Happy for a Cupcake Tee

I don’t know about you, but I love me a good cupcake! I combined Melanie’s Little Tees and cupcake charm from A Charmed Life to make a delicious tee {that I wish I had IRL!} and paired it with squares of DCWV Sweet Stack!!

Speaking of real life – a few weeks ago, the sweet & lovely Luvlee aka Lee Murphy came to town to meet us local Gina K gals-Melanie, Carolyn and me. In addition to that, Paula (Mrslaird) was visiting from Houston to meet with us too! How fun! We went to an awesome burger joint called Phil’s Ice House that is just tasty where you can get sweet potato fries with regular ones or by themselves and I adore sweet potato fries (Carolyn even tried them but wasn’t that much of a fan)!! Afterward, we walked up to ‘Hey Cupcake’ a local cupcake shop! It was my 2nd time trying it and my choice of cupcake (chocolate on chocolate with a shot of real whipped cream inside-moist & sweet) was 3 times better than the first time I tried one (black velvet with white icing-dry & less than desirable).

Here’s a picture of us all (from left to right – Paula, Carolyn, Melanie, her cute boy William, me and Lee). Lee is so sweet; SHE was the one who came to visit & gave US all stamped/homemade goodies – a treat box filled with chocolates, a large chocolate bar & homemade choke berry jelly which is YUMMY!!! Thank you, Lee – she is so generous!!!

We had a lovely afternoon but I had to jet & get back to work – boo-but a few days later—Lee, her DH and DS hung out with us for dinner. I’ll save sharing that fun with you for another time (every good story ends with a cliffhanger *wink*)

Rubberband Blooms

It’s time for another installment of the talented & sweet Gina K’s StampTV video techniques!  This time, she is using the rubberband technique and although I didn’t clarify what she meant – I remembered using wrapping rubberbands around the rubber brayer and swiping it on cardstock like 6 years ago when I heard of the technique and I probably have not used it since then!  HA---it was fun, though.  I used Cool Caribbean & Chocolate Chip cardstock.  The blooms, flower centers and brown cord are in the StampTV kit.  I made polka dots with an eraser.  Try out the technique & upload your creation in order to get in the drawing for a free stamp set valued at $24.95 or less!  If you use Gina K stamps, your name goes in twice!

I took my inspiration from the oh-so-adorable-and-looking-like-a-pretty-girl toddler Courtney for my card!  She was helping mommy with the dishes the other day when Libby posted a sneak peek of what was to come – she was amused by my comment that Courtney was wearing an apron!  I love this shirt, and would really love to have one but would not want to show my chunky  arms so I think I’ll pass on the quest to find one. 

Hope you have an awesome day!!

Your Friendship is a Blessing…

Here is a card I made last month using Branching Out that I haven’t shared yet! It uses the SCS sketch SC210 from January that I thought would showcase my Basic Grey Offbeat paper so well. I love the idea to put colored berries on the tree to match. I added some sponging for depth on the stamped panels. Hope you like my card – it’s never too late to make cards using sketches, it’s great to have this resource at your fingertips!

I can think of so many people to send this card to – better get it out in the mail to someone this week!! Thanks for visiting today – sneak peeks for Taylored Expressions new stamps will be starting Friday!! Woo-Hoo!

WSC74: Pink & Brown Yoop

I just love Yoop the lamb by Starving Artistamps’ Doodlefactory Easter set!  I used Charmaine’s Weekend Sketch Challenge {WSC74} supplies from Taylored Expressions Easter Key Ingredients for my card (except for brown brads) and had to use Liquid Applique to make the lamb’s fur stand out!  Sweet!!

Did you see the above sneak peek from Irene, the Doodlefactory Illustrator?  I just ha to share with you – I’m sure she won’t mind!  Isn’t Izzy adorable? I love her big ‘ol baby tush!  Can’t wait to get this set!!   

Unity Stamp Co. World Record Inspirational Blog Hop!!

I’m so  excited to be a part of the world record inspirational blog hop brought to you by Unity Stamp Company!  If you came to my blog from Karen’s – yea!! - if not, make sure you start from  Angela’s Blog so you don’t miss any awesome Unity inspiration along the way; eventually you will get back to me (hunker down with a great cup of tea or coffee first!) and enjoy the rest of the HOP!

 

This is the very first Unity card I made–using the ice cream cone from Mix Up of Cuteness and sentiment I am not sure what set it’s from, sorry! 

I used my DCWV Sweet Stack and cardstock colors are: Kraft, Pink Passion,Chocolate Kiss (available in April by Gina K. Designs).  My image was colored with peerless watercolors and there is sparkle & glaze on the ice cream using a Sakura stardust glitter pen &  clear glaze pen.  May Arts polka dot ribbon. 

My Favorite Quote comes from David Gale, a wonderful movie  based on a true story:  "Because in the end the only way we can measure the value of the significance of our own lives is by valuing the lives of others" 

Your next stop on the blog hop is Joni Kix in Life

Thanks for visiting today!!!

Join me for Earth Hour!

I just got my 1st Unity Stamp order!  I’ve been eyeing the stamps there for MONTHS and was finally nudged by their 30% off sale last weekend (am I the only one who doesn’t like to pay full price for anything?)  I guess it’s thanks to John, and since we’ve been on a perpetual budget since we got married nearly 12 years ago…it’s stuck with me!   I made my card to share about Earth Hour with you, also using recycled paper by DCWV – isn’t it awesome?  I got some sheets from Irene, but know I’m going to have to get the whole stack for myself soon because it goes so well with my new Eco Chic set!!

The shipping was fast & check out the cool packaging!  I totally adore the fact it’s in recycled packaging & the deeply etched red rubber, already die cut & cling-mounted ready to place on an acrylic block & start stamping! 

Join me by taking part in Earth Hour 2009, a global effort to voice your vote against global warming.

On Saturday March 28th, simply turn off your lights for one hour local time, 8:30-9:30pm.

Vote Earth.

More details about the event may be found at Earth Hour

Come back for my 1st CARD I made using Unity Stamps {this was my 2nd card made using Unity stamps, but with my 1st ORDER of Unity stamps} tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. CST for the World Record Unity Blog Hop!!

Blog Change - please update blog roll

Hey y'all! I mentioned the other day I purchased my own domain to host my blog, well it was just pointed out to me (thanks, Melanie) that if you have my blog roll on your blog and someone clicks on it, the link is broken. But, if you were to type my blog in via blogspot.com, it would automatically point to the new domain.

Please change my blog on your blog roll to reflect http://www.serenityinstamping.com and list as Serenity in Stamping. I also changed my email to match - it is listed on the right of my blog by my profile picture.

Thanks!

TECC61: Chocolate Bunny-Lovin’ Cuppie

Happy Cupcake Friday y’all!!  I just LOVE this chocolate bunny-lovin’ cuppie whose lickin’ his lips after takin’ a big bite!!  He can be found in the Sweet Spring set and on my card  I used the March Key Ingredients Subscription for my card this week to make a non-traditional colored Easter card.  I stamped my images on Choice Buttercream cardstock with Memento Rich Cocoa ink and colored with copics.  I love to paper-piece so my cuppie has a matching cupcake liner to the card base layer.  I used the Parisian mist glitter which is also in the key ingredients package for the bunny’s ribbon & plate.  or my upper left embellishment, I used the marvy jumbo flower punch for my flower accent, small flower trio punch by SU! for the small one and an offbeat basic grey button to match).  The green leaves behind it are just a few snipped from the green leaf ribbon in the kit, perfect for my embellishment! 

Here is Taylor’s sketch so you can play along too!! You can be eligible to win Cupcake Sampler Honors & be featured on Taylor’s blog using the next Cupcake Friday Sketch! You’re not required to use cupcakes on your sketch, but if you got ‘em why not use ‘em??You can create something other than a card but try to keep as close to the sketch as possible. If you’re uploading to Splitcoast, please use keyword TECC61.

How about a sweet Spring Treat? Taylor is giving away a FREE Tiny Twinkles to one random winner from among all the people who upload their sketch challenge cards to Paper CraftPlanet using the same TECC61 keyword. So hop on over and upload your card at PaperCraftPlanet and you could be the winner of some cute twinkle bling! Its as easy as that!!!   Be sure to leave a comment on Taylor’s blog and leave a link to your blog post or gallery upload using the Mr. Linky service so she can check it out!  You must have your creation uploaded by Monday, March 30 at 10:00 a.m. CST to be eligible for the featured cupcake sampler honors. Lastly, be sure to have FUN creating!

Be sure to check out the other Cupcake Crew’s Creations:

Taylor Van Bruggen
Ana Wohlfahrt
Jackie Pedro
Jami Sibley
Lynn Mercurio
Monika Davis
Vicki Chrisman

Today’s Featured Cupcake Sampler is Heather Pulvirenti and here is the sweet card she made last week that Taylor loved!

Have a Sweet Day & Fabulous Weekend!  Be sure to come back tomorrow, I will be participating in the Unity Stamp Company World Record Blog Hop – there are over 200 participants!! 

StampTV sketch Challenge: Heart Balloons & Baja Blooms

I made this card to send to Asela for her birthday, using her set, Warm & Fuzzy-it was for Kurtis’ sketch from last week (I ended up liking the sketch so much since it was clean & simple it was easy to make 3 cards using it!  I love these little heart balloons which were colored with peerless watercolors. 

Have you checked out StampTV with Gina K. Designs yet?  Did you know we have 6 different challenges hosted by Gina K. and members of the design team??

Here is a list of challenges for your reference:

Monthly – 3D projects hosted by me
Monday – Color
Tuesday – Scrapbook
Wednesday – Technique *(includes video from Gina K)*
Thursday – Sketch (every 3rd week I host this challenge)
Friday – Potluck

You have a week to complete all the daily challenges-when the new challenge is posted the host of the previous week's challenge randomnly selects one winner who gets a Gina K. stamp set of their choice valued at $24.95 or less!! If you use Gina K's stamps in your challenge you get your name entered twice!

Here is a card I made this evening using Jessica’s sketch {STVSC5} using Melanie’s A Year of Flowers.  Since I stamped & colored on kraft cardstock with my bleach technique the other day, I had in my mind to do it again {not the bleach though}.  I almost made it with this week’s SCS color challenge but it would have involved adding Pretty in Pink cardstock and it just looked wrong to me.  I saw a lot of pretty cards using it but it just wasn’t going to work with my idea.  I used my coluzzle to cut the circle around my blooms.  They are colored with Baja Breeze ink and white highlights were made using a white prismacolor pencil.  I really like how they turned out!  I thought the finishing touch of the pearl flower centers was just what my card needed.  I love this card and a greeting will go inside, sometimes I just need my image to take center stage on the front and it’s o.k.

Punched Spring Card & treat

I love to use punches on my cards and I just adore all the designer paper patterns in the Easter Key Ingredients available at Taylored Expressions so I put together a minimally stamped spring card & treat box together to show you how you can make something real nice real fast!

For my card, I punched all my favorite patterns from the key ingredients with various sized SU! punches over the frosted teal prism cardstock which I faux stitched with my inkessentials pen. I added a quick greeting on a Nestability tag with a few swatches of two glimmer ribbons found in the TE store and two little white brads.

Here’s a view of the inside of the treat box, which I downloaded for free at Paper Addiction. (edited to add-it appears the download is not available anymore, sorry!) Isn’t it cute? I added two Basic Grey snaps to keep it closed. I didn’t get a very good view of the top of the treat box, sorry…I just used a little of the dp on top with the same greeting on a small piece of cardstock tied with more glimmer ribbon.

I’m so excited!! I’m working on new Taylored Expressions projects – the next release is just 9 days away on April 5th but in 7 days the Baker’s Dozen Design Team will have sneak peeks to share with you!

See ya tomorrow for another FUN installment of Taylored Expressions’ Cupcake Challenge!

StampTV video: Using Bleach

It’s been forever since I’ve used bleach with my stamping, so when Gina planned on sharing a video using the technique on StampTV today, I definitely wanted to play along!!

I stamped the image from Easter Blessings with VersaMark ink & embossed with black detail embossing powder.  I chose to ‘paint’ my Easter Lilies with bleach on kraft cardstock; testing it first since it’s a light color I wasn’t sure how much of a difference the bleach would make.  I sure like the subtle change, the lilies are a pale peach color.  I colored in the leaves & grass with my peerless watercolors, I love how they look on kraft, I hadn’t tried that before and know it won’t be the last time either!  I chose to keep my card layers & embellishments to a minimum to have a somewhat Clean & Simple card!!  I love the look of the three neutrals: black, white & kraft! 

I hope you have a chance to check out Gina’s new video and play along!  If you upload a card using the technique and upload on stampTV before next week Wednesday, you will be eligible to win a free stamp set valued at $24.95 or less!  Sweet! 

Thanks for visiting me today – see y’all soon! 

Sweet Bright Trees

It’s been a while since I’ve participated in Libby’s Little Addiction From Courtney’s Closet Challenge 35– you know the sweet baby who just turned one year old that gets subjected to being dressed in the most adorable outfits & have her sweet face plastered on the net (usually) weekly in seemingly random photos taken by a hopelessly-in-love-stamp-addicted Mommy so many crazed-stamp-addicted ladies can find inspiration in said adorable outfits & vie for attention from said addicted Mommy.  Phew…that was one long sentence!  I think you get what I mean!  Here is my take on this week’s cute little outfit (don’t you just love Courtney’s brightly striped pants!?)

That’s what I drew some of my inspiration from {afterward wishing I had trimmed those pieces down just a tad and made them more narrow to match} as well as Whimsical Wishes set Branching Out/Coordinates by Taylored Expressions.  I wasn’t able to capture the sparkle on the little flowers, I used Copic atyou spica glitter pens. 

I have one more card to share using the same sets!  I made this several weeks ago (prior to the release) and haven’t shared it yet – it nearly went along with the inspiration, huh? 

I used the DCWV Sweet Stack and put sweet, shiny apples on the tree to match the glitter paper. Here’s a close up of the sweet, shiny apples. 

Hope you enjoyed these 2 sweet, bright trees of mine which remind me that Spring is here~over the weekend I saw my first glimpse of Texas Bluebonnets when John and I were out Geocaching (that’s something for another post). 

See ya tomorrow!! 

CAS07: Punched Blooms

The Clean and Simple challenge for today was posted late last night so I was able to play but knew I wouldn’t upload until today (I’m on my lunch break on my laptop). I am so excited about the Marvy Flower punches I got from Gina K Designs which coordinate with the Bold Flowers from the Floral Frenzy stampTV kit. If you’re not interested in purchasing the whole kit, never fear…the sets will be available to purchase separately after the new kit debuts.

CAS07 is to use Punches but keep it Clean and Simple still! I grabbed a few bright colors {Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun and Pink Passion} to stamp my flowers and punch, adding a coordinating Fire rhinestone brads by SU! on top of a 3/4” Black Onyx center. To tie in the black, I stamped my sentiment from Tag Lines and outlined the flowers with a black pen. I used Kurtis' sketch challenge {STVSC4} at stampTV for this card too!

Since I loved those colors so much, and it never hurts to do 2 cards in one sitting rather than just one, I decided to include a slightly stepped-up card. I love the pop of black, so I used the larger flower punch for a black onyx layer. The centers of these flowers to add more white accents are white metal dots I got at Joanne’s last year. Of course I had to add some embossing since that is a no-no with CAS but since this is MY stepped-up card it was o.k.!! I added a few swatches of ribbon {pumpkin twill and pink grosgrain} from Taylored Expressions to coordinate and chose to use another punch for my sentiment from the set. I just love BOTH cards!!

P.S. if you would like to see a bigger view of the cards I post, you can click on them.

P.S.S. Gina K has some nestability blog candy to giveaway in honor of her last video on stampTV
using Nestabilities in your Cuttlebug!

Thanks for visiting today!

More CAS challenge cards!

Here are the last 2 of my Clean & Simple cards to get me ‘caught up’ and ready to go with the current challenge which will be posted tomorrow on SCS! 

CAS01: Inspired by Flannel
 
I chose this pink butterfly quilt look.   

At first glance it may look like this is not clean & simple but I think it qualifies because it was pretty quick to do.  I stamped the little butterfly charm in A Charmed Life set by Gina K. Designs.  I stamped in versamark ink & embossed in white detail embossing powder on the pink squares.  On the white squares, I stamped in regal rose ink.  The ‘chains’ to make these necklaces are hand drawn. 

My next card is for CAS06: Inspired by Robeez which are cute, seemingly comfy soft sole shoes for babies.  I chose the cute little pink & brown girl owl for my inspiration.

It’s been a while since I’ve used Gina K Designs’ Owl Always Love You and I knew when I saw these shoes I would use it!  I know this is a pretty detailed stamped image but it was pretty quick to color with my peerless watercolors on Gina K layering weight white cardstock.  I still think this qualifies for CAS – do you agree??

Hope you have a wonderful day & enjoyed your weekend!  Thanks for visiting!! 

Technorati Tags: GINA K DESIGNS,SCS CHALLENGES,CLEAN & SIMPLE

Clean & Simple Challenges

It’s been several weeks now that the SCS challenges for Clean & Simple* cards have been given their own challenge in the forums and I’ve wanted to participate in them! 

(*Definition: A clean and simple card has limited layers and sometimes just a card base. It leaves a lot of "open space". It uses little or no embellishments. Any techniques should be the old standard everyday kind like sponging, distressing and piercing. Limit the number of tools you use. Any colored images should be small and quick. Don't go overboard on tons of punches and embossing. CAS cards should be easy and quick)

Since I am so many weeks behind, I have one card I made to incorporated Challenges 2-5 and to be sure it was STILL a CAS card while doing this was quite a feat but I pulled it off – somehow this turned out to be one of my favorite cards! 

CAS 02: One Button Will Do
CAS03: It’s a Sketch!
CAS04: Accenting with Dots
CAS05: Color Challenge-Blues & Greens

Supplies: Gina K Designs Bold Flowers Floral Frenzy kit  coordinating Marvy flower punches (love ‘em!).  Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss ink & cardstock & Gina K. pure luxury layering weight white cardstock. Kiwi Kiss corduroy brads.  Accented small flowers with Copic atyou spica pen. 

Technorati Tags: GINA K DESIGNS,CLEAN & SIMPLE,SCS CHALLENGES

P.S. John took care of purchasing the Serenity in Stamping Domain for me and linked my blog to it.  This should be transparent to everyone but I will now begin to use http://www.serenityinstamping.com/ when I refer to my blog.  If you would like to note the change you can, but you will still be able to access it the previous way with the blogspot address. 

In addition to that, I am testing composing my blog posts in Windows Live Writer – so far I like it!! 

TE Key Ingredient Subscription Challenge

I am so excited about how Taylored Expressions keeps branching out! Now Taylor is offering a Key Ingredients Kit Subscription and today I have a sample of the first kit being offered. To find out how you can subscribe and get this month’s kit (plus get future month’s kits before they're even available in the store) check out this post on Taylor’s blog!

One of the many things I adore about being on Taylor's Baker's Dozen Design Team is that with every stamp release there is a Key Ingredients package to coordinate with the stamps. You get so many elements in the set that I still have quite a bit from each still although I've made a lot of cards & projects with each one! The patterned paper she chooses are fresh & new and the ribbon colors & embellishments so fun!! Since the key ingredients has been such a big hit, she decided to offer this subscription kit separately from the regular key ingredients. When Taylor sent us these Key Ingredients she issued a little challenge to create anything but a card and to be sure to use one of the cute chipboard buckles in the kit. I was delighted to see the awesome colors in this kit from the Penny Lane Collection by My Mind's Eye; I thought they would go perfectly to scrapbook pictures from my last trip to CA from November.

The Best Things in life involve Your Family

I miss these wonderful people every day; ever since I decided to move to Texas nearly 12 years ago and make this my new home it makes missing the little things such as hanging out, sharing a meal & holidays with them so hard even after all this time. Good thing we invested in a webcam for us both - we are able to share more 'live' like watching Gabby open her Christmas presents - it's so fun! I love making gift scrapbooks so this is a perfect present for my sister Val (and Gabby loves looking at photos). She usually keeps these gift books in the living room and Gabby looks at them often, naming everyone in the photos & now she can remember all the fun we had on this trip!

2 Kitties and a Kiss

I was so happy to have shared my adorable nephew's 1st Halloween - isn't he the cutest as a Hershey's Kiss? My niece wanted to be a kitty for Halloween this year which I thought would be so fun to scrapbook and I found a quick cat outfit for me too so we could match. My BIL Frankie decorated our faces. I love this picture - not quite sure what was going on in Gabby's mind though. Hmmm...maybe she was annoyed that she wasn't the only kitty.

Trick or Treating

I just loved being able to spend Halloween with my niece & nephew! 2 years in a row I have visited the first weekend of November, always missing dress up but not this year! Here we are at Gramma Ama's house-we got candy in her neighborhood. The picture taken of all four of them was at their house before we left. I love how Joey is looking at his big sister with adoration! I used the Parisian Mist glitter that comes in the key ingredients subscription on the sticky dot stars.

Making Cupcakes with my sweet cupcake!

Gabby's mantra a few weeks before my trip was, "Auntie Donna's coming for Halloween, we're making cupcakes, trick or treat - that's what you say to get candy". It was late that night but as promised we made our cupcakes together! I have the sweetest video of Gabby putting the liners in the cupcake pan and at one point she looked up at me and realized she was being videotaped while she was stirring the chocolate and I was asking her what she was doing & without missing a beat she waved at the camera - it was totally cute! then she went on talking about what kind of cupcakes we were making. We put Halloween cuppie toppers that we colored on the cupcake with toothpicks using Trick or Sweet.

The Best Things in Life are Covered in Chocolate!

Ha! This photo cracks me up! Gabby had already had a LOT of chocolate that night and you know how 2 yr-olds are with their food (messy) well I couldn't resist having my camera ready as she was eating her cupcake - my sister and I were laughing SO hard when we saw how she looked like a cavegirl in this photo!

Priceless Memories - that's what you get when you have family & friends over your house. One thing I appreciate about them is the minute I say we'll be in town, they are there. This is my Godmother Pauline to the right in front of me and behind, her daughter Yolanda. Pauline was friends with my Nana (mom's mom) so many years ago {Nana died when I was 5} she befriended my mom and has always been FAMILY to us! When Pauline split from Yolanda's dad, they came to live with us for a while until they could get stuff sorted out & situated on their own. My mom always had an open door for family & friends! Pauline is a Breast Cancer Survivor of 20+ years & they are precious to me. That's my funny BIL in the background (Gabby & Joey's dad)-determined to get in the picture wearing Joey's Halloween Kiss hat and we didn't realize until after!

Happiness is Family & Friends

This page just makes me smile all over my face, like Gabby; can you tell she loves to cheese in front of the camera? Well, following in her daddy's footsteps-she shines in back of the camera too (she asked for a camera & pink camera bag for Christmas and her Auntie Donna & Nino John delivered! She was delighted about that!) I can just imagine her toting it around in her cute cupcake bag I got her snapping away. In this photo she is with her Nina Andrea and being hugged on by her buddy Jimmy - doesn't it look like he adores her? At one point that evening, they both were sitting in her pink chair (can you tell pink is her favorite color?) eating tortilla chips! too funny

Happiness is Being There.

My heart just swells and tears flow when I think of all the precious moments with my niece & nephew I miss out on. It makes the times that I'm there all the more special though. I love these 2 pictures of me with them. The one of Joey and me is perfect...I took it myself and am amazed he has a semi-smile for me! The picture with Gabby and me was taken after a little play time - I think that explains the big 'ol grin on her face!

Happiness is Making a New Friend!
One of the many highlights of my trip to CA in November was having the chance to meet Carolina and her nephew Gaven! This picture is so funny! I guess Gaven was not thrilled about taking this picture but when he was hugging on Gabby he was *wink* We had a fun time watching them play together (there was another little boy who was there too), we all made pizzas for lunch & I was sad when she had to go. It was so funny when Gabby kept asking about when she would see her friend Gaven and his mom again. HA--Carolina told me Gaven was asking too. sweet, huh?? I used the Gina K Bold Flowers set for this page.

Children are the Hands by Which We Take Hold of Heaven.
I thought this sentiment in Hand in Hand would be perfect for this picture! My sister was the only one who knew I was taking it as I was way across the room just taking random shots. I love Joey's face in this picture & Gabby looking at him is just precious. If my sister has not started crying at this point looking at this album she is now. If I know her well enough I believe she may have started the minute she looked at the cover. From a very early age all my sister wanted was to be a mommy and a wonderful one is she!! I'm so proud of her.

The Best Things in Life involve your Family. Isn't that wonderful and it sums up so many memories? I randomly stamped family roles on the square panel from Tee Talk, Just so Sporty and Hip Hop Accessories.

I wrote a special note on the last chipboard flower here on the other side. Recently I saw a quote that moved me to tears because it sums it up for me:

Where we love is home, Home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Homesick in Heaven

If you stuck with me for this WHOLE post I thank you from the bottom of my heart, of which a lot of it went into to make this album! It literally took me all day to make last Saturday. The flower chipboard album I got at Michael's for 50 cents!! I used just about 1/4 of the papers in the key ingredients, one of the chipboard buckles (there are lots more), a little glitter & a smidgen of each ribbon! I also added a few other embellishments such as punches, rhinestones & button.

It's so hard to part with such a labor of love but for my big sister Val I would do it all over again and again and again and again - I love you, Val!!

Please scroll down to be sure to catch my regularly scheduled Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge for Friday!

The be sure to check out the projects the other Baker's Dozen Gals have baked up for you today featuring the key ingredients subscription:

Taylor VanBruggen

Ana Wohlfahrt

Charmaine Ikach

Jodi Collins

Karen Giron

Laura Frederickson

Have a wonderful Friday & awesome stamping weekend - I know I will!!

TECC60: Swinging Cuppie

Happy Cupcake Friday everyone!! I am so excited to show you my sample today because I just adore how it turned out (thanks to Taylor's great sketch*wink). I chose to make a peek-a-boo type one layer card that opens at the front with the center panel (where the scallop is). Last night we had our last SU! stamp club meeting and one of the projects was to make a one sheet wonder (I'll have to share the result of that in future posts) but one of the things I can share is how I organized it. Since we had 6 ladies I chose 6 different color combinations & two-step stamping sets for them to choose from and let them pick as they arrived. What fun!! I am showing one of the color combinations I chose on the Scraptitude site---have you ever used that? It's quite handy when I have color block! I basically chose my base cardstock color of pumpkin pie & it came up with Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss & Apricot Appeal as coordinating colors and I really like them! I would NOT have chosen these together to be honest with you! For my card I used the new Branching Out & Coordinates and grabbed my faceless cuppie from Home Sweet Home & made his face so he can play on the tree swing! Can't you just hear him saying, 'weeeeeeeeee' as he swings back & forth on this nice almost Spring Day? (well it is in Austin...low 80's) - I know, some of you are jealous & you should be...Central Texas is the place to be. If you live here you know it and if you've visited you know it and if you haven't you should!

Here is a view of the inside of my card since I was not able to put a sentiment on the front.

Here is Taylor’s sketch so you can play along too!! You can be eligible to win Cupcake Sampler Honors & be featured on Taylor’s blog using the next Cupcake Friday Sketch! You’re not required to use cupcakes on your sketch, but if you got ‘em why not use ‘em?? You can create something other than a card but try to keep as close to the sketch as possible. If you’re uploading to Splitcoast, please use keyword TECC60. Leave a comment on Taylor’s post with a link to your blogpost or gallery link so she can check it out! You must have your creation uploaded by Monday, March 23 at 10:00 a.m. CST to be eligible for the featured cupcake sampler honors. Lastly, be sure to have FUN creating!

Be sure to check out the other Cupcake Crew’s Creations:

Taylor VanBruggen
Ana Wohlfahrt
Jackie Pedro
Jami Sibley
Lynn Mercurio
Monika Davis
Sherrie Siemens
Vicki Chrisman

Today’s Featured Cupcake Sampler is Jen Tapler and here is the darling card that snagged her Cupcake Honors today on Taylor’s blog!

Easter is {almost} here...

Here is my favorite card I've made using the new Doodlefactory Easter & All About Easter sets!  

It's no secret I love to paper-piece so when I first saw this set I knew I would have fun paper-piecing this clothed bunny couple!  I just love the exuberance displayed by Buttons and the sweet look on Stella's face.  

I stamped them on kraft cardstock and used Easter Key Ingredients designer paper by My Mind's Eye for their clothes & some of the easter eggs.  I also used some shamrock flower soft for grass - that stuff is so cool!  What little coloring I did on this card was done with prismacolor pencils and white highlights on the ears, eyes & freckles was done with a white gel pen.  

Thanks for visiting today!!  

You Brighten My Day!!

Here is my Bright card featuring CPS107 sponsored by Our Daily Bread Designs {would love to get some of their stamps} and SCS Color Challenge {CC210} brought to us by Jenn-bright-color- lover-Balcer: Kraft, Summer Sun, Riding Hood Red & Optional Black.  I got the new Pink Flamingo dp from SU! which has Summer Sun in it that I thought would go well with Branching Out Coordinates by Taylored Expressions!  Of course since I was making a BRIGHT card, I went with the perfect sentiment 'you brighten my day' from A Year of Sweet Sentiments. Since I love to use Kraft cardstock, I stamped my flowers on it & colored in with prismacolor pencils to go along with my bright theme!  The card was finished off with black kaiser pearls.  

Like my Bright, Clean & Simple card?? Well although it has quite a few layers I think it still qualifies.  I actually stamped a few cards from the Clean & Simple challenges posted on Mondays at SCS that I will share with you on Saturday!!    

Thanks for visiting!!!  

SU! technique card shares

Here are a few cards made for my current SU! stamp technique club which meets for the last time tomorrow evening.  I know I haven't shown a lot of SU! stuff lately, but I will...I have a lot of techniques & stuff to still show you that we've done the past few months, these 2 cards if my memory serves me correctly, are from last November.  The first cards uses the patchwork top note BIGZ die that I saw on Bevithia's blog. I used Bella Rose designer paper, it's such a fun way to showcase all the great patterns!

This next card uses the reverse masking technique, I made an oval template from the coluzzle and placed it on the cardstock and sponged pink pirouette ink and before removing the mask, I stamped Flight of the Butterfly in and off the mask. When you remove it, there is a nice frame in its place. Everyone loved both techniques!

Have a great day!  

An Egg-Stra Special Treat

Go take a look at my egg-stra special treat I have to share at the Stamp a Sweet Impression Blog today!

Hope You have a 'Sweet' Day!!

edited to add: my pre-scheduled post at the SASI blog is having technical difficulties -ugh! 10:40 a.m.