Sweet and Simple

Good morning all! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Mine was packed full of fun stuff for my sweet Ava who's birthday was yesterday. I did dit down and make this 5 minute card for her. I just got my new Nestabilities dies in the mail on Saturday so I had to use them immediately! Then I ran that piece through the swiss dots embossing folder and slapped it on with pop dots. The glitter heart is from the clearance Valentine's section and Walmart along with the 'just for you' sticker. She loved it!

Stamps: none! Paper: DCWV pink, Marcella paper stack (Target) Ink: none! Other: Nestabilities dies, Cuttlebug emossing folder, button, K&Co sticker, glitter heart



An here is my pretty birthday girl! She turned 5 yesterday. This was the dress she picked out the day before while shopping with mamaw, so of course she waned to wear it to church the next morning! We went out to eat afterward and then she got to open her presents when daddy got home from work (7:30pm). It almost killed her! She did get a pink DS along with a few games and a DS case. She said it was better than the best present ever. I guess we did good. :0)

Hope everyone has a delightful day!

Out of Hybernation!

Hellllllllllllooooooooooooooooooo! Oh how I missed you guys (if there are any of you left that is, lol)! Every once in a while life has a way of telling you to slow down and focus on the things that are really important in life. That is what has been keeping me from hanging out with you for the 5 or so months. Now though I am back and better than ever! Well, maybe that's an exaggeration. I am back though!

I stamped for the first time in that 5 months on Friday {yes, you can feel sorry for me} and it felt soooo good! I stamped yesterday too and will be stamping today as well after I get home from church!

One of the cards I made yesterday was for my hubby who is turning 29 today {Happy Birthday Honey} and I wanted to make him something funny. Simple cards are always best for him because even though he appreciates my craftyness, a 5 minute card is not much different than a 50 minute card, ergo, he gets the 5 minute one! I'm pretty positive that was just a run on sentence. Anyway, here is my quick no layer card for my humorous hubby...


inside...



I had to handwrite the jackass part, lol. Mabe I should suggest it to Tracey to add to the next sentiment set! LOL

I really ended up liking the sky that I was just trying to fill in as a quick fix. I just took my blue Copic marker and made several lines across the paper letting it dry a minute or two and then added some more, and even more still. I like the streaky look of it. It would be great for water too.


Stamps: Doodle Factory Fairytale, DF Fairytale Sentiments Paper: white CS Ink: Palette Hybrid black Other: Copic markers, black pen


This was the first of my latest Starving Artistamps cards. Can you tell I was thinking of cupcakes? Well, day dreaming actually. {grin} The 'dreaming of' piece is popped up and I paper pieced the cupcake. Those adorable little hearts went perfectly as sprinkles. I picked them up at Wal-mart last week. I think I might go buy like 5 more packs because they are too cute!



Stamps: Simple Birthday (large) Starving Artistamps Paper: Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie, DCWV dark brown Ink: Palette Hybrid black Other: Sakura white gel pen, K&Co heart stickers


I have a super cute project to show you tomorrow! Hope to see you then! Thanks for stopping!

Love is in the air!

Good afternoon! There might be a few of you reading this that are snowed in today. We are supposed to have 4-6 inches accumulated by tonight but I don't know how much I believe that. MIL and I are planning on taking Jolee and Ava to see the Hannah Montana concert movie tonight and get some dinner afterwards. It's the first time just 'the girls' have gone out together. Usually, it's his mom that watches Clinton if I want to do something with the girls. It should be fun!

So, now onto showing some of my new cards I've done the past few days. First, my first 3 Queen Kat Designs cards! Yes, I wanna share all 3 at once! I am having so much fun with these! 2 out of the 3 are no layer cards because these stamps are sooooo easy to use! Love the designs! Without further ado.....

• STAMPS- Let's Party (Queen Kat Designs)
• PAPER- white CS
• INK- Brilliance black
• OTHER- Copic markers, push pin, stickles
  

• STAMPS- Huggy Monster (Queen Kat Designs)
• PAPER- white CS, red CS
  
• INK- Pretty in Pink, Positively Pink, Brilliance black
• OTHER- Prismacolor brown pencil, OMS, pop dots
  

• STAMPS- Let's Party (Queen Kat Designs)
• PAPER- Rock Star Stack (DCWV)
• INK- Stazon jet black, Cool Caribbean
• OTHER- ribbon

Well, there you have it! I'll be back tomorrow with some Tea Party Valentines!! Hope you enjoyed these cards!

Stay Warm!!!!

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!

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!*

Snowman again!

I just can't help to want to make cards with this guy, so if he pops up every other post, sorry. He is the perfect size to be able to add other things on the card but not too small to become the image that's not the focal point. Plus, I love snowmen! I challenge you guys to show me some snowmen as cute as he is! There might be a few but I haven't seen 'em! SO show me! Show me cards that you have made with snowman stamps or post a link to where you can buy them! Trust me, I'd LOVE to see!!!

• ABC-Starstruck, Middie Messages #2 stamp sets (smARTworks)
• The Paper Studio DP
• Word Window punch
• aqua painter and re-inkers
• ribbon
• pop dot

This was one of the final cards for my first quarter DT batch for smARTworks. I have been on a kraft paper kick lately (yes, admitting you have a problem is the first step!) so I wanted to try it with my little birdie! I stamped everything on the kraft paper and colored except for the middle balloon, which I stamped on a piece of scrap kraft, colored, and popped up on the card. I did the same with the star. I used my pen to draw the 'hill' and the balloon strings.

• ABC-Birdie Bitties, Middie Messages #2 stamp sets (smARTworks)
• kraft, black CS
• Stazon Jet Black
  
• Prismacolor pencils and OMS
• Sizzix folk star die
• black pen
• pop dots

I don't have a whole lot of time to chat today but I wanted to post these cards. I had fun with the 'Tea Party' yesterday with the Cookies! Can't wait to do it again in a few weeks! Don't forget that you can view all of the cards made by the smARTworks DT by vising From The Cookie Jar ! You'll find the sets we have used so far listed on the left side of the blog.

Hope you guys have a great night! Enjoy your Grey's!!!

Pirates, bears, and sweets, Oh my!

I definitely have a mix of cards for you guys today but first I want to say that I am so looking forward to Grey's Anatomy tonight!! I was on vacay last week with the season premier so I had to watch it online yesterday (the first chance I have had this week!) and I was pretty impressed! I cannot wait to see what happens with Izzy and George! One part of me hates their relationship because he is married but the other part of me wants him to drop Callie and be with Izzy. How many of you feel the same way?

Alright, I'll get to the cards now. My first one is an invite for my niece's 4th birthday party. They are going to Build a Bear but after that they will go to my sisters house and dig up burried treasure by following a map. I think they will have lots of fun! My sister is going to give out pirate attire as part of the goody bags.

I paper pieced the bottom of the boat and the brown flag. I also paper pieced the sail but popped it up. I tore the paper for the waves, chalked it to darken it a bit, and added stickles. I also added hair to the pirates on the invites that were going to girls.

• Ahoy Matey (SU) stamp sets
• Bashful Blue, Creamy Caramel, white CS
• Copic markers (except for the pants)
• stickles
• pop dots
  

The next one is for the same sisters birthday. It is the first time I have gotten to use my Tier of Treats stamp. I just love that stamp! I also got to try out flocking for the first time. They had 2 pack for 1.99 at Hobby Lobby plus 40% off so you know I couldn't pass it up! I got 4 different colors, light green, pink, white, and blue. There wasn't a yellow in sight (obviously not a Christmas color) otherwise I would have snatched that up too! They did have pack of red and green though so I'll probably get that next time I am in. Anyway! I flocked all of the pink, white, and green on this card. You can't really tell but it looks (and feels) really cute in person!

• Tier of Treats (Stampendous), 1/8 inch snap (Karen Foster) stamps
• MME and SEI patterned paper
• black, white CS
• Stazon jet black ink
• Copic and ZIG markers (can YOU tell the difference?)
• glue pen
• ric rac
• pop dots

The next two are for my design team for Starving Artistamps. These stamps seem to make my creativity flow so easily! Although I have noticed that I seem to do a lot of cards that focus on the left side. If you take a took at all of the creations I posted today you will see what I am saying! I guess it's just a 'classic' way to layout a card. I am going to challege myself though that for the next 5 cards I make I won't do one that looks so similar to these in layout. I don't think it will be too hard. At least I hope not. {wink}

I ran a piece of Bashful Blue through my Sizzix with the snowflake Cuttlebug die and then I dragged my Versamagic Cloud White ink pad over the top to highlight the snowflakes just a little bit. I highlighted the bear with my gray Copic marker **If you never get any other Copic marker, invest in the gray one! You will not be dissapointed!!!!** and added some flocking to hs hair, ears, and the hair on his legs. Once I was done with that I colored under him with my blue C. (Copic) marker and added stickles and a black line.

• Polar Bear KSAI-317 (Starving Artistamps) stamp
• Bashful Blue, white, black CS
• Satzon jet black, Versamagic cloud white chalk inks
• Cuttlebug snowflakes embossing folder
• Copic Markers
• glue pen & white flocking
• black pen
• stickles
• ribbon

This one highlights the fall/winter scene from the set of two from SA. I wanted to make the colors very muted so after I colored them with my Prismacolors and OMS I sponged Chocolate Chip over the whole piece. I also used the new Mellow paper from BasicGrey. Now that is a sick obession of mine! BG paper! But that's a whole other story! **sidenote: When I just typed 'whole other' I wanted to type 'whole nother'. LOL That's how I say it out loud.....whole nother.**

• Tree Duo KSAI-208 (Starving Artistamps) stamp
• BasicGrey Mellow DP
• Chocolate Chip ink
• Prismacolors and OMS
• brads
• push pin

I also decided to start labeling my posts. I think I am going to try and go back and label most of my previous posts from this year too. I never even noticed it in the beginning and then when I did notice it I didn't think it was that big of a deal. Now, after browsing through blogs that have easy ways to get to the cards you wanna see, I definitely think it's important. So, keep an eye out for it!

Gotta go! Have a great TV night Grey's fans!!

Rock and Roll!

Man, I feel like I am on a roll and don't wanna stop!!! I got 4 cards done yesterday! I was really inspired. Of course it helped that my new Inque Botique stamps came!! Oh my goodness I am in love with these things! If you have not purchased any of these, you really really need to! If you don't have any money to purchase them, pull out any sets that you aren't using, sell them on Ebay (anything listed $9.99 and below are free to list till the end of the month), and then use that money to buy them! The price is really unbeatable! The big sets are less than $12 and the 'mini' sets (which aren't all that mini) are less than $4. And, now a few of the online stores are carrying the 'Lil Stamps' that are only $1! And the cool thing is they are rubber, not acrylic. Anyway, I better move on to the next subject because if I didn't I would be singing Inque Botique praises all day! So......moving on!

This first card I made for my niece's birthday that is today. I used the foil hearts sheet from the DCWV Rock Star stack. This is another thing you need to get if you have any tweens/teens/or rockers in your family! I also used the Inque Botique "Mini-Awesome" set with this which goes Awesome {har har} with the stack! The circle with heart is seperate from the wings which is nice. I colored the inside of the heart with my white Souffle pen and then added stickles. I just love this card!!!

• DCWV Rock Star stack
• Pink Passion CS
• Mini-Awesome (InqueBotique), Karen Foster 1/8" snap stamp sets
• Stazon jet black ink
• Souffle pen (white)
• Word Window punch
• Stickles
• black brads

The next one also uses Inque Botique. This set is called Petals and I really really like it. It's huge! Such a big selection! The swirl reminds me of the stamp from SU Baroque Motifs set (which I love!) so that's another reason I {heart} this set!

• Petals (InqueBotique), Paper Tray (PaperTreyInk) stamp sets
• Old Olive, kraft CS
• Stazon jet black, Colorbox Olive Pastel chalk inks
• Prima flowers
• corner rounder
• black brads

I did this Halloween card for the Thursday Throwdown Colleen posted on her blog Distintive Touches. It was a challenge to make any holiday card. I was in the Halloween mood so I went with it! I cut the ghosts out of a patterned paper sheet by The Paper Studio, attached a pop dot to the top part but glued the bottom part straight to the paper so it would give a 'floaty' kind of feel. I used a JoAnn's $1 stamp for the sentiment and just cut out the words. I also added white dots to the brads with my Souffle pen.

• Ghost paper (The Paper Studio), Halloween Words paper (Not sure, I cut and glued the part that had the name on it!)
• black CS
• JoAnn's $1 stamp
• Coluzzle oval cutter
• Cuttlebug Swirl embossing folder
• Souffle pen
• ribbon
• pop dots

This last one is my least favorite out of the bunch but I think only because I couldn't decide what else I wanted to add to it. I didn't have the 'right' ribbon and debated about adding sparkles but it didn't seem right. Maybe one of you can help me out!

• Petals (InqueBotique), Happy Everything (SU) stamp sets
• Fabriano watercolor paper
• Stazon jet black ink
• Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, So Saffron re-inkers
• aqua painter
  

By the way, have you guys seen this? Just when I thought I was safe DCWV has to come out with a glitter Halloween stack! I mean really, how many Halloween cards can I send out??? I am in trouble!!

Hey cupcake!

You guys might be noticing my new banner. I can't keep the same one for very long. I like to change it up every once in a while, kinda like my furniture. I also get better with the digi scrapbook stuff as time goes on. Speaking of digi scrapbooking stuff, I was browsing a lot today and ordered some stuff and also downloaded some free stuff too. The new banner uses Corina PhunkyPower paper and the corner overlays from Traci Murphy Designs.

I made this birthday card with some scraps I had laying around. I got this cupcake stamp last week because I NEEDED one. You all know how that is!

• MME patterned paper
• DCWV CS
• Cupcake stamp (Stampabilities)
• Karen Foster 1/8 inch snap stamps
• Mega scallop oval punch, Word Window punch
• aqua painters and re-inkers
• Stazon Jet Black ink
• ribbon, pop dots, stickles, push pin

I do have to say that I am very proud of myself! Last week I did 5 out of the 7 daily challenges on Splitcoast! I rarely ever do any of the challenges over there but I have loved the cards that I have made with the challenges in mind! So, I might end up like a few of the other 'stalkers' on there and get more of a direction on what I can do to expand my paper crafting. Speaking of which, here is my FS18 challenge. Every Sunday they feature a stamper with awesome talent and style (maybe one day I'll be feature, *sigh*) and then you CASE on of their cards. The stamper this week is Seewah. I paper pierced the lines above and below the good friends and I also paper pierced all of the dots on the flourish stamp. I inked the edges with Versamagic cloud white ink and distressed the pink layer.

• Paper Tray (PaperTreyInk), Flourishes (Rhonna Farrer), Simply Said (SU) stamp sets
• kraft, DCWV pink CS
• Stazon Jet Black, Versamagic Pixie Dust, Versamagic Cloud White inks
• ribbon punch
• ribbon, edge distresser, pop dots, push pin

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a fantastic day and be sure to check back tomorrow for a new special weekly feature!!

No Copics for me!

Good morning all! Today is going to be a good day! I just have a good energetic feeling this morning! I hope everyone has a super-duper day!!

I wanted to make a simple card this morning and I had only used this cherry blossom stamp by Stampendous once before. It's such a beautiful stamp I don't know why I haven't pulled it out more. Anyway, I stamped with Satzon black and used my aquapainter and re-inkers to color it in. I know cherry blossoms are white but I wanted some flowers with color so I just went ahead and colored it with the Rose Romance re-inker. I also added stickles to the centers of the flower but you can't really tell in this pic so I added another up close one.

*By the way, I didn't need a sympathy card for a specific reason, just wanted to keep one handy.

• Cherry Blossoms stamp (Stampendous), Paper Tray (PaperTreyInk)
• watercolor paper
• Stazon Jet Black
• Rose Romance, Close to Cocoa re-inkers
• aqua painter
• stickles
• ribbon
  

You couldn't see the stickles in the big picture so I wanted to give you an up close. Plus I love taking pics with this camera so I don't even need a reason really. {cheesy grin}



This is one I started yesterday a few days ago but got stuck once I got the crown paper sewn on. *Glad I got my sewing machine back in working order by the way* I have been using the flowers from a stem lately (well, always except for the little blue primas I have) and they work just as well as the Primas I think. At least they work for me! I stuck the flowers on and then used my 1/2 hole punch for the center and added a rhinestone and dots with my peach Soufflee pen. The pink in that set seems to be very bright for most of the things I would need it for but the peachy color works well. Next, I stamped with Stazon onto my silk ribbon and added some stickles to the edges. Tah-dah! All done!

• MME patterned paper
• Hampton Arts clear stamps
• Stazon Jet Black
• 1" pink silk ribbon
• flowers from stem
  
• stickles, rhinestone, Soufflee pen, sewing machine, 1/2" hole punch
  

***
Okay, so yesterday I had my regular trip to Blockbuster and Kroger (we get movies every Tuesday) and I wanted to see if Hobby Lobby carried Copic markers. So, being the organized girl I am (if you knew the truth you would laugh) I decided to call first. Riiiiing, Riiiing, "Hello, may I speak to someone in the art department please?" -Transfers call- "Yes, how may I help you?" "I was wondering if you carried Copic markers." "Why, yes we do." "Do you sell them in sets or individually? And if individually, how much are they each?" "We only sell them individually and they are $2.49 each." "Wow! Okay, thank you!" Then, I drive there, park, get my 3 kids out of the car (it is on the way to Blockbuster so I won't complain about that), go straight to the art department and ask someone where they are. She had to take me to the back because I guess they don't keep them up front. So I say "I can't believe that you guys have them for $2.49." "Um, these are $5.89 each ma-am." "Well super! I'm so glad the person on the phone wasted my time! Thank you!" Then I proceed to walk away with a trip into HL wasted! I was pretty mad but I guess I should have known better than to think I could actually find them that cheap. Oh well, I guess there will be no Copics in my future!

On a happier note, I will be introducing new feature to the blog next week! There will be some fun goin' on here! Make sure you check back! I will be sharing some great work by a fantastic artist! Stay tuned!

Have a safe weekend!

Hey everyone! Just wanted to pop in and say that I hope everyone has a fun and safe Memorial day weekend! I plan on lazing around the house with hubby and kids!

This is the card I made for my niece. I was trying to think 'Amy Westerman' style with the different patterns of papers. She is so good at that!!!

• Cakeabella (Stamping Bella)
• Paper Tray (Paper Trey Ink)
• MME, MAMBI patterned paper
• Slit punch
• aqua painters and re-inkers

See ya next week!

Opinions please

I have been a bit random with my entries lately but I have been working on some things for my photography blog and have also been trying to think of themes for a few days of the week that could be re-occurring. I was thinking of 'Fun Friday' where each Friday I pick a theme like polka dots or butterflies and you guys can see if you can come up with something to make for it. I know there are a few blogs (okay, more than a few) that already do some weekly/daily challenges so I guess what I'd like to know is if anyone would be game to play along? My feelings won't be hurt in the least if everyone would rather just keep up with the challenges that they are already involved in. I know sometimes it's hard for me to keep up with Amy's challenges on her blog Heartfelt Greetings!

So, give me some suggestions! Are there other things you would like to see on here? Or should I change something to make it easier? Let me know! I want to make this blog as enjoyable to view as possible!

And speaking of challenges, this is my Super Sunday Sketch challenge of Amy's. These are the same papers that I used on her challenge last week. I am trying to also use the paper that I have already cut into before I use something else. Although, that is much easier said than done!!

I had trouble with the 'cheers' part. I like the rest of the card really well but just seemed to get stuck with that. I might change it later.

• Cosmobella (stamping bella), 1/8 in. snap stamps (Karen Foster), and Hampton Art stamps
• The Paper Studio DP; Certainly Celery, Positively Pink, black CS
• Cuttlebug flowers die
• Stazon black
• ZIG markers and aqua painter
• ribbon

*****
I just wanted to let you guys know about something I saw (and bought) yesterday. A compant called Tensor makes natural light light bulbs. They aren't like the OTT light bulbs where you can only use them in the OTT light lamps (in other words, they don't screw in), they screw in to any light that takes a regular bulb! They are $16.99 each at Staples, BUT if you already have a table lamp or even an over head if you wanted to buy 3 of them, you're still saving lots of money and space! The OTT lights run $59.00 and up each. Yesterday I got the bulb for $16.99 and bought a gooseneck lamp (didn't have one) for $9.99. So, for $27 I have my own natural light lamp so I can work on my stuff at night without wondering what it might look like in the morning!

I hope that info might help some of you guys out! I had no clue about it so next time you are out see if any other places sell them too. You might find them cheaper than that!

Must be the best mom in the world!

All I can say is I must be one special mom because Joe gave me the green light last night to get the Canon Digital Rebel XTi that I have been drooling over for forever! Click Camera had a special that if you buy the camera (with the 18-55mm lens) and a memory card you got the 75-300mm lens for $1! Couldn't pass up such a good deal! Plus, I got $30 free digi prints and 2 free classes. I found it online a little cheaper but with the free stuff and the idea that I can take it to the store if something goes wrong, I decided to go with Click.

Here she is, isn't she beautiful?


*****
Here is my card for Amy's Sunday Sketch challenge. I started it on Sunday but couldn't finish it till this morning because I was out and about last night.

• Happy Everything (SU), Martini glass (Scraptrends flexible stamps) <----JoAnn's has these sets on clearance for $5! Love the barbeque one this one is in!
• Paper Studio DP
• ZIG markers
• SU flower punch
• rhinestones, stickles, pop dots

This adorable card was sent to me from Julie Masse along with lots of Bella images we traded! Haven't got a chance to use them yet but I will!


Had to show a close up of the sand that she put on the card. Isn't that the coolest idea!?


This one was sent to me from Rose Ann along with more Bella images! Am I a lucky gal or what!? This card makes me want to get the SU kits! I love it!


*****
On another note, voting for round 2 has started for Paper Crafts Gallery Idol! Here is the link to the cards and here is the link to the voting!

I had fun making this one! Don't forget to vote for your favorite!!

*****
Also, don't forget to comment on my blog candy post for a chance to win some goodies! I'll pick a name on Thursday at 9am!

Playing around with felt

I never thought I would be able to use felt in such a cute way! I am loving seeing what everyone is doing with it! It inspired me to run it through my Sizzix with the Cuttlebug Asteriks die. I did find out though that not all felt will work with the cuttlebug dies. This felt was pretty thin and somewhat stiff. It did work great though! I like the red flowers but wish I had another color on hand to work with. I'll pick some more colors up when I am out next.

• Happy Everything (SU), Flourishes (Rhonna Farrer) stamp sets
• Aloe Vera Versamagic chalk ink, Real Red classic ink
• Cuttlebug Asteriks die
• red felt
• rhinestones
  

Now this card came out of absolutely nowhere. I threw it together in about 10 minutes. I like how it turned out though. Nothing too bold. I thought about using ribbon where the paper piercing is but thought that might make it over done. I did pop another dress up on top of the one underneath that I had already colored.

• Diva Dresses (TAC), Paper Tray (PaperTrey) stamp sets
• Regal Rose re-inker
• Black Stazon ink
• push pin, rhinestones, pop dots

*****
Allison tagged me to tell 7 things about myself and then tag 7 people to do the same. So, here goes.

*I have never smoked a cigarette even though both of my parents were smokers (I think that's why!).

*When I get scared while watching a movie I wiggle my toes.

*If I ever came into some money, the first thing I would do is get my teeth fixed. They have never been straight.

*I am a cat person and grew up with all kinds of animals as a kid. However within the last 3 years have developed allergies to pet dander and pretty much sneeze my head off any time I get near any. That includes our Guinea Pig Franklin.

*I belch quite often. And usually quite loudly! But don't worry, I always say excuse me!

*I love to fish! Hubby is teaching me the in and outs of bass fishing though and hopefully we get to plan a day to go together.

*Lately my absolute favorite indulgence is Ferro Rocher chocolates!!! Good gracious they are yummy!

Alright, now I will tag the following....

Amy S.

Meli Mitchell

Amy Westerman

Jovi

Rose Ann

Stephanie

Julie Masse

Can't wait to hear what you ladies have to say!

My baby is 5!

Okay, I can't believe that my baby, my first born, my princess is 5! Yesterday was almost like a smack in the face! {smack} Hey mom, I'm, growing up! {smack} But {smack} you're {smack} my {smack} baby! {smack} Alright, I might have gone a tad overboard with the smacking thing but that's just the way it feels. And let me tell you she's 5 going on 15! Sometimes the attitude that comes out of her mouth is scary! Where did THAT come from!? I swear she didn't get it from me! {wink}

She does crack me up though too. A few days ago she had me laughing so hard I was crying! She and Joe were on the couch being silly with eachother and he said "Go get me a Tea". She gave me a weird look and a minute later she shows up with the magnetic letter 'T' from the fridge. Joe and I cracked up! It was so funny. So I called Ava over and said, "Could you go get daddy a tea please?" She goes and gets a bottle of tea out of the fridge and brings it in. Jolee then had a 'duh' moment and started laughing with us. I haven't laughed that hard in a while.

Here is the birthday card I made her. She, like Ava, loves the Bellas so I knew that's what I had to use for hers too.

• Cakeabella stamp (stampingbella)
• The Paper Studio patterned paper
• Lavender Lace, DCWV pink, white paper
• Cuttlebug Swirls EF
• Prismacolors and Gamsol
• scallop scissors, flowers, rhinestones

***
This is one I made a few days ago. I'm not too much of a 'scenery' stamper. I pretty much just like to stamp one or two images and leave it at that. I got this stamp from Eat Cake Graphics though (and it has me wanting more) and you kinda have to add to it. It doesn't have to stamped images that you add, but it does need something extra. I really enjoyed coloring it in and all but lesson #1 (and I know I am yelling when I say this) ALWAYS STAMP YOUR SENTIMENT BEFORE YOU COLOR AN ENTIRE IMAGE LIKE THIS!!!!!!!! It took me about 20-25 minutes to color this and get it just how I want and then I mess up the sentiment! It looks pretty bad but I'm hoping that the images will distract the viewer from how bad the words look! Let me know!!

I used a marker on the Happy Harmony stamp because I wanted to leave out the word 'big'. I thought it was too scripty and might not look right with the image. Looking back, I should have just left it. Instead though, I used an alphabet set from TAC to stamp 'big'.

• Trust stamp (ECG), Happy Harmony (SU), Simple Alphabet (TAC)
• Prismacolors and Gamsol
• white cardstock
• pop dots (I popped up the sun)
  

I hope everyone enjoys the weather today cause the rest of the week we have a chance of snow! At least in Ohio. Can you believe that??? High of 78 today but nothing higher than 40 degrees the rest of the week! It's madness I tell ya! So much for an outside Easter egg hunt!

VSN and Homeschool Convention

Once again I want to thank everyone who helped me out with my banner and whatnot (especially kmb.designer) I think it turned out pretty well. If it still looks wonky let me know so I an *try* to fix it! I took 4 years of computer in HS and even a full year of HTML but do I remember anything? Nope. I lucked out and was paired up with the smartest kid in class (who was also way cute) and never really had to do much. I was so thankful that I quickly became his girlfriend. We were together 2 years and I'm still no smarter for being with him. I can't decide whether to giggle or be severely depressed!

Friday was VSN on SCS and I got a few cards done but didn't get to play too much. I'll share the emboss resist one I did.

• Delight in Life, Riveting stamp sets (SU)
• Pixie Pink, Going Gray, black inks
• Cuttlebug slide die
• circle punch
• Versamark and clear embossing powder
• sponge
• glitter
• ribbon

Saturday I left early in the a.m. to go to a homeschool convention in Cincinnati. Wow! There was so much to take in! All the vendors that Joe and I had been looking into were there (Math U See, Mystery of History, etc.) including Five in a Row which we already use. I went to a few of the seminars and they were very informative and started to get me excited to teach History!!! Yes, I got excited about teaching history!!

All of the speakers made very obvious points of how most of us studied hard before the test but once the test was over, didn't remember any of it. THAT WAS ME! I got good grades in school but can't really say I'm all that smart now!

They did a study on college graduates (can't remember what college) where 4 months after they had graduated and taken their final exam they were called back to re-take the test (they had no clue what they were gonna do). Their score on the same test they took 4 months prior dropped 90%!!!!!!!! Isn't that crazy!? Makes me re-think some of the 'smarties' I know! {wink}

Anyway, we got a lot of info and are gonna go back next year.

I made a few cards on Friday that I didn't get a chance to upload too. I made this one for my uncle's birthday. I really like how the trees almost look 3D because of the frame around them. I'll be doing one like this again.

• Lovely as a Tree, Label Classics, Happy Everything stamp sets (SU)
• MME Everyday Tango paper
• watercolor paper
• Mellow Moss, Old Olive, Bashful Blue, and Black Stazon ink
• aquapainter
• ribbon
• pop dots

• Deco Designs (TAC), Small Script (SU) stamp sets
• Real Red, White chalk inks
• Word Window punch
• ribbon
• pop dots

And looky what I got! Fun mail! Allison sent me this card and said that I have a twisted sense of humor. If you only knew what she wrote inside! And she calls me twisted! {wink} Ya know I love ya Allison! Thanks for the card girl!


This is my 'bling' candy that I won from Stephanie! Can't wait to get it out and use it! Maybe I'll get a chance today. She sent me a super cute card to and a Rockabella image! She said it reminded her of my Daughtry concert. How sweet!!!!!! Thanks Steph!

Obsessed with a man in a tux!

Yes, it's true. I can't seem to stop thinking about this handsome (some might call him cute) fellow that makes me ignore all the rest. He can be funny or sad, that's just the kind of guy he is. His name is Fredrico, the debonair penguin. Yes, he's a penguin, like I could ever get my husband to wear a tux!

I have 12 new sets and I keep using this silly penguin! What's the deal?!?! I dunno but tonight I am vowing not to use him and make cards with one of my other sets. Or at least use one of buddies out of the set!

• Wild about You, Happy Everything, So Very stamp sets (SU)
• 1/8 inch snap stamps
• Tempting Turquoise, black, and white CS
• Cuttlebug Swirls embossing folder
• Word Window punch
• True Blue Prismacolor pencil
• gamsol and blending stump
• ribbon
• pop dots
• Souffle gel pen
• scallop edge scissors

I had to add this picture since we are talking (well I'M talking) about these cute little critters! I got this pic from www.cuteoverload.com. I am currently addicted to that site! I have literally looked for hours so far and I'm not nearly done with it. Some of the cutest and strangest animal pics I have ever seen!


*****
So far I am loving the stories and jokes that everyone is sharing!! I can't wait to read more! You guys are great and I'll be anxious to announce the winners on Monday! Thanks for blessing me with all of the kind comments!

They're done!

Thank goodness! I just finished up the invitations for my daughters' combined birthday party (their birthdays are a month apart) on the 17th. I had to do 18 of them. Have I mentioned on here yet how much I *despise* doing repetitive cards? I Loathe it!!! With a capital L! But now I am done so I won't keep complaining! To you, anyway! {grin}

• Cakeabella stamp (www.stampingbella.com)
• Paper Tray stamp set (PaperTrey)
• Paper from a Slab from Michael's (not sure which slab)
• blender pen
• re-inkers and ink pads
• glitter

So, for some reason I woke up grumpy this morning (a real rarity for me) and the day seemed to get gloomier when I realized that my big box 'o' stamps were not going to get here today. {insert sad face} So, now I am sitting here with no new rubbah to play with. But I am thankful that I will be getting rubbah soon. Just OBVIOUSLY not today! Okay, done with that one too!

However! I do have something to be happy about! I get to go see Daughtry in 5 days!!! Woo-Hoo! And the weatherman says it's supposed to be 60 on Friday so I am hoping it will be close to that on Saturday so I don't freeze my patootie off standing in line! Even if I do Chris (Daughtry, that is) will warm me up real quick like once he starts singing!

A little of this, a little of that

Okay, first off I want to address the winners from my Monday blog candy. The winners are YM, Allison, Stephanie, and Cindy Keery. However, for some reason my computer won't let me access your emails. So, I need all of you to respond to this post with your email in the post (or you can privately email me) so I can get in touch with you for your snail mail address.



This is the card I made for my sweet Ava. She is turning 3 tomorrow and she adores this stamp! I know it's a little wild but I think she'll like the flowers. Both my daughters asked me to stamp this image out several times so they could color it and make their own cards with her!

• Me and My Big Ideas paper
• Cakeabella stamp (www.stampingbella.com)
• Pumpkin Pie CS (SU)
• ribbon
• pop dots
• rhinestones

I got to place a SU order about 3 days ago and I am sooo excited to get it! It should be here by Monday (but hopefully Saturday!) and I plan on being a hermit all next week! I ended up getting 4 SAB sets out of it and couldn't be more thrilled! Hopefully I'll create some real masterpieces! Or at the very least, a few simple cards! {smile}

On another note my sister found out she was going to have another baby girl! She was really expecting the doc to say boy but it was pink for sure! I can't wait! She is due at the end of July so I have a while to wait but I need to make her a congrats it's a girl card soon. Girls tend to be spoiled in our family. Who am I kidding? The boys are spoiled too! They all get lovin' and attention from all of us Aunts. So basically when they are mad at their moms one of us can come to the rescue! I guess that's what we're here for! God bless all of you out there who are awesome Aunts to your nieces and nephews! Keep up the good work! (by the way, I know that's corny!)