A Tisket, A Tasket, An M&M Filled Basket

Does it get any better than that? Yummy! This is the time of year when my pants feel REALLY tight. How do you pass up all that yummolicious Easter candy? I can't. It's as simple as that. The other thing I am in love with is this little chick from A Good Egg. I hope you aren't getting sick of it because I will have at least one more card using this lovable little creature. My project today if for the Verve Project Parade. You have until Saturday to participate for a chance to win some Verve stamps. Go check it out.

Now a little bit about my "basket". It is actually a template called Qbee's flower pot box template. This woman has some fabulous templates over on Splitcoast. Click on the link and it will take you to the place where you can print out the template right on your cardstock. Well, you can if you don't have MY printer...that refuses to print on SU cardstock...the one that makes me trace each template from a copy paper printed one...sorry, I digress. I made my own handle from a scrap piece of Pink Piroette. I scallop edge punched it on both sides, layered with a strip of So Saffron and then affixed some daisy lace on top of that. I LOVE the look. I used glue dots to secure the lace. This is for my friend's little girl who turns the big 4 today. It's not very birthdayish, but I don't think she will mind:)

Here are a few tips on creating this box:

1. I make my flaps for securing the box a little bit longer than the template shows. I simply cut out about an eighth of an inch past the lines. I just feel that it makes the box a bit sturdier for filling it with goodies:)

2. ALWAYS use sticky strip to adhere the flaps. This is almost a must for keeping the box together.

3. You MUST do any altering to the side flaps at the top BEFORE ASSEMBLING. How do I know this? "Experience:)" That is why my flaps are only scalloped in the center.

SEE ?
Basic Recipe:

Stamps: A Good Egg
Ink: Basic Brown
Paper: Pink Pirouette, So Saffron and So Saffron Textured, Whisper White
Other: Pure Color Crayons, Prismacolor Pencils, Baby Oil, Blending stumps, Uniball gel pen, Oval Nesties, Scalloped Edge Punch, Ribbon, Lace, Cuttlebug


Thanks for stopping by today!

Tango on the Brain

I love the word "tango" and playing off that word. Seems like all around me people are using this great color or looking for ways to use it. Orange is energizing. Love the smell of it and what about those cutie pies...you know the little clementine oranges. Yum! I combined my card today with 2 challenges this week. I am short on stamping time this week. I also needed to make my MIL a card. She recently was in the hospital. Nothing too serious compared to all she been through over the last 2 years. But, I wanted her to know we are thinking of her. So for Kristina's Color Inspiration and Jen Del Muro SFYTT I created the following card. I had a hard time getting a good picture today. Oh yeah, if you participate in Jen's sketch you could win a free Whiff of Joy stamp.


I used the Designer paper from SU called Hawaii Papaya. I also used a few clear page pebbles that I placed on Choc Chip cardstock and then cut out. My image was stamped in Barely Banana ink and then I highlighted areas with So Saffron marker and a blender pen dipped in Tango Tangerine ink. I also used a scrap of the SAB DP from my last card. The edges are machine stitched. My flower at the top is from The Paper Studio, but it has a small white flower from SU's Pretties kit that I colored with Tim Holtz Distress Ink. I don't remember who make the orange brad. Every thing else is pretty straight forward. Basic recipe below.

Stamps: Upsy Daisy
Ink: So Saffron, Barely Banana, Choc Chip craft, Tango Tangerine
Paper: Hawaii papaya, SAB DP, White, So Saffron, Choc Chip
Other: Scalloped Edge Punch, brads, page pebbles, large oval punch, Pretties Kit, Flowers, sewing machine, paper piercer.

I probably won't be posting this weekend. We have family visiting. YEAH!!! So I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

A Blog AWARD

One of the girls on the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge Design Team gave each of the members an award. Thanks to Joanne. That was so great. I think I am supposed to pass this on. When I find out what all goes with this honor I will update. Thanks again Joanne!

Hey Chickie!

Don't you just love this little chick? I think it is the sweetest image. I made this card for the Mojo Monday Sketch. I switched it up a bit though. This card is for my very wonderful friend Kathie. She watched my dog while we were away. Totally spoils our Molly I think.

I was really happy to use this scrap of DP that has been sitting there STARING at me for about 2 weeks now. I am very "into" dots at the moment. I also got to use my new MS lace punch. Other things I like about this card:1. flower/button/ribbon combo- I have seen this done on other blogs and thought is was cute. It's a little difficult to maneuver that floss thread while holding the ribbon just the way you want it, but the results are so fun! 2. That I was able to use 2 Dps that didn't come together and pull it off ( I think) 3. That the egg is paper pieced.

The thing I don't like is my handwriting on the word "chickie". I used to have nice handwriting but no more. Especially in the morning after a few cups of coffee....uh, pretty jittery:) BTW, I colored using the Gamsol technique. I've been having fun with that. It's so therapeutic to color don't you think?

Here is the basic recipe:

Stamps: A Good Egg
Ink: Basic Brown
Paper: SAB designer paper, Retired Simply Scrappin Kit, Vanilla, Groovy Guava, Barely Banana
Other: Flowers (the paper studio), Buttons( the paper studio), Ribbon ( joann's), embroidery floss, glue dots, Martha Stewart Lace border punch

Here are MY CUTE CHICKIES

I have a cute story to share from my son last night. We were walking home and he saw a cat. He asked me if I was scared. He knows I'm not a "cat person".

I told him " I'm not afraid of cats I just don't care for them." (sorry if you are a cat lover...I just had a bad experience with a cat of mine)


"SHHH!", he said. "You shouldn't say that around them. They might hear you and get mad."

He was very serious about this. I chuckled and said somewhat sarcastically, " I don't think they can understand me."

Completely serious he remarks, " Oh, you mean because they only speak 'Meow'."

This kid cracks me up and then he grabbed my hand and held it all the way home. Kind of makes up for him being such a stinkpot to us earlier in the day.

I hope you laugh today!

Easy Designer Paper Card

This is going to be very short and sweet. I have a very busy day today. I made this card pretty quickly with the use of the Urban Garden DP. I also used several of my Sizzlets with my Cuttlebug for quick dimension. I made this card for my uncle who just recently had a heart attack. I wanted him to know that, even though we are far away, he isn't far from our thoughts. If you look closely at the leave die cuts I used a blender pen and NQN ink to add some soft color. I still thought they needed something so I added a silver gellyroll pen to the edges. Also, my Martha Stewart glue pen is perfect for adding glue to these tiny branched areas. I didn't want the entire die cut to be glued down. I like how the leaves seem to grow from under the tag.

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes, Thoughts and Prayers
Ink: Baja Breeze, NQNavy
Paper: Baja Breeze, NQN, Urban Garden, Whisper White
Other: Cuttlebug, Sizzlets:little leaves and lots of tags, silver brads, silver hodgepodge accessory, silver gelly roll pen, blender pen, dimensionals, Martha Stewart glue pen, white taffetta ribbon

Have a marvelous day!

Pink Monday

Good Monday Morning! We are back from our trip to Michigan and had a fabulous time. It was pretty cold the day we left. Only 10 degrees...brrr! Sutton's Bay is absolutely beautiful even with snow. It was a fun time!

I'm sorry for my lack of posting lately. I have been very busy with other things. "Fun stamping" has been at a minimum. I did finish a card this morning for the Viva La Verve challenge this week. Unbelievable as it is, March is almost over. That means if you have participated in all four Viva la Verve sketches you have a chance to win the new Verve release for April. This week's "twist" was to only use ONE embellishment. I hope that my stitching didn't count as an embellishment because it's too late now. I gave this card a shabby chic feel I think.





This card is a 5 1/2"square of whisper white that is layered with some CTMH designer paper from LONG ago. I also used some of that pink DP from Bella Rose. I really love that stuff. I have been using a lot of pink lately. I think because I am so in love with the new In Color Pink Pirouette. It is so soft. It's the perfect pink if you ask me. I used the technique called Gamsol Magic to color in my flower.

Here is the basic recipe:
Stamps: Beautiful You (Verve), Easter Beauty (SU)
Ink: Choc Chip, Tim Holtz Distress Vintage Photo, Basic Brown
Paper: CTMH, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Bella Rose
Other: Sponge, Sewing machine, Paper Piercer, Cutter kit, Scallop Circle Die, Ribbon, dimensionals

Meet Dick and Jane

We found this really fun art gallery in Sutton's Bay. This piece reminded me of my kids. I wish my daughter had her hair in pigtails that day. Would have been even better. The woman in the shop was nice enough to let me take their picture together. Isn't the resemblance uncanny:)?


We also ran into this really cool "HEAVY METAL BAND". This art gallery was so fun. We spent a good while just trying to figure out all the different parts that were used to create this piece. It was so interesting. The art gallery and candy store were the favorite attractions. If you ever have the chance to visit Sutton's Bay I highly recommend it....just do it in the summer. I'm sure it is much better when it is warm:)

Have a great day!

Happy Dots

My card for today was inspired by an episode of Divine Design by Candace Olson. She is amazing. She did this awesome basement that had a whole craft area. These were the colors she used and the circles come from the floor design. It was so fun.


The card base for this is Soft Sky (retired). I used a layer of vanilla that was matted with baja breeze. I used various size circle punches using scraps of baja breeze, soft sky, certainly celery and kraft cardstock. I arranged them and then machine stitched the edges and through the arrangement of circles. I messed up my stitching so I used some buttons from The Paper Studio to cover my "errors". The Sentiment was stamped using Sahara Sand ink. I forgot the name of the stamps set and I'm not home to check. Sorry:( I love how quickly this card came together. I think that even though it has buttons it could be used as a card for a guy. What do you think?

We are having a great time on our trip to Michigan. It is absolutely beautiful here around the lake. We found out that on Sunday this area received around 18 inches of snow! Yikes! The day we arrived it ended up being 67 degrees. It was crazy to see these mounds of snow and people walking around in shorts. The people are very friendly here. When this posts we will be spending the day at the water portion of the hotel. We have done a little bit so far and had a great time. We got my mom to do one of the water slides. Yeah Mom! She has never done anything like that.

I hope you are all having a great week. Thanks for checking in with me today. Don't forget that our Stamptacular Sunday Challenge is coming up. Stay tuned for additional information next week.

Have a good one!

Happy St Patrick's Day

By the time you read this post we will have been on the road for a few hours. We have headed off to an area around Lake Michigan. It is an early "spring break" for us. We plan on staying at Great Wolf Lodge and having a blast on the water slides. I do have a few cards made up ahead of time that I plan on posting through the week. Don't hold me to it though. I don't want to take away from our family time. I do want to share a card for the Viva La Verve Challenge that was posted on Friday. This time the "twist" was to make a birthday card. I have been very bad about sending cards lately. I have a few birthdays coming up, so this is a great challenge for me.


I used white as my base and then cut a smaller piece of white to layer on top. This one was embossed with my cuttlebug and swiss dots embossing folder. Next I used some of the designer paper that is in the SAB catalog. I layered those with the same colors: Bashful Blue and So Saffron. This is tied with ribbon from the Ribbon Bundle in the SAB catalog also. My image was stamped in black stazon on white cardstock. It is from Friends are like Flowers. One of my favorite sets. I colored it with prismacolor pencils and baby oil. I tried to make my own scalloped square with the scalloped edge punch. Um...that needs some work. The sentiment was stamped in bashful blue and punch out with a horizontal slot punch and then adhere with dimensionals. A relatively easy card to put together. I hope you can have a go at the challenge.

BTW, I think I have finally settled on a blog design. I really liked my polka dots, but then I saw them on my old computer......Yikes! It was like looking into the sun. Way too bright. So I have opted for this new background...for now. I'm not one for keeping things the same for long creatively. Sorry if I am confusing you.

Thanks for stopping by~!

You Are In The Right Place

If you were stopping by to visit Sealed with A Stamp. This is it! It's my new look. I had this idea pop into my head Friday while I had an hour to spare. I really wanted to change my blog look. My husband went to a work related dinner and came home with the most beautiful flower arrangement. Well, minus the IV things that were attached to it. (It was a medical dinner. Who knew they had a sense of humor?) Anyways, I took a few pictures of it and decided to use it as my blog header. So I want to know what you think. Do you like my new look? It has changed a bit over the last 3 days. I decided to add the polka dot background to soften it a bit. Let me know. Do you like the white or the yellow polka dot background?
On another note, I would like to congratulate Kathie as the winner of my blog candy.

kathie said...

hi! yay for the bball superstar...nice treats. (i am making my comment in hopes of winning but also b/c i love to leave comments!) my fave GS cookie is Thanks-A-Lot.

It was tough to pick the winner....only ONE comment. (this is sarcasm BTW) I always knew that Kathie was my number one blog fan. I'm will happily give her my blog candy AND I can hand deliver it with a smile and my dog since she is dog sitting next week for me. She is THE BEST!

Now that business is taken care of let's get to the card! This is for Simple Card Sunday.




I really like that I was able to do a "simple" card that I am happy with. The base is a 4 1/2 square card of textured So Saffron. I used the SAB set called Yummy. You still have until the end of the month to order and receive this set for free with a $50 order. I stamped the little flourishes in Choc chip craft and let them sit to dry:) Then I used just classic chocolate chip for the sentiment and colored in the flower and vine using pumpkin pie and old olive markers, respectively. This was stamped on vanilla cardstock and cut out with my oval nestabilities. I then cut out a scalloped nestie using a DP that resembled Old Olive. I connected each flourish with paper piercing and THAT'S IT! I am proud that I was able to do something simple and not sweat.


I will be out of town next week, but I hope to work on a few things today and have some scheduled posts for while we are away.

Have a great Sunday!

BACK IN BLACK

Wow! I really have had no time this week. I am in "hot demand":) So my post today will be brief. I really still would love to share some stories but I can't swing it today. Here is my project using Kristina's color inspiration. Black is just a great "color". I'm so glad we are getting back to using it more in the crafting world.



I wanted to tell you that I DID iron my sheet. It just goes to show why they will never employ me at the dry cleaners for pressing pants:) You should be focusing on the card anyways.

I used Whisper white as my base. I then used some really cool DP from My Mind's Eye, I think. I used a Martha Stewart border punch along the edge and tied this with gray taffetta ribbon. I used a hat pin from the Pretties Kit. I still haven't quite got the hang of these. My image is from Abundant Blessings (Verve) and was stamped using Brilliance Black and then quickly embossed with Iridescent Ice. I had to go over some areas with my versamarker and and the iridescent ice. Handy thing to have, that versamarker. The "vase" is made by punching out a black oval using the largest SU oval punch. I then lopped off the top and bottom. This was then "smooshed " onto my versamark pad and embossed with Ultra Thick EP several times. I put it in my freezer for about 5 minutes and then bent it. This is called cracked glass. I love this technique. Here is a close up of the details.

A few other details that I did were paper piercing and I cut out some of the flowers and applied them to the main image with small slivers of dimensionals. I also used the retired SAB set called SO VERY for the blessed sentiment and used the other 2 SU oval punches.

I ended up smearing a bit of black when I was all done. BLEK! My daughter assured me that it was still beautiful. She's so supportive of my "work". Love her!

Hope you have a great Friday. I will hopefully have more time to post tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by!

Orange You Glad It's Wednesday?

DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST FOR A CHANCE TO WIN SOME BLOG CANDY!!!!!


I have to start by saying I have no WIGW card. I am extremely busy this week and haven't had much chance to stamp. This card today is for the MOJO Monday Sketch. It's a very fun sketch I think. I really love this card. It took me WAY too long to make though. That is another reason for no WIGW card.

You will notice that I still haven't ironed the background of my photo area. I really hate to iron so the idea of ironing a sheet seems way out there for me. Don't the wrinkles give "character" to my picture:) ? Just kidding. It will go on my list of things to do today.

Ok, here are the deets: My card base is Whisper White. I used some retired DP from SU (Hawaii Papaya) for the brown and orange. I matted each piece with the same color cardstock and then paper pierced the edges. The circle in the top left corner is cut with my CM circle cutter and run through my cuttlebug using swiss dots embossing folder. I matted it with Choc Chip and then a piece of Kiwi Kiss that was cut with my scalloped circle nesties. The flower is from Looks Like Spring (retired) and was stamped twice with Tango Tangerine and cut out. I used a Jumbo Brad for the center and topped it with a half pearl from the Pretties Kit. I then stamped the leaf from Best Blossoms (retired) in Kiwi Kiss and also cut this out. The tag on the right is from an SU sizzlet packet of tags and was cut out twice with Kiwi Kiss and White. I stamped the sentiment in Choc chip and added the flower in Tango. The sentiment was a dollar stamp at Michaels and the flower is from Verve's Beautiful You. I just tied a knot in the Vanilla/Kiwi Satin ribbon and adhered to the sentiment with a glue dot. The tag is attached with dimensionals.

Now that I have shared my card I would like to share a few stories over the next few days of funny things that have happened to me over the last week. My daughter had me take a "quiz" out of one of her books about what kind of person I am. It was only a 3 questions quiz so not very accurate. But it said that I was funny, was good at telling jokes and had my friends in stitches. 1. I don't like jokes very much. I definitely can't tell a joke. 2 While I may have my friend's in stitches at times it is usually from them laughing AT me. Because 3 I have a funny life. Things happen to me and my family members that are funny. Case in point...........

Last week I was getting ready in the bathroom. I have a cupboard right above my toilet with lotions and various other things for getting ready. I had just put something back in the cupboard and, without me realizing it, a tube of lotion fell out on top of the toilet seat. I grabbed my socks from the sink counter and proceeded to sit down on the toilet seat to put them on. A very loud ...ahem...noise erupted from my derriere region as I sat down. Basically, I "whoopi cushioned" myself. When I sat on that lotion tube it sounded like...well you know. I mean this kind of stuff doesn't happen to the average person. It cracked me up though. I had to run down and share with my family the "joke" I had just played on myself.

Stay tuned for more stories like this that have occurred to me in just ONE week's time.

Hope you have a great Wednesday.

Verve Release Day!

DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS POST FOR A CHANCE TO WIN SOME BLOG CANDY!





Just a quick post to remind you that Verve will be releasing a bunch of new stamps tonight at 8pm. This card is for another chance to win some of those stamps. You have until 8pm tonight to try as well. Details are HERE.

For this card I used Certainly Celery as my base. I then created a white mat with a scalloped edge by using my corner rounder along the bottom. I added platinum Liquid Pearls...not so sure about that. The DP is from Cloud 9 and is reversible. I faux stitched the edges with my paper piercer and Uniball gel pen. The purple-ish paper strip on the bottom is the reverse side. I stamped onto Whisper White with a sentiment from Full of Life (SU) in Basic Brown. I then stamped a heart from Hearts Afire (Verve) in Pink Pirouette. This is my favorite pink color. I will be sad when they retire it. I think this should be the new Pretty in Pink. JMO! This was mounted onto another mat of white with dimensionals AFTER I added the heart brads (Making Memories). I added a strip of beautiful white embroidered ribbon I got on clearance and 2 lace flowers from some trim I got at Walmart. I just cut the flowers apart and attached a white pearl. I am experimenting with lighting and my pictures. I think this might be the spot. I think now I will actually take the time to iron the sheet I'm using:)

Happy Sunday!

Late Saturday Post and BLOG CANDY!!!

I am so sorry this post is late. I meant to do it before basketball today but I was busy making 6 dozen chocolate chip cookies for the team. They are "The Best EVAH Cookies" and I really think they are just that. I usually like the dough better than the actual cookies. These, however, are pretty great! I got the recipe on Julie Buhler's blog HERE

Let me just say that this recipe make a BIG batch. It can easily be reduced by half for your family. I used vanilla pudding in mine and they were great. The kids loved them. Today was our last game and I'm sad for that to happen. This was my son's first year playing. I am happy to say he fell in love with it and improved so much. The great thing about this age is that everyone cheers for everyone. It doesn't matter which team. Wouldn't it be great if it stayed like that?

Here is my "ALL STAR"....look at that form:)

Oh yeah, did you stop by for a card and the mention of blog candy? Well, I am so happy to say that my counter tripped 5,000 on Thursday. I know that may not sound like a lot, but to me it felt like a milestone. I wanted to thank those that take a peek into my life each week and comment on my stories and creations. Thank you! I have the following up for grabs.

This is a Salebration set from last year called Merci and a whole bunch of 6X6 designer paper. Some is from SU and some from Making Memories. All you have to do is leave me a comment and tell me your favorite Girl Scout cookie. Please only one comment per person. I will have my kids draw a name next Sat.

Now for the card....... But first my link for my ebay sale HERE


This is for this weeks Viva La Verve Challenge. Also, check out the Verve Blog for some chances to win a few new sets that are being released tomorrow. You can check here for the release party on Sunday March 8th at 8pm. Don't forget to change your clocks or you'll be late:)

My card is pretty straight forward so I'll just give a basic recipe. BTW, I colored in the flower on the sentiment panel IRL. I guess I deleted that picture...oops. This card is for my daughter. My kids have been really making me proud lately and I wanted to let them know how beautiful I think they are INSIDE and out.

Stamps: Beautiful You ( verve)
Ink: Black Brilliance, RHR, Rose Red
Paper: Old Olive, Watercolor, Regal Rose, My Mind's Eye DP, retired SU DP
Other: Making Memories Snaps, Regal SU Grosgrain, Martha Stewart glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds

I WAS BUSY AND HAVE 2 POST TODAY

Make sure you scroll down so you don't miss one of my creations. Thanks for looking!

KRISTINA'S COLOR CHALLENGE

I love when I have a specific person in mind for the card I'm making. I also love when it comes together even better than I imagined. This card is for our friends in Michigan whose little girl was in the hospital. I requested prayers for them a few weeks ago in this post. I am happy to report that they are now home and Brianna is on the mend. Thank you to all who said prayers. Please continue to pray for them over the next month or so. Brianna has a lot of healing to do.

I combined Kristina's Color Inspiration and last Friday's Viva la Verve Challenge to come up with this card.
The base of my card has 3 layers: Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette and Pink DP from Bella Rose. I then took a strip of Chocolate DP that is retired and stitched in onto the center. The sentiment was stamped in Choc Chip Craft ink and clear embossed. It is from Verve's Beautiful You. I cut it out with my oval nestabilities and then sponged pink pirouette while it was still in the die cut. It is layered with a Chocolate DP from Bella Rose that was cut with the oval scalloped nesties. The pink satin ribbon is from Walmart and in threaded through the ovals. That whole "hanging sign thing" is a facade. After tying the ribbon through the holes it ended up being too short. So I cut it and adhered the ribbon on the back to secure the knots. I then cut another section to make the upside down "V". I tied a bow by itself and added the SU button using zots. The flowers on the right are from Target dollar spot and I used some Mocha pearls by Kaiser for the centers. Those also adorn the swirls on the left that are cut from Close to Cocoa using my cuttlebug and SU's Scribbles sizzlet.

Don't forget to check out the Viva La Verve thread tomorrow for a new challenge. When you play each week you have a chance at the end of the month to win some free Verve stamps. They have a new release coming up with some REALLY cute sets. Can't wait to see them all together!

Are You A Shopaholic?

I was down creating yesterday afternoon and watching TV at the same time. On "E" TV they had a segment on the fashions from the new movie based on the Shopaholic book series. I love to shop, but it is usually not for clothing. I'm not much up on fashion at all. I'm a SAHM...not much need to look fabulous. So I thought I would take some of the "knowledge" from that segment and put it into this card. They showed a cute outfit that had a bright yellow jacket over a black and white patterned dress and then a BIG Brilliant Blue Belt...ooh fun to say:) I decided to use the sketch over at Our Creative Corner this week as my starting point. They are having a giveaway this week. Make sure you check it out ok?

So what do you think of my "high fashion" card? This is as high fashion as I'll ever get I'm sure.
My card starts with Basic Black cardstock that is covered in a layer of So Saffron. I stamped in Versamark the swirls from Baroque Motifs and then those little splashes of black are from Itty Bitty Backgrounds. The panel of white was run through my cuttlebug and then mounted on black. I scallop punched the edge and added tiny blue rhinestones from Taylored Expressions Store. Click to enlarge the picture to see them better. They are so fun. The ovals are both classic and scalloped nestabilities by Spellbinders. They are having a giveaway this week on Splitcoast. I stamped Tres Chic Background using Brilliance Black ink. That beautiful satin ribbon was a clearance find at Joann's for 50 cents for the whole spool! WOOHOO! It's so pretty. My big blue flower is from Abundant Blessings by Verve and is black embossed on watercolor paper and then colored with this technique. I used a Brilliant Blue marker and aqua painter for the coloring. I also used my white uniball pen in the center and added another blue rhinestone. The word "Friend" comes from a hostess set called A Little Somethin' and was black embossed and then punch with the medium sized oval punch. I added more rhinestones here. Both the sentiment and flower were adhered with dimensionals...of course;)

I'm off to get ready to go sub today. Yeah! Can't wait for the weekend though.

WIGW

Happy Hump Day! It is beautifully sunny in my town today and "they" are saying it is supposed to warm up. Yeah, I hope spring is on the way. My card today is somewhat "spring like". It is a very easy card. Actually, it has very little stamping. The card base is So Saffron and is covered with a section of Elegant Eggplant and the a white piece of cardstock that was cuttlebugged using Swiss Dots. The dotted border that covers the area where they meet is from an old Simply Scrappin Kit. My flowers are just stickers from Stickopotamus. I have had them in my stash for a long time. Feels good to use them up. My tip for using stickers on cards it this: Stick them to a scrap of cardstock first and cut them out. This gives them more "pop" when on a card. Do you know what I mean by that? I then used dimensionals to mount them. The sentiment is from Heard From the Heart (SU) and was stamped first with white craft ink and then embossed with white EP. Don't forget to use an embossing buddy when you emboss. It REALLY helps with those stray flecks of EP.

I have one more card to show today. It was for a Mojo sketch a few weeks back that didn't turn out very well. So, I tried to fix it and really didn't have such great luck. Sometimes things just aren't meant to be. But it isn't that bad.

The base is Choc. Chip with a layer of Pumpkin Pie and then DP from Me and My Big Ideas. I used Wild Wasabi for the green layer and fringed the part that wraps up to look like grass. The flowers are from the set Big Blooms (retired SU). I colored each flower using my SU markers; Apricot Appeal, Rose Red and Pumpkin Pie. The centers were colored in using a blender pen and Wild Wasabi ink. I used the new flower brads from SU. These are so adorable. The ribbon is Brown Satin from Hobby Lobby and was run under the image and then up through a section that was punched with the horizontal punch. I tied the orange button around the two ends of ribbon with linen thread. On the lower left I used the Curly Label punch on Pumpkin Pie CS and an old SUsentiment from All Year Cheer (I,II or II...can't remember which one).

Now, it's been awhile since I shared a funny story about my kids. My son has been just melting my heart lately with all the things he says. But on Monday he cracked us up. We were driving home from my daughter's acting class. We have to go down a busy street that is full of stores. My son just spouts off suddenly about how he HATES Kroger. He says this twice. I don't really like my kids to say "hate" because it's such a "strong" word.

So I said "Hey, why?"

"Because it says,' Kroger... Food and DRUGS' ". When he said the word "DRUGS" it was with such distaste and venom in his voice.

I cracked up for awhile and then explained that drugs meant medicine in that instance not actual drugs. Maybe you had to be there but he was sooo serious about how awful it was that Kroger would sell drugs. He's just a funny kid. Here he is helping me make homemade pizza a few weeks ago. He is a really great kid. Love him to death.

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your day. Are you hungry for pizza now?:)

I'm On A Design Team!!!!!!

I have so much to share today that this is going to be a long post. I decided to give you the important stuff first and then if you want to hang around for pictures of my craft area you can towards the end. If you aren't interested is seeing the "fruits of my labor" I'll understand. I mean it only took me 16 hours, but, you know, whatever:)

My first big news is that I have been accepted onto a Design Team for STAMPTACULAR SUNDAY CHALLENGE. I am so honored and excited to be a part of this team. You will notice that I have a new banner on the left side of my blog. Please check out the website and all the terrific girls who are a part of this team. I hope you will decide to join us in the challenges. They are amazing. The first one starts on April 5th so please stay tuned for that. A big THANK YOU to Priscilla for choosing me. I can't wait!

Now onto my card for today. I feel like my mojo may be back. Is that because I used the MOJO MONDAY sketch? Hmmm, maybe:) It's a pretty fabulous sketch. Go check it out and see what you come up with. I will definitely use this sketch again.

Paper: Sahara Sand textured, Choc Chip, Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla, Chocolate DP Bella Rose
Ink: Mellow Moss, Choc Chip
Stamps: Thankful Elegance, Serenity (Verve)
Other: Paper Piercer, Vintage Brads (SU), Satin Ribbon (Hobby Lobby)

Now onto the pictures of my craft room and how I store various things. First, you need to know that I don't have a "room" per say for my crafts. My room is in our unfinished basement. I love it there because my kids also have a craft area, play area and TV area down with me. That way we can still spend time together when I am crafting. I love my space and feel very blessed to have such a large area. It is nothing fancy in the way of everything being "matchy, matchy" or with high end storage but it works perfectly for me.

This is the area where I sit and create. I have perfect view of the TV in front of me or I have a radio above me. Sometimes I also plug in my laptop and watch a movie beside me. I have 2 banquet style tables that are pushed together. This is where I hold classes as well.

This is the area where I have my cutting station on the left and my embossing and cuttlebug station in the center of the picture.


Here is a closer look at all my embossing paraphernalia and at the drawers that house the things I use most frequently (ie..markers, dimensional, extra adhesive).

This is a quick shot of how I do my embossing. Here is a great tip provided by my friend Kathie. Take an old cookie sheet or cake pan and wrap in tin foil. This helps to evenly distribute the heat from your embossing gun to your paper and keeps the mess "at bay". I like the cake pan because I can keep little things I am embossing from flying around. When your tin foil gets really messy just replace it. Thanks Kathie for your fabulous tip!


This shows off my cuttlebug area. See those clear crates in the cubbies? Got those at Walmart for $1 and then hold my sizzix dies and embossing folders along with the "sandwich making" components for my cuttlebug. I got my cubbies about 6 years ago at Walmart. They were the BEST investment ever! See how they house all my SU sets and all those little supplies you need within quick reach? So perfect.


This was the free counter/cabinet we got. It didn't come with doors so I may make my own curtains to hide things. At this point it doesn't bother me too much. I have my sewing machine ready for quick stitching projects. That old cassette tape holder houses my In Color ink pads. I have my catalogs , sewing projects and finished cards in here. This was such a great freebie. You can kind of see that my ribbon is also hanging from the wall in gutters. Yep, that's just a section of gutter and it holds ribbon on a spool perfectly. I have my other ribbon in that basket sitting on top.

This is my last picture. Sorry it's crooked. I didn't feel like laying on my table to get a straight one and forgot to fix it. This is a Rubbermaid storage chest. It houses all my alterables, scrap cardstock (CM file folders), extra tools, beads and bags.

I know I have a lot of SHTUFF! Along with a good purge comes a sale. I will be posting a few things on ebay this weekend. I'll provide a link later.

Well that's it for today. Thanks for hanging in until the end. I am really trying to keep my area clean after each crafting session. I don't get anything else out until the stuff from the previous project is put away. My mom is making me (kidding).

See you tomorrow for Work It Girl Wednesday!