Jolly Deer

Hi stampers!  How can Christmas be this week already?  I'm ready but I'm not ready!  I really think I'd like it if the holiday season was longer!  I'd have more time to get ready (ok, more time to procrastinate, lol) and more time to enjoy all the fun stuff!  I'm kind of dreading the time after Christmas, January-March can seem kind of long.  It's cold and often dreary and there's not a whole lot going on.  Last year was rough, with Ian being only 5-6 months old.  I'm hoping it will be a little better now that he's older and maybe I won't feel as trapped at home if it's cold.  He can do much more stuff now and there's lots of places to take him to learn and play!

Today it baking day and we'll be making all kinds of cookies and no-bake treats!  Hopefully I won't eat them all and I'm excited that Ian can enjoy some of them this year too!  I'm always looking for new things to try, what are your favorite holiday treats?

This is one of the last cards I made.  I was just playing round with some leftovers from cutting out the word.  I had intentionally cut it out at this placement in order to make a card with it!  Sometimes I have a bright idea...sometimes ;-)

I'm just going to CRY when this paper goes away in a few weeks.  I just love the vintage/retro feel and that dang deer is too sweet.  I'm warning you now, you may see it for a while!  I really love the music note design too.  I'm sure you couldn't tell that ;-)

Ok, time to check on the cookies ;-)

Happy stamping!

Fab Friday 74

Hi stampers!  Happy Friday!  Another week has come and gone and I haven't stamped or blogged, boo!  Oh well.  Maybe one of these days I'll get it together.  The good news is I got totally inspired with the Fab Friday sketch today...the bad news is I didn't have time to make more than one card by the timeI got it done and then had to get all the blog posts up.  I really like the sketch this week and have a LOT of ideas for it!

It's a simple sketch but I really wanted to do a lot of things with it!  I finally settled on a Christmas card but there will be some Halloween cards coming soon!  And more Christmas cards too!  I keep forgetting I have the season of cheer DSP as a convention freebie.  It's not one I would have gotten on my own.  It's not that I don't care for it, it's just not a must have for me.  But, I felt like I should give it a try for this sketch.  I think it turned out pretty well!  And the only actual stamping is the sentiment.  The DSP made pretty quick work of this card.  And the main panel is layered on our gold foil sheets although it's not showing well in the photo.  It's kind of stunning in real life!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Oh what fun
Paper: Whisper white, pear pizazz, mossy meadow, gold foil sheets, season of cheer DSP
Ink:  Cherry cobbler
Accessories:  Wooden snowflake elements, gold buttons, linen thread

Make sure to check out the rest of the team's creations and play along with us!

Happy Stamping!

It's Freakin' Fall!

Hi stampers!  I'm so ready for fall and it seems to be taking it's sweet time getting here.  It felt like summer was never going to get here this past year and while I'm sad about not being able to take my little guy to the pool, I'm so ready for crisp temps and all things fall!  I may be itching to wear all the fun new fall clothes I've acquired too...bring on the boots and the layers!

Anyway, since we're celebrating fall with our Control Freaks blog hop this month!  Fall and the holidays is the theme this time around which is right up my alley ;-)

The tour actually goes live on the 20th so make sure to check back then if you pop in early just in case there are any bugs we had to work out ;-) You may have clicked on over from Connie's blog, weren't her projects fabulous?  If you didn't, don't worry as we make a never ending circle so just keep clicking!

My first card is actually one of two recent Control Freak swaps we just sent off.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Thankful forest friends
Paper:  Whisper white, old olive, soft suede, into the woods DSP
Ink:  Soft sude, old olive, tangerine tango
Accessories: Linen thread, into the woods cotton ribbon, woodland embossing folder

The fox is fussy cut and yes, I cut 20+ of them :-)  I based the main part of the card off of the little Christmas make and take from convention.  It was so cute!

My second card is pretty simple but I kind of love it.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps: Acorny thank you
Paper:  Whisper white, crumb cake, blackberry bliss, kraft
Ink:  Soft suede, hello honey, rich razzleberry
Accessories:  Acorn builder punch, linen thread

And there you have it.  Make sure to click on over to Heidi's blog to see her amazing projects if you haven't already!

Thanks for joining us and happy stamping!

Fab Friday 72

Hi stampers and Happy Friday!  I'm kind of wishing I was back at Disneyland where I was last Friday :-)  But, we're back to reality over here and just in time for Fab Friday!  We have a fun sketch for you this week!

AND most exciting of all (and maybe making not being at Disney a little bit more tolerable, hehe) is that I made one of my best and most favorite cards EV-AH which is a big stinking deal these days since I'm lacking in creativity 90% of the time!  So, excuse me while I squeeeeeee over this card:

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Oh, what fun
Paper:  Whisper white, real red, pool party, mossy meadow, home for Christmas DSP
Ink: Craft white, pool party, mossy meadow
Accessories:  Spritzer, gold satin ribbon, doilies, home for Christmas enamel dots, linen thread, snowflake elements, gold sequin trim, 2.5" circle punch, labels collection framelits

It actually all came from a "mistake" so to speak while working on designing a swap.  I found that I wasn't crazy about spritzing this background but I saved the piece anyway and figured I could work it into something ad the rest is history!  There are so many things I love on here!  The enamel dots are so fun and I LOVE those snowflake elements!  The sentiment is from the stamp set that goes with the tags kit.  You can use it for way more than tags!  The gold satin ribbon is my new favorite!  So pretty and soft!  And that deer....swoon!

Make sure to visit Fab Friday and see all the other DT samples and make sure to play along!

Happy stamping!

Fall Feathers

Hi stampers!  It's starting to look like fall in the evenings.  What is it about the light in the evening in August-October?  It just "feels" like fall!  But man, it sure doesn't feel like fall!  It's so hot!  I'm looking forward to it cooling down a bit.  It's too hot to play outside with the little guy and too hot to run/walk outside with him too.  He really enjoys the stroller so hopefully it will cool down soon!

And I guess I should have shared this card yesterday since it's a fall card ;-)  I love this set.  It's so versatile and while it's made for the wreath kit, it's totally a stand on it's own set!  I'm still having a few editing glitches so this pic is a bit off, sorry.  But you can get the gist :-)

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Cheer all year
Paper:  Whisper white, crumb cake, hello honey or delightful dijon (sorry), gold glimmer
Ink: I can't remember, whoops
Accessories:  None

I used both feather stamps and stamped the solid one with a lighter ink and then the striped one in a darker shade.

And as a side note, would you please pray for the Fox Lake community and the surrounding communities and for the officers friends and family.  The recent police shooting has hit us a lot closer to home than I'd like (of course I'd like it to not happen anywhere).  I really hope they catch the people.  I'll sleep a lot better when justice can be served. The whole situation just sickens me.  Thanks.

Happy stamping!

First Day of Fall

Hi stampers!  Happy fall!  Ok, not really since it's not actually fall and it's as hot as you know what over here but how can it be September already?  And honestly, no matter what the weather, September feels like fall for me!  I'm quite excited for cooler temps, fall clothes (and boots) for me AND for Ian, pumpkin patches, and NO BUGS!  Seriously, the mosquitoes are out of control this year!

Know what else is signaling fall?  The HOLIDAY catalog officially begins today!

Contact me if you'd like a copy and remember, you can shop my store 24/7 with the link on the right sidebar! I took a little trip to California last week (didn't feel like fall there either) so now that I'm back, I'll be working on getting some classes and stuff up soon!  Stay tuned for that!  There is SO MUCH fun stuff in here!

And here's a little card.  The main image was made at convention and then I added it to a card when I got back.  This is hands down my favorite suite/items in the catalog!

If you don't hear from me for a while it's because I lost my dang mind and designed a swap (actually two) that needs almost 30 of these guys hand cut!  You know what I'm doing from now until their due date ;-)

Happy stamping!

Cozy Christmas

Hi stampers!  It's Christmas in August again :-)  I have to say I'm really enjoying the summer as it seems to have gotten a late start.  It was cool here through June and we didn't do a whole lot but now it's been hot and we have tons going on so it really feels like summer.  And while I never really want summer to end, I really love fall and the holidays, especially the Christmas season!  I'm not ready to let go of the nice weather yet but I'm also longing for cozy sweaters, scarves, and boots and decorating for the holidays!  I feel it's a conundrum, hehe!

And with all the fabulousness in the upcoming Holiday catalog, I've been making it a priority to stamp and now to share!  I really want to get back to blogging, stamping, and even having classes (both in person and online) so stay tuned!  Here's a little card made with the cozy Christmas suite which I love!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Cozy Christmas
Paper:  Very vanilla, real red, pool party, home for Christmas DSP
Ink:  Real red, pool party, mossy meadow
Accessories:  Crochet trim, circle and modern label punches

Along with a stamp set, I won this trim at convention and thought it was the perfect thing to pair with this slightly retro, slightly vintage suite!  And I'm still having some trouble editing photos so they are still not the quality I'd like and I don't have my watermark.  Grrrr!

Happy stamping!

It's Christmas...

in August!  Hey stampers!  Look at me, it's not even a challenge day or blog hop day and I'm posting ;-)

Christmas came early for me last night in the form of a special pre-order for convention attendees!  Kind of funny that I got it on the day the actual pre-order went live, ha!  I'll have to add a few more things to my collection soon though...Christmas twice, hehe!

Anyway here's the card I made with the new sleigh ride bundle (stamp set and thinlit die) and foil vellum sheets.  (My editing is still on the fritz...I've resorted to my phone which is better than nothing.)

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Sleigh ride
Paper: Thick WW, fancy foil vellum, mossy meadow
Ink:  Mossy meadow
Accessories:  Sleigh ride thinlits

It's hard to capture the foil vellum in the picture but it's pretty.  And it's easy to attach with some well placed glue dots behind the flakes.  If I had the new precision glue (one of those things I can get ahold of now) I could use that instead.  I do wish the flakes were a bit more in scale with the trees but it's still pretty!

And not only is it Christmas around here but today is Ian's FIRST birthday!  How can he be a year old already?  He's just the cutest.  He's funny and smart and sweet, and all around awesome!  He's starting to walk pretty well the past few weeks and loves his oodles of toys.  He really enjoys figuring out how things work and pushing buttons on toys and really likes scratching touch and feel books and anything with texture, lol!  He raises his arms (or only one when he's lazy) when you ask how big are you, he gives fives, gives kisses (when he feels like it, ha), and squints his eyes if you wink at him!  He was sleeping really well and all through the night before we traveled to Utah and a bunch of other places after.  Hopefully he'll revert back to that!   And he eats more and better than any baby I've ever seen!  I haven't found one thing yet that he won't eat and his favorite food is broccoli.  He picks it up and shoves it in his mouth faster than you can set it down and picks it out first over everything, ha!  He also loves chick-fil-a and Chipotle much to his parents delight ;-)  Here are a few pictures from his birthday party last weekend:

My dad and step-mom tracked down this adorable fire truck cozy car that actually has a tank that squirts water!  My dad was a fireman so this is all kinds of awesome for Ian and for him :-)  Sadly, we didn't have room to bring it home this trip.

 Of course his party had to be Star Wars themed!  He had a shirt too and I swear he was happy here.  Pics are hit or miss these days and we take what we can get ;-)

 Mmmmmm cake!  He actually wasn't sure at all in the beginning and made horrible faces (which he tends to do with most new foods), ha!  He liked squishing the icing and then the cake in his hands as much as eating it I think!

Sorry I don't do a better job and blogging and keeping you updated on Ian.  Convention was inspiring and motivating as always but I'm not sure what I'll actually get done.  BUT, I want to do more business and blogging and of course STAMPING!  So, we'll see what happens!

Happy stamping!