday) and made an tin to house all Gabby's Dress-Up Accessories. Some are so tiny, I hope she is very careful & doesn't lose any. If I know my sisters, I think they will be sure she doesn't because they will appreciate the time I spent making it all. The back of the tin is covered with a magnet so it will stay real well on the board! Here are some close-ups of the dress up Gabbys. You'll see some of them have paper-pieced clothing. Some are using Prismacolor pencils & OMS and some Copics. I jazzed them up with Sakura glitter pen, stickles because Gabby has to be dressed to the 9's

Angel Gabby

Ice Cream Gabby

Princess Gabby

Party Animal Gabby (oh yea)

Mod Podge Gabby (not sure what I was thinking when I dressed her in this ensemble?)

and my favorite Easter Bunny Gabby

I have to confess - I was squealing with delight as I was putting this together & was having so much fun playing with it that I was almost wished I made a set to keep for myself. I know, weird...because I'm 36 and still a kid! Guess that's a good reason to have one of
my own someday *wink* ?!?!

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Friday, April 25, 2008

BC07 - Background Blitz - Final Day


*insert sad face* Well, here it is - my Anything but a Card challenge project on Cornish Heritage Farms Forums. I intended (without realizing, to use my Tyson earrings from the other day for this challenge that I stamped on polyshrink & realized duh, I didn't use a backgrounder). So I had to come up with another idea {all week I thought about it but it wasn't until the MIDDLE of the night - so inconvenient when you're trying to sleep - that this idea came to me} I HAD to make it this morning BEFORE I left for work because of this addiction I have. I stamped my Pretty Pattern backgrounder in white StazOn on black polyshrink and cut it with my Nestabilities scallop circle - how cool, huh? I think I will make a set of matching earrings next. I realized I can't use hemp (looks so neat though) because it irritates my skin too much. So I will transfer it to some tiger tail soon. But, it would make a nice gift for someone whose skin was not weird like mine. Hope y'all have a great weekend!

we're going to take our best friends out to look at the progress on our property (they saw it more than a year ago & it will be fun to hear their excitement over all the changes). Perhaps I will post a few pictures from it to show you.
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Thursday, April 24, 2008

CHF Backgrounder Blitz - Day 6!!


Tomorrow will make the end of the CHF Backgrounder Blitz (insert sad face) - and their release of 2 new backgrounders!!! I sure have enjoyed all these challenges, and chatting with the gals participating in the threads. Today's challenge to to use masking of backgrounders in your creation. I decided to make a faux layer card (instead of calling it a one layer card) - using my coluzzle to make a frame for my focal image. I used my Pretty Pattern BG in Soft Sky ink & sponged around the mask with River Rock before removing it. Then, I stamped my Petal Prints in Soft Sky & Blue Bayou over it. Finished off with my Warmest Regards (retired SU!) sentiment. Pin It

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

And the CHF Backgrounder Blitz continues - Day 5!!


Today our challenge is to stamp with 2 or more backgrounders. I chose Beate's Weekend sketch 44 from last week (recognize the colors from my green owl on Monday?) for my layout and black accents for POP! Don't ya just love the black cherry on the cupcake? Those are Sprinkles brads (Kissy Fit by Queen & Company) I got at All That Scraps! They are itty bitty - just too cute!

I LOVE these bright colors together! Pixie Pink, Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise & Not Quite Navy. I discovered this fabulous bright combination of colors from the greatest resource called Scraptitude where you plug in SU! colors to coordinate! I started with pink passion & basic black & went from there to see what I could make with the scraps I had. That is the FIRST thing I do before I cut a new sheet of cardstock. Then the next day I kept the scraps together to make the owl card & try to do that until the scraps are so small I don't feel so bad about throwing in the trash. The other thing I do if I am not ready to do another card is put them in a cello bag for future use, because let's face it, there are SO many color combos out there I may not remember this one so this helps.

I used my Lined Paper & Large Polka Dot Backgrounder (both may be purchased from Cornish Heritage Farms) here with VersaMark (rediscovering my love for that watermark stamp too!) The cupcake & enjoy sentiment are from Kim Hughes' Baked with Love set and the 3 part sentiment in the lower right panel is SU! Lots of Thoughts SAB 2008

If you have never purchase from CHF before, and have liked what I've showcased on the BLITZ all week - check them out! Free Shipping with orders $35 or more, the prices are great, you can get wood mounted or mounted on smartcushion ready to use with your acrylic blocks and they are offering DOUBLE POINTS in their CHF Club until April 25th on all backgrounders purchased! I plan to get at least 4 for my stamping arsenal! Pin It

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

CHF Backgrounder Blitz - Day 4


Today's Challenge (BC04) is Smooches! Kissing backgrounders. I had a little difficulty with this because I don't have a really solid backgrounder yet, so I had to use my Large Polka Dot backgrounder (inked in Soft Sky) and on top of that Pretty Pattern (Blue Bayou ink). I really love how it turned out, though even if it is very subtle. Remember my renewed love for all things embossed (dry & heat now?) well, I stamped my flowers (SU! Embrace Life) in versamark on vellum cardstock & embossed with black detail embossing powder and cut them out. They are so pretty on the Blush Blossom with the splash of black on the matting! I added a pearl center I got from Ellen Hutson's store. I like this card so much I didn't want to mess with a greeting until I am ready to mail it to someone special so I have the right greeting at the time I need it.
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Happy Mail from Saturday!


I had a great Sat (didn't get a chance to post because we were out all day at a Green Building show). It was so informative & really makes the reality of us building our own home hit. I am so excited although we are still a few years off. So we are in our preparations & savings mode right now which can be a real challenge at times (especially the whole 'budget' thing when we are only allowed one eating out meal a month!) that is SO rough esp when I get tired of cooking!) But thank God for my DMIL who gives me a break once a week & either treats us or cooks something simple even when she is not feeling well. DH is 'supposed' to give me a night or 2 off too, but that usually involves me still partly planning the meal or being sure there is frozen pizza for him to cook! ugh. I have to think of all the other positive things he brings to our relationship since cooking is not one of them. Oh well...I still love you honey even though it's a frustration at times {he actually reads my blog so I have to be good}.


Anyway after all the exhausting hours of vendor hopping we got an 'extra' treat of Wendy's (gotta love those $1 value menu items) and a nice nap...DH brought me some Happy Mail on Saturday!

I got this adorable squirrel card from Simone (aka Spazzgirl) Daily Dose of Spazz. Not only is she talented as a great scrapper & stamper but she is a single, HOT mama who seems to be doing a wonderful job raising Max and she is so funny! Simone also has another blog Scrap Your Crap in which something of mine will be highlighted in a challenge in May. Stay tuned. Isn't this card so cute?! I look forward to meeting her some day she visits her younger brother who goes to college here but for now we'll 'chat' via our blogs & email. Sonic is waiting for you, Simone *smile*


I got this beauty from the Beauty herself Lee Murphy (LuvLee on SCS) My Reality....It's All Good. I adored this double pocket she made for the challenge on SCS last week....little did I know it would end up mine! DH said it had a 'western' feel to it. Lee wrote the sweetest note on one of the pockets that just blessed my heart (and I feel was a segway to bringing us closer) she is so encouraging with her comments (and funny), lives in Colorado (which is where we almost moved to before we decided to stay) with her great hubby and 2 teenagers that she home schools! kudos to you, girl! Check out what she tucked into that 2nd pocket! A Starbucks card - what a treat because that gourmet coffee is SO not in the budget - what a blessing to me! Thank you again, Lee! By the way - yesterday was her birthday - go check out her blog & post a belated birthday wish! I meant to post this yesterday but I ran out of time! ugh Pin It

Monday, April 21, 2008

CHF Sketch Challenge - 042108



This is my 2nd week to participate in the weekly challenge put on by the CHK chicks. This week, a sketch. First time to use my Tres Jolie paper (I bought nearly a year ago *GASP*) the night owls {Kim Hughes' U R A Hoot} are showing they are in love with the moonlight in the background. My heart (sorry I couldn't get a close up, is embossing in Groovy Guava ink! It is SO pretty. I sponged the ink on my cardstock & pressed it into my versamark pad then sprinkled clear embossing powder over it. I stamped the heart from Kim Hughes' set Baked with Love on the back & cut it out because I did not want the lines to show. I love the dimension with the owls & heart on dimensionals. Owls are colored with Copic markers.
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CHF Backgrounder Blitz Day 3!!


All I can say is WOW! I have to say I am blown away by the ideas for this challenge! I am blown away by the WHOLE backgrounder BLITZ period! This is the BEST challenge I've ever been involved with; getting SO many ideas, so much positive feedback, I am in awe!

Our challenge today is to stamp on anything but paper. How fun is that?! So on my first project, I stamped 3 colors of Palette ink (from my Lautrec cube pack) on the Large Polka dot backgrounder then stamped on the twill {same with the sentiment, direct to rubber). It's real easy to do that with the 1-inch pads! Tried to re-created the multi-colors on Tyson's (CHF Stamp of the Month) polka dots with my pure color pencils (SU!). Are you in LOVE with him yet??! Surprised to see Kraft c/s again?! HA! How cute are those green & blue mini brads? They came from the Basic Grey brads to coordinate with my new Cupcake paper pad. Did I tell you the Lautrec cube packs do too?! It was totally NOT intentional when I bought them, go figure?! Guess my brain functions even when I'm NOT trying to work it!
On my other project, I stamped Tyson with Palette (Beaux Arts Blue) ink on white polyshrink. He was colored with Pure Color pencils...look how VIBRANT they turn out?! I have a renewed love for Pure Color Pencils too! How cute are these? Guess who gets them?! Yes, my sweet soon-to-be 2 yr-old niece, Gabby. Who by the way, I had a date with on the webcam last night so we could see her open her birthday gifts. Boy, that girl KNOWS her money! Her face just lit up when she saw the $2 she got! I heard the idea somewhere, to give a child the amount of $ to coorespond with their birthday. It won't be long that she will KNOW that every year on her birthday she will get $1 more dollar! Of course that won't be ALL she gets. But if you ask her what she does with her $, she says, "piggy bank" and you ask her what the $ is for? The genius of a girl says, "COLLEGE" get out?! Is that NOT the cutest thing you've ever heard? Just imagine HEARING IT?! She cracks me up! Naturally she has NO clue what college is, but for her to even remember that is the funniest! Oh and not surprisingly, the little Princess tin I made her, it was definitely her FAVE! She wouldn't let either of my sisters even touch it. She said, "no, Gabby Do's" Gabby Do you say? Well, that's what she calls herself because her mommy made up a song about Gabby Do, it is so precious, I tell ya. Can't wait to hug & kiss on that girl!

P.S. - forgot to mention I won a backgrounder from Day 1 uploads! I am getting the Grid Paper one. And I won Gina K's new set 'Owl Always Love You' - (out of 398 entries!!) you know how much I love my owl set by Kim Hughes? Well, I know for a fact I will love Gina's too! How blessed am I?!?! Pin It

Sunday, April 20, 2008

WSC44 - Green Owl?


I just realized I manage to do Beate's weekend sketch every other weekend, interesting. It doesn't mean I don't want to do it every weekend, but sometimes I just don't have the time to squeeze it in. This time I did and it's a great one - WSC44! I think my proportions are a little off, but I was using scraps from another challenge I did with these same colors for the backgrounder blitz at CHF. I will upload that one the day of the challenge because I was making it in advance. If I make a card with a particular combo I like, I try to do at least 2 to use up my scraps. This one is bright & fun so I definitely wanted to use it again. Have you ever seen a green owl? I haven't but one of the most fun things with stamping is that you can let your imagination soar!

I also threw in Sharon's stamp simply ssnotime31 - to use black accents because of the bright colors I knew would POP. I used Kim Hughes' U R A Hoot (owl & balloon) & Baked with Love (the cake, let's celebrate & enjoy) you can get at Cornish Heritage Farms. And below is how I decorated the inside, inspired by the lovely Sharon Harnist.


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"The Essentials" - Sewing Kit


I had the idea to make one of these kits ever since the day I got Melanie's set What's In Your Tin 2 last month and I finally had a free moment to make it. I picked up the kit at the $ store, because our Mamaw, some time last year, had a sewing emergency and nothing to the rescue such as this. Now her dilemma is solved, can't wait to send it to her. Pin It

CHF Backgrounder Blitz - Day 2! Tyson takes a turn & so do I


Kraft is back!? Did you miss it? Here is Tyson (the stamp of the month) stamped with Burnt Umber Palette Ink & colored with Twinkling h2o's from the Kit 1263 I got from Cornish Heritage Farms. I used Mint Julep, Rain Forest (greens) and Sapphire on Ice (blue). Wish I could really capture the twinkle on these in my photo. These cards are for today's challenge #2 (BC02) Partial Backgrounder stamping - fading or stamping part of a layer. I used my Large Polka Dot Backgounder in VersaMark & embossed with clear powder (embossing is so fun!) Wonder how (or why) I have the open arrow on the card? Well, I made a boo boo with the sentiment & had to get creative because the card was almost done {all the layers, focal image assembled} so I took the scrap cardstock I punched my arrow out with & cut a small border around it & made it to highlight the part of the sentiment I didn't mess up! So now there was a cute green button to the rescue and the sentiment was complete. I kinda liked that mess up!


My second card is one that I totally got creative with and am so pleased with the outcome! I used the SCS Color Challenge (CC162) from this week: Blush Blossom, Groovy Guava & Basic Gray and it's just a LOVELY combo! I decided to stamp the bottom half of the card with Leaves 3 Backgrounder & use my cb embossing folder Stylized Flowers for the top half. LOVE the taffeta ribbon for a small accent here, as I did not want to make it distract from the sentiment focal image (which is heat embossed with silver)

Here is where I took a turn - to step up my card a notch! Since I was using my cb embossing folder on half of my card, I thought about Sharon's post on Friday to put a strip of coordinating cardstock on the inside of her card but didn't do that - thought why not use a portion of the embossing folder on it to match?! LOVE IT but I didn't stop there --- I decided to run my envelope through it too. I ADORE how that turned out! You know embossed stationery & matching envelopes are expensive! I think I see a stationery set coming on using these elements. How lovely would that be?!?

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Friday, April 18, 2008

CHF Backgrounder Blitz Kickoff Day 1!


Wow, I had such a great stamping afternoon/evening today (after a sweet hour and a half nap of course) I made 6 cards and a non-card item for the Cornish Heritage Farms Backgrounder Blitz that kicked off in the forums this evening. I had to make them ahead of time-glad they were posted early because I have a lot of other projects going on that I needed to carve out my time to do them. I realized I need some floral stamps by CHF to go along with the 4 backgrounder stamps I have (and that I need more of those too)! For every backgrounder you purchase from April 18-25 you get DOUBLE CHF points for! woohoo! So here are the 2 cards I made for the first challenge BC01-sketch by Lisa Strahl.

My first card was made with the Leaves 3 Backgrounder - stamped in VersaMark on Soft Sky cardbase. I have a renewed love for embossing as a result of my last stamp club meeting. The hostess wanted to learn embossing. I taught them about 7 ways to use it and that's just the tip of the iceberg with it. Everyone sure enjoyed it, though including me so now I am using it more often. The leaves from Petal Prints are embossed with silver powder; I love the soft elegant look of it.


My second card uses the Stained Glass technique of embossing on vellum cardstock with a line art image and coloring the back with markers. I used the Always Heart for this, which seemed to be most everyone's favorite technique to learn--they were just wowed by it! I used Regal Rose, Rose Red and Always Artichoke, a few of my favorite colors.

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Teacher Retirement


How fun is this card for a 2nd Grade teacher who is retiring? I love using Cornish Heritage Farms Lined Paper Backgrounder - PERFECT for a teacher, huh? I had a few teacher stamped images from a swap (so glad) because she is made for this card! I love the spiral punch to go with this backgrounder too. The center of the prima flowers is a silver dew drop by Robin's Nest (first time using it) I purchased at All That Scraps. Pin It

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Retirement Card


I don't think I've ever made retirement cards before but a customer requested some for her fellow teachers. This is using Kim Hughes' U R A Hoot by Cornish Heritage Farms is for a Texas Longhorn fan (so I used my Really Rust c/s) I saw how others used rhinestone brads inside their jumbo eyelets so I did mine on top of a chocolate button (Sultry by Basic Grey purchased by All That Scraps-free shipping with a $10 order!) I just cut off the prongs with my pliers & used a mini glue dot to adhere it. I used my Paisley cb embossing folder (the negative effect) again because it gives added texture! Lastly, the owl's eyelids & claws are layered with dimensionals for more depth. FUN - I LOVE this owl!!! I colored him on Kraft cardstock with my prismacolor pencils & OMS and then highlighted with Twinkling h2o's (the gold color)
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Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Tyson's Birthday Wishes for Kim -Why I {heart} CHF


Since it's Kim's Birthday 37th today and I don't have her snail mail address, I figured I would send her a virtual birthday card using her Cornish Heritage Farms Stamp of the Month (SOTM) Tyson! How cute is he? I just realized recently that once these stamps of the month are gone I don't think you can get them again. He comes with a sentiment, "take time to enjoy your day" and he works with her other sets! Here, I paired him up with U R A Hoot, also by Kim for his party hat & balloon.

I used today's sketch challenge SC172 for my layout (wow a sketch challenge on the actual day)! Of course I used my Basic Grey Cupcake set (which is great for birthdays) I also used last week's TLC163 - Stacked Ribbon.
Tyson was stamped with Palette Cube Pack - Lautrec (Beaux Arts blue) from All That Scraps and colored with Prismacolor Pencils & OMS. Then highlighted with Twinkling H2o's kit 1263{which you can't tell from the photo, they really twinkle} those were purchased from Cornish Heritage Farms. They are fun to have, because of the 1-inch surface, I was able to only ink the bottom portion of the sentiment, real easily!

Hope you had a fabulous birthday, Kim!
Why I {heart} CHF - there was a challenge this week (didn't realize in the forums and I could play along) why I LOVE CHF. There really are a lot of reasons but I am to come up with 3!
One - they have unmounted stamps with smart cushion, deeply etched red rubber that you cut & are ready to use with acrylic blocks!
Two - they have a variety of images to choose from, including a Stamp of the Month (this post) and offer FREE shipping on $35 or more in product. And they recycle!
Three - they have a rewards program (Club CHF) & online referral program (where you could win $25, $15 or $10 by posting an online project to them via email for the monthly draw) and I WON last month! I was so excited to get Keri's email at the beginning of April saying I got the $25! It came just in time for their last release {I got Kim's Baked with Love, the SOTM and part of my twinkling h20's for that}
and lastly, it's all about celebrating with them - life, blessings, achievements, etc. so that's why I chose to make this card for Kim's birthday, and to celebrate more than just that - it's a celebration of all things CHF!
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Embrace Many Thanks


I had this image leftover from my demos at my workshop on Sat showing watercoloring so I figured I would turn it into a card not realizing the colors I chose looked pretty nice together (IMO) Pink Passion, Garden Green {and I believe So Saffron?) then threw in some black for POP! After I finished, I realized I probably should have layered a pink passion under the focal image. Oh well. I used my Cornish Heritage Farms backgrounder Pretty Pattern.

Did you hear about their Backgrounder Blitz that is going on for a whole week? Here is a link to all the juicy details. Hope you participate! I realized I have 5 of those babies, they are a dream, I LOVE 'em and want more so of course I'll be playin' to win (in fact they posted the challenges early so we have time to fit them on our time, how awesome is that? I already did one yesterday but you have to wait until Sat to see that!! hmmm...wonder if it's using Kraft cardstock? You'll have to check in to see...

Also Kim Hughes is turning 37 TODAY! and she's giving away 37 prizes! Check it out here - go tell her Happy Birthday - How cool/sweet is that?!?! Pin It

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Workshop Projects


My Demo: My hostess wanted to see a shaker card done so I came up with this idea using In the Stars, Summer Picnic designer paper and styled hodgepodge hardware (all in the Occasions mini) & Absolutely Fabulous - I wowed everyone with this so I was pretty pleased, it went together rather quickly except for the fact I took 1/2 the dimensional backings off before placing my microbeads in and they manage to stick (duh)

Door Prizes - these cute nugget purses (thanks to Elizebeth) were quite a hit! Everyone loved them! Who wouldn't?!

Make & Take - Using the Pun Fun/Sweet Stars Jumbo Wheel from the Free Wheelin' Promo through April 30. Everyone loved making this card, it was simple yet cute (see, Kraft c/s again) with the spiral punched square of Summer Picnic Designer Paper. Used the Pure Color Pencils on the birdie, which are also fun to use especially on darker cardstock.

I'll post the hostess gift another day (I still have to finish photographing it)

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Monday, April 14, 2008

SC171 & CC161



Here is my combined sketch challenge 171 & color challenge 161 from last week (better late than never, right?) Oddly enough, I kindof like the card. I've been on a kick of Kraft cardstock lately (you'll see with some future cards I'll post) because it's a great neutral. I really like it with these (odd) colors together. I did have to spruce it up a little with the greeting, brads & swatches of ribbon, though. Used my Boho Backgrounds set.
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You Cheer Me Up Award


Monika M.A.D. Stamper awarded me the You Cheer Me Up Award- how sweet?! I'm so glad I decided to send a BRAK (birthday RAK) to Monika March 2007 - but totally missed her birthday this year, how awful! Anyway we have sent one another RAK's ever since and I've enjoyed the surprise of every one of them! I totally LOVE this episode of I Love Lucy, I think I would do the same if I worked in a candy factory (would NOT be a good idea for my lack of a waistline, it would just keep expanding) I say this as I see a few pieces of chocolate next to my computer - HA! but they ARE miniatures ones *wink*

Edited to Add: Sophia at Moonlight Inker gave me the same award over the weekend, how kind of you because I do feel the same about you, friend - thank you! Check out her blog if you haven't already, it is sweet eye candy for the stamper!

I'd like to extend this award to the following ladies who always manage to Cheer Me Up with their sweet comments on my blog, which I totally look forward to EVERY day and motivates me to post every day too! There are SO many other ladies out there, but I wanted to recognize some ladies I hadn't before who always manage to take the time to comment on my creations. Thanks, Ladies! Check out their stuff!


Chris - Scrappin & Stampin in Texas
Deborah - Sharing my Obsession
Jennie - Jen & Sheldon's life
Kelly - My Little Hobby
Michele - Thoughts of a Cardmaking Scrapbooker Pin It

Friday, April 11, 2008

Stamp Club End


It was bittersweet last night as my stamp club that started in November came to an end. I will miss seeing my 'friends' once a month but I surely do need a break. I should have taken some pictures with them last night. I awarded Pam with this little box for PERFECT ATTENDANCE. You should have seen the look of sheer surprise & utter delight when she got opened it to find all the goodies!! I used the Occasions Mini Summer Picnic DP. Sentiment is by Stampin' Up! Absolutely Fabulous set. I stuffed an assortment of matching circle fire & square ice rhinestone brads, styled hodgepodge hardware, matching ribbon & felt fusion flowers.

Here is the hostess gift I made because she loves DP and has the 5-in-1 Envelope template. The big one uses the template here is the tutorial for it by Amy Celona: Amy's 5 in 1 Template Pocketbook It's really difficult to photograph something like this, you almost need a stand that the ribbon handle can hang from it order to see it well. On the sides are jumbo eyelets and ribbon connected with Fire circle brads to match it.

The adorable mini purse is by Elizebeth and here is her tutorial: Elizebeth's Favor Bag Tutorial and there are nuggets inside matching the DP. Both items are held closed with velcro pieces.
The hostess adored them, as well as everyone else.

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Thursday, April 10, 2008

Banana Cupcake Thank You Gift


I found this awesome Banana Cupcake with Honey-Cinnamon Frosting recipe on a link on Carolina's Creative Pad I just tried looking for it, but she has several links on their to other people's cupcake blogs - another reason I am so happy I found Carolina's blog!! Well, when I saw these one day, I printed up the recipe but didn't save the link. Sorry! But let me tell you, they are DELICIOUS cupcakes! So moist, and I think good for you since it uses REAL butter you know margarine is not good for you so butter is healthier *ha* and I put Organic Sugar in mine instead of the white sugar (which is not all that healthy either). Anyway I made these to send to our friend's mom who gave us farm fresh eggs a few weeks ago as a thank you (also in hopes of being offered more eggs, I know...shameful) talk about yummy - if you've never had a farm fresh egg & just the ones from the store let me tell you that you are seriously missing out on some wholesome goodness! My DMIL said she heard a Christian doctor say eggs ARE good for you (especially when you have your yolk not cooked all the way and that's exactly how I like mine).

Anyway, I just got my new Baked with Love set (by Kim Hughes) from Cornish Heritage Farms and thought it would go great to give the recipe along with the thank you cupcakes. I love her writing - yummy stuff is just perfect! I put Cotton Candy stickles on the cupcake and how cute is Changito hanging out on the bottom? I also thought putting my recipe on a sheet of lined paper (also by CHF) - can you tell I {{HEART}} this backgrounder?? would be real cute, because I did need MORE space than an index card gives - I even had to finish the recipe on the back and I was writing smaller than usual.

Edited to add: link to Banana Cupcakes with Honey-Cinnamon Frosting from Heather (Hopefully), thank you!! It's such an awesome community, we're always looking out for one another, huh?

Also, the recipients of the cupcakes LOVED them-they were delivered last night and as a thank you we got over 2 dozen farm fresh eggs!! woohoo!! Pin It