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!

Alter Something and a Little Bit More Blue and Green!!

Happy Sunday everyone!!!

I hope all of you have been having a wonderful weekend. Sorry I was MIA yesterday but it took a little bit longer to move Tracy into her new place than I thought. The good news is she is almost all moved and unpacked!!! Yeahh!!! I am so glad she hired the movers, I don't know how we would have gotten everything moved. She moved from a three story house with a basement into a second story flat. So lots of stairs. And both houses are pretty old so the stairs are steep and uneven. Luckily there wasn't too much for me to have to carry up the stairs. Mainly I helped unpack, move around furniture and organize. Those are some things I can handle.

Well, I didn't wind up getting home last night until around ten and I went straight to bed. I would love to say I slept the night away, but I woke up at 11:30 to a loud bang that shook the whole house. In my sleep dazed mind I thought that someone had run into our house. Thank goodness that wasn't the case. I young man had driven his car into the tree in our front yard. So Jason and I spent another hour and a half calling the police and making sure everything was okay. The young man appeared to be fine, although his car was not. I am happy to report that the ambulance deemed him okay to be released but I don't think the police did. I have a suspicion that he was intoxicated so he was taken to the station. It just goes to show you the hazards of when you drink and drive.

Enough with the sad news and on to the good news. Izzy is doing better and better at going to the potty on her own. She really enjoys it and tries to go every chance she gets. I can't wait until she is completely potty trained. Yeah no more diapers!!

For today I have two gift ideas to share and a card. I have been thinking more and more about gifts for Christmas (ACK!!! Only18 more days!!!!) and obviously most of you have since the challenges all revolve around gift tags or altered objects. (Thank you, I need all the motivation I can get!) For my first project today I want to share an altered gift I made for the December Guest Designer Challenge at MFT. The challenge this time was to create something that you altered. I decided to create a little gift for Izzy!!!

Isn't this adorable! I can't help it, I love it! I think it has to do something with the picture in the middle, hee hee!! I am telling you, this project came together perfectly. I had been thinking about this challenge for a long time and finally went to Michaels to see if any ideas sparked. Well I walked in and checked out the dollar ribbon rack and found this completely awesome spool of pink with brown polka dot ribbon! I of course picked it up and figured, I'll use that sometime. I then wondered around the store pointing out different things to Izzy when we got to the wood alterables isle. I kept thinking that I wanted some sort of book shape, when I came across a plain, pine, square frame. The best part was that it was only a buck. That is when the creative juices started to flow. When I got home, I took out a white piece of card stock slightly bigger then my frame and ran it through my cuttlebug using my swirl embossing folder. I then sponged on pretty in pink ink to highlight the swirls and wrapped the frame in my paper. I cut out the middle with a craft knife. Next, I tied a bow and loop using my cool ribbon and stapled it to the front of my frame. I then added three brown brads down the side. I stamped Reading Flopsey by MFT stamps on white card stock and colored him in with copics and prisma color pencils. I cut him out and adhered him to the bottom corner of my frame with dimensionals. To finish the gift off, I printed off one of my favorite pictures of Izbiz and placed it in the middle. I can't wait to hang it on the tree or in her room!! What a cutie!! The best part is this gift only cost two bucks!!!

My next gift idea is for two challenges, both of them in the Hanna Forum. The first challenge was to create a gift tag for the holidays with the color red somewhere and containing at least one embellishment. The second challenge was to incorporate the color pink and some brads. Here is my idea.

I decided to make a package of hot chocolate. I filled a pastry bag with hot chocolate and attached a tag with some orange and red polka dot ribbon. I started the tag off by coloring a prestamped image of Coffee Riley by Hanna stamps. I colored him in with my copics, markers and pencils. I then adhered him to some pink DP and green card stock. For the tag itself, I cut out two tag shapes using my Cricut machine out of two different kinds of DP (some of the flowers are red, but it is hard to tell in the picture!). I then threaded through my ribbon and added three blue brads. Quick and simple! Just what I need for the holidays.

My final project for today is a good old fashioned card!!! And, drum roll please, it is a boy card! This card was made using the sketch for Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge.

I cannot wait to give this card to my nephew Patrick for Christmas. I just love the little belly on this stamp!! So cute! Okay so I started this card off by stamping Sugarplums Pajama Christopher and the tree and presents from Sugarplums Christmas Scene both by All That Scraps on white card stock and colored them in with my markers and copics. I cut out Christopher and the presents and used my nesties to cut out the tree. I then layered all four images on top of each other, popping Christopher off the background. I then cut out green and blue card stock with my nesties and adhered them to my image. Following the sketch I layered brown, blue and green card stock as well as two different kinds of DP. I added a piece of brown ribbon and some brown brads. I really hope that Patrick likes it!

Before I sign off today I wanted to answer a question I received in my comments section. One of my wonderful blog visitors asked me "when you say that you colored your image in with your markers and copics did you mean that you used different ones for different parts or are you using them in conjunction with one another." This is such a great question and I am sorry for the confusion. I actually use my stampin' up markers and my copics in conjunction with one another. I find that if I don't have the right copic color, one of my stampin' up markers will fit the bill so I use it to create shadows with and my copics to blend. I hope that answers your question.

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend and thanks for stopping by!!

I Have a Theme and It is Blue and Green!!

Happy Friday everyone!!

I am so glad that it is finally here!! Jason has been working from home today which has been great but the bad news is he will be gone tonight playing tennis. Bummer! That is okay, at least Izzy has been able to see him for awhile. She will get to spend all day with him tomorrow since I will be over at "Aunt" Tracy's helping her move into her new house!!! Yeah! So excited about seeing the new place, not so much about the actual moving part.

Izzy was so cute last night, I just have to share. Jason was a little late getting home and of course she was waiting in the window for him. Well when she arrived,she ran up to him and then ran into the kitchen. Jason followed her and started making dinner. About two minutes later I hear little feet running in toward me and I hear "Snuggles, Snuggles". I was trying to blog so I put the laptop down and she climbed in my lap and snuggled in for a minute. Then she jumped down and ran into the kitchen and I heard, "Daddy snuggles, snuggles!". Isn't that adorable. She was doing it all night. She is such a love bunny!

Alright, so I guess my theme for today is green and blue. That is not what I started out doing, but somehow it just wound up that way. Isn't it funny how stuff like that happens?! Lol!!

Well my first card for today sort of kind of fits All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge. This week's challenge was a color challenge to use Pacific Point, Chocolate Chip and Soft Sky. Well I don't have any of these specific colors so I decided to use two shades of blue, one close to aqua and brown. Here is what I came up with.

I have a little bit of a twisted since of humor, so sorry if it isn't funny to anyone else. When I was making up the card I just kept thinking it would be so funny if the kid was throwing snowballs at anybody that got near the bear! See, get it? Okay, not that funny, oh well! I started off this card by printing (digi stamp) the little girl from Winter Sweetpea and Tiger and the bear and snowman from Winter Bear both by All That Scraps on white card stock and colored them in with my copics and markers. I then layered them on brown card stock and popped them off two kinds of snowflake DP, some brown card stock and some white card stock I embossed with my snowflakes embossing folder. I cut out snowflake shapes using my Cricut machine and mounted them in each corner. I used the Nature Hike wheel from Stampin Up for the sign and colored it in with my copics. I added a touch of white gel pen to the top to make it look like it was snowed on. To finish the card I glued on some winter buttons I have been hording. I just love this card! It is so wintery and fun!

For my second card, I created a baby card. I actually have problems with baby cards (I know, I have lots of problems, lol!). I love to make them, but I never seem to be able to get them to people. So I am making one in advance so it will be on hand. This card actually incorporates two MFT challenges. The first challenge is another of this month's ambassador challenges which was to create a card that had at lease three buttons on it and used the color blue somewhere. I used this week's MFT Sketch Challenge for the layout.

I love this little card!! I have had this stamp set for forever and have never used it, what is wrong with me? Anywhoo, I started this card by stamping the postage stamp, boy phrase and onesie from Baby First by MFT Stamps on white card stock and colored them in using my markers and copics. I went ahead and restamped the onesie on some DP and popped it off the image to give it some more dimension. Following the sketch, I layered on green card stock, blue card stock, and two different kinds of DP. I added a green stitched ribbon and lots of faux white stitching with my white gel pen. For the bottom I stamped the sentiment and then added three buttons. I think this would be a wonderful baby card!

Alright, my final card is in honor of my great grandfather. He was one of those guys who could fix just about anything with duct tape, just not very well. lol! In fact growing up we always used to tease him because if your dress was getting too short or your pants or whatever, he would say, "Just give me a piece of black velvet ribbon and some duct tape and I'll fix it for you." So this one is for you grandpa!

The sentiment on the inside of the card will read, "If this doesn't fix it, I guess I will have to stitch it back together! Merry Christmas!" I used the Hanna Release Party Challenge for the main idea of the card which was to incorporate stitching. I started off by stamping Hanna, and the ladder from Tool Time Hanna by Hanna stamps on some white card stock and colored them in with my markers and copics. I then drew a tree on some white card stock, colored it in and cut it out. I created the floor and wallpaper (with stitching) on a separate sheet of white card stock and colored them in with my copics and markers. Next, I layered on my tree, the ladder and Hanna. To finish the image off, I added some ribbons and some dots so that it would look like garland and ornaments on the floor. I then layered on three different kinds of Christmas DP (one of them even has stitching on it) and green and blue card stock. To finish the card, I added stitched green ribbon to the sides and three brads to the bottom. I just know my family will get a kick out of this one.

Well, I better say goodbye to the hubby. He will be leaving shortly for tennis! Have a great rest of the evening and thanks as always for stopping by!

A Gift Card Holder, A Couple of Carolers and One Heck of A Challenge!!

Happy Thursday everyone! Just one more day until the weekend starts!!

Today has been beautiful but freezing!!! Brrrrr! It looked so warm before I went outside to take my pictures, but after only 5 minutes I had to come in and warm up my hands. I even had my big puffy coat on!! I couldn't believe it. I think it only got up to 30 degrees today.

Jason wants me to take Izzy to get a flu shot asap, so I am trying to track down a place that will give them to her. Our regular doctor's office is all booked up and the urgent care place isn't sure they will have any left tomorrow. I am going to call a pediatric after hours center soon to see if they have any left. I don't know how I feel about the flu shot. I have received them in the past and then actually gotten sick from them. But Jason is really concerned so I will do it to ease his mind, if I can ever track a place down. Lol!

Well Izzy hasn't gone in the potty today. She has practiced a lot, i.e. we have spent a ton of time in the bathroom, but I keep missing it. Poor baby. She really wants to do the right thing. She is such a good girl.

Jason is working from home tomorrow!!!!! Yeah!! I am so excited, that means I can go to Curves tomorrow instead of tonight and he will be here to help me with Izzy. I love it when he is around as does Izzy and Tuxy. I think they are even more excited than I am! Izzy is so cute when Jason is home, she sits on his lap and helps him program. Maybe she will be the next Microsoft genius!!!

How many of you were at the MFT party last night? It was super fun and the sets they released are amazing!!! I had so much fun and everyone is so sweet and supportive. I can't wait to get mine in the mail and start stamping! I am going to have a blast with them!

Well I have some fun cards in store for you today. My first card is actually a gift card holder. Last Friday's challenge in the Hanna Forum was to create a gift card holder. What a fab idea!! Who doesn't need gift card holders around Christmas time. While I was thinking about the Hanna sets I own that I could make a gift card holder out of, I started to think about how many people in my family love to cook. That then led to the idea of a cooking themed gift card holder and finally to this card.

I am really pleased with the way this turned out. I really wanted to use Kiss the Cook by Hanna Stamps for my card and I thought a card that was in the shape of a pot would be perfect!! I started this card off by creating a square gift card holder out of red card stock. I used the pop up gift card technique to assemble it. Using a bowl, I cut out the corners on the bottom. To create the lid, I used the same bowl to get the curved shape and attached it to the top. I then shaded in my lid and pot with my copics. For the handle on the top, I free handed a shape, cut it out of black card stock and attached it to the top. I then wrapped green stitched ribbon around the pot to make it look like a gift. I stamped and colored the girl from Kiss the Cook using white card stock, markers and copics. I cut her out and mounted her on a piece of green card stock that I popped off the holder. To finish the card, I printed off the sentiment using my computer, cut it out along with a piece of green and a piece of red card stock with my nesties and added a ribbon and button! Isn't it cute!!! Now all it needs is a gift certificate to finish it off!

My second card is a card for one of the ambassador challenges over at the MFT forum. The challenge was to create a card using at least three different kinds of ribbons. Now I love ribbon, but this was a little difficult for me. Luckily I found this great sketch over at Sketches! {by tamara} that seemed to shout, "use three ribbons on me". So of course I did! Lol!

Don't they look like they are caroling? I know snowmen don't usually carol, but these do!! Okay, so I started this card off by stamping A Scarf for Three by MFT Stamps on white card stock and coloring them in with my markers and copics. I cut them out and mounted them on green card stock. Following the sketch, I layered on green card stock, red card stock and two different kinds of Christmas DP. I wrapped the DP behind the image in white ribbon to give it the window appearance in the sketch. I then crisscrossed a green and red ribbon across the bottom and added an ornament charm with a metal swirl. To finish the card I added three green brads down the side. I really love this layout, it is so fun and funky.

Alright this last card is for the monster of all challenges. My friend Heather, who I love, issued this crazy challenge in the Pink Cat Studio forum over at PCP. I actually had to read through it five times and then print if off so that I could make sure I included all the elements. It is a 3 times 3, 6 by 6 and 1 of 3 challenge. You were required to make a 6 by 6 card using three items of three different elements, with one of the three color choices she listed. I incorporated today's Ways To Use it Challenge over at SCS which was to use envelopes in your creation. Here it is!!!

Here is a slightly higher version of the card so you can see the envelope better.

I did it, I did it and I really like it! So here goes the explanation. I made a 6 by 6 card with the Turquoise, Pink and Silver color combo. I used three brads, three stamps and three different kinds of DP. I even stamped an envelope to match! I started this card off by stamping the ice cream cone, banana split and sundae from Sweet Treats by Pink Cat Studio on a piece of white card stock and then colored them in with my markers and copics. (I was going to add liquid applique to the whipped cream but I forgot, oops!) I then mounted them on pink and silver/gray card stock. To make the back ground I layered, pink and silver/gray card stock with three different kinds of Christmas DP. I added a ribbon across the bottom and tied on strips of it to create a bow effect. I popped off all my images and added three turquoise brads in the corner. I printed off the sentiment on the computer and cut it out along with a piece of DP using my nesties and adhered it to the bow. For the coordinating envelope, I stamped two chocolate covered cherries in the right corner and small cherries down the side. I think it will make a nice thinking of you card for my sister who loves ice cream.

Well I am off to eat dinner! Have a great evening and thanks as always for stopping by!

A Thank You, A Little Bit of Christmas, and A Card I Am Super Proud Of!!!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Ugh! It has been a super gloomy gross day here today! So yucky! It has misted and rained all day and now they are predicting snow. I feel bad for Jason that he has to go into work tomorrow, but he has an important meeting. He has assured me though that he will be working from home on Friday!!! Yeah! I can hardly wait!

Speaking of things I can hardly wait for, tonight is the release party for MFT stamps! I am so excited! I think I need all three stamp sets they are releasing! The sneak peeks have been so cute and the little paper dolls set is called Isabelle, well in honor of my Isabella I need this set! Lol!

And speaking now of Izzy, the potty saga continues! She went in the potty again this morning! I am so proud of her. I have figured out that as long as I have a good supply of reading material in the bathroom she will sit there long enough to go! I should write a book, I will title it "The Importance of Bathroom Reading Material in Potty Training Your Child". Doesn't that sound official! Of course I can only come up with the one tip, but maybe I could just print it so large that it would fill up 150 pages!

Alright, alright, I will get to the cards! My first card is a card for my best friend Tracy! I know I talk all the time about how wonderful she is, but it is true! I am so lucky that I have her in my life! Izzy adores her and pretends that Tracy is calling her all the time and Izzy has excellent taste in people so you know what I say is true! lol! Anywhoo, I incorporated two challenges into this card, the first was A Spoon Full of Sugar's challenge which was to create a thank you card and the second was for Papertake Weekly, which was to use one ribbon, two rectangles and three round objects in your card. Forcing me to come up with my own sketch aren't they!

I love these colors!! I used the ones from the DP. I really wish I had bought a couple more sheets of this. Boo to me! Okay so I stamped the image Kitty by Sugar Nellie on a piece of white card stock and colored her in with my markers and copics. I then mounted her on a piece of black card stock and DP. To create the background, I layered on DP, blue card stock and green card stock. Down the side I ran a piece of black ribbon and tied a bow. I stamped the sentiment from a Hero Arts stamp set and cut it out along with a piece of black with my nesties and placed it just under the bow. To finish the card, I popped off the main image and added three green brads underneath. The sentiment on the inside will read, "For always being there for me." I hope that she likes it.

My next card, isn't a card, but a homemade treat box. Our challenge this week over at Pink Papery Studios was to create a homemade gift item. Well I have been seeing lots of cake shaped boxes out there and have always wanted to make one. I was too lazy to actually look up the directions, so I just pieced one together myself. It turned out okay, but I think next time I am going to look for some.

I figured that you could fill it up with some homemade candy and hang it on the tree, or if you really wanted to a piece of cake! LOL! I started this project off by creating the cake box by cutting out three different strips of green paper. I adhered them together in a triangle shape and then cut out the bottom using the same green card stock. I then adhered the bottom piece. To create the top, I cut out another triangle and attached white paper that I punched with my scallop punch around the edges. To decorate the box, I attached red and green card stock to the top along with some Christmas DP. I added red brads in groups of three on the sides and then drew in the holly leaves with my gold glitter pen. To make the tag and hanger, I punched two holes in the top of the box and threaded through a red ribbon. I printed off Girl Decorating Cake by Pink Papery Studios on a piece of white card stock and colored her in with my markers and copics. I then layered her on a piece of red card stock and a piece of green card stock along with a piece of Christmas DP. I used my nesties to create the scallop. I added three green brads and an eyelet to run my ribbon through. I think this would make a great gift. Do you think if I gave it to someone that they would fill it up with homemade candy and then give it back?

Okay, I am not going to try to be shy or modest on this next card! I am so proud of myself!!!! I created a card that not only has white paper on it, but the white paper is the main element!!!!!!! Can you believe it! I was really sweating bullets on this one, waiting to see what it would turn out like, but I really like it! This card was created for today's Watchadoin' Wednesday Challenge over at SUInk and More. The challenge was to create a 90% white card with just a splash of another color. I used today's Sketch Challenge over at SCS for the layout!

See, I told you the card is mainly white! So, I started this card off by stamping the tiny chef girl from Kiss the Cook by SUInk and More on white card stock and a piece of Christmas DP. I then colored her in and paper pieced her together. I mounted her on a piece of DP. Following the sketch I layered DP and sparkly white paper that I ran through my cuttlebug snowflakes embossing folder. I shifted the girl to the other side since she was pointing to the right. I cut out snowflakes from white card stock and DP using my cricut machine and placed them behind the image. I added a festive ribbon and rhinestones to balance everything out! I am so proud of this card! You have no idea how hard it was for me not to put other colors in there!

Well I am outta here for tonight! I don't want to miss the party. Have a great evening! Thanks for stopping by!

Lots of Fairies and Santa?

Happy Tuesday everybody!!

Today was a beautiful day outside, a little cold but much nicer than yesterday. Izzy still didn't get to go outside and play but Tuxy was outside for awhile so things went much smoother this afternoon between them. Although, Tuxy now has this thing for licking Izzy, which she hates for some reason so that has been a little bit of a challenge.

Oh and now Izzy is completely obsessed with the potty. She has sat on it every hour all day long. Although she only went potty a tiny bit in it today. She now feels like she has to take everything off to sit on it. I don't know how to convince her she doesn't. I also walked in on her this afternoon in her crib to find her saying "Poop" with her diaper on the floor. Needless to say I ran as fast as I could to her crib, but luckily she did not go in the crib! Thank goodness!! This potty training stuff is hard.

Well I am a little bummed today. I am just not happy with my weight loss progress. I need to be more diligent about going to Curves, I know. I am only managing about twice a week and I think I need to be stricter on my diet. I don't eat horribly unhealthy (we never have chips or junk food in the house), but I know I could do better. I sometimes skip meals and eat late at night to make up for it. It is difficult though because Jason doesn't have a weight problem at all and never has to diet or exercise to stay thin. But it is not about him, it is about me and I really need to commit myself to this. Sorry to be a downer, but I appreciate you listening.

Okay, onto the cards! My first card is a card I created for Michelle Oatman's Sketch Challenge over at the Stampavie Group on PCP. This was another great sketch from Michelle!! I thought the threaded ribbon detail at the bottom was awesome!!!

See, amazing sketch right?!!! I need to admit something before I get started on the description of my card. I have a problem with sentiments on the outside of cards. I can never make mine look right so I tend to avoid them. That is why I cut out a stem of flowers instead. I just couldn't make the sentiment I had planned for this card fit! Maybe there is a support group for people like me! Lol! Okay, so I started this card by stamping Lily - Magic Fairy by Rachelle Anne Miller for Stampavie on white card stock and colored her in with my markers and copics. I then mounted her on a piece of brown card stock a piece of green card stock and two pieces of DP. Following the sketch, I placed jumbo eyelets at the bottom and threaded through the ribbon. I cut out a stem and flowers from the DP and popped it off the side adding a few rhinestones. I really love how this turned out. It is so beautiful in person.

My second card for today I am really excited about!!! I was checking out Lauren Meader's blog yesterday and she had a posting for a new digi stamp company, Squigglefly. Well you know how I am with my digis! Love them!!! So I had to go check it out! They have some of the most adorable images so I bought a couple and printed them off. I colored this image up right away and decided to use her for this week's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge over at Poetic Artistry.

Isn't this little pixie fairy adorable ( I wish my picture had turned out better)!!!! I love her. And she was so much fun to color in! Alright, I started this card off by printing Pixie by Squigglefly on white card stock and colored her in with my copics and markers. Following the sketch, I layered on pink, green and white card stock with two kinds of DP. I ran my white card stock through my hounds tooth embossing folder to give it some texture. I put some ribbon behind my sentiment, that I also printed off, and my image. I then cut out flowers from the DP and placed them around. This reminds me so much of my niece. She always has this innocent look on her face right after she has done something she shouldn't. Lol!!

Alright, for my final card I dusted off an old SU! set called Ho Ho Holidays. I find that now that I have all sorts of acrylic sets and stamps from other stamp companies, my poor SU! stamps collect dust. So when I saw Mary Jo's Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge, I knew I could find an SU! stamp set that would work.

I wanted the reindeer to look like he was just taking off! Alrighty, I started this card off by stamping Santa in sleigh and the reindeer from Ho Ho Holidays by Stampin Up! I then colored them in along with the background with my copics and markers. I added a touch of gold glitter pen to make it sparkle. I also put on some liquid applique so it would look like it was snowing!! Following the sketch, I layered on DP and green and red card stock. Instead of a circle in the corner I created a present out of ribbon and green card stock and printed off the sentiment on my computer. I cut it out along with green and red card stock with my nesties so that it would look like a gift tag. To finish the card, I added three red brads and some gold glitter pen to the tag. I really love the little scene!

Well, I am outta here for tonight. Sorry I am so late in posting but this evening has been a crazy one! Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting, have a great rest of the evening!

Exciting Izzy News and Lots of Ca rds!!

Happy Monday everyone!

It was another snowy one and from what everybody said the roads and highways were crazy. That always seems to happen whenever the first snow hits. It is made even worse by the Monday after a holiday. I am so glad I didn't have to go anywhere today, but poor Jason was on the road for an hour and a half. :(

Okay, onto my Izzy news. She went potty in the potty!!!!!!! I am so proud of her. I know it was kind of a fluke thing, but it was still her first official time. I tricked her into sitting for a long time and she eventually went. Don't worry though, I didn't take any pictures! Although when she stood up I gave her a piece of toilet paper to wipe with like I usually do and she immediately stuck it in the potty. EWWWW!!! I grabbed it away from her and washed her hand really quickly. Thank goodness she was a little grossed out by it too! I am just so proud of her!!

Other than that, she has been really grouchy today. I think the weekend is finally catching up with her. She just seemed really tired and didn't want to do anything. We tried coloring and building blocks (things she usually really loves to do) but they just weren't entertaining her. I think she just needs a couple days to get back in the swing of things.

Now onto the cards. Yesterday was like a perfect storm of card making. I don't know what happened. I just hit a groove and was able to finish 6 and a half cards. It was amazing. Today, not so much. The good news is that I now have a whole bunch of cards to publish. So in honor of that, I am publishing four cards today. A new record!

My first card is a card I created for the Magnolia Vs. Stampavie Blog Challenge which was a sketch this week. I feel bad playing along every week because it is supposed to be a battle of the stamp companies, but I only have Stampavie stamps. I guess I am going to have to break down and buy some Magnolia stamps so I won't feel so guilty (Wink, Wink!) What do you think Jason?

Don't you just love this sketch!!! It is so fun and different. I love all the curved shapes on it! Well the idea for this card actually came from some ribbon I received from Michelle Giraud. She was so sweet and sent me some lovely pink and black ribbons. Ever since I received them in the mail I have wanted to create a card that was pink and black and I finally found the perfect card layout for it. I started this card off by stamping Lily-I Love Shopping by Rachelle Anne Miller for Stampavie on white card stock and coloring her in with my copics and stampin' write markers. I added a touch of silver gel pen to add some sparkle. I then cut her out with nesties along with two pieces of DP and a piece of black card stock. Following the sketch, I popped it off a piece of DP and added another piece of DP to the side. I cut the curve in the black with pink polka dot paper by tracing a plate on the back side and cutting it out. I then cut out some circles with my nesties and added a pink brad to them. To finish the card, I tied some of my delicious ribbon around the middle and added a metal swirl. Isn't it soo cute!!! I love the colors!

My second card for today is a card I created for the sketch challenge over at Sketch Saturday. I have been itching lately to use my Billy and Lilly sets from Pink Cat Studio. I just love their cute little faces and the recently released set is just to die for!!!! So when I saw this sketch I knew they would be perfect for it.

Is the dog not funny!!! I laugh every time I see him!! Alrighty, on with the card! I started this card off by stamping Billy Snow angel, Lily Ssnow angel and Doggie Snow angel from Lily and Billy Winter Stamps by Pink Cat Studio on white card stock and coloring them in with my markers and copics. I added the snow in the background with my copics and the texture on Lily's coat with liquid applique'. Following the sketch I layered on brown and red card stock along with three kinds of Christmas DP. I added some polka dot ribbon to the side and to the two corners. I then stamped the sentiment on a piece of white card stock and cut it out along with a piece of red and a piece of brown card stock with my nesties. To finish the card I added blue rhinestones and a snowflake. I just love the winter feel to this card!!

Alright, here is my third card for today. This card used the Saturday Sketch Challenge over at Paper Craft Planet. I think the theme this week must have been circles and ovals because most of the cards I created had them in them. Which is perfectly alright with me, because I love using my nesties!!!

I love little Riley!! He is so cute!!! And did you see that Hanna Stamps is releasing some new Riley's this week? I can't wait to get my ink on them!!! Okay, enough drooling, I started this card by stamping Sleepy Time Riley by Hanna Stamps on white card stock and coloring him in with my markers and copics. I then cut him out with my nesties along with a piece of brown card stock, a piece of purple card stock and a piece of teal card stock. Following the sketch, I layered on brown, teal and purple card stock along with two kinds of DP. I had to move the two brads up to the corner as my Riley circle was a little too big. I finished this card off by printing the sentiment off on my computer and popping it off the background. I love it!!

Alright, my final card. Thanks for sticking with me for so long. This card is one of my favorites. I am just so happy with the way it turned out. This card was made for last week's My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge over at SCS.

Isn't it rustic?!!! I just love how the background turned out. I started this card by stamping the main image and three cacti from Ride'em Cowgirl by MFT on white card stock, colored them in with copics and markers and cut them out. I then colored in the background on a piece of white card stock that I cut out with my nesties. I adhered the three cacti and popped the girl off the back. Following the sketch, I layered on brown and green card stock along with DP. I added a piece of yarn around the bottom to look like a lasso and stamped the star from the stamp set and placed it in the middle. Lastly, I placed three star buttons in the corner. This really turned out well!!

Sorry for the long post, but I am so glad you stopped by!!! Have a great rest of the evening and happy stamping!!!