1 Day til Christmas

Well today is the final day for my Christmas Countdown. I have enjoyed showcasing the projects I created to send goodies in to "my girls". Their final item was a gift card and I was running short on time, so I just adhered them into their Christmas card. I didn't take a picture of the cards I sent, so I thought it might be fun to show you all the gifts together in one photo.

2 Days til Christmas

Can you believe there are only 2 more days until Christmas?? Oh my ... I sure hope you all are ready. Today's project is like the altered Kit Kat project that I originally found on Diana Gibb's blog. Here's a link to her tutorial. These are easy to make and they are wonderful to use for little hard to wrap gifts. Today is the only day that all 3 of my ladies received different gifts inside, but as you can guess ... the project contained 2 items (Holly got 2 Studio G clear stamp sets, Amy got 2 packs of Ghirardelli hot chocolate and Joy got 2 Copics in my favorite brown E31).

3 Days til Christmas and Blog Candy Winner

Here is today's Christmas Countdown project, a cute little altered band aid tin. I love Fluffles and this image where he is tangled in Christmas lights cracks me up. Very simple project, it honestly took me 10 minutes to make from start to finish because I already had the images colored. I didn't use sticky strip to adhere the patterned paper because I wanted the ladies to be able to alter it for a future project, so it's more like a belly band and it will slide right off. I put 3 Ghirardelli milk chocolate squares inside.

Number drawn via random.org was:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

4
Timestamp: 2008-12-22 11:58:14 UTC

Congrats to Stephanie!!

4 Days til Christmas

Today's project is a Triangle Treat bag that Tracy Durcan posted on the Scor Pal website here. These bags are so cute and pretty easy to make. Mine has 4 pieces of Hodgepodge Hardware inside. It has been so much fun finding projects that worked for the various gifts I wanted to send in my Christmas Countdown packages. Maybe, just maybe, one day I'll actually design a new box or bag. But until then, I just keep my eyes open and find those developed by the various stamping geniuses (is that even a word??) out there.

Check out Friday's post and sign up for blog candy here.

5 Days til Christmas

Here is today's count down to Christmas project, a mini pizza box. These things are so stinkin' cute. They were originally designed by Jen over at I {heart} 2 stamp and here's a link to the information posted for TLC189 over at SCS, including a pattern. I based my design on a card I did for a sketch challenge that InStyle Stamps had earlier this month. I made this box the very next day since I had all of the supplies on my crafting table. Inside is 5 different candies from a Holiday Mix bag of bite sized candy bars ... they fit perfectly inside. I will definitely be making more of these cute boxes, in fact I'll be designing Valentine themed boxes to make with my hostess club.

Remember to check out yesterday's post and sign up for blog candy.

Blog Candy and Christmas Countdown project

Today's project is a little favor box (which I got at Target) with 6 Primas in it. I tied it with some of the gorgeous ribbon that Stampin Up is offering in their current mini. I LOVE this stuff!! I belong to a Book Club and we met Tuesday night for dinner and did a Yankee Exchange with used books. Anyway, I wrapped my book in the kraft wrapping paper Stampin Up used to carry and tied some of this ribbon on it ... the lady who chose my book LOVED the way it was wrapped, especially the ribbon. In fact, I saw her fondling the ribbon a few times and she took the wrapping materials with her. Oh and she liked the book she got too ... it was stolen a couple of times but she got it back in the end.

Okay, I promised blog candy and so here it is. What you'll get: some InStyle Stamps stamped images, some adorable penguin stickers, tags and coordinating epoxy stickers, some ribbon, 1 party favor box, 1 pillow box, 1 glassine bag and 1 small frosted bag (these are what I used in some of my Christmas Countdown projects). All you have to do is go check out the current stamps from InStyle Stamps here and leave me a comment with which one is your favorite. How easy is that? I'll draw a winner on Monday morning. Good luck everyone. If you enter anonymously just be sure to put your first and last name in your comment. Oh and be sure to check back on Monday morning to see who won.

7 Days til Christmas

Okay, so after some non-edible goodies, let's get back to some sweet treats ... lol. For this project, I made this cute little one sheet bag I found in Sharon's gallery on SCS here. The link to a video tutorial on the 3-D Design Challenge blog is here. They have 7 Reese's miniatures in them. Chocolate and peanut butter, my absoulute favorite combination. I'm so glad someone put their chocolate in someone's peanut butter ... or was it the other way around? Okay, I'm being silly and probably dating myself from that old commerical reference.

8 Days til Christmas

Here are 2 more Christmas projects I created. Note that all the Countdown to Christmas projects were sent to 3 special ladies: Holly (who is the upline of my Orphaned Demo group on SCS and who had a birthday this past Saturday ... Hi Holly), Amy (whose name I got for a sister swap with my Orphan Demo Group... Hi Amy) and my ACTUAL sister Joy (who I rarely send cards or projects to ... isn't that sad ... poor Joy ... hopefully the box of goodies you got makes up for it, sis).

The first project is a little heart tin from PTI. All I did was tie some ribbon around it. What's inside?? Well, believe it or not ... it's not candy ... I put some cute little heart shaped buttons and brads in the tin. I figured the ladies could use them for upcoming Valentines Day projects. I didn't embellish the tins because I want them to be able to use them for their own projects. Besides, they're pretty cute with just ribbon on them ... don't you think?

They also received an altered pillow box. I got these at Target, they were in the wedding section and there's like 50 in a box for $13. I like that you can stamp on them. However, I just created a removable belly band, so they can be altered later. Inside is 8 yards of ribbon ... I figured you can never have too much ribbon.

InStyle Stamps Monday Sketch Challenge

I hope you all had a great weekend, I sure did. Saturday was full of crafting and baking and then I went to the Christmas parade in my teeny tiny town. I dressed in layers, but it was pretty cold. However, we had a nice time. I absolutely love marching bands and there were more this year than last year.

I followed the Monday Sketch on the InStyle Stamps blog and made this cute little gift card holder (which was this week's OCC Challenge). I used this adorable Ginger image. She is so cute. My Mom loves to garden, so I got her a gift card to Lowe's that had a gardening image on it.

Countdown to Christmas

I'm glad you stopped by today because I wanted to share some Christmas projects I recently created. The adorable little goodie baglet (top left in the picture) is based on a project I saw on Lauren Meader's blog here. That girl amazes me with her altering abilities. She now has her own line of templates that you can buy at Papertrey, so go check them out. Anyway, Lauren's baglet was the perfect way to show off these yummy little pretzel treats. The paper is from the DCWV Christmas Glitter Stack. The recipe I used for the treats is here. Let me tell you, these are the perfect blend of salty and sweet. And since M&Ms are usually available for all possible seasons, these are a great "go to" gift for the special people in your life.

Next, I ran a small glassine bag through my Cuttlebug using my snowflakes embossing folder. I got the idea from one of Nichole Heady's projects a while back, but I don't know exactly when it was posted. Anyway, I tied some ribbon around it and added a cute snowman image layered with coordinating cardstock with my SU circle punches. Easy as pie and I love how they turned out. Inside there are some chocolate covered Peanut Butter Ritz Bits crackers. They are pretty yummy, but you can certainly tell this was the first time I've ever hand dipped in melted chocolate. Since they turned out sort of ugly I doubt I'll make them again. I added a small amount of shortening to the milk chocolate morsels I used, but the mixture got thicker and thicker and the crackers turned out uglier and uglier. If anyone has any suggestions on what might make it work better, please let me know.

And the final project pictured is 10 sheets of Christmas themed stamped images. I packaged them in a glassine bag that I stamped with green stazon (which you can't see in this photo).

Triple Challenge Card and Exciting News

I made this card for 3 challenges: Cute Card Thursday, Color Throwdown and Sketches by Tamara. I loved the elements in all the challenges and I simply paired them up with this adorable Suzie Q image. Isn't she super cute?? Well that leads me to my news.

I've been chosen to be a Guest Designer for a brand new stamp company called InStyle Stamps. How cool is that?? I was thrilled when I received notification from the owner, Virgina (thanks for the opportunity to work with you, Virginia)!! I'm anxious to share additional projects with you, so keep coming back.

To celebrate, I'll be posting some blog candy "soon-ish" (that was on Grey's Anatomy I think in Season 3 and so now I every time I say soon, I change it to soon-ish *grin*).

Tree Shopping In Style

I made this card for a sketch challenge on the InStyle Stamps blog. They launch their new line of stamps on December 19th and I can't wait to get my hands on their fun and girly images.

The specifics of the challenge is to make a card with the sketch they provided in one of 3 themes: bath tub, shopping or tree image. I needed to make some Christmas cards, so that's why I chose this adorable image from Stampendous.

Supplies: Tree Shoppers by Stampendous, sentiment from AC Moore, Ski Slope DSP, Baja Breeze, Real Red and Old Olive CS, Old Olive ribbon and a red button, snowflake CB folder

What Turkey??

I wanted to share a Thanksgiving card I made for several kids in the Make a Child Smile program. Thanks Cindy for letting me stamp a few pages of this adorable Turkey Fluffles image!! I used some of last year's fall paper from Stampin Up, embossed the Thanksgiving sentiment and added a few buttons. I wrote a little note inside along with a silly joke about a turkey , so hopefully these cards brigthened these kids' days a bit.

November Hostess Club Projects

Here are the projects I will be doing this evening with my hostess club. I suspect they will fall in love with the Big Shot. I love that you can cut 4 pieces of cardstock at once with that thing, plus something crazy like 18 other mediums (chipboard, felt, fabric, etc). It also "handles" better than the Cuttlebug, it seems more steady and cuts smoother in my opinion.

The card uses the Top Note Bigz die cut that is exclusive to Stampin Up and the set I used is called Flight of the Butterfly. This is a set we got at Convention and this project is based on a card I did with my 5th level adopted upline who went to Founder's Circle this year.

The little box in a bag of course was designed by the extremely talented Diana Gibbs and here's a link to her tutorial. I actually emailed her today to see if I could link her blog to mine, so now it will be easier for me to navigate there every day. Besides wonderful projects, she has some adorable youtube clips on her blog, go check it out.

Finally, here is a link to a wonderful organization called Make A Child Smile. I found out about their program from Michelle Wooderson's blog. I am in the process of making cards for the children found in the Urgent Mail section. One little boy, Chandler R., who has Leukemia is getting ready to get a bone marrow transplant. It actually will take place on his 13th birthday (his younger brother is the donor) ... so I'm going to be sending him an iTunes gift card as an early birthday gift. I found out from his mother that he can take his iPod in when he gets radiation. Anyway, this is clearly another good cause. So if you ever have any extra cards you don't know what to do with, I suggest brightening one of the kids' (or more than one) day.

Great Cause

Just wanted to share a picture of some cookies I made for a wonderful cause, Operation Baking Gals. I baked 2 batches of peanut butter & chocolate chip cookies and sent them to a soldier that is currently serving in Afghanistan. What a wonderful feeling it gives me to know that I can send a taste of home to a group of soldiers currently serving our country. I encourage anyone and everyone to consider getting involved in this program. I know I'll definitely be doing it again.

Isn't Baking Riley absolutely perfect for the card I made to go with my cookies? I love this image so much.

Tomorrow I'll be sharing projects I made with my hostess club as well as another information about another community service organization I have been suporting.

Oh and Joy I hope you had a wonderful birthday yesterday!! Let me know if you would like suggestions on Copic colors to buy with the crafting cash I sent you. Love ya ... mean it!!

Crazy for Cupcakes Gift Set

Sorry it's been a little while since I posted, but I haven't had a whole lot of time to stamp lately. Here's a little set I made based on a project that was demonstrated at Convention. I showed it to the ladies in my hostess club last week. I just added a piece of the Sweet Always DSP to the bottom of a tray I got at Michaels, then altered the other items to coordinate and made a card that matched as well. What an adorable little gift, huh?? I'm loving this wide stitched grosgrain ribbon.

I also thought I'd share a picture of Riley (my lovable Sheltie) and an adorable toy my daughter bought for her, who we named Frankie. Riley LOVES her toys. She tends to play with the newer ones at first, but then she'll dig through her basket of toys and come out with an oldie but goodie. It's so adorable. Be sure to check back this weekend for a picture of Riley in her Halloween costume. Yup, I dress her up every year.

Do the Cocomotion

Brrr ... it was actually cold here this morning. So I broke out the hot cocoa maker my friend Stacey gave me for Christmas called "The Cocomotion". Every time I use it I sing "Do the Cocomotion" instead of locomotion. Yup, I'm a goof.

The cold weather inspired me to use this adorable snowman image from Sweet 'n Sassy. You should see all the little snowmen that I put out during the holidays, I've been collecting them for years. They're all just so sweet and lately my collection of snowman stamps has been growing too. It's such a shame that I now live where it never snows. In making my card this morning, I scared my dog when I was setting eyelets because I did it old school ... with my noisey eyelet setting tools. She's such a scaredy DOG.

Supplies: Snow Friends by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, Fall Flowers DSP, Soft Sky, Old Olive, Really Rust and Whisper White CS, Wide Olive GG and Soft Sky double stitched ribbon, snowflake eyelets

Cupcakes Make Everything Better

Okay, well not everything ... as poor Diet Sophie discovered. Or maybe she's thinking a cupcake will make her feel better after what she just saw on the scale. I love this image, it was in the latest Hanna Stamps release. I followed the guidelines for the Limited Supplies Challenge today on Splitcoast (LSC189). The challenge was called Rock, Paper, Scissors. A little gem on the top of the cupcake is the rock, I used patterned paper for the paper and for scissors I only used my cutter for the components of the card.

Supplies: Diet Sophie from Hanna Stamps, Sentiment from Verve's Cupcake Affair, Pirouette Pink and GP White CS, unknown patterned paper, sheer ribbon from Michael's, colored with Copics

It's a Girl Thing

Happy Friday everyone!! Sorry it's been a while since I posted, but this week has been crazy ... so crazy that I haven't had much time to create. Monday evening I broke my riding lawn mower, Tuesday I had to bake a cake and make icing for my cake decorating class and Wednesday was the actual class. So last night I finally had a little time to stamp.

I made these adorable note cards with a Sweet 'n Sassy set called Trendy Girl, aren't they fun? This set reminds me of my daughter. That girl has tons and tons of purses. Anyway, I got the idea from Michelle Wooderson's blog, check out her adorable snail mail cards. If you visit my blog, then you know how much a fan of Michelle's work I am. I just love her style and today she posted some pictures of her fun Halloween home decor, you have to check it out.

No Limit to Rodney's Cuteness

Here's a card I made for yet another challenge. It's a Christmas Animals challenge on the Cute Card Thursday blog. I found it by visiting Tracey's blog whom I only "know" because she left a comment on my blog(Hi Tracey). Anyway, I've had these Rodney images colored for a while and I just bought the Christmas Glitter Pack of paper so it all worked out wonderfully for this particular challenge. I also followed the guidelines of this week's Limited Supplies Challenge (LSC188) on SCS, which was to use NO embellishments, so it's all paper, ink and tools. Told ya, I am getting hooked on challenges. They are so much fun and it's extra great when you can make one card that combines 2 or more of them.

Simple Pleasures

There’s a radio station in MD I used to listen to and Thursday was simple pleasures day … listeners called in and shared their simple pleasure. I always enjoyed hearing these. Today my simple pleasure is the fact that there was a chill in the air here this morning. It actually felt like fall for a little bit, so I thought I'd share a picture of the pumpkin chocolate chips muffins I made.

I got the recipe from this post on Becky Higgins blog because it was on Michelle Wooderson's blog last October. It's a very easy recipe and it makes the house smell so good. I, being the chocoholic I am, put 2/3 cup of chocolate chips in instead of the 1/3 cup the recipe calls for.

I actually baked them on Tuesday when I looked at this week's color challenge. It's funny, I think most people get inspiration from things to make cards ... but I was totally inspired to make these muffins FROM the card samples for the challenge.

My First Release Party

Okay, so last night I participated in my first release party. It was for Sweet N Sassy stamps. What fun!! Here are 2 cards I created for the challenges. The first one was a sketch challenge created by Faith based on this adorable Olivia card that uses the new Olivia add-ons set.

The 2nd one was an embellishment challenge was issued by Jessica. All you had to was to use at least one button on your card. I decided to use the layout from today's sketch challenge on SCS.

I still need to do one for the color challenge that was posted at 11:30 pm (EST). If you haven't "attended" a release party before, I highly recommend it. I'm starting to get hooked on challenges.

Witch Riley Halloween Pail

I stumbled upon a Hanna Stamps challenge from 9/26 over on Splitcoast Stampers. You had to create a 3D Halloween item. My friend Kathy sent me a bunch of Riley images and I had to use Witch Riley and Stampin Up's new Halloween DSP.

I'm planning on filling this up with candy and giving it to my daughter that is living away from home. I hope she likes it. Well how could she not? The image is adorable. Thanks again Kathy for all the cute Rileys!! Be watching your mailbox.

{time to party}

I've been busy getting ready for my daughter's birthday. She turns 21 tomorrow ... man, that makes me sound and feel old. Here's a card I made for her using this week's sketch challenge (SC195) on SCS. This was my first sketch challenge and I hope I didn't deviate too much from the sketch. I absolutely adore this owl image from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. I own all 3 sets that have Olivia. Here she is giving some extra special birthday wishes. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but I embossed the 21 and the sentiment. The hat and balloons are popped up for dimension. And I used the Sweet Always paper from Stampin Up.

Wanna see the birthday cake? Well actually this isn't my cake. But, it looks exactly like this, except the icing for the top of the cupcake is pink ... oh, and mine looks like a 1st grader decorated it ...lol ... SERIOUSLY ... it's pretty bad, but some of that is because I had some issues. First I added too much coloring and the icing was like Pepto Bismol pink. So then I had to add a little bit of what was colored to white icing, which means I didn't have enough white to finish the bottom. Plus the bag I was using broke, so I had quite a cake disaster last night about 10:30. I will be getting more icing today and hopefully it will look at least a little better. However, I am signed up for beginner cake decorating classes at AC Moore that starts next week. It's a shame I didn't take the course before I made my daughter's cake ... SERIOUSLY. And speaking of seriously don't forget that the 2 hour season premiere of Grey's Anatomy is on tonight starting at 9:00.

Okay, thanks for stopping by and wish me luck on fixing this pathetic looking cake.

Tag ... I'm It

Lori over at Smiling While Stamping tagged me yesterday. I think these are so much fun because we get to know each other a little better. This is what I have copied from her blog and you may copy from mine!!

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here are 7 random and weird facts about me:

1. I can’t stand the taste of coffee, but I love the smell of it … especially flavored coffees.

2. I eat cake & ice cream in a bowl, but with a fork.

3. My daughter recently downloaded some Fall Out Boy music into my iTunes library and I listen to them all the time. I can’t wait for their new CD, which comes out on Election Day.

4. I was once an extra in a commercial for a speed dating company. I never did see the commercial, but my daughter did once and she said I didn’t appear in it at all.

5. I have a completely different voice & speech pattern when I am talking to my dog … sort of like baby talk. I make up words to rhyme with the last word I say like cutsie wootsie or sweetie peetey.

6. I finally finished my BS degree in Information Systems Management last December. I had to make sure I graduated college before my daughter did.

7. My favorite TV show is Grey’s Anatomy and I can’t wait for the 2 hour season premiere on Thursday.

Here's who I am tagging:

Bev
Holly
Jen
Julie
Kathy
Michelle
Stephanie

Winners and More September Club Projects

First, it's time to announce the blog candy winners! Random Integer picked #3, so that means Jaclyn, aka turtlescrapper on SCS, won the blog candy. I also normally send out a 2nd set, and that winner is Bev over at Step Away From My Scissors. Congrats ladies!! I'll get these in the mail tomorrow.


Here's a picture of some altered Kit Kats I made for my hostess club. I got the idea from Diana Gibbs' blog, she comes up with the cutest project ideas. I used the Halloween DSP I had left over from last year for these.



And finally, here's a page I did that was based on the layout on Page 4 of the new Holiday mini catalog. These pictures are of my daughter when she was 5 and 6. Since she's an only child, we always went trick or treating with other families. The kids looked forward to it every year. And every year they went just a little further in the neighborhood. Fun times. Oh, I used a retired punch for the pictures because I want to scrapbook copies and not originals.

Supplies for Scrapbook Page: Halloween Frights stamp set, Freightful Fence Jumbo Wheel, Kiwi Kiss, Pumpkin Pie and Whisper White CS, Ghostly Greetings DSP, Basic Black and Pumpkin Pie Classic ink, Versamark with White EP, Chills & Thrills Rub-ons.

Blog Candy Time

As promised from yesterday, it's time to offer up some blog candy. The winner will get some designer series paper, coordinating ribbon, some stamped images from Stampin Up's Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set, various sentiments (everything stamped in Adirondack Pitch Black so you can use them with your Copics) and this cute altered Kit Kat. To qualify just add a comment to this post telling me the name of your favorite designer series paper from the new Stampin Up catalog. If you've posted a card using that paper, please add a link to your card in your comment and you'll get a second extra entry into the drawing. I'll be selecting a winner at 8:00 am ET on Monday, 9/22. Good luck!!

Keep Your Paws Off My Smores

Okay, I have been racking my brain trying to come up with a cute project with Stampin Up's Under the Stars set and I love how this turned out. It's sort of a cross between this adorable card from homestead46 on SCS and this adorable project Nichole Heady did in February. It was a little time consuming, but so darn cute. Perfect for girl scout or camping favors. I'll be making these with my hostess club and I sure hope they like them. This set is part of the Never Before Seen special that runs through September 30th.

Supplies: Under the Stars and the little star pattern from Halloween Frights stamp sets from Stampin Up, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel cardstock, Basic Black and Basic Brown classic ink, White craft ink, Chocolate Chip and White WWC, Blender Pen, Tab punch, cello bags for the little smore kit

Oh and my blog candy post will be up a little later today, I need to take a picture of the goodies.

She's a Dancing Machine

I love this little Ballet Sophie ... she is just PRECIOUS!! She was designed and is being sold for a great cause, read about it here. This card is for SC194 over on SCS. Because my sentiment is so large, I had to modify the size of the layers a bit. I figured such a girly image had to be paired with Stampin' Up's Sweet Always paper, which means more pinks and browns. I got the sentiment from Kim over in the PIF thread.

I think I'm going to send a few of these out to friends that watch Dancing with the Stars, which starts next week.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow because I'll be offering up some blog candy.

I {heart} Pink

Okay, so I realized that I never posted any of the swaps I made for Convention. Can you tell that I {heart} Pink?? Believe it or not I'm on my 3rd pack of Pirouette Pink, it is definitely my favorite of the new In Colors. Anyway, here is a Nugget Tin and a candy bar slider I made for some organized 3D swaps.

The candy bar slider I pretty much CASEd from Jill's project here. I got her permission prior to making them and I made arrangements to meet up with her to give her one of my swaps. On top of being super talented, she is also super nice. Check out Jill's blog when you get a chance, you'll love it I'm sure.

Sweet Cupcake

Just wanted to share a card I did for a swap on SCS. It was to be a "wow" card with at least 4 layers and 3 embellishments. I'm very happy with how it turned out and I hope the ladies in the swap are "wowed" by it. I used all Stampin Up materials. I absolutely love this set and it will be 20% off as part of the Birthday Promotion at Stampin Up starting October 1st, with 7 other birthday related sets.

Supplies: Crazy for Cupcakes, Best Yet stamp sets, Pirouette Pink, Pumpkin Pie, and Chocolate Chip cardstock, Sweet Always DSP, Chocolate Chip 1" Double-Stitched Ribbon, Mini Library clip, 2 way glue pen with Dazzling Diamonds, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches.

Fall Upsy Daisy Mums

The OCC Challenge today is a color challenge: Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive and an optional Chocolate Chip, which are wonderful colors together. The first card I made (the one on the right here), I affectionately titled "Step Away from the Chocolate Chip". This card evolved and spun a little out of control ... lol. Once I added the faux stitching in Chocolate Chip, I thought I'd sponge the corners of the orange Cuttlebugged (is that even a word??) layer, but then the other part of that layer looked too "clean" in comparison. So I sponged everything, including the ribbon. Definitely not my normal style, but it was kind of fun to stretch a little.

The 2nd card is a cleaner and more finished card because I didn't use Chocolate Chip at all and I added the sentiment, which I love. I'm originally from Maryland, but since I'm living in the South I will probably always make cards in the fall with this fun sentiment.

Thanks for a great challenge, Dawn. I definitely miss Fall because it's mostly pine trees around here, so if I want to see foilage I have to either drive West or North for a few hours. I hope everyone has a great weekend.

August Projects

Here are the cards that we made at my hostess club last night. The card on the left is a CASE from a card that Mary Polcin (million dollar Mary as I call her) demonstrated at Convention. Everyone loved the mix of colors. You simply stamp the entire image in Pink Pirouette and then use daubers to put a little Tango Tangerine and a little Riding Hood Red on the flowers. I thought it was a great idea to fold a punched circle and add a button with linen thread.

The card on the right is based on a Convention make and take. I changed up the colors a bit and used the new Kiwi Kiss satin ribbon. The colors were put on with daubers too. I showed a bag we made at Convention that had a similar color scheme to remind everyone how easy it is to make everything coordinate. Oh and we made a matching envelope.

Friends to the End

I made this card for the Featured Stamper Challenge on SCS (FS80). Today's stamper is Jessie aka Knightrone. And what a talented stamper she is ... in fact, I had a hard time deciding which card to case. Here's the one I chose:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1015597?cat=500&ppuser=61504

I love this little doggy stamp from Elzybells, it's so cute. I kept the layout pretty much the same as Jessie's card. Since my ribbon was so wide, I only used 1 type of ribbon. I also used buttons instead of brads and of course the image is different.

It's a cloudy day here in NC, so I had trouble getting a decent picture. I will probably try to take a better one tomorrow if it's sunny.

Supplies: Dog from Elzybells (the UK version, which are a little larger than the US Elzy's), sentiment is from PTI's Mixed Messages, Banbury DSP, Close to Cocoa & Pink Pirouette CS, Pink Pirouette Striped Grosgrain ribbon, the center button is from Button Bouquet, the other 2 are from the Neutrals button, Marvy scallop punch and Word Window & 1 1/4 Circle punch from SU.

Crazy for Cupcakes

I am SO excited about all the new cupcake images in the Stampin Up Fall Winter Idea Book & Catalog. This image is actually called Simple Birthday Thanks. I had so much fun making it into a festive little gift bag. I plan to demo it on Tuesday at my hostess club and it will be part of a Crazy for Cupcakes stamp camp I am planning.

Lots of paper piecing on this baby. I used the faux dazzling diamonds technique for the cherry and I also colored the sprinkles with markers, then used my Versamark pen and clear EP to give them a little umph. Love how it turned out.

Supplies: Simple Birthday Thanks, Banbury DSP, Chocolate Chip Patterns DSP, Whisper White, Real Red and Old Olive cardstock, Bashful Blue Striped Grosgrain, IIEP, Clear EP and a gift sack all from Stampin Up

Chocolate Chip Snoopy

Okay, I've been busily working on my Convention swaps and that's why I haven't posted in such a long time. I took a quick break because I HAD to make a card for Jody's Dare to Get Dirty challenge from yesterday (DTGD08Jody). Since she's a self-proclaimed ribbon addict, it is quite fitting that her challenge is to have the ribbon drive the other elements on the card. Well I bought this ribbon because I love browns and blues and I love that it matches the 2007 In Color, Cool Caribbean. I bought all that my local Michael's had of it. I had to because I still have 4 packs of this paper.

My card was heavily inspired by this card I saw on SCS a while ago. Love that Dina made it look like a bite was taken out of the corner.

Cards for Heroes

I spent the morning of the 4th of July making cards for a program called Cards for Heroes. As I was stamping and designing cards, I thought what a wonderful way to spend my time than to pay tribute to the men & women currently serving our country. The 2 pictured here were created for the need for Love You and Miss You cards from Kim's blog (and she's offering some blog candy for them). These will be sent to the troops for them to send to their family members. So you get to touch the lives of at least 2 people -- the person using the card to write to their family member and the person receiving the card. I made 6 of each design.

Mouse on Swing card: Stamped image was from Christine13 on the PIF thread, Short and Sweet set from SU, Soft Sky DSP, Rose Red DSP, White Stampers Select cardstock from Papertrey, Black Versafine and Copic markers, SU Photo Corner punch

Baking Riley card: Image is from Hanna Stamps, A Muse sentiment, Papertrey Mixed Messages, SU Cutie Pie DSP, White Stampers Select cardstock from Papertrey, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery and Rose Red cardstock from SU, Martha Stewart scalloped punch, SU 1 1/4 Circle Punch, Black Versafine and Copic markers, wavy blade for Cutterpede cutter

And the Winner is ...

I used the random integer generator from www.random.org to determine a winner for my blog candy:


Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
9
Timestamp: 2008-07-04 12:07:11 UTC

So that means Michelle from Just Painting Around won a set of my blog candy. Congrats Michelle.

Did you notice I said "a set"?? Well I actually have a 2nd winner as well. Remember the last time I drew a winner that consisted of all of the comments on my blog that weren't related to a blog candy drawing? Well, Denise won the 2nd set. And the cool thing is ... today is Denise's birthday. Congrats and Happy Birthday Denise!!

I hope both ladies enjoy their goodies. They'll be in the mail tomorrow.

Happy 4th of July everyone!!

Photo Mosaic Tag

I was tagged by Alison, one of the wonderful ladies I have met through the PIF thread.

Here are the instructions:

Open the Mosaic Maker and set up a new mosaic with three rows and four columns. Open Flickr in another window; type your answer to each question (one at a time) into the search bar. Choose one of the photos from the first page of each set of search results and click on it. Copy the URL for each photo and paste it into the corresponding numbered line in the mosaic maker. Click "Create" and then save your mosaic.

Here are the questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you attend?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. Where would you go on your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. What is the one word that describes you?
12. What is your Flickr name?

Here are my answers:



1. Sandy Point Sunrise, 2. Flowery Branch- Porterhouse Steaks History, 3. Sunset @ GBHS, 4. Auroville 014 ------------------------------------------- Colour Purple, 5. George Clooney wishes he was this cute!, 6. i love you water. i miss you diet coke., 7. I miss Tuscany, 8. chocolate Truffles, 9. don't worry be happy new year, 10. Snowmen family in TX, 11. all kinds of everything..., 12. Brown Thrasher

A little piece of advice is to open a 2nd Mosaic Maker and hit create for each picture you find. I kept getting a blank square in my mosaic for the pictures I chose for Tuscany.

I am tagging:

Bev
Denise
Kathy
and anyone else that might want to give this a try

If you're not up to playing along, no worries ... this one is a little time consuming, but kind of cool.

Don't forget to sign up for my blog candy, here.

Purely Wild Baking Riley

I had to break out my Baking Riley to use for today's Color Challenge (CC173). I've been waiting for the perfect image to pair with my "Have your cupcake and eat it too" sentiment and I think I found it. I love this little guy. Super simple card, but lots of fun to make.

Don't forget to sign up for my blog candy, here.

Supplies: Baking Riley from Hanna Stamps, Savvy Stamps sentiment, Purely Pomegranate cardstock, Wild Wasabi Textured cardstock, Certainly Celery DSP, GP White, Black Versafine Ink, Pomegranate stitched ribbon and Wasabi striped ribbon.

Blog Candy

My plan was to have blog candy when my counter hit 1965, which is the year I was born. It hit and surpassed that while I was in Maryland, which means I’m offering up some long overdue blog candy. You'll get these adorable stamps from Imaginisce, along with various patterned paper, ribbon and some stamped images from my new Whipper Snapper, Riley & Cafe Hanna stamps.

All you need to do is add a comment to this post telling me which Copic color you use to color images that have denim in them and which Copic color you use to color blond hair. The blues & yellows I own simply aren't the right shade. So I need some help.

For those of you that don't have Copics, which Stampin Up colors do you use?

I’ll draw a winner on Friday morning.

Double Challenge Card

I knew I wanted to make a card for this week's Our Creative Corner Challenge, but I didn't have any Basic Grey paper with me when I was out of town, so I had to wait until I got back to play. I also wanted to make a card for the Featured Stamper challenge, so I made this card by following the requirements of both challenges.

Here's a link to the adorable card of Michele's (chelemom) that I CASEd.

I stuck with the dog theme and used the same color card stock. I used paper from the BG Archaic collection and BG buttons that matched. I didn't have any rick rack that matched the colors, so I used Bashful Blue grosgrain instead. Doesn't this little puppy look happy?? She reminds me of my dog, who loves to rip toilet paper to shreds.

Okay 3 posts in one day is enough ... be sure to check all 3 of them out. Also, make sure you stop by tomorrow because I've got a lot of catching up to do.

Supplies: Double Trouble image from Whipper Snapper, sentiment from Gina K and unknown paw print stamp, Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Basic Black cardstock from SU, BG Archaic patterned paper and buttons, Bashful Blue grosgrain ribbon, Copic markers

Taylor's Challenge and a tag

I loved Taylor’s sketch for this week's challenge and when I saw it I immediately knew I was going to use my new Café Hanna for the card. This card expresses how I felt on Saturday morning as I sat at Panera and colored some Hanna images … after eating a Cinnamon Crunch bagel … YUM!! I love Panera and the closest one to me here in NC is 2 hours away, so when I go to MD I always make sure to go to Panera at least once.

Supplies: patterned paper and cardstock from a CTMH kit I ordered form a friend’s party, Café Hanna, unknown Life is Good sentiment, SU Chocolate satin ribbon. I created my scallop with a wavy blade for my Cutterpede, and lots of SU Dimensionals

Also, I was tagged by Bev, so now it's my turn:

Five things on today’s ‘to do list’:

1. Unpack from my trip

2. Laundry, laundry and more laundry

3. Update by blog

4. Finish my card from Taylor’s challenge

5. Get my PIFs and WRAKs in the mail

Snacks I enjoy:

1. Lorna Doone Cookies

2. Doritos

3. Tastycakes

4. Donuts

5. Pumpkin Cheesecake

(These are all things I ate this past week in MD, oink!!)

Things I would do if I was a millionaire:

1. Pay off all my debt

2. Pay off my Mom’s home

3. Donate to Ronald McDonald House in Chapel Hill

4. Take my family to Europe

5. New cars for me & my daughter

Places I have lived:

1. Maryland

2. North Carolina

5 People I am tagging:

1. Stephanie

2. Monica

3. Holly

4. Lori

5. Jen

Card Kit Swap

Sorry I've been MIA lately, but I was in Maryland all last week for work and I was on the go non-stop. I've got some catching up to do, so expect a lot of posting this week. Here's a card I made with the contents of my Penny Black Card Kit from Mel's (mlandrum) swap. I actually got the layout from a RAK I received from Bev over at Step Away from My Scissors. She sent me this adorable Elzy card and a bunch of images for me to work with over the summer. Thanks again Bev!!

Here's a picture of all the goodies Bev sent me:



Card Kit Supplies: Patterned papers are from the Baby Powder collection of Imaginisce and so is the cute little button brad, primas, Penny Black Cheers cow image, Basic Black from SU and Stampers Select cardstock from Papertrey