Shopping and Bees!

Happy Monday everyone!!

This is my second post for today so keep scrolling for a contest opportunity.

Ahh, it was such a nice weekend. Sorry I didn't blog, but Jason, Izzy and I had such a relaxing and productive weekend, I didn't have time. We went out to dinner on Friday night at this really nice family restaurant on historic Main Street in St. Charles. Then Saturday, Jason was able to do some gardening. He love, love, loves to garden and this was the first year that he has been able to really do it with Izzy. Of course the two of them had the best time following each other around and playing in the dirt. Don't know which one loves it more! LOL! Then yesterday, Izzy and I stamped all day while Daddy installed my new light over the kitchen sink! Yay!! Okay so technically it is not a new light seeing as how we have had it for almost a year but this is the first time it was installed!! Now I can see while Jason is cooking dinner!

Like I said I was able to get a lot of stamping done this weekend and even made several cards. Most of them are for some up coming releases so it feels good to have those completed. I can't wait to show you them!!

Well can I tell you how excited I was last week to see that there was a challenge going on at Club Anya and, and, and it was a sketch challenge!!!!!! OMGoodness, I was literally bouncing up and down! I get so excited when I see sketch challenges, they just bring a glow to my heart! And boy was this a fun one!!! It just screamed long card to me! I know, pretty obvious when you look at the sketch, but long cards aren't something I typically make and guess what!!! I actually made two cards for this!! Here is my first creation.



So I just love, love, love these Miss Anya stamps! They are just so fun and sassy and of course the are long and tall. Perfect for what I had in mind! And to top it all off one of them has curly hair! Yippee! So I like to think this one was me when I was a teenager. Of course she is way taller than I was and her curls are much more controlled than mine have ever been but other than that, this is a pretty good representation. LOL! I started this card by stamping Miss Anya from The Greeting Farm on white card stock and then drew in the background of store buildings and the street with a ruler and my copic multiliner. I cut out a half circle of white card stock using my nesties and continued my street onto it, coloring in the whole background with my copics. Following the sketch, I layered on green, blue and orange card stock along with the front and back side of a piece of SP from KI Memories. To create the sentiment, which I really wanted to look like a store sign, I simply typed it up on my computer and printed it off. I then popped it off with my main image and added a little ribbon to the corner. I think this would make the perfect card for a friend who loves to shop. Luckily I have said friend! LOL!

Now for my second card using this sketch, I decided to use my brand new fairy stamps from The Greeting Farm. As soon as I got them in the mail I just had to ink them up! They are too, too cute!!! Well and since Izzy loves bees, I wanted to create a card with her in mind.


Don't know why I thought the circle at the bottom would make a great bee hive, but it turned out relatively well! I started this card off by stamping Fairy Tink, Fairy Chloe, and Fairy Eva by The Greeting Farm and then colored them in with my copics. I cut each one out and set them to the side. Following the sketch, I layered on black, teal and yellow card stock along with DP from Basic Grey's Urban Prairie. To create the bee hive I cut strips of yellow card stock and rounded off the ends at descending lengths. I sponged on creamy caramel over the strips to make them looked aged and then mounted them on some black card stock. I followed he same process to make the opening. To complete the card, I mounted my three "bees" so that they would look like they were flying out of the hive, stamped my sentiment from the All About Argyle set from SU! (I masked off the G in "gee" and hand drew in a b), and added my spiral clip and ribbon. I really like the dark rich colors! I can hardly wait to see what everyone else comes up with. I have already seen some amazing creations and the contest doesn't even end until Saturday, March 14th at 11:59 CST!! So get yours in!!!

And speaking of awesome creations over at Club Anya, this week kicks off Team Roster Stats! Today's featured MVP is none other than my girl Jacquie Peifer!!! So be sure to swing by and give her a high five!!

Well that is it for me today! Thank you so much for stopping by! I always have fun!! Smiles!

Sometimes Too Much is a Good Thing!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Where has the week gone! Man it is just flying by. I have so much to do and so little time to do it in. I am sure most of you are in the same boat. And the sickness train has made a pit stop at our house. Poor Izzy is sick. I feel so bad for her. She has a terrible cough and overall is just super snugly. I think that she is having a hard time breathing so she is unable to take good naps. I actually am going to call the doctor and see if she needs to be taken in. I really think though that they are just going to tell me to use a humidifier and make sure she gets lots of fluids. So, sorry no picture of Izzy today. She was too tired and grumpy yesterday to get a good one.


First off, I want to let you know that today is the first day of the Storage Units, Ink and More Sneak Peeks. OMG, the sets are awesome!!! I simply adore them!!! I can see endless possibilities for these sets. Here is the sneak peek line up.

Today:
Leigh O'Brien

Suzanne Dean

Amber Kroening

Tomorrow

Tori Wild

Janna (ME!!!!!)

Kristen Catalano

27th...

Alex Maldonado

Chat Wszelaki

Mary Jo Price-Williams

28th...

Colleen Wold

Laura Leonard

Carolina Buchting

Now, to today's title! Guess what!!! I was asked to be this week's Guest Designer for Danni's Dreams Flutter by Wednesday Challenge!!! I was so honored to be asked. The challenge this week of course is to include either a butterfly or flutterby on your card somewhere with the additional challenge of using orange and yellow. Well this was actually a little hard for me. I don't have a lot of papers that are yellow, just not a color I am super attracted too, but I do think the combo of orange and yellow together is really attractive. I decided to use Jen Del Muro's Sketch For You To Try Challenge for the layout.


What do you think? Are the butterflies too much? I really wanted the butterflies to look like they are cascading down the card carrying along my little Butterfly Lily! I started this card by stamping Lily on a swing from the new Enchanted Lily set by Pink Cat Studio on white card stock and colored her in with my copics. I then layered on my orange and green card stock and my DP from Heidi Grace Designs. Next I cut out my Lily and mounted her on top of a piece of orange card stock and DP that I cut out with my oval nesties. I also stamped my sentiment on some yellow and green card stock that I cut out with my nesties. To finish the card off, I punched out a ton of butterflies in orange, yellow and maroon and glued them all up the side of the card. I actually think this was the hardest part of the project! LOL! I then added pearls to the larger butterflies and colored them in with my orange copic to make them blend in. I really like the colors and the millions of butterflies! LOL! Oh and don't worry you can play along too! Just be sure to add the keyword FBW46 when uploading to SCS or PCP.

So I am finally catching up on things from last week. My good friend Jessica and VP of Club Anya issued a challenge last week over at the Club Anya blog to take a gander through The Greeting Farm Gallery and find a card to case. Well, this was right up my alley! I mean not only do I get to look at gorgeous creations made by super talented women, but I have a built in sketch!!!! Yay!! The only down side is I missed the deadline for the prize! Booo!!! Oh well, I usually just play to participate anyway. So here is my card, a couple days late but still posted!


I wanted to create a card for my niece Kelsey's birthday. she is such a girly girl and loves to shop so I thought a card where Miss Anya was shopping for lots and lots of new things would be a great idea! I decided to case this amazing card by the uber talented Brandi for my inspiration. I started this card by stamping Miss Anya by The Greeting Farm on white card stock and colored her in using copics. I then cut her out and placed her to the side. Using Brandi's card as my inspiration, I layered on green, purple and Bazzill bling blue card stock along with some DP from Collage Press. I used my Martha Stewart Punch to created the fence and my Fiskars punch to create the awning. To make the window in the middle, I cut out my card stocks using my rectangle nesties and stamped the sentiment from Stampin' Up! Birthday Balloons. I finished the card by attaching two ribbons to the "awning" and popping off my Miss Anya! I really hope that Kelsey likes it!

Now for my last order of business. Today is the first day of a wonderful Pink Cat Challenge over at the Pink Cat Group on PCS!! My good friend Vicki and fellow DT member has issued a doozy of a challenge and created one stunningly beautiful card! Here are the deets!

Challenge Description

The challenge is to create a ONE Layer Card. One Layer Only!!!!! The only exception to the one layer rule is that you can use some Paper piecing on your stamped image. Other than that, just one piece of cardstock. You can Sponge, Dab and add all the ink and embellishment that suit your fancy as long as you keep it in one layer.

Yikes! One Layer!!!! You know how tough those are for me, so I will be sharing my card later this week! Thanks as always for stopping by today! Lots of smiles!

Ay Mate, Best Wishes!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Sorry I am posting so late today. Jason and I went out for date night last night and didn't get home until really late so I decided to sleep in! Luckily, Izzy had such a good time playing with Lainy and Aunt Tracy that she was super tired too so we both had a very nice morning of relaxing and having fun!!

So, like I said, Jason and I had the best date night last night. We went out to a local Brew House for dinner. It is casual dining but nice. The building is actually a historic Mill with a functioning water wheel so it is really cool. Then we went to the movies. Jason and I never go to the movies so it was a nice surprise. We saw the new Jennifer Aniston movie He's Just Not That Into You. It was actually really good and even Jason liked it! It was a really good mixture of funny and serious. So all in all it as a really wonderful night!

Well, I only have one project to share today what with all the babysitting yesterday and then date night, I didn't get hardly any stamping time! Not that I am complaining. It was such a fun day. Anywhoo, my card for today is for the challenge that Marie issued over at The Greeting Farm Blog! Guess what, guess what!!!! It is a sketch!!! Yesssssss!!! so of course you know that I am going to participate if it is a sketch. And here it is!


Don't you love this!!! I adore how the main panel is turned at an angel and for some reason it said masculine card to me. No idea why. Maybe because of all the straight lines or something. Well to be honest, masculine cards are kind of difficult for me, so I am extra proud of the way this one turned out! I started this card by stamping Hello Ian by The Greeting Farm on white card stock and colored him in using my copics and my gold pen. I added a brad to his hat to simulate a button. I then cut him out and mounted him on brown and green card stock. I next layered on kraft, brown and green card stocks and DP from Basic Grey's Granola. I stamped the sunflower from All Wrapped Up by SU! in so saffron and close to cocoa and then stamped the sentiment from All Around Argyle by SU! in black on top and cut it out along with a piece of green using my nesties. I distressed both the sentiment and image using a sponge and some close to cocoa ink. To finish the card off, I added three green brads down the side and a brown ribbon at the bottom. So, so much fun! Oh and now my good friend Jessica has uploaded a new challenge over at Club Anya! I can hardly wait to play.

Today I wanted to share with you two wonderful RAKs I received from some really great friends. The first is a card I received from my wonderful friend Jacquie! She is so awesome and an amazing talent, I mean just look at the this card! And how sweet is she that she also sent me some of these wonderful sentiments!


The next RAK is from my good friend Danni! She colors so beautifully and I adore the way she decorates the inside of her cards! Oh and she was so sweet to give me some adorable images to color! What a lucky girl I am!!!


Now it is time for my Izzy story. As I mentioned earlier, I babysat Izzy's friend Melaina yesterday. I really think the girls are getting more and more comfortable with each other. They played together and made little art projects. They even fed each. It was so, so cute!!! So here is a picture of them crafting together!


Thanks as always for stopping by! Don't forget the contest over at Pink Cat and the new Challenge at Club Anya and at The Greeting Farm! Lots of Smiles!

Warm Friends and Warm Hearts!

Happy Saturday everyone!

Sorry I am so late in posting today. I slept in this morning and then spent the rest of the day running errands and stamping, so now is the first time I have been able to sit down and type on the computer.

I am so proud of myself, I really got quite a bit accomplished today. I found a whole bunch of really cool papers and accessories and have even started to use them. Jason doesn't quite seem as excited as I do, I wonder why?

The one draw back of running so many errands is that I didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with Izzy. She was able to spend a ton of time with her daddy though, so in her eyes that definitely makes up for it. Jason says she has been busy reading her books all day. In fact she has one of them completely memorized! That might sound impressive, but actually it is a book of opposites and there is only one word to a page, but hey, it is still a little impressive! LOL!!

She has also been getting quite the football education from Daddy. Jason has been watching all sorts of games today and has been explaining the game to her. Just what I need, another football fan in the house. I of course try to counteract all this football learning by teaching her the joys of stamping.

Oh, I almost forgot, Jason has been putting a lot of pressure on me lately to add to our little family. No, I am not talking about another child of sorts, rather another dog. Jason, loves dogs especially Tuxy and is starting to want another one. He brought it up last night and has been asking me every 20 minutes if I have made a decision yet. I think he secretly harbors a wish to own a million of them, but I mean come on, that just isn't practical! I haven't made up my mind yet, but don't tell him, I will probably give in.

So onto the cards! My first card for today is for this Wednesday's Sketch Challenge over at SCS. I have actually had the image colored for a couple of days but was unable to put it together until today. I fell in love with this paper and just had to get more of it. I just love the color combo.

What do you think?!! I am going to give it to my neighbor who has been feeling under the weather. She is always there for me and I appreciate it so much. I don't know what I would do without her. I started this card by stamping Hug in a Mug by Sugar Nellie on white card stock and colored her in with my markers and copics. On an identical sized piece of paper, I stamped the sentiment from Expressions by Inkadinkadoo and then stamped the flowers from Two Cute by Stampin Up! in black, tempting turquoise and gable green. Following the sketch I layered on black card stock along with DP. I added two flowers I cut out with my Cricut machine in black and teal and attached them with green brads. I am really please with the way this card turned out. I am definitely going to use this sketch again!

My second card is a card that I created all on my own!!! No sketch can you believe it! I actually picked up this stamp set at my local stamp store last week and was dying to give it a try. I just love how the images look like the old basil readers. You know the Fun With Dick and Jane Ones. I actually dropped this card off at the stamp store today!

See what I mean! Wouldn't they make an adorable little book! They are super fun to paper piece, which is what I did here! I started this card off by stamping the girl, wagon and hearts from Little Red Wagon by Pink Persimmon on white card stock and a piece of DP. I then paper pieced the girl and colored her and the wagon in using my copics and markers. I drew in the sidewalk and grass using my copic multiliner pen, my copics and my markers. I proceeded to cut her out using my nesties along with a piece of black card stock. I mounted her on two pieces of DP, one I punched with my Martha Stewart edge punch. I then tied on a piece of pink ribbon and attached three black rhinestone stickers. I printed off the sentiment on my computer, cut it out along with a piece of black using my nesties and then popped them off the main image. I just think these are so adorable and they even come with all sorts of different holiday items to put in the wagon!!!

Well, that is it for me today!! Don't forget the contest at Pink Cat Studio ending on Tuesday. It is not to late to enter, and who doesn't want a free stamp set from Pink Cat!! Thanks as always for stopping by!! Have a great rest of the weekend!

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!

Christmas, Christmas Everywhere!!!

Happy, Happy Monday everybody! Not too much longer till Christmas now!!!

I hope everyone has had a good day. Izzy and I have had a really good one . The weather has been pleasant, the sun was out for awhile and I just looked out the window to the park and the sunset is gorgeous!

Izzy has been pretty happy for a Monday. She is usually kind of grumpy because Jason is gone, but we have spent a lot of time together today to make up for it. In fact we cleaned the house together this afternoon and both the front and back glass doors are thoroughly dusted to about three feet up!!! Oh the ottoman is also! I believe it has now been dusted exactly 397 times! She is such a cute little helper. She just wants to be a part of everything!

She is still doing her "Snuggles" thing. And boy does she have her daddy wrapped around her finger. She was kind of tired yesterday at dinner (we were having it a little later than normal) and all the sudden she just had a melt down and was crying in her seat. I figured she was probably okay, but she kept crying and saying "Snuggles, snuggles!" Well you should have seen Jason! He was hunched over with his head against hers, patting her on the back. It was ridiculous! If I don't watch out, there is no telling what that girl will have her daddy doing! lol!

Oh, we put the tree up last night!! It was so much fun! Izzy loved all the ornaments, especially the ones that make noises. Her all time favorites though are the ones that look like doggies. We put them down low so that she could see them. She loves to point to them and say, "Doggie! Doggie!" It is really cute!!

Well I am slowly getting caught up on all the challenges from over the weekend. There is always a million good ones and I want to play but there is never enough time to get them all done. One of my favorite weekly challenges, and one I always try to do even if I am late, is Jen Del Muro's Sketch For You To Try. This week she had another wonderful layout for everyone to attempt.

I am okay with the way this card came out. I think I need to fiddle with it a little more to make it work. I love the image, and the papers. I am also happy with the coloring. But to my eye there is either something missing or something is a little bit off. Oh well! I started this card off by stamping Milly Decorating Tree by Spiral Whisper on white card stock and colored her in using my copics and markers. I then cut her out and mounted her on a piece of brown card stock and a piece of pink card stock that I cut out with my nesties. Following the sketch, I layered on brown card stock and three different kinds of DP. I then added three green brads to the top. Like I said, the card is okay, but is not quite right. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to share!!

My second card I am really happy with. I actually cased the idea from Leigh O'Brien who made an awesome New House card using a Halloween Stamp. I love the idea so much that I decided to make a Christmas themed New House card for my friend Tracy!

Don't you love the idea of using a holiday stamp for a non-holiday card?!!!! Thank you so much Leigh for the idea! Using this week's Sketch Saturday Challenge for the layout I created this festive yet bright card! I started off by stamping the gingerbread house from a retired stamp set by Stampin' Up called Sweet Holiday. I colored it in using my copics and markers and created some snow drifts at the bottom with my copics. Following the sketch, I layered on green card stock, pink card stock and three different kinds of DP. I used my nesties to create the ovals. I added three different buttons and a purple ribbon that I tied my sentiment onto. I finished the card by stamping the gum drops on the tag and coloring them!! Isn't it fun and colorful?!! I really think Tracy is going to enjoy it! I just love this idea if you can't tell! lol!

For my final card, I used this week's Sketch Challenge over at PCP. I actually downloaded the challenge before I went over to Tracy's Saturday morning and thought about what stamp set I could use in the circles all day! I was still thinking about it when I went out to my mailbox that evening and found that my new MFT stamps had just arrived!!!! Thank you so much Kim for the quick turnaround. Well needless to say, my dilemma was solved!!!

I love, love, love this new stamp set and I am not even that into bags! To be honest though, I wouldn't mind owning one of these!! LOL!! Okay so I started this card off by stamping the three purses from Tote-ally Fantastic by MFT stamps on several different sheets of DP and brown, red and green card stock and then paper pieced them together. I added a gold glitter pen to the buckles to give them some sparkle. I then popped them off some white, red and brown card stock that I cut out with my nesties. I went ahead and distressed the white circles with some old olive ink and a sponge. Following the sketch, I layered on two different kinds of DP and brown and green card stock. I then decided that it would be super fun if the background looked like a purse, so I altered the sketch slightly and rounded the corners on the second layer. I also added two strips of brown card stock to make it look like handles! To finish the card, I printed the sentiment off on my computer, mounted it on brown card stock and a piece of DP and then added gold stitching around all the straps and pockets! I am so happy with the way this turned out! I might not even give it away for Christmas!!

Well, I am off to eat dinner! I hope all of you have had a wonderful day and have a wonderful evening! Thanks as always for stopping by!

I Have a Theme and It is Blue and Green!!

Happy Friday everyone!!

I am so glad that it is finally here!! Jason has been working from home today which has been great but the bad news is he will be gone tonight playing tennis. Bummer! That is okay, at least Izzy has been able to see him for awhile. She will get to spend all day with him tomorrow since I will be over at "Aunt" Tracy's helping her move into her new house!!! Yeah! So excited about seeing the new place, not so much about the actual moving part.

Izzy was so cute last night, I just have to share. Jason was a little late getting home and of course she was waiting in the window for him. Well when she arrived,she ran up to him and then ran into the kitchen. Jason followed her and started making dinner. About two minutes later I hear little feet running in toward me and I hear "Snuggles, Snuggles". I was trying to blog so I put the laptop down and she climbed in my lap and snuggled in for a minute. Then she jumped down and ran into the kitchen and I heard, "Daddy snuggles, snuggles!". Isn't that adorable. She was doing it all night. She is such a love bunny!

Alright, so I guess my theme for today is green and blue. That is not what I started out doing, but somehow it just wound up that way. Isn't it funny how stuff like that happens?! Lol!!

Well my first card for today sort of kind of fits All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge. This week's challenge was a color challenge to use Pacific Point, Chocolate Chip and Soft Sky. Well I don't have any of these specific colors so I decided to use two shades of blue, one close to aqua and brown. Here is what I came up with.

I have a little bit of a twisted since of humor, so sorry if it isn't funny to anyone else. When I was making up the card I just kept thinking it would be so funny if the kid was throwing snowballs at anybody that got near the bear! See, get it? Okay, not that funny, oh well! I started off this card by printing (digi stamp) the little girl from Winter Sweetpea and Tiger and the bear and snowman from Winter Bear both by All That Scraps on white card stock and colored them in with my copics and markers. I then layered them on brown card stock and popped them off two kinds of snowflake DP, some brown card stock and some white card stock I embossed with my snowflakes embossing folder. I cut out snowflake shapes using my Cricut machine and mounted them in each corner. I used the Nature Hike wheel from Stampin Up for the sign and colored it in with my copics. I added a touch of white gel pen to the top to make it look like it was snowed on. To finish the card I glued on some winter buttons I have been hording. I just love this card! It is so wintery and fun!

For my second card, I created a baby card. I actually have problems with baby cards (I know, I have lots of problems, lol!). I love to make them, but I never seem to be able to get them to people. So I am making one in advance so it will be on hand. This card actually incorporates two MFT challenges. The first challenge is another of this month's ambassador challenges which was to create a card that had at lease three buttons on it and used the color blue somewhere. I used this week's MFT Sketch Challenge for the layout.

I love this little card!! I have had this stamp set for forever and have never used it, what is wrong with me? Anywhoo, I started this card by stamping the postage stamp, boy phrase and onesie from Baby First by MFT Stamps on white card stock and colored them in using my markers and copics. I went ahead and restamped the onesie on some DP and popped it off the image to give it some more dimension. Following the sketch, I layered on green card stock, blue card stock, and two different kinds of DP. I added a green stitched ribbon and lots of faux white stitching with my white gel pen. For the bottom I stamped the sentiment and then added three buttons. I think this would be a wonderful baby card!

Alright, my final card is in honor of my great grandfather. He was one of those guys who could fix just about anything with duct tape, just not very well. lol! In fact growing up we always used to tease him because if your dress was getting too short or your pants or whatever, he would say, "Just give me a piece of black velvet ribbon and some duct tape and I'll fix it for you." So this one is for you grandpa!

The sentiment on the inside of the card will read, "If this doesn't fix it, I guess I will have to stitch it back together! Merry Christmas!" I used the Hanna Release Party Challenge for the main idea of the card which was to incorporate stitching. I started off by stamping Hanna, and the ladder from Tool Time Hanna by Hanna stamps on some white card stock and colored them in with my markers and copics. I then drew a tree on some white card stock, colored it in and cut it out. I created the floor and wallpaper (with stitching) on a separate sheet of white card stock and colored them in with my copics and markers. Next, I layered on my tree, the ladder and Hanna. To finish the image off, I added some ribbons and some dots so that it would look like garland and ornaments on the floor. I then layered on three different kinds of Christmas DP (one of them even has stitching on it) and green and blue card stock. To finish the card, I added stitched green ribbon to the sides and three brads to the bottom. I just know my family will get a kick out of this one.

Well, I better say goodbye to the hubby. He will be leaving shortly for tennis! Have a great rest of the evening and thanks as always for stopping by!

Lots of Fairies and Santa?

Happy Tuesday everybody!!

Today was a beautiful day outside, a little cold but much nicer than yesterday. Izzy still didn't get to go outside and play but Tuxy was outside for awhile so things went much smoother this afternoon between them. Although, Tuxy now has this thing for licking Izzy, which she hates for some reason so that has been a little bit of a challenge.

Oh and now Izzy is completely obsessed with the potty. She has sat on it every hour all day long. Although she only went potty a tiny bit in it today. She now feels like she has to take everything off to sit on it. I don't know how to convince her she doesn't. I also walked in on her this afternoon in her crib to find her saying "Poop" with her diaper on the floor. Needless to say I ran as fast as I could to her crib, but luckily she did not go in the crib! Thank goodness!! This potty training stuff is hard.

Well I am a little bummed today. I am just not happy with my weight loss progress. I need to be more diligent about going to Curves, I know. I am only managing about twice a week and I think I need to be stricter on my diet. I don't eat horribly unhealthy (we never have chips or junk food in the house), but I know I could do better. I sometimes skip meals and eat late at night to make up for it. It is difficult though because Jason doesn't have a weight problem at all and never has to diet or exercise to stay thin. But it is not about him, it is about me and I really need to commit myself to this. Sorry to be a downer, but I appreciate you listening.

Okay, onto the cards! My first card is a card I created for Michelle Oatman's Sketch Challenge over at the Stampavie Group on PCP. This was another great sketch from Michelle!! I thought the threaded ribbon detail at the bottom was awesome!!!

See, amazing sketch right?!!! I need to admit something before I get started on the description of my card. I have a problem with sentiments on the outside of cards. I can never make mine look right so I tend to avoid them. That is why I cut out a stem of flowers instead. I just couldn't make the sentiment I had planned for this card fit! Maybe there is a support group for people like me! Lol! Okay, so I started this card by stamping Lily - Magic Fairy by Rachelle Anne Miller for Stampavie on white card stock and colored her in with my markers and copics. I then mounted her on a piece of brown card stock a piece of green card stock and two pieces of DP. Following the sketch, I placed jumbo eyelets at the bottom and threaded through the ribbon. I cut out a stem and flowers from the DP and popped it off the side adding a few rhinestones. I really love how this turned out. It is so beautiful in person.

My second card for today I am really excited about!!! I was checking out Lauren Meader's blog yesterday and she had a posting for a new digi stamp company, Squigglefly. Well you know how I am with my digis! Love them!!! So I had to go check it out! They have some of the most adorable images so I bought a couple and printed them off. I colored this image up right away and decided to use her for this week's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge over at Poetic Artistry.

Isn't this little pixie fairy adorable ( I wish my picture had turned out better)!!!! I love her. And she was so much fun to color in! Alright, I started this card off by printing Pixie by Squigglefly on white card stock and colored her in with my copics and markers. Following the sketch, I layered on pink, green and white card stock with two kinds of DP. I ran my white card stock through my hounds tooth embossing folder to give it some texture. I put some ribbon behind my sentiment, that I also printed off, and my image. I then cut out flowers from the DP and placed them around. This reminds me so much of my niece. She always has this innocent look on her face right after she has done something she shouldn't. Lol!!

Alright, for my final card I dusted off an old SU! set called Ho Ho Holidays. I find that now that I have all sorts of acrylic sets and stamps from other stamp companies, my poor SU! stamps collect dust. So when I saw Mary Jo's Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge, I knew I could find an SU! stamp set that would work.

I wanted the reindeer to look like he was just taking off! Alrighty, I started this card off by stamping Santa in sleigh and the reindeer from Ho Ho Holidays by Stampin Up! I then colored them in along with the background with my copics and markers. I added a touch of gold glitter pen to make it sparkle. I also put on some liquid applique so it would look like it was snowing!! Following the sketch, I layered on DP and green and red card stock. Instead of a circle in the corner I created a present out of ribbon and green card stock and printed off the sentiment on my computer. I cut it out along with green and red card stock with my nesties so that it would look like a gift tag. To finish the card, I added three red brads and some gold glitter pen to the tag. I really love the little scene!

Well, I am outta here for tonight. Sorry I am so late in posting but this evening has been a crazy one! Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting, have a great rest of the evening!

Two for one and It's an Ornament I tell you!

Happy Friday!!! Yeah!!

Well this is supposedly the last day of our heat wave, and by heat wave I mean temps in the fifties. I guess tomorrow is supposed to be only in the thirties and tonight it might even snow. I love the first snow, but I actually have some things to do tomorrow, so I really don't want to have to get out in it. Don't you hate getting out after the first snow? It seems like everybody forgets how to drive. Hopefully it will hold off until Sunday when I don't have to go anywhere.

Well I found out today that my dad got glasses!! My mom says he looks very dashing in them. It really is only fair since all the rest of us have had to wear them for so long. I guess he isn't able to see things far off as well as he used to. I heard though that they are super cool and even have clip on sunglasses, but not the hokey kind that just latch over the top, super cool, super neato ones that are actually magnetized. Man, mine aren't that fancy. I just have plain ones that without the ultra light, ultra thin lenses, would look like coke bottles. lol! I am so jealous!!

Well Izzy has been more back to normal today. She has been running around the house, playing with Tuxy, coloring in her book and wearing her little apron. Man she loves that thing! And, she made me discover something about myself that I think I would have rather not known! Today, I had on the radio, which I do just about everyday, when I asked her to dance with me. (Sometimes I break out into spontaneous dancing just for fun.) Well, she stood there, and as my neighbor Beth said, moved her arm around like she was riding a bucking bronco. She didn't move her body at all, just her arm. Is that how I dance?!!!! Oh my gosh, how embarrassing! I am going to have to take lessons or something so that she doesn't' become a horrible dancer like me.

Okay, on to something I am good at. So today, I wanted to try to make two different cards using the same layout and and same stamp, but with different colors. I incorporated a couple of challenges into this one. I used the sketch challenge over at Taylored Expressions. I also incorporated today's Limited Supplies Challenge over at SCS to only use acrylic stamps. Well since it seems like I have a million of them, I was more than happy to compete. Here is my first card.

I am not as happy with this one. I like the colors, and little girl feel to it, but I think there is something a little off in the execution. Oh well! I started this card off by stamping Lily - I Love Shopping by Rachelle Ann Miller for Stampavie. I colored her in using my copics and markers. I then layered on teal, purple, green and red card stock with two different DPs following the sketch. Using my nesties to create the scalloped rectangle. I popped off the main image and added some purple ribbon to the bottom. I think it will make a good back up birthday card, but my second version is the one I am really proud of.

For this card, I used this week's Color Challenge, color scheme again. I just love this color combination! I did the same steps as above except I used my snowflakes cuttlebug embossing folder to create the background paper. I then went over all the snowflakes with my versamark pen to give them some depth. I added a piece of organdy ribbon to the bottom and punched out two snowflakes in gray and blue using my Martha Stewart snowflake punch. I added some green rhinestones to the snowflake and followed up with some green rhinestones on the picture. This one I love. The colors are so festive yet cozy!

Okay, onto my ornament! It really is an ornament, I promise!! Maybe your tree has to be the size of the one at Rockefeller Center, but it is still an ornament. lol! I actually started this on Wednesday for the SUInk and More Whatchadoin' Wednesday Challenge which was to create an ornament for Christmas. (Side note: I am so excited!!! I am a featured customer on the SUInk and More blog!! Can you believe it!! I am so honored!) After I realized how big it was, I put it to the side for awhile and finally finished it this morning. I decided it could just be the tree's focal point. I mean every tree needs a focal point. I wanted to create an ornament like the ones I had when I was kid that were little scenes. Here it is.

I think if I make this again, I will add skylights so that the light can filter into the scene. I started this ornament off by creating a four by four open box. I then cut out one side with my scalloped rectangle nesties so that you could see inside. I added a couple of windows and pasted in some wallpaper. I then created cabinets and a shelf using the same open box concept and added some doors, a sink and door knobs. Then I stamped the girl, stove, and accessories from Kiss the Cook by SUInk and More. I colored them in with my markers and then placed them in my scene. I added a roof with some red card stock and drew on tiles. I punched a hole in the top to thread through some ribbon, so my ORNAMENT can hang. I then drew in some siding and finished off the windows adding trim. I added a touch of siding to the sides with my Martha Stewart edge punch and some Christmas Paper. I finished off the scene with some snow that I created with my goo punch and white paper. Despite the size I think it is really cute and sweet. It will be prominently displayed on our tree this winter, I mean how could you miss it even if you tried!! lol!

Alright, I am off to practice. I have put it off long enough. I have a little secret to share. I actually play the cello, and by play I mean, I played the cello for fifteen years growing up and haven't touched it in the last three. A friend of mine has asked me to play in her ensemble at church this weekend and I have agreed. I warned her that I am not very good. You would think I would be, since I went to college on a partial music scholarship, but as it turns out there were only two cello players in the whole school so they were kind of desperate!! So wish me luck. This will probably be the last time she asks me to play!

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by today!!!

I Am On Fire!

Happy Monday!

It was such an icky day here, that both Izzy and I slept in this morning. It was so hard to roll out of bed since it was so dark. Where has the summer gone? That is the only thing that I don't like about the coming fall, the days get shorter and shorter. I hate not being able to take walks at night. It puts me in a bad mood.

Well, Izzy is pretty much down to just a runny nose. She is running around the house again terrorizing Tuxy. I swear it is like they really are brother and sister. They both just can't stand to not be picking on the other one.

Izzy had a wonderful time yesterday with Jason aka Daddy. They played out in the yard together, read lots of stories and even went on a walk. Jason took care of her all day. It was so nice, I was really able to get my stamp on! And boy did I.

Here is the first card I wanted to share with you. It is for our neighbor's son who just recieved a 1 at districts in piano. That means that he will now be going on to state. Yeah Caleb, we are so proud of you!!!!

I wanted to incorporate music in this card, obviously, so I used this music themed paper. Then I wanted to stamp something that a 12 year old boy would like. I went through all my stamps (no to hearts, no to shoes, no to purses, no to flowers). I was running out of ideas (I am very low on 12 year old boy themed stamp sets), until I came across this adorable set by Stampin' Up called Under the Stars and bam! it was perfect. I stamped the bear on very vanilla cardstock and colored him in using my prisma colored pencils. Next I stamped the stars and s'mores and colored them in adding a touch of glitter to the edges of the stars. I mounted them on some black inchies and added them down the side. I stamped the sentiment and mounted it and the bear on black card stock adding a little DP to the bear. To tie the colors together I stuck on a piece of brown organdy ribbon and then a piece of black grossgrain on top. It is so cool and turned out just the way I wanted it!

The next card was of course a Halloween card. I told you, I am no longer holding back.

I love this layout. I was on Splitcoast this weekend and saw tons of card with this similar layout and wanted to try it out. I used black card stock as my base and then pieced two different Halloween papers to create the three windows. Then I stamped Trickortreatabella by Stamping Bella. I colored her in using my Prisma color pencils (I love how she turned out). Then I popped her off the card. I threaded black and orange ribbon around the card and tied 4 pieces of ribbon around it to resemble a spider. Then I glued a sparkle spider button I got at Michaels to the center. Finally, I attached a "Halloween" button to a piece of Halloween DP, then to black cardstock and popped it out in the corner. Perfect! I am so in the mood for Halloween!

Finally, I wanted to publish the drawing that my neighbor did of Izzy! It is so beautiful.

Well thanks for stopping by! Have a great rest of the day!

It is On!!!!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Jason is finally home! Yeah!!! Both Izzy and I are thrilled, we have really missed him this week.

Izzy is feeling better. Still a little stuffed up, but definitely back to her stinky self. Now I have to contend with our dog. He is driving me crazy!!! (If anyone who wants a 5 year old Boston Terrier who is completely insane, contact me). I do love him, but for some reason the last two nights he has been getting up in the middle of the night to go potty. Not just once, not just twice but three or four times! He is worse than I was when I was pregnant. The strange thing is he doesn't go that often during the day and we aren't giving him lots of fluids before bedtime. I think he is secretly punishing us for Jason being gone the last three days. He's cunning I tell you, cunning.

I wanted to share some more good news, at least to us. My wonderful neighbor, Beth, last week called and asked me for a picture of Isabella; she wanted to try drawing again. I gave her my favorite picture of Izzy and on Thursday she gave me her picture that she had drawn (I will be sharing the drawing tomorrow). It is the most beautiful drawing I have ever seen! I almost cried when I saw it. It looks exactly like her and it is extra special because Beth created it with love. I don't know what we did to deserve such great neighbors, but I feel incredibly lucky.

Okay, so enough sappy stuff and onto my project for today. I figure it is close enough to October to start posting Halloween nonstop. I am no longer holding myself back. From here on out it will be Halloween 24/7 out our house! Yeah!!!!! I am so excited. So to mark the first day of the Halloween extravaganza, I am posting a bag I made for the giveaway at our Halloween party!

Isn't this cute! We are going to fill it with candy. I created the bag out of a 11 1/2 in. tall X 8 1/2 in. wide piece of lavender card stock. I scored the piece of paper horizontally at 2 in. and 8 in. Next, I scored vertically at 1/2 in., 4 1/2 in., 6 in., 10 in., and 11 1/2 in. I then folded the bag up and glued it together. Next I used my Martha Stewart fence punch to punch out the fence in black. I then stamped the house from Monster Squad by MFT stamps on several pieces of Halloween paper by Stampin' Up and cut them out. I decided to pop out the roof to give it a three dimensional look. Next I colored in the windows and door and added a purple brad to the doorknob. I tacked on some more fence to the top of the roof and punched out some goo, using my Martha Stewart Goo punch, and added it to the bottom of the roof. To finish out the scene at the bottom of the bag, I stamped the stack of jack-o-lanterns from The Witching Hour by SUInks and More, colored them in using my Prisma color pencils and adhered them to the side of the house. To seal the bag, I punched through all layers with my rectangle punch and threaded through an orange ribbon. Next I cut out a tag shape from Halloween paper and a slightly smaller shape out of whisper white and stamped the sentiment "I Want Candy" from Monster Squad by MFT and attached it with the ribbon. Finally, I glued on a bat button I picked up from Michaels and voila, a totally cute and adorable Halloween treat bag.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

The Saga Continues...

Happy Friday!

Sorry about not posting yesterday, I was completely exhausted. Izzy and I had such a wonderful day. We went and had lunch with Jason and then my friend Tracy came over and we finished the outside of our party invitations. After Tracy left, Izzy and I went and watched Jason play tennis and had a play date with Izzy's friend Lucy. It was a crazy day but super fun!

Today Izzy and I went and hit the Target dollar spot and picked up trinkets to stuff in gift bags. They have some really cool new stuff there. I then worked on a box that I am thinking about giving to a friend and tonight I need to make up two anniversary cards; one for Jason's grandparents and one for my sister and brother-in-law. It never ends. I am not complaining though I love doing it.

Before I share my project for today, I have to brag for a moment. My daughter is sooo smart. I am not biased or anything (Sometimes too smart for her own good). Yesterday we went and picked Jason up from work and the second we pulled into his office parking lot, Izzy said "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" Yesterday was only the third or fourth time we have been there. We hardly ever go, and yet she recognized it. I love her so much!

Okay, on with the show. The project I want to share today is one of the door prizes we are going to be giving away at the Halloween party. It is a popcorn box that I created. We are going to stuff it with the Halloween themed popcorn by Act II. Tracy said you can find them at Walmart.

Isn't it cute! Okay so I bought a popcorn box at Michaels, I think it is by Wilson and tore it up. I then used it as a template. I traced around it and cut it out of a piece of 12 X 12 orange paper. I scored it using the original box as a reference and taped it up and tada you have a popcorn box. Next I stamped the sentiment from the new Stampin' Up set House of Haunts on the same piece of orange card stock and cut out a fun shape. Next I cut out the same shape from a piece of black card stock that was slightly larger so it served as a frame. Then I punched out bats using my Martha Stewart bat punch and glued them on. I attached a small bat brad from Making Memories to the title tag and last but not lease I punch holes in the center of each of the scallops along the top and threaded through a piece of 1/8 inch satin, black ribbon. I can't wait for people to see it at the party.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

It's an Addiction I Tell you an Addiction!

Happy Monday!

I can't help myself I am completely addicted to Halloween. Well the disease only gets worse with age. Although I complain about how they put out Halloween decorations and candy in July, each year I find myself strangly attracted to that section of the store. I love everything about it and I hate to say I think I inherited this terrible ailment from my mother and grandmother. When I was a kid each year we would discuss for months what costumes we would make that year so that we would all match. One of my favorite years we went as a school of sharks and carried around a boombox that played the theme song to Jaws. It was always so much fun and made such wonderful memories.

Here is the backstory and why I started out my blog today with the above confession. Today is my mother's birthday. Happy Birthday Mom! I won't tell you how old she is because I do value my life but it is not a big one, that was last year ---hint, hint. My mom not only loves Halloween but choclate too, so I had to make a card that incorporates both (at least that is my excuse). Like the loving and wonderful (favorite) daughter I am, I called her this morning to wish her a happy birthday. And I have to tell you I was really offended. The first words out of her mouth were, "You know your sister already e-mailed me this morning to wish me a happy birthday." Well it is not my fault that my sister is so sneaky. Naturally I told my mother that that did not matter seeing as how I am her favorite daughter and the only one who sent her a hand made card and made her a hand made gift. And can you believe it she just laughed at me. The nerve of some people! So here it is:

The inside is stamped Happy Birthday!. For this card I used some patterned paper I bought a couple months ago at Michael's. The chocolate chips are stamped from a Stampin' Up stamp set called Oh So Sweet. The trick-or-treater is from a stamp set by Storage Units inks and more called Kooky Kostumes. Isn't he adorable! I colored him in with my stampin' write markers and then stamped the sentiment with a letter set I bought at the dollar spot at Michaels. I finshed the look with a spatula button and a piece of brown ribbon. It turned out perfectly.

Thanks for visiting my blog today, please stop by again!

Witches Just Want to Have Fun!

Are you ready to party!

This year I am trying to convince my best friend Tracy to throw a Halloween party at her house. Mainly because she lives in the perfect Halloween house. Her house was built back in the 1890's with really high ceilings and an awesome fireplace and a flight of the most beautiful stairs you have ever seen. (We live in a 1970's ranch out in the suburbs). She also knows tons more people than I do and can cook. I on the other hand have appointed myself in charge of decorations. It will be better for all of us.

This is the invitation I am suggesting we send out. My husband doesn't want to be involved in the planning, although he is also a good cook and baker so I am sure he will get wrangled into the party too. Love ya honey!!!

The card is made up of all Stampin' Up card stock: old olive, perfect plum, pumpkin pie and whisper white. I stamped the two witches from the MFT stamp set Totally Witchin' and colored them in using my prismacolor pencils. I am in love with this set! It is just so cute. I also used the spider web and spider from this set and stamped them with versamark ink on the perfect plum card stock. (I know this is a little hard to see put it gives it a really cool patterned paper effect). I then used my goo punch from Martha Stewart that I got at Michael's to create the border. Next, I took perfect plum ink and a sponge and distressed the edges. The bats and the pumpkin brads I found at Archivers (I think they are Making Memories). They seem to add just the perfect amount of sparkle.

Well I hope you enjoy this invitation as much as I enjoyed making it. Have a good rest of the day!