Happy Halloween and My Little Angel!

Happy Friday and a Happy Halloween!!!

I can't believe it is already Halloween! I am really looking forward to seeing all the kids tonight. It is supposed to be a beautiful night, so I think we will be giving out lots of treats. I don't think Izzy will be dressing up though. First, she is still afraid of her costumes and secondly she seems to have come down with the same thing I have. Poor baby her little nose has been running all day and she is falling all the time. She hasn't been too grouchy though, just super loving.

Well I have some news about Izzy, we have started potty training!!! I am so excited. She hasn't actually gone potty in the potty chair yet, but she has the whole routine down. She even brought in some reading material this morning and sat down. I wonder where she learned that from, Daddy? I am really proud of her though. She has caught on really quickly. I think next week we will actually try to get her to go. I am a little concerned though because she likes to stick her hand in the bowl after she gets up. Hopefully that will stop. EWWWW!!!

Oh another piece of good news. I have been selected to be this weeks Star Stamper over at MFT! Can you believe it!!! It is a new program they are starting featuring customer's cards. I am so honored!! Have you seen some of the incredible creations the MFT ladies create? I am just flabbergasted that I am included with them! Thank you!

Well on to my Halloween cards! I really had a lot of fun creating these last few Halloween cards today. I am a little bummed though that it is over. I do have Christmas cards to uplift my spirits, so I am looking forward to that. I just can't wait for all the Christmas sets. Yeahh!!

Okay so here is my first Halloween card for today. This card was created for Challenge 6 over at Spiral Whisper. The Challenge was to create a card using one of the Halloween stamps. Well I just received Broomstick Milly and knew she would make an adorable card. Here she is.

I have been seeing a ton of window scene cards out on SCS and really wanted to give it a try. I started off by stamping Milly on a piece of whisper white along with a piece of Halloween DP. I paper pieced her together, colored her in with my stampin write markers and cut her out. I then cut out a piece of purple card stock and scored a 1/4" and a 1/2" in on each side and folded them back and forth so it would pop off the black card. I then cut a hole using my nesties and placed a piece of acetate behind it to create a window. Next I cut out different lengths and widths of green card stock and arranged them on the black card so that they would look like buildings. I aged them with a green copic marker and added windows with a black marker. I then cut out a circle from some very vanilla card stock and shaded it with a sponge and some summer sun ink and some apricot appeal. I then arranged them to create a cityscape. Next I adhered the purple window card stock to the top of the card and cut out a free hand tree out of brown card stock. I added some bark with my markers and then punched out the fence with my new Martha Stewart punch. I finished the card off by adding some Halloween buttons and three green mini brads. I am really happy with the way this turned out. I think Jason's parents will appreciate it even though it is coming a little late.

My second Halloween card is an idea that I have had for quite awhile but have never gotten around to actually executing. Since today is really the last day for Halloween cards, I knew this was my last chance. I'm calling this one "Never Rely On An Elf".

Isn't it cute? I just couldn't help myself. I bought this set from MFT a couple of months ago and just knew it would make a funny Halloween card. I am all about altering stamps to fit other occasions. I started off by stamping the rug, fireplace and Santa's legs from Home For the Holidays by MFT on a piece of whisper white. I then colored them in with stampin' write markers and copics and drew in the floor boards. I then paper pieced the wallpaper with some Halloween DP I had left over. Next I stamped the pumpkins and the sentiment from Kooky Kostumes by SUInk and More on whisper white and colored them in adding some cobwebs. I went ahead and popped off the pumpkins to give them some dimension. Next I stamped the little spider from Trick or Treat by Penny Black to the side of the fireplace. I finished the main image off by printing off the skull from CC Designs Digi Download Sweet Pea Halloween and the cauldron from Simply Sista's and Card Scents' Halloween Digi Stamps and coloring them in using my markers and copics. (I know I used a lot of different stamps, but I needed several small accessories to fill up the "room".) Next, following this week's MFT sketch challenge over at SCS, I layered on Halloween DP and purple card stock. I used my nesties to cut out the circle and my spider web embossing folder to create some texture. I finished up the card by printing off the sentiment on my computer and coloring it in with copics and some Halloween brads. I think it is funny. I can just see Santa getting all excited and heading out on Halloween instead of Christmas! I know my sister will appreciate it.

Now on to the last project for today. Wow have I been busy! This is a little angel box I created for Izzy. When she gets older I hope that she will fill it up with all those little special trinkets she finds and enjoys. This box is being submitted for the Cutie Pie Challenge over at Paper Pretties. They will be releasing their new stamps tomorrow evening and I can hardly wait.

Here is a side view.

This box is actually a little papermache box I found at Michaels for $2. I wanted something that would last. I started off by covering the box with some pretty Christmas DP that I just bought. I then cut out a piece of white card stock and stamped the sentiment from Angel Wings by Paper Pretties over and over in pink to create a background paper. I mounted it behind a piece of green glitter paper to create a little frame. Next I stamped the main image from Angel Wings on a piece of white card stock, a piece of white glitter card stock and a piece of deep red glitter card stock. I paper pieced her together and colored her in using my markers. I then cut her out and applied some liquid applique and more glitter to her skirt. I finished her off by adding some silver rick rack to create a little halo and popped her off the frame. I then punched out a tag of red glitter card stock using my new Sizzix die and stamped the sentiment on a piece of white and mounted it behind it. I added two black brads to either side and threaded through a piece of white ribbon. I added some snowflake brads to the box and closed the lid. I really think Izzy will appreciate it when she gets older. She is such a sweetie.

And here she is my little angel!!

I hope your Halloween is a good one. It is getting close to time here. Be safe and have lots of fun, I know I will! Thanks as always for stopping by!!

Sneaking in a Halloween Card and One More Get Well Card!

Happy Thursday everybody!


I am so happy the weekend is almost here! I can't believe tomorrow is Halloween! It doesn't feel like October should be over yet. I am not ready!!! It will be fun to see all the neighborhood kids dressed up and passing out candy Though. I doubt Izzy will be doing it, but there is always next year. I think it is supposed to be a really nice night. I hate it when it is really cold or rainy because then the kids are all covered up and you can't see their cute costumes.


Well Izzy seemed more content this morning. She seems to be going through a phase lately of not being content with anything. The Parents As Teachers lady said that it is probably because she knows the words but can't get them out. That makes sense, especially since sometimes I can actually hear her stuttering before she says something. Poor baby! Although, the grunting is driving me crazy!!!!!


She has really gotten into coloring lately. Yeah! A girl after my own heart. I actually sat her on my lap this morning and showed her how to color with my makers. She seemed really interested. She loves her little Aquadoodle pad and will lay on the floor and color with the pen. She also likes to color with her crayons, in fact I think it is one of her favorite toys. Which brings me to a point I am trying to make to my husband.


Yesterday when Melaina was over, both Izzy and her were rearranging my stamping shelf. Pulling out all the loose stamps and building with them and stacking and lining them up. It was their favorite toy. Now don't you think since my stamps double as kids toys that I should be allowed to incorporate some of the toy budget into my stamping budget? Who agrees with me?


Well today I am sneaking in another Halloween card before the big day. For the the last three weeks I have been participating in the Freaky Friday Halloween Challenge over at Sunflower Studio. This weeks challenge is a sketch challenge. It was really fun and different. Here is the sketch and card I came up with.




I actually just bought this stamp over the weekend and have been dying to use it. When I saw it all I could think about are those super organized women who have pictures on all their shoe boxes or who have a catalog of all their different wardrobe choices and I thought wouldn't it be funny if a witch was like that too?! I started this card off by stamping the Witch's Shoes by Stampendous on a piece of whisper white and coloring it in with stampin' write markers and my copics. I then mounted it on a piece of purple card stock and then created a frame around it using black card stock and a Martha Stewart edge punch. (I had to do this because I do not have the rectangle nestabilities. Don't worry though it is in my budget for next month!) I then popped it off the background following the sketch with some Halloween DP and some purple card stock. I went ahead and used my edge punch again on the bottom of the purple card stock to give it some visual interest. I printed off the sentiment on the computer and attached to the side with some purple card stock behind it. The card was finished off with three orange brads. I can't wait to give it to my mother for Halloween. Don't worry she is out of town and isn't able to read my blog, so it won't spoil the surprise to give it to her.


The second card is another get well card. The good news is that nobody else is sick, the bad news is that I am so indecisive that I can't decide which get well card I should send to our friend. I am leaning toward this one because it is just so cute.



Well I would love to take 100% credit for this card but I can't. I actually got the inspiration for this card from a first aid kit that Lauren Meader made. I found it on her blog a couple of months ago and have been thinking about it ever since. The woman is a genius! Well I started off by stamping Lilly from Dress Up Lily by Pink Cat Studio (love this set if you can't tell! Ohh and did you hear? They will be releasing more Bily and Lily stamps on Thursday November 6th. I can't wait to get my hands on them.) on a piece of whisper white along with the thermometer, hat and bag. I colored them in using my markers, copics and souffle pen. I cut out the different pieces and layered them on the main image. I then stamped the band aid box from Stamps by Judith on a piece of whisper white and colored it in. I layered the images on DP, white card stock, blue card stock and red card stock. I added faux stitching to the background (mainly because I am lazy and didn't want to get out my sewing machine last night) and popped off the two images. I added some silver brads and some ribbon to the side and printed off the sentiment "We Hope You Are On The Mend!" and stuck it inside. I really think I might send both because I just can't decide! Ohhh, maybe it will help her heal faster!


Well I am going to go lay down for a few minutes. I am back to feeling a little tired, which is really bad since today is so beautiful! Thank you all for stopping by!!

The Promised Tutorial Finally!

Happy Monday everyone!

Oh it feels so good to be blogging and stamping again. I haven't been able to all weekend!!

So I was finally able to assemble another box today so I could post the tutorial. I really am sorry this has taken me so long to post, it has just been insane around here. I am also a little embarrassed since this is such an easy box to create that it has taken me so long to get it together.

Well here it is! I went ahead and scanned a template for everyone so they can just print it off. I am also posting step by step instructions for those people like me who need more than just a drawing to follow.

This is the template:

Step 1: You are first going to need a sturdy piece of card stock cut to 7" X 11.5". Layout the piece of card stock lengthwise (landscape style). Score at 1/2",4", 6" and 9 1/2". See below.

Step 2: Turn your piece of card stock width wise (portrait style) and score at 1 1/2" and 5 1/2". You now have the folds for your box. See, easy peasy!

Step 3: To create the door, choose one of the 3 1/2 by 4" panels. Make sure your paper is lengthwise again (landscape style), and score vertically at 1" and 3". Score horizontally at 3/4" and 3 1/2". Now cut out your door. NOTE: Do Not cut out all four sides. Only three sides. Otherwise you have to figure out how to reattach it with some single sided tape that you have buried in the bottom of some random drawer and then you have to figure out how to cover up where you tried to fix it with more card stock and then you have to make a separate door, while it takes you twenty extra minutes and your daughter is pulling on your pant leg because she wants lunch and you are telling her to wait just one more minute because Mommy is almost done. Not that I would know anything about this, since I of course did not cut out all four sides. lol.

Step 4: Now your door is cut out and you need to attach your acetate. Cut a piece of acetate 2 1/2" by 3 3/4" and attach to the inside of the box to cover the window created by the door.

Step 5: Cut out the tabs for your box. I like to cut mine at a slight angle so that I don't have any overlap but you can cut them straight if you prefer. See below for guidance.

Step 6: Assemble your box. I like to prefold all the score lines so that the box assembles easier. I attach the 1/2" flap to the opposite 2" flap. I then adhere the bottom of the box.

Here is a picture of the assembled box.

The last step is to decorate however you see fit.

For this version of the box, I used the stamp set Kooky Kostumes by SUInk and More again but used the candy corn girl and the dog. I colored her in with my stampin' write markers and my copics. I then covered the box with siding I made out of Halloween DP and my Martha Stewart edge punch. I then added some trim and a door with green card stock that I went over with a green marker to age it. I added to different sizes of orange brads to create a door knob and hook. I punched out a bat using my Martha Stewart punch and added it to the door with some black thread. I then stamped the light pole from The Witching Hour by SUInk and more and popped it along with the little girl and dog off the front of the box. I finished the box by filling it with chocolate and tied it close with a Halloween bow.

I hope this tutorial was helpful. If anybody has any questions please feel free to e-mail me and I will be happy to answer them!

So this weekend was our party. I think it was a smashing success! Everybody had a really great time and the food was really good. I am so glad we did it but I am really glad it is over. We also went to Boo at the Zoo this weekend. Kids get all dressed up and go Trick or Treating at the Zoo. I was so excited because I finished Izzy's costume and here is a picture!!!

Okay so there is no picture. Want to know why? The little stinker is scared of it. Every time I try to put it on her she turns and starts crying. What can possibly be scary about a candy corn? And she loves candy corn. Well then I had the brilliant idea of dressing her up in a hand me down bubble bee costume we have, because she absolutely loves anything bee. Here she is!!!

Again no picture because that scared her too. I even tried getting her to try it on today, but it was a no go. I thought it wouldn't be as scary since it is a jacket and pants. But no, she is particular. I did get her to try on Tuxy's Yoda costume and she seems content to wear that. Yeesh! This kid is killing me.

Well that is it for me today. Thanks as always for stopping by and I am sorry for the delay in posting! Have a great rest of the day!!

Pink Presents and Knock Knock!

Happy Thursday everybody!

My parents are coming in to visit today to see Isabella and to help get the party set up. I am really excited to see them. I haven't seen them since August so it will be nice to catch up in person. We talk almost everyday but it is not quite the same. Izzy will be glad to see them too, but it is actually Tuxy who will be the most excited. My parents have a wired haired dauchson who is getting older named Timber that Tuxy is nuts about. The poor thing, all Tuxy does is follow her around and torment her. But they are just like him and Izzy, Timber doesn't always walk away and sometimes actually seeks him out.

Well I have a quick and funny Izzy story to share. This morning while I was making breakfast she was pushing around her little stroller. (She loves it, she puts almost everything she owns in it.) Well all the sudden she starts "running" and pushing it at the same time yelling "Daddy! Daddy!" I have no idea why. I am usually the one who pushes her. But it makes me wonder what the two of them are doing on their walks alone that they take sometimes. Jason has already admitted to letting her have treats that I don't let her have when I am gone. I wonder what else daddy lets her do?

Well here is my first card for today. I actually made this card yesterday. It started off as the SCS sketch challenge until I cut the paper too small and I didn't want to waste it, so I decided to turn them into presents.

I think it looks so sweet. I just know that my niece Kelsey will love it. She is such a little girly girl and of course loves getting presents. My sister told me that she has started going to sleepover birthday parties now. I can't believe how old she is. She needs to stop getting older :(. Anywhoo, I started this card off by cutting nine squares of designer paper and mounting them on brown and pink card stock. I then tied 1/8 in. satin, brown ribbon around each one to make it resemble little presents. Next I stamped Lily - From the Heart by Rachelle Anne Miller on a piece of whisper white. I colored her in using my stampin' write markers and my copics (yeah!). I then mounted her on a piece of pink card stock and then a piece of brown card stock. I popped her off the background using some dimensionals and will be scenting it with "sugar cookies" before I send it out. I just know she will love it.

The second project is actually a simple box. I will be posting a tutorial tomorrow, mainly because I know that my other niece will want one once her sister gets this one. The story behind this is a long one but I am going to share it anyway. So it all started yesterday when I was looking through all the challenges. Wednesday seems to be a big challenge day and there are always a million I want to do, but I just don't have the time. There should just be more hours in the day. Anywhoo, I was out on SUInks and More's blog and was looking at the Watchadoin' Wednesday Challenge which was to make a treat holder. So I put that idea in the back of my mind because I needed to get done a few other things. Well this morning my best friend Tracy called me at 7:15!!! on her way to work. (Don't worry Tracy I still love you!) She had been listening to the radio on the way to work and I guess they were talking about Halloween Candy. She said she immediately thought of me and was wondering if I had the stamp set where the kids are all dressed up like candy. I said yes. She then said, wouldn't it be neat to have one of them coming up to a door. Well I immediately thought of the SUInk challenge and knew that I wanted to create a box where the door would open and there would be candy inside. Then I started thinking about how the pumpkin girl looks exactly like my niece Shelby and how there is a little weiner dog in the set who is dressed up like a hot dog! Well guess what, my niece has a weiner dog who is dressing up like a hot dog for Halloween!!! Can you believe it?! I am telling you it is fate. It is sometimes scary how much we think alike.

Well here it is!!

Here is a view with the door open.

Isn't it cute!! I can't wait to give it to her. I know she will love it mainly because there is candy inside, but you know beggars can't be choosers. I started off by making a simple box out of brown card stock. (As I stated earlier, I will be posting directions tomorrow. I then cut an opening for the door and added a piece of acetate behind it that I stamped with the sentiment from Kooky Kostumes by SUInk and More. I then stamped the little girl and dog from the set and colored them in with my markers and copics. Next I used my new Martha Stewart punch to create the siding and then outlined the door and top of the box with green card stock to create trim. I made a door out of strips of green card stock and cut a hole in the top to create a window. I went over all the green card stock with my markers to create weathering and dimension. I added two brown brads to the door to create a door knob and knocker. I then stamped the white ghost from Trick or Treat by Penny Black and hung it on the brad with some black thread. I added some stamped pumpkins from The Witching Hour by SUInk and More that I colored with my markers and popped them off. Lastly I made a light out of some black card stock and some scrap pieces of white that I colored in. I added my candy to the box and sealed it with my Halloween ribbon. I just know she is going to love it. I can hardly wait to give it to her!!!

Well the party is only two days away!!! I still don't have Izzy's costume done, but the sewing guru is coming in today, aka grandma!

So that is it for me today! Thank you so much for everyone's thoughtful and encouraging comments. It really brightens my day to hear that you like something that I love to do. Thank you!

Haunted House and Cupcake Delights!

Happy Tuesday everybody!

The house is officially sided now. They just delivered the new shutters and put them all up. They look so good! They are my favorite color, green. I really think they set the house off. I can hardly wait for Jason to get home and see them.

Yesterday and today have been crazy busy. I made 18 broom (brown bag) treat bags for the kids coming to our party on Saturday and 62 mini treat bags for the party. I also finished up the main body of Izzy's costume, don't worry I will get tons of pictures, and made two challenge cards for today. I am exhausted. I can't wait for the party to be over, but I am also dreading it because it has been so much fun to plan.

Izzy has discovered that feeding and/or watching Tuxy eat is the best thing in the whole world. Poor Tuxy can no longer eat without a little girl hovering anywhere from 1 to 3 inches away from his face. I wouldn't be able to eat, but Tuxy doesn't seem to mind. I also think that the two of them are scheming together. Today I put Tuxy in the bathroom while the guy was here to install the shutters and I look up ten minutes later and he is running around again. Izzy had let him out of the bathroom. She has figured out that all she has to do is push on the door and it will open. This of course means dogs escaping and no privacy in the bathroom for Mommy.

Now on to the stamping. It felt so good to be stamping again today. I really missed it yesterday! My first card is a Halloween card that was created for this week's Freaky Friday Challenge over at Sunflower Studios. You are supposed to create a card using black, dark orange, olive green and purple as the main colors. It was so much fun as those are the colors that are in my Halloween papers.

Isn't it creepy and cute all wrapped in one? The idea for this card actually came from a class at The Inkspot that I was unable to attend. :( I fell in love with the stamp and the pop up card and asked Julie there to hold back a stamp for me if there was any extras and there were. Yeah!!! I started this card off by stamping the House by Imaginations! on two pieces of Halloween DP and a piece of dark purple card stock. I then paper pieced the house together. I used my black marker to highlight different moldings on the house. I then attempted to make a pop up card. I have not perfected the construction yet, but when I do I will post the tutorial on my blog. I made the box part out of purple card stock and covered it with DP. I then added the tree buttons and the ghost button to the house and punched out a black bat with my Martha Stewart punch. I finished the card off by printing off the sentiment and adding it to the front with some metal hardware and brads. I added a punched out bat and pumpkin to either side. It really turned out well, and it was super fun to make!

The second card I made was for today's color challenge over at SCS to use pink, olive green and brown. I knew that I immediately wanted to create something that was yummy and dug out Mimi's Bake Shoppe by DeNami Designs. Can you believe I haven't inked it up yet?

I started off by stamping Mimi on a piece of whisper white and coloring her in with my prisma color pencils. I then adhered her to a piece of DP. I cut out a piece of brown card stock to resemble a window frame and adhered it to the top. I then cut out another rectangular piece of brown card stock and adhered a piece of pale blue card stock behind it. I added a brad and some steps (green card stock) to the left to make it look like a door to a shop. I stamped the sentiment "delish" from Merry Muffins by Eclectic Paperie. I then stamped the second sentiment from the same set on a piece of whisper white and mounted it on a piece of DP. I threaded through a piece of black ribbon and attached it to the brad/doorknob. I wanted it to look like a sign hanging from the door. I then cut out a fence from whisper white and popped it off the window. The finishing touch was to punch some DP with my scalloped edge punch, draw lines and pop it off the top to make it look like an awning. Don't you just want to go inside and get something to eat? Ohhh, I am hungry.

Well this is the end for me today. Thanks as always for stopping by and leaving comments. I enjoy every one!

Who is up for a Challenge?

Happy Thursday!

It was a perfect fall day here today. The sky was clear, the air was crisp and it just smelled like fall. I still can't believe that it is already October! It feels like it should still be June, where does the time go?

Well today was pretty busy for me. I did three challenges today, one for SCS, one for MFT and one for Simply Sista's. It is so much fun to stretch your imagination to fit the requirements. Izzy even helped me today. She colored on all my cards with markers (the caps were still on) and helped me throw all my scraps away. It is her new favorite thing to put stuff in the trash. I sometimes have to dig through the cans when I am missing something because she has thrown it away.

This evening we went over to Tracy's for dinner. Izzy of course did not want to leave. She just has such a good time with her. I am glad, it is nice to have such a good friend who is close to your children. Izzy of course loves it too because she is constantly spoiled by Aunt Tracy. In fact she will only eat Craisins at Aunt Tracy's if Aunt Tracy hand feeds her. On the tray isn't good enough for my girl. Can you believe it!!!!!

Well here is my first challenge. It was this weeks What's Up Wednesday Challenge for MFT. The challenge this week was to create a box using an MFT stamp set. Well since I missed the pizza box challenge last week over at SCS I decided I wanted to give it a try. I think we might use this as one of our door prizes for our Halloween party.

Isn't it cute. I just love my goo punch. I started this box off by scoring, cutting and folding my box using the directions for last weeks SCS challenge. I then stamped the main image from How Sweet It Is by MFT on a piece of whisper white, two pieces of Halloween DP and a piece of dark purple. I then colored in the witch's body, candy and background with my stampin' write markers and paper pieced the rest. I then mounted it on a piece of black DP. I cut a square piece of DP and used my goo punch around all four edges. I adhered it to a piece of Halloween DP at an angle and popped off the stamped image. I next added a brad to each of the four corners, tied a Halloween ribbon around the lid, added a witch's hat button and filled the box with candy. For a final touch, I printed off the sentiment on my computer, added Halloween DP and black card stock behind it and drew in some cobwebs. It really turned out great! I am sure everyone will be fighting over it!

For my next challenge card I used the Ways to Use it Challenge over at SCS which was to use plaid in your card. Well I knew that I had the absolute most beautiful, fall piece of card stock (it came from a pet themed pack), and I couldn't wait to use it. I have also been dying to use a new digi stamp from Simply Sista's and Card Scents that will soon be released, so it worked out perfect for me.

Doesn't it just make you want to go driving through the park? I started by printing off Girl on a Scooter on a piece of white card stock and colored her in using my markers and silver gel pen. I then drew in the sidewalk, grass and sky and punched out little leaves from colored card stock with my dollar punch I found at Target!! Next I placed my gorgeous piece of plaid DP as the background, off set two pieces of rectangular card stock in the left corner (one brown and one turquoise), added faux stitching and popped off the stamped image. I added a skinny rectangular piece of brown card stock to the bottom, punched out some more leaves on a piece of orange and tied a piece of brown organdy ribbon across them. I finished the card off by adding three yellow brads and scenting it with "Autumn". I just love all the rich colors and texture!

My final card is a card for the Simply Sista's and Card Scents Wednesday Design Team Challenge. This week's challenge was to create a project using the colors pink and black. Love the pink. I immediately thought of my digi bubblegum machine stamp from Simply Sista's.

This was kind of a difficult card for me. I printed off the image, colored it in with my marker's and then got stuck on the paper. I played around a lot with different DP and finally settled on some really cool fuchsia and pink vellum that I have. I cut out a bunch of different size circles using my nesties and then adhered them so that they looked like they were coming out of the bubblegum machine. I then printed off the sentiment, added a piece of black card stock behind it and threaded through some fuchsia organdy ribbon. To finish the card off I added crystal effects to the globe on the bubblegum machine and scented it with "sugar cookies". (I need to get some more scents, this was the only sweet one I had!) I love this card. It is just so fun and whimsical!

Well that is it for me! I am signing off! Thank you as always for stopping by! Your support is appreciated!!

Fireman Birthday and Dinner to Die For!

Happy Tuesday!!

Well Izzy is averaging about one temper tantrum per day. I know that this was going to start, but I wasn't ready for it. I was hoping it would start when she was thirty or forty, you know, when she would be out of the house and I wouldn't have to deal with it. All this time I was thinking that she would just naturally be wonderful and thoughtful and understanding. That's not too much to ask, is it!

She has been pretty fun for the rest of the day. We just got back from the park. She went down the slide all by herself! Can you believe it! I was sitting beside her at the top and she wouldn't hold my hand. So I let her go. She loved it! I can't believe how big my baby is getting. She is a little girl now. Don't tell Daddy!

Well today was another birthday. The little boy my neighbor babysits turned four today. He is so adorable, he is like a little cherub, all curly blond hair and pink cheeks. Izzy just loves him! She follows him everywhere! Today she was following him up the steps to the slide. I asked Beth the other day what he might like for his birthday, and she said he seemed to really be into the toy ambulance they have and Little People. Well of course I immediately thought of my Dress Up Billy set by Pink Cat Studio. Billy with blond hair looks exactly like Matthew. So I glanced through all his clothes and saw the fireman outfit and knew that it would be perfect. Here he is.

Isn't he adorable! I actually gave Matthew the card and the toy already. Take a wild guess which one he couldn't put down. You guessed wrong! It was the toy. Yeah, he didn't really even notice the card, but that is okay, I know his mom will enjoy it. I started off my stamping the fireman's hat on a piece of whisper white and then masking it off and stamping Billy. Then I stamped the fireman's boots and coat on a separate piece and colored everything in with my stampin' write markers. I cut out the coat and boots and placed them over the top and layered the image over a piece of yellow card stock and then a piece of black card stock. I then repeated this layering with DP and black card stock. I stamped "Happy Birthday" from Stampin' Up's Birthday Balloons and placed it down in the corner. I finished off the card by cutting out three black circles with my nesties and placing a red, yellow and green brad through the center. I am really proud of how this one turned out.

The second card I made today is a thank you card for a dinner party we went to the other evening. I wanted to use the Freaky Friday Challenge over at Sunflower Studios and knew this would be the perfect card for it. The challenge this week calls for using a Halloween stamp in a non-Halloween card. I decided to make the witch and cauldron slightly less "witchy" by using a more lavender purple and a lime green. I think this really fits the bill.

I started off by stamping the witch and cauldron from The Witching Hour by SUInk and More on a piece of whisper white and then coloring them in with my markers. I went ahead and stamped them on some DP and paper pieced the rest together. I added gold glitter with my glitter pen to the cauldron, the design on the dress and the broom to give it some sparkle. I then cut out the cauldron and popped if off the background. Next I sewed a button into the corner to make it look like a moon and added a tiny black bat. I then layered the image on a piece of DP and a piece of lime green card stock. Using an old MFT sketch challenge, I layered on DP and lime green card stock. I then printed off the sentiment on my computer, used my nesties to cut it out, layered on an oval piece of DP and threaded through a piece of ribbon. I added three square, black brads to the bottom and finished the card off by writing the sentiment, "It was to die for!" on the inside of the card. I just know Melissa will love it.

Well that is it for me. I hope you have a wonderful rest of the day! Thanks for stopping by!!

Purple People Eater!

Happy Monday!!!

It is super gray and dreary here today. It is so hard to get used to after the beautiful weekend we had. Our siding is finally going up, and I am so excited. I can already tell that it is going to look like a new house when they are finished. I think I might have to wait awhile though because it is supposed to rain tomorrow and Wednesday.

Well I am super excited, my best friend is coming over tonight! Yeah!!!! I haven't seen her for over a week. I am having serious withdrawal. She has been super busy with work, fundraising and house sitting, but things are starting to wind down. Izzy is really excited to see her "Aunt" Tracy. "Aunt" Tracy is her favorite living creature in the whole world! Even above Tuxy, and that is really saying something.

Well Wednesday is my sister's birthday. Her absolute favorite color is purple. I think if her husband would allow her to, she would have every room in her house purple. When we were in high school she painted her room purple with dark purple ooze coming down from the ceiling. Not quite my thing, but to each his own. Since it is her birthday and I, I repeat I am my parents' favorite daughter (must be hard huh Dani?), I decided to take pity on her and make her a purple themed card.

Isn't it cute. I really like how it turned out! I started off by printing Sydney from Simply Sista's and Card Scents, love my digis, on a piece of white card stock. I colored her in with my stampin' write makers and paper pieced her chair with some DP. I then layered her on a piece of scalloped green card stock and then a piece of DP. I popped her off the background to give the card some dimension. Next I added three brown ribbons to the side of the card with bows at three different levels. I added a hand made paper flower to the corner with a fake flower in the center. To finish it off, I added "hot cocoa" scent to the card, my sister's favorite drink. I just know she is going to love it! Love ya Dani!!!!

My second card was created for today's technique challenge over at SCS. I received the new Halloween digi stamps over at Simply Sista's and Card Scents a couple of weeks ago, (If you haven't seen them yet, check them out they are fantastic) and have been searching for the perfect layout ever since. I finally found it!

Here is a side view.

The challenge was to create an accordion card. The digi's were fantastic for this because I could make them any size I wanted!!! I started off my printing off the lollipop, two pieces of hard candy, candy corn, a cauldron and a cat on white card stock. I then paper pieced all the candy and the cauldron with Halloween DP and flocked the cat to give him some "fur". Next I added a stick to the lollipop and covered the lollipop, and two pieces of hard candy with cellophane to make them look like real candy. I added them to the back fold. Then I cut out a ghost using my sizzix die and added the ghost, cat and cauldron to the middle fold. I stamped the "trick or treat" sentiment from The Witching Hour by SUInk and More to a white tag and layered it with Halloween DP and old olive card stock. I then threaded through a piece of orange ribbon and added a miniature version of the cat and the lollipop to the sides. I finished the card off by scenting it with "Hard Candy", one of the limited Halloween scents over at Simply Sista's. I love this card. It is so fun!!!

Well that is it for me today! I am off to keep Izzy entertained and hopefully to squeeze in a little bit more stamping! As always thanks for stopping by and all the great comments! I read them all! Have a great rest of the day!

Pink is My Signature Color and Bella Boo!

Happy Friday!!!! Yeah!!!!

Today has been a beautiful day. This morning was crisp and cool and now it is in the low 70s, not a cloud in the sky and a light breeze. I couldn't have asked for a better day if I tried. Izzy and I went on a walk this morning to Walgreen's to pick up some Halloween candy. Have to get my hoard in early. She is so excited because Jason is working from home today. She has already sat on his lap and "helped" him with his work. Oh, and she has started to do laundry. I was downstairs sorting out the clothes and Izzy was helping me! Of course all clothes went into the darks pile, but beggars can't be choosers!

The only down side to today is that the workers came and closed the pool. Now instead of sparkling blue water, we have an old blue tarp to look at. Fall is officially here!

I have decided that Pink is my signature color. I just love that line from Steel Magnolias where Julia Roberts is talking about all the different shades of pink and all the different aspects of her wedding. This is my favorite movie of all time! In high school, I think I could have recited the dialogue from the whole movie from memory. Anywhoo, pink is my signature color. I am drawn to it. I have all my designer paper organized by color and take a wild guess which color has the most in it! So today I decided to create a Christmas card that had a pink theme. I found some fantastic designer Christmas paper that had a pink background and knew it would be perfect for my creation. I used MFT's sketch challenge for the layout and today's limited supplies challenge for the concept. I think it really turned out fun!

So here it is, my pink themed Christmas card! I used my new stamp set Hare for the Holidays from MFT stamps that I won during the release party. I think the reindeer is so cute. I started off by stamping the reindeer image on a piece of whisper white and colored him in using my prisma color pencils! Then I mounted the image on a piece of dark green card stock. I then layered DP and dark green card stock following the sketch challenge. I added a piece of pink polka dot ribbon behind the stamped image. Then I stamped the sentiment on a piece of whisper white along with two holly leaves. I colored them in and mounted them on a piece of metallic pink card stock and a piece of dark green card stock. I finished the card off by by adding two metal holly leaves and putting pink gems over the berries. So cute, so pink!!!!

The second card I created was done using the sketch over at Stamping Bella this week. It is of course done using a Halloween image, per my addiction, but does not contain any pink, yeah!!!

I decided to use Trick-or-treatabella from Stamping Bella for this challenge since it required an oval and I wanted it to be a Halloween card. I stamped her on a piece of white card stock and colored her in with my pencils and markers. I then cut her out with my oval nestabilities along with a piece of pumpkin pie card stock and a piece of black card stock. I then layered it on top of Halloween DP and black card stock. I then threaded through a piece of black and green ribbon to add some flair and finished it off with a '"boo" button on the bottom. Love it!!

Okay, so while I was typing this my mailman dropped off some packages (did I mention that he is now my new favorite person), there was stamps in them!!!!! Yeahh!!!!! AND my card scents. I am so excited to get started scenting my cards, I want to start trying them on everything. I am sure that my dog Tuxy won't mind smelling like hot chocolate right? If you have not seen this idea check out Simply Sista's and Card Scents website. They have just about any scent you could want!!

Okay, so that is it for me today! I am off to stamp some more. Thanks as always for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Come on Ride the Train and Pumpkin Treats!

Happy Thursday everyone!

I am so glad tomorrow is Friday. Jason is working from home so that means we will get to see him all day even though he will be busy, they are dropping off our new siding and will start work on Monday and it is supposed to be beautiful tomorrow. Today was absolutely gorgeous. Izzy and our neighbors wound up driving to the park and running around, going down the slide and just generally enjoying the sunshine. Izzy is becoming such a little girl. She kept following the little boy next door all over the park and was trying to climb up all the steps he went up and down all the slides he went down. Where has my little baby gone?

Well today was also a great day, because I got stamps in the mail!!!!! Yeah!!!! I tell you it is just like Christmas when new stamps come in. I know that all of you probably feel the same way. I unwrapped them carefully and laid them out lovingly on the counter and then basically drooled all over them. I hope I didn't ruin them. I can't wait to get started. I am going to get them all inked this weekend. At least that is the plan. Ohh, maybe I should tell Jason.

So here is my first project for today. It is a card for my cousin Harrison. He just recently started preschool and is addicted to trains. (This isn't too surprising as his daddy owns some track and a couple of trains himself.) My cousin told me that she dropped him off for his first day of school and Daddy was too upset to even get out the car. Poor Mommy had to take Harrison inside. She was really worried that he would cause a scene, but she said it never materialized. The preschool teacher came up to Harrison, introduced herself and asked him if he liked trains. My cousin said he took off and she could hardly get him to kiss her and hug her goodbye. Aren't kids funny that way. They get distracted so easily. I don't even want to think about Izzy starting school. It will be so hard.

Okay back to the card, here it is:

Isn't it sweet. I used the Dress Up Billy set from Pink Cat Studio to make the card. It comes with a conductor hat, a pair of overalls and a little toy engine. I just couldn't resist. It was too perfect. I started off by stamping Billy's hat on a piece of whisper white and then masking it off and stamping Billy. Next I stamped the overalls on a piece of blue card stock and made stripes with a white gel pen. I cut it out and adhered it over Billy. Then I colored Billy in and used my oval nestabilities as a template to create the tracks around him. Then I stamped the toy engine on a separate piece of paper, colored it in, cut it out and popped it off the tracks. I used this week's sketch challenge over at SCS for the layout and layered blue card stock and DP. I then added three red brads to the side, printed off the sentiment "Choo, Choo, Choo" on my computer, placed it inside a metal tag and threaded through some red ribbon. I finished the card off by printing the phrase, "Happy First Day of School", and placing it on the inside. I hope he enjoys it.

For the second project, I wanted to create a very quick and easy treat that my sister could make for her girls' class Halloween parties. I knew she wouldn't want something that was very expensive, but I also knew that she would want something that was cute. Here is what I came up with.


I think the kids are going to love them! They were so easy to make it is almost criminal. I started off by stamping the girl dressed as a pumpkin from the set Kooky Kostumes by Storage Units, Inks and More. I colored her in using my Stampin' Write markers and made her into a tag shape. I then mounted the stamped image on a piece of black card stock, punched a hole and added a black eyelet. I filled a cellophane bag with pumpkin candy from Brach's (my favorite kind of Halloween candy) and tied up the bag with the tag I made and a piece of green ribbon. See, quick, easy and cheap.

Well that is it for me today. Now that Izzy is down for the night I am going to try to get some more stamping down. Thanks for stopping by and leaving all these wonderful comments. Your support means so much to me, thanks!!!!

Countdown to Pool Closing and Some Stamping!

Happy Wednesday everybody! It is hump day!

I always feel like I have accomplished something when I have reached Wednesday. So today, Izzy and I have already been outside pretty much all morning. On Friday the pool guys are coming out to close up the pool. It is always so sad. I wish we could keep it open all year so that we wouldn't have to look out at a giant blue tarp all winter, but that is part of living in the Midwest.

Yesterday I taught Izzy how to dance! It was so much fun. I don't usually listen to a whole lot of music during the day, but since we were trapped in the house all day, I thought it would be fun to turn on the radio. Now since I am a wonderful dancer (NOT!), I had to show Izzy my signature move, bouncing up and down in one place. She caught on immediately! It was so funny, she would bounce up and down and smile and laugh. The best part is that she kept overbalancing and falling down. She would laugh and then go hang on to a chair or cabinet for support. She is so funny.

Okay, so Tuxy and Izzy have finally decided to become best friends. Izzy throws the ball or the ribbon or whatever and Tuxy goes and chases after it. It has been wonderful! The two of them have been keeping each other entertained for long stretches of time. Finally! The only down side is that Izzy doesn't always understand that Tuxy is playing and Tuxy doesn't always understand that Izzy wants him to give it back. Ahh, life with kids/pets!

Alright, on to the the stamping and projects!

This first card was Halloween inspired (wonder why?). I wanted to create a scene, almost as if you were looking into somebody's house. This is what I came up with.

Isn't it cute. I started off my printing off a cat, cauldron, and girl on computer from Simply Sista's and Card Scents on a piece of vanilla card stock. They were all digi stamps, so I was able to flip them and resize them. Isn't that fantastic?! You can't do that with your regular stamps. Love them! I colored them in with my markers and pencils. Next I created a background scene with some Halloween DP, card stock and my markers. I placed her on top and and popped off the cat and cauldron. I stamped Itty Bitty Witch's Hat by Lockhart Stamp Company. I then framed the scene with a piece of black card stock and then layered Halloween DP and black card stock. I added three orange brads at the bottom, printed off the sentiment on my computer, mounted it on black and threaded through a piece of Halloween ribbon. I think she looks so fun!

The next project I created about a week ago and thought that it would be perfect for last weeks' pink challenge at Hannah Stamps.

This is what I call a Lady's Tool Kit. Inside are a woman's essentials; nail polish, emery board and some lotion. I created this with a rectangular tin and added some fuchsia card stock to the top. I made the fuchsia paper look like boards with my stampin' write markers and added screw brads to the corners. I then stamped Hanna from Tool Time Hanna by Hanna Stamps, along with her tool chest and colored them in with my pencils. I printed off the sign on the computer and mounted it on a piece of DP. Instant gift. I love this idea! It is the perfect size for your purse, it keeps all the essentials together and looks way cute!

Well that is it for me today! Hope you have a wonderful rest of the day and thanks for stopping by!

Get Well Soon, Potions and Bonus!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

What is it about Tuesday that always makes me think it is Wednesday. I think it is because our trash day just recently changed from Wed. to Tues. I guess I am just so used to it, it is going to take me awhile to adjust.

Well today Izzy had her 18 month checkup. We are so fortunate to have found a wonderful pediatrician. The bad part is, she just changed offices and now she is about 40 to 45 minutes away. That is okay though because I am not switching, it was too hard finding her. So we went to the office and everything was okay, the nurse showed us into the exam room and you would have thought I was killing her. Izzy started screaming. They could hardly get an accurate weight or length on her. She was freaking out! I finally got her calmed down and our wonderful doctor came in and examined her, which got her a little bit more riled up. But to top it all off, she didn't even get any shots! I almost felt like telling them to give her one so at least her fit wouldn't have been for naught. As we were leaving though she was all smiles, laughing and waving at the doctor and nurses. What a giant con artist!

Some more exciting personal news, we are getting new siding on our house. I know that isn't very exciting for you all, but it will be for us. It is really going to freshen and warm up our house. It definitely needs it.

So today was a pretty dismal day and we found out last night that my mother-in-law isn't feeling very well. This put me in the mood of wanting a soft and cozy card. I was on SCS yesterday and saw the new Monday Who's that Girl Challenge. It is paper piecing (my favorite) with the Meet Me at the Cafe set. I just recently paper pieced a card with this set and considering my recent mood and my mother-in-law's illness, I decided to use the Bunny Slippers set instead.

Doesn't it make you just want to curl up with some warm chicken noodle soup? I really wanted to challenge myself with this card and stick with two main colors, blue and yellow. It is not my usual choice of colors, but I appreciate how well they go together. I also wanted to use white as a background especially since I find it hard to work with. I don't know why. I started off with a light blue card stock as my card base and then embossed a piece of white card stock with my swirl embossing folder. I then stamped the main image from Bunny Slippers on a piece of whisper white, a piece of bashful blue DP and a piece of apricot appeal DP. I colored in the girl's skin with my stampin' write markers and pieced the robe and slippers together. I then added yellow flocking to the collar, cuffs, pockets, belt and bunny slippers. I then mounted it to a piece of apricot appeal DP and bashful blue DP that I positioned at angles. I added some faux stitching with my white gel pen. I stamped the larger bunny slippers on a piece of whisper white, colored them in with my markers, added flocking to the ears and distress the edges with bashful blue. I then cut it out along with two other pieces of DP with my oval and scalloped oval nestabilities. I attached them with an eyelet and threaded through a piece of ribbon. I completed the card with three blue buttons down the side. I hope that my mother-in-law can find some comfort in this card.

The next project was done completely for fun. I am planning on making it one of our door prizes at the Halloween party. The great news is that it was so quick and easy to make.

I started off by picking up a locking glass jar from Michaels. Guess what? They are only a buck. How great is that?! So then I stamped Potions and Spells by Lockhart Stamp Company on a piece of very vanilla. I colored it in using my prisma color pencils and added some crystal effects to the crystal ball. I then cut out a fun scallop on each edge and mounted it on a piece of Halloween DP and mimicked the edge design on the DP. I distressed the label with basic brown ink and attached it to the jar with a piece of black ribbon. I then stamped the Toe of Frog jar from Totally Witchin' by MFT, colored it in, added crystal effects, mounted it on a piece of perfect plum and tied it onto the label. I finished up the jar with a circular piece of Halloween DP that I attached to the lid and distressed. See, I told you, quick and easy!

And now for the Bonus! It is IZZYYYYYYYY!!!! Yeah!!!!

Isn't she cute. Our future star!

Have a great rest of the evening and thanks for stopping by!

It is all Halloween all the time!

Happy Sunday!

I hope you have had as wonderful a weekend as I have. It was so nice to have Jason all weekend again, and it has been absolutely beautiful. The perfect temperature and the perfect weather. I will be sad to see it end. Well Jason and I have been super busy today (mainly Jason), we finally were able to start staining our decks. It just seems to take so long and it is so tiring. We have all the floor boards stained, thanks to Jason and the front and back of two railings thanks to me! I don't even want to think about how long the fence is going to take. Hey, anybody want to join us for a staining party! It is so much fun!

So I have been busy thinking about Halloween again. I know big surprise. I can't help myself. Every stamp set I see now I think, huh I wonder how I can make that Halloween themed. I mean there has to be some way. Just wait till Christmas comes around. It is going to be even worse. With this idea in mind I came up with this simple little treat box that we will be giving away at our Halloween party.


Isn't it cute! It is perfect for a couple of mini snickers bars or milky ways. I am sorry but the treat box said it only wanted to carry chocolate candy. Sometimes they can be so picky! This was so easy to create. I started out by unfolding a mini take out box that I picked up from Michaels. I placed it on a piece of 12 X 12 card stock and traced around it. I then cut it out and stamped the web and spider from Totally Witchin' by MFT stamps on the outside of the box. Next I stamped "beware" from the set The Witching Hour by SUInk and More on the two flaps. I folded the box up, added eyelets to the side to hold it together and threaded through a piece of black satin ribbon to make a handle. I finished it off by going over the webs with my glitter pen. I wish I could be in the drawing to win it.

For my second project I was completely inspired by a card I saw last week on SCS. You can see the card over at Jessica Smith's blog. The card had a peppermint button wrapped in cellophane on it. It was such a great idea, it made the button look like hard candy! So when I received this new Digi stamp set from Simply Sista's and Card Scents with a treat bag on it, I new I had my card idea. Of course this came to me about 2 a.m. on Friday night. Why does that always happen? Why can't my brain have epiphanies at normal hours of the day? The major problem of course is then I lie awake for an hour figuring out the whole concept, picking out the papers in my head and trying to quell the excitement. I usually then have to get up and go write my idea down because I am sure that I will have forgotten it by morning. Sheesh.

Okay back to the card.


I just want to gobble it up. I started this card off by printing the trick-or-treat bag off on a piece of pumpkin pie card stock. I cut it out and shaded it using my stampin' write markers. Next, I punched a hole on either side of the lip of the bag and ran a piece of black ribbon through to create a handle. I mounted it on a piece of white card stock and added the candy buttons. I created these by wrapping cellophane around different sizes, colors and shapes of buttons and twisting the ends to make it look like wrappers. Next I printed off the candy corn on a piece of white card stock and colored them in using my stampin' write markers. I placed them in amongst my candy buttons to add a little variety. I then mounted the completed image on a piece of black card stock and layered behind it Halloween DP and black card stock. I printed off the sentiment "Fill er' up" and cut it out along with Halloween DP with my oval nestabilities. I finished off the card by threading through a piece of lavender ribbon and tied a bow with orange ribbon. I just love it. I can't wait to get my card scents so I can make it smell like candy corn!

Well I am off to eat dinner. Have a great rest of the weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Happy World Card Making Day!

Happy Saturday everyone!

I have been super busy stamping, making cards and playing around with Izzy. Izzy went to her friend Melaina's first birthday party this afternoon. They both had a really good time. Poor Melaina though, she wasn't too sure of her birthday cupcake. She was content with just letting her mommy and daddy feed her. She is such a doll.

Izzy has been in a good mood today. I think it is because her daddy is home. Oh and I have decided she is a genius. I know, that is what everybody says about their children, but it has to be true with her, right? She can unearth her books no matter how hard you try to hide them. Of course, I kind of wish she wasn't quite that smart. I really could use a break from Five Little Monkeys, but it is still pretty impressive.

So, last night I received the most awesome sets of stamps from my friend Amy over at Simply Sista's and Card Scents. She is releasing her Halloween images and Halloween scents today and was kind enough to let me try them out. Can you say love!!! It is so much fun to play with them. They are only available in Digi form, which has become my favorite form of stamp. I wish more stamp companies would offer their stamps this way.

So here she is, my lovely witch!

Isn't she great! Man I wish I looked like this! Jason said this card was one of his favorites, I have a funny feeling it doesn't just have to do with the color choices and layout. :) Okay, so here is how she came together. I printed Ms. Be-Witchy off on a piece of white card stock, colored her in using my prisma color pencils and a gold glitter pen. I then cut her out for later. Next I cut out a circle using my nestabilites and sponged on three different colors of yellow ink (barely banana, yoyo yellow and summer sun). I cut out a piece of Halloween DP and embossed it with my web cuttlebug folder. I attached the circle to the upper right corner and adhered my witch. I punched out a black cat using my Martha Stewart punch and placed him on the end of her broom. I then stamped the sentiment from "Totally Witchin'" by MFT Stamps on a piece of very vanilla, mounted it on a piece of black card stock, placed a black eyelet on each end and threaded through a piece of Halloween ribbon from Michaels.

The second card I am posting today I created using a sketch challenge as well as a "fuzzy" challenge over at MFT.

I guess I am in need of relaxation. I have been making several cards lately with the theme of relaxation. Jason, honey, hint, hint, hint. Okay, on with the show. I started the card off by stamping the main image from Time for the Bubbly on whisper white, orange card stock, pink card stock and two different kinds of designer paper. I then colored in the mirror with a gold gel pen and my stampin write markers followed up by coloring in her body. I paper pieced the tub, wallpaper, carpet and rug. Next I added the liquid applique to all the bubbles and heated it, sprinkling on a little glitter before it dried. Next, I flocked the rug with black and fuchsia. I then glittered the mirror with chunky glitter and added crystal effects to the tub and mirror to make them look glossy. For the layout of the card, I used sketch challenge 50 over at MFT. I mounted the stamped image on a a piece of black card stock and then on a piece of pink card stock. I popped it off the center using my pop dots. I then cut squares to two different designer papers and squares of black and layered them around the central image. I added faux stitching (faux because Izzy was already in bed and I didn't want to get out the really loud sewing machine). I finished up by stamping the words relax and enjoy on whisper white and adding them to each side of the main image with ribbon. I feel calmer just looking at it.

Well I hope you were able to make some sort of card today. Have a great rest of the day and thanks for stopping by!

Sit Back, Relax and Have Some Bubbly! and Grandma Post!!!!

Happy Friday, finally!!

I am so excited for the weekend, we have a birthday party to go to tomorrow, I am going to stamp this weekend and I get to see my best friend for the first time in a whole week. We talk to each other everyday but it is not the same as seeing her. She just started a new job this week (Tracy, we are so proud of you) so she has been exhausted. I am really looking forward to sitting back and gabbing away with her.

Okay, so Izzy is growing up way to quickly :(. I put a pair of jeans and a shirt on her yesterday and she looked like such a little girl. It was so sweet, and today I called Jason and she talked to him on the phone. Of course nobody has any idea what she was telling him, but she still was just yammering away. I can't wait till she starts doing her own laundry! Right now she just pulls all the clothes out of the dryer and puts them on the floor.

So today I have two awesome cards to show you. One from my new favorite stamp line Simply Sista's and one from MFT.

My first card is a card to encourage relaxation. I love this spa girl image (which is a Digi image, love it!) from Simply Sista's. She looks so relaxed, I wish I could trade places with her. Do you think if I gave this card to Jason he would give me a gift certificate to a day spa? Ooohh I am glad I thought of it. I am certainly going to try. On this card I actually used a sketch challenge from Stamping Bella. I wanted a card with a lot of layers that showed off the central image. I printed off this image on white card stock, and two pieces of design paper. I colored her skin in with my prisma color pencils along with the cucumbers over her eyes. Then I pieced together the chair and the bowl; I wanted pattern on these two surfaces. Then I took my liquid applique pen and applied this to the towel on her body and her head. I wanted it to look like terry cloth. Next time I think I will try flocking. I think she looks great. To finish off the card, I alternated layers of black card stock with layers of designer paper. For the sentiment, I stamped this with an alphabet set I have from stamping up. I then cut out the sentiment, a piece of black card stock and a piece of DP with my circle nestabilities. The flowers I yanked off a stalk of fake flowers and added a green diamond sticker to the center. For the background a wrapped a piece of white satin ribbon around a piece of black card stock I embossed with my branches embossing folder from Cuttlebug. When I get my card scents, I am going to add lilac to the card. I think I am actually going to make up a gift basket and include this card with it. Who should be the lucky recipient? I will take bribes.

Onto the second card. This one is titled, "Time for the Bubbly", this is actually the sentiment on the inside. Guess what, it is a Halloween card! I know, shocker. This card was created for a design challenge over at MFT stamps requiring paper piecing. Paper piecing is my absolute favorite technique. It is instant gratification. You have a built in design.


I started out by stamping the main image from Meet Me at the Cafe on a piece of white card stock, green card stock and 4 pieces of Halloween designer paper. I colored in the background, the witches' arms, and their legs with my Stampin' Write markers. Then I cut out the one witch's dress from a piece of designer paper and attached it to the white card stock. I repeated this process with the other witch's outfit, the table and chairs and the goblets. Next I stamped two witch hats and a broom from Totally Witchin', colored them in with my prismas and markers, cut them out and placed them around the witches. Next I stamped the bubbles from Time for the Bubbly on a piece of green card stock. I cut out a few bubbles and placed them so that they were coming out of the glasses. Next, I cut a piece of acetate to fit over the image and stamped the spiderweb from Totally Witchin' on the backside with Stazon ink. After it had dried. I added black card stock to the edges to frame out the window. I stamped the awning from Meet Me at the Cafe on 2 pieces of Halloween card stock. I then cut them out and alternated the two patterns. I aged it by sponging on some mellow moss ink. Next, I cut a piece of Halloween card stock for the "building", aged it with mellow moss and attached the image to the center. I popped off the lower part of the awning off the page and added two shutters I made out of perfect plum card stock and my markers. I popped those off the side also. I cut out a black fence using my fence punch and placed it under the window. I stamped the cauldron from Totally Witchin' on the back side of a piece of DP and cut it out. Next I stamped the bubbles from Time for the Bubbly on a piece of green card stock, cut it out and attached it to the cauldron. I added a touch of green goo, using my goo punch and green card stock then popped it off the page. Isn't it fabulous! I almost want to be a witch, no comments from the peanut gallery.

Now what you all have been waiting for, an Izzy picture!

What a ham!!!!!

I hope you have a great rest of the day and a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stopping by!