The Paisley Turtle

BODY PILLOW GIVEAWAY

2011-08-09T03:25:00.001-05:00

BODY PILLOW GIVEAWAY

She is giving away a SNOOZER PILLOW

GO CHECK IT OUT!

ANOTHER E2 giveaway

2011-04-25T17:31:00.000-05:00

MY PINK STAMPER E2 GIVEAWAY

CRICUT E2 GIVEAWAY

2011-04-25T17:15:00.001-05:00

Go check out this link to enter:
MIXOLOGY CRAFTS E2 GIVEAWAY

St. Paddy's Day Blog Hop

2011-03-17T22:30:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone! Welcome to The Paisley Turtle & the St. Paddy's Day Blog Hop. You should be arriving from Liliana, or if you just happened to stop by today go back to the beginning and visit Denise @ Designs from my Heart. If this is your first visit to The Paisley Turtle, I am so glad to have you. Please take a minute to look around, become a follower or leave some comments! :o)

I had a vision for a fun card that told a story. This is TOTALLY not my norm and WAY out of my comfort zone, but even if I do say so myself it is pretty cute!

Supplies Used & Elements Description:

Card is 4.25" x 5.5"
Leprechaun - cut from Freshly Picked Cricut Cartridge @ 2.59" - gnome1 on p. 35 of handbook; paper used K & Co. Remake Grass Greens Mat Pad, K & Co. Remake Earth Browns Mat Pad; smile - Peachy Keen Everyday Character Face Parts PK-494 stamped with dark brown chalk ink
Four Leaf Clovers - cut from Give a Hoot Cricut Cartridge @ 1" - bird1 accent on p. 45 of handbook, papers K & Co. Remake Grass Greens Mat Pad
Sky - 2" strip cut from Hippie Chic MatStack by DCWV punched with Martha Stewart Ribbon Loop Edge Punch, light blue CS by DCWV punched with Fiskars Upper Crest Border Punch
Grass - K & Co. Carolyn Gavin Greenhouse Mat Pad & Remake Grass Greens Mat Pad, cut by hand
Clouds - hand drawn, paper unknown, on pop dots for dimension
Fiskars Small Scallop Paper Punch
Kiss Me I'm Irish Stamp - Scrappy Mom's The Charmed LIfe Stamp Set, stamped with dark brown chalk ink

I hope you enjoyed this card today, I had a LOT of fun making it!

Your next stop on the blog hop is: Meighen, and for a full list of hop participants, please visit our hostess: Denise @ Designs from my Heart

Sweet Heart Valentine's Day Blog Hop

2011-02-14T00:00:00.003-06:00

Hi everyone! Welcome to The Paisley Turtle & the Sweet Heart Valentine's Day Blog Hop. You should be arriving from JillTheeScrapaholic, or if you just happened to stop by today go back to the beginning and visit Denise @ Designs from my Heart. If this is your first visit to The Paisley Turtle, I am so glad to have you. Please take a minute to look around, become a follower or leave some comments! :o)

Today my project was a romantic card I made for my husband. I always like to make him a funny card. But then also a have to make him a mushy card that will make him say "AWWWWWW!"

I ran the 5.5" x 5.5" base of my card through my Cuttlebug using the Sizzix Tropical Paisley Textured Impressions folder. I adhered a 5" x 5" piece of patterned paper onto my card base. Then I took a 3.75" x 3.75" piece of cardstock and layered a 3.5" x 3.5" piece of patterned paper onto it. This layered square was added toward the top left corner of the 5" square piece of patterned paper.

I randomly stamped several stamps on the Kraft Cardstock with chalk inks. I was very impressed with these chalk inks since I found them in the dollar bin at JoAnn's! They stamped vividly and were the color they promised to be. This layer was 5.5" in length and about 2.25" in width. It was the last layer of cardstock I put on before I added my embellishments.

My embellishments were the Lovey Dovey heart stamp by Stampin' Up - stamped with the dark pink chalk ink onto light pink cardstock and cut it out with my scissors. A 3.5" heart was cut on my Cricut using the Love Struck 2010 cartridge, this was cut from an old book I bought at Goodwill. And finally I stamped "be mine" onto some of the leftover book paper and cut it out. I used ATG to attach the book paper heart and "be mine" pieces. I used a pop-dot to attach the Lovey Dovey Heart.

I used a specific page out of the book, and a specific part of the page to cut out my heart (it is the base to the Zebra heart on the Love Struck cartridge). I wanted to highlight a sentence with my glimmer chalks "whom she would have loved the most."

I am SO PLEASED with how this turned out and I cannot WAIT to give it to him today. My Valentine card came early, along with a MacBook! So he DEFINITELY deserves this romantic card!

Supplies Used:
Bittersweet 6" x 6" Paper Pad - Basic Grey
Kraft Cardstock by Recollections
Pink Textured Cardstock by DCWV
Page from and old book - Goodwill
Dark Pink, Light Pink & White Chalk Ink by Studio G (JoAnn's Dollar Bin)
Stamps used: heart with wings (unknown), Swirl Heart (Unity Stamp Co.), Heart with frame (Studio G), Collage Heart (The Stamp Studio), Lovey Dovey Heart (Stampin' Up), Be Mine (Studio G)
Sizzix Textured Impressions (2pk) - 656796 Diamond & Tropical Paisley, I used Tropical Paisley

Thank you for stopping by today & remember to leave everyone on the hop some love!!! HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Your next stop on the blog hop is: Faith @ Faithful Creations, and for a full list of hop participants, please visit our hostess: Denise @ Designs from my Heart

Just for Him - Valentine's Day Blog Hop

2011-02-11T22:59:00.001-06:00

Hi everyone! Welcome to The Paisley Turtle & the JUST FOR HIM VALENTINE's BLOG HOP organized by Holly @ Scrappily Ever After If this is your first visit, I am so glad to have you. Please take a minute to look around, become a follower or leave some comments! :o)

Today, my project is a fun card for any man in your life - son, husband, nephew, cousin!!! I love this little dinosaur from Pink Paislee and decided he had to go on my project.

I decided to use some awesome papers I got MONTHS ago at Hobby Lobby by My Mind's Eye. They have a lot of pink and glitter in the stack, but I think I have shown how you can use these papers even for the GUY in your life.

I stamped the Dinosaur on a piece of patterned paper with some hearts on it, and used one of those hearts as part of the dinosaur. I stamped the dinosaur in Distress Embossing Ink, used C.T.M.H. black embossing powder. Then cut him out, using pop dots to place him on the patterned paper.

Then I decided it needed a little more EDGE. So I got out my trusty Zippo Candle Lighter and lit the cardstock (that I had randomly stamped with "RAWR") on fire around the edges. I only let it burn for a second and then blew the fire out. This was SO MUCH FUN, but should only be done in a safe place (like outside)!!!!

Supplies Used:
Love Nest Paper Stack by Carina Gardner & My Minds Eye
Kraft Cardstock - Recollections from Michael's
Light Kraft Cardstock - unknown
Dark Brown Chalk Ink by Colorbox
Dinosaur Stamp from the Vintage Pop set by Pink Paislee
Provo Craft rolling alphabet stamp
Pop Dots - The Paper Studio
Black Embossing Powder from Close to My Heart
Distress Embossing Ink by Ranger
Ribbon/Fiber unknown
Zippo Candle Lighter (used on RAWR paper & edges of fiber)

Card Dimensions:
5 1/2" x 5 1/2" Base
5" x 5" Layer one (Circles)
4 1/2" x 4 1/2" Layer Two (RAWR)
3" x 3" Layer Three (Red Dots)
1/2" wide Sentiment Strip (Pink

Thank you for stopping by today! Remember to visit all the ladies on the hop. For a complete list visit Holly @ Scrappily Ever After and remember to leave everyone some love!!!

1) Holly - Scrappily Ever After
2) Nancy - Fancy with Nancy
3) Karelj - Karel J
4) Theresa - The Scrapbooking Queen
5) Shannon - Purple Lion Paper
6) Laura - Makin Pretty Things
7) Lori - The Paisley Turtle <-- YOU ARE HERE!
8) Alina - Never Stop Scrapping
9) Janie - Typical Scrapbooker
10) Becky - BecksCriCards

Happy Valentine's Day to your & yours! God Bless!

Birthday Card for my Uncle

2011-02-08T22:44:00.003-06:00

Supplies:
Hannah Montana Cricut Cartridge
Music Paper by Love Elsie
Make & Wish stamp & word window punch - Stampin' Up
Kraft Cardstock - Hobby Lobby
Other patterned paper - Michael's
Paisley background stamp - Stampendous
Inks - Distress Inks by Tim Holtz
Copic Spica pens to draw strings on guitar

Thank you Scrappily Ever After!!!!

2011-02-08T22:39:00.002-06:00

Holly over at Scrappily Ever After just made-over my blog! Too cute, huh? Thanks Holly!!!

My Top 10 Cards of 2010

2010-12-27T20:28:00.006-06:00

I am participating in

Here are my Top 10 in NO particular order...

Simply Charmed Cricut Cartridge & Scrappy Mom's Stamps The Charmed Life Set, Paper-unknown

K.I. Memories Paper, Unity Stamp Company images

Paper Pad purchased at Michael's, My Favorite Things images

Patterned Paper unknown, Dictionary Pages, Unity Stamp Co. Paisley image, Stampin' Up Sentiment

Basic Grey Papers, Stamps Unknown

Basic Grey Papers, House Mouse Gruffies Image, Stampin' Up Sentiment

My Mind's Eye paper, Unity Stamp Company image

Basic Grey Papers, Stampin' Up images

Block Party Cricut Images, Unity Stamp Company sentiment

Freshly Picked Cricut Image, Hippie Chic Paper Pad

Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment &/or become a follower!

Gnome Sweet Gnome

2010-09-10T08:00:00.002-05:00

This is my FAVORITE card I have made lately. This little Gnome from Freshly Picked is so stinkin' cute!!! I took the shadow image of the Gnome and welded two of them together using my Gypsy. All I did was just copy the shadow image, flipped it upside down. Then I used Emma's tip from Creative Time for Me and added a rectangle from George and basic shapes. This just add a little stability to the are where you will fold the card, that explains why the top of the card is not EXACTLY the shape of the Gnome's hat. Finally I welded all three shapes (the two shadows and the little rectangle) with my Gypsy - easy peasy! :o) I love shaped cards!

I did use my tweezers on this card a lot for the eyes, nose and little buckle. I doodled on the gnome and on the shadow for some depth - LOVE IT! I also used my chalks to pink up his cheeks. Finally I added stickles to his belt buckle for some COOL BLING. Next time I cut this little guy I am going to run his hair and beard through my Cuttlebug for some added texture - won't that be SUPER CUTE???

Supplies:
Freshly Picked Cricut Cartridge (Gnome p. 37)
White CS by Georgia Pacific
Black CS by the Paper Studio
Tan CS by C.T.M.H.
Hippie Chic Mat Stacks D.C.W.V.
Grass Green Recycled Mat Pad by K & Co.
Champagne Stickles
White Gelly Roll Gel Pen

Thanks for stopping by today, make sure you let me know what you think of my card - become a follower or just say hi!!! Go Create Something!!!

Freshly Picked Flower Pot Card

2010-09-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

Today I want to share a card I made with the Freshly Picked Cartridge:

Supplies:
Freshly Picked Cricut Cartridge (flower p. 32)
Black & Kraft CS by the Paper Studio
Tan CS from my stash
Hippie Chic Mat Stack (all patterned Paper)
Lace from my stash
Marth Stewart Layered Arch Border Punch
Grass Greens Recycled Mat Pad by K & Co.
Hippie Chic Mat Stack]
Orange CS by DCWV
Word Window Punch Stampin' Up
So Many Sayings Stamp SEt Stampin' Up

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to let me know what you think of my cards!!!

Love of a Lifetime

2010-08-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday Keith & I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary! We had a special day of just being together alone. We had a great dinner at our favorite Hibachi restaurant here and I got a beautiful anniversary band to celebrate 10 years.

I gave Keith this PRECIOUS card I made for him using the Sweethearts Cricut Cartridge.

Supplies Used:
Sweethearts Cricut Cartridge
Ocean Blues & Berry Pinks Recycled Mat Pads by K & Co. (these were for the couples clothes)
Cut & Paste Mat Pad by K & Co.
Black & Kraft CS by The Paper Studio
Flesh & Brown CS, and yellow textured CS from my stash
Offray Ribbon
Word Window Punch
Love of a Lifetime stamp from Stampin' Up's So Many Sayings Stamp Set

You are going to see me use my Word Window Punch and the So Many Sayings Stamp Set A LOT - I LOVE THEM and have become quite obsessed - LOL!

If you like this card, please leave a comment and let me know. Keith loved it, and I hope you do too.

Have a great day & try to create SOMETHING!

#1 Dad

2010-08-04T05:37:00.003-05:00

It has been a hard couple of weeks around here. Hubs has worked 14 days straight and I am completely stressed out from not seeing him for so long. So this will be a quick one today.

This is the card I made my Father-in-law for Father's Day.

Supplies Used:
Kraft Cardstock by The Paper Studio
Green & Aqua Cardstock by D.C.W.V.
Moonlight White Brilliance Ink Pad
Nonsense Patterned Paper Pad by We R Memory Keepers
Circle cut with Nesties by Spellbinders
#1 Dad cut with my Cricut and the Celebrate with Flourish Cartridge
Pop Dots (used to raise #1 Dad image)

I hope you enjoyed this fun card. I really love the Celebrate with Flourish Cartridge it has so many fun images!!! Have a wonderful day and try to create something!!!

A Fantabulous Day!!!

2010-07-28T10:00:00.002-05:00

Last month I attended Heather's C.T.M.H. Splendor Workshop on the Go. We made 4 super cute layouts (two 2 page layouts) and when I got home I made another TWO LAYOUTS with supplies left over!!! So I decided to make a fun card with my Cricut.

I cut the bear at 3" from Create a Critter along with her sweet little dress. I stamped her face and then added detail with my gel pen & chalk. She had to have a little blush! I "bling'd" up her dress with some self-adhesive jewels and added a flower for her head. I LOVE LOVE LOVE how she turned out.

Supplies Used:
Create a Critter Cricut Cartridge
All Shades of Brown Cardstock Open Stock Hobby Lobby
All other papers from Splendor Workshop on the Go Kit - Close to My Heart (C.T.M.H.)
Peachy Keen Stamps Critter Faces Stamp Set
Pebbles Inc. Shimmer Pearlescent Chalks
Gelly Roll White Gel Pen
Orange Flower C.T.M.H.
"have a fantabulous day" stamp by Stamping Bella
Memento Rich Cocoa Ink Pad
Brilliance Moonlight White Ink Pad
Jewels from Dollar Mart (local Dollar Store)

Needless to say, but if you don't have Create a Critter - GET IT! Have a great day & try to CREATE SOMETHING!!!

Love is in the Air

2010-07-26T10:00:00.000-05:00

Today I wanted to share a card that I made with my Cricut & Peachy Keen Stamps. I was inspired to make this card after visiting Andrea's blog Work in Progress back in June. I really fell in love with the digital stamp she used, but couldn't find it for purchase on the designer's website. So I decided I would use my Peachy Keen stamps and my Cricut and make it myself.

This was my first attempt at adding detail to a Cricut cut with pens and stamps. I used a Gelly Roll White Pen to color the eyes. And a Black Le Pen (Hobby Lobby) to add the dashes and dots to the umbrella.

I think it turned out pretty cute. It needs a little something else, but I wasn't sure what yet. I may end up adding three brads along the corner of the white panel the umbrella is on for some added dimension.

Inside I stamped a Unity Stamp Company Sentiment "Love is in the Air".

Supplies Used:
Blue & Pink Cardstocks by Close to My Heart (unsure of exact colors)
Distress Pink Patterned Paper by Junkitz
White Cardstock Georgia Pacific
Black Cardstock from Hobby Lobby Open Stock papers
Face Stamp Peachy Keen Stamps PK-493 Everyday Character Face Parts 3" to 4"
Umbrella cut at 3" from Create a Critter Cricut Cartridge
Hearts cut at 1/4" from George Cricut Cartridge

Hope you enjoyed this fun project today, have a good one and try to CREATE SOMETHING!!!

Fabulous Friday

2010-07-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

Today I am being featured over on Holly's Blog Scrappily Ever After!!! I am so excited about this!!!

The technique is one I did in a swap recently and decided to take it one step further and use my background to make a card. I think it turned out GREAT!

Also if you want to a be a fan of my blog on facebook, just click HERE. It will post automatically when I have a new blog post.

Have a great day! I am off to do a little scrapbooking with friends tonight and can't wait.

RELAX.....enjoy your day

2010-07-20T08:00:00.001-05:00

While I had the Basic Grey Phresh & Phunky Paper out I decided to pair them with a My Favorite Things image I had been coloring. (The blues match much better in real life.)

I used my Copic Markers to color in this image, and I used the Colorless Blender to make the striped wallpaper behind the yoga girl.

Supplies Used:
Serenity Now Set by My Favorite Things
Relax stamp Unity Stamp Company
Take Time to Enjoy Your Day Stamp Cornish Heritage Farms
Phresh & Phunky Basic Grey Patterned Papers
Blue & Green Solid Cardstocks from Hobby Lobby
Making Memories Ribbon & Brads
Georgia Pacific White Cardstock
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink pad
Double Scallop Punch by Martha Stewart
Copic Markers to color image (sorry forgot to write down the numbers)
Copic Colorless Blender to make stripes on wallpaper

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you have enjoyed these two days of Phresh & Phunky Basic Grey Projects. And I hope you saw how different you can make the papers look.

Celebration Mice

2010-07-19T08:00:00.001-05:00

Sorry it has been a little while since I have posted. I get on a roll with posting and get no comments or new followers and convince myself to stop posting. Then I make something really cool and think well maybe I should post again??? So please if you are enjoying what you see leave a comment & become a follower? Thank you.

So today I wanted to post the birthday card I made for my Mom.

The image is by House Mouse and was colored with Prismacolor Pencils and blended with Odorless Mineral Spirits and blending stumps. If you LOVE to color and haven't tried the O.M.S. and blending stumps to blend your colors - YOU MUST! It is absolutely my FAVORITE way to color. I could do this all day every day.

Supplies Used:
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad
Celebate House Mouse Stamp
Phresh & Phunky Basic Grey Patterned Papers
Kraft Cardstock by The Paper Studio
Ribbon from Target $ Spot
Scalloped Border Punch by Fiskars

Thanks for stopping by today. And Friday I have an exciting announcement!

Love, Elsie Roxie

2010-06-24T16:02:00.003-05:00

Just a simple card for today. Skull image was stamped in Memento Black Ink and colored with Copics. Sorry I don't remember which colors I used. (oops!) "You Rock" was stamped after coloring with Copic Markers and huffing on the stamp. I then outlined the letters & added a few doodles with a blank fine line pen.
Cardstock is Georgia Pacific from Wal-Mart.

Thanks for your patience while we work out the blog issues. Have a great day! I am off to a scrapbook workshop tomorrow night and an all day crop on Saturday - WOOHOO!

TRANSITION

2010-06-22T22:49:00.001-05:00

I am in a transitional state with the look of my blog. Please stay tuned for new posts later in the week when I get this all straightened out. It has to stay like this for someone to take a look at it to give me some tips. Sorry about the mess.

Hugs & Blessings!!!

My Favorite Things

2010-06-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

I recently joined a swap in my stamping group, and the theme was My Favorite Things. So I put together my favorites: distressing, paisley, flowers, coffee & pink!

Supplies Used:
Scalloped Circle Nestie
Print paper was cut from a dictionary from the Dollar Store
Button from Wal-Mart
All other paper from my stash
Bling is unknown
Kindred Spirit stamp by Stampin' Up
Paisley Stamp by Unity Stamp Company
Pink Flock from Hobby Lobby (paisley's were flocked)
Scalloped Scallop border punch by Martha Stewart

To learn to make these Poofy Flowers visit Dawn McVey @ My Favorite Things, her tutorial is great and these flowers are ADDICTIVE!!!!!!

Have a great day & CREATE SOMETHING! ;O)

BBQ Birthday

2010-06-17T15:56:00.004-05:00

Last week I had heard the rumors of new Cricut Cartridges at Wal-Mart. So my wonderful husband took me and we purchased my first Cricut Lite cartridge. I got Block Party because of the fun grilling images on the cartridge. Keith mentioned he needed a birthday card for his boss, so I knew I would use this cartridge to make it (Keith is a culinary manager for a restaurant). As soon as we got home I went right into the scrapbook room and started cutting images.

I decided to make a 6" x 6" card. Here is the front of the card - I used a transparency for the BBQ bottle. The "here's whats cookin...." stamp was PERFECT! The chef was cut at 4 1/2" and the BBQ bottle was cut at 3 3/4". The chef layered easily, but the pieces were still PRETTY tiny, and was not the best cut I ever did. The spatula was especially tricky, I think it could have been the paper I was using.

I added a little pig from the cart to the inside for some additional fun.

You can see my layers, the pop dotted little chef just added the right "umph"! :o)

Supplies:
Green CS by DCWV
Black CS by Hobby Lobby
All other papers from my stash (I think the patterned paper is American Crafts)
Pop Dots by The Paper Studio
Here's whats cookin & birthday stamps by Unity Stamp company
it's & your stamps by The Angel Company
Black Soot Distress Ink Pad

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed my first Cricut Lite project! :O)

Cherry-O Layouts

2010-06-12T10:00:00.001-05:00

Well, it is Saturday and I meant to have these uploaded already, but life happened. So here they are! The two 2-page layouts we made with the Cherry-O Workshop on the Go.

Yes, we are big dorks - we gave our dog a 1st birthday party. All my dogs had first birthday parties. And each year since they still get a new toy and a special treat of some time (a cupcake usually) on their special day. Marlie's first birthday was a little more special because I made her little cake - peanut butter and dog bones, with a doggie chew stick as her "candle". And I also made her hat! How cute is she???? I cut the title with my Expression with the All Mixed Up Cartridge, welded with my gypsy.

These are some of my favorite pictures of my Daddy. He passed away in 1994, so I treasure what I have all the more. Him sticking his tongue out is classic daddy, if you knew him, you know this! Him teaching me to ride my bike, and lovin' on me after I got a HUGE shiner when I feel on our front sidewalk. I was DADDY'S GIRL! Ask anyone???

All supplies are CTMH Cherry-O Workshop on the Go; except green, blue and pink ribbons are Offray, (ps - the heart cut out was done with my Cricut and Love Struck Cartridge.)

Enjoy your wonderful day today. Stop by at the first of the week! Please become a follower, and if you have any questions feel free to leave it as a comment.

Cherry-O Cards

2010-06-09T10:00:00.000-05:00

These are cards made from my monthly CTMH workshop that I attend. We made two 2 page layouts at the workshop, and then I made 6 cards when I got home just with my scraps. I still have enough scraps to make another 2 page spread! Today I want to share the cards with you. I stamped a couple of images from the Cherry-O kit, but didn't stamp enough to make all 6 cards, so I got a stamp from Unity's KOM-JUNE09 Perfect in Every Way, and the sentiment that went along with it to finish up my cards. I made two of each of the designs below:

"Thanks" stamp is by Hero Arts, Cherry is Unity Kit mentioned above, all other supplies are CTMH Cherry-O Workshop on the Go.

All supplies are CTMH Cherry-O Workshop on the Go.

Pink Velvet Brad by Making Memories, Cherry & Sentiment Stamp are from Unity Kit mentioned above, all other supplies are CTMH Cherry-O WOrkshop on the Go.

Tomorrow or Friday I will share the two 2 page layouts we created with this kit. I need to finished up my journaling and add titles with my Cricut. Have a wonderful day, it is supposed to rain here today - YUCK! BUT that is ok because I can CREATE SOMETHING! =0)

Leaving the Cocoon Cards

2010-06-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

A week or so ago I posted some cards on my blog that had butterflies on them. My blog posts to facebook and one of my friends asked if she could easily make some of the cards. She is involved with Leaving the Cocoon Ministries, and their symbol is the butterfly. I had seen her post about the ministry and knew a little of what it was about, and so I told her I would make her some cards to send. Hoping that what is part of my therapy for my O.C.D. will bring joy to someone and encourage them in their love for the Lord.

Here are just two of the many cards I made for her.

Supplies:
Serenade Cricut Cartridge (butterflies)
Patterned Papers JoAnn's Essentials Card Stack, CTMH & KI Memories
Black & Purple CS are from my stash
Georgia Pacific White CS
Dusty Concord Distress Ink Pad
Just Because I Care stamp by Stampin' Up

I had such a wonderful time making these cards, I am planning to find more ministries I can contribute to. If you know of one in need please leave me a comment. Have a wonderful day & try to CREATE something!

Heartstrings Blog Candy

2010-06-05T18:12:00.001-05:00

Heartstrings
Just click on the link and follow her directions to win! WOOHOO!

Throwback Thursday Challenge

2010-06-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

Emma Aguilar from My Creative Time issued a challenge on Thursday to all her followers. The challenge was to make a project using your Cricut with an ANIMAL theme. You can click on the link above to go see her video and project she made. I did not have the cartridge Emma used, but I decided to break out my "new" to me Paper Pups cartridge (Ebay score for $10!!!) I made the little spotted pup into a card - how cute is he???

Supplies Used:
Paper Pups Cricut Cartridge
Paper Studio Black CS
Tan Textured CS unknown
Georgia Pacific White CS

Serenity NOW!

2010-06-01T10:00:00.001-05:00

Today I wanted to share a fun card I made with some stamps from My Favorite Things. These stamps are clear stamps and they work GREAT! I bought a few sets way back when, and although I have used the sentiments, I hadn't used any of the main images.

I stamped the main image on several sheets of patterned paper, and on one sheets of white cardstock. Then I cut out the yoga mat, tank top, pants, and shoes (black cardstock) with my Fiskars Micro Tip Scissors. I used my Copic Markers to color the image stamped on white CS, the only things I colored where the background and the arms & chest. Then I glued the cut pieces to my main image. I LOVE how she turned out!

Here is the card all finished. I stamped the sentiment "Serenity Now" onto a piece of patterned paper and then punched it out with my Stampin' Up Word Window Punch. The sentiment was shorter than the paper that punched out, so the excess is hidden behind the mat.

Supplies Used:
Patterned Paper from Rock On Love 5" x 7" Prima Paper Pad
Georgia Pacifice White Cardstock
Black Cardstock from my stash
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad
Serenity Now Stamp Set from My Favorite Things
Copic Markers G21, YG03, E000, E00
Word Window & Spiral (border on black CS) punches by Stampin' Up
Blue Flowers by Prima
Black Flower by Doodlebug

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have time to CREATE SOMETHING, and please leave a comment and let me know if there is anything you would like to see on my blog.

YOU ROCK!

2010-05-30T10:00:00.001-05:00

OK so my nephew turned 15 at the beginning of the month. I remember the day he was born, where did all that time go??? He is such a cool kid, and I really had a hard time coming up with a cool, NOT little boy, birthday card. How'd I do???

here is the inside of the card...

Supplies:
Kraft & White Cardstock from Hobby Lobby
DCWV RockStar Mat Stack (skull paper, guitar paper, stripe)
Walnut Stain Distress Ink
Brody Drummer Z Stamp by Just Johanna Odd Bird Planet
You Rock & Star stamps are Love, Elsie by KI Memories
happy birthday by Unity Stamps

I tried to grunge up the inside to make it look very ROCK-like. I hope I was successful, of course even with money in the card I never heard if he liked it or not...oh well that's a 15 year old for ya! LoL!

I would love to hear how you liked this card, or have you become a follower. I spent yesterday afternoon on a "date" with my hubs. That hasn't happened in over a year and a half on a Saturday night. Nice dinner, ran a few errands, riding around with the windows down & having an ice cream cone. That's the life!!! Have a super day!

As for me & my house...

2010-05-28T05:38:00.002-05:00

Today I decided to use another of the sketches from Taylored Expressions Downloadable Sketch Book, and this sketch was for a 6x6 card. So that is where I started, I cut 1 1/4" squares out of three of the patterns of Basic Grey Lemonade Patterned Papers. I mounted 9 of those squares onto a 5 1/2" square of pink paper from the line, and mounted again onto the aqua green 6" piece.

I got a great new set of stamps called "Welcome Neighbor" off of ebay for a STEAL! They are from Stampin' Up's Sale-a-bration. They are a sweet set of houses and trees and little cloud. SO FUN! I cut several of the smallest of the Spellbinders label one out of white cardstock. THEN I stamped my images, colored them and the yard.

I also decorated the inside of this card. I have been trying to do that for a little more fun!

When I colored my image I decided it had to be sitting on some grass, so I made a hilly little yard scene. I was pretty proud of myself. I am loving these Copic Markers MORE & MORE! I am still mastering the colorless blender so if you have any tips for that one, please leave a comment - I just cannot push that color back in when I get outside the lines...

Supplies Used:
Welcome Neighbor Stampin' Up Stamp Set
As for Me & My House Stampabilities Stamp
Rich Cocoa Memento Ink Pad
Copic Markers YG17, G21, G07, Y11, R02, RV11, RV13, RV14
Nick Bantok Cerulean Azure Stamp pad
Basic Grey Lemonade 6x6 Paper Pad
White CS from stash
Ribbon unknown

I hope you have a fun-filled weekend planned. My husband actually has a Saturday night OFF this week, so I am planning to craft tonight and tomorrow and then get a date with my hubby in tommorrow night!!! WOOHOOOO!!! Don't forget to CREATE SOMETHING!!!

Another Gruffie!

2010-05-26T10:00:00.001-05:00

Here is attempt #2 with my Copics this week. This little Gruffie didn't have as much detail as the first I colored (maybe I should have done this one first? LOL!) But he is adorable anyway!!! I got this one in only 2 tries. I was having issues getting his book a color that would match the Basic Grey papers I was using. So even though it was irritating when I ruined the coloring of the book on the first one, it gave me some great practice.

Supplies:
Gruffies Bedtime Story Stamp by House Mouse Designs
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad
Copic Markers E50, E53, E31, E25, E27, YG17, B24, B14
Basic Grey June Bug 6x6 Paper pad
DCWV Cardstock
Pop Dots (the image and scalloped border piece are both popped up)
Velvet Ric Rak from Taylored Expressions
"Just Because I care" by Stampin' Up

I hope you have had a WONDERFUL week so far! I am enjoying today with my hubby since he is off from work, and we are off to do something fun!!!

Copic Coloring with Gruffies

2010-05-24T10:00:00.001-05:00

I have had my Copics for almost 2 years now. I just wasn't getting the results I wanted and so I decided to watch some videos on YouTube. I added two new markers, very pale colors to my collection after watching those videos. I stamped this "Gruffie" by House Mouse 4 times on some white cardstock and started to color. The one I finally added to this card was my 3rd attempt. Yes it was time consuming, but it helped me SO MUCH! I love, love, love how he came out!!! Not too bad for maybe my 5th attempt at coloring a stamp and I think he has some awesome depth.

Supplies:
Papers from my stash (I know the Dark & Light Purple CS & light floral are old CTMH)
Gruffies Lilac Bouquet Stamp
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad
Copic Markers V01, V04, V06, E50, E53, E31, E25, E27, YG03, YG17
Stampin' Up Slit Punch to make scalloped border
"to You from Me" stamp Stampin' Up
Paper Trey Ink Lavendar Moon Palette Ink Pad
Taylored Expressions downloadable sketch book

Thanks for stopping by today, please leave comments and let me know how you like the projects I have been showing! Or become a follower! Make sure you GO CREATE SOMETHING!!!

Forever Young Cricut Cartridge Cards

2010-05-22T10:00:00.001-05:00

Since my Cricut was a Christmas present from my Mom, I wanted to make her Mother's Day card with a cut from the Cricut. I decided on the elegant ladies of Forever Young. I made a card for my Mother-in-law as well. but I changed up the papers to make it a little different.

The ladies and their dresses were cut at 3 3/4", she is on p. 43 of the booklet. I chose her because her dress reminded me of pictures I have seen of my Mom in the fifties.

The "scalloped circle" is actually the flower on p. 66 of the booklet. The ribbon matches much better in real life, and on the card with the more flowery pattern it pulls the blue out of that dress cut.

Supplies:
Forever Young Cricut Cartridge
Classic K Bailey Paper Pad by K & Co. Patterned Papers
Black & Red Cardstock from my stash
Green 6x6 cards by DCWV
CTMH Classmate Alphabet (happy, day)
Angel Company unknown set (mother's)
Black Soot Distress Ink pad
Black Glitter Flower by Prima
Ribbon unknown

These lovely ladies cut so nicely and layered easily. I will be using this cartridge A LOT MORE! Have a great weekend, enjoy the sunshine and CREATE SOMETHING!!!

Taylored Expressions Blast from the Past Blog Hop!

2010-05-18T08:00:00.005-05:00

Today I am participating in Taylored Expressions first CUSTOMER blog hop! Our theme is Blast from the Past. We had to use a Taylored Expressions stamp set from 2008 or 2009. The stamp sets I chose to work with are Branching Out & Braching Out Coordinates. These are really cute sets and support a worthy cause.

Supplies:
Pink Armadillo Glitter Paper Stack by the Paper Studio
Braching Out & Branching Out Coordinates by Taylored Expressions
Distress Inks by Tim Holtz: Brushed Corduroy & Broken China
Diamond Stickles
Bo Bunny Flower
Copic Markers: E31 Brick Beige, E25 Caribe Cocoa, YR65 Atoll
Pop Dots
Kraft Cardstock Base from Hobby Lobby

Here is the sketch we were given to work with if we chose to do so, and I thought it was too cute and the images I was choosing to work with fit perfectly with a circle as a focal point.

If you are a regular visitor to my blog, try and visit the others on the list below. I am number 50, and the hop started with Taylor herself. =0) For those of you hopping along remember to leave everyone a little love! Have & great day and CREATE SOMETHING!!!

Friday Sketch

2010-05-13T23:09:00.002-05:00

This is my first week participating in Amy R's Friday Sketch. This is the sketch we were given last Friday:

And here is my card inspired by the sketch.

Supplies:
DCWV Textured Brown Cardstock
Love Nest Stack by My Mind's Eye (patterned papers)
Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Lemon Ice & Cotton Candy Stickles
Ribbon from Hobby Lobby
Scalloped Circle Nestabilities Die by Spellbinders
Thank you for Caring Stamp by Hero Arts

I am squeaking in getting this card done for this week's challenge, but hope to get next week's done a lot faster. Thanks for stopping by, leave some love, ask a question or become a follower. Now GO CREATE SOMETHING!

a little monogramming...

2010-05-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

We have an embroidery machine, it is a commercial machine. For two years we had a business, and now we do small jobs for local companies, and personalization of baby & wedding gifts, the occassional purse or bag. It really is a lot of fun.

All the items below were handmade my Mother-in-law, and monogrammed by me for a new baby at our church. The pictures were taken by his mom & dad, (their pictures turned out so much better than my own - Thank you R & JD!)

I hope you enjoyed seeing these sweet little baby things. I plan to post more pictures of things I have monogrammed in the future, let me know what you think??? Now GO CREATE SOMETHING!!!

Welcome to the World Baby Boy

2010-05-12T08:00:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago a sweet couple at our church welcomed their first baby, a little boy. When we had her shower at church back in March I made a few things for her, (which I will share tomorrow,) and I made this adorable card to go with the gift.

Supplies:
Taylored Expressions Stamps: Branching Out & Braching Out Coordinates
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Boy Papers by My Minds' Eye
White CS for base of card
Memento Rich Cocoa Ink Pad

I stamped the tree base and leaves onto the White Cardstock, using some second generation stamping on the leaves. Then I stamped the tree top onto the green paper, cut it out and pop dotted it onto the card for some dimension. The card didn't take long, but it turned out really CUTE!

Thanks for stopping by today, stop by tomorrow to see some of my machine embroidery handy work! Now Go CREATE SOMETHING!

Blog Award!!!

2010-05-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! I got a BlOG AWARD! This is the first award I have ever gotten!!! I am so excited! I received the award from Shelley. Make sure you click on her name and go visit her blog!

Here are the award rules:

1. Post the prize on my blog.
2. Mention the blogger who tagged me.
3. Give the prize to 5 friends.
4. Post on my blog the link to their blogs.
5. Announce everyone on their blog.
6. Make a list with 10 things that I like.

Below are the five blogs I have chosen. Can I tell you how hard it was to pick FIVE! Be sure you click on each of their names to go visit their blogs and leave them some love. These blogs are all a constant source of inspiration and fun for me! THANKS LADIES!!!

Katie
Kerri
Jenny
Diane
Kelly

And here are my 10 things I like:

1. I like spending time with my husband, he is my best friend and I am so proud he is MINE!
2. I like reading and studying my bible. It brings me great joy & peace.
3. I like spending time with my three dogs. We have an 8 year old border collie - Missie Moo, a 5 year old Mini Australian Shepherd - Marlie, and a 2 year old Lethal White Australian Shepherd who is deaf - Mazie.
4. I like to visit blogs and learn new things and cruise around cyberspace.
5. I like visitors to MY BLOG! Please leave me some love??? Or become a follower???(Shameless begging)
6. I like making cards and scrapbooking.
7. I like playing with my Cricut.
8. I like going to the mountains.
9. I like to watch movies.
10. I like to listen to music on my Ipod.

Thanks for stopping by! And thank you again Shelley for my award!!! I am so excited. NOW GO CREATE SOMETHING!!!!

Martha Stewart Punch, a $1 stamp, TE Sketches & some paper

2010-05-09T21:52:00.006-05:00

My stash of cards was running VERY LOW. I like to keep a few "thank you" & "thinking of you" cards around. You never know when you will need them. So I got out the following supplies and made a few cards:

Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch
thanks Michael's $1 bin stamp
3 Bugs in a Rug Springtime 6x6 paper pack
White Cardstock (Georgia Pacific)
Taylored Expressions Sketch Book
ATG Gun
Pop Dots
Paper Trimmer

With just those few supplies I made about 6 cards. Here are three of them:

on the following card I also used an EK Success 1" Circle Punch & the Thank You Stamp used is by Amuse Artstamps

I have already given all of these to some wonderful ladies at my church who I wanted to give special thanks and notes of gratitude too. And they all LOVED THEM! See what you can do with just a few supplies???

Now Go CREATE SOMETHING!!!

WIN A GYPSY for your Cricut!!!

2010-05-09T21:33:00.002-05:00

Go Check out Obsessed with Scrapbooking and enter to win a GYPSY for your Cricut!!!!!!!!

National Scrapbook Day!

2010-05-01T08:42:00.004-05:00

Today is National Scrapbook Day! =0) It is pouring down rain here, and so it is a great day to SCRAPBOOK!!!

In honor of today I wanted to share a 2 layouts I did recently.

Supplies:
Close to My Heart Level 2 Paper Packet Tinkerin'
Close to My Heart Level 2 My Stickease
Close to My Heart Badge Buttons
Close to My Heart Craft Buttons (red - not sure of exact color name)

This was a layout from our summer vacation to Gatlinburg & Pigeon Forge last summer. We took one whole day and Keith & I took our nephew, Michael, to Dollywood. The boys did most of the rides, but I did brave a few, even went on two that got us soaked!!! But it was SO much fun!!!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you are in the middle of/getting ready for/coming home from your National Scrapbook Day Celebration. Make sure you GO CREATE something today!!!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! (yes I know it is April....)

2010-04-28T21:28:00.004-05:00

So I am a little (LOT) late posting these....so I'll just get right to it!

These are two of my swap for my stamping group's Valentine Postcard Swap.

Supplies:
Close to My Heart Cardstock (pink & red both retired colors)
Black CS is DCWV
Basic Grey Bittersweet 6"x6" pad
Cricut Love Struck Seasonal Cartridge (heart)
Distressed Hearts Background by Unity Stamp Company
Sentiment is cut from a piece of paper I got at Hobby Lobby (unknown manufactorer)

This was our Valentine's surprise when we woke up. Valentine's Day is always a day Keith has to work being in the Restaurant business. So we peeked at our presents, went to church and then he had to go to work. We went to dinner the next night to celebrate. :o)

This was the card I made for Keith.
Supplies:
KI Memories Kiss Me Collection Papers
Trees stamp is by Unity Stamp Company, it was in a kit of the month and the kit is listed as KOM-9 on their site
you + me = happy sentiment from Unity Stamp Company you + me = happy set
Trees were colored with Prismacolor pencils and blended with OMS (Odorless Mineral Spirits)

This is part of Keith's present, though I doubt he will use it. Last Spring we had our pictures made for the church directory and I used a wallet sized to make him this sweet little momento.

Supplies are KI Memories Kiss me Paper Collection

I tried a new format with the post today, and am not sure I like it, so we'll see. Thanks for stopping by. NOW GO CREATE SOMETHING!!!

Create a Critter Cartridge Give-Away!

2010-04-28T19:44:00.002-05:00

Go to the link below - follow the steps and you too will be entered to win a Create a Critter Cricut Cartridge!!!

Create a Critter Cartridge Giveaway

blog candy :o)

2010-03-04T17:45:00.001-06:00

Go to the link below and follow directions to be entered to win some awesome blog candy. :o)
Obsessed with Scrapbooking

ATTN ALL CRICUT USERS & SCRAPBOOKERS!!!!

2010-03-02T02:10:00.003-06:00

OK you MUST go here and enter to win this great give-a-way! WOOHOOOO!

OBSESSED WITH SCRAPBOOKING

Papertrey Birthday Card Challenge

2010-02-06T01:00:00.001-06:00

This week Papertrey Ink turns 3 years old, and Nicole is having a ton of fun contests on her blog. One day this week 11 designers created a free digital birthday stamp that we could download. We could make a card with each of the 11 designs for 11 chances to win the prize for that day (read more about it here: (capture the moment)

These are the two cards I entered into the contest.

Supplies:
Paper - Three Bugs in a Rug Island Paper Pack 6" x 6", Georgia Pacific White CS
Other - Nestabilities by Spellbinders dies, Cuttlebug, Y11 Copic Marker, Oceanview Blue Bic Mark It Marker, Blue Skies Blue Bic Mark It Marker, Vintage PHoto Distress Ink, Ribbon is unknown

It never hurts to have some extra birthday cards around! Now GO CREATE SOMETHING!

GIraffe Scrapbook Page

2010-02-05T01:00:00.000-06:00

The last two pages I am going to share out of the scrapbook I made recently. I had a lot of fun cutting out this giraffe with the Paisley Cricut Cartridge that I got on my recent shopping trip with my MIL! LOVE LOVE LOVE this cartridge! The giraffe is cut from papers in my stash - love that about a cricut! And the rest of the papers are Twinkle, Twinkle Little Boy My Mind's Eye & Hobby Lobby Textured Cardstock. The little brads on the second page are The Paper Studio.

Thanks for dropping by today! Now GO CREATE SOMETHING!

Birthday Birdie

2010-02-04T18:39:00.004-06:00

I just wanted to share a quick card tonight that I made for my Mom for her birthday last year. I love this little set of stamps, it is so versatile!

Supplies:
Basic Grey Ambrosia 6" x 6" paper pad
Georgia Pacific White Cardstock
My Sentiments Exactly Little Birdie Stamp Set
Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch
Distress Inks by Tim Holtz

Have a super night and GO CREATE SOMETHING!!!!!

Twitterpated Workshop Cards

2010-02-04T01:38:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone! Today I wanted to share with you some cards I did with a CTMH Workshop Kit. It was great fun making the scrapbook pages, but when I got home that night I had to these cards - they are just too cute! The sketches for each card were in the Twitterpated workshop guide, and all papers, ribbon & stamps are from the Twitterpated kit by Close to My Heart (CTMH).

On this first card, I stamped and cut out the mushroom top and layered it onto the stamped mushroom base, and then added Glossy Accents by Ranger to the Mushroom top. I also polka-dotted the cream paper with Glossy Accents for some fun dimension! I inked around all my edges, I am a distress FREAK! LoL!

This is another stamped mushroom base, but this time I stamped the mushroom top on the BACK of some patterned paper and then cut it out. I wanted the patterned paper side to show, and then added three mini brads for some dimension. The vines and leaves are stamped and then have Glossy Accents applied to them, and of course I distressed everything, :o)

And last but not least, the little hedgie from the set was stamped and then I added polka dots to his "spikes" with Glossy Accents to give him some depth. And then I made the polka dots on the berry colored paper stand out by adding Glossy Accents to them as well.

Just three fun little cards that I can send to someone to brighten their day! :o) Thank you for stopping by, now GO CREATE SOMETHING!!!!

It's a Boy!

2010-02-03T01:26:00.005-06:00

Today's card was made for a family friend that is having a baby, actually he was born this morning! YAY! So I thought it only fitting tonight to post this card! I gave her a hand-crocheted baby blanket made by my Mother-in-law and this card to go with it. The baby's room is done in blues & browns so I thought it would make a great little piece of art to hang in his room as well! :o)

I stamped the Elephant off three times onto patterned paper, and then once onto my white cardstock. I cut out the entire elephant and placed him onto the white Cardstock (I realized I wouldn't have HAD to stamp him on the white first, but it helped me with placement), Then I cut out the ears & Trunk and pop-dotted them on, then finally I just cut out the ears, and then pop-dotted them on. It gave the elephant some REALLY nice dimension! And for a final touch I added some stickles to his little toenails, since the patterned paper had some glossy areas the sparkly toenails really stood out an looked cute!

Supplies:
Stamp: Unity Stamp Company Set Wild & Crazy Bunch
Papers: Twinkle,Twinkle Little Boy by My Mind's Eye, Cardstock from Hobby Lobby
Buttons: Walmart bag of buttons (one even said baby gap on it! HOW CUTE!!!!!)
Other: Memento Rich Cocoa Ink, CTMH Waxy Flax in the buttons

Thanks for stopping by and please say a prayer for baby Kaiden and his mommy! Now go CREATE SOMETHING!

BRRRRRR.........

2010-01-31T01:58:00.004-06:00

We are snowed in here in Middle Tennessee, and it has been a fun two days of snuggling up on the couch and watching movies. I would be crafting, but the snow has given my husband the past two nights off from work, so we have been spending quality time together!

I wanted to share a couple more scrapbook pages from the baby boy album I completed last week for someone. These are all VERY SIMPLE pages that were made for someone who is a non-scrapbooker so she can just stick pictures in, but the person I made the album for LOVED IT, and I cannot wait for her to give it to the Momma-to-be! Today was supposed to be her baby shower, but it was cancelled because of the snow. So I am glad I took my present over yesterday so she had something to open today! :o)

This is the last page of the album. I made this to hold one bigger photo. All papers are My Mind's Eye Twinkle, Twinkle Little Boy Stock & Hobby Lobby's By the Sheet Textured Cardstock. I used some cool Creative Imaginations Melange Rock-A-Bye Boy 3D Stickers to finish off the page.

The next two pages use the same papers, and some cute stickers from Doodlebug Designs Bitty Baby Boy Stickers.

Like I said they are clean and simple, so Mom can just get her pictures printed and with a little adhesive she will have a great album!

Church is snowed out in the morning so we will get up a little later than normal and have some prayer time, and then maybe we will get out if the roads are clear! But I will DEFINITELY get into my PLAY ROOM to make something fun! Now Go CREATE SOMETHING!!!!!

Wednesday.........let's scrapbook!

2010-01-27T02:47:00.007-06:00

Today I wanted to share a few pages of the baby boy scrapbook I was commissioned to make. I have had SO MUCH FUN making this book!

The entire album uses Patterned Papers from My Mind's Eye Twinkle, Twinkle Little Boy Stack,and Solid Cardstock from Hobby Lobby's By the Sheet Textured Cardstock. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Boy has some glittered papers, and I have tried to show those in the photographs when possible.

This first page is the title page when you open the book. I wanted to add the baby's name to this page and make it a focal point for a big 5" x 7" picture! I cut the letters with the Cuttin' Up Cartridge on a Cricut. The rub-on on the little frame says "Momma's Boy", and it is by American Crafts. The whale is a wooden cut-out by Provo Craft. The star & baby pin are stickers by The Paper Studio.

These next two pages are one spread in the album. I wanted to use this subtle patterned paper as a background, it is light/dark blue pattern with brown squares. And then it is sprinkled with glitter in certain areas - LOVE IT! The zebra in the car was cut with the Paisley Cartridge on a Cricut. Ribbon is by Martha Stewart. You can see on the second page I sanded the brown paper a little.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Drop by again tomorrow for a peak at some more pages from this album! :o) Now GO CREATE SOMETHING!!!!!

Snow Friends

2010-01-21T05:00:00.002-06:00

I wanted to share two cards I made with the Close to My Heart set "Snow Friends" today. The little snowmen in this set are so cute, and I decided I wanted to paper piece their little hats. So I stamped them onto patterned paper, cut out the hat, and then glued it to my main stamped image. When doing this I didn't stamp the whole snowman, in fact I used scraps for their hats. You can't see the dimension as well as I would like in the pictures, but they turned out REALLY CUTE!

Supplies:
Stamps: Close to My Heart Snow Friends
Papers: The Paper Studio Christmas Stacks, Close to My Heart Cardstock
Ribbon: Blue Striped Ribbon is from Offray, the Red & Green striped Ribbon is from Big Lots
Punch: Fiskars Scallop Border
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Palette Inks Giverny Green & Palette Inks Seascape
Die: Nestabilities Circle

On a side note, I LOVE my Palette Inks! They are a hybrid ink, which gives you the look of a pigment and the dry time of a dye. You will see me using these a lot on my cards and scrapbook pages because they are my ink of choice.

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a wonderful day, I am off to go shopping with my Mother-in-law. She needs fabric for window treatments, I am just the driver - but I am sure a stop at Michael's and JoAnn's are in my future!!! Now go CREATE SOMETHING!

A Christmas Card

2010-01-16T18:55:00.004-06:00

Today I wanted to share a card I made to send out this past Christmas. It is a very quick and easy card, but I still think it looked very elegant!

Supplies:
Stamps: Tim Holtz First Christmas (main image), Swirl from Holly Christmas by Close to My Heart (this is an OLD set from when I was a consultant)
Inks: Tim Holtz Fired Brick Distress Ink, Tim Holtz Frayed Burlap Distress Ink
Paper: Kraft Cardstock by The paper Studio, Harlequin Pattern Paper Unknown, Cream Cardstock unknown
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 8

I stamped my main image and then distressed around it, then layered it onto the Labels 8 Die I had cut out. Then layered that onto my card front that had been stamped with the swirl stamp.

Thanks for stopping by! Now go Create something!!!!

Hello 2010!

2010-01-14T21:49:00.003-06:00

I have been a very bad blogger, but it is my NEW YEAR's RESOLUTION to blog more! I promise! :o)

To start off I wanted to share some scrapbook pages I have made over the last couple of months.

This first two page spread used Close to My Heart products. It is of Keith's 3rd birthday. His mom made him a big bird cake! SO CUTE!

Another two page spread using a Close to My Heart kit. It is photos of our yard in the beautiful springtime. I took photos because I knew I would kill everything before it was all over! LOL!

This last page is of our little mini Aussie, Marlie. She LOVES Mountain Dew. The papers & tags layered to make a frame are all K.I. Memories. The lettering are rub-ons from The Paper Studio.

I am working on a commissioned scrapbook for a baby boy right now and will have pictures to post of it soon. And will try and get some pictures of the baseball scrapbook I made last month for someone (I forgot to take any before delivering it!!!)

Welcome to 2010 & now go CREATE SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quilting

2009-10-16T03:45:00.004-05:00

It has been a while since I have posted any projects, because I was so busy with quilting class, I didn't have time to take many pictures along the way. So here is my finished Wall Hanging Top. I still have to hand quilt it and then go back to Carousel Krafts and let J show me how to put the binding now. I am wondering if I am going to need a special foot for my machine. But I am not sure yet. ;o)

This is the quilt I made for my new nephew who arrived just this week! I made this quilt for Mills baby shower a few weeks ago. I thought it turned out SUPER DUPER cute! I cannot wait to see my new little nephew and hold and kiss hiM!!!!!!

That is all for now, hope to have some more projects to post soon. I have lost of scrapbooking/stamping things done but I have to take pictures. Gotta get my room straightened back up first tho!

NOW GO CREATE SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fabrics & the Pink Paisley Rag'd Bag

2009-05-26T02:00:00.001-05:00

Remember the Rag'd Purse from yesterday? Well I had to have one of my own, but finding my fabrics was a longer process. The bag from yesterday had 4 fabrics all from a coordinating collection at Hobby Lobby, and then ONE fabric from a local store - YES the Peacock feathers and the bold floral squares are both cut from the same piece of fabric!!! Those two squares added the splash I was looking for, but my bag didn't come together as easily.

These are the five fabrics used in my Pink Paisley Rag'd Bag

I started with the Pink Medallions on the left end, and the Pink w/ Black Paisleys on the right end. One day in Hobby Lobby those two fabrics just drew me in and I HAD to have them. But they lacked something to tie them together. There was a bit of black in the Pink Medallion fabric, but not enough to make them truly "go" for my taste. So on a trip to JoAnn's with fabrics in tow, I found the Black & Green Geometric Fabric. It had a great little accent of HOT PINK, and tied my fabrics together. I still wasn't done. The tote that inspired my purse was made from a white solid cotten and one pattern! No way that was going to fly for my wild purse. But I found NOTHING else at JoAnn's.

A couple of days later my MIL told me she saw more at Hobby Lobby she thought coordinated, and I was in luck, they had put out more fabrics! There were probably 6 or 7 more fabrics that coordinated with the Pink Medallion, and that many more that coordinated with the Pink w/ Black Paisleys. I picked up bolt after bolt and laid them beside one another with my little quarter yards I had already bought. Finally picking two more fabrics from the Pink Medallion Line - a diaganol stripe and the White Medallion & Paisley. The White Medallion and Paisley is what tied it all together for me in the end. It had just enough black in it to make them all work. The diagonal stripe was really just for fill. :o)

And here it is my PINK PAISLEY RAG'D BAG!!!
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It is the same dimensions as the bag from yesterday, but I am using mine as a purse. So I would only change one THING! I would make it WIDER! LOL! And I did add an inner pocket to my bag to clip my cell phone to. I might even make a taller bag next time I do this for myself to make an even LARGER interior pocket.

So even if you think you can never put that many patterns together, TRY IT! If you walk into a store and find a piece of fabric or paper for that matter that really catches your eye - BUY IT! Carry it around with you until you find things to go with it, and you will be SURPRISED at what you find, if you are just willing to go outside the box!!!

Stay tuned, my mom has commissioned me to make one of these purses for HER VERY OWN, and I already purchased the fabrics and they are TOTALLY different than either of these first two bags!!! YOU WILL LOVE IT MOM!!!

Rag'd Purse

2009-05-25T02:10:00.000-05:00

I NEVER buy magazines, I mean NEVER. There are too many cool things out there on the internet for FREE inspiration. But a friend of mine, Lynn, had some things published in Crafts N' Things so I picked up a copy with my trusty 40% coupon at Hobby Lobby. As I was browsing through I saw the CUTEST little summer tote, and it was rag'd. See the picture to the left for a sneak peek, and to begin an understanding of what a rag'd purse is.

They had combined stamping and other things into this tote, but I thought how fun would it be to just get some cool fabrics and make it into a shoulder bag/purse!

This is the purse after it was all sewn together, basically you sew it with the seams facing out toward you. Here is a close up of what those seams look like before the rag'ing begins.

You need a good pair of micro-tipped scissors. I find the Fiskars Micro Tip spring action scissors to be the best. And I found a great deal at JoAnn's - buy one pair get one free in the same package, and used a 50% off coupon on them!!! Super deal! You simply snip every 1/4" or so on all those seams.

After all the seams have been snipped, you run it through a short wash cycle with no detergent (just to get it wet), and then dry the purse. And this is what the seams will look like then!

Finally a picture of the entire bag completely done!!!

This particular tote I made for my best friend for her birthday. She uses it to carry her bible, ipod and book to work with her every day. It is about 18" long x 10" high and about 4" deep.

Tomorrow I will show you the purse I made for myself, and I will talk a little more about picking coordinating fabrics.

Paisley, Cream background Floral, Stripe & Dots are all from Hobby Lobby.
Peacock Feathers & Bold Floral are from a local store here called Carousel Crafts.

Go win some blog candy....

2009-04-03T21:49:00.001-05:00

Life one layout at a time

Rub-Ons GONE WILD

2009-04-01T04:00:00.002-05:00

I had this sheet of patterned paper. I honestly don't even know where it came from. It was the sweetest shade of pink with these cute little retro dots on it. I have wanted to use this "dag-gone" (don't ya love my word there) piece of paper forever now, and finally this sweet picture of our Marlie & Keith was perfect for it. But WHAT on earth was I going to match to it? I found some great colors of cardstock, but they were SO BRIGHT, but nothing else matched. So here it is - RUB-ONs GONE WILD!!!!! Totally fitting for April Fool's Day.

I had this stash of DCWV Rub-ons I had bought from QVC last year, and some Love, Elsie rub-ons I got at Hobby Lobby (I think). And I decided to just do it. And so I began to layer. The white DCWV went on first, and then I sprinkled the colored Love, Elsie rub-ons around. The piece of Chipboard was sort of hanging out, and it got "rub'd on" to!
Supplies:
DCWV Blue Cardstock
CTMH Pink Cardstock
Patterned Paper - UNKNOWN
DCWV Whimsical Rub-ons
Love, Elsie Rub-ons
Chipboard is Autumn Leaves

Thanks for stopping by!!! NOW GO CREATE SOMETHING!!!

Layouts Galore!!!

2009-03-30T04:00:00.002-05:00

Supplies Used:
DCWV Cardstock
KI Memories Patterned Papers
Heidi Swapp & Prima Flowers
MAMBI Bling Paw
Wordsworth Dog Stickers
Oriental Trading Brads
Ink Memento Rich Cocoa
KI Memories Alpha Stamps
Worn Grid Background Stamp by Unity Stamp Co.

You will notice a lot of my papers or supplies are not the NEWEST trends, but they are from my stash and I intend to use them - I LIKE THEM! But I have tried to find different ways of using these items. I have found I really like layering the KI Memories tags that were sold in sheets. I have TONS (from being assistant manager at the scrapbook store years ago.) And you will see another page posted this week using this again. WOOHOO!
Supplies Used:
DCWV Cardstock
KI Memories Patterned Papers and Tags
American Crafts Letter Stickers
Liquid Glass (over letter stickers)
Colorbok journaling Tag Pad

Ok I know this one is WILD! But I actually like how it turned out. I dug into all my chipboard letters and played around! These pages were all done on the same day at a crop and you will see I was really enjoying my liquid glass adhesive that day! LOL!
Supplies:
DCWV Cardstock & Patterned paper
Chipboard Letters: Target $ Spot, Oriental Trader, Little Davis
Unity Stamp Co. Just Polka Dots Background Stamp
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Liquid Glass used in centers of letters, and to cover a few flowers on patterned paper (not really showing up in photo - sorry!)

It is my GOAL to get caught up on my scrapbooking, and trying to use my stash up as well. I have a couple of more pages to share this week, but they are going to get posts of their very own since they have a couple of things I want to highlight.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend, and blessings for your week! NOW GO CREATE SOMETHING!!!

WORLD RECORD BLOG HOP!

2009-03-28T09:45:00.005-05:00

View the Inspirational Blog Hop by starting at Unity Stamp Co. Blog
with Angela. If you just stopped by my blog today, click on the Unity link above and hop your way through all the blogs.

Angela asked us to post our favorite quote today. This one has always been my favorite.
"We do not remember days, we remember moments." ~Cesare Pavese
I think this quote is so true, it is all those little things we have great memories of, not entire days. And thank God for those moments.

This first card was made for the Hip Hop Thursday No Sour Grapes Challenge
Supplies Used:
Unity Stamp Co. Ginormous Sweet Cupcakes Stamp Kit
CTMH Black Core Cardstock, DCWV Rockstar Patterned Papers, DCWV Glitter Paper
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink & Brilliance Moonlight White Ink

This project was made for the Unity Thinks Spring! Hip Hop Challenge.
Supplies Used:
Unity Stamp Co. November 2008 Kit of the Month - Pinwheel
Love Elsie Patterned Paper, Brown DCWV Cardstock, Georgia Pacific White Cardstock Memento Rich Cocoa Ink

Thanks for dropping by today! Don't forget to become a follower of my blog, so you can find out each time I post new art!!!

Your next stop on the WORLD RECORD INSPIRATIONAL BLOG HOP is SummerThyme Studios. Have a super day and don't forget to check out all the awesome specials Unity Stamp Co. is having by clicking on the blinkie below!!! GO CREATE SOMETHING!!!

Hip Hop Hangover

2009-03-27T07:30:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was HIP HOP THURSDAY in Unity Stamp Co. World. And so today I am sharing my Hip Hop HANGOVER project!!!

Supplies Used:
Patterned Paper: Christmas Stack
Cardstock: Die Cuts with a View
3-d Tree & Lights Stickers: Magic Scraps
Rub-Ons: EK Success
Frame Stamp: Unity Stamp Co. Our Life, Our Stories Kit (now sold seperately)
The Details Stamp: Unity Stamp Co. Our Life, Our Stories Kit (now sold seperately)

Thanks for dropping by, and remember to come back tomorrow for the WORLD RECORD BLOG HOP Unity is doing!

GO CREATE SOMETHING!

Daydream CTMH Layout Workshop

2009-03-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

Supplies Used:
CTMH Daydream Paper & My Stickease
CTMH My Acrylix Cupcake Sprinkles Set
CTMH Dimensional Paint
CTMH Pretty Pins
CTMH Ric-Rac

We painted the dimensional paint on the cupcakes to give them texture. And we also added the dimensional paint around the My Stickease Scalloped Stickers, and around the stitching we stamped around the edge of the page.

These pictures were of Missie Moo & Marlie on Halloween 2006. So stinkin' cute!!!

GO CREATE SOMETHING!!!

Card from Close To My Heart Party Last Night...

2009-03-25T21:38:00.001-05:00

Supplies Used:
Treasure Life My Acrylix Stamp Set September 2008 Stamp of the Month CTMH
All inks were CTMH
Rubber Speedball Bryaer
Punched Post-It for Moon.
White & Black Cardstock CTMH

We got our brayers last month at the Layout Workshop, and I am loving learning to do new things with it. I had a brayer when I was a CTMH consultant 5 years ago, but I don't know that I ever used it for anything! LOL!

Thanks for dropping by!
Now go Create Something!!!

PS - Stop by on Saturday for the UNITY STAMP CO. WORLD RECORD BLOG HOP!!!!

Blog Candy!!!

2009-03-10T13:45:00.000-05:00

Ok, please go check out:
craft*o*rama
And sign up for her blog candy she is giving away this weekend!!!

I am sick, sick, sick - so I will be back in a few days with crafty stuff. I am attending a "Punch Needle" Class tomorrow with my MIL. So hopefully I will get some good pictures tomorrow and be able to post our project...PRAY that happens, because today I feel AWFUL!

Don't forget to check out craft*o*rama!!!

Oldies but Goodies...

2009-03-06T01:35:00.000-06:00

For the next two days I will be attending Wonderful Weekend for Women at our Church. And since I will be in worship, listening to Christian Speakers, singing and having some awesome fellowship with other women in attendance, I will not be posting any new art. I have been very busy this week getting all my household chores caught up so I can take these next 3 days off. :o)

So I dug back into some old art, and decided to share some OLDIES but GOODIES, my oh my has my style changed....

This is an altered Altoid gum tin I created as a sample for a class I sponsored at one of our Stamping Club's retreats. It was my first time to alter a tin, and I thought it turned out really quirky and fun. This is one of my favorite pieces I have ever created, and was probably the beginning of my shabby chic edge in my work. This is all ephemera from different sources (Sharon Bonnett's donation box, my MIL's treasure chest in her basement, and my own collection of STUFF). The shimmery paint is Pearl Ex mixed with Gum Arabic.

This is an ATC from a Paisley Swap I did a couple of years ago. The Cuttlebug had just been introduced, and I had found Sizzix Texturz Plates - so off I went die-cutting and embossing!!! The colors are not great on this photo, what appears to be ORANGE is actually a darker yellow. I stamped the blue with a cube of Paisley designs I have, papers are all DCWV.

And finally a very cool swap that one of our Stamping Group Queen's, Connie, does every year or so. It is a same but different swap. She sends us all the same image (we get 3 or 4 of the same one) and then we are to take that image and CREATE something with it. Then we send one to an assigned partner and one back to Connie. This swap was done back in 2005 or 2006; and the stamp we received was a Club Stamp image. Again this was out of my comfort zone, and not quite my style; but it was a lot of fun to make and to search the web for images.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my "oldies" and come back on Monday for a BRAND NEW POST of some of my latest creations for Patter's His Holy Name Challenge & Scripture Challenge.

Now go CREATE SOMETHING!!!

Close to My Heart Layout Workshop - Emporium Papers

2009-03-05T03:00:00.000-06:00

These pages were made at a CTMH Layout Workshop held by Heather Hicks. I LOVE these papers, and they made the perfect backdrop for pictures of my puppers. I did the titles after I arrived home because I did not have time to use Heather's Stamps to do them. But it worked out because I had some awesome American Crafts' Stickers that matched perfectly.

This first layout is Mazie's "Gotcha Day" - which is the day we GOT HER. (Thanks Kim for teaching me about that on our Lethal White Group!!!)We are not really sure of Mazie's age. We know her birthday, but we THINK she is only a year old; so I think we will probably just celebrate GOTCHA DAY from now on. We celebrated her birthday this year, as her first, but I think GOTCHA DAY is more appropriate for this baby, since she lived in such awful conditions before we got her. And now she is a princess who sleeps in the bed with Momma & Daddy every night. Mazie is a double-merle/Lethal White Australian Shepherd, and if you want to learn more about what this means, and why she is deaf and has those beautiful eyes (that make it hard to see) please email me!!!

These are pictures of Missie Moo & Marlie in 2007 on both their birthdays. They each got presents on both days; which were a toy and a bone. Happy girls to get toys and treats! My Missie Moo (the border collie) will be 7 this year - wow time flies. I cannot believe we have had her for 7 years this summer! We will be married 9 years in August - so she has been with us almost our entire marriage. And my silly Marlie girl - she is just the life of the party; and those of you that have met her know this!!!

Supplies:
Papers - CTMH Emporium
Stamps - CTMH (Sorry not sure of the name of the sets we used)
Inks - CTMH
Brads - CTMH
Sticker Letters - American Crafts
Stickers - CTMH Stickease, Dome Stickers
Tools - scalloped scissors to make "tabs" on photos, Coluzzle to make circles, Brayer to make scallops on first layouts with ink.

Heather taught us to use the brayer to make "scalloped" paper with the brayer and ink pad - LOVE THIS TECHNIQUE! You TURN the paper, not the brayer and it works great! I had on boo-boo - but I am going to journal the story of going to pick up our Mazie girl there, so it will be ok.

Thanks for dropping by!

Now Go CREATE SOMETHING!!!

Funny Valetine

2009-03-04T03:00:00.000-06:00

I had three lovely "younguns" to make Valentine's for this year. TWO are boys and they are 11 & 13. So I had to come up with something WACKY! I forgot to take pictures before I mailed Kaylee (an adorable PINK MONSTER) & Austin's; but I got a picture of Michael's. WOOHOO!!!

The FUNNY part of all these Valentine's was, I got them all stamped and colored, and decided to add "BLING" for their eyes and I had "BLACK BLING" in my stash, I was SO EXCITED, well then I ran them through my cuttlebug to cut them out with my nesties....well of course it CRUSHED THE BLING!!! But it turned out perfect, they were the perfect MONSTER EYES!!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Unity's Cuter than Most Kit, "Valentine" Michael's $ bin Peg Alphabet
Papers: DCWV Dots, CTMH Blue Dots, DCWV CS, Georgia Pacific White CS
The Paper Studio Brads (Circles & Heart)
Punches: EK Circle Punch, Stampin' Up Word Window Punch
Nesties Rectangle & Scalloped Rectangle DIES
Colored with COPIC Markers
Bling from Michael's $ bin

Thanks for dropping by!

Now Go Create Something!!!

BLOG CANDY!!!! Go Check them Out!!!

2009-03-04T01:57:00.000-06:00

Kath's Blog - Birthday Blog Candy

Jeannette's Pages SU Blog Candy

Voices in My Head 1st Blogaversary Blog Candy

Much Ado About Nothing Don't Desert Me Blog candy

Pink & Lime ATC Color Swap

2009-03-03T03:00:00.000-06:00

Well, I was hoping to post these when I had the whole collection of Color Swap ATCs, but my next set is lost in the mail somewhere between Columbia & Morristown. So who knows if Connie (the swap hostess) or I will ever see them??? I will be doing more of the color swaps, but won't have the complete set as I hoped, so here they are!

Connie gives us a two-color combo and asks us to make six ATCs with it. I made an extra and used it on a card for my COTM partner. The picture of the card seemed to turn out better than the picture of the ATC itself, oh well.

The inspiration for this started with my obsession with Jenny saying "Dear God make me a bird...." from the movie Forrest Gump. And this was born.

The Bird Stamp is from the June 2008 Unity Kit of the Month - Bliss & a Birdie. The crown was made from a vertical stamp I have of aged & distressed license plates - that look as if the edges were torn off (I think it is a Stamper's Anonymous Stamp, but I am not sure) - then I cut them into Crown shapes based on how they were "torn".
The sentiment was printed on the computer in strips and cut to fit each ATC. And Stickles were added for some bling. Wing details were added with Copics and Journaling pens. And to be honest, I am not sure if the eye is 3-d or not....I can't remember. Papers are Making Memories (Pink Floral), The Paper Studio (Green Plaid), Georgia Pacific Cardstock

Thanks for looking!!!

Now Go Create Something!!!

Prayer Journal

2009-03-02T14:56:00.000-06:00

I have always loved to write in a journal, for personal feelings, to vent, etc. But after talking to my best girlfriend, Hootie, she used a journal for her prayers each night. And I LOVED IT! I decided I needed one of my very own. Then for Valentine's Day Keith gave me a blank pink journal (bought on clearance - That's MY BOY!) and I knew it would be perfect.

Supplies Used:
Paper (all from my scraps) - The Paper Studio, Close to My Heart
Stickers - Girl of God Stickers by Creative Imaginations, 2009 by American Crafts
Stamps - Verve (Pray without ceasing...), Letters by Hero Arts
Ribbon - Butterflies Hobby Lobby
Rub-on - $ spot at JoAnn's
Butterfly Punch - Martha Stewart
Inks - Staz-On Timber Brown, Chocolate Chalk Ink Cat Eye

This was a lot of fun to make, and I got to use it for the first time last night! It is going to live on my nightstand so that I have it at the ready every night at bedtime.

Thank you for stopping by!

Now GO CREATE SOMETHING!!!

More Christmas Gifts...

2009-02-28T22:22:00.000-06:00

I have been having some trouble with my camera, and the pictures I am taking are not very good, and I decided I had posted enough BAD pictures to my blog, so this is OK pictures! LOL! These are presents I made for people this past Christmas and I wanted to share them.

This is the first beaded bookmark I made. I made it for my BFF, Hootie. I wanted to make her something she could use in her bible studies, and devotions. I showed it to Keith and he loved it so much, he wanted me to make one for his Mom.

So this is the one I made for Keith's mom, Pam.

I made this bracelet for Keith's Step-Sister, Kim. She has some Chinese Characters tattoo'd on her neck - so that was the inspiration for her bracelet.

I hope everyone is enjoying their presents, because it really was fun making them!!!
GO CREATE SOMETHING!

Valentine Postcards

2009-02-10T00:47:00.000-06:00

I finished up my Valentine Postcards for a swap I am in, and I wanted to post the end result! The only thing you cannot see in the photo, is the irridescent spray I put on the cards after they were stamped, it makes a nice little "glow" on them. I think they turned out GREAT!

Supplies Used:
Stamps - Unity January Kit of the Month (Kiss Me, Love Me, Love Stamp, Valentine Circle, all my love, burst of hearts grass); Unity Love Grows Kit (Tree, love you, love words type)
Inks - Distress Ink Fired Brick & Worn Lipstick, Memento Angel Pink
Paper - White Cardstock - unknown
Paint - Krylon Paper Finishes Make It Iridescent

His Holy Name

2009-02-08T13:00:00.000-06:00

This is another challenge from Patter's Blog. His Holy Name. We take a word every two weeks and study on that word, and find scripture that is meaningful to use regarding that word. The only one that is probably not obvious is the last page. On this third challenge Patter asked us to make a list of ways God has protected us. And that spoke volumes to me. I am always "why me, why do I have O.C.D. - why do I have anxiety, why???" So I made my list.

Supplies Used:
Paper: Kraft Cardstock from Hobby Lobby, Patterned Papers are all Basic Grey Phoebe
Stamps used: Holy - Love Elsie Roxie Alphabet, Unity Journaling Block; Protector - All alphas used are from Michael's Dollar bin
Other SUpplies: Holy - bling from Michael's $ bin; Sovereign - Brads unknown, letters cut with Karen Foster Pink Dinky Dies from CTMH Cardstock; Protector - Making Memories STicker letters (black) and rub-ons (red), also journaling block was premade for last page, but I am not sure of the brand right now.

Scripture Challenge Week Five

2009-02-08T00:56:00.000-06:00

The word for week five is CHANGE. God never changes - we do. And I have been through a lot of changes in my own life. Thus the need to continue to remind ourselves that God isn't "picking on us" or "punishing us." We changed, and we need to get back to the ways of the LORD.

Scripture Challenge Week 1 & 2

2009-01-28T02:52:00.000-06:00

I am participating in Patter's Scripture Challenge 2009. Check out all the details on her blog Triple the Scraps by clicking right here!!!

I apologize for my photos. I am working on building a light box to take photos for my blog and for selling on ebay - so be patient with me, until that is finished.

Week One: FAITH
My scripture verse is from Hebrews 11:39-40. Which tells us that our Faith will bring us favor; and reminds us that we may not always get what we ask for or what we are promised, but we continue to have FAITH nonetheless!

Week Two: Kindness
My verse is from the book of Ruth 1:8 - This is Naomi speaking to her daughters-in-law, telling them to go home and may the Lord grant them the KINDNESS that they have shown her. This goes back to what was said in my Women's Mentoring class last Wednesday - if we are to be WARRIOR WOMEN FOR THE LORD - we must be KIND to one another, support one another as women. And remember that KINDNESS IS AN ACTION!!!

And here is a little sneaky peek at what my little cards will be going into. I made this little book - most of it - at my Tennessee Stampers retreat last fall. And this challenge is going to be PERFECT to hold my scripture cards!!! WOOHOO!!!

Supplies:
3 Birds Kit from HSN.com (retired I think)- Stickers & Paper
Stamps: Michael's dollar spot, Rolling Alpha Stamp, Making Memories Alphabet (kindness)
Ink: Brilliance Coffee Bean
Ribbon: Offray
Orange Chipboard Tag - Unknown
CARDS are cut from Nesties Labels TWO die cuts. Not sure I will continue to use this EXACT shape for the whole year, but it was a fun one to start with.

BLOG CANDY!!!

2009-01-25T14:56:00.000-06:00

Want to win some Copic markers and some cool stamps! Check this out:
Crafting & Living in Japan

Shout Out To SheetLoad

2009-01-18T15:48:00.000-06:00

Sheetload of Cards is a monthly E-zine that has a sketch you can use to make a card. Samples made with that sketch, and even a list of supplies needed and cutting guides to show you how to cut each piece!!! The samples are always wonderful, and I love seeing how different people interpret a sketch. This month they are featuring the stamp company C.C. Designs.

Click here to download the January 2009 issue

NOW - go create something!!!

Keith's Quilt

2009-01-15T23:01:00.000-06:00

This is the quilt I made Keith for Christmas. This is made of special pieces of clothing from his life.

The blue outfit (top left) is the outfit he came home from the hospital in; the boo-boo shirt was one his mom made and added the iron on to it as well, a baseball shirt from Chili's, a bowling towl from when he was a kid, bowling shirt with patches, baseball shirts from his childhood, and a Saturday Scholars Shirt from his elementary school days!

Dairy Queen baseball shirt, with bowling patches I sewed on (they were some that his mom never attached to his shirt), a sock monkey applique made of REAL SOCKS (Pam did this one for me), close up of his coming home outfit and boo-boo shirt.

A pocket off his work pants; a collage of baby jammies that he wore then dressed his bear in when he was little.

Jammies, Dairy Queen Jersey, and Back of his bowling shirt.

Top left is his baby blanket complete with tags he loved (still loves) so much, two of his baseball jersies, jammies, and a budweiser shirt from when we started dating.

He love this quilt and it is probably the best gift I have ever given him; how on EARTH am I gonna top this next year???

2009-01-11T22:53:00.001-06:00

When my cousin, Debbie, was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer last year it hit our entire family very hard. And in my search to do something to support her I found these little pink awareness ribbon beads at Hobby Lobby. And thus my bracelets were born. I made one for each aunt, a set of 3 for myself, and a set of 3 for Deb. I gave them to everyone on Christmas night at our Family Christmas get-together. Everyone seemed to really like them, and it was just a small way to show Deb how much I love her and support her.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2008-12-19T05:06:00.000-06:00

I am working on lots of Christmas Projects and presents, so I will be taking an "ART BLOG BREAK" until after Christmas. We took Mazie to see Santa tonight, so thought I would share! MERRY CHRISTMAS! Remember the true meaning!!!

Catch up!

2008-12-11T11:00:00.000-06:00

I did the following two projects for swaps. And I realized last night going through some pictures on my memory card, that I never posted them!!! So here they are! Just a little day to play catch up, since I will be spending my crafty time working on a quilt that is a Christmas gift today. :)

The first photo is a ROW HOUSE ATC. We were given the template and then had to create 21 houses. I chose to do a "Bakery" theme. And of course I had the perfect person to get me stuff - Keith! He brought home some things from Panera and I went to work. I layered each house with a Panera sticker. Then added a roof, which had been punched with a border punch from The Paper Studio. Panera Ribbon was also added to the roof. Then I stamped the cupcake/muffin from Unity's Simple Pleasures Kit. I painted it with some Sparkly Paint I have, added Spica glitter pens to the bread in the center, and the muffin. And then stamped "lovin' from the oven" from Unity's Lovin' From the Oven Kit.

I made these postcards with Unity's "Growing in Unity" Kit. The red cardstock was painted with a glittery paint to give it some shimmer. Then I took a Kaleidacolor ink pad and brayered it onto white cardstock. After it was dry, I painted coordinating colors of Twinkling H2Os onto each stripe, and spritzed with water to get them to "mesh". After it was dry I stamped the tree and bird in brown ink. It has a really pretty shimmer to it!!!

I hope you enjoyed this "catch up" day - come back tomorrow for some more Christmas fun!!!

Hello Kitty & a Card of the Month...

2008-12-10T22:49:00.000-06:00

Today has been ONE OF THOSE DAYS! So I retreated to my room to create. My bestest friend Hootie's little girl loves Hello Kitty. They have a PINK HELLO KITTY TREE at their house (I am SO JEALOUS!) So of course I had to make an ornament for her. I found some clip art of Hello Kitty online and printed it out. I took the flat glass ornament and laid it over the clip-art, and then applied the self-adhesive "bling" where the lines of the clipart were. Her bow was a little harder, but I think it turned out great! Bling is all from JoAnn's and Michael's and is all self-adhesive. I did use tweezers to do this!!! (And had to wear my reading glasses! LOL!) The ornament was a clearance find, last year at Michael's after Christmas. And the ribbon was from my stash. I cannot wait to get this in the mail for her!!!

Then below, is a beautiful Christmas Card from my Card of the Month partner on my stamping group. It is so beautiful! That tree stamp is just so stinkin' cool! THANKS CINDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been cutting fabric, making scrapbooks and MORE tonight, so I have tons of things to post this week!!!

Now go create something!!!

Christmas Decor

2008-12-09T10:00:00.000-06:00

Last Friday I worked all day on Christmas Decor items. These are what I finished by Friday night at bed-time!!!

These first two are ornaments. I made them using styrofoam balls, sparkley "puffs", E6000 glue and ribbon.

This tree was made from a styrofoam cone, The Paper Studio Christmas Glitter Paper, Offray Ribbon, Fun Fur, and disks from Hobby Lobby.

This tree was also made from a styrofoam cone. I covered it in Green Fun Fur, then took some mini ornaments I bought at Hobby Lobby, cut the hangers off of them, and attached them to the tree with stick pins. Then I glued the "puffs" on with E6000 glue. The Star was pushed into the top and glued with the E6000 (it is also from Hobby Lobby).

Ribbon Wreath: Styrofoam Wreath Base, Ribbon and stick pins. Took me about 1 hour to complete - which included cutting all the ribbon.

Unity Secret Santa Card

2008-12-08T19:00:00.000-06:00

This is the card I made for my Secret Santa on the Unity Forum at SCS. I used a pre-made 6" x 6" card by DCWV, Red CS Unknown, White CS by Georgia Pacific, Ink is Distress Ink by Tim Holtz, Paper Studio Border Punch used. I also added stickles to the stamped tree to make it more Christmas-like! Stamps are all by Unity Stamp Co.: Tree is from Growing in Unity Kit, Words are from Bitty Christmas Tags Kit. I hope she enjoyed it!!!

Thanksgiving Cards

2008-12-07T10:00:00.000-06:00

Supplies Used:
Unity Stamp Co.'s Fall Festival Kit
Copic Markers, Spica Pens, Google Eyes, Spellbinders Nesties, Offray Ribbon, Orange Cardstock is Unknown, Paisley Paper is Chatterbox, and White CS is Georgia Pacific.

29 Days of Giveaways!!!

2008-12-06T02:05:00.000-06:00

Check out Chrysti's 29 days of giveaways here:

Layout Class

2008-12-06T00:31:00.001-06:00

Two weeks ago tonight, I took a layout class with some new scrapbooking friends. It is so much fun because all we did was bring the pictures, and she had all the supplies. We just had to have our adhesive, and basic tool kit.

These first 4 layouts were not intended to be Christmas, but I thought that I could make the pink and brown colors work since a lot of my Christmas decor is in Pink & Red.

Supplies Used:
Papers: All by Close to My Heart, except for Pink Brocade paper on some chipboard is by The Paper Studio
Embellishments: CTMH Chipboard, K & Co. Binder Clip, Making Memories all Solid Color Clips & Metal Markers, CTMH Stickers, Heidi Grace Ribbon, Heidi Swapp Rub-on Letters.
Stamps: Unity Stamp Company (Good Times, Bliss, Indulge, Love Almighty God); others are alphabets from Michael's $1 Bin.

These next two layouts were done using the same papers, but the OPPOSITE side of them. I decided to use the Blues for Keith's birthday pages. The story of where we went and why we went there is on my personal blog. :o)Some of the close-up pictures show where we used a piercing tool and a stamped image to create a very cool star background.

AllSupplies on these pages by Close to My Heart!

Thanks for looking! Hope you enjoy'd them. Now GO CREATE SOMETHING!!!

Halloween Layout Class

2008-11-23T18:21:00.000-06:00

These are layouts I did at a class at the YMCA here. Heather Hicks, a local Close to My Heart Consultant, taught the class. I went out of my comfort zone using SPIDERS! But it turned out so very cute! I went to another class this past Friday night and did six pages, and will post those ASAP. We have been sick for two weeks around here, so we are finally getting back to normal - just in time for Turkey Day!

Don't forget to go create something!!!

HIP HOP HANGOVER FRIDAY!

2008-11-07T04:30:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone! I know - long time no post - but it has been a busy couple of weeks around here. We've had 2 birthday's in the house!

Now you ask - what is Hip Hop Hangover (a.k.a. HHH)- well all us UNITY STAMP CO. addicts hang out in a thread called "Hip Hop Thursday" every week, and chat the day away. Hip Hop is also the day of new releases and specials for Unity Stamp Co. each week. SO much fun, and if you haven't been - YOU MUST JOIN US NEXT WEEK!

So after PARTYING in the UNITY HIP HOP THREAD over at Split Coast Stampers - I had to post my favorite thing I have made lately using Unity Stamps! This is the birthday card I made for Keith. It is "kookie" just like we are - and he LOVED IT!

supplies used:
Die Cuts with a View Cardstock
Georgia Pacific White Cardstock
Close to My Heart Patterned Paper (green stripe)
Die Cuts with a View Patterned Paper (bold design)
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Palette Ballet Blue Hybrid Ink
Old Paper & Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks
Little Monster Image colored with Copics and Bic Mark-Its, and outlined with Copic Spica Glitter Pens in Clear and Black
Cuttlebug Embossing A2 Tiny Mosaic Texture Folder
Spellbinder Circle & Scalloped Circle Nestabilities
Spellbinder Long Rectangle Scalloped Nestabilities
Chevron Punch

Directions for the Green Paper: Take Green Striped paper by Close to My Heart. Using Texture Sponge - add Old Paper and then Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks in layers onto the paper. Run paper through Cuttlebug using Tiny Mosaic Texture Embossing Folder.

The card was based on this sketch from the SO SKETCHY BLOG.

Thanks for looking and be sure to look to the right side and become a FOLLOWER of my blog and come back tomorrow to see the ATC Row Houses I am working on using Unity's Simple Pleasures set!

Now go create something!!!

SHIMMERZ!!! BLOG CANDY!

2008-10-26T00:32:00.000-05:00

Ok have you seen these new paints? They are SO COOL! I have to get some. http://shimmerzpaints.blogspot.com/2008/10/colors-and-candy.html
Check out the above link and it will take you to the post where you can win some blog candy!!!!!!!! I love bling and this is TOTAL BLING!

EDITED TO ADD: For some reason blogger is not allowing my links to show in my posts. I was unaware because it shows when I am typing. So please if you see this again - email me so I can fix it. Not sure if the shimmerz thing is still going, but copy and paste the above link to find out. SO SORRY!!!

Happy Birthday from Steph!!!

2008-10-22T14:13:00.000-05:00

This is the first birthday card I received this year! It is from Steph on Tennessee Stampers. SO CUTE! Coloring is awesome and I love how she ran i through the Cuttlebug afterward! So cute - THANKS STEPH!

SC198 - Sketch Challenge with Unity Stamps...

2008-10-16T14:59:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the BORING title - in a hurry! :o)

Unity Stamp Co. October Kit of the Month - thinking about the good times
Distress Vintage Photo Ink, Brilliance Moonlight White
Black CS - unknown; Paisley PP - The Paper Studio, Diamonds - Bo Bunny I think (VERY OLD from my scrap stash)
Nesties to cut the ovals.
Copic Markers to Color the Pumpkins. The pumpkins were masked to stamp several.

This just didn't turn out quite how I wanted. I was very happy with my masking to make the "patch" of pumpkins. And REALLY happy with my coloring with my Copics - although I do not think the photo does them justice. But the overall card didn't turn out very well. But they can't all be masterpieces, right?

Manly Card Challenge by Unity

2008-10-15T20:18:00.000-05:00

I pulled out a piece of American Crafts paper that was pretty manly looking. And then I pulled the colors off of that and started stamping with Unity's July KOTM "It's the Little Things". Then after getting the main image stamped and cut out with my nesties, realized that I wanted to go a completely different direction! LOL!

The card is 4" x 4". Uses July's KOTM. Inks: Blue - Palette, Orange & Yellow - Memento, Brown - Walnut Distress Inks. Brown CS (faux ribbon)- DCWV, Red CS - Close to My Heart, White CS - Georgia Pacific. The sentiment actually says "it's the little things..." but I cut out just the three words with my Stampin' Up Word Window Punch. The center image was cut with Oval Nesties and then inked around the edges with walnut distress ink.

To see my hubby's card for today's Unity Hubby Challenge, scroll down to the post below, and leave him some love. :o)

Unity Hubby Challenge

2008-10-15T11:48:00.000-05:00

So last Thursday during Unity's Hip Hop - all the Unity Boys made cards. So that developed into a Unity Hubby Challenge. Keith was ALL IN! He had to make his card last night because he has to work tonight, but I got him in ACTION!

He picked out the Monkey Stamp from Unity's UK-197A Wild & Crazy Bunch. (He has a thing for monkies.) He got the monkey stamped and papers picked out before I could even get a picture taken, I got a picture of him waving the monkey around drying it! LOL! But that one didn't make the blog - it was blurry. He sat for a while contemplating what he wanted his card to look like, and then off he went. He used my Copic markers, now he is in love with them - gonna have to lock 'em up! LOL! But after he colored the monkey, he said "Can I doodle on it? Or will they be mad?" I told him to go for it. So the monkey has little patches that he doodled with a black fine pen & white signo. During this whole time he said "I want to come up with my own saying." So he did and printed it out on the computer, then he asked if he could cut an oval, so I showed him the cuttlebug and he was so cute trying to get the sandwich through. LOVE IT! And finally a picture of him with his card (silly man!) And a picture of the outside and inside of his card. Oh I almost forgot, he cut the monkey out (that takes talent!) and then pop-dotted him on the front. OH I LOVE MY MAN! Supplies: Unity Wild & Crazy Bunch, DCWV Cardstock, Copic Markers, White Signo, Momento Tuxedo Black Ink, Pop Dots, K & CO. patterned paper.

A little Halloween, and a Little Pink

2008-10-14T19:23:00.000-05:00

First of all I have to share the sweetest pic of two of my fur-babies. I "caught" them like this on Sunday morning. How sweet! Missie opened her eyes just as I was taking the picture, but they stayed like that forever. It is so sweet how Missie Moo & Mazie love to sleep together!

The card below is done with Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Making Memories Halloween Stamps, and a Cuttlebug Die/Embossing Folder duo cut out of some crazy paper I found at Hobby Lobby. Eyes are K & Co. gems I found at the Dollar Mart. Sorry for the glare - new camera.

This card is done for the Monday & Tuesday Challenges over at Splitcoaststampers.com The Monday challenge was to try a new technique with the stair step fold. And Tuesday was the Color Challenge (pink, black & White). Papers are Die Cuts with View & Hobby Lobby (zebra). All pieces on card are Chipboard. Stamped with Unity's September KOTM mini giggle grove, and quote in brilliance ink. Ribbon is from Michael's, flowers are prima. Black Jewels are K & Co. Again - sorry for the bad pic, my new camera has that movement correction, and I haven't quite mastered it yet - oops!

ROCK ~ PAPER ~ SCISSORS

2008-10-11T00:51:00.000-05:00

Today's card is for the limited supply challenge over at Split Coast Stampers. We were only allowed to use paper, stamps, ink, decorative scissors and a paper trimmer - oh and BLING of course for the "rock"!!! I pulled out my new WISH kit by Unity Stamp Co. & the GIGGLE GROVE kit happens to be in the same envie. So after stamping everything I realized I needed a little greeting and giggle just seemed to fit this silly little card! Cardstock is DCWV, Distress Ink Worn Lipstick by Tim Holtz, & Clear Baubles (sorry they are hard to see - will have to work on that for photos.)

Thanks for looking and have a WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

Fall Decorations

2008-10-09T22:59:00.000-05:00

Today was HIP HOP THURSDAY over at the Unity Stamp Co. Forum at SCS. So I have been chatting and blog hopping all day. So the only thing CREATIVE that got done today were the decorations in the front yard, so thought I would share. Happy Thursday!

Unity Stamp Company Wednesday Challenge on SCS

2008-10-08T23:59:00.000-05:00

We had to make ANYTHING but an A2 sized card. So I went for 8" x 4". Just what I felt...Paper Salon Patterned Paper, DCWV Cardstock, Aegean Blue VersaMagic Ink, White Pen for doodles, Unity Stamp Co. Flower & Quote, Nesties to cut circle and quote, & border punch by The Paper Studio. Thanks for letting me share today!