My Present and My Buddy!!

Happy Monday!!

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

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

This is her dancing!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Christmas, Christmas Everywhere!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I'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!!!

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!

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!!

Backgrounds, Backgrounds and More Backgrounds!!

Happy Tuesday everyone!!

Boy does it ever feel like November now! It is cold and rainy and dreary, which means one grouchy little girl! She woke up kind of early this morning and then just wasn't content with anything! She keeps looking out the door and saying "side, side", which means she wants to go outside. I feel bad for her, but she is still a little under the weather and I don't want her to get any sicker.

Well, Izzy and I went to Michaels last night to use one of the coupons I receive weekly and my big girl wanted to walk. Usually she is content with me carrying her, but not this time! She had to walk into the store on her own and walk out on her own. I couldn't believe it!!! It actually was kind of nice because then I don't have to carry her. But now she is so old!!

Today she has been reading her little books like crazy!! She loves all her books! At least now we have branched out a little and don't have to read the same one 200 times in a row! She has a couple more now that she will rotate through. Well this morning I was doing a little stamping when I walked into the living room to find her sitting in her little canvas toy box reading a book. I was on the phone with my mom when it happened and she about had a heart attack laughing. It was so cute! She is adorable! Here is a picture!

Speaking of books, this brings me to my first card fo today. It is actually for Izzy. I know she is too young to appreciate it yet, but I feel guilty always making cards and projects for everyone else but never for her. I actually incorporated two challenges into this one. Last week's MFT sketch challenge and the card challenge for today over at A Spoon Full of Sugar, which was to create a card for a little kid. I don't know what my deal is though, I am really into drawing in backgrounds for my cards. In fact all three cards I am sharing today I created a background for them. For some reason a blank canvas, just looks blank to me.

The sentiment on the inside will say, "We love you our little book bunny!". We are so proud of Izzy she is a great little girl and a great daughter! Okay, enough gushing. I started this card off by stamping Reading Flopsey by MFT Stamps on a piece of white card stock and coloring it in with my copics and stampin' write markers. When I stamped him, I masked off the big book. (I didn't think Watership Down was an appropriate title for an 18-month old, lol!). I used an alphabet set to stamp ABC's on the big book. Then I drew in the background and colored it in with markers. Next, following the sketch, I layered green card stock, teal card stock and DP. I popped off the main image and printed off the sentiment on the computer and cut it out along with a piece of green and a piece of teal card stock using my nesties. I added some orange ribbon and popped it off. I love this little image and I know Izzy will appreciate it when she gets older!

My second card for today used Saturday's Sketch For You To Try over at I {Heart} 2 Stamp. I know I am really late, but I actually had the card colored on Saturday and finished it last night. I had so much fun though creating it.

Isn't he cute!! His name is Max and he is a stamp over at Spiral Whisper. I started off by stamping Max Fishing on a piece of white card stock and coloring him in with my markers and copics. I then colored the background in using my copics. Following the sketch challenge, I layered on green card stock, brown card stock and DP. I added a piece of green and brown ribbon to the bottom and cut out two circles of card stock with my nesties. I then free handed a fishing basket and colored it in. I placed it in the middle of the circle and added a tiny fish button. Lastly, I popped off the circles. I really think this is a great masculine card. I think I am going to send it to my dad as a "thinking of you". He is also usually left out of the card sending.

My final card today was probably the most fun to create. I was out browsing around Paper Craft Planet last night, checking out all the forums that I am signed up for. I disabled the following group function because I was receiving over a 100 e-mails a day, so now I have to manually check all the forums. I was looking out at the SUInk and More forum and Mary Jo issued a challenge to create a card with the theme "Blessing Falling Down". Well I was intrigued to say the least. So I started thinking on it, or putting my noodle on it as my husband likes to say, and came up with this card. I used the sketch challenge over at Secret Crafter for the layout.

I decided to make a scene where Santa is dropping blessings from the sky wrapped as presents to all the unfortunate boys and girls. I think most kids think of presents as blessings. I started this card off by stamping Santa, the reindeer, presents and houses from Deer Ol Santa by SUInk and More on white card stock and coloring them in with my markers. I then cut them all out. Next I sponged on bordering blue, brodade blue, ballet blue and night of navy onto a piece of white to create a sky. I cut out a circle and four squares. I then pasted on the reindeer and houses. I cut out another circle and sponged on so saffron, apricot appeal and summer sun to create a moon. I added a few stars with my silver gel pen and popped off Santa and one of his reindeer. I then added a few presents and printed off the sentiment on my computer. I am going to write on the inside, "Fall Down Upon You!". I really like how this turned out, it is really festive.

That is it for me today! Thanks for stopping by and have a great evening!

It's Good to be Home!

Happy Sunday everyone! It is always nice to be gone, but even better to be back home again!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. We sure did. We went into Kansas City this weekend to visit Jason's family and boy was it fun. I am completely stuffed. All the food was wonderful and so was the company. It was so good to see Jason's grandma and grandpa. They are two of my favorite people in the whole world! His grandma is looking so much better and is feeling better too! I can hardly believe that she will be 90 in February! She is so sharp and is starting to become more active again. I just hope she continues on the the path to good health.

Well, Izzy had a great time playing with her cousin Patrick. He is only two months younger than her, so that is a lot of fun. They had a little bit of a hard time sharing (mainly Izzy got jealous every time Patrick touched one of her toys), but right before we left this afternoon the two of them were playing together! She also had a great time with the grandparents. Boy does she have them wrapped around her finger. She just carried her book from one to the other and they just kept reading it! Mommy and Daddy are wise to her ways and just make her go and pick out another one! I guess we are just mean!

This family get together this weekend has really put me in the spirit of Christmas. Family occasions always seem to do that. I think it is because family was always a huge part of our Christmas. It was always such a relaxing cozy day of stories and love, so I am always reminded of that when I am around family. So that being said, I have another Christmas card to share. I used Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge for this card and even incorporated this Friday's Limited Supplies Challenge at SCS too! Here it is.

This is a Christmas image from Spiral Whisper. I think the reindeer and girl are so cute. I have always wanted to ride one! I think it would be so much fun! I started this card by stamping Milly on Yule Log by Spiral Whisper on a piece of white card stock. I then colored her in with my stampin' write markers and copics. Next I added a touch of glitter to the snow. (I can't even tell you how hard it was to resist adding any diamond stickers. I had to physically hide them!!, but the challenge said only ribbon was allowed as an embellishment.) I then mounted it on green card stock and a piece of DP. I layered on green card stock and Christmas DP following the sketch, which I turned on the side. I used my nesties to cut out all the circles and stamped the sentiment and snowflakes from SUInk and More's Deer Ol Santa. I popped the main image and sentiment off the card using dimensionals. It is simple yet elegant. I really liked how it turned out!

Well that is it for me tonight. We are going to watch The Office (we have to download it because it comes on during Izzy's bathtime) and then we are heading to bed. Have a great rest of the evening! And thanks for stopping by!

Hangin' Out!

Happy Tuesday and for my fellow Americans, Happy Election Day!


Hangin' out describes both my card today and what we are doing tonight. We are basically sitting around watching the election results on the TV. Poor Jason had to wait three hours this morning to vote. The lines were unreal!! It was so crazy! This election year we live in a battleground state so that is a little exciting. I really think though that they should maybe have some sort of contests going on while we are waiting for the results. Kind of like the challenges during the release parties. Wouldn't that be fun! People could win little bobble heads or bumper stickers! Who is with me?!! Lol!


Speaking of release parties, MFT (one of my favorite stamp companies) is having their November release party tomorrow night at 9 p.m. EST over at SCS. Tomorrow I will be hosting a challenge in the forum as part of my November ambassador duties. I think it will be a really fun challenge so I hope you come out to play. I worked on my card all morning today and am pretty happy with the way it turned out.


Now on to the other card I created. A couple of weeks ago I received several Spiral Whisper stamps in the mail and have slowly but surely been inking them up. Well today's challenge over at SCS was to use pink, red and green in your card (mine does have red in the DP, it is just mostly covered up by the image) and along with the sketch challenge over at A Spoon Full of Sugar, I knew I had the perfect stamp.




I just love how she is just hangin' out, waiting for something. I started off by stamping Milly on Yule Log by Spiral Whisper. (Isn't she cute?!) I colored her in using my copics and stampin' up markers. I then added some glitter to the snow and a couple of rhinestone stickers to the snowflakes. Next I layered her on a piece of chocolate brown paper and a piece of old olive paper following the sketch. I popped her off some Christmas DP and added three silver snowflake brads to the bottom. Lastly, I added some brown card stock strips to either side and placed some fun pink polka dot ribbon in the middle. I just love this card! I don't know who I am going to give it to yet, but I hope whoever receives it will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.


Quick Izzy update. She is growing up so fast and is really into girly things now! She has always carried around a little bee purse but now she is also carrying around a play purse that she puts her cell phone, a block and a couple of little plastic frogs (don't ask). Where has my baby gone!



Have a wonderful election night. We will probably be up for awhile! Thanks as always for the wonderful comments and for stopping by!

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!!

Christmas is in the Air!

Happy Friday!

Okay, I know that it is still a long way off, and I absolutely hate it when the stores start loading up the shelves with Christmas before Halloween is over, but today I just couldn't resist myself. I have some really great Christmas stamps and they just had to be inked up. I mean when they call to you and wake you up in the middle of the night saying, "Stamp me! Stamp me!", you have to answer.

So here is what I came up with today. The first card is a card using this weeks MFT sketch challenge over at SCS. It was actually a little difficult since it incorporated circles and as you know most of the MFT images are designed as a square or a rectangle. I am pretty happy though with what I accomplished.

I just love all the rich Christmas colors on this one. I started off by stamping the main image from Merry Christmas? by MFT on a piece of whisper white, a piece of dark green, and two pieces of DP. I then paper pieced the image and colored in the remaining images with my stampin write markers. I did use a silver glitter pen on the Christmas ornaments and present to add some sparkle. I then used my circle nesties to cut out the image. It worked out perfectly! After that I used my nesties to cut out a black circle and two scalloped circles out of DP. I popped it off the card following the design layout in the sketch challenge. I then stamped the sentiment and layered it on top of a piece of green card stock and DP. I added a metal charm I have had for almost nine months and then added three green diamond stickers down the right side of the card. I think it really looks festive. When I get ready to send it out, I am going to scent it with "winter cabin". I am so excited!

My second card I used a challenge over at the Spiral Whisper blog. Their latest challenge is a sketch challenge and I just had to play along since I just received my new Spiral Whisper stamps yesterday!!!

Here it is!

I have fallen in love with these images! They are just so cute and sweet! I started this card off by stamping Snowball Max on a piece of white card stock. (I know what you are saying, but he is a girl in the card, I will get to that in a minute). I also stamped him on a piece of turquoise glitter paper and a piece of white glitter paper. I paper pieced him together and colored him in with my stampin' write markers. Then I added some liquid applique to the cuffs and the snow at his feet. I also added a little silver glitter pen to the snowflakes. It was as this point that I realized that I had colored him with girl colors, so I added two ponytails with my black marker and made him a her. (Problem fixed!). I then layered her on a piece of turquoise card stock and rounded the corners. I followed the sketch challenge and popped the image off the page. I added the sentiment from Holliday Greetings II Set by A Muse stamps and cut it out with my nesties. I then used my circut to cut a snowflake and added it to the corner. Isn't it just beautiful! I just love the icy colors.

So enough stamping talk. Today was such a fun day. I had the privilege of babysitting Melaina!!! Yeah!!! It was so much fun. Her and Izzy even had the same outfit on today! They are so cute together and it was really good for Izzy. Izzy had to share her toys, bed and highchair. Overall she did very well. It was a pretty relaxing day. They both want to eat out of the same dish though. And Melaina even growled a little at Izzy when she tried to dig in her bowl. Iz wasn't sure what to do! Usually Tuxy is the only one that does that to her!

Oh and on more exciting thing, the siding is finally finished! No more banging. It looks so good, I hardly even recognize our house.

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