Your Beary Cute!

Happy Monday everyone!!!!!

Please Scroll Down For My Club Anya Sneak Peek!

This week is pretty exciting for me, seeing as how it is the release week for Little Paper Shop!!! I mean how adorable was that little Angelic Jena yesterday!!! So, so cute and I have another adorable image to share with you today!!!! I have to say as soon as I saw this stamp I immediately thought of little Izzy and her bee! Poor girl she is probably going to get a million cards made with stamp!!! But not only is it new release day but it is also sketch challenge Monday, so I decided to combine the two. I now present to you {Beary Best Katie}.


Seriously this is the way Izzy looks all the time except instead of a bear it is a bee purse she is holding!!! So, so sweet and the little piggy tails and the sweet expression on her face, I just can't stop gushing! And how amazing is this sketch!!!! I couldn't wait to play! Anywhoo, I started this card by first stamping {Beary Best Katie} by Little Paper Shop on white card stock and colored her in using my copics. Following the sketch, I layered on pink, orange and brown card stock along with DP from Stampin' UP. I added some brown brads down the side and completed the whole look with some stars I cut out using my cricut and nestabilites. I can hardly wait to present it to Izzy!!! She loves all her cards she gets and brings them out every day and riffles through them. It is so so cute!!!!

Love this set? Want to win it? Today we not only have a preview contest for you, but it's also LPS Monday, so that means there are TWO chances to win this set! Leave a comment on the Little Paper Shop Blog and one random winner will be chosen and announced tomorrow during our official release!

Now go check out the other DT girls incredible creations!!!!

• Julia Betemps
• Jessica Diedrich
• Allison Fillo
• Bonnie Sharp
• Cindy Haffner
• Heather Lee-Reppen
• Jennifer Greco
• Jessie Rone-Guest Designer April-June
• Julie Lacey
• Mel McCarthy
• Sarah Green
• Silvia Mabie

Thanks everyone for stopping by today and don't forget this amazing set along with {Angelic Jena} will be available for purchase tomorrow! Smiles!!!!

First Comes Graduation Then Comes a Twinkling Marriage!

Happy Tuesday everyone!!!

Hope everyone's week is going well so far. Izzy and I have quite a jam packed week in store for us. It is her birthday weekend so we are going to be running around trying to do all the last minute errands for her party. I am going to apologize in advance for being around sporadically this week. Family is coming in town so I will be cleaning the house like a mad woman! LOL!

Yesterday of course was filled with lots and lots of errands. My arm got twisted into going into Hobby Lobby, LOL, to buy ribbon and of course pick up a spellbinder die. We also went to Target to get candy for the thank you gifts. Izzy was so excited! All she talked about was going to Target! I think she just likes to ride in the cart. She calls it "Izzy's seat". I do have a funny story to share though. Izzy and I were sitting in the car, about ready to turn into the shopping center where Target is. We were stuck at the red light so I stuck my hand in the back and told her to give me kisses. She didn't say anything so I looked back in the rearview mirror and the little stinker had her hands over her eyes. I kept saying, "Where's Izzy? Where's Izzy?" She would just giggle and open her finger then shut them real quick. It was so, so funny!

Alrighty. So I bet you are wondering about my strange title. Well I have a special surprise for you today! Usually we release all the Anya and Ian stamps on the fifteenth of the month, but this month, we have a special surprise for you! Two of the six new releases will be released tomorrow on the first! No Fooling!!! How excited are you!! Marie at The Greeting Farm has two of the most adorable graduation stamps imaginable and since graduations can start as early as the beginning of May she wanted to offer the chance to all her wonderful customers to get them in enough time to create some spectacular cards!

So without further ado, I would like to introduce you to Grad Anya!!!


Isn't she the cutest!!!!! OMGoodness and there is also a Grad Ian! I am always looking for graduation stamps and these are perfect!! Like I said above Grad Anya and Grad Ian will be available in digital form starting tomorrow! The rest of the Anya and Ian release for April will be available on the 15th of the month like usual. I started this card by first printing off Grad Anya from The Greeting Farm on white card stock and colored her in using my copics. I really wanted it to look like she was standing on a diploma so I curled up a piece of white paper on both ends and glued a ribbon and a gold sticker I had left over from when I was a teacher. LOL! I then layered on red and black card stock along with some DP from American Craft and finished my card off with some brads and a sentiment I printed off on my computer. I hope the graduate I give it to enjoys it!

Be sure to check out the other DT members awesome creations! You know, to wet your appetite for the release tomorrow! LOL!

• Jacquie Peifer
• Jessica Diedrich, Club VP/DT Coordinator
• Kristine Moldenhauer Biseth
• Michelle Oatman, Guest Designer
• Traci Porter

Now it is also Tuesday and that means it is Twinkling Tuesday!!! Yay!! And since our fearless leader, Madelynn, is on vacation this week, we have another wonderful guest twinkie to inspire and guide us. Let me introduce you to Jameson, the 8 year old son of our dt member Rebecca! This week Jameson has an inspiration picture and story for our challenge.

Picture:

Story:

Mickey is a Park Ranger working in the national forest. One day on his patrol, he hears a cry for help. He sees a beautiful girl mouse with tears on her face because she has fallen while hiking and broken her leg. The gallant Mickey comes to the rescue of the lovely Minnie, administers first aid, drives her to the hospital, waits for her to be treated and drives her home. They fall in love and the rest is history. However, a few months later, when Mickey goes to pick up his tuxedo on the morning of their wedding day, they have accidentally rented out all of the mouse-sized tuxes! So Mickey shows up anyway in his Ranger uniform. Minnie starts up the aisle and is surprised to see Mickey wearing his uniform but she doesn’t care because that is how he looked when she fell in love with him!

My Card:

I couldn't help myself. I really wanted to use a stamp with mice and I love the color scheme of red, black and green. Well of course when I saw my Cup of Stuff stamp from The Greeting Farm I knew I had a great idea for a card! Of course when I was picking out my papers for my card that got me to thinking about Christmas and I decided to participate in Maria Bell's Christmas Stampin' All Year Long Challenge! Yay me!! I started this card by stamping the two mice from Cup of Stuff by The Greeting Farm on white card stock and colored them in with my copics. I drew in the log for them to sit on and the bow that I cut out and pasted on her head. Following the sketch, I layered on black, red and green card stock along with DP from American Craft and Pinecone Press. To complete the card, I added three red brads and a red ribbon with a bow. I hope you enjoy my little tribute to Mickey and Minnie!

Now it is time to check out the rest of the DT's amazing creations! And don't forget you can play along too! Just remember to leave a comment on the Twinkling Team blog and type in the keyword MTTSC16 when uploading to SCS or PCP.

• Bonnie Sharp
• Cassie Larson
• Christi Thorsen
• Danni Bindel
• Darla Wilson
• Debbie Lee
• Heather Lee-Reppen
• Heather Schlatter
• Jacquie Peifer
• Jami Bova
• Jennifer Greco
• Jessica Diedrich
• Kim Ross
• Kimmie Doktor
• Rebecca Ednie
• Sandra McLean

Well thanks for hanging out with me today! Lots of smiles!

Twinkle Twinkle!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

My goal in the coming year is to get up early and blog in the morning. We will see how it goes!

Well today is day three of the sneak peeks over at SUInk and More!! So far everybody's peeks have been fantastic!! Wow what a group of creative women! Today's peaks come from:

Leigh
Amber
Laura

Tomorrow is my turn so please stop by and see what I have in store!!!

Okay so Izzy is absolutely loving her new kitchen set. She made me muffins last night and maybe pasta sauce? Not quite sure! She used the pasta scoop so that is why I am guessing pasta sauce. She is so cute about it. I make all sorts of noises when I do things with her in the kitchen so she is imitating them! She is such a helper. Oh and she helped me clean yesterday! She got out her little broom and everything. Of course if she actually is able to get any dirt in her dust pan it is back on the floor before she even reaches the trash can!!!

So it is Tuesday and you know what that means!!!! It is Madelynn's Twinkling Tuesday Challenge!!! This is week three of the challenge and boy was it another great sketch!!! We would love for you to play along! All we ask is that when you upload your card to SCS or PCP that you use the code MTTSC3 so that we can look at all the fantastic creations in one place!

I actually combined this with Friday's challenge at SCS in the Hanna Forum to use a Riley image with Hanna accessories. I received all of these images from my friend Kimmie! Thank you so much! So I love school (I wonder why? Maybe it has something do do with being a teacher?) and have been dying to make a school themed card! So when I saw this in my stamped stack I just had to use it!! I started off by coloring School Riley and the accessories from Teacher Hanna by Hanna stamps using only my copics!!!!! I then cut out my accessories and mounted them on a piece of DP. Following the sketch, I layered on yellow and green card stock along with school themed DP. I went ahead and got out my sewing machine and sewed around the edges to give a more kiddish feel (okay, so the real reason is I usually only sew on kids cards because I have a horrible time sewing a straight line!). I then added a red and green stitched ribbon across the middle and popped off my main image!!! I don't know who I will give it too, but it was so fun to make!! Please check out all of the rest of the DT's creations and then swing back by Jessica's blog for a chance at a treat!

Bonnie Sharp
Cassie Larson
Christi Thorsen
Danni Bindel
Debbie Lee
Jami Bova
Jennifer Greco
Jessica Diedrich
Kimmie Doktor
Rebecca Ednie
Sandra McLean
Taylor Usry

Now onto my second card for today and yes it is a Christmas card! I promise I am almost done! This is actually a card I created for my daughter to give to my husband. I used the sketch from Sketches by Tamara for the layout.

Is this image not drop dead gorgeous!!! I love it!!! I wish Christmas wasn't over so that I could color it up again! Oh well, I guess I will have to wait and pull it out again next year. I just love all the detail and the scene!! Yummy! Okay so I started this card off by stamping Partridge In a Pear Tree by Sugar Nellie on white card stock and colored it in using my markers and copics. I added touches of glitter pen to make certain areas sparkle. (Oh and partridges are really hard to find! And all the ones I found pictures of were ugly, so that is why mine looks completely unrealistic!!) Following the sketch, I then layered on green and red card stock which I punched with my Martha Stewart edge punch. The DP is Basic Grey's Wassail paper which I am sad to put away, also! I stamped the sentiment, also from Sugar Nellie, and layered it on green and red card stock. I finished the card off by cutting out the swirls using my cricut machine and then going over them with my glitter pen. Jason really loved it as it reminded him of Izzy.

Well, I better sign off for today! I have a busy stamping day ahead of me and my parents are coming in this afternoon! Have a wonderful day!! And thanks as always for stopping by!

My Cup Has Runneth Over With Good News!!!!

Happy Monday everyone!!

Well, today Jason is going back to work. It has been so nice to have him home for so long that it is going to be a really hard adjustment. I know Izzy is going to be upset not having her daddy around and I don't even want to think about how Tuxy is going to be.

Okay so onto my good news!!! I have been asked to be a DT member for Storage Units Inks and More!!!! I am so excited I can't even tell you! I have known for a little while and boy has it been hard keeping it a secret. I am joining a wonderful group of women:

Mary Jo Price Williams http://www.technostamper.blogspot.com/
Suzanne Dean http://www.scrapbitz.blogspot.com/
Tori Wild http://www.wildsprinkles.blogspot.com/
Chat Wszelaki http://www.memystampsandi.blogspot.com/ Junior DT member
Carolina Buchting http://www.creativepad.typepad.com/
Leigh Obrien http://www.sunflowerstudio.typepad.com/
Kristen Catalano http://www.scrap-creations1.blogspot.com/
Colleen Wold http://www.glitterink.blogspot.com/
Amber Kroening http://www.somanycolorssolittletime.blogspot.com/
Laura Leonard http://www.lu-lascorner.blogspot.com/
Janna Hull http://www.stampspaperglitterohmy.blogspot.com/
Alex Maldonado http://www.fairyblossoms.typepad.com/

January Guest Designer Corrina Farrar http://www.heartfulstamping.blogspot.com/

This is so exciting!!! And to top it all off, January's sneek peeks have started!!! Yesterday Mary Jo, Colleen and Suzanne each created fantastic projects and today is Tori, Kristen and Carolina's turn. These stamps sets are a must have for Valentine's day so check them out!!!

To commemorate my exciting news I have more Christmas cards!!!! Yeahh!!! Okay so they have nothing to do with my news, but like I said I still have a backlog of them so I have to share them sometime!

The first card I am going to show you is for the sketch challenge over at Paper Craft Planet from two Saturday's ago. Yikes, I am behind! It was such a fun sketch and I needed a card for the little boy our neighbor watches, that it worked out perfectly!

Isn't this image adorable!!! I don't have very many little boys in my life (I have two neices and a daughter) but since the addition of my nephew and the little boy next door, I have an increasing need for little boy stamps and boy does this one fit the bill!! So I started this card by stamping Pip With Presents by Sugar Nellie on white card stock and colored him in with my copics and markers. Following the sketch, I mounted him on blue DP and red card stock. I layered on several different DPs and then crisscrossed a blue ribbon in the background. I cut out presents using my cricut machine and mounted them in the corner. I finished the card by adding glitter pen and printing off the sentiment on my computer and popping it off the presents so that it looks like a piece of ribbon. It is so cute!!!

My second card for today illustrates my very twisted sense of humor. I just couldn't help myself. The first time I saw this set with the bear, I immediately thought of the movie A Christmas Story.

I actually gave this card to my dad and added some glasses to the little girl! A Christmas Story is our absolute favorite movie of all time so he loved it! Okay so I started this card by stamping Isabelle and the bear costume from Isabelle Paper Dolls by MFT on white card stock. I masked off the bear's ears before I stamped them and then drew in the bunny ears. I then colored her in with my markers and copics and adhered her to a background I drew in and colored. I cut her out along with a piece of blue, pink and green card stock using my nesties. Using my sewing machine I layered on two different kinds of DP and blue and green card stock. To complete the card I added green rhinestone stickers to the two corners. I am just so pleased with this card! It really brings back memories!

Well, I am off to get Izzy up and make her some breakfast. My parents are coming tomorrow so I really need to get the house cleaned up today! Thanks as always for stopping by and sharing in my good news!!

We're Back Home!!

Happy Saturday everyone!!!

Sorry I have been MIA for the past week. I intended to blog everyday this week, but we had so much fun in KC and were so busy everyday I was never able to. And shocker of shockers I was only able to color one image in the whole time we were gone. Are you gasping???? I feel like I am in withdrawal. I can't wait to get stamping again.

Well, I hope that everybody who celebrates Christmas had a very merry one!!! We certainly did. Santa visited Izzy and delivered a play house and some kitchen appliances for her. Daddy, "Aunt" Tracy and I set it up last night for her. She really likes it, except she doesn't understand why water doesn't come out of the faucet. She kept turning the handles and saying "water". Poor baby!

Oh and Tuxy had a wonderful Christmas also! He received a large bone and a bag of dog treats from Izzy. Of course, Izzy was way more interested in his gifts than in hers. She actually stopped opening her presents so she could play with his. The funniest thing of all is that her cousin, Patrick, (he is only a couple of months younger than her), grabbed Tuxy's bag of treats and wouldn't let go of them all Christmas day!!! I guess we should have just given them dog toys and they would have been content!!

We made it back yesterday afternoon uneventfully. Izzy is a little under the weather though, so she was pretty lethargic last night. Tracy stopped by to visit and we had pizza and watched a movie and just hung out. It was so nice to see her. I hadn't seen her in a week so it felt so good to catch up. Of course, Izzy was in hog heaven. She cuddled on Tracy for 40 minutes. Completely wouldn't move!!! When "Aunt" Tracy's around she only has eyes for her!!

Okay so onto a few cards. You are going to have to bear with me for a couple of more days. I made a whole bunch of Christmas cards to post while I was gone and then did not post them. So you will still be getting some for awhile yet.

My first card for today is a card I created for last Saturday's Sketch Saturday Challenge. OMG it was such a fun sketch! Lots of layers and rectangles so I was able to use a whole bunch of DP and colored paper. Because of the whimsical feel to the sketch, I decided to create a more fun and whimsical card!

Isn't it fun!!! So I started this card by stamping the elf riding the reindeer from CC Designs Sugarplums North Pole by All That Scraps on white card stock and colored them in with my markers and copics. Following the sketch, I layered on green, blue and orange card stock along with three different kinds of DP. I stamped the sentiment using an alphabet set I bought in the dollar bin at Michaels and mounted it on the side. To finish the card off, I added a piece of green rick rack down the middle. I just love the fun feel and non-traditional Christmas colors. It could almost be a birthday card for a kid in December!!

Now onto a DT project. Of course it was actually supposed to be posted on Tuesday, whoops!! So sorry! I actually had it done on Sat. and had it to Jessica, I just didn't get it published on my blog. So here goes. This is a card I created for the magnificent Madelynn's Twinkling Tuesday Sketch Challenge.

How awesome and creative is this sketch!!! AMAZING!!! And please check out the other DT member's work. I can't believe how creative these women are!!! Anywhoo, I was so in love with his sketch when I saw it. I actually thought about crisscrossing ribbon but then I received this beautiful paper in the mail and just had to use it!!! So I started this card by stamping Snowflake by Sugar Nellie (my brand new stamp!!!!) on white card stock and colored her in using my copics and markers. I then added some glitter gel pen to add some sparkle. To created the background, I followed the sketch and cut two different kinds of DP into wedges and mounted them on the diagonal to my paper. I then cut half inch strips of DP and adhered them from corner to corner on my card. (At this point I read the sketch wrong and only added a ribbon to one side!) I finished the card off by adding some glitter snowflakes to the corner and printing off and adhering the sentiment to the middle. I love the chilly colors and the layout rocks!!! Oh and don't forget you are welcome to play along each week too!

Well, I need to get ready to head to our neighbor's son's baptism this morning. We are so proud of him. He is such a responsible and sweet young man! I promise I will have pictures to share and lots more projects later!!! Thanks so much for stopping by!! It is always nice to take a vacation, but it feels so good to be back home!!!

Queen of The Sketches!!!

Happy Sunday everyone!

This is my new title and I reign with pride! Lol! Jessica aka The Whimisical Butterfly has crowned me with this wonderful nickname. It is so true, sketch challenges are my absolute favorite!!! It is actually because I need them. I have a really hard time coming up with layouts on my own. I don't know what my deal is. It is just one of those things I struggle with.

Alright, so I was going to complain about the weather, but Jessica has me beat. She said it is -6 where she lives. However, it did get up to 12 here today, so I guess it could be worse. I however was fortunate enough not to have to get out in it. I did venture out into the garage, which was suitably cold, so I deserve something right!!

Izzy is having a great time with Daddy at home. She has basically made him read every book she owns at least ten times. She has also made him show her the tree and sit on his lap while he plays on the computer. Oh and I almost forgot, she also conned him into making waffles this morning. That his her favorite breakfast and only Daddy is allowed to make it!

Well, we will be heading for KC tomorrow. It is going to be so nice to see all the family. I just hope tomorrow will be warmer than today. The good thing is, since Jason has tomorrow off and we don't have anything else going on tomorrow, we can take our time getting everything around and ready. I always hate being rushed on traveling days. It seems like you always wind up in a bad mood.

So, like I said earlier, since I am Queen of the Sketches now and I plan to reign supreme, (little quote from Iron Chef! Love that show!!) I of course have two cards today and both of them are for sketch challenges.

My first card is for this week's MFT sketch challenge. I have been dying to use my E-Girl set again and since I just received a whole stash of beautiful DP, I wanted to give paper piecing a go. The paper piecing aspect fell nicely into place with the challenge over at Secret Crafter. Here she is!

Okay, so how much are you in love with this DP!!! OMG! I don't even like yellow, but I was drooling over this paper when I found it! Alright, so I started this card by stamping the main image from Who's That E-Girl by MFT stamps on white card stock and three different kinds of DP. I colored the image in with my markers and copics and then paper pieced the rest. Following the sketch I layered on brown and yellow card stock along with DP. I popped off the main image as well as the sentiment I printed off on the computer. I finished the card by placing three brown brads down the side. I really like how this turned out. I would love to share the sentiment on the inside, but I am actually sending this card to a friend who reads my blog and I don't want to spoil the surprise.

My second card for today is actually a very traditional Christmas card created for Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge. I received this Riley image in the mail from a swap I participated in on SCS. I think I am going to have to get it for next Christmas, he is so cute!!!

I love moose, so I don't know why I don't have more of them. And to be honest, Riley is one of the cutest moose images I have seen. I just love how he does all sorts of different things!!! Okay, enough about my secret love affair with moose. I started this card off by coloring in Santa Chimney Riley by Hanna Stamps using my copics and markers. I added some glitter pen to the snow for some shimmer and some liquid applique to his beard and hat. Following the sketch, I layered on red and green card stock along with some Christmas DP. I used my nesties to cut out the circles and popped them off the background. To finish the card, I stamped the sentiment from Deer Ol Santa by SUInk and More and then added three red brads beneath it. I love the traditional Christmas feel to it.

That's it for me tonight. Off to finish packing and then heading off to bed!!! Have a great evening and thanks for stopping by!

Are You Ready For Some Football and a Little Bit of Pink Christmas!!

Happy Saturday everyone!!

I hope your Saturday has been a good one. It was actually quite pleasant here today, but since about 5 o'clock this evening the temperature has been dropping and the wind has really picked up. I am sad to say that tomorrow sounds like it is pretty much going to be a miserable day. Super cold and really windy. I am so glad we aren't leaving till Monday. Tomorrow would be a terrible day to travel.

Well, I am almost caught up on all my challenges for the week. Just one more to do and I will be up to date. Of course, I won't be posting them on time, but at least I can say that they were completed on time!

Since it has been so chilly at night, Izzy has been taking two baths, once with me and then once by herself. Well two nights in a row now, she has decided that Tuxy should be included in our bathtime fun. (As a side note, Tuxy is completely terrified of the water. I am talking hates it with a passion.) Izzy sits in the bath the whole time and says, "Tuxy. Bath. Please." Poor Tuxy, he now stands as far away from the bathtub as he can get. It is like he knows. I think that he figures at some point she is going to get strong enough to actually pick him up and put him in the bath. He knows he will be in trouble then!!! Lol!!

My first card for today is actually for my husband and was created using this week's Watchadoin' Wednesday Challenge over SUInk and More. This week's challenge was to create a card that could hold a gift. Well, my husband loves football. He watches it every weekend and well, pretty much anytime I don't have the remote. I on the other hand do not like football, I don't want to say hate, because I do occasionally watch it for him. I do however hate going to any sporting event. So for this Christmas, I have decided to give him a coupon for him and I to attend a sporting event of his choice. This is a pretty big deal, because I am such a fair weather fan. And I mean that literally, I only want to go to the game if the weather is perfect. I am talking upper 70's, low 80's, slight breeze, no rain, not too sunny though, because I don't want to get burnt either. Because of these guidelines, I almost never go. So see, I do love him so!!

Isn't it cute!!! I started this card by stamping the boy, helmet and football from First and Goal by SUInk and More on white card stock and colored them in using my copics and markers. I then cut out the helmet and football and popped them off my image. I mounted my image on a piece of blue card stock that I punched with my Martha Stewart edge punch and then placed it on a piece of red card stock. For the background I layered, red and blue card stock along with two different kinds of DP. I ran the blue card stock through my houndstooth cuttlebug embossing folder to give it some texture. I added a stitched ribbon to the corner and stamped the sentiment on a piece of white card stock and cut it into the shape of a banner, again using my Martha Stewart punch. For the inside of the card, I attached some more DP and added a blue band across the bottom to hold my coupon. I stamped the tickets three times, cut them out and adhered them around the bottom. I completed the card by stamping the sentiment, "Merry Christmas", from Sugar Nellie. I just know that he is going to love it. However, now I am thinking about adding in my fair weather clause! Lol!

My second card for today is all about having a pink Christmas. I love the color combo of pink and brown together, and really wanted to create a Christmas card with that color combination and since I was running behind on this week's Magnolia Vs. Stampavie Challenge, I decided to use my favorite color combo for the challenge.

This sketch was actually really difficult for me. Probably the reason it took me so long to participate. I don't have any Stampavie or Magnolia stamps that are small enough to fit in the squares and I wasn't too keen about breaking an image up, so I decided to switch the images and the text. It worked out perfectly. I started this card by coloring in Tilda in Dalecarlia Coat by Magnolia with my copics and markers. I actually just received this wonderful image from my friend Kimmie. Thank you so much!!! Following the sketch, I layered on brown and pink card stock along with two kinds of DP. I printed off the sentiments on my computer and mounted them on brown card stock. I added a brown gross grain ribbon and three white flowers with brads in the center. Like I said this was a difficult challenge and I am just so glad that I was able to come up with something.

Well, I am outta here for tonight. Hubby and I are going to sit and relax together on the couch as today was his first day of vacation!! Have a wonderful evening and thanks for stopping by!

I'm Late, Late, Late!!!

Happy Thursday everybody!!

I can't believe tomorrow is Friday!! I don't think I am quite ready for it!! Yikes! I am still trying to get a whole bunch of crafting done since we will be out of town for almost a week, finish up Christmas shopping and get everyone packed. AHHHHHH!!! It is overwhelming! And of course the weather is not cooperating at all! Today the ice and snow partially melted, but then the temp dropped this evening to just below freezing and now the rain has started. Our driveway has become an ice rink. I had to take a second try at it to make it into the garage. Thankfully it is supposed to be in the upper forties tomorrow!! Boy am I ready for some warmer temps!

Well, Izzy has been my little helper again today! She has helped me color, clean up and just pick up in general. She is such a cutie!! I can't believe how much her vocab is expanding. It seems like she is saying more and more things and stringing more words together. I have to say it is nice that she can tell me some of the things she wants. I am sure though that in a couple of months I am going to be saying, "Please be quiet". Lol!!

Like I said I have been coloring and stamping like mad so that I will have stuff to prepost while we,re out of town. And guess what?!!! My Sugar Nellie stamps came in the mail today!!! Yeah!! OMG, if you don't have any you have to get some! They are fantastic images and color up beautifully!

So, like I said above, I am really late this week. I am late posting tonight, I am late on my challenges and even late on visiting all my favorite blogs and leaving comments. I am so sorry, just bare with me, I should be caught up sometime before 2020! Lol!

My first card for today is actually for two challenges both of them issued on Monday!! The first challenge was for Papertake Weekly and was to create a card that is monochromatic and the second challenge was the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge at Poetic Artistry. Let me tell you, creating a monochromatic card was extremely hard for me. I cannot tell you how many times I reached for a second color. I literally had to put the markers away so I wouldn't use them.

See, I did it!!! Yeah me!!! I started this card by stamping the boy sledding from Snow Day by SUInk and More on white card stock and colored him in with my markers and copics. I then mounted him on a piece of DP and a piece of blue card stock. Following the sketch, I tied a piece of ribbon across the top backed by some more blue card stock and layered on blue card stock and DP. I printed off the sentiment on the computer and mounted it in the corner on a piece of light blue card stock and a piece of blue card stock. I added a little glitter snowflake to add some sparkle. This was really difficult for me, not only because of the monochrome theme but because of the simple layout, but I really think it works.

So my second card for today is actually for yesterday's Pink Papery Studios Challenge. I am so sorry. I actually had it finished, but with the blog hop, and picking a winner, I was too busy to actually get it posted. This week's challenge was issued by Jami and was to create a card that had DP made from stamps. I was actually a little worried at first as to how I was going to do this since all I have is digi images, but it was surprisingly easy! And let me tell you picture editing is not my strong suit!

I call this my Sexy Santa Card!!! Jason really likes it!!! Lol! This card actually incorporates two different sets from Pink Papery Studios. I used the first set, Catch a Falling Snowflake, to create the background paper. I simply resized the different snowflakes and arranged them quite artfully around the page, if I do say so myself. I then printed it off on green card stock and added a little certainly celery to highlight different snowflakes. For the main image, I printed off the girl kissing Santa from Simply Santa and colored them in using my copics and markers. Next, I layered on green card stock, red card stock, Christmas DP and my own DP to create the base of the card. I popped off the main image and punched out snowflakes in green and red with my Martha Stewart punch. To finish the card off, I added some green rhinestone stickers to the center. I really enjoyed making my own DP. I know I am going to try it again!

Well, I am outta here for today! Gonna try to catch up on blog hopping! Have a great evening and thanks for stopping by!

Christmas is near! Christmas is near!!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Today has been even worse than yesterday weather wise. It has basically lightly snowed all day, enough to make getting anywhere in your car difficult and the second big wave is hitting right now, during rush hour!! Ugh! That means Jason won't be home for quite awhile!

Well, I have some exciting news!!! I have a new baby cousin! I am so excited. Jason's cousin Heather gave birth to a healthy baby boy last night. It is so wonderful and exciting!! Heather has always wanted children and after years of trying, finally adopted a beautiful little girl named Libby from China!!! She is so wonderful and sweet and then this spring she found out she was pregnant!! It is truly a miracle for her family! I know too that Libby is super excited to have a little brother!! Can you tell I am happy?!

Alright, so I forgot to tell this story about Izzy last night. It is pretty funny although Jason was upset when he heard about it. It all started yesterday afternoon when I was cleaning up my scrapbooking stuff off the dining room table. Izzy had asked me to put her on the couch, presumably to sit next to Tuxy. The last time I looked in on them, Tuxy was at one end in a ball and Izzy was sitting right next to him holding her bee. Well, all the sudden I heard a little growl, then another little growl, that is usually what Tuxy does when Izzy touches him. He keeps it up typically until he gets tired of her and then jumps down. Since he just kept doing it, I yelled in from the dining room for him to just jump down if he didn't like it. Well, he kept on and I finally peeked in to see what was the matter. Guess what?!!! Izzy was sitting on him!! I don't think that Tuxy was hurt, just irritated since he wasn't really trying to get up! So I got onto Izzy how we don't sit on our "brother", she of course looked properly chastised. I think Tuxy though was more upset that I got onto Izzy about it, than the actual sitting incident itself! He kept following her around everywhere after that with a sad little look on his face! Lol!

Well, today has been kind of a mixed bag for me. I had some cards that turned out really well and one for an upcoming DT release that I just couldn't seem to make come out right. I think I need to sleep on it and try to pick some different DP. I really think that is the major problem! Gosh, I hate when that happens!

Well my first card for today is, da, da, da, dum!!! A Christmas Card!!! And actually both of my cards today use last week's sketches from 2 Sketches 4 You. This was my first time participating in this sketch challenge. I just had to make these designs after I saw them!! They were so original! So here goes the card for the first sketch.

See, I told you it was awesome!! I really channelled my friend Michelle, aka "Queen of the Scene", over at Just Painting Around. I love how she continues her scenes onto all her layers!! It is really cool! Anywhoo, I started this card by stamping Tilda with Hood by Magnolia on white card stock and colored her in with markers and copics. I added touches of silver gel pen and my glitter pen to really make her pop. I then sponged night of navy around the edges to continue the scene. Following the sketch, I layered white card stock, kraft paper and Christmas DP. I added a piece of wide, white ribbon and three white snowflakes. I think it kind of has a primitive look, I guess it is the kraft paper! Anyways, I am really happy with the way this came out.

My second card today, follows the second sketch at 2 Sketches 4 You. This one I decided to use an entirely different theme. Something that was more whimsical and fun!!

Isn't it a happy, jolly kind of card!! I just love pink and green for Christmas! Alrighty, so I started this card by stamping the elf and stars from CC Designs Sugarplums North Pole by All that Scraps on white card stock and colored him in with copics and markers. Following the sketch, I layered on pink and green card stock along with several different kinds of Christmas DP. The scallop on the bottom was created with a decorative pair of scissors. I cut out a white and green circle with my nesties and stamped the sentiment in the center. I finished the card off by adding three pink rhinestone stickers down each side of the main image!! I think I might give this to one of my nieces. Last I heard they were fighting over a pink card I had given them!!

Well, I am outta here for tonight. Don't forget that the MFT Blog Hop starts tonight at midnight (EST) over at the MFT blog! So put on your bunny slippers, curl up with your computer and hop around with us!! Have a great evening!! Thanks for stopping by!

My Present and My Buddy!!

Happy Monday!!

Man was it a miserable night last night and I don't think tonight is going to be any better! It sleeted all night and poor Jason this morning had to break the ice around the front door to open it!! I needed to get to the post office to drop off some images I stamped for a friend, but I didn't want to risk driving on the ice. I am not sure if I will be able to get there tomorrow either, if what they are predicting happens, but hopefully on Wednesday.

Well, Izzy was back to her usual grumpy self for a Monday. She got to spend a lot of time with Jason this weekend so that is why. She really misses her Daddy. It is funny, when she was younger, all she wanted was me and as she gets older all she wants is her daddy!! What a Daddy's girl!!

This is her dancing!!!

I talked to my friend Tracy tonight. We were trying to plan a time to get together to exchange gifts and bake Holiday Cookies. Well, it looks like it is going to have to be after Christmas before we get it done. That is okay, that will give me time to make up cute tags and holders for everything. Like my mom said, people kind of get all cookied out before Christmas and then run out, so we are just trying to fill a void!! lol!

Alright, so I have two cards to share tonight. I probably won't have three cards per day again until the beginning of the new year. I am trying to save some cards to post while I am on vacation since I won't be able to actually make any while we are in KC. I am going to bring my stamps and colors though so I can color. I mean a girl can't go cold turkey for a whole week now can she?!!!

My first card for tonight is for this week's Sketch Challenge on Paper Craft Planet. I got this stamp in the mail a couple of weeks ago and haven't had a chance to ink it up yet. I just thought she was so cute sitting there on her little present. I can hear her saying, "This one is mine!" Here it is!

I love this paper from SEI! It has such a rich quality too it! The paper actually glistens!! Okay, so I started this card by stamping Milly On Present by Spiral Whisper on white card stock and a piece of DP. I colored Milly and the ribbon in with my copics and markers and then paper pieced the present together. Using the sketch as a guide, I layered green card stock, red card stock and several kinds of Christmas DP. I decided to tie a ribbon in the corner to mimic the present! I am not sure who I will give this one to for Christmas, maybe I will sit on it and keep it for myself!! lol!

My second card for today, is a cute, whimsical kind of card. I have really been admiring the gorgeous snowflakes on everybody's cards lately and when I saw these glitter ones at Michaels yesterday, I knew I had to have them. I decided to use Mary Jo's aka Technostamper's Monday's Lunchtime Sketch Challenge for the layout. I have to admit though, I really took liberties with this sketch, because I so wanted to use this stamp. First I flipped the sketch on its side, changed the rectangle into snowflakes and moved them over to the side. Hope this still counts!!

I started this card off by stamping Mimi and Snowman by Pink Gem Designs on white card stock and colored them in with my markers and copics. I then scalloped the edge with my decorative scissors and mounted it on a piece of decorative DP and red card stock. Following the sketch, I layered red card stock, and Christmas DP. I added three glitter snowflakes in the corner, popping them off with dimensionals. To finish the card, I added a piece of red ribbon around the middle!

Well, I am off!! I want to spend a little quiet time with my hubby before the crazyness that is Christmas gets into full swing! Have a great evening and as always, thanks for stopping by!

Quick Post for Today!

Happy Sunday everyone!!

Hope your Sunday is going well so far! Today, the temperature was actually pretty nice outside, a little windy, but nice. The unfortunate news is, it is suppose to start raining, and then turning into freezing rain later tonight. I heard that tomorrow's high is only going to be in the twenties!!! Yikes! Not looking forward to that.

Well, I didn't get a whole lot of stamping in today, but that is okay, I was able to get a lot more shopping done and was even able to visit with our neighbors. It was really nice. Izzy had a blast shopping because we went to the bookstore. That is her second favorite place to go, following the library. Do you see a pattern here? It is only in second place because at the bookstore, there isn't a special shelf that she can take books on and off of. Lol!

Like, I said, today's post is relatively short. I have just a real quick and simple gift idea to share today. My neighbor Beth and her two sons, helped and we created these adorable cookies in a jar. I know this is an old gift idea, but I still think it is a good one, especially when you decorate it up all cute!

Isn't it cute!!! And the best part is the boys did most of the work after I came up with the initial design!! Alright, so we started off by filling a quart canning jar with the ingredients. The recipe can be found here. We found though that you probably need the wide mouth jars, otherwise, not all the chocolate chips will fit inside! And nobody wants less chocolate, am I right!! Next we created the "cookie" on the front by cutting out a piece of kraft card stock with my nesties and stamping the chocolate chips from the SU! set Oh So Sweet! I then rubbed close to cocoa around all the edges to make the cookie look done!! I stamped the letters with a letter set I picked up at the dollar spot at Michaels. The cookie is mounted on a piece of red card stock I cut out with my nesties and accented with a white gel pen. I created the belly band around the jar by printing off the sentiment, "Nothin' Says Lovin' Like Somethin' From the Oven" and adhered it to a piece of red card stock. To continue the cookie theme, I stamped some cookies using my Cookie Stubby from Stamps by Judith. To complete the jar, I cut out fabric circles with my pinking shears and tied a pretty holiday ribbon around the top! It was so much fun and the boys had a really good time!!

Well, I am outta here. Need to get to the grocery store before the big storm hits!! Hope you have had a great weekend!! Thanks as always for stopping by!

Is Anybody As Freaked Out as Me That Christmas is Right Around the Corner?!!!

Happy Saturday everyone!!

Boy have we had a busy one! I did a whole lot of stamping this morning, this afternoon we braved the toy store to buy Christmas presents, and this evening we had a wonderful dinner over at "Aunt" Tracy's new apartment! Man was that fun! Izzy has been really missing her. I can't even count how many times she said Tracy's name on the car ride over. Needless to say, it was a lot.

Well, I can't panic too much that Christmas is so close. I have actually been doing really well with my shopping. I just need to buy books for all the kids, stocking stuffers for Izzy, a few small items for Jason and Tracy's gift. See not too bad. The only thing is we are leaving for Kansas City next Saturday, so that means I need to get it all completed this week. Izzy is definitely going to be going on lots of field trips to the mall!

I don't know what I will do when Izzy gets old enough to actually know that we are buying presents for her. Right now it is so nice to all go out together and pick something out. I guess next year we will have to figure out some way to buy the presents in secret and get them to grandma and grandpa's without her knowing. I think the mailman might have to be my secret helper.

I had a lot of fun today making my cards. There are some days when you feel like all the coloring that you have done and the papers you have chosen work really well together and today was that day. Sometimes, I pick papers and start coloring and for some reason they just don't work, but today everything seemed to come out just like I pictured it.

For my first card, I used my brand new Magnolia stamp, only the second one I have ever colored, to make a nice traditional Christmas card. I love my new Basic Grey Wassail paper. I don't know why I held out for so long to buy it. Anywhoo, I used the fabulous sketch over at Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge for the layout.

Isn't she lovely!! I just love these stamps!! I don't know why I don't own more of them. (Hint, hint honey!). Okay, so I started this card by stamping Tilda with Christmas Presents by Magnolia on white card stock and colored her in with my markers and copics. Using my gold glitter pen, I added some embellishments to the present and to the four corners. Following the sketch, I layered on red and green card stock, along with several different kinds of Christmas DP. I used my Martha Stewart edge punch to create the triangle border and added three brads down the side. I finished the card off by stamping the sentiment from Deer Ol Santa by SUInk and More on white card stock, cutting it out along with a piece of green card stock using my nesties, added some gold details and popped it off the card. I just love the combo of colors, they seem to scream Christmas!!

My second card for today is a funky take on Christmas. I was out collecting all of the challenges I wanted to participate in this weekend when I came across Jen Del Muro's Sketch For You To Try. I just loved the simplicity of the sketch this week and wanted to use a simple, not too complicated image for the card. Here it is!

Don't you just love this sketch!! It is so simple yet concise!! It was a lot of fun to work with! Okay, so I started this card by stamping the three potted Christmas trees from Santa's Little Helpers by SUInk and More on white card stock and colored them in with my markers and copics. I then mounted them on some pink glitter paper and popped them off the background. Following the sketch, I layered on green card stock and three different kinds of glittered Christmas card stock. I added some pink and green stitched ribbon for the final touch. Don't you just love it?! And the best part is, it was so quick to make! I honestly think it took me only 10 minutes to stamp, color and assemble after I had the papers chosen. The most difficult part was cutting the double angle in the ribbon! LOL!! Thanks Jen for your wonderful sketch!

For my final card I decided to not only follow a challenge but to also challenge myself while I was at it. I know I have talked in the past about how difficult it is for me to use white in cards, but the only other color that truly gives me fits is yellow. I love when other people use yellow in their cards, but for some reason, I usually hate it when I do. (That is why you rarely see any of my people with blonde hair!) Following today's Sketch Saturday Challenge for the layout, I decided to use some yellow!

I am so proud of this card!! I used tons of yellow in it and even made the little girl a blonde!!! Go me! So I started this card by stamping Cuddling by Rachelle Anne Miller for Stampavie on white card stock and colored them in with my markers and copics. Following the sketch, I used multiple layers of SU! DP and yellow card stock. For the scallops, I used my Fiskars, threaded scallops punch and for the flowers, I used my cricut machine. I added three blue brads to the centers of my flowers to complete the look. When I showed this card to my husband, he said he really like it because it looked so different from what I usually create!! I was so proud.

Well that is it for me tonight!! I hope you all have had a wonderful Saturday and have a great rest of the weekend! Thanks as always for stopping by!

Some Unusual Christmas Characters and a Big Thank You!

Happy Friday everyone!!

Usually I am so glad it is Friday, but that means it is now less than two weeks until Christmas, YIKES!!! I can't believe it, time has really flown by this year. Guess I have been having a good time, huh? Lol!

Well, today was a bad potty day. Izzy went potty on the floor today. Poor thing, I was standing in my craft closet putting my ribbon box away when I looked down. She was standing there with this look of shock all across her face. I don't think she knew what to do. So we walked into the bathroom and sat on the potty for a couple of minutes so that she would know what to do next time. Honestly, it was kind of my fault. We tried to go earlier and I left her diaper off and forgot about it. I will definitely know for next time.

Izzy and Tuxy have certainly formed a bond over the last couple of days. They keep chasing each other and Izzy is giving him all her toys to play with. I think it is good. Tuxy needs more exercise during the winter and she definitely gives it to him.

I think I was in kind of a silly mood today. I just couldn't bring myself to make a traditional Christmas card. I wanted to make some cards that were Christmas themed but had either non-traditional settings or non-traditional characters.

My first card involves a non-traditional Christmas setting. I would love to take credit for this concept, but sadly it wasn't my idea. The first spark actually came from the amazingly talented Jan Tinklenberg. She created this adorable trailer card last Christmas and I have been thinking about it every since I first saw it!! Then yesterday I saw on Candice Lighty's blog (another amazingly talented woman!) the same concept with Riley in a Trailer. So here is my take on a Christmas Trailer!

I honestly have had this idea in my head since the summer and have finally been able to execute it. I am calling it, "Surely Santa will Stop By!". I mean, even if you are out camping on Christmas eve, Santa will find you right? Lol! Okay, so I started this card by stamping the boy, fire, trailer, and trees from Roughin' It by SUInk and more on white card stock and colored all the images in with my markers and copics. I drew in the mountains in the background and the lights on the trailer using a black pen. I also drew the Santa hat on white card stock, colored it in and placed it on top of the boy's head that I popped off. I added lots of white gel pen to make the appearance of snow in the scene. For the card itself, I layered on green card stock, red card stock and several different kinds of Christmas DP. I added a piece of Christmas ribbon to the bottom and three camping buttons in the corner. I love the rugged feel to the card! I mean not everyone's Christmas is traditional!

My second card for today was so much fun to create!!! I have been dying to ink the Isabelle Paper Doll set from MFT stamps ever since I first saw it! I mean, I love paper dolls, always have, and the set is called Isabelle and my daughter is Isabella!! It is fate I tell you. I actually combined two challenges on this one. This week's What's Up Wednesday Challenge which was to use glitter on your card and the MFT sketch challenge for this week.

Tail to the Right!

Tail on the Left!

Isn't she adorable!! Her tail even swings back and forth!!! I mean mermaids celebrate Christmas too!!! I know that they are probably not fish, but hey, it was the only sentiment I could think of, I mean I never said I was witty!! Lol! Okay, okay, so I started this card by stamping Isabelle, three starfish, three fish and the mermaid tail from Isabelle Paper Dolls by MFT Stamps on white card stock and colored them in with my markers and copics. I then cut out a circle with my nesties and colored the water and sand in with my copics. I sponged on a little bit of close to cocoa to give it some texture. I then adhered my starfish and fish to the background. I then went over her tail with my glitterpen so it would sparkle. I cut off the bottom of her tail and attached a brad so that it would swing back and forth! I then popped her image off the background. Following the sketch, I layered on green card stock, red card stock and Christmas DP. I added a piece of brown organdy ribbon and punched the bottom with my Martha Stewart decorative punch. I finished the card by printing off the sentiment on my computer and mounting it on a piece of green card stock!! I know my aunt will love it!!! She is totally into mermaids!!

My final card is the card I promised yesterday for Pink Cat Studio! This card goes out to Melissa, the owner of Pink Cat, to say thank you so much for including me on the design team. I feel so lucky to be a part of such a talented group of ladies.

This is one of my favorite images of Lily!! She is such a cute little girl and just wait till you see what Melissa has in store for you next month!!! OMG!!! It is so cute!! Okay, enough gushing! I started this card off by stamping Lily and Tweet in present from Lily and Tweet by Pink Cat Studio on white card stock and colored her in with my markers and copics. I cut the image out along with some DP and red card stock using my nesties and layered them on top of green card stock and two different kinds of DP. I stamped the thank you sentiment and cut it out along with a piece of green card stock using my nesties and popped it off. I finished the card off by placing three blue brads in the corner. Thank you so much again Melissa for everything!!

Well, that is all for today. I think we are going out to dinner when Jason gets home and then maybe a little bit of Christmas shopping! Wish me luck!! Have a great evening and as always, thanks for stopping by!!