4 Some Reason...

mojo 174

2011-01-20T16:29:00.003-06:00

I finally got all the Christmas stuff put away so I can now get back into my room. I decided to jump into Julee's Mojo Monday challenge. I had to get busy making some Valentine's cards, so I chose Verve's Heart to Heart stamps for my card. It's an oldie but a goodie. I stamped the hearts and cut them out. I mounted the smaller heart in the middle with some foam tape for dimension. I also matted it with some pink cardstock to make it pop. For the patterned paper, I used Basic Grey's Sugared paper pad. I don't think I had used it before now. Typical. I tied a piece of matching ribbon around and done.
Thanks for stopping by!

Valentine:
Stamps: patterned hearts (Verve Visual), small hearts (Hampton Art), Valentine (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Bazzill, Papertrey Ink, Basic Grey
Ink: Cranberry Crisp (SU)
Accessories: Nestabilities, SU punch, ribbon, foam tape

mojo 159

2010-10-10T15:35:00.008-05:00

Nothing like waiting until the last minute to complete a sketch. When I saw Jen Del Muro's card at my local scrapbook store, I had to have this stamp set by The Cat's Pajamas. Her card totally inspired mine for this week's Mojo Monday challenge.

I stamped Dracula on some white cardstock and colored him with Copics. I mounted that on a piece of kraft cardstock that I had stamped using the VersaMark pad. I mounted everything on a piece of patterned paper I got out of my Halloween pile and I'm digging the end result.

This card I did I couple of week's ago for Mojo Monday 157. I'm not sure why I never uploaded it. I bought this cute little stamp set by My Mind's Eye at one of the local scrapbook stores. Isn't that little witch adorable? I absolutely love Halloween!

Thanks for stopping by!

Mwahh:
Stamps: dracula & words (The Cat's Pajamas)
Paper: Bazzill, Papertrey Ink, Little Yellow Bicycle
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Pumpkin Pie (SU), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, ribbon

Costume Party:
Stamps: witch & sentiment (My Mind's Eye)
Paper: Bazzill, Papertrey Ink, Pink Paislee
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Distress Ink (Ranger Industries)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Copic markers, glitter (Stampendous), Glitter Dots (Stamping Bella)

mojo 153

2010-08-26T12:18:00.005-05:00

Well, with the kids finally back in school, I may be able to get some cards done. This week's Mojo Monday sketch was challenging for me. I wasn't totally psyched about it, but I managed to churn something out. I bought these Spellbinders Shapeabilities pendants and they've just been sitting on my desk. I was looking at them and realized that one of them was the perfect size for the squares in the sketch. I knew I wanted to do a Halloween card, but finding the right stamps was the challenging part. I needed small stamps to layer on top and these were the only ones I could find. I may have to go shopping!

I basically just stamped the images on white cardstock and colored them with my Copics and cut those suckers out. I used one of the small Nestabilities circles under the images and foam tape for a little lift. Mounted everything on this green patterned paper and done!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Halloween:
Stamps: candy corn (Great Impressions), cat & sentiment (Hero Arts), Frank & pumpkin (Inkadinkado)
Paper: KI Memories, Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Pumpkin Pie (SU)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Shapeabilities, Copic markers, ribbon, glitter (Stampendous)

mojo 148

2010-07-25T11:24:00.004-05:00

Do you have an image in your head of how you want your card to turn out, but 9 times out of 10 it doesn't look anything like you had imagined? Or is it just me? Well, this is number 10 of 10. It actually looks like I had imagined. When I saw this week's Mojo Monday sketch, I knew exactly what stamps, paper and dies I wanted to use. I don't know about you, but that like never happens to me.

The main image is from the Up, Up and Away set from Verve and I colored it with Copics. All the patterned paper is from Basic Grey's Oliver paper pad. For the clouds and the eyelet border, I used Papertrey Ink's dies. I thought they were a perfect fit for the card!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Father's Day:
Stamps: balloon & sentiment (Verve Visual)
Paper: Basic Grey, Bazzill, Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, Papertrey Ink dies

mojo 147

2010-07-18T20:29:00.005-05:00

I can't remember the last time I did one of Julee's Mojo Monday sketches. I thought I would pull out some older Verve stamps too. For the patterned paper, I used a combination of October Afternoon's Fly a Kite and SEI's Happy Day that my mom got me for my birthday. I stamped the stars and colored them with my Copics. I oh so carefully cut them out and mounted them with foam tape on the white squares. I tried to match the colors of the Copics with the paper the best I could. (Note to self...need to buy more Copics!)

Sorry for the bad lighting. It's almost dark here and I couldn't take it in my usual spot.
Just a quick post because I'm almost at the deadline for entering this bad boy! Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday:
Stamps: stars (Verve Visual), sentiment (PrintWorks)
Paper: October Afternoon, SEI, Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, ribbon

i'm still here

2010-07-16T15:36:00.007-05:00

Nothing like a great Papertrey Ink set to get me out of retirement. When I saw the Up, Up & Away set, I knew I had to have it! Another reason it's so great is that now they have custom dies that coordinate with them. How cool is that?

This is obviously a birthday card. I used patterned paper from October Afternoon's Fly a Kite pad and aforementioned stamp set from Papertrey Ink. I colored the balloon with my Copics and sprinkled a little glitter on it and around the edge of the clouds. Mounted everything together and voila! I also used this week's Splitcoast sketch. I wasn't too crazy about it, but I think it works.

I don't know about you guys, but summer has been crazy. With the kids at home, I've become the entertainment director or else they become a little stir crazy. We've been doing a lot of swimming, going to the movies and I'm trying to get them to do some arts and crafts stuff too. My daughter loves doing it, but my son...not so much. Anyway. Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Wishes:
Stamps: balloon & sentiment (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: October Afternoon, Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Papertrey Ink dies, Copic markers, Quickie Glue Pen (Sakura), glitter (Stampendous)

carolers sketch

2009-10-16T20:17:00.007-05:00

Another great sketch this week over at Splitcoast. This card actually came together as I saw it in my head. I love when that happens! The only thing I had to do different was turn it sideways. It just didn't look right horizontally.

I love this little carolers stamp. I got the set on eBay for like $5. I was the only one to bid on it. Lucky me! I stamped the image and, of course, colored it with my Copics. All the patterned paper is from one of last year's Christmas lines from My Mind's Eye. The sentiment is from the same set and I just stamped it and cut that and the image out with my Nesties. I embossed the 3 squares of cardstock with the Cuttlebug snowflake folder and mounted those on top of the patterned paper. I decided to add a little sparkle with the snowflakes. The punch is a Martha Stewart punch I picked up last year and I just ran some glue over them and sprinkled on the glitter!

Thanks for stopping by!

Merry Christmas:
Stamps: carolers & sentiment (Wordsworth Art Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill, My Mind's Eye
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko), Distress Ink (Ranger Industries)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, Cuttleb=ug, Quickie Glue Pen (Sakura), glitter (Stampendous), Snowflake punch (Martha Stewart), foam tape

birthday mojo

2009-10-11T11:10:00.005-05:00

Finally, a moment to sit down and update my blog. I made this card on Friday, but I've been so busy this weekend with other things that I haven't had a chance to get online. I know...tragic.

This week's Mojo Monday sketch was a doozy. I was inspired by Tosh's snowman card. I just loved it when I saw it! I really like how she did the glittery pendant behind the image. That's what I was trying to emulate here. Instead of the Spellbinder's Fleur de lis, I used one of the Cuttlebug flower die sets and cut it apart.

The main image is from a Basic Grey set called Sahara. I think my mom gave them to me for my birthday this year. Thanks, Mom! The paper is called Marrakech also from Basic Grey. I tried my best to match what Copics I had to the paper. I don't have one of those fancy schmancy Copic airbrush thingies, so I masked the image and sponged on the Distress Ink. (I really think I need one of those!)

Thanks for looking!

Birthday:
Stamps: flower (Basic Grey), sentiment (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Basic Grey, Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Tea Dye Distress Ink (Ranger Industries)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, Cuttlebug, Quickie Glue Pen (Sakura), glitter (Stampendous), Baubles (Stamping Bella), foam tape

ornaments sketch

2009-10-08T19:09:00.006-05:00

I finally got to finish this week's Splitcoast sketch challenge today. I've been trying to get my house clean for relatives invading on Monday. They're only staying 2 nights so it's not too bad.

I loved this week's sketch! I got to use my new Nesties too! I stamped the image and colored with my Copics. Added just a little sparkle on one of the ornaments. I pretty much used all BG's Figgy Pudding on this one. I was thinking I better buy some more of that before they discontinue it if they haven't already.

I was unsure about the piece of blue cardstock behind the image, but there's only so much time I can spend on a card. I just pierced the paper around the edge and was done with it. I hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Merry Christmas:
Stamps: ornaments (Great Impressions), sentiment (Verve Visual)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill, Basic Grey, Baja Breeze (SU)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo (Tsukineko), Mellow Moss (SU)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, Cuttlebug, Quickie Glue Pen (Sakura), glitter (Stampendous), ribbon, paper piercer (SU), scalloped edge scissors, foam tape

halloween weekend sketch

2009-10-05T17:21:00.006-05:00

I loved Beate's sketch this weekend. It was just simple and straight forward. I did however change it up a little. I love the way square cards look, but it's so hard to find envelopes for them. I turned the squares and circles into rectangles out popped this A2 sized card.

This stamp was part of a set I found on sale at Michael's over the weekend. I just thought these little guys were really cute! I colored the image with my Copics and added some sparkle with glitter. I cut it out with my rectangular Nesties using Julie's clever little trick for resizing. The fence is one of those Martha Stewart border punches I also found on sale at Michael's. I just ran my Quickie Glue Pen over it and sprinkled on some black glitter for a little added interest.

Well, that's all I have today! Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Halloween:
Stamps: main image (Trick or Treat set by Inkadinkado), sentiment (Studio G)
Paper: Basic Grey, KI Memories, Papertrey Ink, Bazzill
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko) Tangerine Tango (SU)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, Quickie Glue Pen (Sakura), white glitter (Stampendous), black glitter (ART Institute), fence punch (Martha Stewart), foam tape

happy world card making day!

2009-10-03T17:13:00.005-05:00

I have to be honest. I didn't make this card today. Actually, I didn't make any cards today. I had to take my daughter to a birthday party. Don't get me wrong...I'm not complaining because the mother of the birthday girl and I are good friends so it was nice to see her. It just seems that whenever these kind of crafty "holidays" pop up, there's always something else going on too. Anyway. This was the card I made earlier this week for the girl's party today. I used this week's Splitcoast sketch challenge again. I really liked this sketch. Definitely a keeper.

I used some old patterned paper I've probably had for years and this cupcake set I just love from Hero Arts. I did the usual...stamped the image and colored with Copics. Just love those things!

Added a little sparkle with glitter. Then I cut out some pink and white cardstock with my Nesties and mounted the image and sentiment with foam tape and done! Thanks for stopping by!

Seize the Cupcake:
Stamps: all images (Hero Arts)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill, Bo Bunny, KI Memories
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko), Distress Ink (Ranger Industries)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, Quickie Glue Pen (Sakura), glitter (Stampendous), ribbon, paper piercer (SU), scalloped edge scissors, foam tape

merry little christmas

2009-09-30T19:39:00.003-05:00

Can you believe there's only about 86 days until Christmas? I guess I'll have to start my shopping soon. Hard to believe. It is my favorite time of the year though. And with Christmas comes lots of Christmas cards. I think I have more Christmas stamps than anything. You can never have enough I say. As you can see, I chose some of those for this week's Splitcoast sketch challenge.

I really liked this sketch. I may have to do another card using it. I just picked a couple of the Studio G stamps from Michael's and colored the images with my Copics. Of course glitter goes hand and hand with Christmas cards. I chose some of BG's Figgy Pudding and a piece of Fruitcake. I kept looking at the houndstooth paper and thought it needed something. Should I back it with a piece of red cardstock? Should I trim it with the scalloped scissors? Then I thought sewing the edge would work, but I didn't feel like dragging out my machine so I pulled out some stamps I have not used in a long while that resemble ribbon and stamped the edge and embossed it with red glitter powder. Next I added the ribbon and charm then finished the loads of laundry I've been doing all day. Thanks for stopping by!

Merry Little Christmas:
Stamps: ornaments & sentiment (Studio G); zig zag ribbon (Hero Arts)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill, Basic Grey
Ink: Black Memento, Versamark (Tsukineko), Distress Ink (Ranger Industries)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, Quickie Glue Pen (Sakura), glitter (Stampendous), red glitter embossing powder (Mark Enterprises), ribbon, charm (Making Memories), foam tape

christmas mojo

2009-09-29T16:38:00.005-05:00

This week's Mojo Monday sketch was really cute! Julee comes up with the greatest sketches. I used my beloved Figgy Pudding paper. Christmas just keeps getting closer and closer, so any excuse to use this paper!

I stamped the image and colored it using Copics. I still need some more of these. It seems like I'm always needing a certain color I don't have. I used the Nesties scalloped rectangle under the image and under the center strip to make the scallops the same size. I also lined the outer edge of the tree paper with some of the Figgy to make it stand out a little bit. I stamped the sentiment and cut it out using one of the tag Nesties. I mounted both of those with foam tape and done. Thanks for stopping by!

Tis the Season:
Stamps: car with tree (Stamping Bella), sentiment (Studio G)
Paper: Basic Grey, Papertrey Ink, Red Riding Hood (SU)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Garden Green (SU)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, Stickles, ribbon, foam tape

3 sketches, 3 cards

2009-09-27T18:34:00.008-05:00

I was in a card making mood this weekend and I just love sketches! This first one is the weekly Mojo Monday sketch. I haven't done one of these in a while.

The next one is Beate's weekend sketch. My brother in law's birthday is coming up and this stamp looks so much like his dog, Honey. I got to use my Fun Flock on the spots and I think it turned out cute!

Last, but not least, is Jen's Sketch for You to Try. I don't think I've ever done one of her sketch's, but I think it was my favorite of the three.

Thanks for stopping by!

Trick or Treat:
Stamps: RIP, Halloween border (Michael's), Trick or Treat (Hampton Art)
Paper: Basic Grey, Papertrey Ink, Bazzill
Ink: Old Paper Distress (Ranger Industries), Tangerine Tango (SU)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, foam tape

Happy Birthday:
Stamps: Dog (Inkadinkado), sentiment (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Basic Grey, Papertrey Ink, Bazzill
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel (SU)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, Zig Glue Pen & Glaze Pen (Sakura), Fun Flock (Stampendous), white gel pen (Signo), foam tape

Boo:
Stamps: Haunted House (Great Impressions), Boo (Making Memories)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill, Papertrey Ink, Bo Bunny
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, Glaze Pen & Permapaque pen (Sakura), chipboard, ribbon, foam tape

long time no blog

2009-09-24T20:42:00.004-05:00

Yes, it's true. I've actually made a card. I just decided to take a little break and now I have returned. I chose to jump right back into the Splitcoast color and sketch challenges. I wasn't too excited about the color combo, but I made the best of it. The sunflower is actually part of a larger image, but I only used part of it. I stamped and embossed the center of the flower and popped it up in the center with foam tape. I colored everything with ink and my trusty old Dove Blender pen. Of course I had to add a little glitter to it. Cards just don't seem complete without a little sparkle.

I mounted the image on a Cuttlebugged piece of Rich Razzleberry cardstock and then mounted that on top of a stamped piece of Crushed Curry. I thought it turned out all right. Thanks for stopping by and hopefully I'll have another post for you tomorrow!

Sunflower:
Stamps: sunflower (Peddler's Pack), writing background (Inkadinkado), Happy Birthday (Hero Arts)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill, Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry (SU)
Ink: Black Memento, Versamark (Tsukineko), Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry (SU)
Accessories: Cuttlebug, foam tape, glue pen (Sakura), glitter (Stampendous), Dove Blender pen, black dot embellishments (Stamping Bella)

sorry for the delay

2009-01-18T14:37:00.000-06:00

I know it's been a long while since I've blogged. The past few months have been busy. This is probably the first card I've done since Thanksgiving, if you can believe that! I needed a masculine card for my brother-in-law's birthday, so I decided to use this week's Splitcoast sketch challenge and went to work. I'm not a fan of making manly cards. I don't do them particularly well. I'd much rather do something a little girly and cutesy. I stuck to reds and blues, you know, manly colors and I think it turned out all right. I stamped my image on white and colored it with my oh so favorite Copic markers and then cut it with my new Nestabilities label die. (The first time I've used those.) I then took some chipboard and covered those with black embossing powder and glued the little rhinestones on. (I know not very manly, but they needed some flair!)

Happy Birthday:
Stamps: Retro Happy Birthday (Hot Potatoes)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko), Charcoal Palette (Stewart Superior)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic markers, Cuttlebug, chipboard (Technique Tuesday), jewels (Heidi Swapp), foam tape

happy thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T07:48:00.004-06:00

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving today! Yes, I made this pie. I bought these cute little pie crust cutters at Williams Sonoma a few weeks back and it really does make the pie look wonderful! Hope it tastes as good as it looks!

ornamental christmas

2008-11-17T14:58:00.009-06:00

This was the only card I made all last week. I've been diligently working on my family's Christmas stockings. Cutting felt shapes, sewing and beading and adding sequins...the whole 9 yards. They are almost finished. I can't wait to hang them up!

This stamp is one I picked up years ago. I just really liked it because it didn't just say "Merry Christmas", but it had a little detail to it with the images. Perfect for coloring with my Copics. I used this week's Splitcoast sketch challenge. I wasn't crazy about it, but I think it worked. The little ornaments on the bottom are actually cut from one stamp I picked up at Joann's last week for a buck. I used these Copics

to color the images. Then added a little sparkle with the Spica glitter pens and all done! Thanks for stopping by! Hopefully I'll finish these stockings and get back to card making!

Merry Christmas:
Stamps: Merry Christmas (PSX), ornaments (Studio G)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Basic Grey, Riding Hood Red (SU)
Ink: Black Memento (Tsukineko)
Accessories:Nestabilities, Copic markers, foam tape

here comes santa claus...

2008-11-08T14:01:00.004-06:00

I finally got my hands on one of these Santa Collage stamps a while back and I just love it! It really is one of best Santa image stamps I've seen. I thought it was perfect for this week's Splitcoast sketch challenge. I used my Copics (B21, E00, RV11) to color his face and then distressed it a little with my Distress Inks. I think the Stickles bottle kind of exploded all over him, but Christmas was meant to be sparklified! I used my houndstooth Scrapblock from Cornish Heritage Farms for one of the background pieces with a little Distress Ink on it as well. I mounted that on a piece of dp from Daisy D's and then mounted everything on a piece of Riding Hood Red cs run through the houndstooth Cuttlebug. Wow! I love me some houndstooth! Anyway, thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Santa:
Stamps: Santa Collage (Rubber Stampede), Fine Houndstooth Scrapblock (Cornish Heritage Farms)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, SU, Daisy D's
Ink: Black Memento (Tsukineko), Old Paper & Walnut Stain Distress Inks (Ranger Industries), Riding Hood Red (SU)
Accessories:Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Copic markers, Stickles, foam tape

medallion challenge

2008-11-06T15:56:00.005-06:00

This was such a fun challenge! I don't think I've ever done one of the "Try a New Technique" challenges on Splitcoast before, but this one sure was neat. Click here for Becca's tutorial. You basically take the largest circle Nestabilities die and divide it into 8 equal pieces. Then you take a corner punch and remove the little plastic guide around it and punch inside each of the 8 pieces. With this particular corner punch I had to snip the inside out with scissors. I then coated the entire thing with Versamark ink and sprinkled glitter embossing powder over it. The reindeer stamp is from the "unmounted stamps that I have no idea who makes them because I've had them so long and never used them" pile. If you know who makes it, please email me!

I stamped this guy and colored him with my Dove Blender pen and inks. I then covered him with Spica glitter pens. Voila! I mounted everything on top of the new Basic Grey Wassail paper. Gotta get some if you don't already have it. They make the best Christmas paper! Thanks for stopping by!

Reindeer:
Stamps: reindeer (unknown), sentiment (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Basic Grey
Ink: Black Memento; Versamark (Tsukineko), Mellow Moss, Cranberry Crisp, Creamy Caramel (SU)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Dove Blender pen, corner punch (EK Success), embossing powder (Stampdendous), foam tape

fa la la

2008-11-03T12:58:00.010-06:00

This has to be one of my favorite Splitcoast sketches so far. I absolutely love it! I only wish I had made more cards this week using it, but it will definitely go in my file. I used last year's Basic Grey Figgy Pudding paper (love this too) and some $1 Studio G stamps. I colored the images with my Copics, these to be exact:

and highlighted everything with Spica glitter pens.

Such a quick and easy card! I gotta scoot, but thanks for stopping by!

Fa La La:
Stamps: various Christmas (Stuido G)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill, Basic Grey
Ink: Black Memento (Tsukineko)
Accessories:Nestabilities, Copic markers, ribbon (American Crafts), Glitter Dots (Stamping Bella), foam tape

new cards

2008-10-14T15:45:00.008-05:00

I ordered a pack of the new In Color cardstock from Stampin' Up and it finally got here Friday. If you can believe it, I didn't have cardstock that was evenly remotely close to those colors. I really wanted to do the Splitcoast color challenge last week, but I had to wait on my cardstock. I really loved these colors together. I bought this stamp a few weeks ago. When I saw it, I immediately thought about using my Copics with it, which is exactly what I did! I used the colors in the pic below and then went over the letters with my clear Spica glitter pen. It's really hard to see in the photo.

I also used Julie's resizing rectangle Nestabilities tutorial to cut out the image. Worked like a charm! I got to use my new Martha Stewart branch punch that Julee Tilman twisted my arm to buy. I thought it added just a nice little touch around the edges.

Now, I think this might be the first time in my card making history that I've actually completed a challenge the same day it came out. I don't know that I'm too terribly fond of this card, but here it is...today's Splitcoast color challenge. I used these copics

to color the image and then quickie glue penned the area around the leaves and glittered. Very quick and easy! Thanks for stopping by!

Give Thanks:
Stamps: Give Thanks (Northwoods Rubber Stamps)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill, Stampin' Up
Ink: Black Memento (Tsukineko)
Accessories:Nestabilities, Copic markers, Cuttlebug, Martha Stewart punch, foam tape

Ornament:
Stamps: Ornament (Sandi Miller)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill, Stampin' Up
Ink: Black Memento (Tsukineko), Pink Pirouette (Stampin' Up)
Accessories:Nestabilities, Copic markers, Cuttlebug, Quickie Glue Pen (Sakura), glitter (Stampendous), ribbon (Martha Stewart), foam tape

christmas sketch

2008-10-13T10:24:00.007-05:00

I've got a bunch of unmounted stamps I've collected over the years. Needless to say, most of them have not been used and I don't remember who made a lot of them. This stamp is one of them. If anyone has any idea who makes this stamp, please email me and let me know.

I really liked how this card turned out. I used last week's Splitcoast sketch. I colored the images with my Copics then covered them in the Spica glitter pen.

I added Liquid Applique to the tops of the houses for added texture and a little dab of Judikin's Diamond Glaze on the windows.

I mounted everything on some Christmas dp from My Mind's Eye I got last year. The colors worked perfectly!

Christmas:
Stamps: Houses (Unknown), Christmas (Hero Arts)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill, My Mind's Eye
Ink: Black Memento (Tsukineko), Walnut Stain Distress (Ranger)
Accessories:Nestabilities, Copic markers, Cuttlebug, Liquid Applique, Diamond Glaze (Judikins), ribbon (Ellen Hutson), foam tape

fall already?

2008-10-03T18:08:00.009-05:00

For some reason, I had so much trouble with this week's Splitcoast sketch. I don't know if it's because I combined the color challenge too, but I think I changed the base color like 3 times. I just couldn't get it to work. I think I finally did it. At least I hope so.

I had planned to make a couple of cards this week, but it seems like every time I tell myself "okay, I'm just going to stay home today and make cards" I have like 10 errands to run. Never fails. I did stay home today, but I ended up cleaning house instead. Although, I did manage to finish this card. Tomorrow we've got plans, so no card making in my future until Sunday. Have a great weekend!

Fall:
Stamps: Fall Whimsy (SU) Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink) Button Lowercase Alphabet (PSX)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill
Ink: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust (SU)
Accessories: Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Dove Blender Pen, Word Window Punch (SU)

snowmen sketch

2008-09-30T09:38:00.006-05:00

Can you believe Christmas is only 85 days away? Hard to believe. I decided to use my new snowman set from Papertrey Ink for last week's sketch on Splitcoast. This set is really cute! It comes with different hats, scarves, faces and arms and different snowman bodies for use with all those. For example, if you decide to use one of the scarves, there is a snowman body to use with it and you don't have to make any masks! I hate making masks. So tedious. Anyway, if you like snowmen, I highly recommend getting this set. You can find it here. It's called "Made of Snow".

I did break down a couple of weeks ago and bought some Copics. I really like them. They are so easy to work with and they blend so beautifully. I only used the Cool Gray to outline the snowmen on this card. Collecting Copics is a slow process because they're so expensive. My goal is to get the ones that match the Stampin' Up inks and go from there. I just used my old trusty Dove Blender Pen and ink pads to color these guys. I covered the bodies entirely with glitter. It's hard to see so I suggest clicking on the image to see the detail. Thanks for looking and have a great day!

Snowmen:
Stamps: Made From Snow (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill, My Mind's Eye
Ink: Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss (SU) Black Memento (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Quickie Glue Pen (Sakura), Glitter (Stampendous), Dove Blender Pen, Cuttlebug, black dimensional paint, Cool Gray No.1 (Copic)

happy halloween

2008-09-25T15:17:00.006-05:00

I know, this is last week's Splitcoast sketch, but things have been busy around the house lately. I don't want to bore you with details, so I won't. I recently bought this Inkadinkado Cats and Bats set a couple of weeks ago. It's really a cute set. I stamped the cat in black and of course covered it in glitter. The sentiment is also a recent purchase from Studio G. These clear stamps must be really really cheap to produce. How else can they make any money only charging $1?

Happy Halloween:
Stamps: Cat (Inkadinkado), Spider (Papertrey Ink), Spider Web (All Night Media), Happy Halloween sentiment (Studio G)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bo Bunny, KI Memories
Ink: Pumpkin Pie (SU), Black Memento (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Quickie Glue Pen (Sakura), Glitter (Stampendous), ribbon

noel

2008-09-12T13:13:00.005-05:00

Is it a little early to post a Christmas card? Okay, maybe. I bought this stamp last year from Michelle at Stamper's Dream, but of course, never used it. I'm so notorious for doing this. Anyway. This week's color challenge and sketch on Splitcoast was the perfect opportunity to use it. I stamped my image in black then used the ink pads along with my trusty Dove blender pen to color in the letters. Stickles goes hand in hand with Christmas cards, so of course I used some. I just love this spiral background stamp. I used to use it a lot and kind of forgot about it until now. It's perfect for filling up some blank space! Thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

Noel:
Stamps: Noel (Stampendous), Scroll Pattern (Penny Black)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill, Basic Grey
Ink: Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Green Galore (SU), Charcoal - Palette (Stewart Superior)
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Stickles, Dove blender pen

quickie post

2008-09-01T09:51:00.009-05:00

I finally finished the whole cancer thing. My last day of radiation was just over a week ago and I feel great! I'm so glad to be done with everything. Now I can get back to my life. I haven't been making too many cards because I was out of town for treatment. Here are just a couple I did on the weekends when I was home.
This one was for Ethan's teacher. I just love this set from Kim Hughes. I just had to have it!

And this card was for my cousin and his wife for letting me stay with them while I was getting treatment. Again, another Kim Hughes set. Isn't this tree just the cutest?

First Day of School:
Stamps: Kim Hughes-Making the Grade, Lined Paper Backgrounder (Cornish Heritage Farms)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Basic Grey, Bazzill
Ink: So Saffron, Ruby Red, Basic Black (SU) Old Paper Distress (Ranger Industries)
Accessories: Cuttlebug, ribbon, scalloped scissors

Thank You:
Stamps: Kim Hughes-Kissable Tree, Cute Curls, Houndstooth Backgrounder (Cornish Heritage Farms)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill
Ink: Basic Black, Soft Sky (SU)
Accessories: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, white Signo pen

cards

2008-07-25T11:22:00.003-05:00

I have a few cards to share with you. This one is from Mojo Monday a week ago. I absolutely loved this sketch. Julee's sketches seem to get better each week. You should stop by and see this week's Mojo Monday I think I'll work on that one this weekend.

I used Verve's Anniversary Birds set for this one. I think this was the first time I've used it. Sad, isn't it?

This one I made for my friend Didi's birthday. This was the Splitcoast sketch a week ago as well.

One more, also late but only by a day! This was for the second Meet the Verve Diva Challenge. It was an inspiration challenge and I kind of suck at them! Oh well! Thanks for looking!

Happy Together:
Stamps: Anniversary Birds (Verve)
Paper: Anna Griffin, We R Memory Keepers, Papertrey Ink, Bazzill
Ink: So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive (SU)
Accessories: Nestabilities, ribbon

Celebrate:
Stamps: It's a Celebration, Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill
Ink: Melon (Ancient Page), Tattered Rose Distress (Ranger Industries)
Accessories:Cuttlebug, glitter

Thanks So Much:
Stamps: Simple Little Things (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Gable Green, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie (SU) Indigo (Ancient Page) Versamark (Tsukineko)
Accessories:Nestabilities, ribbon, embossing powder

and the winner is...

2008-07-21T13:20:00.002-05:00

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

18
Timestamp: 2008-07-20 18:19:52 UTC

Congratulations, Laura Lee!

Sorry it took me so long to post. It was a crazy weekend!

finally, some candy!

2008-07-15T10:40:00.004-05:00

Well, I finally got around to posting this. I was going to do it last week, but time just got away from me. I am celebrating my last round of chemotherapy! YAY! You don't know how glad I am that it's over. I'm back in my room making cards, playing with my kids and cooking dinner again.
I am just so excited that this ordeal is almost over that I wanted to share it with everyone! Just leave me a comment and I will randomly choose a winner this Sunday. Thanks for stopping by!

on a roll

2008-07-01T15:53:00.005-05:00

I have been making cards nonstop this past week. It feels so good to be doing it too. This one I made for my aunt whose birthday is Thursday. I tried my hand at one of these transparent cards. It was kind of fun. Besides trying to get every little piece of lint off because of the static and trying to fold the thing in half, it was all right.

I haven't made a Mojo Monday card in I don't know how long. It was great to get my mojo on. I really loved how this card turned out. A very close friend of mine is expecting her first later this month and this is going to be perfect.

I have really gotten into the paper piecing business lately. It really adds so much detail and color. I still felt it needed something, so I added dots of Liquid Pearls and outlined the stroller and greeting with a glaze pen.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to have some candy up by the end of the week!

SUPPLIES (card1):
cs: Bazzill; Papertrey Ink
dp: Basic Grey
stamps: Hero Arts
ink: Stampin' Up; Stewart Superior
cutting dies: Nestabilities
glitter: Stickles
other: watercolor pencils; Dove Blender pen

SUPPLIES (card2):
cs: Bazzill; Papertrey Ink
dp: SEI; Basic Grey; Bo Bunny Press
stamps: Papertrey Ink
ink: Stampin' Up
other: Cuttlebug; Ranger (Liquid Pearls); watercolor pencils; Sakura (glaze pen)

i'm back!

2008-06-29T10:23:00.008-05:00

I wish I could say that I was in Athens visiting the Parthenon or Egypt visiting the great pyramids, but I can't. I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma on Valentine's Day of all days. The good news is we caught it really early, so the cure rate is something like 95%. I started chemotherapy in March and just finished my last treatment last week. Yay! A big fat YAY! I still have to go through radiation next month, but after that, I can get back to my life and my family. Speaking of family, we just returned a few weeks ago from our annual trip to the beach. The kids had so much fun! Reagan is now 15 months and she didn't seem to mind the sand too much. The ocean was a different story. Pool okay, ocean not okay. But I still think she had fun. I changed my banner with one of the photos from the beach. She was so interested in those seagulls when they landed. I wish I had taken a photo of what happened next because it was so funny. The birds decided to take off and start flying in her direction and she turned and ran screaming. Not funny for her, but funny for me. Anyway. Now that the whole chemo thing is finished I have been making cards again. So without further ado, here they are!

I made this for my dad's birthday using this week's color challenge on Splitcoast. Such a great color combo!

I made this one for Father's Day. I was really happy with the way it turned out.

This one was for Mother's Day. I just love that little birdie stamp!

Finally, this is for my mom's birthday. I used this week's sketch on Splitcoast.

Well, there you have it. Thanks for stopping by after so long and please come back soon! I think I'm going to giveaway some candy to celebrate the end of my chemo. I think that's worth celebrating!

SUPPLIES (card 1):
cs: Bazzill; Papertrey Ink
stamps: Verve Visual; Papertrey Ink
ink: Stampin' Up
embossing folder: Cuttlebug
other: Nestabilities

SUPPLIES (card 2):
cs: Bazzill
dp: Chatterbox
stamps: Inkadinkado; Papertrey Ink
ink: Stampin' Up
ribbon: American Crafts
other: Nestabilities

SUPPLIES (card 3):
cs: Bazzill
dp: Basic Grey
stamps: Hero Arts
ink: Stampin' Up
other: Stickles

SUPPLIES (card 4):
cs: Bazzill; Papertrey Ink
dp: Papertrey Ink
stamps: Papertrey Ink
ink: Stampin' Up
other: Nestabilities; Stickles

late valentine

2008-02-19T10:17:00.004-06:00

I just love this little stamp set! I finally ordered it and made these cute little Valentine's cards for my son's friends at school. Here are the mailboxes I finally got around to doing for his teachers too.

These were super duper easy! Thanks to Emily's awesome tutorial, these came together like butter! I think I should have snagged more of these because they would be great for any occasion. Thanks for looking!

SUPPLIES (card):
cs: Bazzill; Papertrey Ink
stamps: Stampin' Up
ink: Stampin' Up
ribbon: Target $1 spot
embossing folder: Cuttlebug
other: watercolor pencils; Dove Blender pen

SUPPLIES (mailboxes):
cs: Bazzill; Papertrey Ink
dp: Target $1 spot
ribbon: Target $1 spot; Mike's
stamps: Papertrey Ink
punch: Stampin' Up
cutting dies: Nestabilities

birthday cupcake

2008-01-30T18:16:00.001-06:00

I've had these stamps and this "Two Scoops" paper for what seems like forever. I sit down at my desk everyday and I see them sitting there, but yet I choose not to use them. Finally, today was the day. Ethan is going to a birthday party on Saturday for a little girl in his class. I thought the cupcake stamps would be perfect for a little girl's card. I incorporated this week's Splitcoast sketch.

Well, Blogger is getting ready for an outage, so I better go. Thanks for looking!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: Basic Grey
ink: Stampin' Up; Tsukineko
stamps: Hero Arts; Savvy Stamps
punch: Stampin' Up
cutting dies: Nestabilities
glitter: Denami Designs
other: watercolor pencils; ribbon

fab birthday

2008-01-29T12:26:00.000-06:00

This is the card I made my brother-in-law for his birthday. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time making masculine cards. I finally settled on this Crate Paper. I think it looks fairly masculine. Don't you? I used Beate's weekend sketch. Very simple sketch. I could have dressed it up a little, but again, masculine was the key. He probably wouldn't care for all the glitter and what not I could have added anyway.

I went to Michael's last week and they had all their craft foam tubs with all the different shapes on sale for $4. Ethan really likes playing with them. I got a letters, numbers and animals tub for him. He really likes to spell words. I just give a piece of construction paper and he does the rest! The foamies already have adhesive on the back so that makes it really easy.

It keeps him busy at his little table in my room while I'm busy at mine! Thanks for looking!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: Crate Paper
ink: Stampin' Up
stamps: Hero Arts
punch: Stampin' Up
embossing template: Cuttlebug

quick post

2008-01-26T10:25:00.000-06:00

This is the card I made for this week's Splitcoast sketch. I don't particularly like sympathy cards, but I needed it for someone at Fred's office. I've got a million things to do, so gotta go! Thanks for looking!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: Daisy D's
ink: Stampin' Up
stamp: Stampendous
ribbon: ?
punch: Stampin' Up

weekend sketch

2008-01-22T14:32:00.000-06:00

Here's my sample for Beate's weekend sketch. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to use these Quickutz dies I bought about 3 years ago and never used. I hope you like!

Well, I finally sat down this weekend and scrapped a page for Reagan's album.

I have been sitting on this Making Memories Noteworthy paper for a while. I just loved it when I saw it and thought it was perfect for a girly page. The clock transparency is from Heidi Swapp and I originally bought it to put on the face of the clock I altered, but I didn't like the way it looked. I'm glad I finally found a use for it! Thanks for looking!

SUPPLIES (card):
cs: Bazzill; Papertrey Ink
pp: Basic Grey
ink: Stewart Superior
stamps: Verve Visual
glitter: Stickles
scalloped scissors: Provo Craft
embossing templates: Fiskars; Cuttlebug
cutting dies: Quickutz
brads: Making Memories

SUPPLIES (scrapbook page):
pp: Making Memories; Basic Grey
clock transparency & rhinestones: Heidi Swapp
metal photo corners & brads: Making Memories
rub-ons: Jenni Bowlin
flowers: Prima

late sketch

2008-01-17T15:44:00.001-06:00

I made this card a couple of days ago for the weekly sketch on Splitcoast,but just now got around to taking a pic and posting. I have been trying to unclutter my craft room. I made a trip out to IKEA yesterday and bought this new table to go in the little nook behind my desk.

It fits perfectly! And check these out:

Drawers that attach to the leg and swivel underneath the table! These things are the hippest! I bought a couple more to fit under my desk. The only thing is I have to unscrew the legs of the desk to get them on. Which means I've got to take everything off my desk to do it! Ugh!

I don't know if you saw Michelle Wooderson's nifty idea on creating an inspiration station ,but I thought this table would be perfect!

As you can see, I've already added a few things such as ribbon, paper and stamps. (Yes, that is 4 unopened Papertrey Ink stamp sets. I told you I was trying to unclutter...haven't had time to open them. Soon, I promise.) And I was able to snag 6 of those cute little mailboxes from Target. Can't wait to alter these!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill; Papertrey Ink
pp: KI Memories
ink: Stampin' Up; Tsukineko
stamps: Verve Visual
embossing powder: Rubber Dub Dub
cutting dies: Nestabilities
glaze pen: Sakura

love this little guy

2008-01-14T18:06:00.002-06:00

I decided to use this birdie stamp again for Beate's weekend sketch. I just love him! And I love this new backgrounder stamp I got from Cornish Heritage Farms. Houndstooth is just so versatile!

On another note...please check out my new kitchen wall calendar and chalk board.

I have been searching for a nice board to fit in this space on the side of this cabinet. Pottery Barn came out with these and it's perfect! What's really cool is that the erasers that came with each board are magnetic on one side so they attach to the boards. They also hold the pen and chalk. How handy is that? Here's the view from the side:

It's nice and out of the way so it doesn't draw a lot of attention when you first look at the kitchen. Oh and please don't look at my ugly hardware on the cabinets. This brass stuff was everywhere in this house when we bought it last year. We are gradually changing everything out for brushed nickel. We just had all the doorknobs changed out last month. Slowly but surely I'll get this house exactly how I want it! Thanks for stopping by!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill; Papertrey Ink
ink: Stampin' Up
stamps: Inkadinkado; Hero Arts; Cornish Heritage Farms
glitter: Denami Designs
glue pen: Sakura
embossing folder: Cuttlebug
cutting dies: Nestabilities
brads: SEI

love birdie

2008-01-13T15:23:00.000-06:00

I just love this stamp set! This bird in particular. Amy of Heartfelt Greetings is such an enabler! I just loved all her creations with this set. I couldn't find anybody on the web who was selling it and my LSS didn't have it either. I finally turned to ebay. Of course, it was there. Really and truly, if you can't find something...ebay.

I used some Basic Grey from last year. The name escapes me, but it's the one from Valentine's. I stamped the little heart from the Papertrey borders and corners set, then traced over it with the glue pen and added glitter.

I added a little glitter to the bird too. It just needed a little sparkle! I stamped "LOVE" from the Heidi Grace set I won from Julee at Poetic Artistry for a Mojo Monday contest. I of course added some sparkle to it as well! Hope everyone's having a great weekend! Time to go watch the Cowboys whoop up on the Giants!

SUPPLIES:
pp: Basic Grey
ink: Stampin' Up
stamps: Heidi Grace; Inkadinkado; Papertrey Ink
glitter: Art Institute; Stickles
glue pen: Sakura
scalloped scissors: Provo Craft

baby

2008-01-10T09:22:00.000-06:00

I made this card for a friend of mine who recently told me she was pregnant. I'm so excited for her! When I came across Sharon's blog last week, she made these great baby cards and I just totally copied her idea for my card.

I stamped the image with Versamark and colored the buggy with chalk. Then I covered the whole thing with Sugar Dust. It's just so simple and clean looking. I hope she likes it!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
ink: Tsukineko
stamp: Fiskars
Sugar Dust beads: Stamp LoJolla
embossing folder: Cuttlebug
scalloped punch: Marvy
other: chalk; ribbon

mojo 19

2008-01-08T15:25:00.000-06:00

Well, I think my mojo's back...sort of. I finally made a card after a long break, but I don't think I like it very much. I had an idea in my head and it didn't turn out the way I had envisioned it. Does that ever happen to you? Happens to me all the time! Anyway. This is, of course, for Julee's weekly sketch. I used these Papertrey stamps for the first time.

I really like the "love" heart stamp. I cut it out and covered it with Sugar Dust. I'm sure I've mentioned this stuff before. It's basically micro beads, but think smaller. A lot smaller! I absolutely love it! Speaking of love... I'm totally enamored with the sneak peeks Verve has going on right now. I can't wait to get my hands on the stars and hearts sets that are coming out! Be sure to check out their debut and 3 others on Thursday! Thanks for stopping by!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: Cosmo Cricket
ink: Stampin' Up
stamps: Papertrey Ink
Sugar Dust beads: Stamp LoJolla
embossing folder: Cuttlebug

happy new year!

2008-01-02T10:01:00.000-06:00

I've been on a holiday hiatus. Now I'm back! I probably won't have any cards to post today, but hopefully tomorrow. I haven't sat down to make anything since the week before Christmas. Can you believe it? I think my hands are starting to shake from withdrawal!

My husband and I starting taking down the Christmas decorations yesterday. So sad. We took the tree down and I just love the mess it makes as you drag it through the front door. Those needles were all over the floor!

I posted a new banner this morning too. I just love this picture of Reagan! It was the first picture I took Christmas morning. I just thought it was so cute! I added some detail to it with the Adobe brushes for upcoming Valentine's Day! Well, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a great New Year! See you soon!

the winner is...

2007-12-05T22:06:00.000-06:00

#5 Rita! Congratulations! Thanks to everyone for playing! Please come back and visit!

cowboy candy

2007-11-30T10:57:00.000-06:00

In celebration of the Cowboys win over Green Bay last night and for being 11-1 for the first time in franchise history, I'm offering this:

Flourishes Cake Decorating stamp set.

Just post me a comment telling me who your favorite NFL team is, if you have one. No Redskins or Packer fans allowed...just kidding! I'll use Random.org on Wednesday, December 5 to choose a winner. Good luck and go Cowboys!

mojo 12

2007-11-19T15:39:00.000-06:00

Wow! I actually did this card on Monday! I had an idea in my head when I saw Julee's sketch. I got this great new My Mind's Eye Christmas paper on Friday and have been itchin' to use it. I used a snowflake background stamp I got at Michael's over the weekend on the striped paper. I stamped it in blue and embossed with glittery powder.

Then on the brown paper I used a snowflake brass stencil and stencil paste then sprinkled it with glitter while it was still wet. I love how it turned out! I had forgotten all about that stencil until I started digging through my stuff! Anyway!

Today was a great mail day! I got my order from Papertrey Ink. Three new stamp sets! I can't wait to play! Have a great evening!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: My Mind's Eye; Basic Grey
ink: Stampin' Up; ColorBox
embossing powder: PSX
stencil; paste: Dreamweaver
glitter: Stampendous
stamps: Verve Visual; Michael's $1
scalloped scissors: Provo Craft

gift cards

2007-11-14T12:49:00.000-06:00

When I saw this idea on Amy Westerman's blog, I couldn't wait to try it! I found the same little 3x3 note cards at Michael's and gave them a makeover. I thought they would be perfect for a teacher gift around the holidays. They were so much fun to make! I can't wait to make some more!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: Basic Grey
ink: Stampin' Up; Tsukineko; ColorBox
embossing powder: PSX; Stampendous
punches: Marvy
glitter: Stickles
stamps: Papertrey Ink; Verve Visual; Hero Arts
scalloped scissors: Provo Craft
glaze pen: Sakura

late mojo

2007-11-11T14:35:00.000-06:00

I forgot this week's Mojo sketch was due Saturday night and not the usual Sunday. Oh well! I really enjoyed using these new Papertrey stamps. These 3 sheets of patterned paper were just sitting right next to each other in the tray. How cool is that? I really didn't have to dig around and make something work. I really liked how this one turned out. It's just very simple. I just added a little sparkle to the cake and sentiment and that was it!

I'm just bummed I didn't get it in on time!

I finished Reagan's clock for her room last week. I had started it before she was born and just never finished it. I sat down one afternoon and told myself I wasn't going to work on anything else until I got it done. Here it is:

The colors in her room are white, pink and lime green so when I saw the Basic Grey Phoebe line, it was a perfect match! Thanks for looking! Have a great week!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: My Mind's Eye
ink: Stampin' Up
punch: Stampin' Up
glitter: Stickles
stamps: Papertrey Ink

SUPPLIES (clock):
pp: Basic Grey
paint, mask, chipboard numbers: Heidi Swapp
ink: Stampin' Up
page pebble: Making Memories
glitter: Martha Stewart (EK Success)
stamps: Hero Arts; Technique Tuesday
clock: Creative Imaginations

figgy pudding

2007-11-04T11:27:00.001-06:00

I have always loved Basic Grey's Christmas lines, but this new Figgy Pudding is my favorite! ...So far. I just got it Friday from Eclectic Paperie and of course couldn't wait to play with it. I started looking at the different sheets and all of a sudden an idea for a card popped in my head. Not just the idea either, but the whole card planned out. I just love it when that happens! I was looking at the sheet with the trees all over and decided to make one big tree on the front. It just so happens my idea went really well with this week's Mojo Monday sketch. Well, of course I had to add some sparkle to it. A Christmas card just doesn't seem complete without a little bling.

I cut out a little square for the present and wrapped it with a little ribbon. I then used my Martha snowflake punch and covered it with glitter for the tree topper. I didn't think about this until after it was finished, but I didn't use a single stamp! How did that happen?

SUPPLIES:
cs: Recollections
pp: Basic Grey
ink: Stampin' Up
punch: EK Success
glitter: Art Institute; Stickles
scalloped scissors: Provo Craft
embossing template: Cuttlebug

mojo 9

2007-11-02T15:16:00.000-05:00

I decided to change things up a little bit for this week's Mojo Monday sketch. I bought this stamp last year and never used it (classic me). I thought it would be perfect with some glittery embossing powder all over and it does! At least I think so! I don't have any of those Nestabilities yet, (and I stress yet) so I improvised with my scalloped scissors. I love this paper from Webster's Pages I bought from Verve a couple of weeks ago. I embellished it a little with some sparkly embossing powder. I then used my Martha snowflake punch and covered those with the same embossing powder and layered them on. I thought I had some of those big clear snowflakes from Heidi Swapp, but I don't. Oh well!

I hope everyone had a fun Halloween! Ethan was Mr. Incredible, but I couldn't get him to wear the mask.

I also couldn't get a good picture of him either. He kept jumping around and wouldn't sit still. He had a good time though. Some of our neighbors have just decided to give out one big candy bar instead of the little ones. Awesome! For Ethan, I mean! LOL!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: Webster's Pages
stamps: Stampington & Company
ink: Tsukineko
punch: EK Success
scalloped scissors: Provo Craft
punch: EK Success

mojo 8

2007-10-28T17:57:00.000-05:00

I almost forgot to post this for Julee's Mojo Monday sketch. We went to Austin yesterday to watch the Longhorns barely scrape past Nebraska. Anyway. For some reason I had trouble with this sketch. I don't why. It was a great sketch, but I just couldn't get things to click. I used some new Paper Salon I picked up a few weeks ago and my new Cornish Heritage Farms stamps. Love 'em! So pretty! You must buy them!

SUPPLIES:
pp: Paper Salon
stamps: Cornish Heritage Farms; Hero Arts
ink: Tsukineko
embossing powder: Ranger Industries
embossing folder: Cuttlebug
punch: EK Success

happy mail day!

2007-10-19T14:06:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was an incredible mail day! I received my orders from Verve Visual, Papertrey Ink and Cornish Heritage Farms. Wow! I also received my prize from Julee Tilman at Poetic Artistry from last week's Mojo Monday contest. Here's the great card she sent and the wonderful Heidi Grace stamps!

I'm just a little ovewhelmed with everything I don't know what to play with first!

more mojo - round 2

2007-10-17T17:13:00.000-05:00

I just loved Julee's sketch so much, I decided to do another one. I fell in love with this pearlized cardstock at the store the other day. Where has this stuff been all my life? It's so pretty and adds such an elegant touch. I stamped the images and embossed them with gold embossing powder. It looks fabulous in real life. Then I added the little sparkly stickers from Stampendous. The red cardstock I ran through the Cuttlebug and noticed it was still missing something. I tried Stickles on the first one, but it still didn't look right. Then I rubbed some slightly darker ink over each snowflake and it looked so much better.

Thanks for looking!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill; Recollections
pp: Basic Grey
stamps: Stampendous; Hero Arts
ink: Stampin' Up; Tsukineko
embossing powder: PSX
embossing folder: Cuttlebug
stickers: Stampendous
punch: Marvy; EK Success

more mojo

2007-10-16T15:19:00.001-05:00

This was this week's Mojo Monday sketch. I bought these new stamps from Stampendous last week and have been dying to use them.

They're so neat because you can stamp the tree then stamp the snow on top. I did that on this card and embossed the snow with white glittery embossing powder. Voila! And I just love this Be Good paper from Cosmo Cricket! So many possibilities!

I don't know if you guys have ever tried these little shimmery stickers from Stampendous, but they are incredible!

They add so much detail and interest to your projects and you can use them anywhere. After I finished stamping the trees, I was looking at it and thinking that there was just so much empty green space. I took out a little Hero Arts stamp and then used these little guys in the center of each snowflake or whatever they're supposed to be. It made a huge difference! Of course, I think I bought some of these in every color! Well, not every color, but close. I got the stars today. They also had little crowns in pink that I almost got, but didn't. Anyway. Check them out if you haven't!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: Cosmo Cricket
stamps: Stampendous; Hero Arts
ink: Stampin' Up
embossing powder: Mark Enterprises
glitter: Stickles
stickers: Stampendous
scalloped scissors: Provo Craft
punch: Stampin' Up

glitter crazy

2007-10-10T15:14:00.001-05:00

I went a little glitter crazy with my Stickles yesterday. I just luuuuuuv Stickles! This is for Julee's Mojo Monday sketch.

I colored the ornaments with watercolor pencils and my dove blender pen. Then I just used my handy glue pen and transparent glitter on top. I didn't want to alter the color so that's why I didn't use the Stickles.

This is another card I finished on Monday. I had actually started it Sunday for my friend's little girl whose birthday party was that day. I couldn't get it to come together in the hour I had left to make it, so I ended up using another card that was already finished.

I used Liquid Applique for the frosting on the cupcakes and then Stickles on top and for the cherries.

Thanks for looking!

SUPPLIES (top card):
cs: Bazzill
pp: Basic Grey
stamps: Great Impressions; Hero Arts
ink: Stampin' Up
scalloped scissors: Provo Craft
circle cutter: Creative Memories
glitter: Stickles; Provo Craft

SUPPLIES (bottom card):
cs: Bazzill
pp: KI Memories
stamp: A Muse
ink: Stampin' Up
ribbon: American Crafts
embossing folders: Cuttlebug
glitter: Stickles
punch: Marvy

new sketch

2007-10-08T10:30:00.000-05:00

I'm finally posting my card from the weekly sketch at Splitcoast.

I wasn't too thrilled with the way this turned out, but oh well. I got to use my new Papertrey stamps and that's all that matters.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Other than Texas losing on Saturday it was pretty good. My best friend from high school and I went to the Texas/OU game on Saturday while Fred watched the kiddos. It was nice to have a day out. It started raining as soon as the game was over so it was a good time to go home.

One little thing that did put a damper on my weekend is this:

Fred took him to get his haircut yesterday and I just about died when they came home. My poor baby has no hair! The good thing about hair is that it does grow back. We just won't let Daddy take hime again!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: We R Memory Keepers
stamps: Papertrey Ink
ink: Stampin' Up; Tsukineko
corner rounder: EK Success
page pebble: Making Memories
other: Stickles

hello

2007-09-28T12:38:00.000-05:00

I know, I've been a little MIA lately. My folks were in town this week and I haven't been on the computer much. My mom and I sat down and did some cards on Wednesday. I only finished two. My mom made like 3 or 4. She's so funny. I have all this paper and she insists on digging through my scrap pile. It's like "Mom, use this new Basic Grey paper that you liked and we couldn't find anywhere." Seriously, I got 3 sheets of it and she wouldn't use it. Anyway. I made this card and I replicated another one I did a while back.

I got this new SEI paper called Madera Island. It's so pretty and very Fall looking. I just love these fuzzy iron-ons. They are so cool! I just whipped out my little mini iron from Heidi Swapp and voila!

I haven't a done a sketch in a few weeks and I think I was starting to go through withdrawl. This sketch is from Julee's weekly Mojo Monday feature. She's got some amazing sketches! Go check them out if you haven't already!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp, iron-ons: SEI
buttons: Autumn Leaves
stamp: Mike's $1
ink: Tsukineko

criss cross, finally

2007-09-13T15:31:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to making one of these criss cross cards. Beate had a tutorial last week and I really wanted to try it! They are so cute and super easy to make! I made this one for Ethan's upcoming birthday. One thing you might notice, I didn't use one stamp! Not a one! It was really hard too. I got this paper and matching rub-ons a few months back and never used them. I think it turned out cute!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: Crate Paper
rub-ons: Crate Paper
punches: Stampin' Up; EK Success

card #2

2007-09-09T11:23:00.000-05:00

I loved this sketch so much, I decided to do another card. I had all the pieces set to where I wanted them, but it just didn't look right. So I decided to run the black cardstock through my Sizzix with the Cuttlebug embossing folder. It still didn't look right. So I added some Stickles to it. After that, I liked it much better. Stickles makes everything better! Don't you think? Having a bad day? Have yourself some Stickles. Kiddos driving you nuts? Let 'em play with some Stickles. Okay...maybe not.

I knew I wanted to use this cute little stamp from A Muse I got last year. I just love the line of little kids in their costumes! I thought the new Heidi Grace paper that says "trick or treat smell my feet..." (you know the rest) was a perect match! Then I finished it off with a stamp from my new favorite company, Papertrey Ink. Speaking of Papertrey, is it Monday yet? Tomorrow Nichole starts the countdown to their new release on her blog. Can't wait!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: Heidi Grace
ink: Stampin' Up; Tsukineko
stamps: A Muse; Papertrey Ink; Village Art Press
embossing powder: PSX
circle cutter: Creative Memories
punch: EK Success
embossing template: Cuttlebug
glitter: Stickles

spooky cont'd

2007-09-08T16:11:00.000-05:00

Another great sketch from Beate this weekend. I had such fun with this one. I went to my lss yesterday where they had just put out the new Heidi Grace Jeepers Creepers collection. I couldn't wait to use it! The orange background paper is shimmery and all the words are flocked. Such great texture! Then I used my beloved Papertrey Halloween set. I covered the paper the pumpkin and "spooky" was stamped on with very sticky tape and then very teeny tiny micro beads called Sugar Dust from a company called Stamp La Jolla.

I tell ya, they're almost microscopic. But they're great because they actually cover the whole image. Sometimes with the regular small micro beads, you get little spaces in between. Not with this stuff. Anyway. I'm really happy with the way this card turned out. It just came together so easy. Don't you just love it when that happens?

Less than 2 hours until game time! Hook 'em horns!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: Heidi Grace
ink: Stampin' Up; Tsukineko
stamps: Papertrey Ink
punches: Marvy; EK Success; Stampin' Up
brads: Making Memories
sticky tape & beads: Stamp La Jolla
embossing template: Cuttlebug

spooky

2007-09-05T18:43:00.000-05:00

I really liked this week's sketch on Splitcoast. Like I said before, I'm really diggin' these sketches! It makes for easy card making. I finally did work on some scrapbooking. Here's the one I finished yesterday.

One down, about 100 to go!

CARD SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: KI Memories; Design Originals
ink: Stampin' Up; Ranger
stamps: Papertrey Ink
other: Marvy punch; Stickles

SCRAPBOOK SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: Li'l Davis Designs
stamps: KI Memories; Technique Tuesday
ink: Tsukineko; Clearsnap
embossing powder: Mark Enterprises
transparency: Hambly
tape: Scrap In Style

rocket man

2007-09-04T15:04:00.001-05:00

I totally forgot to post this card after I finished it. I won this Technique Tuesday set from Heather at Peek. She also just happens to be the newest member of their design team! She does some great work!

I just love this set! It's so great for a boy's birthday. I'm actually trying to scrapbook a photo of Reagan right now. I'm so behind. At this rate, I'll be scrapping her 1st birthday when she graduates high school!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
stamps: Technique Tuesday
ink: Stampin' Up; Tsukeniko (Versamark)
embossing powder: PSX
punch: Marvy

we have a winner!

2007-09-04T11:06:00.001-05:00

Congratulations, Andrea! I couldn't get my son to sit still long enough to take a picture of him holding this little piece of paper. Oh well! The Rock Queen mat stack will soon be on its way!

another sketch

2007-09-01T16:26:00.000-05:00

I never used to do these sketch challenges, but this is the second one I've done and I really like doing them! This one comes from Beate. This is the weekend sketch and it is fabulous. I enjoyed doing this one. Hope you like it!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: Cosmo Cricket
stamps: Papertrey Inc.
ink: Tsukeniko (Versamark)
embossing powder: Bmuse; PSX
die & punch: Cuttlebug; Marvy

This another card I finished yesterday. I was so wanting to play with this pumpkin stamp from the latest Papertrey set. I think the card is lacking something, but I don't know what, so it'll just have to do. I'll just save it for someone who doesn't know the difference!

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
stamps: Papertrey Inc.
ink: Tsukeniko (Versamark); Stampin' Up; Ranger (Distress Ink)
embossing powder: Stampendous
glitter glue: Stickles

blog candy!

2007-08-29T12:00:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited! This is my first blog candy! I'm steadily approaching 2500 hits so I thought I would give something away. I know...2500 hits...big deal, but I'm thrilled! I have a lot of lurkers out there and I know because I'm one too! I want to know who has been reading my blog, so please post a comment and this could be yours:

The mat stack of course...not my son. I bought one of these for myself the other day and absolutely love it! I really liked the Rock Queen so much better than the Rock King. The colors combinations are so much prettier! I chose the 4 1/2 x 6 1/5 stack instead of the 8 x 8 because I think this size is so much easier when making cards.

I want to thank everyone in advance for playing and I will have Ethan chose a winner and announce on Tuesday after the holiday!

trick or treat

2007-08-28T13:26:00.001-05:00

Here's the card I finished for Julee's sketch contest. I used my new stamps from Papertrey Ink. I just love this set! I love all their stamps! All the sets really compliment each other so it's really easy to mix them up. Did I mention how much I love Papertrey Ink?

SUPPLIES:
cs: Bazzill
pp: Design Originals; Pebbles, Inc.
stamps: Papertrey Inc.
ink: Tsukeniko (Versamark)
embossing powder: Stampendous

1st day of school

2007-08-27T12:59:00.000-05:00

Ethan had his first day of Pre-K today. Although, for the first 6 days he's only going half a day. Then after that, it's everyday from 8am - 2pm. Long day! He seemed to like it so far. We'll see if he has the same attitude after going all day. I took him to get his hair cut yesterday, which he does not like at all! The place we go is just for kids, so there is a TV at every station. He's fine as long as he gets to watch "Cars" and eat Smarties. The candy keeps him busy, as well as me about an hour later!

I went to my local Michael's today where they had these!

I was so excited! The only bad thing was that they were already on sale so I couldn't use my coupon. I did also buy these because I thought they would be perfect for my Halloween cards.

Now, these are Martha Stewart's stamps. I was told by the clerk that "Martha doesn't let us use coupons on her stuff". Oh really. Well, Martha's just lucky I'm buying her stuff at all. I mean, if I hadn't of bought this set, she might have had to sell one of her houses. Anyway. We all know how I feel about Martha.

I'm hoping to post my card I've been working on for Julee's contest later today. This is the first time I've done a sketch contest. I really should do more of these. It makes card making a whole lot easier!

floor update

2007-08-24T15:30:00.000-05:00

Well, the good news is the leak is fixed and repaired. The bad news is the floor can't be. It has to be replaced. So that's what they did today. The floor guys came and ripped up my floor. I'm not happy about it, but it will look brand new when they finish. The guy who does our floors did cut us a break on the price because we've given him a lot of business. Here's a couple of pictures of what they did today.

Oh, and here's the hole in my wall.

One good thing about my floor troubles, it gives me reason to stay upstairs in my room and work on stuff. Here's a card I finished yesterday.

I totally ripped off Amy Westerman's card. I just loved the paper combination she used. She is just so talented! Check out her blog if you haven't already. I loved the sketch so much, I replicated it with this card.

If you noticed, I whipped out my handy dandy sewing machine too. Fred would be so proud that I actually used my "$300 paper weight", as he calls it. I stamped and embossed the pumpkin then painted it with Radiant Pearls. I used to use these all the time, but haven't lately for some reason. Probably because I have too much stuff! If you've never used them before, they are transparent pearlized paints similar to watercolors. They take a while to dry, so blending is really easy. Here's a close up of the pumpkin.

I think I used about 5 different colors on it. I didn't wait for it to dry, so I embossed it with clear embossing powder. It looks so much better in real life. As does everything! I hope I didn't peak your interest too much about Radiant Pearls, because unfortunately, I don't think they sell them anymore. I know, it's just tragic! I'll have to make the ones I have last a long time!

floor trouble

2007-08-22T15:43:00.000-05:00

I noticed about 3 weeks ago that the hardwood floor just on the other side of the kitchen had started to warp. All things pointed to the kitchen sink. I looked underneath the cabinet and never did find anything. We had a leak detection company come out today and he couldn't see anything. They had this little hose with a camera on the end of it and still didn't see anything. Well, he had to cut a hole in the wall between the cabinet and the other side of the wall where the sheetrock is and reach his hand in and feel. He got his little camera again and showed me where the leak was. Apparently, when the house was built and they were nailing the sheetrock, they missed the stud and went right into the pipe which has now started to leak. He's going to have to come back tomorrow and cut another hole on the wall side and remove the nail and patch the hole. Now we have to wait about 60 days for the hardwoods to dry out and see if they can be sanded and repaired. If not, we'll have to replace the floor. Oh joy! Here's a picture of the floor and where they have to cut a hole.

In other news, I went to my local scrapbook store today and picked up some new stuff. Just some paper and buttons and flowers among other things. I really need to start scrapbooking some pictures. I've been doing a lot of cards lately, like this one I did yesterday.

If I don't start scrapbooking soon, I'm going to get way behind and end up with a million pictures I need to do!

I've been anxiously awaiting my order from Papertrey Ink. They are a great new stamp company. Nichole, the owner and designer, has created some really cool stamps! Every month on the 15th, they release a new set of stamps...sometimes even two or FIVE like they did last month! The Halloween collection this month is really cute and the projects in the gallery are simply amazing! There's also a flower set this month. I, of course, ordered both. I can't wait to get them! You should definintely check these out if you haven't already! Happy stamping!

dining out

2007-08-16T15:40:00.000-05:00

My mother-in-law is on her way soon to watch the kiddos because Fred and I are meeting some friends for dinner. I can't wait! It's been so nice living so much closer to all of Fred's family. We have been able to go out, just the two of us, quite a bit. Plus, all the cousins can grow up together. I have lots of cousins, but I didn't really get to see much of them when I was younger. Anywho, here are a couple of photos of Reagan I took the other day. She's getting so big!

She's loving the solids! I think bananas are her favorite. We've tried pears, sweet potatoes, peas and carrots. Next on the menu is green beans, applesauce and squash. Yummy!

A good friend of mine and her two kiddos are coming over tomorrow to visit. Here's the birthday card I did for her son. He's about 6 months younger than Ethan. It's a little late, but oh well.

Have a great night! I know I will!

stuff

2007-07-30T19:31:00.000-05:00

I can't believe tomorrow is the last day of July. This year has just flown by. And Reagan is just growing like a weed. I took her to her 4 month check-up last week and everything looked great. I had to buy her 6-9 month pjs with the feet because her little toes where already at the end of her 3-6 month ones. She measured 25 1/4 inches long. Her doctor said "somebody in your family must be tall". Yeah...daddy. I was hoping his 6'5" height would rub off on our kids and it looks like it's working! This is a layout I did a few weeks ago. Fred has always had little nicknames for our kids. When she gets like this, it's "Upsetsky".

Here are a few cards I did while just playing around in my room. I love when I have time to just play! Thanks for stopping by!

look alikes

2007-07-12T11:09:00.000-05:00

I started this layout a few days ago, but then started to feel a little under the weather. I began feeling better yesterday and was able to finish it.

I just think Reagan looks so much like Ethan when he was a baby. It's hard for me to remember Ethan being that little. It seems like such a long time ago!

Here's a card I did the other day with nobody in particular in mind. I guess I was just in a baby mood.

I went to my LSS today and bought a lot of stuff I didn't need. I hadn't been there in a while though, so that makes it okay. Right? I guess I'll go play with some of my new things! Until next time!

cards & pics

2007-07-05T16:59:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a great 4th yesterday. Fred's family came over yesterday and we cooked fajitas on the grill and played some volleyball in the pool. The water was a little chilly because of all the rain. Although once my body went numb, I couldn't feel it anymore. Here are a few cards I've done over the past couple of days.

Reagan is getting bigger everyday. When she's laying on her stomach she moves her legs up and tries to push off with her feet. She's going to be crawling in no time! I'll leave you with a couple of really cute pictures I took last week. See ya later!

new pics

2007-06-23T14:28:00.000-05:00

Here are the new pics I promised. This first picture is of her getting really upset about sitting in that bouncer. She has started rolling over and most of the time prefers to lay down where she can. Her mouth is also probably looking for that pacifier.

Here she fell asleep on the sofa after eating. And the next one is her in the Bumbo chair. It's a really cool foam seat that she can sit up in. It's great because it's very portable and doesn't weight anything. I bought the tray to go with it, which is great for toys or food later on.

This was just a quick card I did for Fred. I mailed it to his office for a nice little surprise. He was very appreciative of my appreciativeness!

catch up

2007-06-20T15:40:00.001-05:00

I meant to post a few days ago, so I guess I'll catch you up! Father's Day was very nice. We went to brunch at a local steakhouse and the kiddos were very well behaved (thank goodness for that!). The food was very good. I had the shrimp and mushroom risotto which was a little bland, but still very good. The guy at the table next to us was with, what looked like, his 2 sons and daughter around college age. The dad ordered a bottle of Silver Oak and my mouth started to salivate! I never used to be a big red wine drinker, usually always white, but now I really like the red. Here's the photo I took after we got back. They actually cooperated for the camera!

I've made a few cards. This one is a birthday card for somebody. Not sure who yet, but I really love the way it turned out. I was inspired by Debbie's card. I just love this Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl paper. The colors are so pretty!

This one I made for my dad for his birthday. I just love this little bird stamp! And the one below that is just another birthday card for someone. On my side of the family, there are a lot of birthdays from March to July. I need to just start making birthday cards at the beginning of the year and just pick one when the birthday rolls around!

Last, but certainly not least, Reagan turned 3 months old yesterday. I can't believe it! She is sleeping through the night now. I'm so happy about that! I have some new pictures, but I haven't downloaded them from my camera yet, but I will post them tomorrow!

reagan update

2007-06-14T16:30:00.000-05:00

I put Reagan on my bed last night, on her back, while I changed clothes for bed and I guess she was really desperate for that paci because she had almost turned herself totally over! She has some really strong neck muscles! In the hospital, she was raising her head up for short periods at a time. Must be my genes!

I finished this card I started yesterday for my dad for Father's Day.

I was inspired by Kelly's card. She was very helpful when I emailed her with questions. Thanks, Kelly! I think I going to do a similar card for Fred as well. I followed the template and used an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper, but I think next time I'll use a smaller piece. The shirt was kind of big, but it still turned out okay. I'm sure he'll like it!

finally...

2007-06-12T18:08:00.001-05:00

I got to make some cards. I've been working steadily on my craft studio and it's almost finished. I told myself that I wasn't going to do anything until it was finished (self motivator) but I needed to do some birthday cards. I've also got to do a couple of Father's Day cards as well. This is the card I did for my mom. I really love this new stamp I bought from Penny Black called "Modesty".

I also wanted to share this little item I got from the Container Store. It's supposed to hold pictures, but I thought it would be perfect to sit on my desk and display cards. Once I really get going again with the card making, I can just clip them on this thing and whenever I need an emergency card, I'll have one!

Well, I'm very hungry so I'm off to make dinner. Have a great week!

went to michael's today...

2007-06-01T20:08:00.000-05:00

and finally broke down and bought some of Martha (I'm the queen of everything) Stewart's new craft products. I feel I have this love/hate relationship with Martha. I don't really care for her, but she does have some great goodies and ideas. I can't watch her television show very often because she just luuuuuvs to name drop and toot her own horn. Very annoying! Anyway. I bought a couple of containers of glitter. The colors are really pretty and you really do get a lot for your money. I bought these cute little tags too.

This one was the one on top and I immediately thought I could make a cute little bird out of it. It already has a hole in it for the eye. How perfect is that?
I also bought this flower punch. I've seen it used on several cards on peoples' blogs and of course I had to have one. Plus, it was the last one left, so it was meant to be. (That's always been my shopping philosophy!)

I bought these labels as well, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them. They just looked neat and were sort of calling my name.

I'm hoping to get a lot accomplished on my craft room this weekend. (We'll see how that goes!) I did get the pegboard installed last week and it looks great. Well, until next time.

a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

2007-05-25T21:10:00.000-05:00

Star Wars turned 30 years old. That's so hard to believe! I remember seeing all the movies in the theater except the first one...I was too young. Although I did see it when they were re-released a few years back. There's a Star Wars special that's on The History Channel on Monday that looks pretty interesting. Check it out if you get a chance. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

2 month pics

2007-05-24T22:05:00.000-05:00

Here are the 2 month photos I promised.

We went to the doctor yesterday for her check-up and she is now 10 lbs. 9 oz. and 22 3/4 inches long. She's getting a little long for some of her 0-3 month clothes already. But don't worry...clothes is not something she is lacking! I just love it when I get a picture of her smiling. It's so cute! The one of her sneezing is pretty adorable as well!

7 years ago today...

2007-05-20T16:30:00.000-05:00

Fred and I were married. I can't believe seven years has passed by already. It seems like yesterday that we were talking about having kids and now we have two.
Here's the card I made for Fred. I've had this paper for months and finally got around to using it.

Fred thought the flowers from last weekend weren't enough so I received some more yesterday. Aren't they beautiful?

Well, we didn't do a whole lot for our anniversary. Donna offered to come and watch the kids and we went out for Mexican food. We split this yummy dessert. The waiter melted brandy butter in a fajita pan then added this big brownie and topped it with vanilla ice cream. So delicious!

Reagan was two months old on Saturday. She's getting so big so fast. When I hold her, I can definitely tell the difference between now and when she was born. She's finding great interest in her hands. She stares at them, puts them in her mouth and makes the cutest little noises. I'll post some new pictures later.

flowers and more flowers

2007-05-14T18:06:00.000-05:00

I forgot to mention Fred sent me flowers Saturday, but they sent the wrong arrangement. This one:

I called this morning and they redelivered the right one and told me to keep the first one they sent. So now I have two flower arrangements sitting on the kitchen bar. Aren't they beautiful!

I have such a wonderful husband!

happy mom's day!

2007-05-13T21:43:00.000-05:00

I had a really nice Mother's Day today. Fred and the kiddos took me to brunch at 11:00am. We just went to a local restaurant where I had a mixed green salad with goat cheese, pine nuts and some kind of vinegarette. Then I had crab cakes with whipped ginger sweet potatoes and sauteed spinach. Delish! Later on we went to my brother-in-law, Sean's, house for Fred's mom, Donna, where we also had strawberry shortcake. Overall, it was a very plesant day!

Reagan has been going longer between feedings lately. It's so nice! I can sort of sleep in until 5:30am or so before she's hungry again. Oh, how I have longed for a full night's sleep!

six weeks

2007-05-02T14:40:00.000-05:00

I'm a couple of days late in publishing this post, but Reagan was six weeks old on Monday. The past couple of nights she has been going a little longer between feedings...thank goodness! Overall, she's been really good. She started to smile a little bit last week and is smiling a lot more this week. After feeding her last night, I was all ready to put her back down and go back to sleep, but she wanted to sit up and look at me and smile. How could I resist? So I stayed up for a bit while this precious baby looked at me a smiled! Here are a couple of pics from Monday.

I took this one last night right after I gave her a bath, during which she cried the entire time. I don't think she likes baths too much. By this point, she was really hungry!

After 5 months of no scrapbooking, I finally got to do a page! Reagan's first page for her first scrapbook! I'm still trying to get my room together though. I've got stuff everywhere and it's next to impossible to find anything. I've decided to hang pegboard on a couple of walls to store stuff. I can't wait to get it finished and everything put away! I've got to go back to Lowe's though because the guy who cut my 1x2s doesn't know how to measure!

new pics

2007-04-18T14:51:00.000-05:00

Reagan is growing like a weed! I can't believe she'll be a month old tomorrow! She's already been holding her head up pretty good since she was born. Here are some new pictures.

I just love Ikea! I got these little wall lamps to hang over her changing table. They will be perfect at night because they let off just enough light to see what I'm doing and hopefully won't wake the baby!

sweet slumber

2007-04-05T16:20:00.000-05:00

Such a sweet picture of the kiddos sleeping in our bed.

she's here!

2007-03-25T20:51:00.001-05:00

Reagan Faith arrived on Monday, March 19, 2007 at 8:38 am. She weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz. and was 19 1/4 inches long. She was actually the same length as Ethan when he was born, just a tad heavier. Fred brought Ethan up to the hospital the first day and he pretty much stayed away from me and didn't really know what to think of the baby. The following couple of days were better. He would come up and touch her hand and started saying her name. Things are going very well at home. Ethan runs into our bedroom every now and then where she's sleeping and looks at her. I think he's going to be a good big brother! Here are a couple of more photos the hospital took.

where do i start?

2007-02-02T17:29:00.000-06:00

It's been a busy past couple of months. Along with being 8 months pregnant, we moved into a new house two days before Christmas. Packing and unpacking has been so much fun! The good news about moving is you get rid of a lot of stuff. For the most part, everything is unpacked. Some stuff I can't unpack yet because we're having some minor construction done inside, like these bookshelves in the family room, and I need to put that stuff in them. They turned out really nice.

At the top of the stairs, there is a loft that will be the kids tv/play area. There was only a railing separating part of the room from a drop downstairs, so we had the railing taken out and a wall with about a 4x6 opeing built. Our plan is to put 3 stained glass windows in, but we can't decide on a design. So to temporarily fill the opening so we can at least finish off the walls and paint and install new carpet upstairs, we're just going to put some glass in.

There are a lot of little things we're going to change in this house, but we can only do so much at a time. We just wanted to get some of the major cosmetic things out of the way before the baby comes. Her room is almost finished! It's hard to see in the picture, but the curtains are alternating pink and white gingham and solid pink. The crib skirt is pink and white gingham as well, so it matches perfect!

I still want to paint some little stuff on the wall that compliments the bedding. My mother-in-law is going to help me do that because I can't draw!

We had some great snow fall yesterday!

I took Ethan out in it, but he didn't seem all that enthused. It looked really pretty though. Well, I'm off to do more stuff!

half baked

2006-11-05T22:38:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm halfway there! 20 weeks and counting! I'm feeling great and so energetic! She's kicking me more and more each day. That's right...I said she. Fred and I went to the doctor last week for another sonogram and we're having a girl! Now all we need to do is come up with a name. We haven't really discussed girls names too much, although, we do kind of like both Regan and Erin. I've been trying to tell Ethan that there's a baby in Mommy's belly, but he doesn't get it. I'm sure he'll get it when she's here!

great new toy

2006-10-31T12:31:00.000-06:00

The "Pooper Scooper Barbie"! Actually not the real name, but that's basically what it is. I saw this on the local news this morning. You feed the dog food and it comes out it's butt. Then you use the little scooper Barbie comes with and sweep it up. I guess it's supposed to teach kids responsibility. I think it's the stupidest thing I've ever seen, so needless to say, I won't be buying it.

Well, we're going to take Ethan trick-or-treating tonight. For the second year in a row, he's going as a Texas football player. Fred just loves the way he looks in that jersey. I promise next year it will be different. I'm sure Fred didn't go as the same thing every year when he was a kid. I wish everyone a safe and Happy Halloween!

it's official!

2006-09-20T14:29:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm pregnant again! I'm due March 24. I just entered my second trimester and starting to get my energy back. That's one big reason why I haven't blogged in a while, because I've been really tired. I just went to the doctor today and everything looks great! We'll be able to find out what it is in 6 weeks. We're really excited! Ethan doesn't really understand, but I bet he will when we come home with a baby. I just hope he wants to help out and doesn't get jealous!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

2006-09-18T20:13:00.000-05:00

Today is Ethan's 3rd birthday! I can't believe he's 3 already. Time has just flown by. We had his birthday party yesterday at this really neat place that has these big inflatable bouncy rooms and slides. The kids absolutely love it!

Disney's Cars was the theme for his party. The cake turned out really cute! There was even a little Lightning McQueen car on top. When we took it off to cut the cake, Ethan started licking the icing off the wheels. It was so funny!

All in all, I think his birthday party turned out really well. All the kids had a great time...especially Ethan. He seemed a little bashful when everyone was singing "Happy Birthday" to him. I think maybe he realized that all the hoopla was for him. Happy Birthday Ethan!

i never thought...

2006-07-13T17:13:00.000-05:00

I would be one of those idiot woman drivers until I did this yesterday.

I pulled into the garage and was shocked at my stupidity. You can kind of see Ethan in the picture covering his eyes like, "Mommy, what did you do?" I think I was suffering from rectal-cranial inversion..much like this guy.

Thank God it was only temporary. I seem to be back to normal today!

busy, busy, busy

2006-07-09T09:01:00.000-05:00

Gosh...I can't believe it's been a month since my last post. Time just flies. We (I mean me) have been busy fixing up the house. We had the outside painted and some new doors installed. Both the doors that led to the back yard were gnawed on by our mastiff, Pete, because one night we was afraid of thunder. He's such a big chicken! Needless to say, the new doors looks so much better. I had wanted to start remodeling one of the bathrooms, but the guy that has been doing work for us wants a small fortune. So I guess I'm going to have to shop around.

I hope everyone had a nice 4th. The weather was kind of yucky, so we couldn't go swimming. We did go over to a friend's house and ate backyard burgers. We watched the first Independence Day launch of the Space Shuttle on TV. It's amazing how fast that thing goes in such a short period of time. It takes only 8 minutes for it to reach over 17,000 mph. Here are some great pictures from NASA's website and a few of Ethan.

Well, I tried to take Ethan to his first movie a few weeks ago...Cars. We were there about an hour and had to leave. He wanted to get up and move around and make noise much like he does when he watches a movie at home. I'm sure the people around us wouldn't have appreciated it, so we left. It kind of sucks for me because I watched the movie up to that point and was gipped out of the ending. I guess I'll have to go see it by myself when he's at Mother's Day Out. Kind of ironic. Sneaking off to see a kids' movie while the kid's in school.

Ethan and I went to the mall last week and somehow ended up in the Disney store. They were having a huge sale. He got mostly Chicken Little toys. He LOVES Chicken Little. I bought this little toy cell phone and a Chicken Little and Fish Out of Water action figure. I also bought him a Lightning McQueen stuffed thingy...can't really call it an animal...from the Cars movie.

Last, but not least, for your viewing pleasure...a couple of layouts I have finished over the past couple of weeks.

we have returned

2006-06-09T18:15:00.000-05:00

I know...long time no blog. Well, we were out of town. Destination...South Padre Island, Texas. A week at the beach was soooo nice! We did the trip last year, but we drove. This year we flew and it was so much easier. 10 hours (each way) in the car was a bit much. Especially when I did all the driving because I don't trust my husband to stay awake at the wheel.
We rented a condo right on the beach. This is the view from our balcony...I was actually awake early to get this shot. Can you believe it? Me up before 7 am...who would have thunk it.

We did have a great time. My sister-in-law, her husband and their two boys were there as well. They were in a condo just below ours. It made it really nice and convenient to have them so close. We usually met up with them and walked to the beach together. It did rain a couple of days. One of which we had scheduled to ride horses on the beach, but they cancelled. I was a little disappointed, but there's always next year. I've actually never ridden a horse. I was born and raised in Texas and have never ridden a horse...how sad is that? I've sat on one for about 10 minutes when I was like 11 for a picture. What a dork!

Okay...so I'm not exactly sitting on the horse, but this was the only picture my mother could find.

We (especially me) ate a lot of seafood. The food is just so good and fresh. I probably ate my weight in shrimp and oysters. I think we ate out every night except one when I cooked spaghetti for everyone. Nice quality family time. My brother-in-law and oldest nephew went deep sea fishing one day. I was invited along. Okay...on the one hand, I had puking all day long on a boat I couldn't get off of and on the other all day at the beach. Needless to say, I chose the latter. I like to fish, but I like to still see land when I'm in the boat. That's just me.

Ethan had a GREAT time on the beach. Everytime we left the condo during the day and didn't go to the beach, he was livid. One morning he decided to get a head start and put on his shoes. He walked around for about an hour with one shoe on. It was so funny!

float like a butterfly, sting like a...mosquito?

2006-05-24T22:40:00.000-05:00

No, Ethan's not the new world champion - he just looks like it. He woke up Monday with this little swollen red spot on his eyelid. It got progressively bigger as the day went on so I called his doctor's office. The nurse said it was probably a sty and there wasn't anything they could do about it other than put a warm compress on it. She said if it got bigger to the point where he couldn't open his eye I probably needed to come in. Well, this picture was yesterday morning and we went to see the doctor. He said it was a mosquito bite. It just looked really bad because certain places on the body tend to swell bigger than others. One of which is the eye. I paid the $25 co-pay, went home and gave him some Benadryl. It looks a lot better today. I think the Benadryl was making him cranky though.

Today he was such a pain. I took him to Chick-fil-a for lunch and as soon as we pulled into the parking lot he says "play?". We ate lunch then he pushes his tray away and says "play?". I said okay and we went into the little play area in front. For the first time he climbed all the way up the slide onto the little platform. After a while it was time to go and he would not come down. I kept telling him to come down the slide and he just made his little whiny noise. I finally had to crawl up the slide, that by the way is not made for big people and quite claustrophobic, and bring him down. I was so mad. It might be a little while before we go back.

Oh, before I forget - I'd like to give a shout out to my brother-in-law, Adam. He was disappointed he didn't see his name in my last post. He and my mother-in-law, Donna, did join us for brunch on Mother's Day. There. Happy?

mother's day & cars

2006-05-18T11:17:00.000-05:00

I know, it's been a little while. My mom came to visit and I didn't really get a chance to update. We had a nice visit with GG. Mother's Day brunch was really good, except for the service...kind of slow. The restaurant had a bloody mary bar where you could fix your own drink, but I opted for the mimosa. Because of the slow service, Ethan started to fall asleep at the table.

He was quickly revived with a Belgian waffle and strawberries. He looked so nice that day too. I bought him this cute little short sleeve button down shirt from Gymboree. I love that store. They always have the cutest clothes.

I can't wait until the new Disney movie CARS opens in a few weeks. I think I'm going to try and take Ethan to his first movie. He recognizes the trailer on tv because I have already showed it to him on Apple's website. I hope I can tear him away from his current favorite, "Chicken Little". The movie uses several songs in it, one of which is "Shake a Tailfeather". Ethan loves to sing it. "Ahhhhh twist, shake it, shake it, shake it, shake it, baby"

Ethan's version: "Ahhhhh, mitz, shake it, shake it baaaa"

this and that

2006-05-02T22:14:00.000-05:00

Well, I am working on potty training Ethan. So much fun! The hardest thing is just sitting there waiting for him to go...very tedious.

I finally got someone in today to hang some blinds and install my curtain rods in the dining room. I don't know what it is about these home improvement people, but I've had the hardest time getting someone to call me back. I called a company that I found on the internet last week to come and give me an estimate. I gave him my name, phone number and address and I have not heard back from him since. They had a really nice website and supposedly "no job is too small", but I guess the profit was. I ironed the curtains and got them all put up. I think they turned out nice. What do you think?

My mom is coming in town next week to visit. She's staying about a week, which means she'll be here for Mother's Day. Oh gosh, that reminds me...I need to make reservations for brunch somewhere. Okay, Maguire's at 11:00am.

I worked most of Sunday in the backyard. I potted a bunch of flowers for my pots around the pool. Here are the fruits of my labor:

Pretty, huh?

good weekend

2006-04-24T10:20:00.000-05:00

We had a really nice weekend. Didn't do a whole lot which makes it nice. Fred went and got my favorite breakfast Saturday morning - Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I just love the regular glazed ones. It's definitely my morning drug of choice. Well, that and coffee. I worked on a couple of scrapbook pages. Finished one, still working on another. This is me in my room getting another fix; my computer.

I did find these cool pens at Office Depot last week. They're just ball point pens, but they're very girly. Each pen is the color of the grip. I admit, they were an impulse buy while standing in line, but they're so cute!

We did have a little protest at our house on Sunday. I finally set up Ethan's sand and water table yesterday. I went to Home Depot and purchased a 50 lb. bag of sand. Gosh, that thing was heavy. I was struggling in the parking lot trying to lift it out of the cart and into my car and nobody stopped to help me. Maybe chivalry is dead. Anyway. I finally got in the car and went home to put the table together. Ethan absolutely loved it! We stayed outside for a bit while he played with it. Then Mimi (my mother-in-law) came over and stayed outside with him a long time. When they finally came back in, Ethan was very upset. This is where the protest comes in. He hung around the back door and wouldn't give anyone a hug or kiss or even say anything. He ended up like this:

I couldn't help but laugh and grab my camera!