Mystery Challenge

I am very fortunate to be included in a group of gals that have formed a mystery image swap. Every other month we receive a mystery image or embellishment (or both) and then create four cards from the mystery item(s) received.

Our hostess this month, April, sent us Anya in the Spotlight from TGF (one of my favorite stamp companies). I cased a layout from a note card that I made at a stamp club in November and then added Anya to it as well as the inside sentiment. The sentiment is from a SU set called Word Play and the crown is from the SU set, Artistic Etchings. And if you haven't tried the self adhesive rhinestones from SU (can you see it on the crown?) you just must. I love both those and the pearls.

Thanks for looking.

Dueling Darlings

I am finally here but late for the Duel. Just getting back from vacation and the various Christmas preparations for the kids at school needing to be done, I am just now getting my card for this month's duel posted. So sorry to all the Dueling Darlings that I am late!

Our Dueling Darlings group received an awesome kit this month from Terry. We received a kit with this cute snowman image (SU) and some incredible designer paper from Three Bugs in a Rug and Imaginisce. Wonderful embellishments of snowflakes, ribbons, buttons and metal dots. This month's theme is "'My Favorite Things', things that make you happy! In the winter season." After creating our card we were instructed to "think of a few things that make you happy and share them with us!"

So...my happy list includes, first and foremost, that God loved me and saved me!! My husband and children. I am very happy that I can be a SAHM and be very involved at my kids' school. And after the long, dark winter months the sunshine makes me very happy. I love being outside in the sun. Stamping and chatting with all my SCS friends in the morning while drinking coffee is definitely one of my happy places. :) And at this time of year, I love seeing all the Chrismtas lights all over town.

Thanks Terry for a great kit and wonderful theme!!!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Happy December!!!

I am so far behind on everything that has to do with Christmas. Our Vegas trip was fun. We did a lot of "touristy" things. Football in Vegas was okay. But now that I am back and Christmas is fast approaching I am way, way behind. I am hoping we can get a tree and put it up tonight. I have actually talked my husband into a real tree this year. Woo hoo!!! I need to bake, bake, bake this weekend. I am afraid, however....it will be store bought cards this year for some....how sad. :(.

There is one thing that I did get done in a fairly timely fashion though. I am involved in a closed swap on SCS. And, I am participating in the a Secret Santa gift exchange within that swap. We had a dollar limit on what to spend. So I made several hand made items for the recipient of my package. One of the items I made were Christmas bows. The tutorial is on SCS and they super easy to make and not very time consuming!!! I think they are very pretty and I hope the wonderful sister receiving them can use them on some of her Christmas packages.

Have a wonderful week and a terrific holiday season!!!

Forest Friends

I started out in a swap called Forest Friends. We have had many "forest friends" swap now...every few months there is a new forest theme. Great group of ladies to be swapping with by the way!!!!

This is the 5th round of the forest swap and each time the theme is different. Since we are such a friendly group in the forest...some ideas for this round were cards with...frogs and fishes, little girl with birds around her, beavers and owls...you get it...friends in the forest.

I used a stamp I found at Michael's. With Christmas coming I thought this stamp would be perfect. Can't you just imagine this magical snowman in a wintery forest somewhere chatting with the lil blue bird? Okay...so my imagination gets away from me. But the snowman and bird looked like good forest friends to me.

I used Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red and Very Vanilla cardstock. My designer paper is from Imaginisce. Called, Polar Expressions - All Bundled Up. I also used my CB embossing folder, Riding Hood Red/Vanilla Ribbon and retired Felt Flurries from SU!

Stay warm friends!!!

Thanksgiving Duel

It's that time again...another round of the Dueling Darlings. And, I am THANKFUL for all my Darling friends!!!! This month Michelle was our hostess and we received a great kit to work with.

The theme for this month was Thanksgiving Greeting/Gratitude. The image is from DRS Designs and I love it! I used More Mustard and Baja Breeze cardstock. And I watercolored the image with Baja Breeze, More Mustard, Summer Sun, Really Rust and Old Olive ink. We received some great DP in this kit and I chose to use the polka dot piece. The DP is from Making Memories. The ribbon is from Michaels, the cute button from Creatology and the wonderful leaves from Recollections.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. My oldest son's football team, and the younger team my husband coaches, are both playing in a national tournament in Las Vegas and we are making a vacation out of it. So we will be watching football on Thanksgiving Day and then hitting some great buffet somewhere, I hope. ;)

To all the Dueling Darlings....I am VERY THANKFUL for each and every one of you!!

Snow, Snow, Snow...........

Yup we have snow. And sadly, I think it is here to stay. However, it does go right along with the theme of a swap I am in on SCS.

I signed up to make an ABAC item and, of couse, the theme was snow. Snowmen, snowwomen, snowflakes, etc. I saw these adorable snowmen faces made by using the Top Note Die on a card on SCS. I saw these last year on SCS and now there are many snowmen like this in the gallery. I don't know whose card I cased to give you credit (as I don't see it in the gallery now) but you are a genius!!!

So I decided to case the snowman face and instead of putting it on a card I made a bag topper out of it. Luckily for me, Target has Christmas candy out already and I was able to fill the treat bags with Christmas goodies.

I love punch art cards and projects so these were very fun for me to make. I am hoping to make them for my kids' classmates at their school Christmas parties.

Thanks for looking.

It's a Mystery...???

Hi everyone!!!

The card on my blog today is from a closed swap I am in on SCS. Every other month we receive an image from that month's hostess with a mystery image. We do not know what the image will be until we receive it. Then we each create a card using the image we received.

This month's image was Fred Bear Goes Camping from MFT. What a great image and sentiment to get to play with!!!! I used Night of Navy, Old Olive and Really Rust cardstock from SU. And I used the Woodgrain background stamp from SU as well. My DP is from CTMH. Above is what I came up with for my "mystery image" card.

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

Pink Christmas....

Well...just to let you all know....there are 61 shopping days left until Christmas!!!

And in the spirit of Christmas I made my first Christmas card this year. The image is a digital stamp from Digital Delights by Louby Lou that was a free download this past week. Isn't it adorable?

I had such fun making this card. When I saw the image I knew I wanted to make a tropical themed Christmas card. Although I cannot image Christmas without snow. I used Whisper White and Old Olive cardstock. My designer paper is from Stampin' Up! and it is so bright and fun!

Aloha and thanks for looking.

Round 3 - Dueling Darlings

Well it's that time. Time for another duel...a duel between the Dueling Divas and the Dueling Dazzlers. A group of friends who create cards every month with kits they are sent. It is all just good, clean fun.

This month's theme was Treasured Friend. The Divas were sent a kit from their hostess, Carol and the Dazzlers were sent a kit by ME!! The guidelines of the duel are to create a card with some or all of the kit you receive. The twist on this month's theme was that each participant would add a treasure of their choosing to their card. The catch...it could not be anything bought brand new. It had to be something already at home like a recycled item or something that they had picked up at a second-hand store or garage/yard sale.

There are three pictures of my card. I made a swing-flip card. (Tutorial at stampingschool.com. A fantastic site I might add!!!) First, is the outside of the card, then a picture of how the card opens and lastly the sentiment on the inside. And, the sentiment on the inside is my "treasure." I was looking around for something at home to recycle and couldn't come up with anything. Then yesterday, a friend of mine gave me a gift. It was a necklace and inside the box was this sentiment. How perfect!!!! Girlfriends are definitely treasured gifts. All the Dueling Darlings are a treasure to me, as well as my friend who gave me the necklace.

The image is from SU called, My Matryoshka. The designer paper is from Kaiser Craft. I used my Build-a-Brad set from SU to make the brad in the center of the flower. I cut the sentiment off of the plastic necklace holder and mounted it on cardstock for the inside of the card.

Thanks for looking!!! Have a great weekend!!!

Up, Up and Away

Seems forever since I have been here. My youngest was home sick today and so I decided since I couldn't leave the house, I would get a card made and update my blog. Finally....it's done.

This stamp set had yet to see ink and I found the DP awhile go thinking it would go well with the images. The images are from a set by Artful Inkables. I picked up the small watch embellishment at a stamp store in California and sure wish I had bought more than two. I used Early Espresso, Very Vanilla and Marina Mist cardstock.

Okay...that's all...youngest needs mom. Thanks for looking!

Last Flowers of Summer

Morning!!!

Well the card on my blog is the only reminder of summer I have. I have been cold since last Sunday when I sat out in the falling snow watching my son play football. Just doesn't seem like summer should be over yet.

I made this card for my BFF and her husband for their anniversary. I found this Memory Box stamp at a local stamp store along with the DP. I liked the simplicity of the stamp. I used Perfect Plum and Pear Pizzazz CS from SU! I also used the new Pear Pizzazz ribbon and added the Robin's Nest stones to dress it up a bit.

Thanks for looking.

Sarcasm...........

Good morning. Seems like forever since I have been here. It has been a crazy, busy couple of weeks. Hoping things slow down after this weekend.

My card today is for a swap on SCS. The theme for this month was a card that you could give a close friend, a friend who could appreciate your humor. Since, some times my humor is on the sarcastic side....my card was born!!!

I used the Charolette digi from TGF. When I look at Charolette I see attitude. In my mind she could definitely pull off sarcasm. I added a sentiment (not mine originally) that I thought Charolette capable of saying and getting away with. My card base is Poppy Parade, one of the new In Colors from SU! I also used the new Poppy Parade Stitched Poly Ribbon from SU. I colored Charolette with SU markers and copics. My DP is from K&Company. I loved all the postage stamps and thought it good for this card. Since my card sentiment speaks to a picture, I added the photo corners to the image to tie into the theme of the card.

I do have a couple of friends I could get away with giving this card too!!!! Thanks for looking.

Dueling Darling - Round Two

Hello Friends!

Well it's that time...time for another duel. Today the card on my blog is made from a card kit I received from my dazzling teammate, Melina. I love the House Mouse image she sent in the kit.

I went to a card making club the other night and we made a card and then punched a hole in the front of the card so that just part of our image showed through. I really liked that idea and decided to implement it on my card for this duel.

I glued the polka dot designer paper from my kit onto Night of Navy cardstock. Then I punched a hole in the front of the card using my 1 3/8" circle punch. I thought the little mouse blowing out the candle was so cute and I wanted him to stand out. I added the sentiments using Old Olive ink. I adhered the mini pearls (I LOVE THOSE!!!) from my kit to my modern label punch to help the set off the smaller sentiment.

I don't know if you can tell from the picture but I added micro pearls to my cupcake and heated them to get a "fluffy" look for the cupcake's frosting. Not sure I succeeded???

Thanks for looking.

The Perfect Christmas Gift

Here is a card I made for a Christmas swap I am in. I used the sets The Gift of Love (retired) and Christ is Born, both from SU! I really liked both of these sets but had difficulty trying to use them on their own. I finally decided I wanted the words "Christ is Born" to be the focal point of my card as I do believe that is the true meaning of Christmas...God loving us so much and sending his son, his perfect gift to us.

I finally decided to use just the city part of the stamp from the The Gift of Love set and embossed that in white just like my sentiment. I used Close to Cocoa, Real Red and Whisper White cardstock, along with some retired DP from SU.

It is a very clean and simple card...but I wanted to get across a very simple, yet very special meaning of Christmas.

Thanks for looking.

Recipe Card

Good morning!

I have entered my first, ever 6x6 recipe card swap. So here is my finished project. I was going to use a recipe that was my great grandmother's but as I was reading the recipe some things didn't quite make sense. I even called my mom to ask her about it and she was unsure...LOL! So I decided I'd better use a recipe that I had made before and knew was tasty. I already had the grandmother image (from TGF) colored and figured I would use her anyway...even though this not great grandma's recipe. Will have to try making great grandma's recipe some day and maybe I can use it in a future recipe card swap. I added the stamped strawberry (Tart & Tangy-SU) since the recipe calls for strawberry preserves. These fruit bars are so easy and very tasty.

Happy Labor Day everyone!

Let it Snow!

Well it isn't winter yet! And I really don't want to think about snowflakes or snowmen but, I am hoping that these winter scrapbook page accents brighten up someone's scrapbook page.

I took my snowman from my Christmas in July card and gave him a snow buddy. I added a snowflake, a title and pair of mittens to keep warm with to round out the set.

I am really loving the color combo of Cherry Cobler, Marina Mist and Pear Pizzaz. And the cute lil snowmen are from a set from The Greeting Farm. The sentiment is from SU. Well I need to finish up yet another set of page accents so off I go.

Thanks for looking.

Happy Spring!

Okay...I know it's not spring. But I had to get my spring scrapbook page accents done and here they are. And on this gray and dreary day...these bright colors are so cheerful.

I used Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Curshed Curry, Old Olive and some retired SU designer paper. The umbrella, rubber boots and sentiment are from the CTMH set called Springtime.

I got the idea for the flowers from a tutorial I saw on stampingschool.com. If you have not checked out her website....you should. She is a very talented and creative crafter.

Off to work on my winter set of accents. Thanks for taking a look. Have a great weekend.

Christmas in July (and August)

Good Afternoon!!!

Well today was the first day of school for all my kids. Even my youngest is in school now. So I had some "very quiet" time to create. I needed to get a Christmas card done for a swap on SCS. The title of the swap is Christmas in July. So here is the card I made. I sure am loving my Spellbinders and the new little self-adhesive pearls from Stampin' Up! Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist and Pear Pizzazz cardstock are terrific SU colors.

Thanks for looking.

It's a Darling Duel!!!

Good morning!

And welcome to the Duel. It's the Dueling Divas v. the Dueling Dazzlers. Actually we are just a group of crafting friends having some fun. Each Dazzler and each Diva received a card kit with the same theme. Each of us made a card using some or all of the kit we received. The theme for this month's Duel was...I Scream, You Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream.

Above is the card I made for this Duel using the Darling image I received along with some really great dp and blue velllum paper. I watercolored my image and used my Swiss Dots CB embossing folder to add some texture to the vellum paper. I had recently bought the MS Ice Cream Punch and just had to use it on this card once I knew the theme.

Thanks for looking.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

Football season is upon us. The NFL pre-season games are being played and my oldest son has his first game Sunday afternoon. GO EASTSIDE EAGLES! My son's team won the state championship in their division of Pop Warner Football last year and even traveled to California where they played regionals. What a great experience it was for him. So in honor of football fanatics everywhere...here is Quarterback Ian from The Greeting Farm. Of course, he is suited up to play for the Eastside Eagles...and the whole team is working hard to once again be state champs!!!

Thanks for looking!

A Cherry on Top

Good morning! I am so thrilled...I was given the following award, not by one, but by two WONDERFUL ladies. Thank you Kelly and Tami! I feel soooo loved!

These were my instructions to follow after receiving this award.

- Thank the person who gave you the award.

Thank you Kelly and Tami. You ladies are the best. I am honored to have gotten to know you and call you my friends. With the same number of kids, Kelly and I relate on many levels when it comes to family. And, Tami...well she has assured me that cereal for dinner now and then is okay. LOL!!!

- Copy the award and post it to your blog.

Done! (Thanks April for calling me today and holding my hand...it worked!)

- List three things you love about yourself.

The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful husband and great children and has given me the desire of my heart to be a SAHM so that I can take care of them and be very involved in their lives.

I have wonderful, compassionate friends who are always there for me.

I love to make people laugh.

- Post a picture that you love.

See the above photo...(I could not figure out how to get it here!) I need Blogger for Dummies!!!

- Tag five people you would like to give the award to.

1. My BFF, Kathy! Because she is always there to listen to me and never pass judgment. God as blessed me with a wonderful friend who I treasure very much! Now she has to start a blog and post this award! :)

2. My friend LJ. LJ is the most incredibly sweet sports fanatic I know. I love listening to her talk about all the sports stats and sports trivia that is stored in her head. And since I have boys that play a few different sports...LJ is always cheering for them. Some day she has to come visit me and watch them play IRL.

3. My friend Carol. The world's best Grandma!!! Despite her busy, busy life she is always so supportive of everyone and always seems to have just the right words to say. I love imagining you and your g/d zig zag walking...brings a smile to my face.

4. My friend Sheena. Another very busy SAHM who works very hard taking care of her family. Sheena is just one of those comfortable people who you can talk to about anything...it's like you have known her your whole life. And even though she is buried under Christmas projects at the moment...she has learned to check-in cuz she knows I will come looking for her.

5. My friend Joan. Who just like myself, recently started a blog. Way to go girl!! She has also ventured into the world of cooking...so proud of her. I know what it is like not to cook and not really want to some times. But she is doing incredibly well in boardening her cooking horizons. Yay!!! for stepping out into the unknown and conquering it!

I could list several other friends who deserve this award...but I know they have already received it...even more than once. You gals are incredible.

(((HUGS))) to you all!

Sweet Summer - Scrapbook Page Accents

I have been working on my second set of seasonal scrapbook page accents for a swap on SCS. I knew for my "summer" page accents I wanted to have an ice cream theme. I have a new Pure Innocence stamp set from MFT that I found at my LSS. I was thrilled!!! I had no idea the LSS carried them!

I used Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral and White CS for the accents. I used the CB swiss dots embossing folder to give the chocolate ice cream bar some texture. I also couldn't help but use my MS gooey border punch for my title.

Thanks for looking.

Scrapbook Page Accents

Hello fellow stampers and scrapbookers!

I have joined a swap on SCS for scrapbook page accents. I have created card candy before and really enjoyed doing that. So I figured scrapbook page accents would be just as fun and thought I would give it a try. I have to create a title and three page accents for each season. Today, I created my Fall accents. Still need to work on Summer, Winter and Spring but I do have some ideas swirling around in my head. Will post them here once they are completed.

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

No "Crabby" Mornings Here

Good Morning!!!

I found a bunch of clear $1.00 stamps at JoAnn's a few weeks ago and picked up a few to try out. I thought this crab was darling...and being the new owners of hermit crabs well I decided to use her to make a card. I struggled at first with exactly how to stamp her because of the bold markings on the shell. Black wasn't right. Then I tried stamping the image with Riding Hood Red and coloring the image in...but that was just too much. Finally, I just decided to stamp this cute lil crab in Riding Hood Red and then covered the entire image in VersaMark and embossed the image with Iridesent Ice embossing powder.

The sentiment comes with the stamp as well...however, I have learned that Hermit Crabs are nocturnal and are not up wishing us a good morning. I made the card much bigger than the standard size card so that I could fit the image along with the sentiment and the VersaMark sunshine in the background. I love that sunshine stamp (Peachy Keen Stamps) that was sent to me from my friend Lorie for my birthday last year.

Thanks for looking!

Surf's Up!

So I don't live anywhere near a nice beach and warm ocean but I sure wish I did. I would love to live near the beach where we could swim and play in the sand everyday. I love this little A Muse stamp of the jeep with the surfboard on top. I found this layout in the A Muse gallery and it works really great with the small stamps. I was pleased to find the colorful DP at my Michael's store. This is my second idea for a "tropical" themed card for a swap that I am in. Now to decide what card to use.......

Hoping you are enjoying some sunshine somewhere!

Thanks!

A few weeks ago I went to a class at my LSS to learn about Copics. I am still trying to learn to use my Copic markers to their full potential but this is a little card we made coloring with Copic markers. I love this image and DP the class instructor had us use to make the card. I use a lot of stickers when I do scrapbooking but never thought to use them for sentiments on my cards. I like the way she had us use the small letter stickers to make the sentiment. Off...for more practice with Copics. Thanks for looking.

Congratulations!

I made this card for a friend of mine who just moved into her own apartment. I really like this set from The Greeting Farm. I actually bought it to go with another set for an idea I had but was so excited when I found it had a sentiment with the word "apartment."

In Paradise.......

ALOHA!!!!

Well today was not a day for wishing to be in a tropical paradise. It was a beautiful sunny day here and I sat on my deck for a few hours and worked on my tan. However, come January or February I will be wishing for a tropical vacation. I love this designer paper from Stampin' Up! that is in the summer mini catalog. It's so bright and fun! And this is the first time I inked up "Sing" from The Hope & Grace Collection over at The Greeting Farm. I need a paradise themed card for a swap I am in on SCS and this might be my card for that. Although I do have another paradise card idea floating around in my head so...if I can get it down on paper you may see it here. Thanks for looking!

Have a great weekend!

Coffee...Gotta Have It!

Good Morning!!!!

Do you have your morning coffee? I cannot live without mine. Now my friend Kelly has suffered through a morning with no coffee in the house. My oh my...don't know how she did that! It would be very ugly here if I didn't have my coffee.

This lil angel is from Whipper Snapper Designs. Isn't she cute? I saw this stamp and knew I had to have her. The cute sunshine stamp in the background is from Peachy Keen Stamps. Hope you've had your coffee or tea or soda...whatever it takes for you in the morning!!!

Have a great day!

Family, Fun and a Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Since we are hosting a bbq at our house today to celebrate the 4th and will be visiting with family...I didn't make the usual patriotic card. I made a card relating to family. I used the Grammie stamp from TGF and I found this great DP called Grandma's Quilt yesterday at Michael's.

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful holiday with friends and family or just relaxing.

Be safe!

Howdy Y'all

YEEHAW!! I had an idea for a western themed card in my head all day today. So tonight I decided to put it down on paper. I have had the cowboy and covered wagon stamps (both from The Cat's Pajamas) for over a year now and they FINALLY saw some ink tonight. Found the sketch on SCS and wanted to try it for a card because I love layers. The Dirty Rodeo dp from The Greeting Farm worked great for this card, as did the Washi Tape (also from TGF) that I tried for the first time and I really like it. So here is my cowboy along with his BIG belt buckle. Thanks for looking.

Have a great day and wonderful July 4th weekend!

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