2010 Calendars

Happy New Year! :)

It's been a grand year. Let's recap shall we?

• Went crazy planning a wedding and vowed to pay people next time I do a wedding (which won't be mine)
  
• Moved to the city where fries belong on sandwiches/salads (yum) and the people around me wave something called a terrible towel ;-)
  
• Convinced the hubs that homemade tomato sauce and mashed potatoes are far superior than things from a box or a can...
  
• Got the hubs to eat kale, chard, squash. Despite some faces, he even admitted they were pretty good (and they weren't even covered in cheese or excessive amounts of fat). I live a sad pathetic life... the hubs doesn't know yet but 2010 means more healthy food like tofu, beans and even more veggies!
  
• Hosted Thanksgiving dinner where I made my first turkey (and it even tasted ok!)

And what better way than to ring in the new year with a 2010 calendar?

Every year, the hubster's family exchanges gifts among the ladies in the family. This was my first year participating - I think next year I'm gonna just buy something for everyone.

This year, stupidly, I figured if I was going to take part, I might as well make it crafty. Bad idea number 1. I then kept putting it off until the weekend before Christmas. Bad idea number 2.
After finishing the calendar, I decided that I want to punch the corners to make it look more professional. Corner punching EVERY page... 480 corners punched... bad bad bad idea number 3.

Because I didn't have much room to play with if I wanted everything to fit into the CD case, I stamped everything. I used stamps from PTI, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, Hero Arts and of course, Waltzingmouse Stamps.

The month of Feburary is a sneak peek of the new release (coming to you Jan 4) too! :)

Be Jolly

(Sigh, the problem with scheduling posts during the holiday is that sometimes I forget to put the photo up!!!)

This is just another card I didn't want to share until now. Ah, Christmas surprises. :)

Can you spot my favorite little swirl? ;-) I love it -- it's from Seasons of Love - Tags. The star and sentiment are from Seasons of Love as well. It's one of my go-to sets (if not just for the swirl...hah).

I stamped and embossed the star in white. I used my craft knife to pop out the star points and reveal just a touch of red underneath. Lots of fun :)

Stamps: (Seasons of Love - Tags) Waltzingmouse Stamps
Paper: (Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Pure Poppy) PTI
Ink: (Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate) PTI, Versamark
Other: Corner Rounder, (Ribbon) PTI, (Embossing Powder) Ranger

Money Card

Hope everyone's enjoying the holiday season! :) Isn't it just nice to be with family and friends?

This is just a fun little card that I created to hold a check (could also hold some dollars as well). While this card is very season specific, it could easily be modified for any other season. For instance, house warming, graduation, weddings...

I just love cards that have a fun little surprise in them! I'm a big fan of pocket cards and other fun surprise cards. Too bad I don't always have the time or the energy to make them that way. Haha.

I got some glassine bags - they hold money just as well as they hold food. ;-) I embossed it with some lovely dots... although glassine is super thing so there were a few rips when I tried to open it. Just have to be super careful! I also covered the small rip with the paper. I don't think I'd try embossing if I was actually going to put food in it. The blue piece of paper fits right in and I placed a little patterned paper on the bottom to hold the check in place. Also stamped the sentiment on the bottom so they see it when they remove the check.

I actually originally only had the eyelet punched without the patterned paper. And then I ripped the edges when I tried to thread ribbon through... so I covered my boo-boo with some patterned paper and then just threaded silver thread though. I wasn't going to try ribbon again. ;-)

The little eskimo girl and the paper are all from the Colorful Christmas line from My Mind's Eye. Isn't it adorable? :) My husband says it looks like me... maybe that's why I LOVE this line so much. Haha.

Anyways, hope you all are having a great holiday season!



Stamps: (Everyday Classics) Papertrey Ink
Paper: (Raspberry Fizz, Spring Moss) Papertrey Ink, (Colorful Christmas) My Mind's Eye
Other: (Snowflake punch) Martha Stewart, (Gems) Hero Arts, (Scallop punch) Fiskars, (Decorative scissors)

Keep Christmas in Your Heart

So, anyone else like me? A total procrastinator? ;-) Trying to make some last minute Christmas cards as we speak! :)

These snowflakes and senitiment are from Seasons of Love - Tags. LOVE the font that Claire used for this set. Totally up my alley.

I wanted to try a more non-traditional color combination so I went with pinks! Yeah, I can't get the pinks out of my mind recently. Haha... it just happens that they're all over my desk recently!




Stamps: ( Seasons of Love - Tags ) Waltzingmouse Stamps
Paper: (Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz, White) PTI
Ink: (Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz) PTI
Other: (Gems) Hero Arts

Christmas Gift Holders

Hope everyone's having a wonderful holiday! :) We just got back from getting some gift cards for the family. The hubs family does gifts for Christmas time... they even trade lists and stuff, totally foreign concept to me.

We got no lists from a lot of them this year. If my list wasn't out already because I was trying to be a good compliant family person (at least for my first year...won't say anything for the rest of the years), then I wouldn't feel so compelled to make the gift somewhat decent. Darn my promptness!

So this year the family is getting gift cards. Secretly this is great for me as well since each $50 gift card purchase at our local grocery store gets us $0.20 cents gas. I like cheap gas!

But what better way to give monies than in a gift card holder made by yours truly? Because if you know me, nothing I do is ever ordinary. So Christmas gifting can't be either.

I had these lovely chipboard pieces from Cosmo Cricket's Jolly by Golly line. I'll admit, I was a little hesitant to use them on people who I knew would throw them out... but I'm trying not to hoard supplies... Aren't they adorable? I made my hubs talk to the birdy chipboard and the snowman. Hah, I know, we're special like that. And yes, I did name them -- the bird is Walt and the snowman is Oliver. Ok, enough about my "special" quirks. ;-)

The gift cards are actually relatively simple. I designed them so that I could make multiple ones from an 8 1/2 by 11 cardstock. I cut the cardstock into pieces of 4 by 8 1/2. The leftover scraps were used for the medallion. Scored at 2 1/8 and then 6 1/8. The top piece I cut 3 7/8 by 2 1/4 patterened paper for a 1/8 inch border and the bottom piece is a 3 7/8 by 2 piece of patterened paper. Folded, decorated and adhered one edge to make a pocket. Easy peasy! Probably the easiest and quickest crafty thing I've mass-produced all year.

And because I'm totally OCD about trash during gift opening time, I have to show a pic here on how to open it properly WITHOUT untying my ribbon. The hubs knows already that I spend lots of time making my ribbons pretty and he should never ever touch them. The rest of the family isn't going to be trained in time -- alas.

I designed these so people can just slip the ribbbon or paper band off. Easy peasy! I hope...

There's a lot of pink this year... mainly cos pink is awesome! And maybe next year the family will give me Christmas lists rather than receive pink gift card holders... we'll see.

I have 9 total right now and after shopping I know I'm already 2 short... I haven't decided if I'm going to change the design or not for the last 2 I need to do... If you don't know, I hate mass producing (aka never ever ever ever doing 80 wedding invitations again) and I like uniqueness so I'll prolly do a different twist for the next two.

Happy holidays!


Paper: (Kraft, Raspberry Fizz) PTI, (Jolly By Golly) Cosmo Cricket
Accessories: (Jolly By Golly Chipboard) Cosmo Cricket, Ribbon from American Crafts and PTI
Tools: Large Circle Scallop Nestabilities, (Corner Punch) EK Success

Dream

Hope everyone's having a good Friday so far! I have one more day of work and then I'm off for the rest of the year. :)

Its no secret that I love silhouette images. I don't know what it is about them... so simple and yet so elegant! So of course I had to ink up this lovely set Dream Silhouettes from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps!

I decided that I'd only use part of the image and let the rest of it taper off (rather than putting the whole thing on). I think its a fun way to diversify your sets as well. :) Just a little different image depending on how you offset it!

Off to get some last minute Christmas gifts (which are slowly becoming new year's gifts) ready!



Stamps: (Dream Silhouettes) Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps
Paper: (Dark Chocolate, Ripe Avocado, Tea Leaves) Papertrey Ink
Ink: (Dark Chocolate) Papertrey Ink
Other: (Twill) Papertrey Ink, (Border Punch) Fiskars, (Corner Rounder) EK Success, (Pearls) Hero Arts

Bitty Blessings

Ack, I'm a horrible blogger sometimes. I knew I wasn't going to have much time this week but I totally forgot to schedule my posts last weekend!

Hope everyone's having a grand weekend. The hubs has been out of town and I, being the total hypocrite that I am, have been eating Pittsburgh fare all week (fried sandwiches, fries, yum yum). Cooking for one sucks. Just don't tattle on me or he won't want to eat his veggies (or my cooking) when he comes back!

Ok, anyways, Here's a quicky that I created awhile back for a friend that just had a baby. Want to guess the sex of the baby? ;-)

The hubs asked for a card and since we had to mail it, I kept things down to a minimum. I used thinner ribbon to slip it by Mr. Postman without any issues. I didn't hear any complaints that it required extra postage -- ignorance is bliss.

Hope R &B enjoyed the little card and are enjoying their second bundle of joy.



Stamps: Bitty Baby Blessings (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: White, Sweet Blush (Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Berry Sorbet (Papertrey Ink)
Ribbon: Martha Stewart
Coloring Utensils: Copics

You Are Special To Me

In case I haven't said it enough, I've had a lot of fun playing with Punny Fruits and Veggies from SNSS. If you saw the samples posted on the SNSS blog you might have already seen this already but I realized I hadn't posted it on my own blog yet! Ahhck, it's been one of those months...

This is probably my personal favorite of the ones I've made with this set so far. Maybe because its so simple in nature or maybe because all the colors just make me smile. Heh.

Ok, hope everyone's having a good week!


Stamps: ( Punny Fruits and Veggies ) SNSS
Paper: PTI, (Farm Fresh) October Afternoon
Ink: Palette Noir
Accessories: (Twill) PTI, (Twine) May Arts, (1 inch and 1 1/4 inch circle punch) EK Success, (Corner Rounder) EK Success, (Border Punch) Fiskars

Quick and Easy Waltzingmouse Cards (part 2)

Hope everyone had a great weekend! :) I can't believe its already Sunday... I'm not ready for the weekend to be over!

Another quick and simple card. This time I used Earth Angel. I colored the dress with my copics and then I masked the dress so that I could stamp the swirl from Seasons of Love - Tags onto the corner of the dress. To even add a little more jazz, I added some pearls onto the dress.

Can you tell I LOVE the swirl from Seasons of Love - Tags? Haha. Claire, you're going to have to design another swirl for me. ;-)


Stamps: (Earth Angel, Seasons of Love - Tags) Waltzingmouse Stamps
Paper: (Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream, Melon Berry, Patterned Paper) PTI
Ink: (Dark Chocolate) PTI
Accessories: (Twill) PTI, (Pearls) Hero Arts

Bella Birthday Bash Blog Hop

(This is my second post today -- scroll down so you don't miss my swap post as well!)

Welcome to the Bella Birthday Bash Blop Hop sponsored by Stamping Bella! If you've just happened upon my blog, you should CLICK HERE to start from the beginning at Bloggabella!

This is my first time participating and I figured I love my little LuLu so much that she deserved some more inky love.

I colored her in with some copics. Also dug into some new patterned paper I got at a local scrapping store I went to while on vacation. Placed a pearl on the flower in her hair because that's where pearls belong. :)

Three gift certificates for $100 in Bella Bucks will be hidden along the hop, but we’re not telling you where so be sure to leave some love as you hop!!! Make sure you leave comments on every post so you have a chance to win!! The winners will be announced on Monday, December 7 at the Stamping Bella Blog. MWAH!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Now it's time to hop on over to Alex at Fairy Blossoms & Life.


Stamps: (Emma - Lulu Collection) Stamping Bella
Paper: (Dark Chocolate, Melon Berry, Vintage Cream) Papertrey Ink, KaiserKraft
Ink: (Dark Chocolate) Papertrey Ink
Accessories: (Twill) Papertrey Ink, (Pearls) Hero Art, (Border Punch) Fiskars, (Large Oval Nestabilities)

Thank You Sew Much

I made this last night and I meant to finish it up more. Unfortunately, when I went to go snip my ribbon, my finger got in the way. In case you were wondering, those precision scissors can really cut into skin. It HURTS like no other when I type right now... not really great for someone who types a lot for work too. Not compared to most people's bad weeks but maybe Thanksgiving dinner will be made by the hubster if my finger continues to hurt. :D

So yeah, you're getting this. :) Played a little more with Sewing Box Hugs from Waltzingmouse Stamps. I decided that it'd look cute on a quilted background.

Given that I'm short on needles (darn my ability to break needles), I faux stitched.

And given my finger, I'm leaving supply list off for now. :)

Holiday Card Swap

Vané from Brooklyn Bride is once again hosting her annual holiday card swap! We all make so many holiday cards and so I think this'll be a fun little thing to do! And there's a cookie recipe swap as well -- two loves in one!

Here are the directions:


Happy swapping!!

{graphics by Courtney Jenzen}

Holiday Gift Series - 1

A little break from our regularly scheduled programming... I'm on the hunt for quick and cheap holiday gifts.

I've been a little slow on the posting recently since first off it's 4th quarter and work is always hectic this quarter... Need to make monies for the company so I can get a bonus! A bigger bonus means more stamps! Secondly, I'm trying to finish up the Christmas schinanigans.

This year, I'm going homemade where I can. My husband thinks this opens the door to some unreturnable homemade gifts but like I told my husband, I'd rather get that than say an ugly Christmas candle holder that I can't return for much value either. Bring on the homemade! So I figured I'd share some of my "cheap" homemade gifts.

So here's gift option #1... Now imagine this with a cute little stamped tag... :)

I love purses. What woman doesn't love purses? I'm not going to disclose how many purses I own but lets just say there's a closet of purses and bags... And if you don't like purses, it's super green to bring in your own lunch to work in a stylish bag... This could totally work for a lunch bag as well.

I made a "fat quarter" bag. I had found some other cute patterns but I wanted to minimize the extra fabric I had laying around (at least until I know what to do with it more). This bag is basically a fat quarter for the lining and a fat quarter for the outside. So basically 1/2 yard of fabric makes 1 purse.

I found some fabric in Joanne's that I could "live" with. I'm not thrilled with it but I didn't have much choice this round. I went with the home section fabric -- gives it a little more umph I feel.

Total Cost Breakdown:
Handles: $5
Cloth: $5 (2.50 for the outside pattern and 2.50 for the lining fabric)
Interfacing: $2
-----------------
Total: $12

Time Breakdown:
Cut time: 15 min
Iron time: 30 min
Sewing Time: 1 hr
-----------------
Total: ~2 hrs

I didn't add a pocket but I haven't completely sealed this guy up so it's still possible. Also, I could have been fancier with the outside by adding a strip or something. I'm also planning on picking up some magnets so it seals better. Eventually I'd like to add a zipper but that's a long way in the future. :)

We're going to be making lots of my own purses! Oh, imagine the possibilities. Instead of the eh fabric that I got at Joanne's, imagine this in some Amy Butler fabric, Heather Bailey, or maybe with Patty Young's latest Floral and Fauna collection! Swoooon!

Hopefully no one minds a homemade gift this year... I promise they'll only get better over time. And I try not to be too lame...

Ok, back to the regularly scheduled program!

Winter Wonderland

Happy Saturday! :) I "vacuumed" where I use vacuum lightly... I'm so not good at the cleaning...

Anyways, just taking a break from the cleaning to post this fun winter card. :) Can I just say that I LOVE these papers from My Mind's Eye Colorful Christmas Collection. :) Such fun colors! I know they sell fabric in this collection too... I may just have to get my hands on some! Sadly, I don't know of a good fabric store in Pittsburgh... I've been mostly buying online.

And it works so well with the fun snowman image from Snow Friends (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps). Isn't it adorable! I colored them with my copics and I added a little gray for the now. But I ended up covering a lot of it with some fun glitter.

I'm so behind on Xmas cards... really hoping to catch up on some of that during the Thanksgiving weekend... but I'm guessing as with all my perfect plans that it isn't going to happen.

Anyways, hope everyone is having a great weekend! :)


Stamps: Snow Friends (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)
Paper: White (PTI), (Colorful Christmas) My Mind's Eye
Ink: Noir Palette
Accessories: Buttons (Making Memories), Glitter (Making Memories), Copics, Snowflake Punch (Martha Stewart)

Thankful for Your Support

I'm pretty sure I haven't shown this yet. :) It's one of those weeks...

I ADORE this tree from Blessed By You. There's something so calming about willow trees. I remember as a kid, we had one in our neighborhood and we used to love to try to swing on its branches... never worked well though. :)

The swirl comes from Seasons of Love - Tags. It creates such a fun background don't you think? I only stamped the base to give my card a little grounding.

I added some gems to the tree (yes I know willows don't have fruit but in the stamping world, who cares?) They're red but I can't seem to get that to show in my pic.

Hope everyone's having a good week!


Stamps: (Seasons of Love - Tags, Blessed By You) Waltzingmouse Stamps
Paper: (Avocado, Scarlet Jewel, Dark Chocolate) PTI
Ink: (Dark Chocolate) PTI
Accessories: Border Punch (Fiskars), Hemp, Button (PTI)

Stamping Around PA Photos

This is totally a photo filled blog post. :) I just got back this weekend from Stamping Around PA. :) Highly recommend it if it ever comes into your neck of the woods. I finally got a chance to meet some great people that I've only known online and the location was just diving (I could just stay there forever). I'm just going to show people pics but there's some fun pics floating around of all the projects we made!

Korin is the owner of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and it was great to meet her finally! An absolute sweetie and just so much fun. We made a cute and simple card the first night using some SNSS stamps to form a fun Christmas tree -- adorable!!

Kathi was such a sweetheart. It's nice to finally put a face to the name. She taught us a fun class using wax resist... and I needed special lessons... somehow I never learned how to color with crayons. :-P By the end of the class,I had the whole box of crayons all for me!

Here we are with Becky (in perfect height order like some AT&T wireless commercial). She was such a hoot. We loved her class (she didn't even need to bribe us all with a free Autumn Abundance set from PTI and one of Lauren's templates! Although bribing does help... Thanks to PTI and Becky for the fun new stamp set!)

This is Wendy and Erin. I met Wendy on the PTI forum - but I definitely didn't realize we lived so close! Sometimes I think I assume everyone I "meet" in the forums lives far far away in some happy stamp land where deer sing & dance. Yeah....super special. Erin I knew through the MFT forum and it was great to finally meet her as well! Both of them are great stampers and I can't wait to crash their monthly stamping get togethers! :D It's not the last you've seen of me ladies!

My CMU gals! :) I'm so glad that these ladies joined in on the fun and hopefully these n00bs didn't feel too out of place!

Look Ma - I made a card! Ren-Yi was so proud so we had to document it! :) Wish I had the happy pic where she showed off her "buttons"! ;-)

Jenn was my "across the hall" neighbor freshman year in college... one of the first people I met in college. I can't even think of how many hours we spent in her room or vice versa. So thrilled that she came and that we got a chance to catch up. :)

And I have to give a BIG thanks to the hubster who drove me to and from Stamping Around! :) I think it would have been a much rougher driver without him there. And I know it wasn't easy for him... dealing with squealing girls, a car filled with crafty goodies and a wife who just can't stop chatting about stamps.

Good for You!

I pulled out Oliva again (for both this card and my name tag for Stamping Around PA!). I'm so excited for this weekend. :-) I've been looking forward to this weekend for a very long time and I can't believe it's almost here! Eeeek! :)

The hubster is driving most of the way. He actually volunteered... somehow he doesn't think I can drive 5 hrs by myself... and he's probably right. :-P Especially after last week when I almost got run off the road by a truck (and cut off a not so nice man in a sports car , I'm kind of scared to drive so I'm glad we planned things this way.

Anyways, card... :) I love the fun Owl Celebrations set from SNSS. You can do so much with the fun accessories to Olivia. Love the fun accessories (although I am attached to the balloon.

Eeek! Ok, off to load the car!


Stamps: Owl Celebrations (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)
Paper: Dark Chocolate (PTI), October Afternoon
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Pure Poppy (PTI)
Accessories: Ribbon (PTI), Button (Making Memories), Twine (May Arts)

Thinking of You

Haha, I've never had so many people ask about where I go... that is until I put that it's my favorite scrappy shopping location! :) For reference, I'm heading home from Salt Lake City, Utah today. I opted to stay until Friday as I'm not a fan of taking the redeye flights. Somehow, I always end up next to the worst person on the flight...

Once I ended up next to someone who just didn't appreciate flying much and didn't exactly grab the nice white bag they provide in the front seat pocket... there was also the time that the guy next to me decided to light a cigarette and then promptly denied it... ah, I could totally keep going (sadly)

I already got lots of fun goodies -- and perhaps there's more to come! Just don't tell the hubster... he doesn't need to know. :)

Ok, I've babbled enough. You can tell its been a long week -- I don't know when to shut up. :) And I'm ready to talk about anything that's not work related. Hah.

This is a fun card I created before I left using my new Lulu! I had seen her floating around and when we stopped in a scrappy store in Winston-Salem, I just had to have her!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Always Remember

The flowers from the Forget Me Not set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps are so pretty and elegant! Not to mention lots of fun to color (or emboss). :-)

This was a circle card that I started for the Embellish challenge but I never finished it until now. :) Oh wells. Such is life!

I stamped the flowers and then colored them with my copics. I actually initially intended the flower to be used differently but playing around with it, I decided I liked this formation better.

The ribbon is what I used to hold the front and the back together. The score line is on back piece (not a fan of having the score line on the front).

A few more days until I head home (although not before I do a little shopping in my favorite crafty shopping town first). Hope everyone's having a good week!

Let me know if you have questions on any of the supplies used. Since I'm scheduling these posts and doing them super last minute, I skimped on the supply list. :) Thanks for understanding!

Cuppie Birthday

I'm going to apologize in advance... this whole week's worth of posts are probably all going to be short and sweet. If you've been following my little life, I travel lots of business. And sometimes (actually a lot of times), I get last minute notice. So I'm trying to get all the necessary posts up for this week and trying to get everything else wrapped up before I leave on a jet plane. The only consolidation I have this time is that I'm going to my favorite scrappy shopping city ever! :)

This is for the Moxie Fab Challenge -- ruffles and also for the latest LSC243 challenge (no patterned paper and a girly card). Sweet and simple. I made my ruffle relatively simple. Sewed it on and covered my sewing with the gray paper strip.

Ok, that's all the babble I have for now. Hope everyone has a great week!

Snowflakes

This is going to be a super short post. I'm probably even going to leave the supply list out for now because I'm a little rushed this weekend.

It was confirmed Friday at 5:30pm that I'm traveling for business so I'm rushing to get a few things done this weekend. Ah, such is my life.

Luckily the hubs has a whole lot of leftovers to choose from (stuffed with broccoli -- which I'm betting he's going to pick around)... but at least it means no princess shaped spaghetti-os.

This uses the Snowflake set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. :) Isn't it so pretty? I used white detail embossing powder to get them to stand out against the kraft. Sponged the edges of the kraft in white.

Let me know if there are any other questions as I run off to my errands! And I still haven't packed either yet..aaahck!

Hope everyone has a grand day!

Delighted by Your Gift

Hope everyone's having a lovely week so far! I'm in the process of making an apron... figured it was about time to dust off my sewing skills (especially now that I have a sewing machine!) My last sewing venture was in junior high home economics class so yeah... But there's so many hot fabrics (but tell you the truth, I still love paper more... ironing is not my favorite task especially since I don't have a ironing board so my back hurts like no other from bending funny)

And I'm still loving the Blessed by You
from Waltzingmouse Stamps. So many fun different things to do with it!

I stamped the different leaves in different colors. Then sponged the edges... I think I need more practice sponging...

The lines on the side are from the Seasons of Love - Tags set. It's the dotted lines for inside the tags. :) Multi use!

My last buttony bow didn't have the twine as a bow so I'd try again. Although between you and me, I think I need some nice thick ribbon... twill doesn't fluff.



Stamps:Blessed by You, Seasons of Love - Tags - Waltzingmouse Stamps
Paper: Scarlet Jewel, Summer Sunrise, Bitty Boxes - PTI
Ink: Scarlet Jewel, Summer Sunrise, Poppy - PTI
Accessories: Poppy Button - PTI, Scallop Punch - Fiskars , Hemp

Hello!

Haven't posted in awhile -- not because I haven't stamped... ok so there is that... but some of my cards are en route and I try my best not to reveal those cards until I'm 50% sure they've gotten the card. What can I say, I'm only patient for so long.

This card is for someone who I'm 100% sure doesn't read my blog -- the day they do, pigs will fly.

I was in a spring mood (in Pittsburgh it warmed up after being frosty last week) and I just got this fun Kim Hughes set. And you know what you do with new sets? You ink them up! ;) I refuse to have an uninked set in my stash. So before any stamp set can be put away, they sit on my desk -- begging to be inked. Some beg longer than others but this one didn't have much of a chance to beg. When the hubs came home today, he handed me my fun package and I promptly cut this puppy up at the dinner table. Pretty sure no rubber landed in our food.... just kidding. ;-)

I placed the chickies on the same block and stamped them as if they were one stamp. I actually restamped a few times since initially I placed the chickies a little further apart and they didn't feel like a cohesive unit. I colored up these little chicks with my Copics. And still not entirely getting the hang of them... but it doesn't look too bad right? Just amuse me and say yes. :)

I placed the chickies on the same block and stamped them as if they were one stamp. I actually restamped a few times since initially I placed the chickies a little further apart and they didn't feel like a cohesive unit. I colored up these little chicks with my Copics. And still not entirely getting the hang of them... but it doesn't look too bad right? Just amuse me and say yes. :)

Joanne Basile (love her blog... I'm one of her blog stalkers...) has a fun tutorial for button bows -- yes, tying a ribbon is like tying a shoe, but I wasn't a good fluffer. So for this card, I fluffed that ribbon up real good. Of course right now, its smooshed in an envelope... All that ribbon fluffing so I could get a great photo. :)


Stamps: Sweet Spring - CHF
Paper: Bazzill, Making Memories
Ink: Noir (Palette), Tsukino
Accessories: Avocado Button (PTI), Lemon Tart Ribbon (PTI), Copics, White Gel Pen

Blog Candy Winners!

Thanks for all your support with the blog candy post.

Random.org picked 77 and 108.
Crafty Candy - BethieJ
Amazon GC - Mary H

Bethie and Mary, please email me (click on the Contact Me on the upper left side of blog) with your information!

Blessed by You

It's been awhile since I've posted a card... I know! :) Before we get started, I just wanted to point out that the PKD awareness/blog candy for a cause post is still open! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take the time to leave a comment! It's for a good cause and every comment counts!

Ok, moving on... I wanted to play with some of the fun images from the latest release of Waltzingmouse Stamps. I picked this fun house image from Blessed by You. It's such a lovely image and would make a lovely card for a hostess. :)

I know, I left my buttons "naked"! I normally thread something through but I decided I'd give it a try. These are some Dark Chocolate buttons I got from Joyce! She was so generous with her blog candy. :) Actually using these buttons is what put me over the edge... I kept thinking I had enough buttons already so I didn't need any more from PTI but after using them, boy was I wrong... now I have some more PTI buttons coming my way. Ah, crack.

Stamps:Blessed by You - Waltzingmouse Stamps
Paper: Kraft - PTI, Lemonade - Basic Grey
Ink: Dark Chocolate - PTI
Accessories: Dark Chocolate Buttons - PTI, Scallop Punch - Fiskars

Remember

Friday! Thank goodness! And this was a short work week for me -- but doesn't the week always feel super long after a vacation?

Did you see the WCMD gallery winners on the Paper Crafts blog? :) It's actually a card for a baby who's still chilling in the womb (and there's more that I plan to send that bundle of joy)... so that card will be featured soon but I'm just too excited not to share it yet. :)

This is fun little card I created with Forget Me Not from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. I love the simple elegance of these flowers and its just fo nice to be able to emboss them. I added some gems as well (and colored them purple with my Copics).


Stamps: (Forget Me Not) Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps
Paper: (Lavender Moon, Spring Moss, Bitty Boxes patterned paper) PTI
Ink: (Plum Pudding) PTI, Versamark
Accessories: (Gems) Hero Arts, (Ribbon) PTI, Clear EP, (Border Punch) Fiskar, (Button) Making Memories)