Weekly Sketch Challenge

I managed to create this card last night after the sketch challenge had been posted but my Blogger dashboard was acting up and I didn't want to take a chance that something would go astray. Well, tonight I have the same strange look but I decided to try in a different browser and things seem to be better here.

The Sketch Challenge always seems to be a difficult one for me. I'm not sure why but it's all the more reason why I need to push myself to do it each week. This week however this came together for me very quickly. The card base is Purely Pomegrante, with basic black and designer paper also used. The image comes from the stamp set Baroque Motifs and the sentiment is from Think Big. A circle ice rhinestone brad is used in the center of the main image and the ribbon is from Wal Mart.

I have always loved pink/black as a color combo but this really pops for me and I am sure it won't be the last time I use them together!

Thanks for coming by to read my blog. I think it's been about 2 weeks since I started posting again and it's been really good for my stamping mojo. I feel like it's been good for my creative juices. Happy Stamping!!!!

Challenge of a different kind

A little while back I received a special order for 100 Christmas cards from a client who uses them in her business. She wanted a few different designs and tonight I have finally finished the first set of 20.

These took quite a bit longer than I had expected due to the coloring on each image. The card base is an In Color from 2006, Cranberry Crisp. The main image is stamped with Stazon Black on Naturals Ivory paper and then colored with pencils and Gamasol. The accent ribbon is also the cranberry crisp. Other colors used were Close to Cocoa and Wild Wasabi. I still have 20 more cards using this same image, slightly different layout to complete but for tonight I am so happy these are finally done. I am sure Sharon will be too!!!

hmmm....

I'm not sure what is going on here with Blogger tonight but the onscreen format does not seem right and I'm having a hard time posting. So...instead of spending a bunch of time to have it go all screwy I'm going to wait.
Which is really too bad by the way...I did a cute card for the sketch challenge this week.

Stay tuned....it's coming!

I am on a roll!!

This has been such a great weekend! Somehow between working from home, unpacking the never ending pile of boxes in the garage and being a mom/wife I have somehow had time to stamp as well. Since it was my birthday on Sunday, that is what I asked for - time to stamp and watch the Nascar race. Sure, we had some of my dh's family over and did a little party. But I have also been able to stamp 7 cards this weekend. That might just be a record for me (excluding a VSN weekend, which is coming up again just 1 week from now.)

I had some MoJo flowing tonight so I decided to check out the Featured Stampers Challenge from Sunday on SCS. The week the featured stamper was inglishira and here is her gallery.


My card uses So Saffron as the base with the Floral BG stamp. The panel across is Cameo Coral and mounted on Choc. Chip. The main image is Choc. Chip on Naturals Ivory and sponged with Saffron and Coral. I used the ticket punch on the corners and non - SU Ribbon is used to finish off the main image.







I feel like I am finally starting to get settled here and hopefully I will be able to keep up with the challenges. Again, I have to thank my friend Barb for getting my rear into gear and getting me back blogging again!!! Love Ya Girl!!

Thanks for coming by! Happy Stamping!!

True Friend

When the new Stampin' Up! catalog came out in July there were quite a few sets that I was on the fence about. The set used in the card made for this weeks Color Challenge was one of them.
This set is called True Friends and it really follows the whole "Boho West" style. At first I did not think it was for me, but over the last 2 months it has really grown on me. In fact, on my last order I chose quite a few sets from this style.

The color challenge this week was Groovy Guava and Always Artichoke. I would not have put these 2 colors together on my own, which is a perfect example of why I LOVE the SCS challenges.
The card base is Grovy Guava. All neutral pieces are done with Naturals Ivory and all accent pieces are Always Artichoke. The background was done with the new set called Sanded. True Friend from the Holiday Mini was used as well as the background stamp Paisley. The brads are from the Rich Regals Brad set and the ribbon is the Groovy Guava Double Stitched Grosgrain.
I did a little direct to paper on the flower image but no other techniques were used for this card. It is very simple and yet I am SO happy with how it turned out!


Thanks for coming by! Happy Stamping!

Labor Day Weekend Challenges

Jen70, who hosts the weekly Friday Limited Supply Challenges is so wonderful at hosting some extra fun stuff each time a Holiday or Long Weekend comes along. Well, as not to disappoint this weekend had a 3 part Challenge.

It took me the entire weekend to create and post - I am pleased to say that I was able to complete all 3 challenges, each in separate cards.

I have already posted my first card of the 3 below, so here are the final 2.


This second card of the challenge was to use an animal stamp that is not normally supposed to be for Fall or Halloween. For this card I masked off the ball of yarn in the original stamp and instead used a pumpkin.

Both cards use Wild Wasabi for the card base.

This card also uses Pumpkin Pie CS and Designer Paper. The ribbons are Pumpkin Pie Grosrain and Wild Wasabi double stiched grosgrain. The brads are from the Rich Regal family.







On the third card, it's size measures 4.25 X 4.25 plus the topper for a final size of 4.24 X 5.5. I also used Really Rust CS and Boho Designer Paper. You can find a complete tutorial on these Table Topper Cards Here.

I love having these extra challenges on the long holiday weekends. Since this one was my birthday I made sure I had a little extra time to stamp. But on any holiday weekend it is so nice to have an extra challenge to play with.

Thanks for coming by! Happy Stamping!!!!

Wow I've been tagged!

I've really been trying to post regularly here and I have to say I think I'm doing pretty well. And apparently someone else thinks so too!!

My most faithful reader Barb has tagged me, and for this I am very honored. I have stamped quite a few cards this weekend and I will be posting them all soon but for now, I was to say Thanks!!! to Barb for getting me back to Blogging everyday!

Any time I come across a Blog I really enjoy, I subscribe. That way I know when something new is posted. I've subscribed to quite a few recently and one of them is Life of a Smallpigpig. Peggy is a self proclaimed swap-a-holic and posts many of those on her blog. Check her blog out here. So, Peggy I tag you!

The first of Fall cards

Tonight, for the Limited Supply Challenge, Jen posted not 1, not 2, but 3 challenges for us to complete over the long weekend. Monday evening she is going to have a random drawing for a small prize. This card is the first of my 3 cards. I cannot even remember the last time that I actually completed a challenge on the evening it was posted. Most products used in this card are Stampin Up!
The stamp set is a one that will be in the upcoming Winter Mini. It is called Autumn Harvest.
The card base is Pumpkin Pie while the semi-circles are cut with my new Coluzzle from So Saffron. The main image was stamped in classic black ink on naturals ivory paper and then colored with non-SU pencils and gamasol. I used the designer label punch, double rectangle punch, ticket corner punch as tools with some non-SU ribbon and Rich Regals Brads for embellishments. The finishing touch was the white accents done with the gel pen.

So, other than using quite a few punches I really did limit my supplies. I could not find just the right sentiment for this so I left it off. I really wanted to do some paper piercing in the corners and add more ribbon and brads but the point of the LSC is to have or use limited supplies so I really tried to stick with that.

I am really happy with how this turned out and I am sure that I will use it as inspiration for some more fall cards. I am so NOT ready for Summer to be over but now that Labor Day is almost here I guess I need to face reality.

Thanks for coming by! Happy Stamping!

So Kind

Tuesday's Color Challenge on SCS was a doozy! Pretty in Pink, Old Olive and Purely Pomegranate. I knew the moment that I saw it I was in LOVE. PiP and OO are already a favorite CC of mine. But to then add to it my most favorite In Color of 2007 - Oh yeah baby.
I've been thinking this card through all day and could not wait to get home to work on it. Most products used here are Stampin Up!

The card base is Pomegranate. The wheel So Swirly was used on the background and a white gel pen made the accents. I used all 3 ink colors on the 2 small images and finished each of them off with a little bit of coordinating ribbon from the Ribbon Originals Sherbet pack. I bought this particular pack just for this polka dotted ribbon and was thrilled to finally use it.

I am completely hooked on the Cutter Kit tool and used it again on this card to distress the edges of the 2 main images. Finally I added a double layer of Primas with a Circle Ice Rhinestone brad in the center of each. The top brad is pink and bottom brad is the olive color.

I have someone in mind that I want to send this card to. She has been a really good friend and strong supporter of my blog. I know it will take a long time to build up any kind of reader base....and I'm sure some Blog Candy wouldn't hurt but I really appreciate the time she takes everyday to come by to see what I've been up to.

Thanks for coming by! Happy Stamping!

Cherish the Guava

I've been working on this card for a week. I loved the CC when it was posted but it just took awhile for it to all come together. I worked on it in stages, which for me is not typical.

The card base is Groovy Guava and the accent color is Soft Sky. Pick a Petal was used on the base and accent piece with Garden Silhouettes for the main image. I even threw in a little Baroque Motifs for fun as a layer. The vintage brads came on my last order and I was so excited to use them. I have a feeling they will be gone before I know it. The scallop edge was created with the slit punch, which you can find that tutorial for a couple of posts below. I also used my new SU! Cutter Kit with it's handy, dandy distressing tool to rough up some of the edges. As the final touch I sponged a little Soft Sky and Guava on the distressed edges to give it a light vintage feel.

I am really pleased that I did not push myself to make a card that was just so-so and took my time to create a card I am really happy with. It's been totally crazy here the last couple of weeks but tonight I just needed to stamp to save my sanity.


Thanks for coming by! Happy Stamping!

I've been BRAK'd

Even though I am a member of the RAK (random acts of kindness) group on SCS, I have not been participating for many months now. So, imagine my surprise when I received a BRAK (birthday RAK) in my mailbox yesterday. A wonderful SCS'r TracyLTripp sent it to me.

Not only did she send me the most adorable Bella card, she included a couple of goodies as well!
Isn't she a sweetheart?!


Tracy, if you happen to read this...thank you again! This was the first card I received this year and it really made me smile!

Making Scallops from a slit punch

Sometime last year I remember when it was discovered that you can create a wonderful scallop from the Stampin Up! slit punch. I saw it being done all over the place and since I had the Slit Punch I thought I should really try that. But for some reason I never did. And that has nagged me...for a long time.
Last weekend I had my monthly stamp camp and this was a technique that I really wanted to teach. But for the life of me I could not find that darn tutorial. I scoured SCS looking for it. Spent all kinds of time looking here and there, but to no avail. Then, last week I was checking out the Ways to Use it Challenge that is posted every Thursday hosted by Julia S. And lo and behold, in her signature line was the Slit Punch; tutorial and history link. I could not believe it!!!! What are the chances that I would actually find it? The very same week that I had been thinking about it, wishing I knew how to find it. Of course I took it as a sign that I was MEANT to teach this....So here is the card that we did.



As you can see from some of my recent cards I am totally loving some of the In Colors from 2007-2008. I seem to be using Guava, Wasabi, Pomegranate, and River Rock all of the time. On this card I used the Guava with Chocolate Chip and the River Rock was an accessory. In the middle of each flower are Clear Stickles, which are my favorite by the way. They match what ever color you put them on.
I used Bud Basics for the main image and it's coordinating wheel on the background with the retired French Script. Bud Basics is no Petal Prints but since that one had retired I was SO happy to see this set in the newest catalog. I used the Tab Punch to mount the sentiment and was so happy with the small but significant element that was added to the overall design.

This scallop is so easy to create that if you have the slit punch and have NOT done this...you MUST!!! It was so much easier than I thought it would be. And the ladies at stamp camp seemed to like it as well.

I think that today marks day 5! 5 days in a row that I have posted to my blog. That might very well be a record for me. And I think that the streak should continue. Do you think I can make it to 10?? I guess we will just have to wait and see on that won't we....

Thanks for coming by! Happy Stamping!

Wow what a haul!!

Mr. Brown came yesterday!!! I have never paid extra to get on order expedited until last month when my mother-in-law was visiting and we wanted to make sure her stuff arrived before they left. If you have never done it...I cannot tell you how cool it was to have stuff arrive in 2 days vs. 7-9 days. If you have done this before....then you know EXACTLY what I mean when I say...Dang that is Cool!
So this month I had a rather large order to place. I had been saving my pennies from here and there, plus I had a couple of customers who wanted to order as well. I had no intention of expediting my order until the very, very, very last moment. But my need for instant gratification got the better of me right before I hit the submit button and I ended up paying for the 1 day option! What was I thinking!??!?!

Sorry, I digressed a little there...I had a point...Mr. Brown.
He came yesterday with said expedited order and what arrived was a box FULL of goodness!

In addition to the stuff my customers had ordered I was blessed with 4 packs of paper, my very first spectrum pad (Pumpkin Pie), the last of my 48 Classic Inks - Handsome Hunter & Elegant Eggplant, Sanded Background (pg 139), Priceless (pg 117), So Swirly Wheel(pg 117), Fabulous Flowers (pg 102), Frosty (pg 40), True Friend (pg 18 Holiday Mini), Boho Friend Wheel (pg 19 Holiday Mini), Supersize Snowflake (pg 6 Holiday Mini), the new Scalloped Punch (pg 183), Natural Hemp ( pg191), the hostess sets Party Punch (pg 18), Word on Word (pg 21) and last but not certainly least the Stampin' Up! Coluzzle Cutting System Starter Kit (pg 184) which is an early birthday present from my mother-in-law mentioned above!!! **Thank You Suzi!!!!!**

The sets that are from the Holiday Mini are Die Cut, so they go together in a snap. I hope I am able to find the time this weekend to mount everything else and actually play with all my new goodies! Come back next week to see what I have done with it all!

Thanks for coming by and Happy Stamping!

Look at these Labels!!

I am not sure if you have noticed the new Color Index Labels on page 193 of the newest Stampin' Up catalog but if not...it's time to take note!

These come in a pack of 2. They are black lettering on a clear background. They are designed to place on the ends of your ink pads or use them to create a file system for your card stock. The cost was very reasonable at only $3.95 for the pair of them.

Since I only have classic ink pads in full size and only 1 Stampin' Up Color Caddy I won't be needing 2. I plan on sending the 2nd set to a friend who I now will really dig them.

These make it so easy to see at a glance what color ink you are looking for. On the top of the color caddy I plan on placing the Color Family Label on a white label, then adding it to the top of each column. But for tonight I am very happy with how this has turned out.






Hopefully with my new system I will be able to spend less time, significantly less time looking for the color that I want and much more time actually stamping with it!




Thanks for coming by!!! Happy Stamping!!

There's a new man in my life

I wasn't really sure how to break it to my friends and family, much less my stamping family but it's time I admit I have a new man in my life.

In case you have not met him yet...this is BeeraFella. Isn't he awesome!!! I purchased him from one of my favorite stamp websites www.stampingbella.com. When he was first released I knew I had to have him. I married into a family full of men. There are 6 brothers, no sisters and a few of them like to have a beer now and then. So does their dad. So of course this guy was for me.

I made this card for one of the brothers who have birthdays within a few days of each other. This card is one of the 2. I used the newly retired SU! background Crosshatch as well as little pieces and the round tab punch. The main image was colored with the Watercolor Crayons and some Gamasol.

There are many Fellas out now and I need to get them all...but I think this guy is always going to have a soft spot in my heart since he was my first.

Thanks for coming by! Happy Stamping!

2 days in a row

I tried to do the SCS Color Challenge tonight but I just couldn't make these 2 colors work (CC128) together. This is not the first time I've worked with them, so I decided that I would post one of the other cards I made since my last Blogging effort that I AM happy with.
This card was made for my DS' 3rd birthday party back in June. The Mickey ears I created from a pattern that I found on the Disney website and enlarged on a copier. All stitching is done with a white gel pen. I downloaded the Walt Disney font from the internet and printed all of the text inside and out on heavy duty copy paper. The card base is Whisper White and embossed with the Swirl Cuttlebug folder.

Of course I made matching Thank You's after the party and we did get so many nice comments on these cards. Some members of our family have saved every single card I have made for them, which really makes me feel great!








I hope you enjoy the cards and they give you some inspiration - Now go and stamp!

For my friend Barb.....

I had no idea it had been so long since I Blogged..and honestly I did not think anyone cared. I mean, I am no great stamper and my cards are just OK. But tonight I got an email from Barb
who took the time to send me an email and tell me to get off my a$$. So, Barb - this entry is for you.

So much has happened since May. I could keep you for days filling you in, but how about I start with a card! If you know me at all, you know we moved to a new house in March of this year. Our new house is twice as big as the old and the yard is about 5 times the size. And for some strange reason I just don't have the same time to stamp as I used to. But in the last month I have been making time to stamp and here are a few cards I have created.

This first card is a card I made for Rachel, one of my very best friends. We met early last year when my children started attending the daycare that she ran. We hit it off the moment we met and were pretty much inseparable from then on. Well, yesterday my Miss Rachel moved to Boise ID. It was one of the hardest things I've ever been through. And I wanted to make something very special for her. For this card I used some of the new In Colors. Groovy Guava is one of her favs so of course I had to use it. I also used Chocolate Chip and River Rock. I used my Cuttlebug for the Chocolate Chip section and the Baroque Motifs stamp set (another one of her favs). The 2 ribbons are the Guava and River Rock double stitched ribbons and the small image in the right corner is raised with a Zot. It took all I had to not let the tear drops fall on the card as I created it but I am so happy with how it turned out.

This next card I made last week, just trying to find my MoJo.

I am really loving most of the In Colors for 2007. Especially the colors in this card. I had just received my last Great Rewards order for 2006 and used my points for the Cutter Tool (LOVE IT!!) and a square punch. I remembered this layout from a Sketch Challenge and had to try it with my new punch.
I used the Perennial Favorites and French Flair stamp sets. The ribbon is the River Rock double stitched Grosgrain and the Horizontal Slot punch was used to offset the ribbon.
The butterflies are done in Guava and Pomegranate.







The last card I will post tonight is actually 2. These are Christmas (yes, Christmas) cards that I have designed for a customer of mine that has been purchasing cards to use in Marketing her personal consulting business for the last year. This will be the 3rd set of card she has ordered from me so far. I have had a lot of fun designing these for her and hope that I am not too burned out after making these so that I will also make some for myself.


These cards use the same colors and stamp set, just different layouts. For these I am using the rest of my stash of Cranberry Crisp and matching grosgrain ribbon. Of course I had to throw in an In Color so for this I choose the Wild Wasabi, as well as Chocolate Chip nd Clost to Cocoa. The images are colored with some non SU watercolor pencils and a blender pen. I am going to try a few with the Aqua Painter and Gamasol as well just to see how they turn out. I really think Gamsol makes the colors pop!
The background on the first card is the new SU background called Sanded.
My customer has ordered 20 of each of these cards so I know that will keep me busy for the next couple of weeks.


Lastly I figured I should share with you my other new ink. And it isn't Classic or Craft. Dye based or pigment. It isn't Copic Markers (even though I would really like some of those!!) or the much talked about Papertrey Inks. No, this ink is a little bit different.
This is NOT the most flattering picture of my waist but I LOVE my new ink. I have been thinking about the design and placement of this tattoo for a long time. About a month ago, a good friend of mine offered to take me and have this done as my early birthday present. I will try to get a better pic of it soon but I have to say in person it just looks awesome! The design is so crisp and clear and the colors are just vibrant!







So thanks Barb, for getting me back to my Blog. I guess to have readers you have to actually post and from time to time offer some goodies (can you say BLOG CANDY!) for people to keep coming back. I think it's time for me to put something fun together!

Meow Meow!!

Some of you might remember our cat O'Riley. We adopted him last summer from a local shelter. He was an young adult orange tabby with the coolest personality. We really enjoyed having him as part of our family...but the silly boy must have been a wanderer. Cuz...he kept running away! The last time was a few months ago and I had resigned myself that we just were not destined to have a cat.
But I am a total cat person. I just kept having this nagging voice telling me that we should try again. I knew we didn't want a kitten....I already have 2 kids, I didn't need 2 more. I didn't want a cat that was older and already set in it's ways. I needed to find a cat that was still young, good with people, especially kids. No health problems, already fixed and current on shots. Seemed like a lot to ask. So, I checked with the local pet rescue places and they actually did not have any cats they thought would fit our family. I knew I could go to the county shelter and rescue one there but I thought to myself.....maybe I can rescue one before it ended up there.
Which is what took me to Craigslist. Anytime I need anything that is one of the first places that I check. I contacted a number of people before I found a cat that really seemed like it would be a good fit. The catch was.....he had a buddy...and their owner really wanted to keep them together. Now, I have always thought that cats should be in pairs at least so I didn't have a problem with this. DH was not thrilled when I brought the idea to him but because he is such a great guy, and he knew how much I really wanted a cat so he agreed to go check them out with the kids and I. We had to drive about 40 minutes to get to their home..........but I think it was worth the trip.


So these are our new boys.....






They of course have names - they were named after a classical music composer (Can't remember who) who had 2 alter egos. Florestan and Eusebuis....which are very hard names to not only remember but to pronounce. So we are going to have to try to come up with something a little easier. We are thinking for the white/orange one we will just shorten it to Stan. But for the silky grey one....not really sure yet.

So far Stan has adjusted really well. He is out and about checking out the house. He loves to have his head rubbed and has the loudest purr. Now his buddy..is MIA and we kind of expected that. We were told he is very shy at first but will warm up quickly and actually be the one who is the big love. Hopefully we will see him tomorrow but for now we are just going to give him as much time as he needs.

So that is our exciting news for the day. Thanks for coming by to see what is going on with us!!

Ever had a Bat??

Last night I was cleaning up my stamp area. I have been a busy girl with some Challenge cards and D's birthday invites and my table was a huge mess. I don't create well that way....I am way too organized. So I had this huge pile of cards that I can use for RAK's, birthday's etc. but I needed a place to store them. Since the move I have not been able to find my box I usually use. I walked out to the garage to grab one of the many empty shoe boxes I keep for reasons just like this.
I was about 10 steps in and was almost dive bombed by this flying animal. It was flying in a circle and at first I thought it was one of the annoying little starlings that have made a nest in my attic. But as it made it's 2nd pass at me I realized that it's wingspan was way to long and the shape just didn't match one of those little birds. It took maybe 1/2 of a second for me to realize what was going on......and by that time I was running for the door.
I have never seen a bat that close to me except at a zoo when it was behind a glass wall. I came flying into the basement trying not to scream and wake the kids......"It's a Bat!! It's a Bat in the garage!!!" My husband was on the couch and just kind of looked at me. "What?" he says.
I took a few deep breaths and told him again....and of course I was not going to go back out there to show him what I had found. Luckily he was able to just open the garage door from the outside and the little bat flew out and away. I have no idea how, or when he got in there and I have no idea how many of his friends live around here. But be sure that I am on the lookout now. I know there are bats everywhere. I am used to seeing them at dusk when we are out camping. I'm just not used to seeing them in my garage!!

How about a card?

I've made a few cards in the last month for challenges and such that I have not posted here. So I thought tonight that I would share one with you. All products used are Stampin Up! unless otherwise noted.
This card was created for a Limited Supply Challenge. I am afraid I don't remember which one and cannot look it up at the moment, as SCS is down for maintenance. But I do remember that the challenge was to make a masculine birthday card using a non-masculine set.
The card base is Old Olive, stamped with Print Pattern. The main image is stamped on Whisper White. I colored the image with watercolor crayons and blended with the Aqua Painter.
Then it is mounted on black and More Mustard. I used a CM corner rounder as well. The sentiment is stamped in Mustard, mounted on White. I used a black pen for the faux brads and mounted on black gingham ribbon.


I think it turned out really well. I was not sure where I was going with this when I started it but I do think it ended up being fairly masculine.

Thanks for stopping by. I am planning on doing quite a bit of stamping this weekend so hopefully I will have lots to share with you!

If I would just stop traveling

Maybe I could keep up on my Blog a little better. I've been wanting to post for days and days....sorry I took so long.

So - Disneyland! We had a wonderful time! The morning we left, we pulled the kids out of bed and right to the car at 4:30am. Once we got to the airport and got the bags checked in we were finally able to breath for a few moments. We had not told the kids we were taking a trip, and even at the airport we did not tell them where we were going.
So, we got on the plane and got totally lucky to end up getting one whole row to ourselves. The flight was pretty quick and the kids did a great job! D started getting restless about 1/2 hour before landing and then fell asleep. Of course!!

Anyways...we started out trip in San Diego with a quick visit at my oldest brothers house. We have not seen him or his wife since Christmas so that was a treat! And they treated us to SeaWorld. Oh man...what a fun place. It was our first trip to SD or SeaWorld and the kids loved Shamu! My son is still asking every day to go again....More, More he asks!


This is DD at the tide pool. She was freaked at first but was then totally into it.

This next pic is my brother, sis in law, DD, with me and DS in the back.

DS favorite part of the day was
He was up on his feet clapping and hollering everytime Shamu did a trick. It was so cool to see them having so much fun!
The kids could have just stayed there and watched show after show after show.

After a few more activities and a very full day, we headed up north to spend the rest of the evening with Mike and Kiki. It was really hard to leave them the next day, as we were headed to Anaheim but I was so thankful that we had the chance to even spend 1 day with them.

As this post has gotten a tad long, I'll wrap it up and post again tomorrow. I think we took something like 500 pictures so it could get to be a 10 parter before it's all said and done!

Thanks for coming by and seeing what is going on here. If you haven't already Please sign my guestbook! I would love to know where everyone is visiting from.

Sign my Guestbook!

More cards....

I have been really busy the last week or so, trying to get caught up on some challenges. Last week's Ways to Use it challenge was Acetate or window sheets. I would love to actually try a shaker card sometime but last week was not the time for me to take on a card that seems so hard and scary. So, instead I used the sheets to create the mirror effect. I have made one other card using this technique quite some time ago and I really liked it. Since I was able to make a trade and get Lovely as a Tree, I thought that would be a good set to try with this.

Another first for me was making an oversized, square card. The dimensions are about 5.5 X 5.5. The card base is Caribbean cool. The main image was stamped on Whisper White and stamped with Black Stazon. I used the Watercolor crayons and Gamasol for the coloring. The image is then mounted on Gable Green and Chocolate. A Chocolate polka dot ribbon was used as the final accent.





The other Way's to Use it challenge I did involved Orchid. I always think I am going to have a hard time with this color, but I am pretty happy with the way this turned out.

For this card the Orchid is used as the card base and the main image came from the set Bud Basics. It was in last year's summer mini (I think) and I really hope that it will be in the upcoming SU! Catalog. Black was used as the main accent color, with little splashes of Green Galore. I used both the word window punch and the horizontal slot punch on the card. It is a very bright, springy card and I really like it.











My family and I are leaving on Saturday morning for our first real family vacation since having both kids. It is a total spur of the moment trip, which is not like my DH at all. He called me last week at work one day and just said "Lets take a trip...get to some sunshine for a few days"
So, of course I jumped on it......We are going to the Happiest Place on Earth. And our kids have NO idea!!! I've been secretly packing all week, and we are just going to grab them out of bed Saturday morning and head out. We are going to spend 1 night with my brother in San Diego, hit the beach and SeaWorld. Then on Sunday, head to Anaheim for 3 days with Mickey and the gang. Our DD is just going to flip out when she figures out where we are at. I cannot wait to see the look on her face!!!
So, I won't be blogging about cards for the next week most likely but I am still going to try very hard to come and Blog about our day - The more I Blog, the more I like to Blog....

Thanks for stopping by!!!!

Here She is!

I have finally overcome my fear of unmounted stamps and acrylic blocks. I had never used one before, but I got these cool stamps......Bella's......and that is what StampingBella suggested. So, I ordered them, got them and there they sat. For a few weeks. Until last night, when I made this......

The card base is Pretty in Pink, and the horizontal panels are done with Designer Paper from the Stampin' Up! Spring Mini. Paisley and Polka Dots was used to create the background.
My girl is a CosmoBella and she is colored with watercolor crayons, an Aqua Painter and markers. Main image is mounted on Cool Caribbean and Old Olive.

I am soooooo happy with how it turned out. Especially the coloring. I can't wait to make her some friends.

What year do you belong in?

This is a super fun quiz I saw on Dawn and Tracy's Blogs

You Belong in 1977

Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all!

What Year Do You Belong In?

So, give it a shot....what year do you belong in? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Country Thunder

A few posts ago I said that the next one would be a Country Thunder.....and it almost is. But since I am stamping again, and that is what the blog started out about I thought I should post those....

BUT - now, onto Country Thunder.
Country Thunder is a 4 day Country Music Festival. It is held in a few locations throughout the US. I have never been before, in fact I really didn't listen to country music until December of last year. My sister in law took me to Las Vegas to see a band she really liked. Turns out that I really liked them too. They were not your usual country music where my dog just died, and my girlfriend ran off with my best friend and my truck broke down. No, this was different. This was FUN. It had soul and energy and I came away feeling wonderful! The band was called Big and Rich. And from that day I was totally hooked to their music. So shortly after the Vegas trip, Michelle and I started talking about where to go next to see them. She had traveled to a couple of places to see them and I knew I wanted to go the next time. So we looked at the schedule and saw this show, er I mean festival and decided to go for it! She works for Alaska Airlines, so she gets us on the flights. And I'm a travel agent so I get the great deals for the cars and hotels. We are a great pair!

So, the weekend of April 14th we headed off to the desert sun for some country fun. Each day there were 6 or 8 band playing. On Saturday just before Big and Rich were scheduled to play was their good friend Gretchen Wilson. She is a member of the Muzik Mafia and a wonderful artist. She is a favorite of mine, so I was tickeled to see her.



So, after her set was done the final act came on. I won't go into the long story ;o) just know that Big and Rich rocked the house and by the encore, we had worked our way down about 30 rows and were in the front row! It was absolutely amazing. After the show we hung around for a while waiting for the poeple to clear out and ended up each getting a play list off the stage. I'm just going to pretend mine came from John Rich :o)



Oh yeah, did I mention that I love John Rich. Something about his black hat, boots and that super sweet face!