Cold Hands Warm Heart and a Baby Shower!

Happy Sunday everyone!

I hope you are having a great weekend and had a good Valentine's Day! Izzy, Jason and I went out to dinner last night and then just had a quiet evening at home. We caught up on our favorite TV show The Office. It is one of the few shows both Jason and I love. He tends to like sports and I love home improvement shows. I really think he would like the home improvement ones if I didn't get so many ideas for our house and then con him into doing them here! LOL! Anywhoo, it was just nice and relaxing! Today, I think I am heading to Michael's later to use my coupon and then do a little stamping. Pretty laid back day today too! Poor Jason is cleaning out the garage though. Don't envy him at all! LOL!

So I have a couple of projects to share today! One is for a new sketch blog, my friend Cassie told me about. I can't imagine why she would think I like sketches. I mean I hardly ever do them! (Heavy, heavy sarcasm inserted here) LOL! And the other is something my friend Tracy and I created for a friend's baby shower.

So my first card I created is a masculine themed winter card. I hardly ever make masculine cards and I really wanted to make one. Well when I saw this sketch at Inspirational Card Sketches I knew that I had the perfect layout!



Okay, so this is one of those cards where the idea in my head was completely and totally awesome, but didn't quite come out that way. I don't know what it is, but if anyone has any ideas please let me know! Oh well. I started this card by stamping the mitten from January Journaling Spot 2 by 2redbananas on DP and brown and green card stock and then cut it out. Next I stamped Edwin Skating by Magnolia on white card stock and colored him using my copics. I then popped him off the background. Following the sketch, I layered on brown and green card stock along with some DP from SEI. The border was created with a Martha Stewart punch. I then added some snowflake buttons, brown twine, a ghost snowflake and a big green button. To finish the card off, I stamped the sentiment for the Journaling spot and mounted it on some DP. I just really wished it had turned out as cool as I thought it was going to, oh well. Better luck next time!

My next project I want to share is gift tags my friend Tracy and I made for a friend's baby shower. We went online to find out what kind of bedding she registered for and that is where we got the color scheme. We then searched for sentiments on the Internet and went through my stamps to pick the perfect image. And here they are!

All of them together


A close up of an individual tag


We actually made fifty of these! It was fun though because we chatted the whole time we made them. We started the tags off by cutting some pinkish red, metallic card stock and some taupe card stock from Bazzill. We then printed off the sentiment using Microsoft Word and stamped the little sheep and heart from Baby First by My Favorite things. We colored them in using copics and a white gel pen. We then attached the paper to some premade tags we found at Archivers in the hot spot. Quick and easy! The perfect shower tag!

Well, you didn't think that you were going to be able to escape today without an Izzy picture and story did you? Don't worry it is a quick one, I promise! So sometimes while Izzy is awake I chat on the phone with friends, my parents or my husband. Well when Mommy is talking she usually wants me to read her a story or play with her in her kitchen. Most of the time she only plays with her numerous phones when I am off the phone. Well the other day, I was hanging up the phone after talking to my mom when I look over and see her chatting on her pink cell phone! So I quickly grab the camera to take a picture. Seriously though, I was laughing so hard, I almost didn't get it!!! She was "talking" to Daddy! I kept hearing her say, "Daddy. Bye, bye fishes. Bye, bye, moose. Daddy work. Tuxy, Tuxy! Shoes, tights, socks. Shoes, Daddy." Not quite sure what "Daddy" was saying but it must have been one really random conversation based on her end of it! LOL! And here is a picture of my baby talking on the phone!


That is it for me today! I have to pretend to look busy so I don't get roped into cleaning out the garage! LOL! Thanks as always for stopping by! And lots of smiles!

I'm Backkkkkkkk!

Happy Monday everyone!

So sorry I have been gone all weekend. Jason, Izzy and I took a trip to my parents this weekend. It was so much fun. My sister, her husband and their two kids were down so it was so nice to get lots of quality family time. I actually taught my sister how to stamp!!! I think she really liked it. She bought some copics and everything!! Before she left yesterday, she stamped up a whole bunch of images and said that she is going to try to color them. I of course forgot to take pictures of the cards we made, duh, but they were awesome! She did such a great job, you would have thought she had been stamping for years! Hopefully she will take a picture for me so I can publish it on my blog! I am just so proud of her!

Well, I know I promised you an Izzy story and here it is. Last week, Jason was making dinner and the way our kitchen is, there is now a big open space beside the range top. We usually put Izzy up there, as far away from the range top as possible, so that she can watch us cook. And by us I mean Jason. LOL! Like I said she was sitting up there, watching Daddy cook, when Jason pulled out the oven mitts. He set them on the counter in front of her and of course Izzy took it upon herself to try them on! She was dancing with them and waving them around, just having the best time! It was so, so cute! She is just adorable. And here is a picture of her adventures!

Alright, now that I have my Izzy story out of the way, I have a project for you. Sorry I only have one project to share, but like I said this weekend was crazy busy so I didn't get a lot of personal stamping time in. Not that I am complaining. I had such a great time teaching my sister how to color. Anywhoo, I wanted to share a journal cover I created for last week's MFT party. I cased this idea from Kimmie who used the new Bling' Bet set to create a sketches book. I thought about how awesome it would be to have journal to write down all my ideas and layouts and decided to create one.

I had this journal that I picked up at Christmas for a buck, just lying around and decided it would be perfect. To start this project, I stamped the main image from Digital Girl by MFT Stamps on white card stock along with several pieces of DP by Basic Grey. I then colored in the exposed parts and paper pieced the rest. I next layered on more pattern paper along with some maroon, light green and dark green card stock. I then stamped the sentiment on white and attached it to the bottom. I very easy project, but something that looks good when I use it!

Well that is it for me today. I am babysitting Izzy's friend Melaina today! Yeah!! I can hardly wait. Izzy is super excited and they entertain each other so it is a pretty nice day for me! Off to catch up on all the blogs I have been neglecting! Thanks as always for stopping by!

Lots of News to Share!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Boy is this week just flying by. Of course if Jason is home it seems like the day goes by even more quickly. I think he will be going to work today as it looks like the snow has melted on all the roads. Of course it is going to take it a long time to melt on the ground but that is okay. Oh and that reminds me. My neighbor had the most awesome idea for the kids this week. She suggested that we mix up some colored water, put it in spray bottles and let them have at the snow. I guess they can write and draw pictures and do all sorts of things. Doesn't that sound like fun? I think we are going to give it a try either today or tomorrow.

Like I said above, Jason was home yesterday from work because the company he works for actually shut down their entire campus! I couldn't believe it. I have never heard of anything like that before. Well of course Izzy was in hog heaven having her daddy around all day to read to her. She even made him muffins! I think I need to teach her that the wife doesn't do the cooking, that it is the husband who should be doing it all! LOL!

Okay on to all the latest and greatest news to share!! Boy is this week a busy week, but an awesome busy week. The first event I want to let you know about is the opening of the new Club Anya website sponsored by The Greeting Farm. If you love Anya as much as I do then you will definitely want to be there! Of course I have my wonderful friend, and Club Anya VP, Jessica to thank for this addiction! Here are all the deets for opening day! You don't want to miss it!

Greetings Fellow Anya and Ian lovers!

After much anticipation, we are FINALLY ready to launch Club Anya! Our Club VP, Jessica, is SO excited to get things going, see your samples, and have fun challenges, contests, and events! It's the place to BE the place for all things Anya!

To kick off the launch (NO Superbowl pun intended :) on Sunday, February 1st, 2009, we have some really fun things planned for you! It all starts at NOON CST on the Club Anya blog http://www.clubanya.blogspot.com/ with a special "Guess that Anya" blog hop that will ultimately end with our New Release of Rock the Farm and an ALL NEW MYSTERY ANYA!!!! Can you stand it???

As if that isn't exciting enough, we will be giving away some ADORABLE Anya Pocket Mirrors to the first 20 people who complete ALL the "Guess that Anyas" on the Blog Hop correctly, as well as completing our Anya "Scavenger Hunt". In addition, we will be giving away a few of the BRAND NEW ANYAs as well! How awesome is that?

Please email Jessica with any questions as well as any fun samples you'd like to have displayed on the Club Anya Blog throughout the coming months. We are so excited about the new Club and are always wanting to hear your ideas, so keep 'em coming!

Stay tuned to Jessica's personal blog (http://www.thewhimsicalbutterfly.blogspot.com/) on Saturday for the Official Blog Hop schedule of events...and the VERY FIRST SNEAK PEEK of the BRAND NEW ANYA! So, what are you waiting for? Tell DH to have a great time watching the game and you can come hang with us! It all starts on Sunday at Noon! See you there!

Can you wait!!! I know I can't! So to get the party started a little early I decided to create an Anya card with one of my brand new Anyas. I used this week's Sketch Challenge on Splitcoast for the layout.

What do ya think? I love this little teacher! She is so, so cute! And of course anything to do with teaching and school is near and dear to my heart so it was a double bonus! I started this card off by stamping Teacher Anya by The Greeting Farm on white card stock and colored her in with my copics. I cut her out and mounted her on pink and green card stock I cut out with my nesties. Following the sketch, I layered on pink and green card stock along with some DP I picked up at Michaels for .14 a piece! I added three buttons to the top, printed off the sentiment on the computer and finished the card off with a little paper button I had in my stash! Isn't she cute!!! I can't wait to give her to one of my teacher friends!

2nd headline for today! It is also the second day of sneak peeks for Storage Units, Ink and More! Wow, the creations the other DT ladies came up with yesterday were fantastic and just wait and see what they have for you today!! Truly amazing!! So be sure to stop by and see the must have sets for February!

Today...

Tori http://www.wildsprinkles.blogspot.com/
Carolina http://www.creativepad.typepad.com/
Alex http://www.fairyblossoms.typepad.com/

30th...

Kristen http://www.scrap-creations1.blogspot.com/
Amber http://www.somanycolorossolittletime.blogspot.com/

31st...

Laura http://www.lu-lascorner.blogspot.com/
Colleen http://www.glitterink.blogspot.com/
Leigh http://www.sunflowerstudio.typepad.com/

I am going to leave you with one little piece of eye candy to remind you about the Pink Cat Challenge going on over at PCP in the Pink Cat forum. You have until February 10th to get your entries in. We have an awesome prize up for grabs so don't delay!

Super sweet, right! I wanted to create a small treat to give my husband for Valentine's Day and when I saw this little tin bucket at Target for a buck, I just knew it would work! I started this quick and simple project off by wrapping my bucket with some black card stock I edge punched with my Martha Stewart punch and a piece of Valentine's DP from K and Company. I then cut out a black and white heart using my Cricut machine and attached them to the front. I stamped Billy as a cherub from Lily and Billy Sweethearts by Pink Cat Studio on white card stock and colored him in with my copics and glitter pen. I popped him off the hearts, placed little tiny pearl hearts around him and added lots and lots of candy to my bucket. The best part is it spells LOVE. Layers, One image, Valentine's Day bucket, Embellishments. See so easy!

Well, that is it for me today! Have a great rest of the day and thanks as always for stopping by!

Pink Cat's Release, Great News and Some Bog Candy!!

Does Thursday get any better than this!!!! I think not!!

Happy Thursday everyone!! Today is the big day! It is Pink Cat's release day! But you know as always you have to bear through a boring family story until you get to the real goodies!!

So today was a kind of laid back day, I played with Izzy in the morning (she wore her new leg warmers). Her and Tuxy fought, she took a nap and then we played some more. Pretty uninteresting day, until she discovered Daddy's Nerds candies. That is all she wants now. I had to hide the box. Those little sugar crumbs are addictive and my poor little baby is hooked. I don't know if she just loves the taste or if it is the fun of eating them. I honestly think it is the fun, because I hardly gave her any and they pretty much lasted all day. It was so cute, she was carrying around this huge bowl with about 10 little Nerds in it and she wouldn't put it down for fear that Tuxy might steal them! LOL! Oh, the joys of being a parent to a daughter and a dog!

Alright, alright, fine I won't leave you in suspense any longer! Here are the new stamp sets that are available for purchase now over at Pink Cat Studio!!!!!

It was worth the wait wasn't it?!!! Aren't they just perfect! The Lily and Billy Sweethearts has so many possibilities for Valentine's Day but also for pretty much any occasion. The new Kiki Kitty set is a must have for all those quick and cute card that you need to make all through out the year. Make sure you hop over to Pink Cat to get yours today!!!

To commemorate the new release, I decide to make another Kiki Card and another Lily card, because, well I just love to stamp and color them up! Here they are!!

See what I mean about being so versatile! For the Kiki card, I stamped Kiki with the cupcake on white card stock and colored her in with my copics. I then mounted her on some Basic Grey DP and blue and red card stock. For the long strip of DP, I actually wove it through the blue DP along with some yellow ribbon I tied into a bow! I then added a felt button and the sentiment I stamped from the new Kiki set. To finish the card off, I added some blue bling and a little bit of swirls to the sentiment and voila, the perfect birthday or thinking of you card!

For my Lily card, I started off by stamping Lily with her hands on her face on some white card stock and then I drew a window around her with my copic multiliner and a ruler. I colored it all in with my copics. I then layered on pink and green card stock along with some Basic Grey DP. I punched out little hearts using a Martha Stewart punch and popped them off around Lily so that it looks like that is what she is thinking about. I finished the card by stamping the sentiment on some white card stock, colored it in with copics and popped it off in the corner. I added three green brads to the top to help balance it out!! I hope you enjoy!

Onto my next big news!!! I was chosen to be a guest designer for the February Release of My Favorite Things!!! I can't believe it! The entries for this month were incredible and I now it was hard decision as there was so many amazing women who applied!! So thank you to all the MFT team for choosing me!! I only hope I can live up to this honor.

Alright onto my last big news of the day and it is a good one!!! Would anyone like some blog candy?!!! Well you first have to sit through my Watchadoin' Wednesday Challenge for SUINK and More before you get to find out!! (I know it is Thursday, but I wanted to honor my candy which comes from SUINK!!!)

This week's challenge was to create a Valentine's Treat holder. Well, on Monday, the wonderful Lynn challenged everyone over at SCS to make an origami box for her Try A New Technique challenge. Well, it took me staring at the computer for an hour, messing up a whole bunch of times and finally watching a video, but I did it, I made one and I am so proud of how it turned out. (Do try this, It took me so long to make it, not because of lack of instructions but rather the user's lack of brains!! LOL!

Here is my holder with my Valentine treat cards!

Here is a picture of the top of the box!

Seriously though, it was simple to make once you tried. I created this origami box by following Lynn's instructions found here. I made the box out of my new Core'dinations Chocolate box paper!!! It was so perfect because one side is brown the other is fuchsia and the core is fuchsia so it matched my paper perfectly. I then made my lid with some light weight chip board and some DP, sorry don't know what kind it is! I decorated the top of the box by cutting out brown, white and pink card stock with my nesties. I stamped the cupid from Will You Be My Valentine by SUInk and More on the white and colored it in with my blender pen and SU! inks. I added some glitter with my glitter pen, went over the bow and arrow with a gold pen and then sponged over the image with pixie pink to distress it. I made a belly band out of fuchsia Core'dinations card stock and my DP and then added my delish Brazill Basics ribbon all around the outside and tied it closed. It is made to hold my Valentine's Day goody notes that I created by embossing some white card stock with a flowers embossing folder, and sponging it with pixie pink. I cut out a piece of white card stock and a piece of brown card stock and stamped the sentiment from Will You Be My Valentine and sponged over it with pixie pink! I think it makes such a great little gift box and could hold just about anything!

So do you like my cupid and sentiment? Would you like to own these adorable images? Well now you can!! Denise, the wonderful owner of SUInk and More has graciously allowed all the DT members the opportunity to give away the stamp set Will You Be My Valentine as blog candy!

Here is what you have to do to win. Simply leave a comment on this post by Sunday, January 18th at midnight CST, telling me what your favorite Valentine was as a kid! I will announce the winner on Monday.

I have to say my favorites were always the ones that had some sort of piece of candy attached, preferably chocolate. However, I would also accept any Valentine that had suckers in them. LOL! Okay so now it is your turn! Can't wait to see what your favorites were!

Thanks for stopping by today and sharing in all my good news! It makes me feel so good to have so many people to share in my joy!

Let's All Do The Hop!! The MFT Blog Hop That is!!!

Happy Tuesday everyone!!


Welcome to your last stop of today's MFT blog hop! If you would like to start at the beginning, go here: Kim's Blog


As most of you know, Kim has revamped the What's Up Wednesday and has been picking a MFT Hot to Trot Designer that is featured in the Forum on the 3rd Wednesday of the month. I cannot tell you what a complete shock and honor it was to be chosen!!! Have you seen the MFT gallery on SCS???? There is some serious talent out there ladies!!!


When I received the new stamp set for BC Dzyns called Day Dreamer, I was so excited, because I immediately imagined a journal. I think it was the speech bubble. I mean who doesn't have tons of thoughts running through their head all the time that they need to jot down. I actually keep a little notebook in my car for those random card ideas that pop up when I am headed to the store or taking Izzy to the library. And of course it needs to be cute! I mean, you can't have an ugly journal. So I decided to make a journal cover.

Here is a picture of the inside!



I started this project by stamping the girl, speech bubble and sentiment from the new BC Dzyns stamp set Day Dreamer by MFT on white card stock and several different kinds of DP. I colored them in using my copics and markers and then paper pieced the images together. To create the journal cover itself. I took three pieces of chipboard cut to 6 1/2 long, with 2 of the chipboard pieces cut to 5 inches wide and the third cut to 1 in. wide. I laid them out on a piece of brown card stock that was cut to 12 in. by 7 1/2 in. I folded up the edges, using book corners and then cut a second piece of brown card stock, cut to 11 in. by 6 1/4 in to cover the inside. Before I adhered it to the inside of my journal, I wrapped two pieces of brown card stock on each end to hold the book in place. This was done by cutting brown strips to 7 1/4 in long and 2 inches wide and then adhering the excess to the back. With this step completed, I attached the card stock to the inside of my journal cover. To decorate the front, I layered on brown card stock, blue card stock and DP from Basic Grey's Offbeat Collection. The numbers and letters were cut out of DP and brown card stock with my Cricut machine and adhered to the front using my Xyron machine. I finished the journal by popping off my speech bubble and image. I can't wait to wrap my journal in it and place it in the car!!


I hope that you enjoyed the blog hop as much as I have and a huge thanks to Kim at MFT and the wonderful Guest DT members for their amazing creations!


Don't forget to leave a comment in order to be placed in the drawing to win a MFTreat!!! I will be picking the winner at random later tonight!! Thanks again for stopping by!!!

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This contest is now closed! Thank you to all of those who left comments and participated in the blog hop!! A winner will be chosen randomly and posted shortly!

Quick Post for Today!

Happy Sunday everyone!!

Hope your Sunday is going well so far! Today, the temperature was actually pretty nice outside, a little windy, but nice. The unfortunate news is, it is suppose to start raining, and then turning into freezing rain later tonight. I heard that tomorrow's high is only going to be in the twenties!!! Yikes! Not looking forward to that.

Well, I didn't get a whole lot of stamping in today, but that is okay, I was able to get a lot more shopping done and was even able to visit with our neighbors. It was really nice. Izzy had a blast shopping because we went to the bookstore. That is her second favorite place to go, following the library. Do you see a pattern here? It is only in second place because at the bookstore, there isn't a special shelf that she can take books on and off of. Lol!

Like, I said, today's post is relatively short. I have just a real quick and simple gift idea to share today. My neighbor Beth and her two sons, helped and we created these adorable cookies in a jar. I know this is an old gift idea, but I still think it is a good one, especially when you decorate it up all cute!

Isn't it cute!!! And the best part is the boys did most of the work after I came up with the initial design!! Alright, so we started off by filling a quart canning jar with the ingredients. The recipe can be found here. We found though that you probably need the wide mouth jars, otherwise, not all the chocolate chips will fit inside! And nobody wants less chocolate, am I right!! Next we created the "cookie" on the front by cutting out a piece of kraft card stock with my nesties and stamping the chocolate chips from the SU! set Oh So Sweet! I then rubbed close to cocoa around all the edges to make the cookie look done!! I stamped the letters with a letter set I picked up at the dollar spot at Michaels. The cookie is mounted on a piece of red card stock I cut out with my nesties and accented with a white gel pen. I created the belly band around the jar by printing off the sentiment, "Nothin' Says Lovin' Like Somethin' From the Oven" and adhered it to a piece of red card stock. To continue the cookie theme, I stamped some cookies using my Cookie Stubby from Stamps by Judith. To complete the jar, I cut out fabric circles with my pinking shears and tied a pretty holiday ribbon around the top! It was so much fun and the boys had a really good time!!

Well, I am outta here. Need to get to the grocery store before the big storm hits!! Hope you have had a great weekend!! Thanks as always for stopping by!

Bags, Mice and Packages!

Happy Wednesday!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Warning! Christmas Cards are Contained in This Blog Posting!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great evening! Thanks for stopping by!!

Angels, a Little Bit of Bubbly and some Skates!

Happy Thursday everyone! Only one more day until Friday and boy am I ready for it!

Today has been a kind of relaxed easy going kind of day. Izzy has been playing around outside, as well as Tuxy and I even got some of the leaves raked up so that Jason can mulch them this weekend. Supposedly it is suppose to snow, but I am keeping my fingers crossed that the weather man is wrong.

Izzy has a new obsession, well really not new per se, just widened her old obsession. It is shoes, but not only her shoes, but everybody's. She has been walking around the house in mine and Jason's shoes and the other day she even tried on Aunt Tracy's shoes. Poor Tracy had to hunt down her shoes before she left! We all got a kick out of it though. She looks so funny shuffling around in those big gigantic shoes! She has also been wearing her little kiddie apron all day long. I really didn't think she would even put it on, seeing has how she has started crying every time I show it to her, but for some reason, today she is loving it. I can hardly get it off of her to take a nap! Ohhh, maybe she will make me some cookies, I will have to discuss it with her.

Well on to the cards. I had a really fun and relaxing day making projects. I tried not to stress out too much on how they came out and I really like them. My first card for today is a small ATC (3.5" by 2.5" card) that can easily be made for Christmas. It is actually a combination of two challenges, one at All That Scraps, which was to create a Christmas Card that was easy to mass produce, and the color challenge over at Cute Card Thursday to use red and green on your card. Perfect colors right?! Here it is!

This card was made with one of the angels from Angels Everywhere by All That Scraps. This is a set of Digi downloads. (Love my digis). I started off by resizing my chosen angel and printed her off on the computer. I then colored her in with my copics and stampin write markers. I cut her out and set her to the side. Next, I cut out a piece of green card sock and ran it through my cuttlebug using my hounds tooth embossing folder. I then layered on a piece of red card stock and a piece of Christmas DP. I cut out a piece of Christmas DP and a piece of green card stock with my nesties and embossed the green piece with my swirls embossing folder. I popped if off the background and then popped the angel off the ovals. I think this would be so great to mass produce, especially if a child could help you. Wouldn't this make great little kid's Christmas cards?! Or you could enlarge the angel and make the card on a bigger scale! Gosh I love my digis!!

Speaking of digis, I just had to use one of my new digi stamps from Pink Papery Studios again! They are so cute. One of my fellow design team members hosts a weekly Wednesday Challenge for Pink Papery Studios. This week's challenge was to create a card or project on a budget. Well of course I had no idea where to go to get any budget supplies. (Heavy sarcasm inserted here.) Take a wild guess where I went. You guessed it!!! Target. You should get a prize. I found these cute little bath flowers (they are little dissolvable soaps that are in the shape of flowers). They come in these cute little test tubes and were only a buck!!! So of course I had to get one in every color, luckily there was only three colors!

Aren't they cute!! I got this idea after seeing some Spool Cap Goodie Holders on Becca Feeken's blog. I had to adapt mine because I was only covering the test tube, but the basic idea was the same. I started off by cropping the girl's head from the main image of Simply Bath by Pink Papery Studios, resizing it, and printing it off on the computer three times. I then colored in my three images with my copics. Next I cut a strip of teal card stock 1 3/4 " wide, and a strip 1 1/4 " wide. I then scored each piece at 1/4" in. I cut notches along the 1/4" scored side so that I could attach it to the base. I cut out two different sizes of scalloped circles using my nestabilites, one for the top and one for the bottom. I then took my two notched strips and wrapped them around the tube and attached the notches to the base. I cut a slightly smaller scalloped circle, cutting out the middles so that it would hide my notches. I repeated this for the top. I then cut strips of DP, 1 1/4" wide and 3/4" wide to wrap around the tube. I mounted my girl's face on a scalloped piece of DP, added an eyelet and attached it with a white piece of ribbon. I repeated the process for the pink and purple tubes. This literally took no time at all to make and is such a fun little gift! Wouldn't it be a great little party favor for a spa day?! Okay, I lied a little about the time factor. I know bad aren't I? It actually took me about 10 minutes to make the three gifts, but about 45 minutes to get the stupid sticker and adhesive off of them! Man, that was some industrial strength glue attached to the label!!! I probably should have just run to the store and picked up some Goo Gone. It would have taken less time than scraping it off with my fingernail. lol!

Now to my final card. I wanted to play along with Tamara's Card Sketch Challenge this week and was intrigued by the design. It is so unusual! Once I saw the swoop on the bottom I immediately thought of my new Pink Cat Studio stamps that I received yesterday!!! I couldn't wait to use them. Then I got to thinking about colors and how cool it would be to incorporate this week's SCS color challenge (certainly celery, night of navy and basic gray) into my card. Here is what I came up with!

I love this image!! I have never been able to skate, but this is how I have always imagined it would be! I just love the dog! Okay, I started off this image by stamping Lily and Billy skating from Lily and Billy Winter Stamps on a piece of white card stock. I then colored them in using my copics and my stampin' write markers. I free handed the background and colored it in. I then layered my card with navy, gray, and green card stock, with touches of DP. I free handed the swoosh and popped off the main image. I then added some green ribbon to the bottom and three snowflake buttons to the top of the picture. They were supposed to be at the bottom, but I felt that it was a little bottom heavy so I moved them up. I finished the card off by stamping the sentiment and cutting it, along with a piece of navy card stock out with my nesties. I just love how well the colors go together.

Well I am out for tonight! Jason isn't playing tennis so we get to see him, yeah!! Have a great evening and thanks for stopping by!

Exciting News and a Serious Problem!

Happy Friday!

We have safely arrived in Kansas City and Izzy did a really good job on the trip. It has been a couple of months since we went on a long drive, so I wasn't sure how she would handle it, but she did really well. I am proud of her! Of course she had Tuxy in the back seat with her, which keeps her pretty entertained. She kept trying to pet him. He stays just a millimeter out of her reach, but no further. I don't know how he does it! He must have super powers or something.

We had a wonderful dinner with Jason's parents and ice cream parfaits for dessert. Izzy wasn't sure if she wanted one. (We don't usually have dessert after meals at our house). We kept trying to get her to take a bite and finally she did. Then it was full on gorging time. I have never seen a kid eat something so fast. I kept telling her to slow down or she would get an ice cream headache!

Well on to my exciting news! I am a design team member for the new stamp company/web store Pink Papery Studios!!!! I can hardly type this I am so excited. Amy, the owner, has opened up the new website and has a ton of exciting stuff. She has Shimmerz Paints, Card Scents (coolest thing ever) and lots and lots of new stamp sets so check it out! She has also uploaded a group to Paper Craft Planet so be sure to drop in and say hello!

Okay, on to my first ever design team project! I don't know why but I am totally into making gift sets lately. I must have Christmas on the brain. When Amy sent me Simply Bath I immediately thought, wouldn't that make the cutest gift basket for someone. So I dropped another project I was working on, strapped Izzy into the car and drove to Target. (Are you surprised!) Here it is!

Here are some close up views of the contents. All contents are from Target!

Is this girl not the coolest thing ever! (This is what I imagine a relaxing bath would be like, minus the dog and baby trying to crawl in with you!) I actually got her in digi form (image is sent to you over the computer) but she is also available in regular stamp form. I really like the digis because you can resize them, rotate them, crop them, etc. It makes them so versatile. I started off by printing her off on some white card stock and coloring her in with my copic markers. I found the copics to be the best way to color the digis in. And let me tell you was she ever fun to color in. I then added a touch of glitter to the bubbles and wrote "Relax" in black pen and glitter at the top. I cut her out using my nesties along with a piece of DP and purple card stock and punched holes on either end with my rectangle punch. I threaded through an ivory organdy ribbon and tied it around a square basket I got at the dollar spot. Next I made tags for all the little goodies inside using the bottles and towel rack from Simply Bath. I colored them with my copics and mounted them on DP and purple or teal card stock that I cut out with my nesties. On a few of them I used my cuttlebug embossing folders to create texture. I attached most of them with ribbon and arranged them artfully in the basket. I just love the colors and the girl is going to be so much fun to play with over and over again. I can't wait to get the rest in the series!!!

Now on to my serious problem. I truly think I am 100% addicted to paper crafting. I think it has reached a pinnacle. I was driving to my friends house the other day, kind of daydreaming, thinking about how wonderful it would be to be rich and famous. I am sure there are lots of other people that do this. Here is where I realized how bad my problem is! The whole reason I want to be rich (don't really care about being famous) is because I wouldn't have to worry about how much I spent on stamping supplies! I even thought through what kind of job I would have to have that would allow me to make money, but still have plenty of time to stamp! What is wrong with me?! I spent thirty minutes just trying to come up with the perfect job! If there is a support group for people like me, please let me know! lol!

Well that is it for me tonight! I am off to visit with the inlaws. I have a short, quick project for tomorrow that I will be posting and lots to share about the family get together. As always, thanks so much for stopping in and leaving your wonderful comments! I read every single one!

Thangiving Greetings and Christmas Treats!

Happy Thursday!

Just one more day until Friday! I can't believe how quickly this week has gone by! It is crazy. Tomorrow, Jason, Izzy, Tuxy and I are going into Kansas City to visit my in laws. Every year Jason's mother's side of the family hosts a Christmas party and this year it is my mother-in-laws turn. I can hear your question now in my head (everybody has been asking it when I tell them), but they used to try to have it in December and then it got pushed back to just before Thanksgiving and now it has gotten pushed back even further. November and December and just crazy busy! I think from now on they are just calling it a family get together!

The nice thing is Jason has the day off tomorrow, so we can take our time driving in. It is supposed to be chillier tomorrow and Saturday, which is a shame, but it will be really neat to see all the fall colors. It really doesn't truly feel like fall until the air is crisp and there is that cold air smell. Who knows what I am talking about?

Well Izzy is getting bigger and bigger by the day. Today I was making her breakfast and had the fridge door open. The little stinker went over, pulled out the cheese and strawberries (I don't know how well those go together, especially since it was taco cheese) and put them on the table. I couldn't believe it. I have never seen her do that before. And this morning while I was stamping, she opened up my stamping scrub pad and scrubbed one of my stamps clean. (Tearing up). She is a big girl!!!!! OOOOOOHHHH, I just had an epiphany! Since she is obviously stamping now, Jason will have to buy her some stamp sets of her own, that mommy can borrow! I am a genius!!!

On to the cards! Late yesterday afternoon, I went outside to get the mail and guess what little goody was in the mailbox? Not chocolate, not a million dollars; it was stamps from SUInk and More! I was so excited. They came just in time for me to participate in this week's Watchadoin' Wednesday Challenge. This week's challenge was to create a scene with your stamps. Well since we are basically going to a Thanksgiving party this weekend, I knew that I wanted to use my brand new Thanksgiving sets.

Isn't it sweet! I seriously used almost every color of yellow, brown and blue ink that Stampin' Up makes to create the background. My hands are stained from all the ink! Lol! To start this card I stamped the boat and pilgrim girl from Bountiful Harvest by SUInk and More on white card stock and colored them in with my copics and stampin' write markers. I then stamped the Native American girl from Giving Thanks and colored her in with my copics and stampin write markers. To create the waves/ocean, I used a sponge and (here goes) almost amethyst, ballet blue, bashful blue, bordering blue, night of navy, and tempting turquoise. I then ripped the paper in strips and added it to another sheet of paper, overlapping as I went. I then adhered the ship to the top wave. Next I created the sand and rocks using the same technique as I did the water except I used summer sun, so saffron, apricot appeal, caramel, close to cocoa and chocolate chip. I cut out rock shapes and adhered them around the sand. I then added some shading with my copics and filled in the sky. I popped of the two girls and the scene was complete. I then layered the image on a piece of brown card stock and a piece of DP. I repeated this layering in the background adding some blue paper. I created a banner with the sentiment I stamped from Bountiful Harvest and added two brads. I can't wait to give it to my mother-in-law!

My second project for today uses another set from SUInk and More called Kiss the Cook. I love this set. I couldn't wait to use it. I actually combined two different challenges to make this project. I used today's Ways to Use it challenge over at SCS, which was to use corner punches and Tamara's Sketch Challenge over on her blog.

I decided to create a gingerbread house kit. I used to be an elementary school teacher and the 5th grade team at the school I taught at used to have the kids make gingerbread houses out of grahmn crackers, royal icing and candy. Even my kindergartners couldn't wait to get to fifth grade to be able to do the project! Actually I just saw one of my old coworkers who told me that one of my former kindergartners (who is now in fifth grade!!! What! I can't be that old, can I?) asked about this the first day of school. lol. Anywhoo, I got to thinking about that and decided what a wonderful little gift this would be. I had an extra little bakery box that I picked up at Michaels some time ago and knew that I would be the perfect size for my kit. I started off by stamping the girl, stove, bowls, utensils and gingerbread house from the Kiss the Cook set on white paper and some DP. I colored them and paper pieced the images. I then used Tamara's sketch and my slot punch to layer on the images to pieces of burgundy card stock, teal card stock and DP. I stamped the sentiment on the middle rectangle and popped off the three mini tags. I attached the images to the top of the box, filled it up with my food and tied a white ribbon around it. Lastly I popped off the little girl chef. I can't wait to give it out!! It is such a fun and easy project although in my experience, most of the houses don't actually get made because the ingredients get eaten up!

Well that is it for me today! I am off to do some more stamping and to get packed! Have a great rest of the day, I know I will! Thanks as always for all the wonderful, encouraging comments! They really inspire me!

Christmas, Christmas and Kisses!

Happy Monday!!

Monday's are always difficult around here. Izzy is getting used to it being just her and I during the day and Tuxy mopes around in the mornings, and I am grouchy because Jason isn't here. Too bad he can't work from home, huh! Maybe I could take it up with his boss. I am sure they wouldn't miss him, right? I mean I know there are only 5 of them in the department, but isn't five a crowd? Lol!

Well we had a little bit of excitement this morning. I had the back door open because it was so pleasant and Izzy and Tuxy just love to go back and forth. Well I was cleaning up the breakfast dishes when I looked down on the floor and saw a bee. (That tells you how nice it has been). Well its' little stinger was a out a little bit. I first thought that maybe it had stung Izzy, but she appeared to be fine and Tuxy looked okay, so I tried to shoo it outside but it was gone. Well about ten minutes later I look down again and it is crawling on the floor again, but this time it looks almost dead. I went ahead and killed it and threw it in the trash. That's when I saw Tuxy limping. The poor thing had been stung in the paw. Well he wasn't comfortable lying anywhere so I went and got his bed. Well guess who climbed in it first? Izzy!! I couldn't get her out of it. By this time though, Tuxy was feeling better, so it all worked out in the end.

It was also a really busy, but fun stamping day for me! I got so many projects done; all of them sketch challenges. I can't help it, I am completely addicted. I just love the challenge of picking out the papers that will work together and the stamps that will fit the sketch. Ohh, I am excited just thinking about it.

Well here is the first card. It is for Sketch No. 23 over at the Sketch Saturday website. I just love all the circles in the design. I combined it with the Design Team Challenge over at Pink Cat Studio to use a Christmas image with non Christmas colors.

Isn't it sweet!!! I started off by stamping Lilly and Snowman from the Lily and Tweet set by Pink Cat Studio on white card stock. I colored them in using my copics and my markers. I cut them out using my nesties and applied some liquid applique and glitter to resemble snow. Then I mounted them on some blue glitter paper. Following the sketch, I added more glitter paper and some Christmas DP. I placed white ribbon behind the images and tied a bow. I went ahead and placed a snowflake button and some diamond brads, around the card to give it even more bling. I just love the non-traditional colors. I think I might save this sketch for future use!

My second card is for a new sketch challenge that I just found called Magnolia Vs. Stampavie! Doesn't it just sound exciting!! Well I saw that this week's challenge was a sketch challenge, so I knew that I had to try. The rules are that you have to follow the sketch and use either a Magnolia stamp or a stamp available at Stampavie (which includes Rachelle Anne Miller stamps).

I love, love, love this sketch!

I can't wait to give this to my friend. It is so sweet and girly. I started off by stamping Lily-Springtime by Rachelle Anne Miller available through Stampavie. I colored her in using my copics and stampin' write markers. I then mounted her on a piece of red card stock, a piece of DP and a piece of blue card stock. Next, I layered my card following the sketch with DP and red card stock. I added some blue ribbon and tied a bow and popped of the main image. Instead of the flowers, I cut out some butterflies from some DP I had and placed them around the half circle. I printed off the sentiment on the computer and mounted it on a piece of DP and red card stock. I then added a couple of more butterflies. The inside will say, "Just for You!!, Love Izzy". I know that Tracy will love it!

My final sketch challenge I decided to turn into a tag for a really great gift idea. My neighbor Beth and I have been trying to come up with some really creative gift ideas for Christmas. (It never hurts to start early.) We have been toying with the idea of making Soup in a Jar. Well today, I was searching out on-line and located a recipe that looked really fun and easy. I have been wanting to use my Kiss the Cook set by Hanna Stamps again and when I saw this week's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge over at Poetic Artistry (This was my first time playing along), I knew I had it. I know everybody will really love them. Who wouldn't love something that is basically already made?

Here is a close up of the tag.

Isn't it fantastic!! Don't laugh, those are buttons in the jar! I didn't have the ingredients to actually make the layers in the soup so I had to improvise! Oh, maybe somebody would like a jar of buttons; something to think about. lol! Okay so I first started off by using my new rectangle nesties to cut out two pieces of Christmas DP and a piece of green card stock. Next I stamped the girl from Kiss the Cook on a piece of white card stock, and two pieces of Christmas DP. I colored her in and paper pieced her together. I then mounted her on a piece of green card stock following the sketch. Instead of the stars, I stamped the salt, pepper and star dust on white card stock and colored them in. I mounted them on a piece of green card stock and popped them off the page. I finished the front of the tag by printing off the jar title and mounting it on a piece of green card stock that I stuck three rhinestones on. On the back of the tag I placed the heating instructions. For the lid of the jar, I used my nesties to cut out a piece of green card stock and a piece of Christmas DP. I tied a satin ribbon around the lid and added the tag. I really think this will be a hit in my family.

Here is the recipe.

Minestrone Soup Jar Mix

Ingredients:

¼ cup red lentils

¼ cup green split peas

¼ cup barley

1/3 cup beef bouillon powder

2 tbsp. parsley flakes

3 tbsp. onion flakes

1/3 tsp. thyme

1/3 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. basil

approximately ¼ cup alphabet macaroni

Minestrone Soup Jar Mix

Directions:

In a two-cup jar, layer from bottom in the order given, then seal the jar.

Include these instructions on your gift tag:

In a very large saucepan combine 8 to 10 cups of water, a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes, and soup mix. Add 2 chopped carrots, and 2 to 4 chopped potatoes (optional: 2 cups chopped cabbage). Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for one hour or until peas are tender. Enjoy!

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope your day was as beautiful as ours! Thanks as always for the wonderful comments! They really make my day!