Godchick Designs

2009-05-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I know it's been awhile...I have good reason though :) It feels like I have lost my bloggin' mojo. Probably a result of not crafting consistently for the last little bit. I have been working on a couple things, but no pics of them yet.

The biggest reason why I haven't been too active here? Jeff had surgery on his mouth the beginning of May to attach chains and brackets to two teeth that are impacted in his upper palate. The hope is that they will be able to pull them down and they will be healthy teeth. The srugery was quite brutal for him and caused a significant amount of pain. Thankfully he is past the major pain portion and now deals with the pain when they adjust the chains to pull the teeth down. Ouch!

A couple days after Jeff's surgery, we found out that he was laid off. It was very unexpected. You never do expect this type of thing to happen. We are believing for good things to come out of this and for God's best. He is our Provider!

We'll hop back over to more crafty talk :)

I got it in my head that I wanted to make Bella her own hair ribbons and bows. I started to look online for instructions and found some. I have made her a couple so far and plan to make more. I'm having fun with them and want to make her a whole bunch! You know, to match all her outfits :) Plus I'm going to need a lot because she has done a great job and disassembling a couple I have made so far! I know I took a couple pics of her wearing the first one I made...but can I find it?! NO! I'll keep looking...

The latest project sitting on my table are tooth fairy tins. I have 11 of them almost finished, they just need some finishing touches. They are all stamped and colored. Now they are screaming for some embellishments!

On other crafty news...I have been toying with the idea of putting some of my cards into local gift shops and boutiques. The neat part is that just last week I got an email from a gal I know that is planning on opening a store that will showcase artist and crafters items in addition to secondhand furniture. I'm excited by this opportunity and hope for the best!

We have been having great weather the last week. Lots of time outside and we're getting a lot done around the house. Fun times!

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Cake Pops

2009-04-20T21:31:00.000-07:00

Hope you had a great weekend! The weather had predicted it to be a nice weekend, but not so much in these parts. Now...it wasn't nasty out or anything, but we've had enough icky weather here in the Pacific Northwest! We want sun!

Our blessing came today...it was beautiful!!! A glorious 75 degree sunny day!!! The best.

I had to run some errands this afternoon...getting ready for MOPS tomorrow. If I haven't mentioned, I am working in the Hospitality function of our MOPS group this year. It's a good and necessary position, but definitely has its share of work attached to it. We are having our Spring Tea tomorrow and each mom is going to receive a really pretty box filled with inspirational quotes. I had to cut the quotes that had been printed out into little strips to be put into the boxes. That's 50 sets of quotes with 13 cuts each. That means I made 650 cuts with my guillotine cutter today!!! My fingers were tired by the time I was done!

So, no card today. But instead I have something really fun *and yummy!* to share! I have started to casually follow Bakerella's blog. She has some of the neatest creations. If you like to bake you should check her out.

These are cake pops...and they are yummy!

Iwanted to take a better picture...but we ate them all before I got around to snapping a picture of them all, LOL!

The pops I made were done using Strawberry cake mix, vanilla frosting and Wilton Pink Candy Melts. These are really pretty easy to make. If you would like the recipe, here is Bakerella's.

Here's the recipe for those of you that can't wait....LOL!

Cake Pops

1 box cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)

1 can frosting (16 oz.)

Wax paper

Candy melts (1 lb. pkg.)

Lollipop sticks

After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
Mix thoroughly with 1 can frosting. (I use the back of a large spoon, but it may be easier to use fingers to mix together. But, be warned, it will get messy. Also, you may not need the entire can of frosting, so start out by using almost the entire can and add more if you need to.)
Roll mixture into quarter size balls and place on wax paper covered cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50)
Melt chocolate in the microwave per directions on package. (30 sec intervals, stirring in between.)
Dip the tip of your lollipop stick in a little of the melted candy coating and insert into the cake balls. (Insert a little less than halfway.)
Place them in the freezer for a little while to firm up.
Once firm, carefully insert the cake ball into the candy coating by holding the lollipop stick and rotating until covered. Once covered remove and softly tap and rotate until the excess chocolate falls off. Don't tap too hard or the cake ball will fall off, too.
Place in a styrofoam block to dry.

*recipe instructions Bakerella's

These were SO good! I preferred them chilled from the frig as opposed to room temperature. Personal preference.

I had some issues with them not dipping well...things like falling off the lollipop stick and such. I discovered that I had made my cakepops too large. Keep that in mind when rolling the balls, around a quarter size is probably the best for dipping. I'm thinking next time I try these I will see how a small cookie scoop would work for making them into little balls.

I hope you have fun and enjoy these if you give them a try. Let me know, I'd love to know how it went for you.

On completely different note. I am SO excited for my most recent purchase! I got the ok from my dear hubby to get a photo tent kit!!! I have been wanting one for ages. We have terrible light in our house for taking photographs, so it is a challenge for me to get nice photos of my creations. This is especially challenging when I would like to list some of my creations on Etsy. This includes my paper creations as well as the doll clothes that both my mother and I create. I can't wait for it to come. Hopefully it will be her within the week!

Construction Card

2009-04-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

Hello world! Here I am *again* LOL!!!

I guess you could say I took a little break from blogging for a bit. It wasn't planned and wasn't intentional...just one of those things. You know...busy living life...enjoying my sweet little Bella and husband, time with friends, etc.

Good news is I'm back and I have a card to share!

This card is for our nephew's third birthday. He turns 3 and is having his party this afternoon. I was racking my brains trying to think of something to get him. Keeping in mind that whatever I get is going to be for both his brother and himself. He has an older brother...they are 3 & 4...yup, I know what you're thinking...busy family, tired mom!

So I'm wandering the aisles of ToysRUs trying to find something. They are into the typical boy stuff...cars, construction, planes and the like. I ended up getting him a Matchbox cars construction set and extra construction vehicles. Along with the game Memory. What kid doesn't love Memory? I remember I did growing up.

On to the card :)

I whipped this up this afternoon while Bella was down for her nap. Ahh....I love nap time!

I had the perfect images for his card that I had received from the PIF image swap over at SCS. These cute little construction vehicles are from an old Stampin' Up! set. I'm not sure of the name, sorry.

I think these guys are SO cute! They were a lot of fun to color in too. I used my Copics...and of course I didn't keep track of what colors I used.

The layout for the card is Lauren's Saturday Sketch found here, I chose to use sketch mytimess30. This was a super fun sketch to use! I find I am using sketches more and more often as a starting point for my cards. They really help me. I often don't follow them to a 'T' but I love them as a place to begin. You can find the sketch here.

I used some creative liberty and flipped the layout so that it was vertical rather than horizontal. This just worked for me with the images I was using.

If you notice this is not your normal card size. It is roughly 3 1/2" x 8 1/2". So long and skinny. As an FYI...it fits nicely in a normal letter size envelope. Which is super nice and a great way to use up envelopes you already have at home!

All of the images were cut out using my detail scissors and them I pop dotted them onto the front of the card. The sentiment down in the bottom right corner is also pop-dotted, but with a double layer so that it sticks up a bit higher than the images.

If you're a follower of Lauren's blog (I *heart* her blog!) you'll know that she's looking to revamp the way she does the Saturday Sketches. Part of this revamping is looking for a new team to work with her sketches. I thought I'd join the chase and see what happens. It would be kinda fun to work with her...just an eensy-weensy little bit!!!

Gotta get ready for the birthday party! Have a great afternoon!

ETA: Jeff and I had the wrong day for the birthday party! We showed up at their house and found out the party is tomorrow! LOL! Luckily, our friends (Jeff's best friend...like family, hence the nephew) were home and we got to visit for a little bit with them...and laugh over our mistake!!!

Quick post...

2009-01-23T17:56:00.000-08:00

Hi!

I just wanted to pop in real quick and let everyone know that the rhinestones arrived! Yay! I will work on getting them packed up and on their way this weekend.

Just as an FYI, my mom had surgery today to repair a hiatal hernia. It went well! But she is supposed to be released tomorrow and I am the one who is picking her up and making sure she's ok and all that good stuff. I don't foresee any reason the rhinestones should be delayed in getting out, but wanted to let you know :)

Have a great weekend!

Blogaversary!!!

2009-01-18T20:02:00.000-08:00

Happy Blogaversary to Me!

Happy Blogaversary to Me!

Happy Blogaversary toooooo Meee-eeee-eeee!!!

Wow...I've been blogging for two years already! I can hardly believe it. I know, I haven't been the best of bloggers and by no means the most consistent. As I'm sure many of you can relate...I have the best of intentions and lots of ideas I want to share...I just don't seem to get that all translated into a blog post :)

I have hopes of being more consistent this year. I really want to share some recipes with you all. I already have some pictures on my computer of some things I've made. Can you say Caramel Apple Pie?!?! YUM! It is truly the one of the best I've had....love it! Hope you don't mind if I throw in some recipes from time to time.

I want to do something fun for my blogaversary...maybe some blog candy! I have to think about it and fiugre it out. Which I'll plan to do during my nice hot soak in the bath this evening. Ahhhh! R-E-L-A-X!

Thanks to everyone who peeks in here and especially to all of you who leave comments. They really do add a bright spot to my days. I enjoy the love that you all leave with your comments! Thank you!

Shopping Organizer

2009-01-15T13:49:00.000-08:00

Happy Thursday!

I have a fun little project to share today. But first a little bit of background...I know, I know...you just want to see and hear about the good stuff! LOL.

I was at a MOPS meeting a month or so ago and our topic was about saving money, smart shopping and coupon clipping. That type of stuff. We had a gal come and share her secrets to shopping with coupons, getting deals, etc. Well, the gals at my table got to talking about this and one shared a little shopping organizer she'd picked up at the local office supply store. It had pockets for reciepts and coupons. But it wasn't CUTE. You know it lacked some personality!

Anyway, we got to talking and I was looking at it and thought "Hey! I can make one of those!" *Lightbulb Moment* And I've got everything I need to make it too! Bonus! LOL. So we got to talking about it at our table and one of my friends said she'd get one from me if I made it. So here it it! Gina, if you're reading this, I'm sorry this is so late.

She likes brown and green, so I chose the papers with that in mind. I had a lot of fun putting this together. A little measuring here and there and wha-laa!

The most tedious part was putting the whole thing together with my Bind-it-All. I had to pull out my instruction booklet and make sure I had everything in the right order. Punching the holes threw me for a loop. I need to work on that some more and figure out some tips and tricks. I know there has to be a better way than what I was doing. Especially considering I was going with the good ole' "eyeball it" trick.

If anyone has any tips for the Bind-it-All....please share!

His Holy Name {1}

2009-01-12T12:11:00.000-08:00

This post is leaving me torn. I am super excited to share it with you, but I can't stand the photo I took! This picture does NOTHING to show how cute this project really is. *sigh* It is so bright and cheery in life and this photo makes it look blah and dismal.

To begin with, I've decided to play along in Patter's bi-weekly challenge this year. She is hosting a challenge study of God's attributes. I am SO excited to join in and play. I am hoping to play all year long and end the year with a scrapbook full of goodness :)

The first weeks challenge was the word Holy. You can see the details of it right {here}. There is also a grea post {here} with links to the introduction and each weeks word.

I really enjoyed finding the verses that were meaningful to me. I actually had three verses that I wanted to use, but there just wasn't room for the third one on the page I was making. I'm sure I could have squuezed it in and made it work, but I had already glued down some of the pieces. LOL.

Here are the verses that I chose:
Exodus 3:5
Psalm 77:12-14
Revelation 3:6-8

About the photograph. Argh! I think it stinks. I took the picture late at night, which is half the problem I'm sure. And the lighting in my craft room is not the greatest. You would never guess from the picture, but I used the brand new PTI Raspberry Fizz on this! The base page is Raspberry Fizz, which I love. It is such a bright and vibrant color...nothing at all like it shows in the picture.

And the rhinestones I used....they hardly show! I put rhinestones around the circle, which has the definition of holy. And there are also some rhinestones on the brackets that endcap the word holy as well as the brackets on the bottom of the page.

I need to work on my photography skills. I think I have a big lighting problem and need to find a work-around. Maybe I should try taking photos in my hallway, we have a bright florescent light out there.

If you have any tips, I'm open. I'd be happy to hear them!

On their way...

2009-01-12T12:09:00.000-08:00

The rhinestones, pearls and hearts have been ordered! Yay!

I was told by the rep. that they should go out from there either tomorrow or Wednesday. As always, once I get them I will work on packing them up and sending them on to everyone that ordered as quickly as possible.

Thanks again to everyone who participated in this share!

Rhinestone Share

2009-01-08T22:18:00.000-08:00

Time for more rhinestones and pearls! I’ve picked colors that will work well for this time of year and will be useful for all of your projects, whether it be winter, Valentine’s or spring.

I use these rhinestones all the time on my projects and find them very easy to use. They work so well on your cards, scrapbook pages, altered items and more. These rhinestones and pearls are acid and lignin free so, no worries about using them in your scrapbooks or with your photos.

I’m offering a new and fun item this time as well…hearts! They are very cute. Take a peak below at the picture and information on them.

The details of each specific share are listed below the picture of each rhinestone style. I’ve included pictures to show the colors included in each share, NOT THE QUANTITY. Please read the details of each share for quantity information.

The pictures shown do not show the full sparkle and shine of these rhinestones. It is difficult to get a picture that captures these as you see them in real life. :)

In the interest of the holidays and business at this time of year, I will keep this share open until January 8th.

Rhinestone Share

$25.00 + S/H

This share includes 11 different rhinestone colors. For each color listed below, you will receive 120 rhinestones with adhesive backing. The rhinestones are 3mm in size, a great size for all our card making and paper crafting needs!

Colors included:

Clear
Light Pink
Hot Pink
Red
Lavender
Purple
Light Green
Olive
Light Blue
Turquoise
Black

Pearl Share
$18.00 +S/H

This share includes 8 different colors of pearl adhesive backed stones. For each color listed below, you will receive 120 pearls with adhesive backing. The pearls are 3mm in size, a great size for using with our cards and paper crafted items.

Colors included are:

Pearl
Gold
Red
Hot Pink
Light Pink
Light Blue
Mint
Black

Heart Share
$8.00 +S/H

This share includes both silver and gold hearts. The picture above shows only the gold hearts. These are adhesive backed. These hearts are 10mm in size.

Included:
32 silver hearts
32 gold hearts

Details:

Both the rhinestones and pearl 'bling' are adhesive backed. Upon receiving them, you will notice there is an adhesive strip that attaches one line of rhinestones/pearls together. This is common in most adhesive rhinestones/bling. There are two ways you can easily separate them. One is to use scissors and cut between each rhinestone as you use them. The second is to use an exacto knife to cut the adhesive strip between each rhinestone. The exacto knife is also very handy to pick up the rhinestone with and attach it to your project. This is the method I use and I find it works very well. Hope this helps!

US shipping: flat $4.80 for Priority mail, regardless of the number of shares ordering. Insurance is optional and included at buyer's cost. Please let me know if you would like insurance.

Canadian & International shipping: please contact me for shipping quote. I am more than happy to work with international buyers.

I accept Paypal (preferred) and personal check. Paypal is fast and it's free to use! Personal checks must clear bank before items are sent. I will be ordering the product once the share closes. I reserve the right to make substitutions in the event of backorder or other situation.

I will keep you updated here on my blog and/or email. :) Shipping time may vary depending on the manufacturer's shipping schedule. It takes about a week for shipping from the manufacturer to my door, provided they are shipping on schedule. Once product reaches me, I will do my best to send them on to you in a timely fashion. Thank you for participating!

If you're ready, please send me an email to stamperchick@hotmail.com so that I may get your name on the share list. In your email please include the share(s) you would like, name, address and email. Please do not send payment until I have responded to your email.

Feel free to link to this on your own blog if you wish!

Copic Marker Storage...

2008-12-02T15:10:00.000-08:00

Hi! I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving! We headed down to my sister-in-laws for the big feast and had a nice time. This was Bella's first time sleeping away from home and I had the normal first time anxieties :) She did great and was such a trooper. Didn't have any troubles going to sleep and staying on her routine. God is good!

Since it'd been so long since I have posted something crafty I thought I'd rustle something up to show you. You'd think since I've been doing so much for the craft shows I'm in this year that I'd have taken the time to snap some pictures, right? Wrong! I haven't a one from any of the shows this year or of the things I've been making! Sheesh! I have one more show starting this Wednesday and running through Saturday...I'm hoping to get some pictures from that show.

I did manage to find a few pictures of how I'm storing my Copic markers. So I'm sharing those today.

My inspiration in using this for my Copics was found on another gal's blog and of course I can't remember what blog it was or who she is! I was blog surfing the day I ran across this and I must not have saved it.

This is a fabulous little organizer. It spins and will hold SO much! I am no where near having it full and there is still plenty of room for things. The top portion of the holder is separated into 4 sections. It makes an 'X' shape, which works quite well with my Copics. I have the Copics in two of the sections and the other two hold a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I have a pair of scissors, liquid snow(like liquid applique, but a different name), niji waterbrush, cd holding my tag nesties & a few more random things.

If you look at the side, there is a little drawer right there. I have put all of my Stampin' Up markers in there. They fit perfectly. I am just a few away from having all 48 colors (I have the ones I need right now) and there is still room for the complete set. I was trying to get all my coloring mediums and tools in one spot and the SU markers was posing a problem for me. Then I thought of this and I love it! Works great and the best part is that they are still able to lie on their sides.

On the other side of the holder, there is a little pull out set of three drawers, which you can't see from the view of the picture here. Inside that I have a tiny measuring tape, felt pads for my alcohol ink applicator and some rubber bands.

Now, you're probably wondering where I got this. It came from one of our favorite stores....Target! If I remember correctly, it was only $19.99...a great buy for the amount of storage this puppy has! Honestly, I'm not sure if they still carry them or not...but I love it and think it's great!

Happy Birthday...

2008-11-20T12:04:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday to Me!
Happy Birthday to Me!
Happy Birthday tooooooooooooooo Me!!!

You got it...today's my birthday! I am officially 31 today. I was telling DH last night that it hasn't felt like my birthday was coming up this year...and here it it! Once November hits, I usually have the "it's my birthday soon!" and start to get excited for it. Now, it's not that I'm dreading turning 31. It's more along the lines of I have been so busy that I haven't even stopped to think and absorb the fact that it is my birthday.

I am looking forward to this evening though. My mom is coming over to watch Bella and DH and I are going to have dinner out at Maggiano's. I LOVE Maggiano's....it is Yummalicious! They have the best Italian food and the atmosphere is great.

And thank you all for the wonderful words of encouragement about my dear Atilla. Thanks!

In memory of...

2008-11-07T23:42:00.000-08:00

It's been almost two weeks and I know this is still going to be hard. I can already feel myself getting all teary.

That first sentence was from 10/16. Ok, I had to stop back then and leave this post. Hopefully I can work on this now a bit better. Nope, Still teary.

On October 4th we said our goodbyes to our beloved little Yorkie, Atilla. He had such a great life...and a long one too. He was one day from his 17th birthday.

I loved him so much. He was my first dog....ever. My parents got him for me as a Christmas gift during my 9th grade year of junior high. It was a complete surprise and I loved it! From day one he was a ball of energy...going at top speed and letting his presence be known. Atilla had such a great personality...a perfect fit for our house. Of course he was also very stubborn.

I miss him.

Some of his nicknames:

Tilla-bug

Tilla

Bubba

This picture is of Atilla and Chancy, our Toy Poodle.

I have so many things that I'd like to say about him, but the words just are not coming. I'm sure many of you understand what I am trying to say. I just felt like I needed to post about this...I hemmed and hawed over it...and just kept feeling like I needed to share this. This is in part why I haven't been posting frequently the last few weeks. That and I've been very busy getting ready for the craft shows I am participating in this year. My first one is going on right now. From what I can tell, I am pleased with what I've sold so far. Hopefully I can get some pics of my display before I tear down and share with you.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

And I leave you with the words of a favorite song of mine, by Casting Crowns:

"Praise You In This Storm"

I was sure by now

God You would have reached down

And wiped our tears away

Stepped in and saved the day

But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rollsI

barely hear Your whisper through the rain

"I'm with you"

And as Your mercy falls

I raise my hands and praise the God who gives

And takes away

And I'll praise You in this storm

And I will lift my hands

For You are who You are

No matter where I am

And every tear I've cried

You hold in Your hand

You never left my side

And though my heart is torn

I will praise You in this storm

I remember when

I stumbled in the wind

You heard my cry to you

And you raised me up again

My strength is almost gone

How can I carry on

If I can't find You

But as the thunder rolls

I barely hear You whisper through the rain

"I'm with you"

And as Your mercy falls

I raise my hands and praise the God who gives

And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills

Where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord

The Maker of Heaven and Earth

So Handy...

2008-10-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

So I'm out browsing around and want to check out the new Marvy Snowflake punches I've been hearing about over on Nichole's blog for PTI. I decide to meander on over to the Marvy website and I find this cool, neato guide!

Check this out...it's a guide to the popular Marvy punches showing how they layer together. This is such a neat and handy thing to have around. You can check it out for you self {here}.

Now, I don't have all of these punches...not even close! But I love the visual it gives. Really helpful when working on our projects to see how they look layered together and then it is SO easy to tell what punch is what by the color coding. Did you notice that? *I know you all did!* They've color coded the guide to match the color of each punch size.

I was just so excited I had to share this find with you all!

Blog Candy sighting!!!

2008-10-02T20:09:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

I scoped an awesome blog candy over at Lim's blog ~here~. Go check it out :)

Amazing...

2008-09-23T22:47:00.000-07:00

People can be so amazing! Have you checked out what's been going on over at Cammie's blog? If not take a looksie at her blog ~here~

You have a chance to win some AMAZING blog candy! It's valued at well over $1000!!!

May Arts Ribbon Share CLOSED

2008-09-17T15:10:00.000-07:00

I’m excited to offer this wonderful May Arts ribbon to you. May Arts is definitely one of my favorite companies for ribbon because they offer so many excellent selections, it is hard to choose just a few. You’ll find a nice assortment ranging from velvet to satin to polka dots (we have to have our polka dots!).

The details of each specific ribbon share are listed below the picture of each ribbon style. I’ve included pictures to show the colors included in each share, NOT THE QUANTITY. The details for yardage included in each share are explained below.

I am happy to order full rolls of any May Arts ribbon for you. Contact me and I can get you the pricing.

Details for ordering are at the bottom of this post.

Velvet Ricrac
3/8” wide
2 yards of each color
15 colors
45 yards total
$22.00

Reversible Satin
1” wide
2.5 yards of each color
14 colors
35 yards total
$28.00

Solid Two Tone
3/8” wide
2.5 yards of each color
24 colors
60 yards total
$24.00

Solid Textured Two Tone
5/8” wide
3 yards of each color
10 colors
30 yards total
$13.00

Polka Dot Organdy
3/8” wide
2.5 yards of each color
18 colors
45 yards total
$20.00

US shipping is $4.80 for Priority mail regardless of the quantity ordered. Insurance is optional and included at buyer's cost. Please let me know if you would like insurance.

Canadian & International customers: please contact me for shipping quote.

I accept Paypal (preferred) and personal check. Paypal is fast and it's free to use! Personal checks must clear bank before items are sent. I will be ordering the product once payment is received from share participants. I reserve the right to make substitutions in the event of backorder or other situation.

I will keep you updated here on my blog. :) Please subscribe to my blog so that you are kept up to date.

Shipping time may vary depending on the manufacturer's shipping schedule. Once product reaches me, I will do my best to send them on to you in a timely fashion. Thank you for participating!

If you're ready, please send me an email to stamperchick@hotmail.com so that I may get your name on the share list. Please do not send payment until I have responded to your email.

In your email please include this information:

Name
Address
Email
Items ordering

Life

2008-09-12T13:45:00.000-07:00

Ahh...life...you know how it goes.

It flies by and before you know it, it's been a long time since you posted anything on your blog! I've been quite busy the last few weeks working on getting things ready for MOPS this year. I'm excited for it to start...it's going to be fun! Along the way we left our camera at a friends house, so I haven't been able to take pictures of my latest cards and creations. Thankfully, we've got it back...just haven't gotten around to taking pictures yet.

This past week I caught a sinus/head cold which hasn't been fun. But thankfully I don't think it's really bad and I seem to be getting better already. At least the stuffiness isn't as bad.

I do have some fun in store for you! I'm putting together the final details of a May Arts Ribbon Share!!! I've picked out some very fun ribbons...thanks in part to everyone's fabulous input from a couple months ago :) Be on the lookout for it in a few days. I'd post it now, but I won't be in town for a couple days and I'd like to be able to respond to any questions, etc.

I hope you're as excited about it as me!

Hope everyone has a spectacular weekend!

Altered Letters

2008-08-30T11:54:00.000-07:00

I've had this project done for some time now...I got them hung on her wall, then I forgot to take pictures of it :)

I finally took the pics because I wanted to share them with y'all. And wouldn't you know it...I forgot to upload them and post them here! *grin*

Bella is so excited to share her pretty letters with you! I couldn't show you these without showing the little cutie they are for.

I found these letters at Michael's this spring/summer. They are made of MDF and were very easy to alter. I picked out the patterned paper, which is K&Company. I'm going to use this paper for her scrapbook as well. That's a whole other story...I haven't even started her scrapbook yet!!! Ack! I still need to scrap my wedding, honeymoon, and many other events!

These were very easy and fun to do. I traced each letter onto the patterned paper, cut it out and then mod podged it onto the letter. After I had each letter covered I painted the edges of each letter with pink paint so they look all pretty.

I went with the simple & pretty look for embellishing these letters. Each letter has one embellishment like rhinestones, primas, ribbon, etc.

As you can see I hung them up on the wall right above her crib. Just to make sure they are super safe I used double sided foam tape meant to hang things on walls.

Enjoy!

Good News!

2008-08-20T10:17:00.001-07:00

This is to all my ladies that participated in the last rhinestone and pearl share.

I am very happy to announce that the remaining rhinestones and pearls have been mailed and are on their way to you!!! Whoo-hoo!

Have fun crafting and remember I love to see pictures of what you create!

SFYTT...

2008-08-19T22:28:00.000-07:00

Whoo-hoo! I've made a card! It has been what feels like forever since I've made a card. The past few weeks I've been working on rearranging and reorganizing my craft room. I moved some tables around and such. I'll have to get some pics of it.

This is the SFYTT found over at Iheart2stamp's blog. I think this is a really fun sketch!

I have been itching to use my Tilda's that I received from my awesome PIF friends. I'm not sure of the name of this one, but isn't she cute? I've been toying with the idea of joining the Magnolia Stamp Club. I'm still thinking about it.

It's hard to tell from this picture, but her wings are all sparkly thanks to the Clear Spica Glitter pen from Copic. I also dotted Baby Blue Stickles onto the flowers of her dress. Under the glitter they are a yellowy-apricot color. The Stickles were also put on the flower in the middle of the sentiment. The center of the flower is covered with yellow spica glitter pen to make it really sparkly!

I dug through my Primas and found these three flowers that I layered together to make this perfect accent for the card. I think it is so cute!

Hope you have a wonderful start to your week!

Recipe:
Stamps: Tilda by Magnolia, SU Riveting
Paper: Cool Caribbean, Almost Apricot, DCWV Nana's Nursery
Ink: Cool Caribbean, Black (unsure as this was a PIF)
Accessories: Baby Blue Stickles, Clear Spica Glitter pen, Yellow Spica Glitter pen, Prima Flowers, 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" circle punches

Sweet Baby...

2008-08-17T19:56:00.001-07:00

Isn't she the cutest? Yes, I think so!

A cutie and a stinker! This little Bella just learned how to pull herself up in her crib...and anything else she can manage. As much as we love it, there is also a downside. Naps and bedtime have become...well, interesting. Where we once had a sweet baby that would go to sleep without much fuss (she'd fuss and carry on for a bit, but no big deal...if she was tired she'd end up tossing and turning for a bit, then fall asleep).

Now...we have a Bella who immediately upon being put in her crib stands up and holds onto her crib rail! When we leave the room...the crying begins. The full on "I am so upset with you right now!" cry. She finally cries herself to sleep.

It sounds like this is a phase and she'll get through it. Anyone else have this happen and tips they can share?

Rhinestone/Pearl Update

2008-08-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

Hi! Hope you are having a spectacular weekend! We are experiencing hot weather up here in the Seattle area...it's going to hit the high 90s today! Whew!

I wanted to let everyone in the rhinestone and pearl shares that I was notified the remaining items have been shipped and are on their way to me. I am hoping to receive them next week. Once I get them I will be packing them up and sending them on to those that are waiting for them.

Thanks for being so patient.

Alana

Waiting...

2008-08-10T21:20:00.000-07:00

I'm still waiting for the package of remaining rhinestones and pearls to arrive. Once it arrives I will be packing them up and sending the remaining ones out to you.

Another Bella

2008-08-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

The Bella's are just so fun! They have to be one of my favorite stamp lines out there. Well, I do have a number of other favorites too! LOL!

I made this card for my mom's birthday, which was in June. This is just up her alley, she loves to sew. When she was young, in her twenties, she would make her own clothes. I remember her telling me how she's stay up till the wee hours of the morning working on the outfit she was going to wear to work the next day! How neat is that? Not only making your own outfits, but doing the night before you wear it? Wow.

This card uses some of my mom's favorite colors, pink and green. I didn't realize it when I made the card, but I used the same Basic Grey patterned paper as her Mother's day card.

I got the image from one of my PIF friends. What a great group of gals! The PIF image swap group can be found here at SCS. That's the link for the current round we're in.

The super cute flower embellishments were done using bridal flowers found at Michael's. I got this wonderful idea from Lauren. The flowers were originally shimmery silver, but I colored them with my pink Copic marker and now they're this pretty shimmery pink. I used the pink rhinestones from my shares in the middle of each flower.

Oh, and did you notice the rhinestone in her hair? I thought that was a cute idea!

After looking at this card, I would do a couple things different. First, I would ground the Bella. She needs something to stand on! I think I missed this when I made the card because I was in such a hurry to get it done and put with mom's present. That's what I get for doing things last minute. :)

I think I would also add an embellishment of some kind to the upper right or left hand corner of the image. It needs something there. Maybe I'll redo this card and fix it up.

Recipe:
Stamps: Fashionista Bella from Stamping Bella
Ink: unsure as this was a PIF
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, patterned paper by Basic Grey
Accessories: Copics, Rhinestones, Bridal flowers

Super Mom

2008-08-04T09:24:00.000-07:00

This was the card I made for my mom this past Mother's day. I had fun with it...the Bella's are so cute!

I paper-pieced the skirt on Super Bella and colored in the rest of her using my Copics. Her cape was made sparkly by the addition of Stickles! Gotta love the glitter! LOL!

This card was perfect for my mom, as I truly do believe she is a super mom. I love her to pieces and couldn't imagine what my life would be like if she were not in it.

I hope you have a wonderful start to your week!

Recipe:

Stamps: Super Bella from Stamping Bella, Snap Stamps
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine (sentiment)
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Certainly Celery, patterned paper by Basic Grey
Accesories: Swiss Dot Cuttlebug folder, SU scallop punch, Copics, Stickles

An Explanation...

2008-07-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

I have had a couple comments about the rhinestone and bling share and feel like I should try to clear up some things. Apparently, the picture I posted of the rhinestones and pearls must have been misleading in that it was showing what would be received in the order. This was not my intention at all. The picture I posted was of all the product I received from the vendor on my very first share order and was solely to show what the product looked like. I am very sorry for the confusion and will make corrections to my blog before my next share to avoid this in the future. If anyone feels they did not get what they expected or in any other way are unsatisfied with the product, I will give a full refund if you send the product back to me. Again, I am sorry for any confusion this may have caused.

Sincerely,

Alana

And the winner is...

2008-07-25T21:37:00.000-07:00

It's time to announce the blog candy winner!!!

I'm so excited to find out who will be getting the candy! Let's see, random.org generated this for the winning number:

Here are your random numbers:

6

Timestamp: 2008-07-26 04:36:59 UTC

And the winner is....

~Michelle~ said...
Oh my...what a beautimous pile of stamping goodness!! Yummy!I'd consider a May Arts Ribbon Share. I like soft pretty ribbons that tie nicely and lay flat. I love the bling...can't wait until it shows up.....sorry you have problems to iron out with it....thanks for doing that!!!

Congrats Michelle! If you will email me your snail mail address I will get this in the mail to you!

Thanks to everyone who commented! I loved reading everyone's comments and it was really helpful to have your thoughts on future shares. It sounds like there is a lot of interest in embellishmenst. Especially ribbon!

Be on the lookout ladies...

2008-07-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

I've mailed the bling! You should be receiving it in a few days if not sooner! Now...what you'll be receiving is the bling I had on hand. I will be sending the remaing out via First Class mail once I receive it, which should be in a week or so. The company is waiting for one item to get in stock and then will be sending everything out together to me.

For those of you that contacted me saying to hold your package until all of it arrives, I was able to do that for most of you. Some of you contacted me just after I went to the post office! Isn't that how life goes sometimes? LOL!

I hope you enjoy and create many wonderful things with this bling! I'd love to see what you've made with it too! Feel free to post links to your creations here so I (and everyone else!) can see!

Rhinestone Update...

2008-07-22T22:13:00.000-07:00

So...I must confess...I am human!!! I had the absolute best of intentions of getting the rhinestones in the mail on Monday...but life got in the way! I had a baby who needed my attention (among other things!) and getting to the post office just didn't quite work out that day.

The good news is that I have straightened things out with the company and should be getting the rhinestones and pearls that were missing from the order in a week or so. I am waiting on the red and orange rhinestones and the red pearls. Unless you have indicated you want me to hold your order, I will be sending out the product I have in hand and then sending the remaining once I receive it.

Thank you so much for your understanding. This little hitch was completely unforseen! I so appreciate all the kind words of understanding that have been posted! They mean so much!

Bling Share Update

2008-07-19T22:50:00.001-07:00

I should be getting an update from the company on the status of the 'mistakes' in the order on Monday. It would take more time than it's worth to explain all the details, but let's just say the company is in the process of changing some things and we got caught in the middle of it! To sum up the important stuff...two rhinestone colors (red & orange) and one pearl color (red) were not sent with the order. Come Monday, I should have an idea with what's happening on those items.

Thanks to all of you ladies participating for being so patient and understanding during this unforseeen obstacle. I know you are all waiting to get your hands on your rhinestones and pearls!!!

My plan is to send the product I have in hand out to you on Monday. However if you would rather wait for me to send you all of the product in its entirety I will be happy to do so! Please let me know if you would like me to hold onto your order and send it all out together, otherwise I will be sending what I have out. To let me know if you'd like your order held email me or post a comment by Monday afternoon at the latest.

The bling has arrived!

2008-07-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

I was so excited when I came home and opened a nice, big box of rhinestones and pearls!!!

Then in the midst of my excitement...I find I will be calling the company in the morning. There are a few mistakes that need to be corrected. I was sent some incorrect items, an item was out of stock, etc.

I want to completely apologize for this little hitch! I know you are all patiently waiting for your rhinestones and pearls! My plan is to send out the bling I do have in hand to everyone...as long as the company doesn't want me to do something crazy like send it all back! Ack...well, let's not even think about that! LOL! I will be calling them tomorrow and sorting this all out. Let's just say I'm not looking forward to sorting this all out over the phone.

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding! These things do happen from time to time...

Blog Candy!

2008-07-17T14:14:00.001-07:00

Welcome to my first ever blog candy giveaway!

I've put together an assortment of different stamping goodies for the lucky winner! Included are an assortment of various papercrafted items, a card kit from Creating Keepsakes, two unmounted red rubber stamps, some Stampin Up! mini stamps (these are the ones that demos would give as hostess gifts, etc), a Versamagic DewDrop in Pixie Dust (brand new!) and a tote bag to hold everything!

My one requirement for entering is for you to tell me what you would like to see shares of in the future? Would you like a ribbon share (I have access to May Arts ribbon)? How about other items? Tell me what you'd like to see offered in a share. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I'll draw a winner for this blog candy on July 25. I'll be using random.org to generate a winning number.

Thanks!

On it's way!

2008-07-09T22:38:00.000-07:00

The bling has been ordered and is on its way! The rep I spoke with told me that it should be here in about two weeks. I know, I know...it sounds like forever! But I will tell you that my last order with them did not take that long to reach me, it was about a week. And rest assured that I will get that bling packed up and on its way to you just as fast as I can once it reaches me!

FYI...

2008-07-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

Just and FYI for the rhinestone and pearl share...

This afternoon I'm going to be sending Paypal invoices to those who I have not yet received payment from and who have not indicated they are sending me a check or money order.

If you receive an invoice and have already paid, please, please, please email me or post a comment so that I can check my records.

Thanks!

If your name is...

2008-07-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

If you are Cindy C. and you've signed up for the rhinestone and pearl share please post a comment here or email me!

I've tried responding to your email a few times and I keep getting a message that it is undeliverable.

4th of July!

2008-07-03T23:25:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!!!

Have fun, be safe! No trips to the emergency room, k?

This will be DD's first 4th of July...I don't think she'll remember much of it, only being 8 months old! I wonder how she'll do when the fireworks start to go off?! We'll see!

Hope you all have a wonderful day with family & friends!

A BIG thanks to all the people that choose to serve our country! Thanks for all you do!

One Spot in Pearl Share...

2008-07-03T23:01:00.000-07:00

I have ONE spot in the pearl share available!

The first one to email me will get the space.

ETA: This spot has been filled! Thanks!

Rhinestones & Pearls! FULL!

2008-07-03T20:34:00.000-07:00

This picture depicts rhinestone colors in my previous rhinestone share. These are NOT the colors for this current share!

ETA: These shares are FULL!

You all pulled my arm and I added a third group to each share! Yay! But I am stopping there. Don't fret if you missed out on a spot in this share....I plan on offering these again! Thank you so much for joining this share and expressing interest!

It’s bling share time!!!

I LOVE these rhinestones and pearls! The colors are great and such a variety! These are super easy to use on your cards, scrapbook pages, altered items and more! You could even decorate your cell phone if you wanted! The ideas and uses for these rhinestones and pearls are endless!

Group 2

1. Christine P.

2. Kim R.

3. Shannah

4. Terry Y.

5. Kathleen N.

6. Sheryl W.

7. Kathy J.

8. Avital

9. Joan F.

10. Tiffany E.

11. Bev H.

12. Karen U.

Group 3

1. Lisa P.

2. Chris D.

3. Stephanie O.

4. Terry M.

5. Jannette C.

6. Cindy C.

7. Charlene H.

8. Suzanne B.

9. Jennifer W.

10. Traci B.

11. Traci K.

12. Ellen S.

Pearl Share$11.25 +S/H

This share includes 5 different colors of pearl bling. For each color listed below, you will receive 120 pearls with adhesive backing. That's 600 pearls in all!!! Wow! The pearls are 3mm in size, a great size for using with our cards and papercrafted items.

Colors included are:

Black
Hot Pink
Gold
Red
Yellow

Pearl Share Participants:

Group1
1. Alana
2. Emily G.
3. Emily G.
4. Mandy R.
5. Roxanne G.
6. Ann I.
7. Renee H.
8. Elaine P.
9. Betty M.
10. Kelly S.
11. Jessica V.
12. Cindi L.

Group 2

1.Christine P.

2. Kim R.

3. Shannah

4. Terry Y.

5. Kathleen N.

6. Sheryl W.

7. Kathy J.

8. Avital

9. Joan F.

10. Tiffany E.

11. Bev H.

12. Karen U.

Group 3

1. Lisa P.

2. Chris D.

3. Stephanie O.

4. Terry M.

5. Jannette C.

6. Cindy C.

7. Charlene H.

8. Deb

9. Traci B.

10. Traci K.

11. Ellen S.

12. Sheila

Details:

Both the rhinestones and pearl 'bling' are adhesive. Upon receiving them, you will notice there is an adhesive strip that attaches one line of rhinestones/pearls together. This is common in most adhesive rhinestones/bling. There are two ways you can easily separate them. One is to use scissors and cut between each rhinstone as you use them. The second is to use an exacto knife to cut the adhesive strip between each rhinestone. The exacto knife is also very handy to pick up the rhinestone with and attach it to your project. This is the method I use and I find it works very well! Hope this helps!

US shipping is $4.80 for Priority mail, this is the shipping amount for one share or both. Insurance is optional and included at buyer's cost. Please let me know if you would like insurance.

Canadian & International shipping: please contact me for shipping quote.

I accept Paypal (preferred) and personal check. Paypal is fast and it's free to use! Personal checks must clear bank before items are sent. I will be ordering the product once payment is received from share participants. I reserve the right to make substitutions in the event of backorder or other situation.

I will keep you updated here on my blog. :) Shipping time may vary depending on the manufacturer's shipping schedule. It takes about a week for shipping from the manufacturer to my door, provided they are shipping on schedule. Once product reaches me, I will do my best to send them on to you in a timely fashion. Thank you for participating!

If you're ready, please send me an email to stamperchick@hotmail.com so that I may get your name on the share list. In your email please include the share(s) you are interested in and contact information. Please do not send payment until I have responded to your email.

Feel free to link to this on your own blog if you wish!

3 Column Source

2008-07-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

I've been asked where I found out how to change my blog over to a 3 column. I am SO happy to share this with you! I found this article very easy to follow, and I am what you would call a beginner in the world of HTML.

In all, this took me somewhere between 30 minutes to 45 minutes to follow the directions and change my blog over to a 3 column.

This is where you'll want to go: {here}

I bookmarked this page so it's easy for me to find. I think I'll also save the text on my computer, just in case something happens to this site. You never know.

I've started poking around on this site and found a number of other useful and helpful articles to help me spruce up my blog. I'm going to be working on my header and blog background next!

3 columns!

2008-07-02T13:56:00.000-07:00

Yay! I figured it out!

I am SO happy to say that I did this all on my lonesome. I didn't use a template already configured...I added the HTML coding in all by myself!!! I finally found a really great site that walked me through altering my HTML code to make a 3 column template. This site is really great and easy to understand. I've also found some great tips and such to help my with altering my blog in other areas, such as header & coloring your blog.

I'm excited!!!

more blog rantings!

2008-06-27T13:05:00.001-07:00

I will find the look I'm after for this blog!!! I will, I will, I will! *giving myself a pep talk!*

So, what I think I've decided to do is not mess with my template *as in trying to change it over to a 3 column* and just re-do all my blog links and widgets I had set up. I know that I will not be able to remember each person I have linked, so if I miss you and you'd like to be linked here, just post a comment and I'll take care of it!

In my perusing for blog things, I found out that wordpress.org is a software solution *it's another version of wordpress* where I can host my own blog. DH and I had been talking about setting up our own server, so that may be the way this blog ends up going. Which would be so nice...from what I understand you have complete control over all the ins and outs of your blog. We've been thinking of doing the server thing because we'd like to be able to share videos of DD with family and friends. I'll let you know if anything comes of it.

Thanks for bearing with me!

Frustrated..

2008-06-25T11:52:00.000-07:00

So in my quest to make my blog look pretty I've now wiped out all my links, about me, blog rolls, etc...

Fun times! I'm not going to even attempt to put them back in until I figure out how I want my blog to look and get that settled. And apparently there is some problem with uploading templates to blogger right now. I keep getting an error message when I try...it will work itself out!

FYI

2008-06-23T12:06:00.000-07:00

I'm playing around with my blogger template right now. Trying to find a style that I like best. So bear with me if it looks funky for a bit...I'm working on it!

My camera has died....

2008-06-19T09:56:00.001-07:00

Oh, I'm so bummed...my camera seems to have bit the dust!

I just started an Etsy store a little bit ago...I'll link to it here soon. Right now it has mostly doll clothes that my mother and I sell and some other crafty goodness. Well, ok, I really only have 2 items in it right now! LOL. My goal is to list some of my papercrafted items as well as other crafts we make and doll clothes. The good news? I've already sold one thing! YAY! I sold a doll dress to a gal in Spain. Can you believe it? Spain! How cool.

Anyway, back to my camera....I was over at my mom's a couple days ago to take some pics of things we want to list on Etsy. I get things all set up, turn the camera on...and, what?!? My camera turns right off again. I try it again a few more times...and same thing! I thought it was my battery. So I go home and recharge my battery...no such luck. Now, with a charged battery my camera won't even turn on! I don't know what the deal is. But with the battery my camera uses it's not cheap. I think they are like $50 or so. For that price I might as well get a new camera. I've kinda been wanting one anyway. I would love to have a nice compact one that I can stick in my purse and it's not bulky. You know, for all those great spur of the moment shots.

My camera is about 7 or 8 years old. So I can't say I'm surprised it's acting up. It's just a bummer cuz I have at on of cards I've been working on that I have no pics of to show you! And I've been being a bad blogger and haven't shown you any new fun stuff in ages!

I'm also going to post another bling share soon. This will be for the remaining colors that were not in the previous share I hosted. Keep an eye out for it! The bling is SO much fun!

ETA: I'm not totally without a camera...I have my DH's that I can use! His is a pretty nice one...so I have to work a little bit more to make sure I get niec shots as I'm not used to all the settings on his! So, thankfully, I'm not totally without!

Ribbon Bows For Sale

2008-06-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't want to save time and not have to fiddle with tying a bow? How about just picking out your bow, adding adhesive...and wha-la! you're done!

I've got pre-tied bows in three colors for sale:

Yellow Grosgrain (7/16th" wide)
Blue Satin (1/4" wide)
Yellow Satin (3/8" wide)

Measurements are as accurate as I could read on the ruler I had.

10 bows/$1 ~ all 10 bows will be the same color, there will be no mixing of colors in one bag.

I accept Paypal. Shipping will be done via USPS Mail. I should be able to send them via First Class, I can give you a shipping price dependent upon the number of bows you get.

If you have any questions, please email me.

New Goodies!

2008-05-21T21:45:00.000-07:00

Check out my haul at the stamp show I went to last weekend! WOW, is all I can say! I had such a fun time while I was there. It was packed with ladies when I got there...typical for early Saturday. I went to this show last year, so I new what to expect. While walking around I did notice that there weren't as many vendors as in the past.

But on to the good stuff! I really did come home with a LOT of new rubbah! I scored big at one booth that was selling their bare rubbah super cheap! I have duplicates of some of them, so I might be selling some of them here. Rubber Soul was also there and they had a table full of clear stamps for a dollar each! I ended up with a number of clear stamps from them...I scored big on getting some invitation and announcements stamps.

And Crafty Secrets was there! I have been admiring their stamps from afar *oogling over them online* and to see them in person! WOW! The owner of the company was there and super nice. She was chatting with all the gals visiting and oogling the great things in the booth. She had a TON of samples out and thankfully I had my camera with me to capture a few shots. I came home with a couple sets to try out. I love the vintage style, but I'm not sure how I'll do at capturing it on paper.

One of the local stores was there with there specialty. They do the Punch-Ins (I think that's what they are called). The little floral punches that are used to decorate cards and such. They have a line of stamps made to coordinate and be used with the punches. It's really neat, but I know I'm not explaining it as well as I could. Anyway, I resisted the punches, as that's not my thing right now...and got two bottles of fun flock from them. They had it buy one get one free! It wasn't the Stampendous brand, but looked just the same to me! I got yellow and brown.

And my biggest purchase?!?! I am SO excited about this one! Not that the others aren't exciting...but I GOT A SCOREPAL!!!!!!!!!!! *big squeal* I can't wait to pull this puppy out and start playing with it. The A Muse booth there had a make and take using the score-pal. I've been eyeing one for some time now and it's been on my to get list....but let me tell you that seeing it demo'd online is FAR different from actually USING it! It is SO great! I think I'm going to love this!

I had a great time...now all I have to do is find some time to use everything!

The bling...

2008-05-16T14:46:00.000-07:00

Hi gals! Just wanted to post a quick update. I've got the rhinestones and pearls ready to mail out...labels adressed...bling ready to come home to you! I had planned on going to the post office today, but somehow a nice migraine got in the way of those plans. I was able to stop it before it really got started by taking my meds. So thankful those work. Now I'm left with a nice upper back and neckache (side effect of the meds). Yuck. Anywho, I'm planning on either using the Automated Postal Machine this weekend or going to the post office on Monday. And to my Canadian gal....I've got to take your package to a real live person, they won't let me use the APC to mail it! So yours will be going out on Monday either way. Thanks for understanding...I know you're anxious to get your bling!

A-Muse-A-Palooza!

2008-05-15T16:12:00.000-07:00

Check out what's here! Ok, well almost here! I'm so excited! Last year I didn't actively participate in this, but I'm hoping to change that this year.

All the scoop on Amuseapalooza is found over here on their blog or on their webpage.

Oh Happy Day!!!

2008-05-14T10:30:00.000-07:00

Lookie, lookie! Look what arrived!!! Oh, the glorious bling! Here's a quick pic I took of all the rhinestones and all the pearls I ordered.

I'm going to be working on packing these up and addressing labels today, along with a trip to the store for some needed household items (namely food *wink*)

Something I noticed...for some reason the 'natural' pearl color only has four strips of stones while the others have five. If I would have known this before I would have posted that info right away. The sales rep had no answer for either. Please accept my apologies for this.

Fun Thing...

2008-05-11T20:24:00.001-07:00

70%

Kind of a fun quiz...especially since we're all the creative types with our stampin', scrappin' & crafts!!!

Share Update

2008-05-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

Hi gals! I just checked and my card has been charged for the bling! So, that said, I'm assuming that means its been shipped. Since it's coming via UPS I am hoping for it sometime this week. Hoping, hoping, hoping!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

This was a card I made a couple of to have on hand. My first time playing with this set by My Favorite Things. It's such a cute set! And so neat for Mother's Day!

I apologize for the dark photo, I was using my hubby's camera and the macro setting didn't work quite like the one on my camera does. I haven't gotten around to taking a better picture yet.

The card base is Elegant Eggplant, layered with Taken with Teal and patterned paper(from a Joann's stack). I colored the image in with my Copics. I am loving them!!! They are seriously one of my best crafting purchases ever! I added the purple primas to each side of the sentiment and inserted a yellow flower brad in the center of each. I think it pulls together the yellow in the flowers.

Hope you have a fantastic Mother's Day! This is my first year celebrating as a mother and I'm enjoying my day! Hubby is wonderful and brought me flowers on Thursday! And this morning he made breakfast...banana pancakes! YUM! I know he got me something, but I don't know what it is yet. He took Bella shopping earlier and hasn't given it to me yet :) I'll have to let you know what it is!

Guess what?

2008-05-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

The bling has been ordered!!! *happy dance!*

I've been told that orders placed today are being processed and should be shipped out towards the end of the week. It's being sent by UPS, so I might get it sometime end of next week. I'm not sure where it's shipping out of, but I'll let you know the minute I get it!

National Scrapbooking Day!

2008-05-03T11:37:00.001-07:00

What are you doing in honor of National Scrapbooking Day?

I'm hoping to get some time this evening to work in my craft room and make some cards. DH and I are going to spend the afternoon working in our basement. Last week we started redoing our floor...we tore out the old carpet and are in the process of replacing it with wood flooring. And if that wasn't enough...we tore down the wood paneling on the walls! So we've got a bare canvas to work with now. The floors are partially done and we have a TON of nails to remove from the walls. They probably used close to a thousand nails on the wood paneling. What a job! But it will look so nice when we're done. Nicely painted drywall, white trim, wood flooring...ah! Can't wait to see it all done!

Yesterday I stopped by my LSS and picked up Becky Higgin's Sketches book. I love having sketches of cards as a starting point for a design and I thought that it would be equally as helpful in my scrapbooking. I know that when I sit down to scrapbook, I often have the hardest time figuring out my layout and design for the photos I'm working with. Now I just need to find the time to work on my scrapbooking!

Hope you find some creative time today!

Pearls!

2008-05-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

We've got one spot left in the pearl share!

The details for the share are posted here.

Happy Saturday!

One More Spot!

2008-05-02T17:22:00.001-07:00

Just an update...

There is one more spot available in each of the shares, rhinestone and pearl.

I am still awaiting payment from a couple people. If I have received payment from you, I have marked 'paid' next to your name.

Once all payment is received and we fill the last spot, I will be placing the order for our bling!

Happy Stamping!

Going Fishin'

2008-05-02T17:12:00.000-07:00

So, I'm terribly behind! I made this card for my Uncle's birthday, which was last week!!! And I still haven't got it in the mail yet! *hiding in the corner* Sometimes I am really bad about getting things in the mail.

Even though it's a little late, I still think my Uncle will like it. At least I hope so! (Auntie, if you're reading, don't tell him it's coming!)

I had a lot of fun making this card. The image I received as a PIF (pay-it-forward) from one of my awesome PIFing friends over at Splitcoast Stampers. You can find the PIF thread here. It looks like we're in round 29 right now, the rounds can move pretty fast, but it's lots of fun! And a great way to get some stamped images.

So, back to the card! I used the Riley Fishing image and colored him in using my Copic markers. I intentionally left the card simple. I have a hard time seeing masculine cards as being really busy or over-embellished. The card background is Certainly Celery. Layers are Bashful Blue and a patterned paper I found in a stack I got at Joann's. The birthday sentiment is from A Muse.

Enjoy!

Bling Share - FULL

2008-04-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

Here it is! The bling share you've been waiting for :)

*The pink rhinestones shown in this picture are 3mm in size. The clear ones are smaller in size and shown just as an example. This pink color is not included in this share, but will be in the 2nd color share.

Below you'll find details for two different shares of bling, one rhinestone and the other pearl. These rhinestones and pearls are so much fun!!! The colors that I have seen so far are really nice and lots of fun! They are available in a number of different colors and are acid and lignin free. So no worries about using them in your scrapbooks or with your photos.

There is room for 10 participants in each share. Don't worry if you don't make it in one this time, I'm planning on hosting more if all goes well.

Rhinestone Share
$18.00 + S/H

This share includes 9 different rhinestone colors. For each color listed below, you will receive 120 rhinestones with adhesive backing. That's 1080 rhinestones in all! The rhinestones are 3mm in size, a great size for all our card making and papercrafting needs!

These are the colors included:
Clear
Lt Pink
Lt Blue
Lavendar
Citron
Lt Green
Yellow
Taupe
Turquoise

I have not yet had the chance to view all of the colors in person, but the ones I have are so pretty! This is only half of the colors available. I'm planning on offering a share for the other half of the colors in the next month or so, so plan accordingly!

Rhinestone Share Participants:
1. Chrissy - nursechrissy - Paid
2. Stephanie - racechair - Paid
3. Laurie L. - laurlynn - Paid
4. Kris A. - Stamping in Kansas - Paid
5. Ellen - 1oftheLuvs - Paid
6. Lorie A. - Paid
7. Jen - JenMarie - Paid
8. Diane - Glamour - Paid
9. Catherine - Paid
10. Lori A. - papercrafter - Paid

Pearl Share
$11.25 +S/H

This share includes 5 different colors of pearl bling. For each color listed below, you will receive 120 pearls with adhesive backing. That's 600 pearls in all!!! Wow! The pearls are 3mm in size, a great size for using with our cards and papercrafted items.

The colors included are:

Pearl
Lt Pink
Lt Blue
Mint
Lavendar

The colors listed above represent half of the colors available in pearl. I am planning on offering the other half of the colors in the near future, so keep an eye out for it! I intentionally chose these colors for this share as they are lighter in color and well suited for use this time of year. It's Spring after all! Like the rhinestones, I have not had the chance to see these all in person but am sure they are all great!

Pearl Share Participants:
1. Chrissy - nursechrissy - Paid
2. Stephanie - racechair - Paid
3. Laurie L. - laurlynn - Paid
4. Kris A. - Stamping in Kansas - Paid
5. Ellen - 1oftheLuvs - Paid
6. Janette - Blessingsx3 - Paid
7. Diane - Glamour - Paid
8. Catherine - Paid
9. Lori T. - Paid
10. Shirley P.

Details:

Both the rhinestones and pearl 'bling' are adhesive. Upon receiving them, you will notice there is an adhesive strip that attaches one line of rhinestones/pearls together. This is common in most adhesive rhinestones/bling. There are two ways you can easily separate them. One is to use scissors and cut between each rhinstone as you use them. The second is to use an exacto knife to cut the adhesive strip between each rhinestone. The exacto knife is also very handy to pick up the rhinestone with and attach it to your project. Hope this helps!

US shipping is $4.60 for Priority mail, this is the shipping amount for one share or both. Insurance is optional and included at buyer's cost. Please let me know if you would like insurance.

Canadian & International shipping: please contact me for shipping quote.

I accept Paypal (prefered) and personal check. Paypal is fast and it's free to use! Personal checks must clear bank before items are sent. I will be ordering the product once payment is received from share participants. I reserve the right to make substitutions in the event of backorder or other situation.

I will keep you updated here on my blog. :) Shipping time may vary depending on the manufacturer's shipping schedule. Once product reaches me, I will do my best to send them on to you in a timely fashion. Thank you for participating!

If you're ready, please send me an email to stamperchick@hotmail.com so that I may get your name on the share list. Please do not send payment until I have responded to your email.

Green Thumb...

2008-04-23T22:34:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love my Papertreyink sets! I've got Green Thumb, which you see here, Out On a Limb, Piece of Cake and Holiday Treats. There are a few more (who am I kidding? I would take them all if I could afford it!) that I'd like to get. I just have the hardest time deciding! I'm debating between Beautiful Blooms, Everyday Blessings, Butterfly Kisses and It's a Celebration. I think the Beautiful Blooms is very versatile as well as Butterfly Kisses. I just can't decide!!!

There are also a number of stamps I'd like to get from some other companies...Lizzie Anne Designs, SU!, etc... And then there's the Nesties...I really want to get another set of those. I just got the rectangles and am thinking about the circles now. I love that U Cut at Home offers a 40% off coupon each month! It makes these guys really affordable. Oh, decisions, decisions. See? I get so caught up in deciding what I get, that I can't make up my mind and end up not getting anything (well, at least for the moment, then when my mind is made up...watch out!)

So, you'd probably like to hear a little about the card LOL!

I played along in the Color Challenge yesterday, CC163. I love these colors...Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery and Chocolate Chip. YUM! My favorite colors! I had to pull out Green Thumb and give it some love. It has been sorely neglected since it came home to me. It along with a number of other sets. I know, I know, I've got to put some ink to these awesome stamps! That's what's got me to thinking...I really shouldn't get any more rubbah until I've put what I've got to use, at least once or twice! I better get going then, cuz I want to get some new rubbah!

Hope you are having a terrific week!

On a completely different note, we are spending this Saturday redoing the floor in our basement. The awesome part about this is that some of the guys from Jeff's baseball team are coming over to help! We've got to move furniture out, tear up the old carpet and then put in the new wood floor. I am SO thankful that these guys are coming over to help. They've been given good incentive though...they're having a poker party that night. And I'm cooking...chili!!

It's been quite a week...

2008-04-21T22:51:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you...well, you probably don't want to hear...but I'm going to tell you anyway! *wink*

I got the crud last week. Ugh! I either had the flu or some sort of food poisoning. I think it was the flu though. Not a fun few days for the tummy, let me tell you! And then while I'm feeling icky my computer decides to get a 'tude and stop working. Well, it didn't totally die, but it was fooling me. It seems that my power connection to my hard drive is a little loose. Well, when it gets just a little too loose my computer doesn't register that I have a hard drive...not good! Freaked me out the first time it happened. Jeff fixed it that time and came to my rescue this time too! I was feeling a little sheepish this last time. It'd been "broken" for a couple days and he hadn't had time to look at it yet. Well, when he got to it...he literally gave a couple shakes, kicked it, and it was working fine. Go figure! It's kinda funny when I look back on it...

So, I'm sick, computer's not working, just as I'm starting to feel better...I get a migraine. I haven't had one in over a year. Not fun! It wiped me out for another day or so. I so detest migraines!

Well, there are many cards that I would love to share, but I haven't taken pictures of them yet! Shame on me LOL!

I'm also on the hunt for some stamping inspiration...have any to share with me??? :)

Ribbon Storage For Sale sold

2008-04-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

This is the popular ribbon storage option made by Cropper Hopper. I have two of the desktop craft organizers that hold the ribbon cards perfectly. These desktop organizers are 5x7 in size, so they would also hold a number of other embellishments as well as ribbon.

Included are two packs of ribbon clips. I had opened one of the packs, but all of the clips are there.

There are 30 ribbon cards to hold your ribbon nicely in the organizer.

Inside view of the desktop organizer.

For all the ribbon storage items: $22.00 *sold*

This includes:

2 - Desktop Organizers

2 - packs of Ribbon Clips

30 - Ribbon Cards

All items are made by Cropper Hopper. Postage is not included in price. Paypal accepted.

For Sale

2008-04-01T14:34:00.000-07:00

Round Cans

$1.95 each

*SOLD*

These are perfect for using to hold that special gift or treat! The diameter is approxinately 4.5" across, with a height of just over 2.75".

I have 40 of these great tins...get your's while I still have some!

Assorted Markers

$26.00 for all

Twelve markers in this assortment. Two Marvy markers and 10 Zig markers. The detail of these markers are as follows:

Marvy LePlume II - Burnt Umber
Marvy Brush Marker - Rosewood
Zig Scroll & Brush - Navy
Zig Fine & Chisel - Blue Jay
Zig Scroll & Brush - Baby Blue
Zig Scroll & Brush - Bluebonnet
Zig Calligraphy - Pure Violet
Zig Calligraphy - Lavendar
Zig Scroll & Brush - Orchid
Zig Writer - Fuchsia
Zig Scroll & Brush - Ocean
Zig Writer - Summer Sun

Stampin Up! Marigold Morning Inkpad

$4.50

This is next to brand new. I ordered it and only used it a couple times. I'd love to send it on to a loving home where it can spend it's days inkin' up lots of rubbah!

Stampin Up! Basic Black Inkpad & Reinker

$5.95

*pending*

I've given this inkpad some gentle loving, who doesn't use their black ink all the time? I have so many black inkpads right now that something has to leave the nest! I just recently got a Basic Black reinker for this pad, so it's coming along as well. I've reinked this pad just once, so you are basically getting a brand new reinker!

If you are interested, please email me. I accept Paypal. I prefer to send by USPS Priority Mail, using the Flat Rate envelopes and boxes when possible (these envelopes and boxes are free). A Flat Rate envelope is $4.60 and usually holds one stamp set, a Flat Rate box is $8.95 (prices listed are for the U.S.). Your stamps will be sent out once payment is received. If you are outside the U.S. postage will be computed individually.

Some questions...

2008-03-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

I've had some questions asked about some of the craft items I make for sale. So, I'll just answer them here!

What kind of adhesive do you use to adhere paper to the composition book?
When adhering paper to composition books I use my ATG and red liner tape. I find that you need to use a very sticky adhesive that will keep the paper securely stuck to the composition book. I've tried Mod Podge in the past and was not especially happy with the outcome. It takes too long to dry and it also bubbles sometimes (meaning the paper doesn't lie flat after the Mod Podge dries).

In regards to getting the ATG & red liner tape....you can find these at a number of places. The link I listed for the ATG is the best price I've found online for one. I don't see these in stores often & when I do they are significantly higher in price. The red liner tape can be found at a number of different stores. Even Michael's carries it. If you're price shopping, the link I listed has a very good price for the amount you are getting.

I love your tin can ideas, too. Where did you find the lunch tins?
Thanks for expressing your like of my lunch tins. *smiles* I ordered the lunch tins online from Creative Express This site carries the tin I've used as well as a number of other tin types that would be very cute altered. When I've ordered from them, I try and wait until they go on sale and get them at a sale price. I've also seen these same tins at Joann's recently. In the stores around here they have been on an endcap. I think they were around $4.99 each.

I'm happy to answer any questions you may have!

Elisabeth...I had no way to reply back to your comment, so I've answered here. If you haven't heard about Splitcoast Stampers, I highly reccomend you go and check it out. The gallery has a ton of ideas that will help you get inspiration for you craft show. If I can be of any more help, let me know!

A little more about Julie's class...

2008-03-25T10:57:00.000-07:00

Let's see...what can I share about Julie's Card Design class without giving away everything she goes over? *hehehe*

This class covers a number of different design topics as they relate to card design. It's not so much "here's a sketch and why it works, so use it" but digging deeper into why you do what you do when making cards. Since taking this class I've been able to put a name to some of the things I've been doing, or realizing that "hey, I was doing that! but didn't realize I was." I can even say that I'm able to see where the topics Julie talks about will reach far further than just my card design. I can use the foundational elements in all of my papercrafting projects, scrapbooking, etc.

This particular class was 5 weeks in length. The nice thing about this class being online is that you are able to view the class whenever your little heart desires. There is no time restriction on when you view each class. And you can sit in front of the computer in your jammies! How many real classrooms can you do that in? LOL.

The class has a discussion forum where we can talk about each weeks lessons, ask questions, post our "homework" and just have a good time. Participation is entirely up to the student. Be as active as you wish. Julie is such an amazing teacher and makes this topic very fun and she also puts a lot of thought into the lessons. I have not been disappointed!

I would definitely take the class again in a heartbeat. I feel that this has helped me to grow as a papercrafter and cardmaker. Thanks Julie!

ETA: Here is a direct link to the description page of Julie's second offering of her Simply Great Card Design class. It looks like the class will start on April 16th, with enrollment open until April 15th.

**I don't feel like I can tell you specifically all the topics we cover each week due to this being a class you pay for. And besides, if I were to list all the topics it would not do any justice to the great information that is presented by Julie.

If you missed out the first time...

2008-03-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

Julie's offering her Simply Great Card Design class again!!! This class is offered online through My Creative Classroom.

Let me tell you, this class has been wonderful! Not only is Julie a fantabulous gal, she is super talented and has passed her wonderful teachings on to us through this class!

Run and sign up today for it! I have loved this class and it has definitely benefitted my card making and papercrafting skills. I only wish it had lasted longer...*sigh*

Check out the details here

Baby Card & Life...

2008-03-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

Wow! It seems like forever since I've posted! SO much has been going on my life right now....crazy and stressed have been the feelings of the past couple weeks. Their is SO much to say that I feel like it would take weeks to tell you all about it!

So, I'll give you the quick *as much as I can make it* recap. The craziness all started with plumbing woes. And I am not kidding...it's been insane. Jeff and I found raw sewage in our yard a couple weeks ago!!!! EWW!!! Let me tell you it stunk! So I'm off to find the number for our local water district and got in touch with the on-call guy...of course this happens on a weekend, so no ones in the office. Well the guy comes out and tells us that it's sewage and it's our problem. The main sewer line is working great. So....that means it's up to us to fix it and pay for it! A call to the plumber is in order.

Well, before our raw sewage leak we had our kitchen sink backed up! So we had to call the plumber to come and unplug it since our attempts and numerous bottle of Drano were not working! That was plumber visit number one. The sewage was visit number 2.

Since the plumbing guys were out fixing our sewage issue, Jeff mentioned that our sump pump needed to be fixed. It was one of those "it's broken, but not in need of immediate repair, but has to be fixed" things. Well, they were there, so why not fix it now? Ok, the plumbers say they can take care of that while they're here. Well that fix and the sewage took 2 days to fix.

A couple days later, I'm downstairs to let the dogs out and I notice we've got water on the floor. Our basement had FLOODED!!!!!!!!!! What now! The sump pump that they had fixed has erupted and flooded water all over our utility room and more. UGH! Another call to the plumbers. Well....it gets better, trust me...while they're out fixing the sump pump this time...our kitchen sink backs up again! You've got to be kidding me! So, they fix that too!

I was starting to wonder when our plumbing woes would end! Sheesh!

And then after our plumbing gets fixed, my dog gets sick. And I mean sick, we thought we were going to lose him. Atilla is the first dog I've had and it was a really hard week. I'm happy to report that he is doing INCREDIBLE!!! He seems back to himself...as much as that is for a 15 1/2 year old dog! The only difference is that he has declared himself spoiled and wants to eat the best he can...ground beef, chicken, green beans...no dog food for him! I think I've cooked more ground beef in the last week than I have in months!

Thanks for bearing with my outpouring of life issues!

Now, onto some fun papercrafting goodness! I went to a baby shower last weekend and made this for my friend. She is having her second baby and it's a boy! We don't know the name yet as they're keeping it a secret.

I got this cute ark stamp from Amuse and knew it would make the cutest baby cards! This was my first time playing with this stamp. I used some of my Copics to color in the ark and animals. I SO like Copics...they are my favorite coloring medium yet! I'm really impressed with the vibrancy they give.

The patterned paper is from my stash, I've had it forever!!!

Recipe:
stamps-Amuse Ark, SU sentiment
ink-Brilliance black
paper-SU ballet blue, white, pp
other-white brads, oval punch, scalloped oval punch

Comments

2008-03-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

Ok...I got my first spam comment...YUCK! So, I'm enabling word verification for comments again. I know, it's a pain, but I don't want to have these type of comments pop up here.

Happy Leap Day!!!

2008-02-29T08:37:00.000-08:00

and a Happy Friday as well!!!

I don't think I've mentioned that I'm taking Julie Ebersole's Simply Great Card Design class over at My Creative Classroom. This class ropcks! Not only is Julie an awesome teacher...I've had the opportunity to take a class from her in the past at A Muse in Seattle...but the class she put together for card design is super! We're only in the second week of class and it has already made a HUGE difference in how I'm looking at my card making. If you get a chance I definitely recommend taking this course. Five stars all the way!!!

On to the card...*hehehehe*...This is a card I made as a thank you to a close family friend that gave Bella a baby gift. The first version that I had come up with in no way resembles this one! It actually was made using Bundle of Joy from SU! I was to the point of adding my sentiment when my brain kicked in and asked myself why I wasn't using what I'd just learned in class? DUH! It's like a lightbulb went off inside and I started going. I rummaged through my stamps and found this one...this gal loves dolls...perfect! I kept going and here's what I came up with...

More For Sale...

2008-02-26T16:31:00.000-08:00

Ok...here goes. I'm listing more for sale! I've gone through my stamps again and these have made it into the pile. Many have never seen ink, some are new unmounted, some mounted but never used and some have seen some lovin'!

I will accept Paypal and will send your package via Priority mail. A Flat Rate envelope is $4.60 and usually holds one stamp set, a Flat Rate box is $8.95 (prices listed are for the U.S.). Your stamps will be sent out once payment is received. If you are outside the U.S. postage will be computed individually.

Pictures of these sets should be available in the Gallery over at SCS…try here. If you'd like to see a picture of the actual set, let me know and I can get one posted.

If you're interested in any, send me an email or comment here to let me know so I can set it aside for you. Thanks for looking!

Birthday Best $5
Crazy For Christmas $12
Cute as a Bug $10
Festive Four $5
Holiday Blocks (NUM) $12
Houndstooth BG (NUM) $15 *pending*
Island Blossoms $20 (I got this set from someone else and the stamps seem to be undercut, some staining on wood)
Little Layers Plus $7
Mixed Greetings $8
Shapes & Shadows (NUM) $15
Small Script (NUM) $9
Snow Flurries $8 *sold*
Sparkling Summer $17 *sold*
Straight Up Alphabet & Numbers $11
Sweet on You $12
The Art of Life (NUM) $15
Tiny Talk $11
Trim the Tree (NUM) $15 *sold*
Very Merry $7

*sold* Small Talk (NUM) $20 *this is a set of 28 mini stamps that demos can purchase to use as gifts, etc…I no longer have use for these and want to pass them on* ETA: I've added pictures of this set to this post, you can see them below.

Accessories:
SU! Days to Remember Calendar (new in package) $3

For Trade:
Be Happy (TV $20.95)

One More Valentine...

2008-02-21T15:29:00.000-08:00

Ok...I just had to share one more Valentine's Day card with you! I made this one for my mom. I decided to pull out Loads of Love since its been forever since I've used it. Literally a year or better! Really its been that way for a lot of my stamps...especially my SU ones. I've gotta put more ink to my rubbah **giggles**

Anyway...back to the card! I pulled out my SU designer paper, I can't remember the name of this paper pack, but I love it! I should have picked up another pack while it was still current. Oh well, such is life. I know there is other paper out there that I will love as much!

To color in the truck I used my Copics. The blue is actually just one color. I colored over and over again to gain the shading effect I was looking for. Not too bad for a beginner! The fun little pink paper strip is from Doodlebug. I love there Paper Frills. I got mine from A Muse...I'm sure they are available at other places too.

Hope you have a spectacular day!

Birthday card

2008-02-19T21:03:00.000-08:00

Here's the card I made for Jeff's birthday. He is bigtime into baseball! As well as softball, soccer...sports in general!

This was a fun card to make, the little baseball took the longest to make. I probably went through about 5 or 6 before I got to this one! To make the little baseball I punched out the circle using a 1/4" cicle punch on white paper. Then I punched another one to use a my guide for applying the red "stitching" on the baseball. This is the part that took me some time. At first I was using the wrong kind of marker...Copics do not work well for this! They kept bleeding onto the paper. I ended up using my real red marker from SU. This worked quite well for making a fine line with no feathering. After I got the red lines on, I added the black stitches with a very fine black marker. I think its a Millenium.

I chose blue because it's not only masculine, but just happens to be the color of DH's baseball team...go Brooklyn Dodgers! If you look closely, you'll see the ground that the baseball player is standing is not perfectly grey. I meant it to be this way...so that it would resemble the dirtiness of home plate! I did this with a mix of using a light grey shadow marker and a beige one to get that "dirty" effect.

Recipe:
Stamps-Amuse Batter, Fun Star, Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Ink-Pallette Noir, Real Red (SU)
Accessories-Copic markers, 1/4" circle punch, scalloped oval punches (giga & mega)
Paper-Amuse cards

Let me introduce to you...

2008-02-18T22:35:00.000-08:00

Check it out...there is no greater One than this! He is Savior of all, friend, deliverer, strength, peace, wise council, shoulder to lean on, almighty, generous, kind, ever-loving, victorious, healer, confidant, mighty, everlasting...He is Jesus Christ.

Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T11:53:00.001-08:00

And it's my anniversary too! Jeff and I have been married for two years, it's been a great time! This last year we welcomed Bella as well, as many of you know. I could go on and on about her, but I'm here to talk about Valentine's and my anniversary!

The Valentine's card I made for Jeff (hope he's not peaking in on my blog right now!). I went through my patterned paper and found this fun one. I love the print and design of it. Something about these kinds of papers always draws my attention...the definitions and words grab me. When I first saw this paper I immediately thought of red, black & white! Simple color scheme, but how perfect for Valentine's? Then I thought of how fun it would be to put the little gator from Wild About You with it...kinda like he's fiercely in love with you or something like that, you know? I know, this little guy doesn't look mean at all, but he's filled with love!

Recipe:
Stamps-Wild About You (SU)
Ink-real red
Paper-patterned paper, real red, basic black, whisper white
Accesories-bling, satin ribbon, ticket corner punch, mini scallop scissors

Since today is also our anniversary, I had to make a card for that too! This is the only anniversary sentiment, or set for that matter, that I have. If I have any others they are hiding and haven't let me know where they are! The stamp is from Michael's dollar bins. I have a little collection going of sentiments from them. It's a really great place to stock up on sentiments without spending a bundle. The stamp itself is just the happy anniversary with the heart. I added the line doodles that form the box around it. I think it really ties in the stamp with the card and gives it a finished look. I used my mini scallop scissors to cut around the image. I SO need to get me the Nestabilities! I am jonesin' for the rectangle set! And I just found out that they are on backorder...apparently Spellbinders is having trouble keeping up with the demands of us crafty people. Gee...you'd never guess that would happen, not with everyone hopping on the latest bandwagon at the same time! *hehehehe*

I'm so excited for this evening! We are going to dinner at Daniel's Broiler...yum! They have the best steaks...filet mignon here I come!

Recipe:
Stamps-michael's dollar stamp, on the spot (I think that's the name)
Ink-pallette noir, wild wasabi, certainly celery, garden green
paper-wild wasabi, certainly celery, garden green, blue bayou
Accessories-ribbon, silver brads, mini scallop scissors, dimensionals

Wild One

2008-02-13T23:41:00.000-08:00

I am feeling so good...I feel like I've found my stamping style! For so long I've not been sure of what my "style" is exactly, or how I would describe it. The last couple days I've been in a really good groove and making cards left and right! Today I made 3 cards...for Jeff's Birthday, Valentine's and our Anniversary. I am really happy with how they all turned out.

So you wonder what my style is? Well, I think it is twofold...simple and classic...and layered and embellished (I guess that's what I'd call it). I've been so inspired lately by Kendra aka scrapstampindiva at SCS. I love her work!!! What a talented gal she is! Anywho...I was looking at her cards a couple days ago and was inspired to create some cards ala Kendra. Let me tell you, I an so happy with how they turned out! It spurend a whole card making spree!

This particular card was done using a sketch challenge over at SCS, SC162. This is a really fun sketch! I pulled out my Basic Grey patterned paper pad and used a couple of the pieces to layer with. The Basic Grey matched wonderfully with Wild Wasabi...which I've been itching to try out. I really like that color. I don't knwo why it takes me so long to get the new colors sometimes. Can you believe the Wild Wasabi is the only ink I have in the new In Colors? Amazing...

Searching for Cupcakes...

2008-02-12T19:16:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love A Muse images? They are some of the cutest little stamps out there! And there sentiments...don't get me started!!!

I have had this idea floating around in my head for some time and I finally got around to giving life. Don't you love it when what you're creating turns out how you've pictured it in your head? That's how this was! I wanted to have the little dog sniffing for the cupcakes...like he was on the trail of them. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

On another note, I'm seriously thinking of starting a webstore to sell some of my creations and crafts. I'd have a lot of the same things available as I do at my craft shows. What I'm thinking is that I would add the store in with my blog. I'm still mulling over all the details right now. I'd love the hear some great ideas for a store name. I have some I'm thinking about right now, but more heads are better than one! If I pick a name you suggest I'll send a little goodie package your way!

I'm also thinking about having a store to sell the doll clothes that my mother and I make. We have a variety of dolls that we sew for. We make doll clothes for American Girl dolls as well as selling shoes for them. In addition to the American Girl we also sew for a cute little doll named Riley Kish, you can see her here, and then we've also been recently sewing for Ball Jointed Dolls. These are a fairly new doll to the whole doll scene. These new style Ball Jointed Dolls originated from Asia and have become the latest craze in the doll world. Here is a sampling of some BJD's.

A couple more random thoughts...has anyone else noticed that some of the posting options have disappeared,or is it just me? I don't see the option to change the color of text or to change the size. I know that some of the other toolbar options seem to be missing. Hope you're having a spectacular week!

Recipe:
Stamps-Sniffer, Cupcake, Leafy Tree, Grass, Hey Cupcake sentiment
Ink-Pallette Noir, Chocolate Chip (SU), Versamagic Spanish Olive
Copics, Amuse Twinkle rhinestones

Cute Project

2008-02-10T17:28:00.000-08:00

I have some fun news and a neat little project to share with you! A little while back I was approached by Donna at K&A Diecuts to do a bit of guest designing for her! I was super excited to be asked and of course I said yes!!! She has a neat twist to her business, at least I think so! Everyone loves die cuts right? Well, since not everyone can afford a die cutting machine and all the great dies to go with it...I mean, how many different dies are out there? Hundreds?...she offers the die cuts for sale...no cutting or hassle involved! And the prices seem pretty reasonable to me. I know that I personally get a little tired of die cutting when I have a ton of one thing I'm trying to make up. Isn't is so much easier to just get them pre-cut and all you need to do is put them together and add embellishment? The majority of dies that she has are boxes, purses and things such as that.

Well, she sent me an assortment of different diecuts to work with. The first thing I decided to make up was this cute little matchbox. I used my PaperTreyInk Holiday Treats set...such a fun set! The scalloped was made using my Marvy giga and mega scalloped oval punches. The blue stars were inked using Versamagic in Aegean Blue. I also used Colorbox Cateyes in Cranberry and Ice Blue. The ribbon around the box is red grosgrain over light blue organdy. Inside the matchbox I put four Hershey's Nuggets and wrapped them in Avery labels stamped with the Holiday Treats polka dot stamp.

There are so many cute things you could do with these! Wouldn't it be neat to make some up for Easter and put little treats and goodies inside them and hide them along with the Easter eggs?

Fun little quiz

2008-01-31T11:16:00.000-08:00

Your IQ Is 115

Your Logical Intelligence is Average
Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius
Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius
Your General Knowledge is Above Average

So, I was blog hopping and someone had taken this quiz. I decided I'd give it a shot and have a little fun. I know it has no real "scientific" value, but it's alway nice to do well! If you feel like it, have a go!

ETA: I didn't realize a link to the quiz wasn't posted...thank Lori for asking about it :) Here it is if you want to take it: IQ quiz

A different kind of Tag!

2008-01-20T20:17:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged again! This one is different from the others I've played before...I'm thinking this one is particularly fun. Tracy over here tagged me with this fun one! I need to add a question at the end and tag 2 other. Let's see I'm tagging...Catherine and Lori...looking forward to reading your answers sistahs!

1. Name your two favorite scrapbooking topics: My baby Bella and my family
2. What are the two best places you’ve been to? The Caymans and Disneyland
3. Name two things you do every day: Change & feed Bella, kiss my husband
4. Tell us two things that everyone pretty much knows about you: I love pink! And I'm a stamper *tongue in cheek* LOL!
5. Two places you wish to visit: Hawaii & Europe
6. Two things you may not know about me are: I'm older than I look & I'm not a fan of spiders 7 snakes *ugh!*
7. Two nicknames you’ve had at some time in your life: I've never really had a nickname that stuck...
8. Name two of your favorite drinks: Cherry Coke & Dr. Pepper
9. What are two interesting (in a good or bad way) jobs you’ve had in your life? Little Caesar's Pizza (high school) & Nordstrom....I loved the makeup!
10. What are two things you would like to learn? To color beautifully & cake decorating
11. What two things would make your scrapping/stamping work space work even better for you? More space!!! *big grin* and larger standing work area.
12. What are two of your favorite stamp companies? Amuse & Papertrey Ink
13. What are your two favorite stamping tools? Bling!...rhinestones, glitter, glitter pens & ribbon!
14. What are your 2 favorite occasions to make cards for: Christmas & Birthday
15. What 2 times are the best for you to get stamping done: I seem to be most productive later in the evening.
16. What are the last 2 cd's you bought or 2 artists you last downloaded: Casting Crowns & Mercy Me
17. What are your 2 favorite colors: Pink & Green
18. What are 2 crafting products/tools that you want to try but never have? Bind it all & Nestabilities (these are on my wish list!!!)
19. My question: What are your two favorite types of inkpads (pigment, chalk, dye, Palette, catseye, etc...) SU! Classic ink & Chalk inks (Colorbox & Versamagic)

Stamps for sale!

2008-01-19T16:10:00.000-08:00

I've been going through my stamps and sorting out the ones I can bear to part with. There has actually been a pile of Stampin' Up stamps sitting in my craft room for some time now, I've just never gotten around to listing them. That's me, the ultimate procrastinator! I'm trying to work on that...but let's get back to the matter at hand, rubbah for sale! I've also got these listed on the BST trade board at SCS, so if you're interested in one don't wait!

Most of these sets are already mounted and slightly used. Really, in all honesty, the ones that saw ink were only inked a few times. I really do need to use my stamps more! Some have not even been mounted yet. If you want to see pics of a certain set, let me know and I can get one taken or you can pop on over to SCS and see pics of the set in the gallery.

I will send via Priority mail. A Flat Rate envelope is $4.60 and usually holds one stamp set, a Flat Rate box is $8.95 (prices listed are for the U.S.). I will accept Paypal (preferred) and money orders. Your stamps will be sent out once payment is received. If you are outside the U.S. postage will be computed individually. I'm only mailing to the U.S. and Canada right now.

If you're interested in any, send me an email to let me know so I can set it aside for you. Thanks for looking!

Alphabits $10 *sold*

Birthday Best $7

Crazy For Christmas $12

Cute as a Bug $11

Festive Four $5

Fun Filled $7

Little Layers Plus $7

Looks Like Spring $15 *sold*

Love Ya Bunches $11

Perfect Party $10

Pure & Simple Alphabet Upper $20

Say it Simply (NUM) $10

Shapes & Shadows (NUM) $20

Small Script (NUM) $9

Sweet of You $12

The Art of Life (NUM) $15

Very Merry $7

Accessories:

Looks Like Spring matching punch (rarely used) $13 *sold*

Tagged!

2008-01-16T23:55:00.001-08:00

Ok...I've been tagged multiple times by my blogging buddies and I've seriously slacked on posting! Forgive me, please! Let's see I have to share seven things about myself that you may not know...well here goes:

1. I've never been in a car accident...and praying that I never am!

2. I have never broken a bone...not one.

3. I got my Masters in Teaching and by the time I was done with the program and student teaching I figured out that I didn't want to teach in a classroom setting! I really believe that I will use what I learned in my Master's program to homeschool Bella and any others that come along.

4. I collect dolls and sew clothes with my mother. My mom has been collecting dolls since I was born and I grew up with them around and naturally got into it to.

5. I love getting pedicures...I would go every week if I could! But I limit it to mainly spring and summer time and even then its about every month or so.

6. I have a thing for Cherry Coke...Definitely need my caffeine!

7. My favorite color is pink! I love pink! Pink, pink, pink!!!

Cards!

2008-01-15T10:18:00.000-08:00

I'm finally posting some cards...can you believe it?!?! I'm amazed myself *hehehehe* It felt so good to actually take the time and create a card! Recently I've not been feeling my creative for card making. I know it's one of those things that will come back as I start to create...it's just so hard to get it started!

Some of you will recognize these cards...they've already been sent and received! These colors have been floating around in my head for some time. I've been wanting to play with these pastel colors and actually see what they look like when they've been "put down" into a card. I'm pretty pleased with the results...simple, clean, fun. I think these colors remind me of a whimsical winter feel.

I've been really into Amuse images recently and these cards are made using their stamps. I did three different cards that all use the same images, cardstock and colors, but I felt like mixing it up a bit with each card so they are all a little different.

Card details:

Amuse images: Just sittin' here sentiment, Snow Angel

Marvy scalloped square punches in Giga & Mega

Pallette Noir ink, Copic markers, assorted ribbon, eyelet

PIF gals...

2008-01-08T19:40:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note that your packages are sent! After a slight delay yesterday...my car battery was dead!...they got in the mail today!!! Whew...I never thought I'd get those out!

FREE Stampin' Up catalogs...need to go!

2008-01-06T21:20:00.000-08:00

I've been going through things in my craft room and I have an excess of catalogs I'd love to be rid of! So I've got a great deal for you! They are FREE....that's right FREE! All I'm asking is that you pay the shipping/handling to mail them.

The goods:

Old Stampin' Up catalogs:

2006-07: 3
2005-06: 11
2004-05: 5

Mini Catalogs:

Winter mini Dec 2006-Feb 2007: 7
Holiday mini Sept. -Nov. 2006: 14
Spring mini March -May 2006: 1
Sell-a-bration Jan. -Feb. 2006: 5
Winter mini Dec. 2005-Feb. 2006: 4
Holiday mini Sept. - Nov. 2005: 11
Summer June-August 2005: 23
Spring March - May 2005: 4

If you're interested please send me an email including: the items you'd like, your name, mailing address. I will accept money order or Paypal payments. These items will be sent the least expensive way possible (using USPS). If you prefer a specific delivery method, let me know in your email. Items will not be sent until payment is received.

Note: Some of the catalogs have a sticker with my name and information on it. This is easily covered up and doesn't detract from the catalog at all.

To my PIF gals...

2008-01-05T14:39:00.000-08:00

I owe you three *you know who you are :)* a big I'm sorry. Your goodie bags have been ready for some time now, but I've been missing packing tape!!! I know that should be no excuse, but I'm going to remedy it today. Packing tape is on my list for the store today! I will be getting them in the mail on Monday. Please forgive me!

WOW!

2008-01-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

How cool is this?!? The gals over at Queen Kat Bloggers have asked me to be a featured blogger! Big excitement!

I'm super honored that they've asked me to be a featured blogger, but can I share a little somethin' with you all? It kinda freaks me out a teeny bit....because I know that I havent' been doing the best job with keeping my blog up lately...especially in the realm on posting creations (well...that could also be due in large part to my lack of creating ANYTHING recently)...wait, I think I did take some pics of the paint cans I made for my aunt and cousin(well, I'm now calling her my cousin, she's really my cousin's SO *they've been together so long she might as well be my cousin!) Anyway, enough rambling...I'm going to try and be better about posting my creations...and actually creating! ***hehehe***

Mish Mash

2007-12-28T18:39:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas day. Family came over and we had a nice time. Jeff and I waited until the last minute to get our bird for Christmas day. We went out the Friday before looking for a bird. Jeff had always wanted to try goose. So....we ended up getting a goose and turkey! The only problem that we encountered was how to bake both of them at once! I started to peruse http://www.allrecipes.com/ *I LOVE that site!* and found a recipe for grilled turkey. We're always ones to try something new out...so the goose ended up going on the grill. It turned out really good...nice and juicy. The turkey was also good...very juicy too.

On top of being busy with Christmas preparations, I've had a nasty cold the past 2 weeks. At least that's how long I've counted in my head. It started out with a sore throat, then moved to my nose and now I'm dealing with a stuffy nose and congested chest. I'm SO ready for this to be done. I'm sure I haven't helped my healing process by going so much the last couple weeks. We've had his family over, my family, been shopping....etc, etc. It's been busy! So today I had a sick day. Jeff has the week off and I took advantage...took a nice hot bath *which felt incredible* and tried to relax.

Payin' it Forward..

2007-12-10T20:12:00.000-08:00

I'm spreading some papercrafting love! So I was blog hoppin' today and peeked in on Tracy over at Eat Sleep Stamp. I was the third person to comment on her post about paying it forward and I'm going to receive some neat stampin' goodies!!! How awesome is that?!?!? My only requirement is that I pass on the love through my blog...easy! So here's your chance for some neat-o stampin' and papercrafting goodness. What you receive will be a surprise! What do you need to do you ask?...all you need to do is be one of the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post and have a blog (you've gotta be able to spread the love, right? *wink*).

Ornaments

2007-12-05T11:01:00.000-08:00

These are the ornaments we had made for the craft show I just did. I think we had about 80 of them finished and ready to sell. I have to give the majority of the credit to my mom for getting these done. She spent many an evening glittering and cutting and then glittering and cutting some more! I can only imagine how tired her hands were!

So here's the lowdown on how we made them...the ornaments themselves are either clear glass that we made glittery using the reinker technique or they are colored glass ornaments from the store. After Christmas last year I bought a TON of glass ornaments for this purpose. We still are floating in ornaments at both my house and hers. In total I think we have somewhere around 300 ornaments. Still a whole lot to decorate and hopefully sell!!!

The toppers for the ornaments are made using stamps from Outlines. I got the Poinsettia topper in both large and small, the Holly Leaves in large, the Cut Away topper, and the Ornate topper. I opted to purchase them in unmounted rubber as opposed to mounted. I had heard Outlines was offering the sale of unmounted rubber on there stamps...to order them unmounted you had to either call or email to place your order instead of using their online shopping cart. I saved a ton by ordering them this way...at least in my opinion! When the stamps reached me I spent a few days pondering how I wanted to mount them. I didn't have any wood blocks that were big enough. After playing with ideas I realized I wanted these to be unmounted and use clear blocks with them. The ease of being able to see through the block for placement with these ornaments was priceless! It helped us SO much! We wanted to use every inch of paper and not waste, so having using them with clear blocks was the best! I ended up buying a set of the Cuttlebug clear plates and using those to mount the stamps on (thanks Emily G. for the great idea!) The only problem I encountered was that the rubber came with permanent adhesive instead of cling mount. So...I first tried using Aleene's Tack it Over and Over with no luck. Then I decided to pull the foam off the backs and adhere EZMount. I'm so glad that I chose the EZMount method! Being able to stamp the ornament toppers onto paper and see where I'm stamping really makes a difference in using all of a piece of paper.

So excited!!!

2007-12-04T22:07:00.000-08:00

Arabella slept for 7 hours last night!!!! That's right 7 hours...how awesome is that? I'm super excited...can you tell? Hoping and praying that she keeps up with this kind of sleep pattern at night!

Aren't they just the cutest? I'm completely in love with both of them!!! I just couldn't post something about Bella without showing a pic of her too!

Hopefully I'll get some more pics up of things I've been working on!

Craft Show Display

2007-11-29T23:02:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick pic of my display at the craft show I'm in this week. As you can see my focal point this year is the tree with ornaments my mom and I made. They are glass ball ornaments with paper toppers. Hopefully I will get more details posted about those soon.

For this show I have a number of different items for sale:

cards

ornaments

lunch tins (both cardholders and recipe tins)

coasters

journals

kid's color-a-card kits

magnets

snowman boxes

decorated teacups

paint cans (filled with spa items)

The snowman boxes and teacups were made by my mother. She is such a crafty and talented lady! I absolutely love her! I'm so glad that I inherited her knack for craftiness...and love of it too! We have a blast when we're together...we also have our moments of frustration with each other (me probably more than her *wink*). But we love each other and are very close.

I'll try and get a list of my prices and all that good stuff up soon. It's amazing how you realize how precious your time is once you have a child. Suddenly I don't have nearly as much time to surf the web as I once did. Maybe it's more that I prioritize better now than before. I know that someone will be needing my attention and don't want to waste what time I do have, especially when I have things to get done! Hmm...anyway, enough of my rambling and musing to you all.

Just a quick post...

2007-11-29T09:23:00.000-08:00

Its been pretty busy around here recently. In addition to adjusting to little Arabella...we've been getting ready for a craft show that I am in this week. The show goes from Wednesday to Saturday. I'm going to stop by the show this afternoon to check my inventory and see how I'm doing so far. Wish me the best for good sales!!!

I'm hoping to post some pics of my craft show display in a few days. I have some that were taken from setup to show.

Well, I really need to hop in the shower while little Arabella is being watched by her dad. Hope you all have a great day!

She's here!!!

2007-11-22T08:18:00.000-08:00

Arabella has arrived! She was born November 2 at 4:23pm! We absolutely love our little cutie! She is precious and so adorable! Labor and delivery was a very surreal experience. We went into the hospital Thursday night. I had been having contractions pretty steadily and we called the on-call doctor (who happened to be my doctor...what a blessing!) and she wanted us to come in. Well...you know how that goes, we get to the hospital and my contractions slow down. So we were given the option of either walking around the hospital for an hour or they would send us home and give me something to be more comfortable. We chose to walk. After the hour they put me back on the monitor and checked me again. It was at this time that Arabella's heart rate dropped for a 3 minute period for no reason. I was laying in the bed doing nothing! Well, this was enough that my doctor wanted to admit us and induce labor. We really didn't expect this and thought we were going home. Not so!

After almost 20 hours of labor we were ready to start pushing. Well, Arabella had other ideas. Her heart rate dropped 2 times out of the 3 that I pushed. Both times we had a flood of nurses running into the room to offer additional assistance to our labor nurses. The care was amazing and exceptional! I cannot say enough about them! After the third push and heart rate decelleration, the nurses were prepping me to go into the OR. They wanted me in there just in case. At that point I knew we were going to have a C-section. Within about 10 minutes or so I was in the OR and being prepped for surgery. Another 10 minutes later and Arabella was born! She was beautiful and came out with a nice, big cry for everyone!!!
We are so blessed to have her here with us. We've been spending the last couple weeks getting adjusted to our new little one and adjusting to little sleep.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

My Sweet Arabella!

2007-10-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

Lookie, lookie!!! This is our precious baby...Arabella! Our first picture of her...awwwww!

We went last week for an ultrasound and did not expect to leave having seen our little girl! The tech was telling us that they had gotten a new ultrasound machine a couple months ago that has 3D capability. WOW! We were pretty excited, to say the least. I'll admit though, before this ultrasound, I would have said that I was pretty sure I would want to wait to see what she looks like until birth. How wrong I was!!! This was the coolest thing ever!

It made my day, week, month! She is absolutely sweet, adorable, cute...and ours! Both Jeff and I were completely excited to see what she looks like. She has chubby little chipmunk cheeks from these pics! We are SO excited to have her arrive!!! Only a couple more weeks left!

I'm especially looking forward to her arrival from a purely selfish reason...I've been showing beginning signs of preeclampsia. What a bummer! My doctor has prescribed rest for me...not exactly my favorite way to spend a day! She really wants me to keep my feet up as much as possible. This will help with the swelling in my feet...and it really has helped. I'm just not patient with sitting for a long period of time! I haven't been as diligent about it the last couple days and I've noticed a little increase in the swelling. In addition to this, I've been having contractions the past few days or so. We've had a couple days where they were pretty intense, to the point where we were hoping labor had really started! Not the case though :( Hopefully soon, I can't wait to see my baby!

Little Blessings...

2007-09-24T16:09:00.000-07:00

Big affect!!! I was at the grocery store today, doing the normal foodstuffs shopping, right? So, I'm loading the bags of groceries into the trunk of my car. ***keep in mind that I am 8+ months pregnant and moving ssslllloooowwwwwww*** Well, as I'm loading the last bag into my trunk, this FedEx guy came up and asked if he could take my cart back for me. WOW! How awesome is that? It's not that I've never had people extend their kindness to me before, but his act of kindness reminded me of the goodness of people and the blessings of God. How wonderful God is! He is all about the good...from the extremely big to the very small! What blessings have you encountered recently? I'd love to hear about them!!!

Shower Gifts

2007-09-12T12:29:00.000-07:00

My best friend, Grace, got married the end of August. Congrats to her and her new hubby! I was in her bridal party...that's right, at 7 months pregnant too! The other gal in her bridal party, Sally, made our dresses. She did such an incredible job. I would NOT want to make a dress for a pregnant gal! The dresses turned out great.

I hosted her bridal shower at my house and these are pics of the gift I made for her. Of course there are all kinds of goodies in the paint can! I couldn't just give her an empty one now could I? *wink* I used this turquoise blue and green printed paper to decorate the paint can with since her color was blue...royal blue. I know, it isn't royal blue, but I didn't have any royal blue patterned papers without them looking like the 4th of July! The paper is from a stack I got at Costco a little while ago. It was such a great deal! I paid about $13 for a stack of patterned paper about 2" tall! To finish off the paint can I wrapped ribbon around in three colors: white organdy, green organdy and turquoise satin. Tied onto the ribbon is a plastic wedding ring. I got this from Target some time ago. It's actually meant to be a shot glass, but I thought it would look much cuter as a decoration for altered items. The picture doesn't do it much justice, as you can't see the whole thing.

I filled the paint can with all kinds of pamper yourself items. I had fun shopping for all these goodies. I know I'm going to forget something, but here's an idea of what was in there: Lip Smackers, bubble bath, nail polish, nail file, pedicure foot bath, foot scrub, votive candle, etc. I had it packed with stuff!

The card was fun to make as well. I used the same patterned paper as I did on the paint can. Using patterned paper on cards is FUN! I can see why so many people are big on that trend right now. I takes your cards to a completely different place. the stamp is by American Art Stamps. I think this line of stamps are called Stick Chicks. They are designed by Karen Stolper for American Art Stamps. I colored the image in using Prismacolor pencils. No odorless mineral spirits, just using the pencils and gradating the color to blend together. To finish off the card I added some prismas and then I HAD to add some bling in the middle of each prisma flower. Its hard to see the sparkle of each rhinestone, but the little dot in the middle of each one is the rhinestone!

When I finished with the card I discovered that it was too big to fit in the standard A2 size envelopes! I had grabbed a piece of cardstock that was what I thought to be the proper size...guess not! It was just a little bit too wide to fit into the envelope. So, this card was delivered without an envie!

I need to find a pic of the shower invite I made. I know I took a picture of it...I'm just not sure where it is in my picture files! Hope you have a spectacular day! Tonight DH has a baseball game. His team is in the playoffs, so hoping they do well and have fun! I really enjoy going to his games and supporting his passion for baseball and sports!

Faith

2007-09-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

I made this card some time ago...probably a year, maybe two! It was when I had just gotten Heartfelt Thanks in an order. I didn't have the stamp-a-ma-jig yet either...so lining up the stamps was an interesting feat! Since then I have gotten the stamp-a-ma-jig and boy, is it a lifesaver when using stamps like this! SO easy!!! If you don't have one yet...go get yourself one! Definitely worth the money spent.

Oh, the 'faith' sentiment is done using Alphabits. While I think this is a fun little set, I also think its a little cumbersome to use sometimes. It's probably just me, but I get tired of punching out all those little individual pieces to make up one word!

It's promising to be a warm day up here. They are forecasting for the mid 80s. I know, it doesn't sound that warm, but when the pregnancy hormones are on full alert anything is warm! The worst part on warm days is that my stamp room is on the top floor (it's a spare bedroom) and it seems to be the one that get the warmest of all the rooms upstairs. I have a little fan that helps, but it doesn't have that great fanning power one would hope for on a warm day. But, at least I have a fan!

I've also been working on preparing items for my craft show upcoming the end of November/beginning December. I'm excited!!! The promoter of the show loved the pics of the items I sent her! Major plus! I'll have to share what I'm planning with you and some pics too!

Hope you are having a great day!

Details:
Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks, Alphabits, Canvas BG
CS: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla (all SU!)
Ink: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive (all SU!)
Accesories: Hemp ribbon, Brads, 1/4" square punch (SU!)

Elegant Christmas...

2007-09-06T13:10:00.000-07:00

I really like this card...it's elegant, simple and nice all at once! This is actually a card I made a couple years ago. To color in the image I used my blender pens and inkpads. It was fun working on the shading and coloring with these two tools. I haven't pulled out my blender pens in quite a while, actually! With all these other new goodies to tempt me, they've been left behind for a bit :)

Details:

Stamp set: Christmas Cardinal, Print Pattern BG

Paper: Bravo Burgundy, Old Olive, Gold shimmer, WW

Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Old Olive, Rose Red, Black

Accesories: Gold Organdy Ribbon, blender pen

My thoughts on...

2007-07-26T17:21:00.000-07:00

OK...I've heard all the talk that was going on over at SCS about Stampin' Up's white cardstock. I took note, but really didn't pay it much mind. There was a lot of talk about the latest white cardstock not being the same as in the past. Specifically, the paper was reported to not "take" certain inks very well, as well as the whole feel and look of the cardstock not being the same. Basically, the quality of it had gone down. Well...I think I'm starting to agree! I'm sitting in my craft room working on some favors for my best friend's bridal shower...and what do you know? The red ink I used did not stamp clearly and it took a while to dry! BTW, I'm using SU's Classic Real Red ink and Classic Sage Shadow. The difference is huge in my opinion! The Sage stamped on nice and even, along with drying quickly. No such luck for the red! Take a look at the pics and see what you think. Have you had similar problems? I'd be interested to know if you have and also what ink you noticed it with.

Ice Cream!

2007-07-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

I love ice cream!!! YUM! I have been having some serious ice cream cravings recently...it couldn't have anything to do with this pregnancy *wink*.

I made this card for my secret sister. This will go in with the final reveal package I'm going to be sending out this week. So, if you get this card in the mail...you'll know who I am!

The card was made using Amuse images. I am SO loving their designs and artwork! WOW!!! I've become a big fan of theirs. I used the ice cream cone and the "to a sweet friend" sentiment. Their sentiments rock! Let me tell you, I think I'd have them all if I could. I stamped them onto the pink dotted Amuse pre-folded card using Palette Noir ink. Then I colored the ice cream cones in with my Stampin' Up markers....Gable Green, Pixie Pink & Lovely Lilac. Thanks for looking!

ETA: I completely forgot to mention that this card was inspired by AmyR's card here.

Rapture

2007-07-18T11:02:00.001-07:00

Video: Rapture Video

Godchick Designs

Cake Pops

Construction Card

Quick post...

Blogaversary!!!

Shopping Organizer

His Holy Name {1}

On their way...

Rhinestone Share

Copic Marker Storage...

Happy Birthday...

In memory of...

So Handy...

Blog Candy sighting!!!

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May Arts Ribbon Share *CLOSED*

Life

Altered Letters

Good News!

SFYTT...

Sweet Baby...

Rhinestone/Pearl Update

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Super Mom

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And the winner is...

Be on the lookout ladies...

Rhinestone Update...

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The bling has arrived!

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FYI...

If your name is...

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One Spot in Pearl Share...

Rhinestones & Pearls! FULL!

3 Column Source

3 columns!

more blog rantings!

Frustrated..

FYI

My camera has died....

Ribbon Bows For Sale

New Goodies!

The bling...

A-Muse-A-Palooza!

Oh Happy Day!!!

Fun Thing...

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Guess what?

National Scrapbooking Day!

Pearls!

One More Spot!

Going Fishin'

Bling Share - FULL

Green Thumb...

It's been quite a week...

Ribbon Storage For Sale *sold*

For Sale

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Baby Card & Life...

Comments

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One More Valentine...

Birthday card

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Wild One

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Tagged!

May Arts Ribbon Share CLOSED

Ribbon Storage For Sale sold