Ahh.....

My son is FINALLY back in school today! Yippee!!! I must say I am not a stay at home mom but I do get sick of the whole camp thing. Even though my son, Ben, didn't want to admit it I think he was ready to go back to school. When I picked him up today he was so excited about his new teacher and the fact that he knows three kids in his class from the previous years. So glad it was a great first day of third grade for him! I am also happy because I am on vacation this week!!!! I am having stamp camp in Saturday so I have a ton of stampin to do this week. I finally got my new LOOT on Monday and it is all awesomely wonderful!!! I must say that my fave. stamp so far is the new background stamp, Gratuitous Graffiti. I am actually making a card right now using that stamp as my main focus. I need to get going on some swap cards and that is one stamp that I signed up for. I will post it when it is done. It is in "stuck" mode right now. That is the stage where it is almost done but I still feel it needs something else so it is in "stuck" mode, if you will. I know I am a serious loser and need a new life but for now I am in "stuck" mode! LOL! Does anyone else out there do this??? It is a card for pete's sake! Ha! Anyways, I guess I better get back to my table over there. Oh, the mail lady came and I see a box! Not a SU box but it might be my aqua globes I have been waiting for! Does anyone have those? They are the ball things that hold water and you place them in your house plants and that way they constantly have water! Yes a TV ad! Ha! I'll let ya know how they work. My husband wanted me to try them. I always feel like I should post a card when I post something so here is a thank you card that I made recently for my mom, sister and cousin. They took my son to St. Louis (my hometown) with them for a visit. I have alot of family there still so it was good for them to see Ben. Soo I used my new Sarah Kay stamp and some new SU Loot! Those are right up my alley!!! Hey, have you seen the new ones?? I think they are being released today! I know their (Sweet and sassy stamps) release party is on Aug 31st. I have a link to their site on the right. :) Have a great day everyone!

MIA!

I have been MIA since the new catty came out, let alone we were able to view the new Holiday Mini catty too!!!

I don't know about ya' all but I am on new toy overload!!! Ha! I don't like all this coming out at once because I am not made of money.

I do really like both of the new cattys though. No surprise there though.

Well, enough about all that. Here is a card that I made while Teresa (Jtkshaw) was here. We were able to stamp together and we had alot of fun. She wanted to do this FIRST Verve challenge so I played along too. We had to use Chocolate chip, Pumpkin pie, Old olive, So saffron, and whisper white. What a great color combo, if you ask me.

I borrowed this stamp set from Teresa while she was here since I didn't have it at the time. Notice how I said DIDN'T! I tried to get it from Verve for the longest time and it was sold out. Well, I finally came across it in stock and jumped on it! It is soo fun to play with. In case you aren't familiar with the set it is called, Petals & Stems. It is one set that I love EVERY stamp in it. I love the quality of their stamps too and boy do they ever ship fast to me too. That is always a plus in book!

Anyways, I was glad I made this card because I think it turned out cute enough to make for a swap group I am in so I ended up making 10 of them! TFL!

Hello!

I am soo bad about updating my blog! I'm just to darn busy with working, being mom, wife, and cleaning etc. But I try to touch base with ya every once in awhile. :)

Anyways, as some of you know already my good friend, Teresa (jtkshaw on SCS), came to visit me!!!

We had such a good time chattin', shoppin' and of course card makin'! We actually got some things done.

Teresa got more done than me since I have to plan it all out and she just whips em out! Ha! WHATEVER!

She made this really cute candy bag using her Scor-Pal! Isn't it super cute? I almost ate one of the candies the other day but I resisted. Ha! it was kind of hard to get a good photo of this but i hope you can see how she stamped the bag! Really cute gift!

I know over on Teresa's blog she posted some photos of the cards she made so check them out!

I haven't actually taken any photos of the ones that I made yet. Once I get my swap cards done I will take some photos of them all at once. :)

Happy Stampin'!!!

NMBS Challenge #6

Good Sunday mornin' to ya'! Ha!

I got up around 7 because I was anxious to get the challenge posted over at NMBS (no more bad swaps) blog.

You may have heard me mention the swap group before (NMBS) well, this week was my week to host the challenge and I must say I was nervous for a second there. But then I got into it and I had fun!

This is the card I made for the challenge. The challenge is to use a simply scrappin' kit (retired or current). You can only use the papers in the kit and you CAN NOT use any STAMPS! Yikes! You have to have ribbon on your card and one other embellishment. Card can be any size. If you feel like playing along please check out our blog. (link is listed at the right).

I used the "Tie the Knot" Simply Scrappin' Kit!

Hope everyone has a great Sunday! I am off to finish some swap cards! :)

Thanks Dawg!

OMG how cute is this dog stamp? I got this set from my good friend, Teresa (AKA jtkshaw on SCS) for my birthday! She is just soo sweet like that! :) So, I finally made this card I had in my head. I first thought of the Print Pattern BG and then I realized the East Coast Prep paper! How perfect are they together???

I must say this is the first time I used markers on CLEAR stamps to mask. I wasnt sure how it would work since it didnt seem like the marker was really showing up on the stamp.

If you KWIM? But it worked for the most part.

Here is the card recipe in case you are wondering???

Stamps: Inkadinkado ("dogs" set), Stampin' Up! (print pattern and Ruff day)

Paper: Brillant blue, Bashful blue, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, East Coast Prep DS (SU)

ink: real red, versamark, basic black

accessories: copic and SU markers, Rhinestone (collar *bling*), gingham ribbon (SU), pop dots

As always TFL!

Finally!

I FINALLY got around to updating my blog! Not to make excuses but I was having computer problems, yes again, and then we have had days without power so that doesn't help either.

Anyways, there has been soo much going on that I am not going to bore you with the details but I will fill you in on the fact that the swap group I am in, NMBS (No More Bad Swaps), has their our blog now!!! See the link to the right! Thanks to my dear friend, Teresa, who got it all set up and going for us! She is soo good with it too!

So on our blog we offer a different CHALLENGE every Sunday! Whether you are part of our group of not you can post your "challenge creations" on our blog! How fun is that???

Each week, a different member of our group will host the "challenge". So be sure to check it out and I would love to see your creations!!!

This week is our third week. I have been good so far and have done the first two weeks challenges! My husband is getting ready to go fishing and my son is playing with a neighbor so I just might have time to do the this weeks challenge! Yippee!

Okay so here is the NMBS #1 Challenge card that I did. The hostess was Teresa and the challenge is to use black and white with one accent color. You also had to use a flower stamp and bling! I must say no surprise there, knowing Teresa because she loves flowers and owns ALOT of flower stamps! Ha!

For my card I used the following: (all SU except rhinestone bling)

Stamps: Live your dream

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Regal Rose, DS Flowers for you

Ink : Regal Rose around the edges

Accessories: Regal Rose and Old Olive markers, Regal Rose grosgrain ribbon, Rhinestones, sponge daubers

NMBS Challenge #2

For the 2nd challenge, Vonda, was the hostess and she asked us to make a card using a Summertime theme! You also had to use a RETIRED stamp set along with a bold bright color!

This challenge was right up my alley since I have a son I use the bold colors alot and I LOVE summertime!

When I first read this challenge this set came to mind (Time For Fun). It was so fun to dig it out of the closet and use it again!

For this card I used the following:

Stamps: Time for Fun (retired)

Ink: Basic Black

Paper: Brillant Blue, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Jersey Shore DS paper pack

Access: Blue ric rac ribbon (now sure where the heck i got it), copic markers, watercolor crayons, bashful blue brads

Thanks for looking! Off to work on the Third Challenge!!

Happy belated Mother's Day!

I was really trying to get on here yesterday and say a quick hello and Happy Mother's Day to you all out there but it just didn't happen so Happy belated Mother's Day!

Since I am new to this whole "blog" thing I guess I should say that I am a mother myself. I have one boy, Ben, who is 9 years old. :)

Even though the weather wasn't nice here, in Chicago, it was still a nice day being mothers day and all. I was disappointed though that I didn't see my mom.

I think the last two years actually I didnt see my mom on mothers day because my husband, son and I just have spent the day together.

Don't get me wrong it was a great day but it isn't the same to me I guess when I don't see my mom.

So now I know what I am doing next year. :) Especially because she lives only an hour away. It could be further, right?

Anyways, I feel better sharing that with you all. LOL.

I did get to spend some time taking some photos of some cards I have done recently, and yes, they are for swaps. I do a ton of swaps in case you didnt know that about me. I love them because it makes me use my collection of goodies if you KWIM?

First, I would like to share this card with you. My mom actually sent me this card from my wedding anniversary! Isn't it just the cutest?? I sure do love that Cuttlebug! How cute is the scallop edge on this card too?

My parents even sent us money to go out to dinner!! Wasn't that sweet? They are the best!

Copics!

This is the first card I made using my new Copic markers! Isn't this bird just so cute?

You will also learn about me that I LOVE cutesy stamps! Especially this clear Hero Arts set (Cheery Bird).

The paper is River Rock and the Blue Bayou DS pattern paper. And of course the ribbon is Chocolate Chip 5/8 grosgrain by no other than the famous, Stampin' Up!

As mentioned earlier I used copics to color with (still playing with the technique). I also used my circle punches as you can see. :)

I think I am going through another "phase" in my stamping addiction. I am in love with bird, OWL, and dog stamps lately! Oh and these cute 4.25 sized cards.

Does anyone else out that go through "phases" like me? Cause Lord knows I don't need another freakin' stamp! LOL!

Ok, I must get to bed since I have to get up at 5 a.m. tomorrow! Plus I have to get back to my Nora Roberts book. :)

Good Night!

Welcome!

Wow! I finally got my blog up and running! There are still alot of things I want to add to it but I really just wanted to get it going so here it is. Ha! I never really thought I would ever have a blog but then the more I started reading them I saw more reasons why I SHOULD have one! Since I work and I am a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I am not sure how often I will be able to update my blog but I will do my best. I know, I know, get to the cards already right? This card was inspired from Beate's card (splitcoaststampers). This is also one of her Weekend Sketch challenges. If you are familar with them you need to check out her blog for amazing inspiration!!! Her blog link is to the right of this page. I wish I would of had my Copic markers when I did this card because I would of gotten a much better color on the rocket but I still think it is a great boy birthday card! All the supplies on this card are Stampin' Up! The stamp set is PUN FUN (one of my faves), I used Brilliant blue, Bashful blue, Whisper white, and Jersey Shore DS paper. I used basic black ink, watercolor crayons, chalk, gel pen, scallop punch, tab punch, circle punches, bashful blue buttons, and DMC floss (not SU). I think that about covers it. I have been doing alot of this card size lately. It is 4 1/4 x 4 1/4. I have been doing a dog album also using an 8x8 album size and I am really liking that smaller size too. It is not so overwhelming for me as it was for me when I was doing 12x12 layouts!

Happy Friday!

Yippee! It is finally Friday! It has been a super long week for me! I work for an Orthodontist and my boss broke his leg while he was on vacation! Since he is off work we have had a different doctor come in to help everyday. If anyone else out there works with doctors you know how different they all can be. I wish they all used the same instruments etc. They were all really nice just a different week for sure. I am glad that I am in the mood to stamp too. I hope to get some cards done for a group of gals that I swap with every month. Okay like I said earlier I love to scrap in the 8x8 size and thought that was a good size to use for our dog's (Maggie) album. I only have two pages done so far but here they are.

I just love this photo of our son, Ben, hugging Maggie, our dog. This was taken at Christmas time (2007). The papers, arrow, blue ribbon, and journal pocket are all Cosmo Cricket. Great for boy pages (IMO). The buttons, and red ribbon are Stampin' Up!

This photo didn't turn out like I wanted and I tried several times. Anyways, on the ribbon is used rubons that say Maggie and the date. This picture was taken last April when we first got her. You will really get sick of hearing me talk about her. Ha!