Horse Crazy

Well, my Thanksgiving was nice! And I only picked up a few things on Black Friday because a. I was mostly done and b. Joe ended up working so I couldn't go early like I usually do. So, that meant that pretty much everything that was on my list was gone by the time I got there. Oh well, I'm not too upset about it, everyone will be having pretty good sales up until Christmas anyway. Saturday I tried to organize the house a little and finish putting together my gifts for the annual Sister Dinner my mom, sisters, and I have. I bought everything but the hot cocoa cone that I put in their box. Those were really fun to make (I absolutely LOVE the tag I made for it!) but man, that stuff is not cheap! I used a recipe that called for powdered milk, flavored creamer, Nesquick, powdered sugar, and a few other things. Maybe next time I should just go to Sam's and buy a big can of regular hot chocolate, LOL. Nah, I tried it and it tasted pretty darn good! I will be making those to put in the baskets for Christmas gifts this year. Anyway, Sunday morning came and I had to be up, ready, and out of here by 9:15 because my mom and sister went together this year to buy us all tickets for 'White Christmas' at a local theatre. I really enjoyed it. It wasn't a lot like the movie, which is normal for stage productions but there was a lot of dancing and singing and it was very fun to watch! Plus we were right next to the stage so that was fun! It made me miss the plays I was always in in High School. My Senior year I played Lily in Annie. Remember her? Dumb blonde that only wants money? For some reason my teacher thought I fit that part perfectly. LOL! So, we got out of there, exchanged our gifts, and then I had to drive home in the rain while it was dark. Not fun. I am not a fan of driving at night. My throat started hurting that night and the next morning I felt like a big pile of poo. My whole body hurt, I was tired, had a headache, you know, all the fun stuff! I felt a little better yesterday but still had a sore throat and was tired. I woke up this morning feeling much better and ready to get back on the bloggin wagon!



Ange, Ape, Mis, Nik, Me, Hol, and Mandy (mom took the pic so she isn't in it)

*Little Challenge, if you can pick out which gal is the sister-in-law, I will send you some happy mail!* Family members can't play this one! lol

Singing "Which one of these things is not like the other? Which one of these things is not the same?"






I made some cards with Starving Artistamps rubber that was a bit of a challenge for me. She asked us to do rush batches for a show and I recieved horse stamps. At firt I kind of panicked but once I started playing with them I kind of let the stamps do the talking. Not being that much of a horse person, its really hard to get into that mental state. My niece and cousin's lives revolve a lot around horses which is awesome but it seems like you are either really into them or not at all. That being said I will share my favorite creation from all the horse cards I made. And go figure, the horses are PINK!


{THIS PHOTO HAD TO BE REMOVED}

• 6012-B, 6012-C (horses), Medium stitch set, 6012 (sentiment), ornate tooled leather background stamp sets (Starving Artistamps)
• Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Close to Cocoa CS
• Versamark, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink inks
• Cuttlebug flower die
• brown felt
• rhinestone brad
  

I tried and tried to find a glue pad to use with my flocking but nada! The essential glue pad wouldn't have gotten here in time (not that it mattered in the end because I mixed up labels on packages and she didn't get it in time anyway! I'm such an idiot!) and the Pallete glue pad just sucks the whole way around! I cannot get that thing to work any way I try it. Heat, no heat, extra glue from their re-inker bottle. I just want to throw it away for taking up space. Can anyone tell me what I might be doing wrong? Maybe I am too late for help. That is very likely!

Well, I should be back tomorrow with a card made with the new pregnant lady image from Artful Inkables (via SA). She is so pretty! I really like this one!


So, hope all of you had a great Thansgiving!!! Now, go put up your Christmas tree!

Yet another Tea Party

I am going to ignore the fact that I haven't posted in a while and just act like I posted yesterday!!

It's the smARTworks Tea Party Wednesday again! I really enjoy doing these sketches and the sketch today was provided by the smARTworks owner, Susan Trask.

• Birthday Dreams WD-180 stamp (smARTworks)
• Cosmo Cricket 'Dutch Girl' DP
• black, white CS
• Palette Nior ink
• Cuttlebug flowers die
  
• red felt
• brads, ribbon, pop dots

Make sure you check out what the other Cookies did with this sketch! And if you'd like to play along, we'd love to see!
Donna
Susan L
Dina
Trish
Susan T

I have lots of cards to share so hopefully I will be able to share a few a day for a week or so. I'm planning on that!!

Now, I am off to clean up the rest of our computer/stamp room because it just might become our bedroom as well! Right now we have the kids in a bedroom upstairs but we might move them downstairs for the winter since fuel oil is going to be 40% higher this year than last. Just don't know if we can swing a $1,600 heating bill for the winter (electric bill not included). I think we are going to move my big metal rack out along with a few small things and put our bed in the corner. If we do that then the kids will move into our bedroom which stays warmer than any other room in the house. We are getting Clinton a race car bed for Christmas (used of course, those things are $400 new!) and hopefully everything will fit in that room okay. We're keeping our fingers crossed!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Turkey day!!! Oh, and don't get trampled shopping for those deals on Friday!! Stay safe!!!!!

*One more thing to add. My article on glitter re-inker ornaments ran on Craft Critique yesterday so check it out if you want the tutorial!*

Tea Party, smARTworks style!

Well, it's Wednesday and we all know what that means! No, I'm not talking about America's Next Top Model. It's Tea Party time!! I can't believe it's been two weeks since our last party! Time is flying!! This week Donna provided the sketch for us!



We were supposed to do something 'different' with the strips in the background. I do realize that ribbon isn't that creative but I thought it went nicely with the paper and image. Kind of 'lightened' up the card.

• CMS-11 Old St. Nick stamp set (smARTworks)
• Make it Possible 'Holiday Wishes' paper stack
• Colorbox Warm Red, Olive Pastel chalk inks
• ribbon
• pop dots

If you'd like to play along we'd love to see your work! Put a link to your card here or on any of the other DT members' blogs! If you need some inspiration, just check out theirs sometime today!
Donna
Susan L
Dina
Trish
Susan T

Thanks for stopping in!! I made a few more cards with my Take a Bough set from Paper Trey! I'll share those tomorrow!! Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Candy Winner!

Sorry I didn't get back to you guys yesterday! I put the numbers 1-38 into the random number generator at 12:30 yesterday and it gave me #30! Starqueen, you are the wiener, I mean winner. {wink} Get me your snail mail addy and I will get your goodies sent out to you this week! Thanks for playing everyone!

Real winter weather

Well, today I don't have to worry about getting in that 'holiday feel' with the weather as cold as it is outside! High of 42 today which will probably feel like 32 with the wind blowing as hard as it is!

I finished some cards on Sunday but have been busy running here and there picking jeans up for Joe for his trip to Chicago next week and doing some Christmas shopping while I am out. And trust me, Christmas shopping while your kids are with you is no easy task! But when I was in Kohl's yesterday I hit the jackpot with tops for the girls. They had a lot of adorable (I got 6) long sleeved tops in Ava's size for $4.80 each and they also had a lot of short sleeved 'girl power' like shirts (I got 7) for Jolee. I figured she could wear a long sleeved shirt underneath of them. That is still in, right? LOL Those were only $3.40. She will love them! Anyway, sorry for my rant!

Here is one of the cards I made on Sunday. I used Beate's weekend sketch challenge #26. I really liked the layout of this one and it came together pretty quick. I used that chunky glitter again for the snow and to be honest, I will probably use it again soon!

• ABC-Sweater Teddy stamp set (smARTworks)
• Make it Possible 'Holiday Wishes' stack paper
• Stazon jet black ink
• Chalk ink and blender pen
• Copic grey marker
• light blue crayon and OMS for sky
• ribbon
• pop dots

And HOORAY! I got my Paper Trey Ink sets yesterday!!! And the paper and labels! Well, come on, I had to see what all the fuss was about the paper! It's awesome! Very thick and white. What more could you ask for? This is my first card with the Take a Bough set. I literally made this card in about 3 minutes. It only took that long because I was trying to choose which ornament stamps I wanted to use since there is such a selection! Now I know that if it gets down to the wire for my Christmas cards I can always pull this set out and have a very sophisticated quick card!!!

• Take a Bough stamp set (PaperTreyInk)
• Colorbox Olive Pastel, Lime Pastel, and Warm Red, Chestnut Roan chalk inks
• Prismacolor silver pencil (for the strings)

Well, you guys still have a few hours to leave a comment on this post to win my blog candy! I have gotten so much enjoyment out of reading all of the wonderful gifts you have given that have meant so much to others! Keep on giving! Until later, see ya!

Old St. Nick

Happy Saturday everyone! Hope everyone has had a good morning so far! I have been searching Ebay looking for a large LEGO lot for Jolee for Christmas. She loves building things so I think now is a really good time to get her some. However, I don't want to pay $60 for a new set that is very boyish and only has 100 pieces or so. Which is why I have a 23 lb. lot on my watchlist! If any of you have tons of regular (or girly) legos you'd like to sell, EMAIL ME!! {grin} Anyway, here is my card for today. I tried him simple at first (since stamping with this guy is waaaaay out of my normal boundaries!) but I will try another card in black and color him too. I think I am going to mass produce about 10 of these for family since I only have about 3 Christmas cards done so far! Normally most of my 60 cards are different, but I don't think I'll have a lot of time for that this year!

• CMS-11 St. Nick, FL-31 Bough and Cone (background) stamp sets (smARTworks)
• Cranberry Crisp, Going Gray CS
• Cranberry Crisp ink
• Copic gray marker
  
• glitter
• ribbon
• pop dots, sponge
  

I just love how this looks like sugar! I need to use this on some Christmas treat cards! Speaking of which, I ordered my Paper Trey 'Holiday Treats' and 'Take a Bough' sets the other day. I also got their CS since I heard such wonderful things about it!


Don't forget to leave a comment on this post to win some Christmas blog candy!! Have a great weekend everyone!!

Happy Fall and Candy! Finally!

I hope everyone had a great Halloween with their kiddos! My kids made out like bandits! Before they dumped all of their candy though we did the yearly 'clean out the bowl' ritual. Dumped candy out from last Halloween and most of this years Easter. This candy will last them until next Halloween when we will do the ritual once again!



Before we get to the 'good stuff' AKA blog candy, I want to share a card that I am super proud of! This is a wintery type bear but I wanted to step outside the box cause he is just too cute in his sweater! And yes, I know people (or bears) don't drag a sled when it's not snowing, but come on, if a bear is pulling a sled then anything is possible. Right? The pumpkin is from a different set but both are still smARTworks. Speaking of which, Susan just released the new supplement on November 1st and it has some AWESOME sets in it! Some adorable birdie sets!!! Here is a link to my favorite page and here is a link to the supplement. It starts on the bottom right but make sure you click 'next' because there are some more pages to check out!

• ABC-Sweater Teddy, Autumn #1 stamp sets (smARTworks)
• BasicGrey Mellow DP
• Pumpkin Pie CS
• Stazon jet black, Chocolate Chip ink
• Prismacolors, crayons, and OMS
• corner rounder
• velvet ribbon
• pop dots

So, here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for! Blog candy! I decided to go with a wintery/Christmas feel this time around. Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I get my snowmen out, spray my holiday scents, and wrap presents! I love wrapping presents! I also love shopping for them! I'm sure there are a lot of you out there like me who enjoy shopping for others more than yourself! So, what I want you to post for a chance to win this candy is what is the best gift you have ever GIVEN? I have asked before what the best present you have recieved was but I am twisting it this time. Other than giving my hubby the gift of delivering his beautiful children, it would have to be the time I found an autographed picture of Judy Garland by chance in a tiny shop. My sister collects Wizard of Oz anything and although in the picture she wasn't dressed up like Dorothy, I knew it would be a great piece for her collection! It's those once in a lifetime little finds that excite me the most!!! So, what is yours? Leave me a comment and I will draw a random # to see who wins! Open to US and Canada residents only. Sorry guys! You have until Tuesday the 6th at noon! Good luck!

Blog candy includes:

• Real candy! Russell Stover Vanilla Bean Brulee chocolate!
• Daisy D's Winter Fun pad. 24 8x8 sheets plus 4 die cut sheets
• Various 6x6 Christmas paper (some more Daisy D's to coordinate)
• 8 1/2 x 11 Christmas paper from The Paper Studio
• American Crafts felt flowers in Christmas colors
• Pot of untrafine green glitter
• Lots of stamped Christmas images (not shown) from my collection