Valentine's Shoebox Swap

Hi there! I have missed you for the last few days....been chasing away fevers and nasty coughs. All 3 kids are STILL sick....can ya believe it? I think we are on the way to mending. I managed to get everyone to school today....a feat we haven't managed since last Thursday. Whew!

I left the gym early today so I could come and post a card for you. Luckily you can't see me or smell me because I am both sweaty and stinky.....ewwwww! =)

I am lucky enough to be invited to a monthly shoebox swap at my friend Amy's House (big "hi" out to Amy) and we met on Monday night. What a fabulous group of talented -- very talented--stampers. This is the card I made for that swap. Stampin' Up! was kind enough to send all demonstrators this set as a holiday gift. It is currently a level 3 hostess set. Sadly enough I didn't even have it cut before Monday.....just no time. CRAZY! But now that it's cut....I can see many many cards coming from it in the future. Without further adieu......

The set is Time Well Spent and I also used Jumbo Outline Alphabet, Define Your Life and Wonderful Words. The cardstock is Pink Passion, Lovely Lilac, Orchid Oppulence and Whisper White. I stamped the hearts, the "x", "o" and love in Stazon Black. The definition is in Pink Passion. I colored the flowers and hearts with Orchid Oppulence Markers and then watercolored the center using the marker and an aquapainter. Do you know how to do this? Kind of fun. I also stamped the little flower in Pink Passion as a background. The bling is from hobby lobby in the craft department. They aren't brads just little beady things. I like em'. The flower is a prima flower. This isn't my favorite card....I think I need less purples.....but....I am a pink girl. I also would use either the PTI white paper or watercolor paper for the hearts. Whisper white just doesn't seem to stand up very well to watercoloring. I also sponged the edges. I used the Stamp-a-majig to line up the letters and the definition. Do you know how to use that? One of my favorite tools. =)

Happy Stamping!

Sunday Stamping....

I had hoped to get some "mega" stamping done this weekend....but the universe didn't find my plan to be "acceptable". All three kids are sick and so you know what that means for me....lots of kleenex, snuggles and chicken soup. Maybe next weekend? But, I did get these two cards made Friday night so I thought I would share them with you. One is for a sketch challenge on Splitcoast but don't ask me which one....I have to look it up again....yeah yeah I know. I hope that Ginko kicks in pretty soon....the old brain power....not a so good. YIKES!

Anyway, the first card is a birthday card I made for a family friend. This card uses the Stampin' Up! Fast and Fun Notes set and the retired Fancy Flexible Phrases set. All images were stamped in Basic Black. The "happy birthday" is a rub-on from Making Memories that I got with my "free stuff" from winning the Paper Crafts Mag contest (yeah!!!!) The cardstock colors are Bashful Blue, Brocade Blue and PTI White. I found the little index tab thing in my "pile of stuff that I bought but still haven't used" section of the bunker. Hey look I used it....now I can move it into the "rarely used but still like it" pile. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I added a little bit of blue satin ribbon and some white eyelets and called it good.

The second was my sketch challenge card. I don't have a lot of current "valentiney" sets so I have been stretching myself outside the box. I decided to use Wild About You and make the elephant pink. I stamped him on Sahara Sand and then the phrase in chocolate chip. The skinny ribbon is from a swap I just did with my new friend Amy. Big "hi" out to Amy (I love my stuff!!!!) I added a little heart brad again from my pile of embellishments neatly organized at the moment and a googlie eye. I embossed "my valentine" in white and that saying is from Everyday Flexible Phrases. I used my cuttlebug for the background on the regal rose (I don't know which one....probably named something simple like circles.) The inside paper is retired SU Rebecca. The large ribbon is my ruffly pink check from Hobby Lobby. I think I have to go buy some more of this. I still LOVE it. That's all for this sunny Sunday. I think I will go play outside for awhile.

Happy Stamping!

Some New Goodies for you....

Look what I finally had time to photograph....I know....can you believe it? I can hardly believe it myself. Anyway....I think I am doing pretty good with my NYR (New Year's Resolution) by posting more than once a year....BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Sorry the pictures aren't great. I am working on my photographic skills. I keep telling the DH that if I had a new camera (preferably a Cannon Rebel XT) that I could take marvelous award winning pictures. He ain't buying it....or the camera....so I gotta work with what I got....which is NOT an award winning camera. Anyway......here's the scoop on these two cards.

This one was made with Lovely Lilac and Silver and was a sketch/color combo for Papercrafts Magazine. I submitted it but didn't hear anything...so I am sharing it with you instead. Guess they didn't like it....but that's okay....you can't win them all. So the letters are from SU Jumbo Outline Alphabet and the definition of "always" is from the Define Your Life set. I love this set and can't wait to make some scrapbook pages with it. Someday....someday soon. Onwards....the swirly-whirl is from Paper Trey Ink's Ambassador Monogram set and the "wish" is from the Text Boxed set. I layered three different colors of primas and put a Rhinestone Brad in the center. The purple ripped piece is a piece of vellum that used to be sold by Stamping Up!. I embossed the letters and wish and swirly-whirl in black and then colored in the letters with my Lovely Lilac marker. That's it. I thought this would make a cute birthday card.

The next photo is my first attempt at a V-Day card. I can't seem to get in the mood for V-Day....I have lots of retired sets that I like....but they aren't getting me motivated. Guess I will have to find some cute new stamps.....oh darn. For this card I used Barely Banana and Pretty In Pink SU CS and then of course my favorite white cardstock from PTI. The stamps sets are both retired....sorry....Olive You and Love Matters. I stamped both in Stazon Black and then colored them with my SU markers Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, and pretty in Pink. The hearts around the outside I took my Zig Painty Pen and colored in the dots with the silver end. The so my favorite ribbon is from Hobby Lobby - on sale - SCORE!

That's about it for today. If you would like to see more or less of something....please leave me a comment and let me know.

Happy Stamping!

My last few cards and then we are off to V-Day

Hee hee....V-Day that's funny! I know what a goon. So here are the last few cards from my happy Christmas paper. Then we will be moving onto newer and brighter and springier cards.

Card #11 - This card uses the same Making Memories paper and I added Real Red, Old Olive and a patterned paper from DSWV. The ribbon is the same checked red from Hobby Lobby. The saing is again from Fancy Flexible Phrases in Basic Black. The background was stamped with little peppermints from a retired SU set (All Wrapped Up Accessories) in Real Red and I added a little bit of glitter to it.

Card #12 - This card uses Real Red, Old Olive and Very Vanilla Cardstock. The greenery is from the Paper Trey Ink set "Believe". I stamped the holly in Stazon Black and watercolored it and then in Old Olive on the old olive CS and colored the centers with red glitter. I used my giga square scallop to punch out the greens and the center piece and layered them together to make one long strip. The ribbon is from Joann and it is a felt ric rac.

Card #13 - This one is made out of Real Red and Old Olive CS (again) and all I added was a piece of wide grosgrain in very vanilla and the little holly brad and eyelet at the bottom. I have had those forever....so I don't have supplier for you on that one....sorry.

Card #14 - The last one....can you believe it....this has been a long series.....Whew! This one uses the Giga Scallop Punch and the "yellow" one....sorry I can't remember the size right now from Marvy Uchida. I watercolored the santa a little bit and added a little glitter. The wreaths are from the same "Believe" set and also had a little bit of red glitter added to the berries. The sentiment is from Fancy Flexible Phrases and the ribbon is from May Arts and is a green velvet ric rac.

Well....I hope you have enjoyed these....I will be back later this week with some new cards. In the meantime......

Happy Stamping!

More Cards from "the Paper"....

Here are some more cards from the Christmas Paper from my last post. Enjoy.



Card #6 - Uses Real Red Cardstock and the Making Memories Christmas paper. I watercolored the santa suit using an aquapainter and the Real Red ink pad. Added some red glitter to the santa bag and colored a few of the toys with my SU markers. The ribbon is the wide grosgrain SU vanilla. I love this ribbon it is by far my favorite ribbon right now. The saying is from Fancy Flexible Phrases and I put a Making Memories Page Pebble over it to jazz it up a little.



Card#7 - This card again uses the Making Memories paper and Real Red and Old Olive cardstock. I used the "peace" saying from Paper Trey Ink's Snowflake serenade in Real Red on the background. I used my mega sized circle scalloped punch from Marvy Uchida for the image and the next size smaller for the saying. The saying is again from Sincere Salutations. The ribbon - is a mystery....it was stolen again from the Christmas presents....I would guess hobby lobby. =)


Card #8 - In addition to the Making Memories paper this card uses Real Red and Old Olive Cardstock (see a pattern here)? I didn't add much here except for the saying which is from Wonderful Words by SU and the ribbon which is from Hobby Lobby Again.


Card #9 - This card has a saying from a SU set you can't get anymore (except maybe Ebay) sorry I hate to do that to you...but I love this little set. It is from Fancy Flexible Phrases stamped in Basic black and punched out with the 1" circle punch from SU. The ribbon is Christmas leftovers.


Card #10 - Same cardstock and paper as before. Watercolored this time with my watercolor crayons and added the saying from Paper Trey's Beautiful Blooms set. I love that set....plan on seeing more from that later on. =) I added the chocolate satin ribbon from Stampin' Up! for a final touch.

In other news....I got a sneak peak at the up and coming Occassions catalog that SU will be putting out in March. It has some really cute stuff in it. SPOILER - like new hardware in Silver with the fanciest panciest brads.....I LOVE THEM! Some cute and different stamps....none that I can list as my favorites yet....but they may grow on me. Also some cute designer series papers and glitter in some fun new colors. That's about all I can remember right now.


I also ran across another fun company Ellzybells and she has some really cute stamps. She just released her friendship line and I personally must have the girl in bed with the bag on her head. SO CUTE! Check her out if you can. Anyway, that's all for today. Glad we are above 30 degrees today.....BRRRRRRR. Me no likey!

Happy Stamping!

How Many Cards.....

Okay....I know you are over Christmas now....but maybe....like me....you haven't quite finished all your thank you cards. Maybe? Mebbe? I hope I am not alone. =) If I am alone...don't tell me...then I will just be sad and depressed. (Not really!) I did make a Valentine's Day card this week...just haven't time to photograph it or get it up here yet. Maybe later today. We do have a fantastic adventure planned at Chuck-E-Cheese today (ugggh) so maybe, mebbe not. I can see you writhing with jealousy....HA! So we'll see how my state of mind is when we return. =)
So....I found this really cool paper from Making Memories waaaayyyyyyy before Christmas. But, I have seen similar non-Christmas paper....and Making Memories is so good about putting out new lines for each season....that I thought you could use the same idea for different cards. But I got 14 different cards out of this one piece of paper. I loved this paper because as most of you know....I am an antique junkie....junkie I said it....junkie. So sue me. I digresss....this paper just screams antique Christmas so I had to have it. I found it online at this great store, Croppin Paradise that was really super speedy (if they have everything you want in stock)....check them out.
Card #1 - Real Red and Old Olive Cardstock; Making Memories Paper; Believe set from Paper Trey Ink; Real Red and Basic Black Classic Ink from SU; Small Twill from SU; Red Stickles.


Card #2 - Making Memories Paper; Real Red and Old Olive Cardstock SU; Basic Black and Old Olive Classic Ink SU; Red Glitter SU.

Card #3 - Making Memories Paper; Old Olive and Real Red Cardstock SU; Old Olive and Real Red Classic Ink SU; Lovely as A Tree Stamp and Wonderful Words Stamp Sets SU; Irridescent Ice glitter, red checked ribbon from Hobby Lobby (scavengered from the Christmas wrapping) *grin* I stamped the trees in old olive and then used the two way glue pen to add glitter to some of the branches. I also used my watercolor crayons and an aquapainter to color the black and white image a little.

Card #4 - Making Memories Paper; Old Olive and Real Red Cardstock SU; Basic Black Classic Ink SU; Real Red, Old Olive and Bashful Blue SU Markers and Aquapainter; Sincere Salutations Stamp Set SU; red and white gingham ribbon SU. I watercolored using my markers and an aquapainter to add some color to the black and white piece.

Card #5 - Making Memories Paper; Old Olive and Real Red Cardstock SU; Basic Black Classic Ink SU; Red and White gingham ribbon from Hobby Lobby (again stolen from beneath the Christmas Tree)

I LOVEY LOVEY LOVEY that I was able to make so many cards out of this paper and that they were relatively quick.

So I thought I would post a few today and then some more later this week....so you don't get overwhelmed with my creative genius. Bwahhahahahahahhahahahahahahaha!!!!

Happy Stamping!

Winter Birthday

We have lots of birthdays between November and January....so I have found it necessary to find new ways to make them....sometimes the same old cake and candles get kinda boring especially if you have to make 10 of them in two months....sheesh...ridiculous! =) So I made this little card for the neighbor I grew up next to...her birthday is on New Year's Eve which ends the run of "tons of birthday" over here....whew! Next onto Valentine's day cards. I hope to sneek away and stamp this weekend to get you some ideas before Valentine's Day...hey there's a concept.

This card was made using Bayou Blue and Bashful Blue. The snowflakes are embossed in white are are from Paper Trey's Snowflake Serenade set (which I LOVE - I know what a surprise.) *grin*. The new sets ROCK BTW if you haven't seen them yet....run...don't walk....over there and check them out. As well as the super duper cutie patootie heart tins that I MUST have. If only I was a millionaire....working on winning the lotto...so far not so good.....keep forgetting to buy a ticket. CRAP! Will work harder on this. Ha! I digress....the ribbon is from my stash and I have no idea where it's from because I am sure it is one that I scavengered from the depths of a trashbag (see previous post). Sad isn't it? The pattered paper is from DCWV.

Sorry this post is so short but the twins are trying to push every button on my computer as I type - so I am erasing more than I type and yelling more than I can think. Sing along with me "oh what fun it is to be a mom at the end of the day......aaaaahhhhh.....I need my vino to take me away."

=) Dinner is burning...what's new.....gotta run.

Happy Stamping!

Simply but sweet

I made these as little stationery gifts for the wives of my hubby's co-workers. I had to do something fast because, well, because, as you may know I TOTALLy procrastinate. If you have ever come to one of my classes you know that I am usually not ready until the minute you hit the door. I don't think it's going to change in the near future....I really try to not procrastinate....but it's not in my blood. Anyway, these were all created using last month's Paper Trey Ink stamp releases....Ambassador Monogram Set and the Background & Corners Monogram Addition. I used various designer series paper - most of which is retired Stampin' Up! or DCWV, but use your imagination and go with it. I hope you enjoy.

These make up really fast....these were sets of 10 with matching envelopes. I ordered the Paper Trey Stationary sets and the little boxes come in a pack of 6 or 8 or something...they are totally cheap and make your cards look sooo Fancy Pantsy. Don't you want to be fancy pantsy too? =)

BTW - don't forget tonight is the night of the new Paper Trey release....you will LOVE it! Swear. Go check them out. =)

Happy Stamping!

A Little Late....

.....but cute nonetheless. I have finally managed to get my computer to cooperate long enough to get these pictures edited and posted. I hope you will enjoy them. The jar idea....was stolen from one of my favorite artists, Gina K. I gave these to each of the boys' teachers and the aides in the Kindergarten classroom. They were a big hit. The jars were purchased at target and come in several sizes. I got the medium sized jars.

Here's a picture of the goodies inside. Most of these goodies came from the Target $1 spot. I love that spot....dangit! The snowman soup was a little recipe I put together from a poem I found on Splitcoast last year. They have all kinds of those crazy poems for poop and soup and you name it......funny stuff.

As you will see some of the contents stuck above the jar so I had to get creative with the lids. I just decorated them with paper and stamping and then stuck them to the jar with pop-up glue dots....so that the teachers could use the jars again next year if they wanted to.

This one I used a nice holly background paper from DCWV that I got in a Christmas variety pack. The santa is from Paper Trey Ink's Believe set. (I love them...did I mention that?) Which I stamped in Black Stazon on Very Vanilla and then colored with my markers. There is a little star eyelet on the end of the hat (from waaaayyy back in the years of Stampin' Up!) then punched him out with my large oval scalloped punch (Marvy Uchida). The ribbon was a steal I found at a scrapbooking store on clearance and it says Merry Christmas in white writing. LOVE IT! Totally hoarding it....not nice. =)

The second version, is also made with the Believe set only the tree this time. I love this tree....it has so many possibilities. I used it over and over this past Christmas and foresee that I will be using it again next year. (I know I totally sound like a spokesperson for Paper Trey....but I swear they aren't paying me....I wish! *grin*) This was also stamped in Stazon, colored with about three colors of green with my Stampin' Up! markers because I am too poor to own Copics at this time...in my next life....hee hee. Then a little star brad for the top of the tree because the punch chopped it off a little. Ha! Camouflage is really the best stamping. =)

I am not sure if you caught the little planner in the goodies above, but these were also a find in the dollar spot. These were a steal. When you look at the front of these...you will see there is a little cutout in the front of the plastic that fit the scallop punch and the word window punch perfectly. Like magic I tell you...magic...or just dumb luck! Hee hee.

I made each one a little different and stamped each page inside changing the stamp for each month so they would know when the month changed. This took some time....but it made the generic planners much more personalized.

The first one pictured uses a pink paper from Stampin' Up! that was long ago retired....sorry but I thought you could improvise from your stash or something that you just had to have. I then used the stamp from the True Friend set (in new catalog and previous mini) and stamped it in Pretty in Pink and punched it out with the Stampin' Up! scalloped punch. I decorated the edges with little rhinestones and used the word window punch for the date which is stamped with the new Ambassador Monogram Set from Paper Trey.

The others were made pretty much the same way so I will just add supplies here so you can know what to use if you want to copy them. This one was made also using a retired paper that you could have gotten in a different color scheme but Stampin' Up! has since retired that too...so you will just have to dream up something else beautiful...I know you can do it. I put a prima flower in the center cut out with a flower that is in the Office Accoutrement set, the saying is also from this set. Then I stamped the date in Basic Black again using the Ambassador Monogram Set.

The third one uses one of my favorite current Stampin' Up! sets which is Garden Whimsy. The butterfly is stamped in Orchid Oppulence and then embellished with multi-colored rhinestones. The date was also stamped in orchid oppulence and sponged in barely banana. The background paper is again from DCWV.

The last little planner uses a set we got at convention, Fun and Fast Notes, which I really like because I like to color...go figure. If you don't like to color...probably not the set for you. The hedgehog was stamped in basic brown and then colored with creamy caramel using the aquapainter. His face is watercolored with Groovy Guava. The date is in basic black and uses the Ambassador Monogram set - yes again. =)

BTW papertrey is getting to release their new stamp set for this month and you can see a preview on Nichole's blog. SO FUN....must have. Off to sell plasma now. =)

I hope you will get some inspiration from these.

Happy Stamping!

WoooooHoooooo!

First let me say I know I haven't been a good blogger....I am working on it.  I have lots of Christmas stuff to post....I know it's a little after Christmas...but maybe you will get an idea or two that you can use for another gift or event.  They will come as soon as I can get the photos edited.

But guess what.......

I just got a call from Paper Crafts Magazine and one of my cards was chosen as a winner in their world cardmaking contest.  I can't post the card yet....but will after the issue comes out.  It will be published in the March issue.  This is the first card I have ever had published....so of course, I am beside myself with excitement.  Those of you who know me well know that I am peeing my pants.  Hee hee.  In addition to fame and glory (snort), I won a bunch of free stamping and cardmaking stuff.  Happy New Year to me.  Yeah.  Just had to share.  

Happy New Year to all of you.  =)  Hope you are well and Happy Stamping!