RAK Blessings to share

I have to share some RAK’s I’ve been blessed with this past week by my sweet stamper friends! 

The first one is from Carolina Buchting, wishing me peace during this time that we’re dealing with our sick dog, Shelby.  This card is a beauty, a classic clean & simple card that has the signature Carolina-style with half-back pearls, and wonderfully tied pretty ribbon.  I miss you, Carolina! 

This next card is from fellow Baker’s Dozen dt member Charmaine Ikach, isn’t the image on this card a riot?  She also mailed this card for the same reason Carolina did.  I just adore this card, Charmaine is so thoughtful-I just KNOW that if we lived closer, I would be hanging out with her & her sweet kids all the time, even baby-sitting for free for her & her DH to go on dates.  Maybe one day I will take her up on the offer to visit if we ever make it to her neck of the woods! 

This last card is from my fellow GKD team member, Lynn Mercurio.  Isn’t it a beauty?  This was a sweet thank you for your friendship type card, which touched my heart – she said she is ‘blessed & uplifted by my friendship’ – well I am too, Lynn.  Kindred Spirits – I wish we lived closer to one another, I’d love to hang out! 

*Our Shelby is doing pretty well; in spite of her diagnosis a week ago.  The cough suppressants we give her have allow her (and us) to get some good sleep during the night.  Her coughing was always worse in the evenings.  I am cherishing every moment I can with her, not letting a moment pass me by that I can let her know how special she is and how much I love her.  

Thank you for blessing me with your friendship, ladies!!   I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy days to think of me and send me a huge hug in the mail – I am humbled. 

Some Holiday fun cards!!

I stamped all day today and had a lot of fun!  Mainly because I have new MFT stamps to play with from their most recent release!  I missed out on a few days’ stamping because I’ve felt under the weather with either allergies/sinus or a cold – I’m not sure which!  Sometimes the symptoms overlap with these but I’m on the mend, it just wiped me out. 

The new MFT stamps are so cute – Cool Yule {the polar bear} that I won the night of the release by correctly and swiftly answering a trivia question in the thread – woo hoo!  The other is from the new Pure Innocence line (she is out of stock right now) – I thought these girls were too cute to pass up, so I got all 5 of them!  I used Jen’s SFYTT from today, and made the cards with the same papers (Jolly by Golly by Cosmo Cricket), Sage Shadow by SU! and Choice Buttercream by TE.  The chipboard snowflake on my polar bear card is from the Christmas key ingredients, I put glue on it and sprinkled some star dust glitter on it.  The white felt snowflake on the little girl card is by SU! and the button is also from the key ingredients.  I LOVED paper-piecing these cuties!!   2 more cards for my stash! 

Hope you’re having a great weekend…

First Christmas Hop with GKD!

It’s time to hop around with GKD DT and CSS using Asela’s new First Christmas stamp set. 

For my first card, I wanted to combine a few sets to make little ornaments on a tree.  I used Winter Foliage for the ‘tree’, mini framed friends for the dog & cats in the small ornaments from First Christmas and sentiment from Festive Frame.  This represents our dog Shelby and two cats Chica & Elsie (but the only true color representation is the black & white cat-oh well!) I still like how it turned out and on the inside (sorry I didn’t take a photo) is the gingerbread couple to represent all of us.  I added various colored rhinestones to the tree to act as ‘lights’.  This card was fun to make because I love combining stamps to showcase their versatility! 

My next card is another vintage card I made with the same colors as my vintage deer card from a few days ago but with the gingerbread couple from First Christmas inside the Festive Frame. 

Are you ready for more eye-candy tonight!? Stop in at Asela Hopkin's blog (our featured Illustrator tonight) and see what she has prepared for us.

Then, check out these GinaK Designer's blogs for their projects: Carolyn, Donna, Erika, Jessica, Lee, Melanie, and Theresa

as well as our CenterStage Spotlight Designer's blogs:
Deb, Sharri, Diana and Karen

Remember, the Idea Center has lots of tutorials, photos, and links that will provide even more ideas for you with this stamp set!
And, if you haven't already done so, be sure to leave a comment on GinaK's blog for a chance to win this stamp set tonight too! If you have already purchased this set, you may swap it out for any other GinaK stamp set valued at $23.95 if you’re chosen as the winner.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Fall Blessings

Here is a card I made using yesterday’s SCS sketch challenge {SC254} and today’s Ways to Use it {WT244} a Faux Feel – I used Faux Silk. 

The stamps I used for my faux silk panel are from the new TE set Celebrate Life.  Stamped on tissue, crinkled it up and laid it out on top of the layer with glue.  So easy, but I hadn’t done it in so long, it’s a neat look.  I used the August key ingredients on the card too. 

Side note: It’s rare I make a card & post it on the same day the challenge is issued – but I did today!  I was bad & stamped before I did my math homework – but as soon as I was done & before I got dinner together, I finished my homework.  School Update: I missed getting an A on my last test by ONE POINT!  Ugh – I was so frustrated with myself.  Test 4 is coming up soon and then finals – yippee!  The semester kind of flew by for me.  I already registered for next semester; I will be taking 2 classes in the evenings 4 days a week – yikes!  One of the classes includes a lab so I will be at school for 3 hours in the evening! 

Mega Set Calendar Preview with Gina K. Designs

Today the Gina K. Designs team and CSS gals are previewing the mega stamp set Calendar Grid & Calendar Bits & Pieces by Tami Mayberry!    This stamp set is so versatile; not only can it be used to make calendars, it can be used to document dates and add journaling to your scrapbook pages and make invitations to special events!  I’m sure between all the talented ladies on the dt and css and various GKD fans will come up with many more ideas that I haven’t thought of! 

For my first project, I created a gift calendar for Christmas.  The patterned paper is not adhered behind the calendar, it is just laid on the metal picture frame and magnets are on the backs of the calendar, month and year in addition to all the little images to mark special events during the month (on this one, the cupcake for my DH’s birthday) and leaf signifying it’s Fall.  I picked out several months of Basic Grey pattern paper to coordinate the different seasons.  I thought this would be fun to make for my step-SIL and her family, I think my step-niece who is 6 yrs old will have fun putting it together each month. 

Here is January’s calendar to show you how you can mark a bridal shower with the umbrella image.  How fun, Tami thought of all the events!!

 

 
Speaking of bridal showers, it gave me an idea to make a simple Engagement congratulations card to send to Dee Marie on STV who recently was proposed to by her boyfriend (that is Mary Anne’s daughter).  I used the little cake image with bride & groom on top, along with the small border that coordinates with the labels 1 Nestabilities by Spellbinders.  I used our new Kraft cardstock which is such a great color & texture like all pure luxury cardstocks!  Chocolate Kiss and Rocket Red were used as well double-stitch ribbon which came in the Signs of Autumn stamptv kit (a great match for the kraft cardstock!)  I embellished my card with some neutral and holiday buttons. 

For some helpful tips on how to use the Calendar Bits & Pieces and Calendar Grid stamp sets, please be sure to check out Gina's blog and StampTV for a helpful video on just how quick and easy it can be to use! Both of these sets as well as the PDF version of the Calendar Grid image will be available for purchase tonight over in our online store.

The following ladies all have projects to inspire you with this mega stamp set, be sure to check them all out: 

Gina K Designers:
Carolyn King
Cathy Tidwell
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Lee Murphy
Lynn Mercurio
Melanie Muenchinger
Nina Brackett
Theresa Momber
Tami Mayberry (illustrator)

Our fabulous Center Stage Spotlight Team:
Melissa Cash
Sharri Seffens
Sue VanDeVusse

Festive Frame hop with Gina K. Designs

Tonight we are showcasing samples using Melanie’s new set, Festive Frame, which I know will be a timeless stamp set for years to come!  

Since I was not able to participate in the release previews of this set, I have 3 samples to make up for it!  My first one started out with me stamping the festive frame on vellum paper and coloring the back with markers for a soft, stained glass feel.  Then I had difficulty figuring out what I was going to adhere it onto and decided to place it on a pure luxury white base weight card.  So it almost looks like a one-layer card but not quite!  I like the elegant simplicity this set lends itself so a card.  I just topped the poinsettia with some small pearls as well as added a few bling & dazzle sateen flowers with pearl centers, and a sentiment in the frame.  

My next card is made adding Carolyn King’s Warm Winter Wishes set, release from last month.  I just love her snowman that you can add sentiments to the heart he’s holding!  I wanted to make this a cool card, with the blue poinsettia’s to match his hat & scarf.  The frame outline was filled in with a silver zig painty pen.  In the Navy cardstock was a great mat for this image in keeping with the cool blue theme.  The sentiment was stamped on silver lining cardstock.

For my last card, I decided to go with a vintage feel with the festive frame by coloring my poinsettia’s cream & brown, which I really love!  I added some antique linen distress ink and the frame, poinsettia & reindeer harness are accented with opal liquid pearls.  I used rocket red & chocolate kiss cardstock for my mat layers and the card base is pure luxury ivory. 

Melanie Muenchinger, illustrator of Festive Frame has invited a couple of her friends to join in on the blog hop tonight and is also giving away a Bow-Easy and ribbon away, so be sure to leave a comment on ALL the blogs of those participating with samples because Melanie will choose a random commenter from one of the blogs to win: 
Joan Ervin
Linda Payne
Wendy Price

Then, check in on these GinaK Designer's participating in the Blog Hop tonight:
Carolyn King
Erika Martin
Jessica Fick
Lee Murphy
Theresa Momber

and our fabulous Center Stage Spotlight Team:
Deb Felts
Diana S. Queen
Melissa Cash
Sharri Seffens

And, don't forget to check in on GinaK's blog so you can leave your comment to be entered as a chance to win this stamp set, too! 

After you're done hopping to all the Designer's blogs stop by Gina K's Idea Center here: Festive Frame for lots more ideas on how to use Melanie's stamp set.  See ya tomorrow for Tami’s special mega set reveal beginning at Gina K’s blog at 10 pm CST. 

Stylin’ Birthday

Here is a card I made using new TE stamps, Sweet Indulgence is what I used on this fun green card!  I used all supplies from the Spa Key ingredients (except the green rhinestones.)  Of course I paper-pieced this card because I LOVE that technique, with the papers in the key ingredients.  I also added swirls on the sides of the card from Luxurious Labels. 

Personal Stuff: Today is my love’s 36th birthday – he took the day off from work so we can get out & enjoy ourselves.  Since he loves to Geocache, that’s what we plan to do in addition to running a few other errands like take 2nd pmt installment to our architect so he can work on putting the plans in CAD and work on the elevations {exciting} and then I am treating us to lunch.   We also plan to spend the evening with our best friends (she is the friend who opened up her cake shop last Sept).  Dan’s mom died over the weekend so we want to take them some meals. He was her primary caregiver and they are always so busy working – since they moved to another city last year, we don’t get together as often as we’d like. 

Hope you have a wonderful day.

RAK and comment blessings

I’ve been remiss to share a few RAK blessings I got and I apologize to the ladies who I am blessed with their friendship! 

The first purple beauty is from none other than the RAK queen herself, Jessie Rone – on her note it said something like, it’s been a while since I send you a card so here is one.  Well, it’s been longer since I sent her one, I think!  Anyway, this card is just perfect for me since I have been blessed with the opportunity to go back to college (previously my only regret in life, that I never finished and that won’t be the case anymore!)  One thing is for sure, I do have to believe in myself – one of my apprehensions in returning was if I was going to finish what I started, I’ve been notorious for starting things and not finishing them when my interest wanes.  Thank you for this beautiful card, Jessie!  I so appreciate you!

My next card is one I received a few short weeks ago from Jennie Harper, isn’t it great?  It is to congratulate me for following my dreams of going back to school, it is so thoughtful of her!  I love the new Basic Grey Indian Summer dp she used on the hoodie (sure makes me wish I had a hoodie like it!) Thank you for being so thoughtful, Jennie! I love my card! 

THANK YOU!!  I want to give a special Thank You to each and every person who has responded either directly on my pos, sent a personal email, posted on Facebook, a forum or has called about our precious dog Shelby’s diagnosis over the weekend.  I appreciate every word of encouragement, every prayer offered up for us and most of all, for the time taken to let me know you care.  It was great hearing from people who’ve never commented on my blog before – it’s always great to see who my readers are.  Shelby seems to be doing well, the cough suppressants are keeping her coughing to a minimum and we’ve all been getting some good rest during the night (well except for me, like a mama I wake up every time she coughs, check on her in the middle of the night to give her love and make sure she is o.k. and get up to give her a pill when it’s time) but I am not complaining.  I would do it for anyone I love. 

Sad news to share...

I took our beloved 13 yr old dog Shelby to the vet yesterday for an exam dur to a nagging, worsening cough.  The chest x-rays shows she has a malignant tumor on her lung.  I went alone to the vet with her and was relatively calm for the diagnosis but a few tears welled up in my eyes as the Dr. told me the news.  Meanwhile, Shelby was walking around, looking at me wagging her tail, oblivious to the terrible news.  I broke down when the Dr. left the room and Shelby was taken away to get her nails clipped.  I talked briefly with a few of the receptionists there, one of the gals Brittany knows all our pets.  She was sad.  I came home and had to break the news to my DMIL - she just hugged me and we both cried.  I waited all day to hear from John (busy day at work) when he finally called on his way home.  He wanted to hear the news - it was so hard to say.  I cried all day, on and off and ended up with a nagging headache.  I tried to take my mind off of it for a while and read Eclipse (Twilight Series) and took a great nap.  Then, I did what I usually do when I'm upset - I cleaned the house.  I only got as far as the kitchen though, but the floor got swept and mopped (it was long overdue) and I baked for the neighbors. 

When John finally got home, we spent some time being sad and then took Shelby for a small outing to deliver our goodies to the neighbors.  It was good to have a little visit.  My DMIL was so sweet, she went out to run a few errands and snuck my short grocery list and bought the items on it as well as some 'comfort' food for us which was so thoughtful.  In addition to that, she treated us to Chinese delivery so I didn't have to cook.  Shelby was sent home with some cough suppresants which have been controlling her coughing, we all got a pretty good night's sleep and I was able to get up in the middle of the night to give her pill when it was time - her coughing episodes are usually rougher during the night. 

It seems surreal; but I am well aware that animals, just like people, do not live forever.  It's just hard to stomach when someone (regardless of the species) is suffering, although when you look at the video I took of her this morning, you might not guess she has a terminal illness.  It's my intention to cherish the remaining time we have with her, as undetermined as it is, according to Dr. Rafferty.  What I am nost sad about, is that she will not likely move out to our property with us when we have the house built, so I know that moving day will be filled with mixed emotions and I need to prepare myself for it.  Shelby has truly been the most sweet, even tempered, mild mannered precious part of our family and I'm not quite ready for her not following us around the house all day. In fact, as I write this, she put her head up and looked at me with her sweet, loving eyes.  It just breaks my heart to think of the days I will not have that. 

Snowglobe couple

I just love SCS, there are always fun challenges, great member companies, fantastic gallery uploads, informative threads and great resources!  This week they are having a Holiday Blitz with different holidays projects to make and a Snow Globe card is one them.  I've been wanting to make one for a while now and figured it was time to venture out!  Libby did a great job laying out all the steps, which were easy to follow. 

This card is made using Winter Friends by Gina K. Designs and Cosmo Cricket Jolly by Golly papers.  You all know I love to paper-piece so naturally when I first laid eyes on this snow couple, that's what I dreamed of doing.  It was so fun 'picking out' their clothes- ha!  I used star dust stickles for the snow capped top and stamped snowflakes from the StampTV Holiday Cheer kit with white ink on the front of the acetate.  The ribbon I used is the new gold-lined white organdy. 

I hope you have a creative day and a fabulous, relaxing weekend!!

TE Release Day: Celebrate Life

Here we are again with the final peeks on release day for Taylored Expressions!

We have a stamp set for Autumn as well as other times of the year called Celebrate Life, it has something new to TE stamps, some solid images!  I'm not usually a fan of solid images but sometimes I like the fun & quick cards that can be made without having to color your images!  This card was made in about 10 minutes!  I used fellow dt member Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch {SSSC42} which I've been wanting to participate in for months now!  This is a tall card, 6.5" square cardstock scored in half, so it will fit in a business size envelope.  I love tone on tone stamping, which is what I did with the dandelion stamp on the cardbase.  What I love about solid images is that you can stamp up a whole sheet of cardstock with images and cut it up to make many cards which is what I could have done with the main image panel, but I just made one for this card, stamping several of the leaves and dandelions in coordinating colors and sponging the edges.  I added a quick greeting with the words Autumn and Blessings and some gold rhinestones.  The pattern paper behind the stamped image is just a peek of Indian Summer by Basic Grey.

My next project is a 6" scrapbook page I made to give my sister of her and her kids at the Pumpkin Patch last month.  I used Sept 20th key ingredients for the page and paper-pieced the big pumpkin in the set with the plaid paper (fun, huh?)  This page went together so quickly, it was great!!  I love the images in this set, and even stamped directly on the paper for a fun look on the bottom.  I used JustRite fonts Curlz and Times New Roman for the page title and hand-wrote the date at the bottom since I forgot to leave room on the title.  I know this will be a fun go to set for me and many others, and not just for the Fall, it's all about Celebrating Life which is what we should do EVERY day of the year!!

Lastly, I know I've been promising pictures from my visit with my niece & nephew so here is one we took at the same pumpkin patch!  It's so hard to get more than one kid to look at the camera at the same time!  Their mommy took this picture and didn't realize Gabby was not looking at the camera, but it's still a cute picture because she has an adoring look on her face for her little brother.  I enjoyed watching them interact with one another, it's just so sweet!  I adored every minute I was with them - they are SO precious! 


Before you head to the TE Store to shop, be sure to check out all the inspiring products the design team have to share with you:


Taylor VanBruggen Charmaine Ikach Dawn Easton
Denise Marzec Jackie Pedro Jodi Collins Karen Giron Karen Motz Laura Frederickson Lori Schmidlin Sankari Wegman Sharon Harnist   and Jami Sibley

TE Sneak Peek: Sweet Indulgence

Cuppie indulging in some sweet activities such as spa day, primping at home or sipping a good cup 'o joe!  This set will be a MUST HAVE for all you cuppie fans! 

I had to use my cuppie relaxing and enjoying a good cup 'o joe (or sweet hot chocolate) lounging on a polka dot lounge chair!  I used Taylor's sketch challenge from last week {TESC89} which was perfect to showcase the fun papers in the Spa Key ingredients - I just love these papers and ribbons!  I couldn't resist paper-piecing this adorable image because of all the fun papers.  It's just super like this (and makes for minimal coloring!

The 3 sets and Spa Key ingredients will be available for purchase tomorrow at 10 am CST at the TE Store - just wait until you see the other set that will be released and the wonderful specials Taylor always has!!

Be sure to check out all the sweet creations made by the rest of the design team today:

Taylor VanBruggen Charmaine Ikach Dawn Easton Denise Marzec Jackie Pedro Jodi Collins Karen Giron Karen Motz Laura Frederickson Lori Schmidlin Sankari Wegman Sharon Harnist

Mojo Monday: Luxurious Labels

Did you see all the fabulous sneak peeks by Taylor & the Baker's Dozen Design team yesterday? 

Well, I couldn't help myself from creating another card using the Luxurious Labels set, to show you it is not just for spa products!  I used the set's decorative frame and created a reverse mask to stamp the silhouette flowers inside and sponged with Ranger antique linen ink and used the 'thinking of you' sentiment.  I used the August 20th key ingredients for this card and Mojo Monday's sketch {Mojo111} which is great!  I love how this card turned out!  The ribbon is 5/8" chocolate satin in the TE Store.

TE Sneak Peek: Luxurious Labels

The Baker's Dozen and I are so excited to share this month's sneak peeks with you!!

Our projects today are made using Luxurious Labels, a wonderful set of spa words and decorative 'labels' to customize your gift giving of indulgent items for the ladies on your list! 

For my project, I needed to make a birthday gift for a 15 yr old who we plan to whisk away for a girl's day out next weekend.  I wanted to give her something to make her feel pretty & special and I know she will be thrilled with the handmade gift I put together.  I just did a little shopping at the Dollar store for the body lotion and body wash, which I re-packaged in the spa bottles (aka potion bottles in the TE store) and bath fizz (that I put in the cello bag with pink paper shreds (on the right in the back).  The other items were from my alterable stash (anyone else have a ton of items you purchase even though you may not need it now because you never know when you will?) well, I was sure glad I got the mini mani/pedi kit from Target more than a year ago and the little plastic basket to put it all in, because I have a complete gift today!  The lip balm & chocolate was from my stash too (you have to have chocolate if you're planning to indulge, after all!) I made the bath salts because it's something I've made before and had all the ingredients still (epsom salts) and essential oils orange, lavender and ylang ylang - it smells great and makes your skin so soft.

In keeping with the polka dot theme of some of the items, I used the bubble label from the set and kept the design clean and simple with pink & white.  I stamped and colored on the sticker paper and laminated the front of the label so it's o.k. to get wet - and adhered to the bottles.  Then I made a coordinating 3-inch gift card.  I think I completed this in about 30-45 mins.

All supplies used are part of the Spa Key Ingredients which consists of: Prism cardstock: Intense Mint, Intense Pink, Frosted Kiwi, Razzleberry Light and
Frosted Teal.  The neutral is Choice Buttercream and the fun patterned paper is Whirlybird from the My Mind’s Eye Penny Lane collection! There will also be 5 yards of coordinating ribbon, beauty brads (blowdryers & lipstick), and an assortment of sheer flowers and leaves.

Just take a look at what comes in the Sweet Spa Bundle!  A chenille gel neck wrap?  This would make a GREAT gift for your stamping friend and after all those hours of slaving away at her craft table, she can put the neck wrap on and think of how grateful she is to have a friend like you!

Be sure to check out all the great inspiration from the rest of the design team:
Taylor VanBruggen Charmaine Ikach Denise Marzec Jackie Pedro Jodi Collins Karen Giron Karen Motz Laura Frederickson Lori Schmidlin Sankari Wegman and Sharon Harnist 

See ya tomorrow for a Cuppie sneak peek - you Cuppie fans will flip!!

StampTV Challenges!

I'm excited to share a few projects I made for some current challenges at StampTV with you!

The first is for the Friday potluck challenge, hosted by one of our CenterStage spotlight designer team members, Deb Felts. I used Special Delivery postage with Asela's Flowers for Daisy. The base cardstock layer is Fresh Asparagus, and main panel is pure luxury ivory, sponged with ranger antique linen, the mat layer is Vibrant Violet.  Many of you may have heard of the tragic kidnapping and murder of a young girl in Jacksonville, FL last week - well Deb's challenge is to make a feminine and soft with purple and if you'd like to mail your card to Somer's mom, Debbie shared the address to send your card to.  I cannot begin to comprehend what her and her family are going through - the least I can do is say a prayer for them and let her know I'm thinking of her so my card will be mailed this week.  If you'd like to participate, here is the address:
Diena Thompson
c/o Deb Felts
General Delivery
Fleming Island, FL 32003 



My 2nd project is for my monthly 3D challenge -it is to make a gable box from a template that Nina generously is sharing. For a bonus entry, you can make a gift ornament to go inside like I did here.  I made it out of a chipboard coaster and cut down the size to fit (2 3/4" x 4").  I wanted to make an ornament to but my nephew Joey's picture in from last year, since it was his first Christmas, and aptly used First Christmas set illustrated by Asela.  I cuttlebugged some Good as Gold cardstock and adhered it to the picture with foam tape after I cut out the oval for his picture.  I'm so glad Gina K. came out with the cranberry tart cardstock and coordinating holiday ribbon because it matched his little vest perfectly! I used Nina's Vintage Borders set to decorate the box, along with a neutral button and gold lined ivory ribbon.  I rubbed metallic rubon paste (gold) on both for a more distressed look.  I'm sure my sister is going to LOVE this ornament. I'll send this to you so you can put this on your tree this year, Val (she reads my blog *wink*)

Hope you have a great week!  I will be back tomorrow with some TE sneak peeks!