About me....

Carole Burrage tagged me on her blog to share 7 things about myself. I have done this before but it's been a while ago so I will do it again.

1. I love my steak Medium Rare. I used to eat it Rare but I have found it tastes better at least warm!
2. I have a mole on my eyelid exactly where my dad had one and one of my sisters has one in the same spot too.
3. I tend to procrastinate. Then again, you guys might already know that about me!
4. I can't have Christmas without listening to Roger Whittaker. I'm serious. I had to have my sister burn me both his Christmas CD's and send them to me because my originals got damaged.
5. I just bought 'The Best of Air Supply' and I haven't taken it out of my van since. Love them!
6. I took 3 years of Spanish in school and can still hold a small conversation in Spanish.
7. My favorite sandwich is Bologna on soft wheat bread with Miracle Whip, American cheese, lettuce, and Doritos.

So, there you go. A peek into what makes me, well, me!

I am the master........of disaster.

Hey guys! When coming up with my post title all I had to do was look at my stamp area. What a mess! I have been stamping and stacking and scooting and pushing things around to finish up all of the Christmas stuff I have needed to get done. And by the way, I'm still not done with tags for my hot chocolate bags or the labels for the cookies and muffins I haven't made yet. No worries! I work better under pressure! Who needs sleep anyway!

I wrote up my top 5 favorite blogs over on Craft Critique yesterday and let me tell you, it was REALLY hard to choose! I think I did a good job though at showcasing the ones I really love and if I was able to do a top 15 that would have been even better! Heather shared a link that I wanted to post here that I thought was pretty cool. SheetLoad of Cards is a blog that has a monthly free ezine for card layouts. Their motto is 'Our goal is to increase your card stash using one layout, a few sheets of paper, and a short amount of time.' Sounds good to me! Anyway, it's definitely worth checking out!

Okay, so I have finished quite a few cards since I posted last and they are all Christmas ones soooooo I am going to post quite a few today. I will save a few for a few days from now but since it's so close to Christmas I'm probably going to pack them all into a few posts. We'll start with the penguin ones. These guys are just so cute! I colored them all with Prismacolors and OMS and then outlined them with my Copic B21 Baby Blue marker. Then of course you've gotta add glitter and rhinestones!

• STAMPS- Penguin Games (Stampendous), Merry Christmas (Studio G)
  
• PAPER- Rob and Bob Studios Christmas Stack (last years), black CS, Certainly Celery CS
• INK- Palette Hybrid Nior
• OTHER- Snowflake brads (JoAnn's), rhinestones, glitter, snowflake button, ribbon

Well, I need to get back to the Photo Story (slideshow with music) I'm making for hubby's grandparents. Still have quite a bit to do. If any of you guys are interested you can go to the Microsoft website and search 'Photo Story 3' and it will bring up a post to let you download it for free. I used it 2 years ago when I did one for my dad's memorial and I had to pay $30 for it but now it is free. I like it and it really does make a special gift. If you decide to try it out and have any questions then feel free to email me and I can help you out as best I can.

Hope you all have a great day! I'll be back tomorrow (trust me, I'm gonna type my entry up tonight while I'm snuggling on the couch with Joe!).

Super Simple Friday

Good morning all! I got a few minutes to make a few cards yesterday for my own Christmas card stash! Woo-Hoo! Now, only 50 more to go! LOL I'm not panicking yet. Yet is the key word though! I have a feeling the majority of them will be 'super simple' which is fine with me because I really like simple designs. AND with the fabu stamps I have it makes cards like that easy peasy! So, without further ado, here are my super simple cards for today.

The birdies are back! These guys don't want me to put them down and that is fine by me! I love these guys! This card seems so Mod to me but I think it totally rocks if I do say so myself! I stamped the birdies and sentiment with Colorbox chalk ink and then outlined it all with my *must have* gray Copic marker. Glue on some rhinestones and Viola! Done! Took me all of about 3 minutes to do!

• STAMPS- DK-04 Birdie Fun (smARTworks), Happy Holidays ($1 stamp from Michael's)
• PAPER- Paper Trey white CS
• INK- Colorbox chalk Warm Red and Olive Pastel
  
• OTHER- Copic gray marker; rhinestones

You also can't go wrong with Paper Trey for a classy card! These ornaments from the Take a Bough set are soooooo easy to work with! Nichole Heady is pure genius! Plus my shipments always come super fast cause the warehouse is only about an hour away. Hmmmm, I wonder if they give tours.......

• STAMPS- Take a Bough (Paper Trey)
• PAPER- Paper Trey white CS
• INK- Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Positively Pink, Going Gray classic inks (SU)
• OTHER- ribbon

Oh, and I HAVE to share is extra cool-super proud-amazingly awesome picture with you that I took yesterday. I LOVE my macro lens!!!!! Here are snowflakes.....

Keep warm everyone!!

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!

Christmas is Creeping

Wow! December 3rd already! Christmas is creeping up and before you know it we'll be opening presents by the tree, or at least the kids will! I better get my booty in gear! I have soooo much to do and not a whole lot of time to do it in! Thank goodness I have been done shopping for the kids for over a week already! It's weird though. I don't feel super Christmas-y yet. Maybe it's because I have already done all of the shopping. Maybe wrapping will get me in the mood!

Anyway, I want to share some holiday cards with you done with Starving Artistamps rubber. When I got this holly berry and leaf I was really excited to use it and I must say that I am very happy with my creations!

First is my super simple one layer card. I made a mask for the holly leaf and stamped each 'stem' with 2 leaves and 3 berries all over the front, distressed the edges, added a ribbon, and used my alphabet stamps for 'comfort and joy'. Easy peasy lemon squeezey!

• STAMPS- holly leaf and berry 45.11, alphabet 41.02 (Starving Artistamps)
• PAPER- kraft CS
  
• INK- Versamagic Cloud White, Colorbox Chestnut Roan
  
• OTHER- ribbon, edge distresser
  

Now I am quite particular, but I love this one! The idea for the ribbon just kind of slapped me in the face as I was cutting out the holly leaves. I wasn't even planning on doing it. Don't ya just love surprises!? All I did was take a longer piece of red ribbon, fold it in half, and tie a normal knot in the middle. Then, I cut 2 small slits in the kraft CS (big enough for the ribbon to go through) and then slipped the ribbon through the slits and taped it on the back side so it wouldn't budge. Cool huh?

• STAMPS- holly leaf and berry 45.11 (Starving Artistamps)
  
• PAPER- red, kraft CS
  
• INK- Colorbox Olive Pastel
  
• OTHER- ribbon, scoring blade, craft knife, pop dots

Well, thanks for stopping by today! Stay warm! It's super chilly here!

P.S. No one guessed the sister-in-law right on my last entry. It was Mandy. Thanks for trying though!!

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!