One last Christmas card

Good morning! I'm sorry it has been so long since I posted. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!! We went out of town for Christmas for the first time since our children were born so my timeline was WAY off. I really intended to post one last time wishing everyone Merry Christmas, but things kept getting added to my "to do" list just so we could leave on time. So again I apologize for the lapse in posts!

This card is made with CC Designs "Reindeer Games" that you can get from http://allthatscraps.com/. The set also comes with sentiments about New Year's celebrations too so you can still use it!!! I colored with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits (my coloring method of choice these days, but I'm still practicing with my copics.) The pink background of the reindeer uses a flourish from the set and I stamped in versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder, I love making backgrounds like that. There is also some sparkle with the copic sparkle markers but I'm just not good at getting the sparkles to show.

Okay, hopefully my next post will move into winter cards, but one of our resolutions for the new year is to get our house organized and do a "clean sweep" on it, so we'll see just how much stamping time I get! On that list is cleaning and reorganizing my scrapbooking room, so I'm very excited about that part!

I did get a picture of all of our kids including one of our grandbabies (the other one is our step-grandbaby and he was at his mother's house) so I will post that as soon as I can upload it and get it ready! Oh, and just in case you were wondering, there are 8 days left until the LSU Tigers take the National Championship game :o)

Thanks for stopping by and have a GREAT day!!!

Merry Kissmas

Good Morning. Another Christmas card this morning, but this one is not as bright as mine have been lately. This one is using more muted colors from Deja Views. Stamps are from CC Designs - Reindeer Games, that I colored with prismacolor pencils and blended with mineral spirits. Of course there is some sparkle in there too :) the brackets are from the McGill parentheses punch and you would be surprised how often I use these, I love them. The photo anchor is from Quickutz and the flowers are from Prima. I inked around everything in maroon ink from Clearsnap, you know the catseye ones, they are my very favorite for inking the edges of things, well along with the Brilliance dew drop shaped ones.

Lots to do today, finish up shopping and wrapping as we are supposed to leave tomorrow.......

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!!!

Another CC Designs Card

Do you know how close Christmas is? I'm not ready yet, but I bet it doesn't wait on me. We are going down to Louisiana for Christmas this year, so I won't be posting for about a week or so, but I do have some new cards to post before I go. This one uses the CC Designs stamps from Wintertime Fun and Reindeer Games. I LOVE these penguins, they're just soooo cute. I used more paper from that ProvoCraft Holiday Slab, I promise this is the first time I have ever used this much paper from one of those, but I just love the papers in this one. I colored the penguins with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, then their earmuffs I used Sakura Stardust pens, then I glittered their bellies with ultrafine glitter. I punched them out with a circle and adhered that onto scalloped circles then used a souffle white pen (love these) to make stitches around the penguin circles. I also pierced the scallops of the circles, but you can't see that as well. The middle penguin is pop-dotted. I LOVE this ribbon because it's a thicker ribbon that has a different pink on each side. I'm sorry but I don't know the manufacturer of it. That's about it for this one. Thanks for stopping by and I'll be posting more until I leave.

Very Exciting News

Well, my exciting news is that I have been chosen to be on the All That Scraps design team. I am totally THRILLED to be on this team. The card I made for my last post uses some of the CC Designs stamps that I will be using for the team. The store is All That Scraps and they carry many different manufacturers and a TON of stuff, so hurry on over there and check it out. http://allthatscraps.com/ While you are there take a look at the Design Team, hee hee!!! Here are a list of the new super talented ladies that I am on the team with. Check out their blogs too.

Crystal Spencer ---------- http://www.stampwithcrystal.blogspot.com/
Cyndi Bundy ------------- http://www.scrappychick.typepad.com/
Inge Groot ----------- http://ingemg.wordpress.com/
Jeanette Fincher --------- (well you're already here :o)
Katie Stilwater -------- http://stilwater.typepad.com/
Laurie Schmidlin ----------- http://justgivemestamps.typepad.com/
Lesa Rapp ---------- http://paperpossibilities.blogspot.com/
Linda Black --------- http://celebrationmoments.typepad.com/
Renée Van Stralen ------- http://www.reneevs.blogspot.com/
Shannan Teubner --------- http://withfeathersandsequins.blogspot.com/
Sue Berker ------------- http://www.berkerblog.blogspot.com/
Tricia Traxler --------- http://www.simplystamping.blogspot.com/


I just want to say thanks to Christine and Amy for this opportunity. I'm very excited and can't wait to get started!!! Thanks for letting me share, I hope you have a fabulous day!
............................................................................................................................

C.C. Designs stamps

I got them!!! The CC Designs stamps I ordered from All That Scraps http://www.allthatscraps.com/ came yesterday, about 1 hour before I was leaving to go to a wedding. Needless to say, I didn't get to play with them until today, but that's okay because the wedding was beautiful!! These stamps are so much fun! This is the first card I made with them. White card base that I made scallops with using my corner rounder about 1/2 or so from the bottom of the front of the card. The striped paper is adhered to the inside of the back of the card so it shows through when the card is closed. I stamped snowflakes from the Wintertime Fun set for the background. Then I stamped LuLu and snowman, the little penguin and the Little Snowman on white. I colored them with mostly prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits and a little bit of Copic marker in there too. There is Spica glitter pen on the penguins earmuffs and glitter all over the place (okay, really on the penguins belly, on both of the snowmen and on the scallops at the bottom of the front page. There is also liquid applique on LuLu's snowcoat trim. I cut the little snowman and the penguin out and pop dotted them onto the card. The Christmas Wishes sentiment is from the Reindeer Games set. These were so much fun to work with, I can't wait to make some more. Thanks for coming by, stay warm, and have a great day!!!

Eskimo Kisses

I don't know about you but at this time of year, there are always more things to be done in the day than there are hours. I love this time of year, but I love it even more when I'm a little more 'on time' than I am this year. I've been working on Christmas presents and most of ours we usually have to mail which means they have to be finished even earlier. This year we're going to Louisiana for Christmas so we'll take the gifts with us. I still have to mail a few though and that's what I've been working on. How many gifts do you usually make each year?

This card is made with a stamp that I bought because I LOVE the name of it. It's called Eskimo Kisses. I do love the stamp though, but really I bought it for the name, anyone else ever done that? Please someone say you have!!!! It's by Impression Obsession. I started with a blue cardstock base, stamped snowflakes from Verve Visual in Brilliance sky blue, and tied the May Arts ribbon. I stamped the snowcouple in Versafine black ink and I'm learning to use my Copic markers and sometimes I don't get exactly the look I'm going for so this is a blend of Copics and prismacolor pencils blended with mineral spirits. There is LOTS of glitter on them too :). The 'warm wishes' sentiment I added, it's from one of the Studio G sets. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this little snow couple stamp and I imagine it will get a lot of use from me. I also ordered some other stamps from Impression Obsession but haven't inked them yet. I will share when I do. Have a great day and thanks for coming by to see what's going on!!!

Gift Tags

These are some gift tags that I made to put on gifts, (obviously :o) They are so much fun to make and really don't take that long. I made some other ones with my cuttlebug small embossing folders but I don't have pictures of those yet, so I'll try to do that tonight. These are just cardstock bases cut into tag shapes (I hand cut mine), then they have a craft colored mat and then the white rectangle to write on. I used Quickutz dies to decorate the right sides all on pop-dots and the then little clothespins are from Michaels. They are by Lara's Crafts and come in a divided square with all of the ones I used here in the same package. FUN!! Hope you have a great day, and by the way I did get some of my wrapping done :o) Happy me!! Thanks for stopping by!

Celebrate the Season

Hi! It's a nice day here today. More wrapping in store (okay, I'm going to START wrapping, as many times as it's been on my list, there have been other things that have been moved in front of it, so cross your fingers that today is the day for wrapping :o)

This cards is based on the same sketch/game as the one from yesterday, but with a much different 'feel' to it. I love that you can take the same sketch and make cards that look so different or have 2 people take the same products and come up with two projects that look completely different. I am working on my goal of making sure that every stamp I own has been inked at least once. This one is one of the ones that actually was still in the plastic wrap because it comes in a set. I still love the set though, so I figured it was time to use it. It's a hero arts stamp. I also used the snowflake cuttlebug embossing folder, have I said how much I LOVE those things??? Some patterned paper once again from the Holiday slab from ProvoCraft, some Bazzill Bling, some May Arts ribbon and a while brad that I don't know who made. the trees on the stamp have lots of glitter on the snow on their branches, but you can't see that so well, sorry about that. Oh, and I used once again my favorite ink color for snow cards, Brilliance sky blue. Have a great day and I hope you're very productive in whatever you need to get accomplished!

ElzyBell in the Snow

Good morning! Snow and ice are still on the ground, but school started at normal time this morning.

There is a fun challenge on CardStudioDesigns, http://cardstudiodesigns.forumlivre.com/index.php?mforum=cardstudiodesigns&showtopic=490 that I made this card for. If you like sketches, it's kind of a take off of that. Come give it a try, I really enjoyed it. I LOVE the ElzyBell stamps. They are so cute! I also have some of the new CC Designs stamps on the way http://www.allthatscraps.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=360_361_545 and I can't wait to play with those as well!!!

This cards uses the snow cuttlebug embossing plate (I can't wait until the new ones are released, I find myself using these alot!), the ElzyBell stamp, some paper from that ProvoCraft Holiday Slab that I've been using lately. I don't think I have EVER used this much paper from one of those slabs, I bought 2 or 3 of them, but this one I've really used! The card also has Bazzill paper, some ribbon from Hobby Lobby, Bazzill Bling, a Quickutz flower which I think also looks like a little snowflake and a brad. The stamped square is up on pop dots. Oh, I also used Brilliance white ink to gloss over the embossed background, and my favorite Brilliance sky blue ink to ink around the square image. There is a lot of glitter that just doesn't show up well in the picture, but it does sparkle alot!

Well, stay warm today, and I hope you get to do lots of fun things. Thanks for stopping by!

Winter Wishes.......

Growing up in Louisiana we really didn't have such dramatic changes in seasons. In Iowa this morning we woke up to ice on the roads and the high temperature of 29 degrees, at 6:00am!!!! It's only supposed to get colder. I woke up at 6 and turned on the news to see if school was going to be delayed 2 hours. Much to my surprise our school was cancelled already. Usually our school district is one of the last ones to be called, but I knew it was pretty bad outside if our school was cancelled completely by 6:00am! So, I'm still in my pajamas and don't really know what time I will be getting out of them, it looks COLD outside.

I made this card a few days ago for a sketch challenge on CardStudioDesigns, http://cardstudiodesigns.com/, but I haven't had a chance to post it yet. Quite appropriate for today :o) This was a fun and easy card to make. I bought one of the ProvoCraft Holiday Slabs and the patterned paper is from that, I did use a stardust pen to outline some of the trees to make them sparkle. My card base is a shimmer cardstock from the Paper Company, I really, really, really, love this cardstock! There is also felt fusion from Queen & Co., Marvy Uchida scallop punches, the Winter Wishes sentiment is from Verve Visual, http://www.shopverve.com/, Bazzill Bling for the largest circle, and I used my favorite ink for snowy cards, brilliance sky blue! I hope to get some presents wrapped today and maybe even get some cards made, I'm kind of behind in both! Have a great day and stay warm!!

Framed Grandbabies

Hi - This post is much later than I anticipated publishing it, but that's how it goes sometimes. These are our grandbabies, Case and Tyler, the ones that I say aren't really babies anymore, but I'm still going to call them that :o) Amy, our daughter, gave us these Christmas pictures last year and I knew I wanted to do something with them so that we could look at them each year, but I didn't want them to be on the wall all year because of the Christmas theme. So, I finally figured it out. I made these frames and put them on our mantle. They look so cute (how could they not, with those cute faces inside them! :o) I dated them knowing that we will get Christmas pictures each year. Then I can just make frames for each year's pictures and have a display as they get older, that shows how much they've changed each year. I just think it would be fun.......What do you think Amy???? :o)

Just Stamping

Good morning! As I'm typing I'm watching out the window as little snowflakes are just slowly floating down to the ground. It's supposed to get alot heavier today, but I do love to watch it out the window! We already have about 4" on the ground, enough that we got the snowblower out. As a southern girl, I didn't even know how snowblowers worked when we moved up here :o) Now I'm glad I do!

For this card, I was challenging myself to use only stamps. I don't know about you but I'm kind of addicted to stamps. I see them at the store or on samples of things, or the way other people have used them on their cards on their blogs and I just HAVE to have them. Sometimes they get lonely because I don't immediately use them. Well, I'm trying to fix that loneliness problem. I've been trying to pull out stamps that either I've never used or that I haven't used for a long time. So, this challenge was going to help me with this and it did. Mission accomplished. I'm thinking about making a day that's just about that, making cards or whatever, with only stamps, no patterned paper, no embellishments (well, I did use gems on this one and ribbon, but they are accessories and don't contribute to the basis of the card :o)

Anyway, I used 3 different stamp sets, Fancy Pants - Pollen Dust, Heidi Grace, Wild Daisy Rd. and Heidi Grace, Marina Dr. I also used my corner rounder to scallop the bottom of the card. I cut out two of the main flowers and pop-dotted them onto the card, the centers of the main flowers are shimmer paper that I punched circles from, and then I added gems to the bottom flowers. Other than that this card is all stamping and it was fun to do, a little challenging, but fun! Thanks for stopping by and happy stamping (or whatever is on your to do list for today).

Merry Christmas

Good Morning! I'm working very hard at getting Christmas presents as well as Christmas cards worked on and today is supposed to be SNOWY and yucky outside so hopefully I will get many things finished. This card I made for a challenge, but I can't find which challenge it was for and usually I make better notes than that, but obviously not this time. Have you ever just stumbled across a stamp that actually called out to you and said, "I will be perfect for something you are going to do?" Well, my hubby was shopping with me one day and these two stamps actually called out to me. I was making a pocket card, which I had never made before, and these two stamps just popped into my mind as to how to use them on that card. Well, that card didn't turn out exactly like I pictured, but I might share that one at some time, but I LOVE these stamps! The "Merry" one is actually an outline and I color it in with my copics, it's by Printworks, and the "Christmas" one is by Endless Creations, Inc. I picked both of them up at my LSS. For the rest of the card I used a prism cardstock base, BG Figgy Pudding and the green stripes are a ribbon from Michael's. And of course my Prima poinsettias (have I mentioned I LOVE these?????). Have a great day and I hope we all have a very productive day!

Ben & Sara

I was browsing through pictures this morning trying to decide what card to show you (I try to get hubby to take lots of pictures of cards at once, then when I'm ready to post, I just have to choose :) But I came across this picture and I decided that since I talk about my children you should at least know who I'm talking about. These are the two youngest, Ben & Sara. Cliff was just playing around with them since it's almost time to take pictures for our Christmas cards and he got some really good ones. I LOVE this one. I think it really captures their personalities. I know Thanksgiving is over, but gratitude is ALWAYS. I am grateful that these 2 young people are in our life and I just want them to know that, which is why I scrapbook! We are going to Louisiana for Christmas, so I will get pictures of all the kids and the grands too so then I can share that too. Until then, hug you kids an extra time today for they truly are special!!! Okay, now I'll go back to trying to find a fun card to share. Have a great day!!!!

GEAUX TIGERS

GEAUX TIGERS

Okay, here it is, the LSU logo. I love their uniforms, especially their helmets, they have really cool helmets. So, as I said come January 7th, I will be sitting in front of my TV watching my Tigers play. They've done a great job this season and have been fun to watch most of the time. Okay, maybe the Arkansas game wasn't that much fun to watch. But I remain loyal to the purple and gold. Do you have a favorite team? Let me know......

Christmas Pail

Today is a GREAT day. LSU (my alma mater) will be playing for the National Championship on January 7th. This will be a "everyone watches the game at my house" day. I'm trying to find a good LSU logo to share with you but I haven't figured that one out, so I might be publishing another post later on to share my Tigers!

But, until then, these pictures are of one of the Stampendous clear pails that are so cute. I have a friend who hostesses an ornament exchange every year and on the invitations this year, she wrote, "and remember it's all about the wrapping." so I decided to use my pail. Inside I wrapped my ornament in tissue paper and then I used my shredder to make the confetti for the inside so I could stuff it all around the ornament. Then on the outside I used Basic Grey papers to wrap around the belly of the pail. The top has circles cut from the Basic Grey and then Sizzix has one of the long dies that has "tis the season" as part of it, so I cut that out of red Basic Grey. The snowman on the front is from Quickutz, and then I just tied 3 colors of ribbons in knots around the handle. I thought it turned out really cute and it was really fun to do. Sara and I have talked about doing these when she gives her girlfriends giftcards for their birthdays cause it's such a cute way to wrap things. Have a great day and I might just be back later to show you those Fightin' Tigers :)

Christmas is Coming Faster and Faster

I don't know about you, but it seems like Christmas gets here faster and faster each year. I always say I'm going to start in July getting my Christmas cards made and starting to at least prepare my lists so I can be organized when October gets here, but alas it hasn't happened yet. July brings it's own set of priorities. Well, at least I've started on Christmas cards and Christmas shopping, not close to being finished mind you, but I've started. My favorite part of Christmas is the week before, I love thinking about Mary and Joseph preparing for Jesus and Christmas Eve just warms my heart. It's a more peaceful time for me than Christmas Day ends up being so I guess I reflect more on the real meaning of Christmas the week before so I like to have everything I need to have finished, finished by then so I can enjoy this special time.

As I type this I'm looking out my window at the freezing rain that is pelting our windows. It's supposed to turn to snow and then back to freezing rain, so I guess we'll be working on inside decorations today :)

This card I made for another challenge. I really like doing these challenges, I find it gives me a starting place. I used patterned paper from ProvoCrafts's Holiday Slab ( I know lots of people don't like the slabs, and I certainly don't buy all of them, but I really liked the patterns in this one and I have used it on a few cards now and I really like it). I sewed the green polka dot paper on the center and then used a ribbon that's from JoAnn's I believe. The little yellow star is punched from Bazzill Bling. When I first started scrapbooking and making cards, I had an obsession with punches, kind of like I have an obsession with paper and stamps now :) So I have ALOT of punches and continue to purchase more. I also have die cut machines, but my punches still come in ever so handy! The last piece on this card is the Prima poinsettia, oh my goodness, these are BEAUTIFUL! I have used them on a couple of cards already and I'm going to have to go get some more because I'm afraid of running out! They come in a few colors but the ones I have are the dark red/burgandy ones. These are great! Okay, enough for my rambling today, thanks for stopping by and happy decorating, shopping, stamping, scrapbooking, relaxing, what ever your plans are today!

Elzybells and a Snowy card

Hi! Finally a snowy card to show you since we STILL have snow on the roofs, not much, but it's still there. We should have put our outside Christmas decorations up last weekend, but we didn't, so it will probably be REALLY cold and snowing this weekend. Oh well..... This card I did for a challenge on Card Studio Designs, http://cardstudiodesigns.com/. If you haven't visited this site and you like to make cards, you should go check them out. Anyway about the card, I have been seeing the Elzybells stamps on other stampers' blogs and everytime I would go to the Elzybells site to look at them, I would just ooooo and aaahhhh over them. So I finally broke down and ordered some. They are soooooooo cute and great quality. You can see them at http://www.elzybellsna.typepad.com/. They have such sweet sentiments. Okay, so the challenge was to use paint, so I swiped two lines of paint on my patterned paper and stamped the sentiment on the white paint. The background paper doesn't really have snowflakes on it, I stamped those with Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue ink (which by the way is my favorite color for stamping snowflakes). The angel I stamped with Versafine black ink and colored her with prismacolor pencils then blended with mineral spirits. I used stickles on the snowflakes by the angel, ultrafine glitter on her wings and hero arts gems on her dress. I punched her out with my Marvy scallop punch and mounted that on Bazzill Basics paper and then pop-dotted the whole thing onto the card. Thanks for looking and have a great day!!

Just One More Fall Project

I know I said I was going to do Christmas cards and I have been working on them, but I haven't taken pictures of them. I have however been using some of the sketch and technique challenges from SplitCoastStampers and Card Studio Designs. I am really having fun using these challenges, so as soon as I get some pictures taken I will start showing you those.

I decided to share the fall frame that I made. I actually made a frame for each season and sent them to my sister so she can have a picture of her grandson in them on her desk at work. I really enjoy making these, my daughter has even made one for her friend. Thanks Emily at http://emilygiovanni.com/ for teaching us how to do this. I used Bo-Bunny paper, Karen Foster paper, ribbon from Hobby Lobby, chestnut roan ink, some skeleton leaves that I have had for about 5 years and I use them slowly because they are so neat, but I don't remember who makes them. I stamped Thankful Hearts with the Kim Hughes Collection from Cornish Heritage Farms. The set is Fall Silhouettes. Then I used my Marvy Scallop punch to punch the back. The letters for fall I cut with my Cuttlebug font Red Tag Sale. Have a great day and thanks for coming by!

Painted Cards

Good morning! I was going over some challenges yesterday and one of them was to use paint on your card. Now, I didn't make this card yesterday, but it does have paint on it so I decided to share this one today and then also today I want to make some others with paint for the challenge. I like paint :o) My other choice to post today was another frame that I did for fall. Maybe that one will be shared tomorrow since our snow should be completely melted by then. I have never done any of the challenges that are pretty common once you start looking, but yesterday I printed a couple out and I'm really looking forward to doing them. I started one last night that was from Card Studio Designs and it's a fun one, so hopefully I'll be posting that one soon.

For this card, I used SEI Aunt Gertie's Garden papers and just punched some of the smaller flowers out with circle punches and pop dotted them onto the card. I used foam stamps and acrylic paint to stamp the Hi. The I put stickles in the centers of the flowers for a little bling! Quick and easy. Well, I have lots of things I WANT to get done today so wish me luck that I'll get at least some of it done! Have a great day!!

We have SNOW!

Good Morning! I apologize for it being so long since I posted. With Thanksgiving being here, I wasn't on the computer much at all. On Wednesday before Thanksgiving I woke up and didn't have to go to work, so I was leisurely drinking my coffee after getting hubby off to work. Well, it wasn't long after that, that these little snowflakes starting falling, not many of them just enough to make me smile. As the day went on, the snowflakes starting bringing friends with them until we ended up with about 2 - 3" of snow on the ground. Someone needs to tell the snow that it's still fall!!! Don't get me wrong, I really like to watch the snow from inside the house, but I'm still a southern girl at heart and I don't really like to get out and drive in the stuff. So because we still have traces of snow on the roofs and on the ground, I decided to post a winter frame I made. I saw these first on Emily Giovanni's blog and loved what she did with them, so this is my take on these fun frames. You can see more of hers on her blog at http://emilygiovanni.com/. I used a bunch of things I already had for this one. I painted the frame, then mod podged the Karen Foster papers on it. After that was all dry I embellished with snowflake buttons that I cut the shank off of, Jolee's 3D snowflakes, a sticker (gasp) snowman and some old Making Memories sticker letters that I distressed. The ribbon covers the seam between the two papers. Oh, and I inked all the edges with chestnut roan ink. It was very easy and very fun!! A little time consuming only because of drying time. My sister and I are very close and I always tell her she is the guinea pig for all my ideas because when I make the first of anything I almost always send it to her to see what she thinks and to get ideas from her to make it better. Well, I'd better get to work on some Christmas cards, it will be here before we know it. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!!

More Fall Colors

Good morning! Although this card isn't a Thanksgiving card, it does have all the fall colors and I figured I'd better share it now, because I will be moving on to Christmas cards very soon. Oh, I did get my Thanksgiving cards mailed Monday morning, so hopefully they will make it to their recipients before Thanksgiving!!!

I don't usually make square cards, but it sure was fun. I used Prism cardstock for the base, Basic Grey Mellow collection for the patterned papers, a Maya Road chipboard flourish painted and then inked, a Making Memories flower, ribbon from Hobby Lobby (it's really pretty and shiny IRL), and one of my favorite Hero Arts stamps. I don't remember who made the bookplate, but it's cool because the holes are in the top of the plate instead of centered on the sides and that worked well for me here. The only thing I don't think you can see is that I stitched around the whole card with a straight stitch. I might have to try this square card thing more often. I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving and remembers all the blessings in their lives. I know I have more than I ever dream about when I stop and think about it! Enjoy!!

Thanksgiving

Another Thanksgiving card this morning. Thanksgiving will be here before we know it! I don't know about you but I'm not quite ready. My Thanksgiving cards haven't been mailed yet, that's on my agenda for Monday morning. I have however been thinking about all the blessings in my life and all the things that I have to be thankful for, and I guess that's what it's really all about.
Today's card is made using only cardstock, I've been trying to challenge myself lately to make cards using only certain things or to use something in particular. It's going pretty well and I will be sharing some of those in the near future. Anyway, I started with a craft cardstock base and added burgundy cardstock, then bazzill green cardstock. The stamp is from HeroArts and is stamped on craft cardstock which I doodled around. I inked around everything with Chestnut Roan ink and added stapled ribbon to the green and then Making Memories buttons to the bottom of the card. Another easy card! Have a great week and be sure to think about all the thing you have to be thankful for in you life!! Thanks for reading!

Sara's Card

This card is one of the ones that Sara, my daughter, made. I love that she just picks stuff that she loves and puts it together. She started with red Bazzill cardstock and added the Basic Grey paper. Then she colored a chipboard Maya Road flower with ink and then attached a smaller to the inside and set it with a snap. She chose the "live in the moment" vellum phrase and attached it with white square brads. I love how it turned out and it doesn't take her near about as long as it takes me to make decisions about her cards. I'm amazed at how often I learn things from my children instead of them learning from me. I am getting more used to watching them drive out of the driveway in the mornings, but it still feels VERY different! They are growing up too fast! Thanks for stopping by today!

Bright and Happy

Today's card is definitely bright and cheerful. I know it's not fall colors, but it is happy......

This is a really simple card that I made with teenage girls in mind. The bright colors and the font with the dots on the ends of the letters just remind me of teenage girls and that makes me happy! Plus I used my old sizzix dies on it and that makes me happy too. I love when I take things I've had in my 'stash' for a while and make something fun with them. I have a bad habit of saving things for 'just the right card' or 'just the right scrapbook page'. My daughter is helping me with this because she now makes cards and scrapbooks too and she uses the papers and embellishments that she likes, she has no clue that I was 'saving' that paper for the 'perfect' card or page (not that I really was, I just tell myself that). Doesn't matter that I've had it for 6 or 8 months and still haven't used it...... The first time she used something that I had been 'saving' she had been making cards while I wasn't home. She told me what she used and I must have made a funny face because she said, "Did you have plans for that paper?" and she felt really badly about it. But in reality I didn't have any plans at all for it, I just liked it and I was really glad that she did use it because now I wasn't the only one getting to enjoy it. Anyway, to make a long story a little shorter than it could be, she helped me that day to use the things that I like and not save them for the 'perfect' opportunity, that may never come along. Besides that we all know that the manufacturers are going to release more things that I love and if I don't use what I have, where am I supposed to put the new stuff? :o)

Okay, back to the card. I used old Keeping Memories Alive gingham paper, plain cardstock, the sizzix frames, rectangle and scallop (I inked the scalloped one with red ink) and Jolee's ladybug & flower photo corners. the stamp is by Darcie's Country Folk. Easy as can be! Thanks for stopping by today!

Another Bella

Okay, I'm hooked! I love Bella Stamps, that's all there is to it! The customer service that Em provides is outstanding too! I am in no way affiliated with StampingBella, but I do like to pass on awesome customer service and they definitely provide that along with the great products. So, once again if you want to see all the fun stamps available through StampingBella, visit their site at www.stampingbella.com/.

Now, on to today's card. I used some old ProvoCraft patterned papers from their Rob & Bob collection for the background and for paperpiecing CakeaBella's pants and apron. I stamped CakeaBella on white with versafine black ink, colored her with prismacolor pencils and blended with mineral spirits. Then I sewed that onto yellow and attached with popdots. The ribbon is from May Arts, the "Make a Wish" stamp is from Studio G (Hampton Arts), inked that with chalk ink and put some Bella Baubles on the dots of the top patterened paper. Oh, there is also some bling on Bella and her cake in the form of Stardust pen around her lips making her teeth sparkle and on the cake with TingaLing Sparkles from Carolee's Creations. These Bellas are so much fun to play with, I know I'm kind of late in getting them, but I finally made it and I'm so glad I did! Thanks for looking!

A Simple Autumn Card

Good morning! It's pretty cold here today, so I'm thinking about staying in my pajamas all day. Yes, I know that's not REALLY going to happen, but it sure is nice to think about :o)

A very simple card for today. I actually stamped this a long time ago, but I'm trying to get all the pieces together. I used a cream colored card base. I think the patterened paper may be by PSX, but I'm not sure. I made the triangles on the corners just by making squares and then cutting them on the diagonal. The Hero Arts sentiment is stamped onto a pale gold (not metallic) cardstock in Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink - Burnt Sienna. Everything is inked around the edges with Colorbox Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan. The flowers are by Prima - one of the Fancy Pants collections - Dapper and the brad is from SEI. This is a really easy card to make multiples of and easy to change the colors and the sentiment. Sometimes I just like making something with fewer steps and this was definitely one of them. I hope you enjoyed it too!! Have a great day and thanks for coming by!

Happy Thanksgiving

Good morning! This morning was a little anxious for me because for the last 3 mornings in a row, my children have hopped in the jeep and headed off to school. It is such a weird feeling watching them drive off by themselves. I know they are very responsible kids, but that is my heart driving off..... For those of you who have experienced this, you know exactly what I'm talking about, for those of you who have yet to experience it, it's one of those, "my babies are growing up and I'm not sure I'm ready for that" moments! Very proud of them and yet not quite sure I'm willing to let go that much. I don't know if I'll remember the quote exactly, but I love the one about a parent's job is to give their children roots and wings!

Now onto the card, I just realized that if I'm going to mail out any of the Thanksgiving cards that I have made, I'd better be getting to the post office. This is one that is a little new to me as I usually make the standard size 4 1/4 X 5 1/2 card. But this one isn't and it was tons of fun to do! The finished size for this one is 3 7/8 X 9 3/8. Cream colored c/s for the base, PPs from Anna Griffin (green polka dot) and DCWV (Thanksgiving words), ribbon from American Crafts, flower from Hobby Lobby, shimmer paper from the Paper Co., stamp from Cornish Heritage farms - Kim Hughes collection "Let's get Stuffed", Marvy Uchida scallop punches (blue and pink sizes) and the pumpkin was on a roll like ribbon and I just cut one off to use it, but I don't know who makes it, sorry about that! Thanks for looking and have a great day!

My First Bella

This card was made for my sister. I sent it to her in a package so if she reads this before the package gets there.....sorry Sissy! This was my first time using a Stamping Bella stamp, but it definitely won't be my last!!! She was so much fun to embellish (I didn't want to say use!) The card base is a soft green cardstock that I embossed with my cuttlebug embossing folder. Emmybella was stamped onto white cardstock with versafine black ink. I used Making Memories Boho Chic papers to piece her clothes and large bag, I used a leftover piece of cardstock to piece the small bag. Then I colored her face, boots and hair with prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits, inked the edges of the white with Misty Mauve Versacolor ink, mounted that on MM Boho chic paper that I also cut a tab out of. Inked all that with clearsnap chestnut roan ink, stamped A Muse Artstamps "just because" in black and attached all of that with pop dots. The ribbon is also from MM Boho Chic collection. I really enjoyed using my Emmybella and am looking forward to stamping more with them, because I bought a few :o) Thanks for looking today and I hope you have a great day! If you want to see all of the StampingBellas available, here's a link http://www.stampingbella.com/.

Another Thanksgiving card for today. I'm thankful today because we got our son a car to drive yesterday - actually a jeep and he is very excited about it! It's so hard to believe that he's old enough to drive, but he is!! It's hard to believe that I'm old enough for that, but I guess I am!!! Back to the card, I started with a card base of shimmer paper from the Paper Company, embossed that with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. Then I added Reminisce Autumn Afternoon Shimmer patterned paper, stamped 'happy thanksgiving' from the Hero Arts clear November set onto Bazzill Bling (bling colored) and punched that out with the Mcgill punch. The two ribbons are sheer ribbons from Offray and the beadables flower is from Sticko. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're enjoying the cards!

Good Morning! Today's card is one I made for Thanksgiving, but I realized how thankful I am for things in my daily life. My daughter and I went shopping yesterday afternoon (they had an early out at school). I really enjoy spending time with her, and at times that can be saying alot, she's 13! We have fun together and I'm very thankful that I have a great relationship with all 4 of my children.

This card was made with a cream cardstock base, patterned papers are Making Memories VH Paisley Green Solid, and Basic Grey Mellow line, Deciduous. The Thankful stamp is from Cornish Heritage Farms, the scallop punch is the Marvy oval scallop (pink size), the gem in the 'h' is from Hero Arts, the ribbon from Offray, the felt fusion leaves from Queen & Co (this was the first time I've used this and it was pretty cool!), and the amber cardstock from Bazzill Basics. Oh, and everything is inked with clearsnap, chestnut roan. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

Hello!

I've been reading blogs for a while now and have decided to start my own. I love to scrapbook, make cards and alter items and want that to be the focus of my blog with a few other things thrown in now and then. I enjoy reading other people's blogs for inspiration and motivation and hope that mine can be those things for others as well! For my first post, I chose this "Hello" card to share. I LOVE this bird stamp because of his long legs! For this card I used a textured card base from Crafts Etc., KI Memories shimmer paper (the plaid), Paper Co. shimmer paper (kiwi green), watercolor paper to stamp the bird onto, the bird stamp is from Hero Arts, the ribbon is from Michael's, and the hello stamp is snap stamps from Karen Foster. I used prismacolor pencils and mineral spirits to color the bird and chalk ink from clearsnap to edge the hello tab and the bird rectangle. I also zigzag stitched the sides on my sewing machine. I LOVE to sew on my cards and pages. I am really looking forward to sharing things on my blog and would love to hear your comments as well.