Last Tea Party

Hey all! Today will be the last smARTworks Tea Party for the summer. It seems like everything is harder to keep up with when you just wanna be outside or are going on vacation. So, for our last party Trish told us to make a card using brown, white, and one other color. Oh yeah, and some sparkle too! I decided to add in pink. Here is my finished product...

• STAMPS- WD-36, Daisy Trio #1 (smARTworks)
  
• PAPER- Basic Grey
• INK- Versamagic Wheat, Colorbox Dark Brown
• OTHER- ribbon, sparkle brad, edge distresser, pop dot

Make sure you stop by and get your fill of the last round of everyone else's cards!
In the Works.....smARTworks
Mama Dini's Stamperia
Tah Dah!

I'll be back tomorrow with hopefully some new Doodle Factory stuff! I am on DF overload {in a good way of course} lately so that's probably all you will be seeing from me as far as Starving Artistamps is concerned. Tracey and I just finished up sentiments for the new Tropics set so she will probably be putting those in the store shortly. Keep your eye out for them! Hope you guys have a great day!!

A Little non-Wednesday Tea

Alright so apparently I am on a roll of being late this week. I was all set to do my post for the smARTworks Tea Party yesterday but after the awful (and I mean awful) storms we had the night before last and yesterday morning, it left me without a dial tone on my phone which meant no internet too. So, even though I wanted to be here yesterday, I had to sit back and go an entire day without surfing anything! I'm surprised I'm alive today! {grin} Anyway, here I am!

It was my turn to do the challenge this time and I chose these colors for inspiration:


Here is my final take. The colors are a little bit brighter in my card but I think it's pretty cool.

• STAMPS- Sunshine Sayings (smARTworks)
• PAPER- Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, pink, white CS
• INK- Colorbox Dark Brown
• OTHER- buttons, flowers, Souffle white pen, push pin, Cuttlebug embossing folder, pop dots

Well, I'm off to finish painting the chicken coup! Hope you guys have a wonderful day!

smARTworks is here for tea!

Today is another day for our smARTworks Tea Party! The big boss herself Susan gave us a sketch to try today....


This is my take on it. I know I extended the circles a little farther than the sketch but that's the beauty of a 'guideline' right?

STAMPS- Sunny Smiles, Combo Sentiments (smARTworks)
PAPER- The Slab
INK- Brilliance black ink
OTHER- Copic markers, buttons, pop dots

Be sure to check out the other Smart Cookies throughout the day!
In the Works.....smARTworks
Mama Dini's Stamperia
Tah Dah!

Well, as much as I'd love to stay and chat, I have to finish planting our sugar snap peas, green beans, carrots, and onions!! Oh, and did I mention we are thinking of getting chickens???? I think I'm gonna lose my mind! {grin}

Sunshine Filled Tea Party

I am a little sore this morning. Yesterday was a non-stop day. We started at 9am and didn't stop till around 8pm. We had to do a lot of regular things (grocery and such) and then we had to get Jolee's hair cut (she looks so grown up!), I went to Big Lots hoping I could find some thick CD cases because my stamps are overflowing and I need some more to store them in. Nope! So now I guess I am going to have to order online which is what I was trying to avoid. Anyway, we had to pick up the rest of our veggie seeds and plants for our garden too. After that the girls had their first gymnastics class. They loved it and it was fun to watch them through the plexi-glass. After that was home and unload everything. Then the fun part came.....digging up more of our garden! Yee-haw! We bought a tiller a few days ago but you still need to work the ground a little to make the tiller easier to use. We did that will about 8:30 and then I had to put the groceries away. I was super tired by the end of the day! We are planting all kinds of stuff for our garden so I am really excited!! Corn, tomatoes, all kinds of peppers, cucumber, lettuce, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, watermelon, strawberries, pumpkins, and I'm sure I'm missing a few. Now we just get to play the waiting game!!

This morning is another smARTworks Tea Party! We all got our new batches of rubber so I think all of us were excited for this challenge. Well, another reason could be that Dina challenged us to make a card with NO ADHESIVE OR GLUE. It's so funny how there are so many little things you don't think of! When I was done with the card I almost glued on some baubles not even thinking! I caught myself though! Here is my card and I challenge all of you to make a no glue card too!

• STAMPS- Sunny Smiles, Sunny Smile Sayings (smARTworks)
• PAPER- MME, American Crafts
• INK- Stazon Jet Black
• OTHER- edge distresser, large brad, Word Window punch, Sewing Machine, Stickles

Be sure to check out the other Cookie's creations throughout the day!!
In the Works.....smARTworks
Mama Dini's Stamperia
Tah Dah!
Dee's Studio

Hopefully all of you have had a great start to your weeks so far! I have to really get busy and make some Mother's Day cards! We have just had so much to do around here that it's been crazy! Maybe I'll make it to them tonight. Have a super sunshine filled day!!! Thanks for stopping by!

Circle Tea Party

Hi all! I am running a little later than usual today but I have plenty for reasons for that! So, I am just going to make this post quick and move on to more chores around the house!

Dina challenged us to do a circle card this time around for the smARTworks Tea Party and I knew I wanted to keep it really simple. Here is my design!

• STAMPS- DK-01 Combo Sentiments (smARTworks)
  
• PAPER- SEI old school I think
• INK- Palette Hybrid black
• OTHER- scalloped edge scissors, ribbon, flower, Coluzzle

For more circular inspirations check out what the other girls did!
In the Works.....smARTworks
Mama Dini's Stamperia
Tah Dah!
Dee's Studio

And trust me, I didn't forget about the blog candy!! I will be announcing the winner in a post later today!!!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Tea Party #12!

Good afternoon all! I can't believe that we have done 12 smARTworks Tea Parties so far! I have had so much fun with these! This week Trish challenged us with an inspiration piece! We could take whatever inspired us from this picture.


Pretty huh? Wouldn't mind having that hanging up in my living room! So, I decided to take the colors from the picture and work from there. This weekend we had a slew of ladybugs come out and my kids were so happy to see them and catch them! I felt like I just had to do a ladybug card! Here is my end result.

• STAMPS- Ladybugs Lg., Combo Companion (smARTworks)
• PAPER- Chocolate Chip, kraft
• INK- Colorbox Dark Brown, Versamagic Cloud White
• OTHER- Copic red marker, white brads, edge distresser, ribbon

Be sure to check out the rest of the Smart Cookies this week! I'm sure you'll get a big variety this time around!
Mama Dini's Stamperia
Tah Dah!
SusieStampsAlot
Dee's Studio

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I took the kids out to a local place yesterday that has houses and barns like the 1800's (we go there quite a bit in the summer) and I just have to share this pic of Clinton chasing a chicken! I thought it was just too cute!



Well, I'll have some cards to share with you guys tomorrow, so see you then! Have a great day!

Springtime Tea Party

Flowers, flowers, flowers!! I took charge of the challenge this week for the smARTworks Tea Party. I decided that we needed to coax spring out with some flowerage! In my mind, I had a completely different card, but once I sat down to make it, this came out! I have been wanting to use my pretty ladybug for a while now so this was a great opportunity! Ain't she beautiful?!

• STAMPS- Ladybugs Lg., WD-101 (smARTworks)
• PAPER- Marcella (Target)
• INK- Brilliance Black
• OTHER- edge distresser, sewing machine, chipboard leaf, ZIG and Copic markers, pop dots

Make sure you check out the other ladies' creations too! And please play along if you'd like! Who doesn't wanna pump out a pretty flower card anyway?!
In the Works.....smARTworks
Mama Dini's Stamperia
Tah Dah!
SusieStampsAlot
Dee's Studio


So, high of 54 today! Yee-haw! The Go Kart should be delivered sometime today and I think Joe is going to end up giving to them before their birthday party. He is way too impatient for something like that! Although, he does have to wait till they get their helmets, which I am ordering today. One pink and one purple. They are just going to flip!

Well, I hope you guys have a great Wednesday! Enjoy the nice weather (that is, if you are having nice weather)!

Party of Tea!

Good morning ladies! I trust everyone is having a wonderful morning! I however, am not so much. I started getting a sore throat last night and now this morning my whole body hurts. I just want to crawl into bed and go back to sleep. However, apparently when you have small children it's frowned upon to tell them to make their own lunch and answer the phone if it rings while you pull the covers over your head and stay there all day. {grin} Nah, they have been taking it easy on me so far this morning. Hopefully, Clinton takes an early nap so I can make the girls snuggle on the couch with me for a movie so I can catch a few Zzzzs. Once you have a kid, you don't actually 'sleep', you just kinda rest your eyes occasionally. Honestly though, all the kids have to do is whimper and I'm awake and listening. Anyhoo, hope the cold weather isn't making any of you sick!

Oh, and before I continue, Joe and I went to the cheapo movies last night ($3.50 for both tickets) and saw I am Legend. I had a headache from clenching my teeth so hard! Very tense moments! And for those of you who might not know, this is a horror movie. But, if you love Will Smith and not scary movies, it was still worth it to see him doing sweaty, shirtless pull ups! He is one fine man!

Okay, so enough about Will Smith {pauses for one last mental picture} it's Tea Party time!! This week our head honcho Susan Trask gave us a color challenge. It was so funny because I had just had these colors sitting in a pile with the hopes of using them soon! The colors are chocolate, lime, and aqua! Although, I didn't really have any lime, I replaced with with celery. Here is my creation!

• STAMPS- flower FL-19, WD-142 Lilac Blessing
• PAPER- DCWV aqua, Chocolate Chip
• INK- none
• OTHER- ZIG markers, Nestabilities, Word Window punch, Cuttlebug embossing folder, pop dots
  

Now you guys have to jump in on this Tea Party challenge! Who can resist those fab colors?! So jump in and join the fun! And while your imagining what you can create, take a look at the other smART Cookies creations!!!

In the Works.....smARTworks
Mama Dini's Stamperia
Tah Dah!
Dee's Studio

Don't forget to stop over at the Overstock Central at smARTworks for some really great deals! And while you're at it browse the online catty and narrow your list down to only the stamps you HAVE to have! You might be able to count them on 2 hands.

Hope you have a better day than me!!! Sending (no germ) kisses to all of you!

Lovey dovey Tea Party!

It's Wednesday again! And that means it's smARTworks Tea Party time! This week Donna challenged us to make a Valentine's Day card. That was pretty simple for me since A. I needed to make Valentine's anyway and 2. I just got a few lovey dovey sets in my new smARTworks batch. Then again, who says you have to actually have a 'love' set for those kind of cards? For this first one I used my so well loved 'Birdie Fun' birds. I also used my Alpha-02 for the x's and o's (this set just so happens to be half off along with several others you can find here) and stamped them onto my red ribbon. Topped it off with pink rhinestones for the eyes.

• STAMPS- Birdie Fun DK-04, Alpha-02 (smARTworks)
  
• PAPER- scraps
• INK- Brilliance black, Stazon
  
• OTHER- ribbon, rhinestones
  

Although it's hard to see on this one, I used black stickles on the ladybug.

• STAMPS- Ladybug Lg., WD-108 I love you (smARTworks)
• PAPER- KI memories (I think)
• INK- Brilliance black
• OTHER- Copic red marker, Nestabilities dies, slit punch, black stickles, pop dots
  

Make sure you check out the rest of the gals through the day! Can't wait to see what they've come up with!!!
In the Works.....smARTworks
Mama Dini's Stamperia
Tah Dah!
SusieStampsAlot
Dee's Studio

Have a great day!

Tea Par-tay! Hey! Hey!

Okay, so don't ask why I chose that title for today's post. I guess I'm just in a goofy mood. Plus, I haven't eaten yet so I could be a bit delirious.

Since all of the Smart Cookies (smARTworks DT members) have all taken a turn with the sketches, we decided to change things up a bit this time around. It will be kind of a free for all for who ever's week it is. This week Dina from Mama Dini's Stamperia challenged us to do a Matchbook card. This was a first for me. I think all of the different card shapes are neat but I never seem to actually try them. I am so glad I did though! I really love how this turned out! Thanks for the kick in the pants Dina!

• STAMPS- Dk-04 Birdie Fun (smARTworks)
  
• PAPER- MME
• INK- Pumpkin Pie
• OTHER- Nestabilities rectangle and scalloped rectangle dies, slit punch, Cropadile, eyelets, ribbon, Primas, white brads

Make sure you check the rest of the Smart Cookie blogs throughout the day to see what they came up with. You're welcome to play along too! I dare ya!
In the Works.....smARTworks
Mama Dini's Stamperia
Tah Dah!
SusieStampsAlot
Dee's Studio

Also, don't forget to leave a comment on this post for a chance to win 2 Queen Kat Designs sets! I'll be drawing tomorrow at noon! See ya then!

Tea Party Wednesday!

So, for the second week in a row I am a day late for the Tea Party! This time though I was sparing you from the hideous picture I had to take of this weeks card! I had my card made on Tuesday and was all ready to take pics and post on Wednesday morning but hubby ended up taking the day off and had to have an emergency visit to the Dentist so that threw off my day a tad. Ended up taking care of him most of the day and then last night when I went to take the picture and post I realized my battery was dead on my camera. AAAAGGHH! So, I tried to take a picture with my small Sony, which normally takes perfectly fine pictures, but not so much at night, with a close up, using flash. Anyhow, I couldn't bear to share the hideous picture so I waited till this morning when my battery was fully charged. So, here it is.

Trish provided the sketch this week and I figured out that I need more smARTworks stamps! LOL I didn't have a whole lot of stamps that fit this sketch except for Christmas ones. Therefore, I decided that I need to order a few more sets! Now, I just have to decide which ones to get!

• STAMPS- Spring #1, Middie Messages #2 (smARTworks)
  
• PAPER- MME Wild Asparagus DP, Baroque Burgundy CS
• INK- Palette Hybrid Noir, Tim Holtz Walnut ink (with sponge)
• OTHER- Nestabilities rectangle and scalloped rectangle dies, Word Window punch, Copic markers, sponge, pop dots

If you want to check out what everyone else did for the sketch then just hop on over to their blogs and see! We have something different in store for you for our next Tea Party so be looking forward to that!!
In the Works.....smARTworks
Mama Dini's Stamperia
Tah Dah!
SusieStampsAlot
Dee's Studio

I'm getting ready to make a post over on my Photography blog as soon as I get off here so if you have a minute, go check it out here! Have a great day!!

Late for Tea!!!

How was everyone's Christmas? Ours was great!! We had lots of family time together and enjoyed every minute of it! Joe only got Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off so the time we did have was precious. It was a blast watching the kids open their gifts and this year I actually got to open some!! Joe is not a gift giver. He is the kind of guy that says "Get what you want." Which is okay with me sometimes. Sometimes being the key word. The last time be bought be something for Christmas was right after we got married and I'm not sure if he has ever wrapped anything. Well, this year I was out shopping with his mom when he called me and told me he had to work over. We continued shopping for what we needed and I got home and was cleaning and whatnot when he got home an hour early. He works in a shop so when he works over he has to work over 4 hours. Anyway, he brought bags into the house, grabbed the wrapping paper and tape, went into the kids' room and spent 2 hours wrapping everything up (granted, it took him that long because the kids helped!). You should have seen the smile on my face!!!! He even went upstairs into the Christmas tote, got my stocking out, and hung it up by everyone else's. He did a great job with the presents too! I got new pink Cutterbee scissors, a Hot Marks kit (which I am still trying to figure out, so if anyone has any tips!), new paint brushes, the Photoshop CS Bible (this book is huge!), along with lots of other goodies! I almost cried! I told him that now I am going to expect it every year! He is a good hubby and I love him no matter what he buys or doesn't buy me but this was a really special Christmas!

Sorry I got so long winded! I was just excited! I also got Nestabilities from my fabulous in laws!!! Wow, they love me! I got the complete oval and rectangle sets. She got them from www.ucutathome.com with the 40% off coupon for each. I haven't stopped using them since!! All the cards you will see tomorrow will have a Nestability die on them!

Clinton turned 2 on the 26th! He is so precious! Mamaw and Papaw got him the big Imaginext Dinosaur and the two smaller ones that stomp. He freaked out! In a bad way. He always plays with them at the store but once they were stomping towards him and getting so close he was not happy! Trink (MIL) got it on video and if it's good enough I might actually send it to America's Funniest Videos.

Okay, onto the Tea Party. I am a day late but yesterday got way more hectic than I had planned. But I'm here now and that's what matters, right? It was my turn to do the sketch this time around. I think I will make some more cards with this one too. This one came together very quickly and I finally got a chance to use my Rock Star paper again!! Yay me!

Here was my sketch:


And here is my card:

• STAMPS- WD-89 Kings, DK-01 Combo Sentiments (smARTworks)
  
• PAPER- DCWV Rock Star stack, Positively Pink CS
• INK- Tim Holtz Walnut Ink
• OTHER- Sakura Stardust gel pen, rhinestones, sponge
  

If you'd like to play along just post a link here and show us what you've got! Also, check out what the other ladies did with my sketch!
In the Works.....smARTworks
Mama Dini's Stamperia
Tah Dah!
SusieStampsAlot
Dee's Studio

By the way, I will be updating my Sweet Life photography blog today or tomorrow too. I have gotten requests to share more things and it's about time I did! Be sure to check in!

Have a great day! Stay warm!

Tea to warm you up!

So, it's smARTworks Tea Party time again! Time to share all of our cards we made using a sketch that is provided by one of the team members. This time around Susan Liles gave us the sketch. When I first looked at it nothing struck me, but in true Heidi style (waiting till the last minute that is!) I was able to use my brand new rubber from smARTworks that came in the mail yesterday. Everything I ordered was from the supplement that just came out and I was so happy with what I got! I started cutting out this morning and putting my Tombow glue on the back to make them tacky. I know I am on the DT so it's kinda my job to persuade you to want to buy them but I don't think these really need much persuading!!! For the Combo Sentiments set (designed by the great Dina Kowal of Mama Dini's Stamperia herself!) you cannot beat the price at 25 stamps for $13.50. Then you have the Combo Companion set that goes perfectly with it for $7.50. Here and here are the links that you just have to check out!!!

Anyway, rambling done. Here is the sketch:


And here is my fantabulous card! And bling-y too!

• STAMPS- DK-01 Combo Sentiments (brackets), DK-02 Combo Companion(merry), DK-04 Birdie Fun (smARTworks)
• PAPER- Cranberry Crisp CS, BasicGrey 'Fruitcake' DP
  
• INK- Old Olive, Cranberry Crisp
• OTHER- Crop-a-dile, large eyelets, Slit punch, rhinestones, ribbon, Stickles, pop dots

If you wanna check out everyone else's version of this sketch just click their links:
Donna
Susan L
Dina
Trish
Susan T

Well, we got our first official snow of the winter last night and it's still going this morning. I might try and get a few pics when it slows down later. Hope all of you stay warm and comfy!!! Be back tomorrow!

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!

smARTworks Tea Party!

Good afternoon everyone! Today will be a pretty fun day because it is the first 'Tea Party' of the smARTworks design team! Every other week (Wednesday) we will be taking turns posting a challenge for ourselves and hopefully you guys as well, if you'd like to join in the fun. This week it is a sketch done by the fab-u-lous Dina from Mama Dini's Stamperia. She is our DT 'momma' and she threatened to take my stamps away if I didn't participate. Just teasing! But isn't that what moms usually do? I know I do! Anyway, this sketch was really fun and as soon as I saw it I knew which smARTworks stamp I wanted to use! He is one of my favorites!! So, without further ado, here is the sketch and the my version of the sketch!



I do have to admit that I completely *heart* this card! It helps though that I also *heart* this snowman oh so much! Can snowmen really get any cuter than this!? And he even has a little birdie on his hand!

• ABC-Starstruck, Middie Messages #2 stamp sets (smARTworks)
• MME 'Front Porch' DP
• Certainly Celery, white CS
• Cuttlebug Swirls EF
• Stazon jet black ink
• aqua painter and re-inkers
• Copic gray marker
• brads, pop dots

Check out the talents of my smARTworks DT buddies! Susan T, Susan L, Dina, Trish, and Donna!

So, if you get a chance sometime this week play along and post your results here! I'd love to see them!!

See ya later alligator!!