Ornaments, Hot Chocolate and Cupcakes!!!

Happy Sunday everyone!!!

It has been so nice to be at home again. Izzy has played and read with Jason all day and I have been able to stamp again. Gosh it feels good. I really missed it. The only bad thing is that I am behind on all the challenges I like to participate in. :(

I was so exhausted last night as was everybody else. Izzy and I took naps when we got home and then Jason and I went to bed at 9. There is nothing quite like your own bed. I guess I am getting old. I used to be able to sleep about anywhere, but every year that passes it gets harder and harder to get a good night's sleep outside my bed.

Well the reprieve between Tuxy and Izzy is over. They were so excited to see each other for about an hour last night and now they are back to irritating each other. Izzy gets really mad whenever Tuxy sits on her blanket that she has been dragging around and then Tuxy gets mad when she yanks it out from under him. I don't know what to do with the two of them. I really hope we have some nice weather this week so that they can get outside and burn off some energy.

Which reminds me, we woke up to snow this morning!!!! It has all melted now, but it was completely covering the ground at 7 this morning. Our first snow of the season and boy was it beautiful!!! I love the snow!! The flakes were huge coming down!!! Gorgeous.

Which brings me to my cards!!! I actually have three Christmas cards today. (It is safe now since it is after Thanksgiving!) Two of them use non-traditional holiday colors and the third one is super traditional. I am really getting into the spirit of things.

The first card I want to share with you today is a card I made for Jen Del Muro's Sketch For You To Try Challenge over on her blog I {heart} 2 stamp. I just love Jen's sketches. They are always fun and creative.

When I saw this sketch for some reason I instantly thought the circle would be cute as an ornament. I have been seeing lots of Magnolias sitting on ornaments and when I found this Pink Gem design I knew she would work perfectly for this too! I started this card off by stamping Winter Mimi by Pink Gem Designs on white card stock and coloring her in with my copics and markers. I then cut her out and set her to the side. To create the ornament I cut out a piece of purple card stock with my nesties and embossed it with my swirl embossing folder. I then cut a strip of yellow card stock and ran it through with my swiss dots embossing folder and attached it to the middle. For the hook and cap I took a piece of gray card stock and ran it through my branches embossing folder, cut it out, attached it to the top and then added a metal swirl. I then assembled the card using purple and yellow card stock with DP following the sketch. I tied a green ribbon around the middle and popped off my image. I just love this layout it is so fun and festive!!!

My second card uses one of the beautiful images from Whiff of Joy. These are so amazing and fun to color. All the details in the stamp make for a very sophisticated image. For this card, I used Secret Crafter's Saturday Challenge which was a sketch this week. I loved all the layers on this sketch. Layering paper is one of my favorite things to do!!!

Isn't it so cute!!! Love, love, love this image. Okay, enough gushing. I started this card by stamping Willow With Hot Chocolate by Whiff of Joy on a piece of white card stock and colored her in using my copics and markers. Then, following the sketch, I layered on green and red card stock with three different kinds of Christmas DP. I added some green ribbon and red brads to the side and stamped the Merry Christmas sentiment from Sugar Nellie and cut it out with my nesties. I then adhered it to some red and green card stock that I cut out with my nesties. I can't wait to give this card to my sister who loves hot chocolate. I think I am going to scent it with my Hot Cocoa scent from Pink Papery Studios. I really think it will be the perfect finishing touch!!!

My final card is a very non-traditional Christmas cards The colors are non-traditional, the image is non-traditional and even the sentiment is non-traditional, but I wanted to create a card for Izzy to leave out for Santa. I used Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge for the layout.

Doesn't it look so yummy!!! I even put glitter on the cupcake!!! Love it! Okay, I started this card off by stamping a cupcake from HeroArts clear stamp set Cupcakes. I then colored it in with my markers and copics. I added a touch of glitter pen to the frosting to add some sparkle. I then cut it out using my nesties and following the sketch layered on green and pink card stock along with three kinds of Christmas DP. I stamped the sentiment and popped it off the bottom. To finish the card off. I added rhinestones and pink and green ribbon!!! This is just a too fun card!!

Well I am off to weed through my e-mail. I can't believe how much comes in after you have been gone a couple of days!! Thanks as always for stopping by and have a great rest of the weekend!

I'm Back!!!!

Happy Saturday everyone!!! I hope everyone had a great time this week and a wonderful Thanksgiving!

It is so good to be home again!! It was quite a long drive and a very exhausting trip, but it was so worth it. We had a great time and I started my Christmas shopping. My nieces' gifts are almost done and I started on Izzy. We have decided that since there is enough kids now that we would just get gifts for the kids and not the adults. Jason and I will get a family gift instead of individual gifts. It works out really well. We have all gotten old enough now that there really isn't anything that we want or need and it is more fun to watch the kids open gifts than it is to watch the adults. (Although I definitely think stamps should be considered a family gift. I mean they bring the whole family so much joy!! lol!)

Well, I got to meet three new cousins this weekend. I just can't believe how quickly our family grows!! I met my twin cousins who are now 9 months old and their little niece who is 1 month old. They are all so adorable. It almost makes me wish to have another one, ALMOST!

Izzy had a fantastic time playing with her older cousins. They were really good with her. They handed her toys and tickled her and were really gentle. She loved all the attention and would grab onto their hands and go off and play. I told Jason that next year I bet she will be spending the night with them. My baby is growing up!

Okay, onto the card. I only have one card to share today as, like I said, we have been gone the last couple of days and today we were in the card for almost six hours. However, it is one of my favorite cards. I have had this idea in my head for quite awhile but hadn't gotten around to executing it. Well, on Monday, I decided that it was high time I put ink to paper and here it is.

I love this card because it turned out almost exactly like I pictured it, which rarely happens. I started this card off by stamping Nativity Max and Nativity Milly by Spiral Whisper on white card stock and coloring them in with my stampin' write markers and copics. I then cut them out and set them to the side. My next step was to create the stable. This was actually really easy. I cut out a piece of dark brown card stock and cut off the top corners to make a roof line. I then attached two rectangles of the same card stock to the bottom edges of the backside and folded them around the front. This created the stable doors. Lastly, I folded a long skinny rectangle in thirds and attached it to the top, backside and folded it over to create the roof line. For the wood inside the stable and doors, I used a piece of light brown card stock and using my ruler, copics and stampin' write markers I drew in faux wood. I left it in a sheet for the inside and cut it into strips for the gates. I rounded the corners off to create a little character and added two brown brads and some string to tie the doors together. To complete the stable, I added a rounded rectangle of dark brown card stock to the top and cut up some mustard card stock to resemble hay. I applied this same technique to the mustard card stock and adhered it to the bottom. I then popped off my Max and Milly figurines and adhered the star to the top. I decided to keep the layout simple and layered on brown card stock and DP. Isn't this just so cute!!!! I love the figurines. They are whimsical yet remind you of the reason for the season.

Well, I know this is a short posting, but I am exhausted. Thank you all for stopping by this week and have a great rest of the weekend!!!

Hope You All Are Shopping, I Know I Am!!

Happy Friday everyone!!

I am out shopping today! We always go out shopping the day after Thanksgiving. It is a family tradition. We used to get up at like 4 in the morning and get to the stores first thing, but the older we are the later we get up. It just isn't worth it fighting the crowds anymore. It makes me irritated fighting all those people and there usually isn't anything that I really need or want anyway.

We have kind of evolved in the stores we visit. When I was little we always went to dollar stores or Walmart, but now we tend to go more to the little mom and pop shops or the craft stores. It is so much more fun. My niece and my cousin love it. Speaking of which, my other niece and cousin are at home with Jason and Izzy. They are all a little too young to be dragged around shopping all day. Besides they love to play outside and run around so it really works out better for all of us.

Well today I have a fun card to share with you. This is actually a card I created for my neighbor's son's birthday. He is the one who loves legos. Well of course I didn't have any lego stamps to speak of so I had to create my own. It was actually pretty easy and fun.

I started this card off by stamping Billy from Dress Up Billy by Pink Cat Studio and colored him in using my copics and markers. I cut out "legos" from red, green, blue, yellow and orange card stock and arranged them around Billy. I even added a little lego to his hand. I layered him on a piece of red card stock and a piece of yellow card stock. I then layered on black card stock, green card stock, blue card stock and DP. The blue and green card stock I ran through my cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder to make it look like legos! I finished the card off with a blue ribbon, three green brads and the Happy Birthday Sentiment that I stamped from SU!'s Birthday Balloons. I mounted it on a piece of yellow and black card stock that I cut into the shape of a lego. He really liked it!

Well before I sign off today I wanted to share a picture of Izzy!!

Isn't she a cutie! I love her so much!

I hope you had a great day, I know I did!! Thanks for stopping by and I will see you tomorrow!!!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

We are in Arkansas visiting with my family right now!! It is so nice to see everyone and I know Izzy is going to have a good time. The food is excellent as always and I get to see my new twin cousins. Twins actually run in our family (my grandfather was a twin, he was actually one of 13 children, can you believe it?!!!) but this is the first time twins have popped up in our generation.

I just know that I am going to stuff myself sick today but that is okay. I usually don't eat much the first round, it is all the snacking that gets me.

Well I plan on doing a lot of coloring while we are away. Coloring is actually one of my favorite activities in the whole world. When I was little we would go into town on Thanksgiving to this little dime store card "Bill's". My sister, my cousins and I would pick out a couple of small toys and some candy and we would always get a coloring book and a small box of crayons. We would then sit around all evening chatting and coloring. It was so much fun. I have some really great memories surrounding coloring. I hope Izzy continues the tradition.

Well I only have one card to share today since I am out of town and I decided it would be appropriate to share one that I made for my niece. She is really super outgoing and is always talking. She is the so full of life and just has tons of energy. Whenever I think of Shelby I always picture her in bright colors, standing out. Here is the card that I am giving her.

I cannot tell you how much this looks like her! I can just picture her explaining at great length (like I said she talks constantly. lol!) to the dog why he can't have the ice cream. I started this card off by stamping Summer Ice Cream by Sugar Nellie on a piece of white card stock and coloring it in with my copics and markers. I then layered it on a piece of brown and a piece of green card stock. I popped if off layers of DP, brown, green and pink card stock. I added three buttons to the corner and stamped the sentiment, also from Sugar Nellie on some white card stock and cut it out with my nesties. I layered it on pink and brown card stock and drew in the cherries. I know she will love it, it is so bright and colorful, just like her.

Well I hope you are having a wonderful holiday; I definitely am! Thanks for stopping by, I will see you tomorrow!!!

Thanksgiving is Almost Here!!!!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Yeah, Thanksgiving is almost here and I can hardly wait!!! We are going down to Arkansas tomorrow and should arrive just in time to eat dinner. I timed it that way on purpose. lol!!! Just kidding, it will just take us awhile to get down there. The good thing is the roads are pretty clear if we go down on Thanksgiving day instead of the day before so we usually make pretty good time.

I hope Izzy makes it down there okay. It is a long time for her to be in the car, but we travel a lot so she should be fine. We are leaving Tuxy here, it just makes it so much easier. He is always so anxious and it is out in the country so there are several stray dogs that run around. Tuxy has a hard time with other dogs so you have to be with him constantly.

Well Izzy has loved it that Jason has been home all day. They were outside almost the whole time. Izzy loves it when Jason walks her around the yard or just sits out there with her. She no longer has eyes for Mommy if Daddy is around. Oh, quick story, Jason said this morning he pulled out the carton of milk and Izzy went over and open the tupperware drawer and pulled out her cup!!! She's a genius!! (Okay, I am biased, but still!) She is so observant and really catches onto things quickly.

Well onto the cards. I have two cards to post today. I actually made more, but I am scheduling them to post while I am gone. Unfortunately, none of my relatives have the Internet, so I am going to be deprived of all my stamping friends while I am gone. Never fear though, I have some great cards scheduled to post tomorrow and Friday. (We will be back on Sat.)

My first card is a challenge card for my DT work with Pink Papery Studios. Every week one of the girls on the design team issues a challenge. This week's challenge was to create a Thank You card since it is Thanksgiving. Well I knew I had the perfect image.

Isn't it cute! I am going to give it to Tracy. She is house sitting and watching Tuxy while we are out of town. I started this card off by printing off Sydney by Pink Papery Studios on white card stock and coloring her in with my copics and markers. (Love the digi stamps!) I added the pattern to her chair. (It was supposed to look like the chair was tufted, but it didn't quite work so I decided the chair could just be patterned. lol! I then layered her on brown and orange card stock. Next I layered on green, brown, and orange card stock along with two kinds of DP. (I didn't use a sketch!! Go me!!). I then popped off the main image. The sentiment was printed off on my computer and popped off the card. To finish the card, I added three green brads in the corner and wrote on the inside, "like hot chocolate, all warm and comfortable! Thanks for being my friend!" I really hope Tracy likes it. She is such a special friend.

My second card for today is a card for SUInk and More's Watchadoin' Wednesday Challenge and today's Sketch Challenge over at SCS. The challenge at SUInk and More was to create a Christmas Card using non-traditional colors (i.e. not red and green). Well I have been hoarding this pink, flocked gingerbread paper for forever, waiting for the perfect card to use it on, and here it is!!!!

I love this stamp set!! I know I use it all the time, but it is so versatile! Alright, so I started this card off by stamping the little girl with the stripped stockings from Kiss the Cook by SUInk and More on white card stock and colored her in using my markers and copics. I then stamped the little mixing bowl, colored it in, cut it out and popped it off her hand. I adhered her to a piece of teal card stock and a piece of brown card stock. Following the sketch, I layered on my gorgeous piece of flocked paper, brown paper, teal paper and DP. I added a wide brown and pink ribbon across the middle and tied a bow. I then stamped the gingerbread man which I picked up from Archivers over the summer in the Hot Spot (sorry I don't know who the stamp designer is) and colored it in. I then attached it to the bow with a metal curl. I just love the festive feel and the simple design.

Well I am outta here for tonight! I need to finish packing and doing laundry. Thanks for stopping by and all your wonderful comments! Have a great rest of the day!

Can I Get a Whoop! Whoop! I Made a Non-Christmas Card ...

Okay and a couple of Christmas Cards!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Only a couple more days until Thanksgiving! I have noticed though that a few of the neighbors have started to decorate their houses for Christmas. My parents already have their tree up and they are putting my sister's up today. I haven't even thought about it yet. I guess that we will probably do it next weekend, that is usually what we do it. I wonder what Izzy will think about it. Last year she really didn't pay attention to it, so who knows what will happen this year.

Well, I think we are going to try to head to the library this afternoon. I am getting a little tired of some of her books, so it will be nice to pick up a few new ones. Izzy loves to go. She really enjoys the little book rack that she is allowed to pick up books from. Hopefully that will put her in a little better mood. She has been a little grouchy today.

So let's get on with it! My cards that is and one of them is not a Christmas one! Who's proud of me?!!

My first card for today is a card I created for my niece using Paper Take Weekly's Sketch Challenge. This was a really fun sketch. It had so many layers and my niece loves purple so I knew that this would be perfect for her.



Isn't she sweet!!! She really reminds me of Kelsey. I started this card off by stamping Pickin' Apples by Sugar Nellie on white card stock and coloring her in with my copics and stampin' writer markers. I then added some white gel pen to highlight the apples. Using the sketch as a guide I layered on dp, green card stock, teal card stock and purple card stock. I popped off the main image and added some purple rick rack and flowers that I cut out with my Cricut machine. I placed teal brads in the center of the flowers. For the sentiment, printed it off on the computer and then adhered it to a piece of purple card stock that I used my corner rounder on. I just think this is the most precious image.

Alright, alright, the next two cards are Christmas cards. But I have a good excuse. I am not only making my Christmas cards, but also some for my mom and my friends. So see, I need quite a few. That's my story and I am sticking to it.

My next card is a card I created using the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge over at Poetic Artistry. I always love these sketch challenges because they are so creative and different.

Isn't this sweet!!! I love this cute little Santa Girl. I started this card off by stamping Sadie Santa from All That Scraps on a piece of white card stock and colored her in using my markers and copics. I went ahead and drew in the tree behind her and then colored it in. I created the Christmas light border by stamping the lights from Christmas Time by Penny Black around the image. I then colored it in and added some silver gel pen to the lights' bases. Following the sketch I layered on green card stock, red card stock and Christmas DP. For the borders and the top and bottom I punched out white paper with my goo punch and added a little bit of glitter. I stamped the sentiment on a piece of white card stock, drew on the candy canes and colored them in. To complete the card, I added three brads to the top. It is so fun and festive! I just love it.

Now on to my final card for today. This one is just so elegant. I love this little image. It reminds me of when I was a kid. I used to have a faux, white rabbit fur muff that I would wear everywhere. It always made me feel so grown up and sophisticated. For this card I used this week's challenge over at A Spoon Full of Sugar which was a sketch.

Isn't it so elegant! It just screams old fashioned Christmas to me. Okay, so I started this card by stamping Lizzie With Muff by Whiff of Joy on white card stock and coloring her in with my markers and copics. I added touches of gold glitter pen and regular glitter to highlight her outfit. I cut her out along with a piece of red card stock and a piece of green card stock using my nesties. I added white dots to the scallops with my souffle pen. Following the sketch I layered red card stock, green card stock and three different Christmas DPs. I added a green ribbon to the bottom and two red brads to the top. I am so pleased with this image. I don't even know if I will be able to give it away this Christmas. Lol!

Well I need to go get ready for the library. I think we single handily pay the librarians' salaries with all the fines we pay for over due books. Have a great rest of the day! Thanks for stopping by!

Things I Love!

Happy Monday!!

I can't believe it is almost Thanksgiving! I can hardly wait! I absolutely love visiting my family! We only all get together once a year, so it is really special. I know that Izzy will really look forward to it as she gets older. She is a little too young to be excited about it now.

Well it is official, she is my little helper. I was cleaning up this afternoon and she kept handing me things and saying, "Helper. Helper". Isn't that cute! She was putting shoes away and all her toys. Now if I can only get her to fold all the laundry and clean the bathrooms we would be in business.

She and I have had quite the busy day today. We went to the post office first thing this morning to drop off my images for the swaps I am in. Then we came home and colored the morning away. While she napped I finished my cards, then we ate lunch, cleaned and have been playing ever since. She was able to sit outside for awhile, which she really enjoyed. The only thing is she cries when she can't get into her chair. We are working hard on asking first before we melt down. Although some days are harder than others.

Now what you have been waiting for, the cards!!!! In honor of my huge, exciting news, I decided to ink up some of my wonderful MFT images. I was scanning the Internet this morning when I came across this week's MFT Who's That Girl Monday Challenge. The challenge this week was to use your scraps in your scrap bins. (Which isn't too hard for me since I have six of them, all divided into colors. They are all almost overflowing. lol!) I decided to use my Say Charge set since I wanted to incorporate today's Try a New Technique Challenge over at SCS which was to create a pop up gift card.

Isn't it cute. I wrapped some ribbon around the middle so that the card would tie up. Instructions for the card can be found here. I started my card off by creating my pop up gift card holder out of green card stock. I then stamped the main image from Say Charge on white card stock and four different pieces of Christmas DP. I then cut them out and paper pieced the image together. I drew in the background and used my copic markers and stampin' write markers to color it in. I stamped the sentiment on a piece of white card stock and layered it along with the image on brown card stock and green card stock. I can't wait to give this to someone! I think it is such a great idea for a gift card holder.

For this week's Magnolia Vs. Stampavie Challenge, the theme was "Get The Feeling". You were supposed to incorporate texture into your work. Well, I haven't used this stamp in awhile and it reminds me of Jason and I. (I know Jason isn't blond, but I wanted a contrasting hair color, okay! lol!)

I just love their little faces. He looks so nervous! Well for my texture on this card, I decided to create grass out of cut up card stock. I then embossed some of my paper with my cuttlebug swirl folder and added some fabric flowers. I started this card by stamping Lily & Milo - First Love by Rachelle Anne Miller for Stampavie on white card stock and coloring them in with my copics and markers. I added highlights with my gel pen. I then adhered my grass and layered the image on red/orange card stock and lime green card stock. I then layered on card stock and DP to create the card. I wrapped around a piece of blue ribbon and added some flowers with a brown brad in the middle. To balance the card out, I added three blue brads to the corner. I really like how this card turned out. I love all the happy colors and the image is just so cute.

Well, my theme for today has been things I love; shopping, my husband and last but not least I love the snow and winter. I don't actually like being out in the snow, but I love to look at it. I think it just makes everything look so clean and new. When I saw Mary Jo's Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge over at Technostamper, I knew the perfect stamp to use.

Doesn't it look like fun!!! I wish I could be on their sled with them!! Anywhoo, I started this card off by stamping Lily and Billy on Sled from Lily and Billy Winter Stamps by Pink Cat Studio on a piece of white card stock. I colored them in with my copics and markers. I then masked them off and used a sponging technique that I adapted from Michelle over at Just Painting Around to create the snow drifts. I ripped a piece of paper and sponged on bashful blue and ballet blue. I then went over the lines with a gray marker and some glitter. I drew in the trees and accented them with my white gel pen. I cut out my image along with a piece of green card stock and a piece of red card stock using my nesties. Following the sketch, I layered on red and blue card stock along with DP. I tied a bow around the bottom and added a snowflake button. To finish the card, I cut out three circles of red, green and blue card stock using my nesties and added two swirls and a snowflake. I really like how this turned out. I am definitely going to have to use this technique again.

Well thanks for stopping by today!! It has been really exciting for me. Thanks for all you wonderful comments and have a great evening!!

I'm Hot to Trot!!!

Did you hear?!!! I am Hot to Trot!!! Well at least stamping wise! I would love to be able to say that I am in general, but I am working on it. lol! Well today, I was honored to learn that I have been chosen as December's Hot to Trot designer for BC Dzyns at MFT stamps!!!!! I am so excited. It was all I could do not to start shouting when I received the e-mail from Kim! I would have except that Izzy was still sleeping. Yeah!!

Well I will be back later with some cards, but I couldn't wait to share my good news!!!

Angels, Little Girls and Ice Cream????

Happy Sunday everyone!

Today has been a beautiful day! The temperature has been in the upper fifties and the sun has been shining. The best thing is that Jason will only have to be at work two days this week and then he will be all ours!!! Yeah, I am so excited.

Izzy has loved having her Daddy home today. They have been talking on the phone, reading books and walking around the yard. She loves to look out the cracks in the fence. (We have a privacy fence). I think she also likes to play with all the leaves that have dropped. That was always my favorite thing to do when I was a kid until I discovered that the leaves were sometimes hiding gross things like bugs and worms! EWWWWW!

Here she is with here Daddy. She couldn't wait to get outside and play. She is just sunbathing with Daddy here though.

Well today has been a super busy day for me. My mojo kind of left me when I went to assemble my cards. I started off so well this morning. I colored up all my images, no problems there. In fact I was really happy with how they came out. I even had all my DPs picked out for my cards so I could just quickly assemble them. If it had only been that easy. I was barely able to get them completed before the light faded. Yeeshhh!

Well my first card today is a non-traditional Christmas Card. I have had this stamp for over a month and a half and have only used it once. I really like the image, but for some reason have a really hard time incorporating it into cards. So this morning I decided that I really wanted to play along with the Paper Pretties Challenge over at Paper Pretties. This week's challenge was a sketch challenge. I was really intrigued by the crooked image. Here is what I came up with.

Isn't this sweet! I didn't use any DP!!!! Can you believe it? I actually was going to, but I just couldn't make it work, so I used my cuttlebug embossing folders and card stock instead. I really like how it turned out. I started off by stamping Angel Wings by Paper Pretties on a piece of white card stock and coloring her in with my markers and copics. I then stamped her on a scrap of paper, cut her out, and masked her off so that I could sponge on some barely banana ink. I wanted it to look like a glowing light around her. I then layered her on a piece of blue card stock, a piece of yellow card stock and a piece of white card stock. Following the sketch, I layered on white, yellow and blue card stock. I embossed the yellow card stock with my swirls cuttlebug folder and my blue card stock with my snowflakes cuttlebug folder. To finish the card off, I added a white satin ribbon and three diamond brads into the corner.

My second card is a card I created for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. I have been feeling like I have been neglecting my poor little Spiral Whisper stamps. I haven't stamped one up in so long and I just love the images. So I decided to get out an oldie but goody and use it.

I started this card off by stamping Milly on Yule Log by Spiral Whisper on a piece of white card stock and coloring her in with my markers and copics. I added some pearl stickers to the image and some crystal effects and glitter to resemble snow. I then mounted her on a piece of red card stock and then a piece of green. Following the sketch, I layered on green card stock and two pieces of Christmas DP. To finish the card, I added some red brads and a green and white snowflake I cut out with my Cricut machine. Isn't she just adorable. I just love the little expression on her face!

Okay, so my last card was a real piece of work, and not in the good way! I had no problem with piecing together this image or picking out the paper. The problem started when I went to layout the card. UGHHHH, it was so frustrating! I kept fussing with it and fussing with it and it still isn't quite right. Maybe if I sleep on it (or eat something sweet) it will finally come to me how to fix it. Oh well! This is a card I created for yesterday's Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge which was to create a card using decoupage. I interpreted that to mean paper piecing.

I really love all the colors, it is just that ice cream cone that is giving me fits!!!! I started this card off by stamping the main image from Here's the Scoop by MFT Stamps on white, purple, teal, and a piece of DP. I then colored and paper pieced the image together. I mounted it on a piece of dark chocolate card stock and popped it off the background. I layered on brown card stock, teal card stock and 2 different kinds of DP. I used my Martha Stewart edge punch to created the decorative edge. I then added three brown brads to the strip at the bottom. (Now comes the bane of my existence!) I stamped the ice cream cone on white card stock, colored it in, cut it out and popped if off a piece of brown card stock and a piece of purple card stock that I cut out with my nesties. See not quite right!! If anyone has any ideas on how to fix this, please let me know.

Well thanks so much for stopping by! I love all the wonderful comments that everyone leaves me! Have a great rest of the weekend!

Birthdays, Baseball and Beauty!

Happy Saturday everyone!

My is it cold here!! The sun did poke out a little bit this afternoon, but just before it went behind the horizon. Days like these I just feel like cozying up on the couch with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate! Why didn't I do that today?

I'm not going to complain too much because I was able to take a nap and stamp! Yeah!! Izzy has been playing with Daddy most of the day. I have had the radio on, so she has been dancing up a storm. She was able to go outside for about five minutes, but then she grumped the whole time so we came back in. I guess she isn't used to the cold either.

We had a wonderful dinner over at "Aunt" Tracy's last night. Izzy wouldn't let her out of her site and kept making poor Tracy talk to herself on the phone. I have to say though that she was a hungry little hippo last night. She ate almost half a chicken breast! I couldn't believe it. Of course "Aunt" Tracy smothered it in Ranch dressing for her so that might have had something to do with it, but still!

Onto the cards! My first card is a birthday card I created with an oldie but goody set I have from Pink Cat Studio. I don't have anybody to give it to yet, but it always seems that people's birthday's sneak up on me and I am scrambling to create a card. This way I will have one on stand by! I decided for this card I would incorporated two challenges (the weekends are always full of wonderful challenges I want to play but don't seem to have enough time for). The first challenge was today's Inspiration Challenge over at SCS. The theme was the show "Mad Men". I was inspired by one of the photographs. I just loved the colors of the polka dots on the woman's dress. I used today's Sketch For You To Try over at I {heart} 2 stamp for the layout.

Isn't the dress beautiful! I think I was born in the wrong decade. I absolutely love 40's and 50's fashion. All the women always looked so glamorous! I started this card off by stamping the image from Party Farm Animals by Pink Cat Studio on a piece of white card stock and colored them in with my copics and stampin' write markers. (My pig actually started out pink, but I decided he stood out too much so I colored over him with my browns. I love my copics!!!) I then added a little bit of liquid applique to the sheep, because a sheep has, has, has to be fuzzy. I finished the image by dabbing on a little bit of close to cocoa in the corners and around the edges. I then mounted the image on a piece of brown card stock and a piece of blue card stock. Following the sketch, I layered on brown card stock, light green card stock, blue card stock and two kinds of DP. The brown band was embossed with my swirls cuttlebug folder. I next stamped the sentiment, colored it in, dabbed on a little close to cocoa and mounted it on a piece of blue card stock and a piece of green card stock that I cut out with my nesties. I popped it, along with the main image off the card. I love all the bright colors.

My next card is a card I have been thinking about for a long time. A couple of weeks ago, our neighbor's son Caleb received a 1 at state on the piano! We are so proud of him! Well, he is 12 and a boy and I really don't have too many stamps that fit this criteria. Of course I always go to my Billy stamps when I make kids cards, but he really isn't a kid anymore. So I thought about it and thought about it and finally decided, forget it. I am going to use Billy and dress him up as a baseball player. (Caleb is a baseball fanatic!). I decided that I would put on the inside, "Congrats, on knocking one out of the park with a 1 at state!!". See I knew it would work out in the end.

For this challenge I used the Sketch Challenge over at Sketch Saturday for the layout. I also decided to use the Pink Cat Studio Challenge this week over at their group page on Paper Craft Planet. The challenge was to use 1 ribbon on your card, 2 different background papers, and 3 embellishments.

I can't wait to give it to Caleb. I even but a "C" on Billy's cap since Caleb's team is the Crusaders. Alright, I started this card by stamping Billy, the baseball, glove, hat and bat from Dress Up Billy by Pink Cat Studio on a piece of white card stock. I colored them in with my markers and copics. I then cheated and cut out the baseball, hat, glove and bat and adhered them to Billy. I have a really hard time masking them off and getting all the stuff to line up. Remember, spatially challenged here! Lol!. Okay I then dabbed on a little bit of bashful blue around the edges to give it some color. I added some red stitching to the edge and mounted him on a piece of DP and red card stock. Next, following the sketch, I layered on two different DPs and some red card stock. I cut out red and blue circles using my nesties and added faux stitching to everything! I then place three baseball buttons in the circles. I printed off the sentiment on my computer and mounted it on a piece of blue card stock. I really hope Caleb likes it!!

My last card I am just so proud of. I wish that the picture had come out better. It is so much prettier in person. I am going to call her Beauty With Lantern. She is such a gorgeous stamp. She is actually my first Whiff of Joy stamp. I decided to use this week's Sketch Challenge over at Paper Craft Planet for the layout. And here she is!!!

I love her. Boy is she beautiful! I would love to say this is what I looked like as a little girl, but anybody who has seen a picture of me would know that is not true, lol! Okay, so I started this card off by stamping Willow With Lantern by Whiff of Joy on a piece of white card stock. I then colored her in with my markers and copics. It took awhile, but boy was it worth it! Then following the sketch, I layered on green card stock, red card stock and two pieces of Christmas DP. I added a green ribbon and three diamond brads. I cut out Willow with my nesties and mounted her on a piece of red card stock. Oh, I can't wait to give her to someone. I just love this image.

Well thanks for stopping by tonight! I hope you have a wonderful evening. Thanks as always for stopping by!

It's All About Santa!

Happy Friday!! Yeah, the weekend is here!!!

I am so excited. Jason has been working late all week so it will be nice to have him home this weekend. I know Izzy misses him because every time she walks by our room she says, "Daddy".

The surprise party was so much fun! Ryan didn't have any idea! He is such a cutie. The look on his face was priceless when he came home. I thought that he would have figured it out since everyone was acting really suspicious. He enjoyed his cake (thank goodness!) and really seemed to enjoy having everybody around.

Well Izzy has been such a good girl today! She has been in a great mood. I think it has something to do with the fact that I told her that we were going over to Aunt Tracy's tonight. That is all she has been talking about. In fact, she keeps handing me her play phone and saying, "Tracy, Tracy". Then I have to "talk" to Aunt Tracy and hand the phone back to her. This has been going on all day. I must talk on the phone a lot. Hmmmm, something to think about.

Onto the cards!!! Well yesterday in the mail, I received some Christmas stamps from All That Scraps that my mom had purchased for me. Thanks Mom! Well I couldn't wait to ink them up, so when I saw that today's Limited Supplies Challenge over at SCS was to make a card that had chocolate in it, either in the theme or the paper or the embellishments, I knew they would be perfect.

I am calling this card, "Did I leave the cookies out for Santa?" See how they are chocolate chip cookies? (My favorites). I started this card by stamping Pajama Olivia and the fireplace, presents, thought bubble and stocking from Sugarplums Christmas Scene by All That Scraps on white card stock and coloring them in with my stampin write markers and copics. I added the dots on her PJ's with my "Chocolate Chip" marker. I stamped three chocolate chip cookies using my Chocolate Chip Stubby from Stamps By Judith on white and colored them in and placed them in the thought bubble. I cut all the images out and placed them on a piece of Christmas DP and a piece of white that I drew a floor on. I popped off one of the presents, Olivia and the thought bubble using some dimensionals. I then mounted the main image on some Christmas DP and some chocolate metallic card stock that I cut with some decorative scissors. I popped the main image off layers of chocolate metallic card stock and Christmas DP. I just love the girly colors! The sentiment on the inside will say, "Did I leave the cookies out for Santa?

My second card is a fun card I created for today's Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge. I just loved the unusual layout and use of different shapes.

Isn't this fun! I have had these stamps for awhile and haven't inked them up yet! I know, I know, bad form! Okay, so I started this card off by stamping Holiday Vespa Girl from Inky Antics on a piece of white card stock and coloring her in with my copics and markers. I added some touches of silver gel pen and a white souffle pen to add highlights. I then layered her on a piece of Christmas DP and a piece of red card stock. I added three green brads to the corner and popped her off a piece of Christmas DP and red card stock. I then stamped the sentiment by Inky Antics on a piece of white card stock and cut it along with a piece of Christmas DP out with my nesties. I threaded through a piece of red ribbon and popped it off the bottom. I can just imagine her making out her list and making an exception if the guy is cute!!

Well I am off to put Iz down for rest time. It is so funny, she doesn't actually sleep, but boy do those 20 minutes of rest make a difference. Have a great evening!! Thanks as always for stopping by!

Peek A Whooo? and I'll Have a Blue Christmas!

Happy Thursday everyone!!

Tonight we are going to our neighbors son's surprise birthday party. I don't think he has any clue that it is going to happen. I told him that Jason and I are going out for a late anniversary dinner and that we will see him on Sat. for his birthday. I am so excited. Beth, my neighbor, said that his favorite birthday was when everybody was there. He is such a sweet kid.

Well, Izzy and I had to make an emergency run to the grocery store this morning. Want to know why??? Okay, it all started yesterday afternoon. Beth came over to bake Ryan's cake because she doesn't want him to know about it. So I turn on the oven, got the behemoth mixer down and had just greased up the pan, when we heard, "Mom!". Alright so Izzy barely says "mommy" so I knew it wasn't her. (Secretly, I was crossing my fingers that it was Caleb because he is in on the surprise.) No, it was Ryan!!! Can you believe it. So Beth runs into the living room, I am quickly dusting flour off of my hands and ran to meet them in the living room. Well we sit down to talk and I am trying to talk about the most boring adult things I can think of, and Beth is trying to come up with all sorts of excuses for him to leave but no, he stays. His friend even stops by to ask him to come play, but that doesn't persuade him! (Okay, I am a little flattered that he would want to hang out over here for so long, but I mean come on!! He really needed to leave.) We finally give up and they go home. I called Beth later and told her that I would just bake the cake and not to worry about it.

I mixed the cake up and stuck it in the oven. Well, Jason being a sweetheart takes the cake out of the oven for me. The only problem is he took it out too early and it wasn't done in the middle. It sunk like three inches right in the center. Now if it was my cake I wouldn't have cared, but I couldn't give a misshapen cake to Ryan! (Also, I didn't think I had enough frosting to fill it all in). So, Izzy and I had to run to the store this morning and buy another cake mix. I have already baked it and it has not sunk yet. So, as long as the frosting goes okay, Ryan will have a birthday cake tonight! Boy am I tired!

Alrighty, on to the cards. As you might have guessed my first card has to do with owls. The title actually comes from my daughter's favorite book. It is by Nina Laden and has a little mirror at the end. She just loves it! Okay, well last night, this week's MFT sketch challenge was posted on SCS. I went ahead and pulled it up so that I would remember to think about what I wanted to do in the morning. Of course that is not what happened. About 11:30, while I was still awake laying in bed, I started to think about what MFT set I had not used recently. That is when the little owls popped into my head. I then thought, I wonder how I can make them into a circle and that is when the moon idea hit me!! I'd like to say I immediately fell asleep after this, but instead I was awake for another half hour thinking about how I wanted to put the card together, and here it is!

It really turned out well! I also incorporated this week's Cute Card Thursday Challenge to include snow or snowflakes into your design. I started off by stamping Christmas Owls by MFT on a piece of white card stock and coloring it in. I then hand drew a tree out of brown card stock and drew on some highlights with a brown marker. Next I cut out a large circle with my nesties and sponged on barely banana, more mustard and apricot appeal to create the moon. I assembled the card with red card stock and two different Christmas DPs following the sketch. I added a red ribbon around the middle and attached my moon and trees. Next I cut out the hanging ornaments and adhered them to the scene, drawing on cords with my silver gel pen. I then popped off my two owls that I cut off. To create the snow and ice, I used my liquid applique and some crystal effects with a little glitter on top. To finish the card off, I added three diamond brads down the side and cut out red and green snowflakes that I punched out with my Martha Stewart punch and put the sentiment in the middle. The sentiment was stamped from Holiday Greetings II by A Muse Artstamps. The inside will say "Place like home".

Don't you just love Elvis! His Christmas and gospel songs are the best in my opinion. Anyway, my card really doesn't have much to do with Elvis other than it is blue and it is a Christmas card. That song just popped in my head when I started typing. Lol! Okay, so my final card is a card that I created for the first Stampavie Challenge over at the Stampavie Group on Paper Craft Planet. Don't you just love that site? It is so easy to navigate through! I digress. Michelle issued a sketch challenge to all Stampavie lovers this week and there is even a prize. Well since I love my Rachelle Anne Miller stamps, I knew I had to play. Here it is!

I also incorporated today's Ways to Use it Challenge over at SCS which was to incorporate pearls into your project. I started the card off by stamping Lily - From the Heart by Rachelle Anne Miller for Stampavie on a piece of white card stock and colored her in with my markers and copics. I added touches of silver gel pen and a couple of pearl buttons as accents. I then mounted her on blue and white card stock that I cut out using my nesties. Following the sketch, I embossed a piece of white card stock with my snowflakes cuttle bug folder and adhering it to a piece of blue and another piece of white card stock. I then rounded the corners of all three. I place three silver brads in the corners. I then popped it off a piece of blue card stock that I stamped circles from In The Background by Lizzie Anne Designs with whisper white. I rounded the corners and added some white grossgrain ribbon. To finish the card off, I stamped the sentiment from Sugar Nellies on a piece of white card stock and adhered it to a piece of blue. I drew on the swirls with my silver gel pen and added the two pearls. I just think it is so sweet!! I love the two color effect.

Well I am outta here!! I need to go ice that stupid cake! It better be good! Have a wonderful night and thanks for stopping by!!

Bags, Mice and Packages!

Happy Wednesday!

It has been a super busy day for me today! I actually cleaned! Vacuumed, dusted, scrubbed the floors, did a load of laundry! Boy does it feel good to get some of the housework done. Izzy loves to help me! I think she mainly likes to play with the paper towels, but if I limit her to one per room, then I don't have a trail of them through the house!!

Well, today, Izzy was able to get out and play a little bit outside!!! I am so glad. Tomorrow it is going to be a little bit chillier so I don't know if we will be able to. We also need to go pick up a birthday gift for my neighbors' son, tomorrow. His birthday is on Sat. He is so sweet! I asked him the other day what kind of lego sets he was interested in. (He is addicted to legos and is always building something with them.) Well he gave me a long list of the different types he likes and even explained how to get to the online catalog on Lego.com. But then he says, they have really cheep ones that are only 3.99 and those would be nice to have. Isn't he cute! How many 10 almost 11 year olds would be so thoughtful. The only problem with him is that he isn't too enthusiastic about waiting 20 years to get married so that Izzy will be of age. I don't know what he is thinking! Lol!

So, today I was able to get a lot of stamping done. I have found that if I color on the floor with Izzy she is less inclined to ask me to read a different book every 5 minutes. I guess she figures that I am super handy and not as interesting. I don't know! We will see if this strategy works tomorrow! Anywhoo, I was out searching the web for my usual Wed. challenges when I came across the SUInk blog. I started off with this week's Whatchadoin' Wednesday Challenge over at SUInk and More, which was to create a holiday bag. I am pretty sure they meant a Christmas Bag, but I decided to create a Thanksgiving bag. We are going over to my cousin's house for dinner, so it would be nice to bring a little thank you!

I just love the fall colors on this. This bag is not one I created but a candy bag I picked up at Michaels a couple of months ago. They are pretty inexpensive. Any ways, I started this project off by stamping the pilgrim girl and sentiment from Bountiful Harvest and the little Native American dog from Giving Thanks, both by SUInk and More. I colored them in using my copics and stampin' write markers. I then adhered a piece of brown card stock and a piece of DP to the front of the treat bag, cutting out a hole with my nestabilities. Next I cut out a green oval, a DP oval and a brown oval with my nesties. I put my sentiment into a metal tag holder and braded it(is that a word?) to the ovals. I ran a piece of decorative ribbon around the bag and adhered the oval tags. I finished off the bag by adding a decorative bow and filling it up with some candy pumpkins. I think it is so cute! I just know Cindy will love it!!!

My second card for today is a card I created for this week's What's Up Wednesday Challenge over at MFT. The challenge was to use a white gel pen on your card. Well, since I just recently received Farm Friends in the mail and hadn't had a chance to ink it up, I knew what stamp set I was using. I just love the little mouse and couldn't wait to use him.

I decided that I wanted a Christmas card and no I don't feel guilty about it, so I had to create my own background. I started off by stamping the mouse image twice and stamping the holly leaf from Hare for the Holidays several times to create a background. I then colored them in, added some faux stitching with my gel pen and cut out the mouse, the frame and background and popped them off each other to make a little diorama. I then alternated layers of blue card stock, green card stock, dark rose card stock and Christmas DP to create the layout. I added faux stitching with my gel pen and a pink marker. I then threaded through a small blue ribbon, adhered a metal swirl and added three blue stickers. I printed off the sentiment on my computer and attached it with some metal hardware. I am so proud of myself that I was able to come up with the layout all by myself! Yeah me!!!

My final card for today is a very special card. Cassie, my friend and fellow sister over at Pink Papery Studios, issued a very personal and important challenge this week. Her challenge was to create a card using gray and red, the colors of the American Diabetes Association. The gray represents the daily drudgery of diabetes and the red signifies the daily blood testing that is required. I think this is an excellent idea and also hits home with me. While I was pregnant with Izzy I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. This was quite a shock to me since I had no history of diabetes in my family and did not have any of the typical precursors for this disorder. I was required to test my blood three times a day and was put on a restrictive diet. Fortunately, I was not required to take insulin but was able to control it with diet and exercise. My experience ended when I gave birth, but I know individuals that are diagnosed with either Type I or Type II Diabetes are not so fortunate. Theirs lasts a lifetime. If you would like more information about either the challenge or Cassie's personal story, please head over to her blog.

I decided to create a card that used the challenge colors but also had a happy message. I used All Wrapped Up form Pink Papery Studios and printed it off on my computer. I colored in the picture with my copics and stampin' write markers. I then followed today's sketch challenge over at SCS for the layout, layering gray and red card stock, as well as Christmas DP. I added two small pictures from the original image to the corners and added some metal swirl clips and pearl stickers to the opposite corners. I threaded through some red ribbon, tied a bow and popped of the main image in the center. I think this makes a really beautiful Christmas card.

Well, I am out of here for tonight! I am baking a cake and need to go pull it out of the oven. Have a wonderful evening and thanks as always for stopping by!!!

Warning! Christmas Cards are Contained in This Blog Posting!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

It is one cold but gorgeous day today! The sun is shining brightly today but it is only 36 degrees here! BRRRRR!!! Poor Izzy, that means that she is not able to get out and play. :( I know she just hates that, but I really don't want her to be sick for our trip next week.

So I have two children, not just one! No, I am not pregnant, my dog has now obviously turned into my second child! Today, I was cleaning the kitchen and I hear Izzy grumping. I look over and Tuxy is sitting in HIS bed, which Izzy was previously playing with. The two of them were fighting over it like toddlers. He only wants it if she is sitting in it and she only wants it if he is sitting in it. Since when did I have twins! Sheesh!! This is ridiculous.

She is also obsessed with all things jacket. She just tried to put on a skirt like a jacket! Which really is pretty handy since it is cold outside. Makes one less thing to have to argue about. Oh and she has discovered that she likes to have her hair combed. Weird huh? Usually kids hate their hair to be brushed, but not my daughter! Of course she still doesn't have that much hair, but it is kind of nice for me!

Alright, I am giving up on resisting! I am making Christmas cards and I am not going to feel guilty about it I tell you!! I am sorry if you like to wait until after Thanksgiving, but it is so close and it is all chilly and Christmas like outside, (WHINE, WHINE!). So that is why today I made three, count them, three Christmas projects.

The first project I made is actually a Christmas tag that I created for Mary Jo's Monday's Lunchtime Sketch Challenge to create a tag. Well, it was fate, because I just received a really awesome tag from Michelle Giraud as part of a little prize I won last month. Thanks Michelle!!! Here it is!

I totally cased MJ's card that she made two Sunday's ago! I just loved the "Ho, Ho, Ho" sentiment. I decided to include this week's Color Challenge over at SCS to used Red, Black and Kraft paper on your card. (I actually had some Kraft paper, who knew?). So I started off with my really cool tag as the background and layered on a piece of Kraft paper, black card stock and a piece of Christmas DP. I added two strips of Kraft paper with black and white polka dot ribbon to make the tag resemble a present. I next stamped the Santa and two reindeer from Deer Ol Santa by SUInk and More and colored them in with my copics and Stampin' Write makers. I highlighted them with my gold glitter pen and some liquid applique'. I finished them off by popping them off the tag. Next I used my Cricut machine to cut out white and black Ho, Ho, Hos and attached them to the tag. I finished it off by tying a little piece of black and white polka dot ribbon to the top. Thanks MJ for this wonderful idea!!!!

My next card is a card I created for this week's Blooming Marvelous challenge over at A Spoon Full of Sugar. The challenge was to create a card with a flower on it. Well, I just received this new stamp from Stampavie and really wanted to use it. I also had these great new non-traditional sheets of Christmas DP and knew they would be perfect, so here is what I came up with.

Isn't she so sweet?!!! Okay, I started off by stamping Lily-Magic Fairy by Rachelle Anne Miller for Stampavie on a piece of white card stock and colored her in using my copics and markers. The original image has her holding a ladybug, so I stamped a present from Deer Ol Santa by SUInk and more and pasted it in the center. I then cut her out with my nesties along with a piece of green card stock and a piece of Christmas DP. I then popped her off the background I created with green card stock, rose card stock and Christmas DP. I laid out the background myself (no sketch!, can you believe it?). I then cut out a green snowflake, a white snowflake and a Christmas DP snowflake using my Cricut machine and arranged them into a flower. I finished the card off by adding green and rose rhinestone stickers and a metal swirl. It is just such a fun and feminine Christmas card.

My last card is a Christmas card made for my mom. She was so sweet and bought me this stamp and has been asking me if I have stamped it up ever since. She just fell in love with the image. So here you go mom, this one is for you!!!

I decided that since the dog and cat were mailing a letter to Santa that I wanted the card to look like an envelope! i started off by stamping Crimbo Cat and Dog by Spiral Whisper on a piece of white card stock and colored them in with my copics and markers. I used a silver gel pen and some liquid applique to add some dimension to the card. I then mounted it on a piece of black card stock, a piece of red card stock and a piece of Christmas DP that I cut with some decorative scissors. I popped the image off the background that I created with a piece of green card stock and a piece of Christmas DP that I cut with the same pair of decorative scissors. I then drew in the return address and the post office marks. The stamp was created with a piece of DP and a piece of green card stock that I cut out with my nesties. I finished the card off by adding three bone buttons to the corner. The sentiment on the inside will say, "After Santa brings our presents, the truce is off! Merry Christmas!" I just know she will love it!!!

Well I am off to get some chores done that I have been putting off.

Oh two things, First a quick pick of Izzy! I feel that I have not been fulfilling my mom duties!

And, please stop by my friend Debbie's blog! She has some awesome blog candy up for grabs, so check it out!

Have a great evening! Thanks for stopping by!!