Laura's Sketch #18: Howdy Friend!

Happy Saturday night! I *thought* about stamping all day, but finally sat down and tried to a couple of hours ago. You know what they say, if you don't use it, you lose it...and I was definitely rusty and on my way to losing it! lol!

My Hero Arts big owl was sitting on my desk staring at me, so I used him for Laura's Sketch #18 over at 2 Sketches 4 You. I started with Kraft cardstock and some other old standbys, but decided I needed to branch out, so I pulled out some old Pink Passion. Whew, it's bright! The "howdy" is from the new SU hostess set A Little Somethin, and the "friend" is from the SU Love You Much stamp set. Peeking out from the back is the Organic Outlines inked in Craft White on black cardstock; I really liked the way it looked, too bad I covered it all up!

Okay, that's it for me today! Does everyone have big Superbowl plans tomorrow? Dh and I are hosting our annual, exclusive party...we're the only two invited! hee! hee! He's still dragging from the flu and the house hasn't been fumigated yet, so I doubt anyone would want to cover over here anyway! lol!

Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Top Note Purse...thanks to Nitestamper!

Happy Friday! Whoo! Hoo! I didn't actually stamp last night, decided I'd better stay in the living room with flu-infested dh and keep him company, he's a few days behind me in the flu cycle. It seemed like the least I could do, since I had brought this pox upon our household, lol! Thank you for all of your get well wishes, I really appreciate it!

I did remember that I had not shown the other project the stamp club members are doing this month...it's this darling Top Note Purse that I totally cased from Chat (aka Nitestamper on Splitcoast) over at Me, My Stamps and I. Thanks, Chat, you were a real lifesaver this month!! You can see Chat's original here and an awesome tutorial for making the box that goes inside here.

Thanks for your comments on my stalking post down below! lol! The funny thing is, the whole time I was doing it, the purpose was just for the pictures so that I could scrapbook them and put them on my blog! I don't know why I didn't think about actually trying to see Elsie, I guess because I took that class with her and already have photos taken with her, etc...which reminds me, I never finished scrapbooking those, doh!

Well, off to finish getting ready for school. The kids have a half-day today and teachers have trainings in the afternoon, so should be a pretty easy day! Hope you have a great day! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Love You Bundle
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Red Riding Hood, Whisper White.
Ink: Red Riding Hood, Staz-On White.
Accessories: Large Oval Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Heart to Heart Punch, Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Big Shot, Top Note Bigz Die, Mini Glue Dots.

Confessions of a Middle-Aged Stalker

Happy Thursday! I have nothing new in the "crafty" sense to share...mainly due to the flu diagnosis I received from the doctor back on Monday...but I did remember that I had never shared my "stalking" pictures from my Christmas vacation! You may remember that I lost my Christmas pictures when my computer "ate" them...luckily I had dragged these four photos to the desktop because I planned on blogging them right away, so they were saved!

On our way back to Texas from Missouri for the holidays, I convinced dh (he's the BEST!) to stop and do some sight-seeing in Springfield. Do you know who lives in Springfield? Well, a lot of people, I supppose, but who in the paper-crafting world lives in Springfield? Right, Elsie Flannigan! I've been a fan of her free-style for a long time (never said I could "do" free style, I'm just a fan of it!) and was lucky enough to take her class with Lor when she was at the Scrapbook Warehouse in Lewisville one year.

I had been reading about Elsie's new loft and new venture, Red Velvet Art, on her blog, and I knew from this post that it was somewhere on Commercial Street close to Big Momma's Coffee. So I did a little "googling" and the next thing you know, we were in Springfield on Commercial Street, and I was talking to Lyle and enjoying a delicious "nutter butter mocha"! He is a super nice guy, no wonder Elsie loves him, and the coffee is divine!

Here's my pic...the people sitting in the window weren't thrilled with me taking their picture, so I scooted down the street a bit to take it!


And then, sure enough, across the street...Elsie's new home! Am I a stalker or what?!



The whole street was very cool with lots of neat shops. I loved this window display with all the vintage radios. It took all my strength to not start collecting vintage radios immediately!


So there you have it, my stalker confession! If you're curious, check it out with me on February 1: Red Velvet Art!

Okay, I survived going back to school today, so I'm off to *try* and stamp, wish me luck! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Love You Much: Hugs & Kisses Treat Holder

Happy Sunday! Hope you're all having a great weekend! (Hey, there's still a few hours left, right?!) I took Saturday easy as I seem to be getting sick...AGAIN, ugh! I knew I was in for it last Tuesday when a 2nd grader sneezed on her hand, then grabbed mine and held onto it for a good five minutes. As soon as I freed myself, I doused my hands with sanitizer, but I fear the damage had already been done. By Thursday I was sneezing, then coughing and aching by Friday, sigh. lol!

Last night I had to whip up a couple of projects for stamp club, which was this afternoon and this coming Wednesday night, so here is one of them. I was pretty out of it, so I looked around for "inspiration" to steal, and found this Love You Much project below by Stampin' Up! to copy, yay! I didn't have Close to Cocoa cardstock, so I used Kraft, and I used Hershey's Kisses, which don't look quite as cute as their photo...but they sure taste good! *wink*



Okay, I'm off to finish up some stuff for school and will try to get to bed early tonight! lol! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Love You Much
Cardstock: Kraft, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Candy Lane DSP.
Ink: Staz-On Brown.
Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Heart to Heart Punch, Red Taffeta Ribbon, bamboo skewer.

A Little Somethin: u rock star

Happy Wednesday! I know, another A Little Somethin card, sorry! Tomorrow I'll try to break out my Love You Bunch bundle and actually use it! I haven't been feeling very creative or original, so tonight I had to break out my old-standby Kristina Werner layout. You can never go wrong with this layout! I got the color scheme from the new 2 Sweet Simply Scrappin' kit.

So here's what made me laugh today...I shifted my schedule around to start helping another 3rd grade math class and as the teacher was introducing me to the kids, one boy (and I taught his sister last year so we already talked about how he remembers me), said: "So she's going to be like a teacher?!" I had to try hard not to laugh! The other teacher responded, "She IS a teacher." Too funny!

Okay, off to bed! I need to get on the stick with some creations and start posting earlier! Hope you're having a good week! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

p.s.
I had to say I loved Juanita's comment yesterday: "I feel like I am working with all my 'junk' supplies after seeing the new catty." I hear ya sister, and you really cracked me up!

Also, Tina commented about my friends at the crop: "I think those people were sweet to let you picture them at the crop. I look to crappy at crop times! HA!" She is sooooo right, they are the BEST...and I hadn't mentioned that it was a pajama crop and we were wearing our pjs! Plus, did you notice there was no picture of me from the crop?! [insert evil grin here]

Recipe
Stamps: A Little Somethin
Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Basic Gray, Whisper White.
Ink: Perfect Plum.
Accessories: Small & Large Star Punch, 5/8" Kiwi Kiss Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Silver Brad, Dimensionals, Big Shot, Go Go Boots Alphabet, plain chipboard (glued under the Basic Gray "u").

A Little Somethin: Lovey Dovey

Happy Tuesday and Happy Inauguration Day! Just realized I should have made a "celebration" card to post! Instead, here I am all "lovey dovey"! hee! hee! Does anyone have any exciting stories to share about Inaugaration Day? Anyone lucky enough to go in person? Do tell!

I used the new level 2 hostess set "A Little Somethin" again. I am soooo dying to get some new stamps! I usually order the first day a new catalog comes out and overnight or 2-day air it, but I'm trying to wait until Sell-a-Bration on February 1. It's not easy, argh!

Anyway, just a standard size card with a mix of things and some more sewing, can't seem to stop! Maybe I'll get ambitious and make another bobbin so I can sew with something besides brown thread this week! lol!

I'm off to bed, should go to sleep early after the mere 5 hours last night, but I'm almost finished reading The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, so I have to finish it tonight. Can't wait to see how it ends! hee! hee! I've got a real bad feeling!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: A Little Somethin
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Bella Rose DSP, Urban Garden DSP.
Ink: Little Red Riding Hood, Baja Breeze.
Accessories: Red Riding Hood 5/8" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Horizontal Slot Punch, Not Quite Navy Button, Silver Brad, Linen Thread, Dimensionals, Glue Dot, Janome Sew Mini.

A Little Somethin: Rock Star & a crop review...

Happy Monday night! Sorry to be such a blog slacker lately! I even went to a crop Saturday night and only finished 1 1/2 cards. And I only finished the 1 because it was a make and take they provided! Doh! I was going to finish the other 1/2 card but I finally unpacked everything tonight and I can't find it! Doh again! lol!

Anyway, I threw this little card together now so I'd have something new to share...it uses the new hostess set A Little Somethin. It's a really fun set! I attempted a zig-zag stitch around a circle and clearly I'll need a little more practice! Just an easy-peasy little card, finished size is 6 1/2" by 3 1/4".

Here are a few photos from the crop last Saturday...my friends at least got some things accomplished!

Margaret finished 5 pages, I believe, and was working on a 6th...


Beverly finished 4 pages, I believe, and you should have seen her darling daughter in her girl scout vest who came up to sell us girl scout cookies, she was the cutest thing ever!


Robyn finished, hmmmm, well she started several pages...


Valerie was hard at work on more heart projects for her Etsy shop...


Well, it's late and I should be in bed, after all I do have school tomorrow, yikes! I'm afraid with three days off I slipped back into staying up until the wee hours and sleeping in, darn! hee! hee! Hope you had a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: A Little Somethin
Cardstock: Kraft, Whisper White, Urban Garden DSP.
Ink: Old Olive
Accessories: Spiral Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Old Olive button, Dimensional, Janome Sew Mini.

The new Stampin' Up! Spring-Summer Catalog is here!

Yay! It's here, in all it's goodness...the new Stampin' Up! Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalog! You can see it and shop online here! Every online order placed between February 1 - April 30 will receive a free catalog with their order! Contact me for details or with any questions!

Shhhhh! Big Owl Contraband!

Happy Friday night! Yay! It's the weekend! And a 3-day weekend to boot! Lots of time for stamping...and I received my Love You Much Bundle today, yippee skippee! Hopefully I'll have some things to share with that soon! *wink*

For now, though, a little contraband! I found this big owl stamp from Hero Arts while I was visiting Archiver's in Kansas City over Christmas vacation. That store is tooooo good! They have a fantastic stamp selection too. Anyway, he had been sitting on my desk staring at me for weeks now, so I finally broke him in last night.

I made 3 simple...and identical (which is RARE for me)...cards last night to give to the teachers (along with some donuts!) at our 3 campuses from our RtI team (my job) to thank them for their patience the past two weeks while we pulled out their students for their mid-year fluency tests. I toyed with adding more and doing more to the card, but I knew it would have a short life and meet a tragic fate, so I restrained myself! lol!

Okay, I stumbled on this video with Beyonce and Justin Timberlake from Saturday Night Live and I CAN'T stop watching it! I love the song too and want to download it for my ringtone, but I'm just not sure it's appropriate for me! You can see the whole sketch here.





Have a good night and thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: "you're the best" from A Little Birdie Told Me; "Big Owl" from Hero Arts.
Cardstock: Whisper White, Baja Breeze.
Ink: Staz-On Brown.
Accessories: vintage button, mini glue dot.

Kristina's Color Inspiration #38: Hi and Hello

Schwooo! I made it! I decided at 7:30 I would try and make a card for Kristina's Color Inspiration #38! I think I've mentioned before that nothing motivates me like a tight deadline...drives me crazy, of course, but it really gets me moving! lol!


**edited to add: Awww man, Nancy just commented and I had until Saturday night to make this challenge! Blasted, I could have put it off for two more nights! hee! hee!

I had that flower made out of scallop circles already. It was created...and rejected...for a project back in December. The bottom layer had been chocolate chip polka dot dsp, but I tore that one off and added a ruby red scallop circle. Lastly, added a pumpkin pie button for the center and voila, done! I don't think it will be fitting inside an envelope, though...

How is your week going? I'm sure glad tomorrow is Friday! We're just about finished with all of our testing and benchmarking this week and identifying the students I'll be working with the next few months. I'm ready to get back to it!

Off to watch Grey's...while I stamp! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Hi and Hello
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Ruby Red, Whisper White, Sweet Always DSP.
Ink: Staz-On Brown.
Accessories: Scallop Border Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Pink Taffeta Ribbon, Jumbo Glue Dot, Silver Brad (holding the flower together under the button), orange button from Autumn Leaves.

Laura's Sketch #17: Owl Together Now

Happy Tuesday! Hope your week is off to a great start! We've been doing some mid-year testing of all the students in grades 2 - 8 in reading and math. They have a lot of practice TAKs (standardized state tests) tests to take this week, so I'll be glad when that's all over and we can start back up with the teaching. I guess we need to see how stressed we need to be! lol!

I stayed up way too late making this card for Laura's Sketch #17 over at 2 Sketches 4 You. It was one of those great times when you see the sketch and you immediately have an idea and have to start working on it...love those times! The little flap on top opens to hold a Starbucks gift card:



Then I made the inside with lots of room for co-workers to sign the card, since it's from "owl of all us":


Can you tell I'm loving my Janome Sew Mini?! I did the zig-zag stitch on this card. I cannot get over how perfectly and easily that things sews on cardstock! Totally awesome!

Okay, guess I better dry my hair and get dressed before dh starts getting after me! hee! hee! Hope you have an awesome Tuesday! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe:
Stamps: Owl Together Now
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Sweet Always DSP.
Ink: Staz-On Brown.
Accessories: Hodgepodge Hardware, 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Pure Color Pencils, Dimensionals, Janome Sew Mini.

Loop to Loop Rub-Ons...again!

Happy Monday! I was pretty out of it...creatively speaking...this weekend, so here's a card with some leftover parts from the card down below! lol!

My first "watercolored streaked" square was too small for the original card, so I added a Loop to Loop Rub-On flower on top and punched it out with the 1 3/4" circle punch. I added the scallop circle behind it from the Pennant Bigz XL die cut with the Big Shot, love that thing! I had made the "Thank You" with the rub-ons also for the card down below, but then didn't use it, so these two parts worked perfectly together.

Have you seen some of the sneak peeks out there from the new Stampin' Up! catalog to be released next Monday, January 19?! Oh my! The new Big Shot stuff and accessories look out of this world!

FYI, you must go see the movie Slumdog Millionaire! DH and I went to see it yesterday at a coworker/friend's recommendation, and it is the best movie we have seen in years (and you know I see quite a few movies, right?!). I also see this morning that it won the 4 Golden Globes it was nominated for, including Best Drama and Best Director.




Okay friends, off to finish getting ready for work! Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: none
Cardstock: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Watercolor Paper.
Ink: Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie.
Accessories: Aquapainters, Circle Punches (1 3/4", 1 1/4", 1 3/8"), Loop to Loop Rub-Ons, 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon, Pennant Bigz XL die, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

Kristina's Color Inspiration #37: Loop to Loop Rub-Ons

I tried to get this posted last night, but my computer wasn't cooperating with me and dh was hogging the good computer, ha! ha! I was trying to finish in time (but that didn't happen!) for Kristina's Color Inspiration #37. I used Jen del Muro's Sketch for You to Try (LOVE her stuff!) and more of the new Loop to Loop Rub-Ons, can't seem to stop using them! This didn't turn out quite as I planned, but sometimes you just gotta roll with it!

Oh, I almost forgot to give credit...I got the idea of making the watercolor streaks in the background from a super cute card by Sharon Rogers at Stamping in My Neighborhood that you can see here. Sharon's a great business-minded SU demo that always shares stuff with us fellow demos on Splitcoast Stampers, thanks Sharon!

Hope you're having a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: none Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Watercolor Paper, Holiday Happenings DSP. Ink: Baja Breeze, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive. Accessories: Aquapainter, Loop to Loop Rub-Ons, Felt Flowers, Dimensionasl, Janome Mini Sewing Machine, Making Memories Brads, unknown ribbon.

Party Hearty Inspiration Challenge

Happy Friday! Yay!! This is a super quick post but wanted to share something! I made this card for a challenge for my Sensational Swappers group...you had to use the picture as inspiration...and these colors were tough! The card is supposed to be a "sensational, over-the-top" card, but my style is simple, so these are always hard for me! Plus, with the colors, oh my!

Anywho, I used the fab Party Hearty set, still love that one! Stamped the cupcake in Versamark, then colored over the Versarmark on the bottom half with the Glorious Green marker. Next, I carefully poured the Heat & Stick powder over the Versamark top half and heated it with the embossing tool, then poured on the glitter and heated again to set. Nothing to it!

Gotta dash! Hope you have a great Friday! Thanks so much for stopping by! Glad y'all enjoyed Timothy yesterday! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Party Hearty
Cardstock: Lavendar Lace, Pale Plum, Glorious Green, Whisper White.
Ink: Glorious Green, Versamark.
Accessories: Lovely Lilac button, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Big Shot, Pennant Bigz XL Die, Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dot, Heat & Stick Powder, Chunky Glitter, Embossing Heat Tool.

Kazan's Sketch #17: Loop to Loop Rub-Ons

Happy Thursday! I took some time the other night to play with Kazan's Sketch #17 over at 2 Sketches 4 You, I always look forward to those! My take on it with the circles is nothing original, but I thought it would work for the sketch and give me the chance to do a little sewing with my new Janome Mini, love that thing!

I played with my new Loop to Loop Rub-Ons that are included in the new Hostess Level 3 Hand Drawn Bundle, they are so stinkin' cute! Just realized this card has no stamping, oops! That's the beauty of rub-ons! I also used the Sweet Always Designer Series Paper. I was afraid it might be discontinued, but it wasn't, yay! It goes with the popular Always stamp set, so I guess that's why they kept it around.

Did anyone catch the new season of Damages that started on FX last night? I loved that show in its first season, got hooked on it during an all-day marathon type thing. It's just a glorified soap opera, but ya know, we need our "mindless" down time, right?! Plus, this season Timothy Olyphant has joined the cast. I seriously heart him! You might remember him from Catch and Release, but here's a little eye candy to jog your memory...and start your day off in a happy way! hee! hee!

I liked him best as Seth Bullock, the rough and tough sheriff on Deadwood, though...I'm a sucker for the unshaven, lol!



Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!


Recipe
Stamps: none!
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Regal Rose, Sweet Always DSP.
Ink: none!
Accessories: Loop to Loop Rub-Ons, Circle Punches (1 3/4", 1 3/8", and 1 1/4"), Big Shot, Pennant Bigz XL Die, Dimensionals, Janome Sew Mini.

Puns from the Past

Holy smokes, Batman! I couldn't fall sleep much Monday night, so I went to lie down Tuesday evening at 6:30 for a short nap and slept until 5:30 this morning! Yikes, that's crazy! lol! I had stamped a few more cards Sunday and Monday night, but didn't get them photographed, so I'll share this simple card I made for my brother-in-law last week who was recuperating from some outpatient surgery.

Do you like the Puns from the Past set? I really love the old-timey images and don't mind the sayings that go with them, although I did cut off the sayings and mount them on the end of the stamps so I can use them separately. It's a simple card...I used the black hemp (instead of ribbon) and scissors to cut zig-zags (instead of a scallop border) for a more masculine look and to make it flatter for mailing. I checked it at the post office and it was flat enough to mail in a regular envelope for standard postage, even with a Starbucks gift card (to aid in recovery!) in it!

Okay, better dash and finish getting ready for school! Hope your week is going well! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Puns from the Past
Cardstock: Red Riding Hood, Whisper White, Basic Black, Basic Gray.
Ink: Staz-On Black.
Accessories: Black Hemp, Dimensionals.

Featured Stamper #100: HRR Julie Ebersole!

When I saw yesterday that the Featured Stamper #100 was HRR Julie Ebersole, I just had to case one of her cards! Her gallery is awesome and I could easily have cased a dozen of her cards. Her style is one of my favorites, so clean and striking, but always with a twist!

I had the little heart laying on my desk leftover from this card, just couldn't get it to work, so I thought it would work perfectly for a case of this card of hers. Then I found some old retired SU argyle paper and kind of threw this together. Very simple, definitely not as cute as hers with the crown, but not too bad for a quick card to make while watching Tess of the D'Urbervilles on Masterpiece Theater! I am a sucker for the period pieces! By the way, over holiday break I started reading The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, and it's quite good, check it out!

Hope you had a great Monday! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Holidays and Wishes
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Red Riding Hood Patterns DSP, retired argyle DSP.
Ink: Basic Gray.
Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Chipboard Heart, Dimensional.

Project 365: #3 & #4 and 2008 Holiday Review Top 10 List

More Project 365! I decided I would post a week's worth on Sunday evenings, to kind of contain the non-stamping/potentially-boring posts to one per week! lol!

Project 365 #3, January 3, 2009: The recycling container was full, so I had rinsed these cans during the week and absent-mindedly lined them on the counter as I emptied them. I got a 12-pack of this new flavor while in Missouri: Black Cherry Vanilla Cream Diet Pepsi, ummmm, good!


Project 365 #4, January 4, 2009: Yes, I got the new Janome Sew Mini from my fabulous in-laws for Christmas! I took it out of its box this afternoon and gave it a whirl, it is awesome! First time sewing through cardstock, the tension was perfect! It was a thing of beauty!

I haven't discussed my holiday trip much on my blog yet, but the other day I started composing this list and saving it. I thought it would make it easy to scrapbook about later...if I had photos to scrapbook (see #4).

2008 Holiday Review Top 10 List:

1. An iPhone cannot survive an extended swim in a large cup of hot coffee.

2. If you leave Texas and it's 70 degrees and arrive in Missouri and it's 8 degrees and you're just getting over a cold you've had for 2 weeks, forget about it, you're going to develop bronchitis.

3. Playing Taboo and Pictionary with your dh and in-laws while drinking margaritas is a blast!

4. If you're feel a little Scrooge-like and only take 59 photos, you'll be punished when you get home and your computer eats those 59 photos and can't get them back.

5. You realize you're lucky you got a man to marry you when your 5 year old niece tells you while playing paper dolls that your doll's outfit is "NOT appropriate for a date!"

6. Doing crossword puzzles with dh during a 9-hour car drive is great fun, and maybe worth doing not just when you're stuck in a car together.

7. Texting with your very cool, soon-to-be 13 year old nephew who just got a cell phone and unlimited texting is a blast and an excellent way to stay in touch long distance. (Note: can come to an abrupt halt when #1 occurs!)

8. You appreciate Starbucks a little more when you can't pop out and get it in 5 minutes.

9. No matter how old you get, no one takes as good care of you as your mom when you are sick.

10. No matter how much someone fights you on it, INSIST that they use a lid on their cup while in the car (see #1).

There you have it...good times, good times! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Crop Challenges!

Happy Sunday! I went cropping with the girls last night, and here's what we made! I'm afraid after I had two margaritas, I was so tired I didn't feel like doing anything! lol! But that's okay, I mostly went for the social time 'cuz I was missing my peeps. Some other friends just came for the social part (talking too, not just drinking, hee! hee!) and didn't stay for the cropping, but it was good to catch up, Lor and Bird! Around 10:30 we decided to do some "challenges" so at least I got 2 cards made! lol!

The first challenge was the Splitcoast Sketch Challenge #209:


Here's mine using Pearty Hearty:


Here's Margaret's, love the flowers and the glitter:


Here's Beverly's, what a great "guy" card:


Next challenge was the Splitcoast Ways to Use It #199, Ring in the New Year, where you had to use something silver...ink, cardstock, hardware, etc.

Here's mine, very lazy and simple made in 5 minutes because it was time to go! I used that new Hand Drawn DSP again, it's so fab!


Here's Margaret's, love the ribbon and little silver clock she used:


Here's Beverly's, very cool silver frame she used and perfect with that vintage camera in it:

Lastly, this is what Valerie was doing and why she didn't participate in any challenges...isn't it cute? She made a bunch of these in different colors she's going to string together for a Valentine garland for her Etsy shop, can't wait to see it when she's done!


Okay, guess I better get busy...can't believe it's the last day of vacation and back to work tomorrow! I did miss the kiddos and can't wait to hear all their stories tomorrow. Hope you're having a good weekend! Thanks so much for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Laura's Sketch #16: Hand Drawn Bundle

Happy Saturday! And finally a card! Thanks for your patience! lol! I started working on Laura's Sketch #16 over at 2 Sketches 4 You last night, but I was getting nowhere, so I picked it up again this morning. Either this sketch was tough, or I am rustier than I even realized! I'm not going to admit the hours I spent on this...it's one of those you know you should give up on, but I'm too dang stubborn...I finally flipped the sketch around and ended up with this...

I used the new Level 3 Hostess Hand Drawn Bundle that will be available in the new Spring Summer 2009 Stampin' Up! catalog coming out on January 19! I pre-ordered this bundle...it's really cute with a stamp set called It's A Loop Thing (which I didn't use here), Loop to Loop Rub-Ons, and Hand Drawn Designer Series Paper. My favorite rub-on is the "hey cupcake" one...here I cut the "hey" and separated it, then rubbed the "cupcake" right on the ribbon. I love the whimsical look of this bundle! Here's a sneak peek for ya, click to enlarge it:


Hope you're having a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: none!
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip, Hand Drawn DSP, Holiday Happenings DSP (Hostess Level 3 current catalog).
Ink: Chocolate Chip marker.
Accessories: 1" Baja Breeze Double Stitched Ribbon, Loop to Loop Rub-Ons, Tab Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Mat Pack, Dimensionals, Stapler.

Project 365: #2

Here's #2...Royal Doulton blueberry china. Our grocery store, Albertson's, had been giving out little stickers with grocery purchases for months and long story short, we got 7 free place settings. You had to redeem your stickers by January 6, so I went today and got them. Not sure what to do with them now, I really don't like the pattern. My father-in-law suggested donating them to charity and claiming the retail value for a tax write-off, which seems like a pretty good idea. Any other thoughts?

p.s. Thanks for the comments and the warm words on the first photo! FYI, those are the boxes (except the waffles) that I take to school for lunch! We can cook, Donna, (although I choose not to, hee! hee!), my dh is a great cook! The waffles are for when I work late and when I don't like what he cooks...they were buy one, get one free! lol!

Project 365: #1

As I was catching up on my Google Reader, I read a post by Kazan here about Project 365. She read about it from Margie here, who also read about it from other people, etc., and Becky Higgins has info here. It's basically about photographs and journaling. The photos and meanings and goals seem to be different for each person, but I thought it was a cool idea and I had just happened to take a picture of our freezer on the morning of the 1st...so it seemed like destiny!

Why a picture of the freezer? We had just stocked up on groceries on New Year's Eve and dh put most of them away. When I went to get a glass of ice for my diet soda breakfast on the 1st, I cracked up when I saw the "tower" that dh had built in the freezer! It's like a piece of art, like a sculpture...there's no way I can remove any of it!

Anyway, I thought the Project 365 might be a cool project to try. I like the idea of scrapbooking our everyday life, the boring bits. You forget so much stuff as you age, it might be fun to look back on 2009, say 30 years from now! Plus, we don't have kids, so there's only so much material I have to work with, ya know! I don't know if I'll be able to keep it up...I have trouble sticking to things...and most days are pretty boring, so I'm not sure what I'll be photographing, but I'll give it a go! Are you up for it too?

RAKs and Goodies!

I have to share some awesome RAKS and Blog Candy Winnings that I received in December!

First up are these yummy flowers and adorable card that I received from Chloe Danz when she offered up some blog candy! She's a GREAT artist with such a clean, striking style, you have to check her out! She even mailed these to me all the way from New Zealand! Thank you, Chloe!



Next up, I received these fabulous goodies from Brooke when Sankari's daughter randomly selected me the winner of the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge one week...if you haven't played along, you really must, it's great fun! I love that movie Sabrina and don't those Peeps look yummy?! There are also some clear checkbook covers down there if you can't see them, how cool! I've never tried one of those and at the craft show I did in December, several people asked for them, so it must be a sign! Brooke even included one of her Convention swaps that I had said earlier that I wished I had received, how nice! Thanks, girls!



I'll be back later with more to share! Thanks for stopping by! Hugs and happy stamping!

Kristina Color Inspiration #36: Owl Together Now

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! So sorry I basically abandoned the blog there for so long, yikes! We were traveling around Missouri for ten days, all of which time I was sick, and I didn't always have access to internet service. Yes, my Google Reader was up to a scary 696 unread posts! I'm still catching up! Then upon returning to Texas, we've had one computer problem after another, ugh! But I think dh just about has it all fixed up now.

I haven't stamped for soooo long, then decided at 7:30 CST that I'd try and make a card for Kristina's Color Inspiration Challenge #36. I'm loving this new owl set, Owl Together Now, but ya know I'm a lazy water colorer, so I used my retired Pure Color Pencils...they make it so easy! I am so rusty with my stamping, I better get back in there and keep practicing! lol! It took me about a day just to get the room and desk cleaned up so that I could even have space to stamp! How does that happen?!

I'll be back tomorrow with more to share...some pictures of a "stalking excursion" I went on while in Missouri! Thanks so much for stopping by, and I promise, I'll be by to visit you soon! Hugs and happy stamping!

Recipe
Stamps: Owl Together Now
Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Whisper White.
Ink: Staz-On Brown, Rose Red marker.
Accessories: Pure Color Pencils, 5/8" Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals, Double Circle Punch.