Dutch Girl on my porch!

No, not a real Dutch girl, but something even better!!!!! The Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl paper!!!!! Wooooooo-Hoooooooo! I have been waiting on this for what seems like forever! It came with all of the other stuff that I won when I made top 20 and top 15 in the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol contest. Lookie at what I get to play with!




So what do I do first?!? Everything is so delicious that I don't know where to start! I do know that those DCWV glitter cards are pretty awesome! I just have to be vewy vewy caweful (in my best Elmer Fudd voice) because you only get 5 in a pack and I don't want to mess any up! Wish me luck!!!!!

*Oh, by the way, I think I might be a little bit coo-coo but the Halfway Cafe paper smells like an antique store! Which is what the paper reminds me of. I thought it must just be the way they make the paper but I smelled the Dutch Girl pack and nope, doesn't smell the same. How weird! But totally cool because the smell completely gets me in the right mood to use it!

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!

You Rock and a big H

Alright so I actually sat down and made a card from Amy's Super Sunday Sketch challenge. I didn't get to it last week so I made a point of not getting out of my chair until it was done. I have lots of teenagers and kids in my family so it will be hard to decide who to give it to.

• Guitar stamp (unknown), Paper Tray (you), Simple Bet (TAC)
• The Paper Studio DP
• Marvy Mega Scalloped oval punch
• Oval and circle Coluzzle templates
• ribbon, pop dots

But before I did that this morning I was working on a big 'ole H this weekend. My husband's cousin had her baby shower and she is having a boy in July. I decided I had to do something for her other than buy a gift (which was baby monitors - usefull but boooooring!) so I got this to alter. It was about 12 inches tall or so and was only $2 plus 30% off at Hobby Lobby. The theme for the baby's room is nautical so I had to go with the theme and colors.
Here is the before:


Here is the after:




I painted like 5 coats of white then did 2 coats of the red trim and sanded it all down to distress it a little. Wow, was it time consuming! My back hurt that whole night and I couldn't sleep. BUT! I think she really liked it to it was completely worth it in the end.

Here is a pic of how I wrapped the baby monitors. I couldn't leave it plain! I also put the other stuff in a white gift bag and put a red wooden anchor on the front of it and added some ribbon. I rarely get to do fun stuff like this so I kind of go a little overboard when I do. I also stamped her baby onesies that said 'Future Rock Star' and 'Born to Play' with a guitar beside it. She and her hubby are really into music. He wrote her a song and sang it to her at their wedding, but that's another story for another day. I think I have been blabbing enough already!


I plan on stamping this evening once I update my photography blog so hopefully I'll have some good stuff to share tomorrow! See ya then!

Working my way back up

So, a few weeks ago my 'Stamping top 50' numbers disappeared. I was at 123 which I was very proud of and then it just vanished. I waited a week or so to see if it would come back up but it never did. What I should have done was email one of the people at the top 50 to see what was going on. But, instead I re-registered assuming that my website would still be #123. Wrong-o! I now have to start all the way from the beginning. Ugh! But, I know with all of you guys being so great and loyal, I'll make it back up to 123 and hopefully even higher!

***
I rarely ever do any of the challenges on Splitcoast and I realized the other day that I am seriously missing out! I am passing my some great techniques and avoiding awesome card sketches!

This card is for the SC126. I loved this sketch as soon as I saw it. The card went together easier than I thought too. Isn't that always a a relief!? For the center of the flower I punched a 1/2 inch circle in the turquoise and used a standard hole punch to do the green. Then I just added a few dots and some stickles. Gotta love the stickles!!

• Swirls (Rhonna Farrer), Paper Tray (Paper Tray) stamp sets
• MME Magnolia DP
• DCWV CS
• Stazon Jet Black ink
• 1/2 inch circle punch, standard hole punch

***
I hope everyone has a good weekend! I have to take some stuff into the Salvation Army for donation, get a baby shower gift, and then I have the baby shower to go to. it will be an hour and a half drive but I just love spending time with the people that will be there so it doesn't bother me a bit!

We also have a huge Strawberry festival in town this weekend. The girls want to go but hubby hates crowds (rightly so, there are waaaaaaay too many people in such a small area for this thing!) and I don't know if I could do it by myself with all of those people. Wait, let me rephrase that, I don't know if I WANT to do it by myself! Guess we'll see.

Have a great weekend everyone! Soak up some sun!

If wishes could make you well

This is a card I made months ago and forgot I had made it. One of Joe's younger cousins got her face burnt when hot oil splashed out of a pot. Thankfully, everything healed well and she is doing just fine now!

The card is watercolor paper in 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 size. I don't have any of the Fabriano note cards so I try and get the effect of those by using watercolor paper for my whole base.

• Little Friends (TAC), Curvy Verses (SU) stamp sets
• Stazon Jet Black ink
• Barely Banana, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Going Grey re-inkers
• aqua painters
• ribbon and rhinestone

***
Okay, so I used to be a big fan of scary movies. I loved watching them and I loved being scared. But now-a-days scary movies aren't what they used to be. I like House on Haunted Hill and Amityville Horror and movies like that where there are 'spirits' or 'ghosts' chasing people around. What happened to those kind of movies? It seems like every movie that has come out lately that I can think of (other than the remake of Amityville and Grudge 2-which I can't watch cause the kid freaks me out!) has to do with sick demented perverts that chop people up and never get caught. I mean seriously! In the end they are walking away whistling or smiling. I can't watch these movies! I watched Saw when it first came out and those images still pop into my head occasionally. It makes me sick to my stomach. I think things changed once I had kids. I would watch movies and never think 'hey, I hope someone doesn't creep into my house tonight and slit my throat.' Now though, that I have children, I think of anything that could possibly happen and what I would do in that situation. There really are people out there that are sick and crazy!

I guess this all stems from watching Hannibal Rising last night. I watched Silence of the Lambs and it was a good movie. It was a movie and not a gore fest. I also watched Red Dragon. I don't remember much of it but I do remember thinking it was good. So, I had to watch this one. This one, well, this one was okay. It was really odd but then again he is supposed to be an odd character. It does make you think though about some of the torment kids go through in certain situations and home lives. It made my heart hurt for those who sustain such abuse.

I'm sorry, I got off on a tangent. I just would like to see a decent ghost movie. But it appears as though the oldies will always stay the goodies. Until something else comes out I'll stick with my comedies! Gotta love Will Ferrel!

My photography blog is up!

Hey guys! I just wanted to share with all of you the link to my photography blog! I hope you enjoy it! I am still in the process of adding things here and there but the basics are there! Thanks so much for supporting me with this! If you have any suggestions PLEASE leave a comment here or email me. I am always looking for constructive criticism! Unless your mean about it. Then I'll just tell ya off! Just kidding! Well, maybe. {wink}

The Sweet Life Photography

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!

Caarvarks conest entry

I had to make several cards today to send out. There are 3 of my nieces, 1 cousin, and 1 anniversary and they are all tomorrow! I also have another niece in a few days (have yet to make that one either). It seems that since it has gotten warm outside all I have been doing is playing outside with the kids, giving them baths after playing outside, organizing the house, and taking pictures of everything that I see! Anyway, moving on.....

This is my favorite card of the bunch. I love the 'bling' in the treasure chest which is why I had the Caardvarks challenge in mind when I thought this up!

• Ahoy Matey stamp set, Matey's Map jumbo wheel (SU)
• Kraft and black CS
• Stazon jet black ink, Versamark ink
• gold tinsel embossing powder
• Prismacolors and gamsol
• Marvy Giga scallop circle punch
• twine
• pop dots

*I do want to add to that I absolutely love the idea of stamping the background on the kraft paper and coloring with the Prismacolor pencils. Love the look and saves time!

***
This is just a quick Anniversary card for my sister and her hubby. I wanted to keep it understated and clean. The heart is much more sparkly though in person!

• black CS
• chipboard heart (Joann's)
• love stamp (Studio G)
• Versamagic white chalk ink
• Iridescent embossing powder
• white Soufflee pen
• satin ribbon
• pop dots

I'll save the other two for later just in case I don't get a chance to make any tomorrow.

*****
On another note I wanted to link you to Amy S's homeschool blog. Her latest entry is so true to me and it's nice to know I am not the only homeschooling momma out there who struggles sometimes! It's also nice to know I can call her if I need a pick me up! After all, she is my cousin!

Now, I am off to watch the season finale of House. Let's see if everything on that show falls apart like Betty and Grey's did last week! Sheeh!

Tiny miracle and clear stamps

Just wanted to share a quick card. My husband's cousin is having a baby shower soon and I wanted to just go ahead and make it to have on hand.

• Studio G clear stamp set (Joann's $1 set)
• MME patterned paper
• Chocolate Chip CS
• Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip ink
• Cuttlebug flower die
• circle punch
• ribbon
• pop dots

I also wanted to share a tip that Amy S. shared with me the other day about the acrylic/clear stamps. She said to use a pencil eraser (don't use a white artists eraser, those don't work) and drag it all over the surface of the stamp. The next time you ink up you will have a much clearer image.

I did a comparison of before and after to show you what a difference it makes! Make sure you click the pic to make it bigger so you can really see. It might not be a ginormous (love that word) difference but it definitely is noticeable on a card you've worked hard on!

Crazy TV night!

Okay, just had to chime in about a few season finales. I love Ugly Betty (although sometimes is seems like a night time soap opera and is a little far fetched) and Grey's Anatomy is my favorite too but holey moley, what was up with tonights episodes?!?! I'm gonna come back and watch next season! Really, I am! You don't have to kill off characters and ruin lives for me to want to come back and watch!

I can't believe that Hilda's soon to be hubby (again) is now dead! I was actually starting to like him. And Henry is gone. Once again poor Betty is put last. You think she is gonna go be Drew Barrymore and get her man then bam (no pun intended) her brother in law gets shot and she has to go tell her sister that he is dead.

Don't even get me started on Grey's! Geez Louise! I can't believe Burke walked out on her! I mean I was completely and utterly shocked! I cried when Meridith cut off her dress. You want to hope for the best for everyone, it's in our nature, but sometimes you just can't control it I guess. And why the hell did Karev let Ava get away!?! What is wrong with him? And George just quitting? Man this is not cool.

Hmmmm, I guess now I realize why they did all of this because all I can think of is what's gonna happen next season. Damn, they got me. They got me good.