Paper Bits & Ribbon Pieces

Moving ???

2008-09-21T13:24:00.003-05:00

Wooo Hooo !! I'm a Winner !! Becca has contacted me ans said that my blog candy is in the mail !! This should be fun - I'll be sure to use the stamps and post as soon as possible. Thanks for all the wonderful comments ladies. I want you all to know that if I comment on your creativity, it is because I truly believe what I'm saying. Some of you are artists beyond your own imaginations and I'm often in awe !! And Becca's work is just simply incredible! Does she every make a bad card?? I doubt it. I'm sure that my waste basket is a lot fuller than hers !! LOL !!

Well, here is my post for today. I was commissioned to do a moving card for a friend. She is moving to a small town in northern Wisconsin. I googled the town to look for something interesting to put on the inside of the card - well guess what? There is nothing interesting. Her DH is building a log cabin and her closest "town" (not city) is over an hour away. I can't imagine her living there in the dead of winter so I may have to make a room in the basement !! :)

Anyway, I did put the last census population which was 601 and then I crossed it out and made it 603! That is about the only thing I could do to make it "fun"!

The card itself is the Papertrey set called Boards & Beams. I love this set - but then I love houses. I colored the house with my Copic's and I think it looks a little like a log cabin. I used SU designer paper, retired Caribbean blue paper and close to cocoa. This card took a lot more time then I had planned but I like the way it turned out. I don't think you can see it but on the blue cardstock I used versamark ink to stamp two other houses.

I also thought that I would post another card that I had done a little while back. I was trying to do an SCS challenge. I really would love to get into those but I just don't have that much time to stamp. And, then when I'm pressed for time and restricted to design, I become too over-whelmed. The anxiety starts setting in and I'm done !! Well, this card I did a few weeks after the challenge just because it intrigued me. I took it to one of my classes and they immediately wanted to do it too.

So, with my CB under arm, I took it to the next class and they were delighted to make it. I used Not Quiet Navy and the retired River Rock SU cardstock. This set is Embrace Life - one of my favorites. Because I made a standard size A2 card, it was a little hard to find the right size nestability to fit. I wanted all the layers (Becca influence!). I think it turned out pretty good and I'm willing to do it again ! :)

Well, thanks again for all the nice comments and thank you Becca for sharing your creativity with all of us. Have a great Sunday all.

Witchy, Witchy.

2008-09-10T20:16:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone. I hope that you all had as pleasant a summer as I have. It has been a long time since we have had such beautiful weather. We really got to enjoy our back yard this year, with many BBQ evenings and fires in the fire pit. You just can't ask for anything better.

Well, I have a couple of cards for you today. The first one was so fun to make. It was for my DH birthday. We are a cat and dog house and all the animals are his (at least he feeds and cleans them !! LOL !!). So that is the reason for the animal card. Simple but fun. Stamping directly on the checked background paper was really a fun thing to do. I see so many cards on SCS that do this and I never remember to try it. This time I did and I'm hooked. There is nothing out there that says you can't enhance designer paper, is there? :)

The second card is my favorite witch. I have had her for about 4 years and every year I have to bring her back to life. I love the face and expression that she has. She is fun and not scary so you don't have to worry about who you give it to. She is pretty much age appropriate for anyone. And this year I really had to glitz her up a bit. Stickles on her hat and star tassel and a strip of matallic star paper, which was a scrap from last year. Yes it is that time of year again. I have a friend that loves Halloween so much that she celebrates the whole month of October !! It is a fun holiday where you can really let your imagination "fly" !!

I'll have some other creations for you shortly. I'm in the middle of some commission work and I'm liking what is coming out of my head !! LOL !! I sure hope that all of you do to.

Have a great rest of the week.

2008-08-26T11:22:00.002-05:00

Well, it looks as though I have become a once a month blogger !! Unbelievable how time just moves past us so quickly. Well, please accept my apologies - I promise to try and do better in the future.

I have been stamping in my absense so it is not as if I have given up my love of the art. I have a few cards to show you and some stuff that we did at my classes. I hope you enjoy it all.

Unfortunately, I can't post anything just yet because I'm at work. I know - shame on me for wasting the company's time doing my personal stuff. Well, I don't feel guilty, I always make up for it some how ! :)

I do want to let you know that my dear friend Cindy, owner of Starlit Studio store, just moved from an Ebay store to a full fledged online store. I want to wish her much success with her new "digs" and I hope that each of you will go visit. I already placed an order and the site is easy to use and has lots of great stuff! Just use my link to get there and ENJOY !!

Gotta go back to work now. I'll be back soon and post something pretty or fun or both ! :)
Thanks for your patience and for stopping by.

2008-07-30T20:34:00.003-05:00

WoW!! I had no idea that it has been this long since I posted. I'm not sure there are many out there that notice but for those of you who do - I'm sorry for being such a slacker.

I was lucky enough to attend CHA this year, with some very dear friends. It was quite an experience. I had a Carol DuVall spotting and I stared at Tim Holtz for awhile!! :) I met Nicole Heady of Papertrey Inc. and she is such a sweet lady. My friend Nancy and I did a lot of make and takes and oogled over many new products from many companies. It is incredible how this industry has grown in such a short time. It is almost overwhelming.

So, now that I have recovered from the event - that was two weeks ago LOL !! I can try and get back on a posting routine. I have one more journal to show you. It was for a retirement at work and the lady that received it, I just knew would enjoy the humor of it. I was picking on her for retiring before me ! I didn't have much time to put this together but I'm happy with how it turned out and she did love it.

That gorgeous ribbon is from Papertrey Inc. and it is such good quality. It is easy to tie and just gives a perfect finishing touch. The cute duck was from an image swap that I was in and the sentiment "You Lucky Duck" just fit the occasion.

This was a fun project and I hope you enjoy seeing it here. Thanks for visiting.

2008-07-12T11:18:00.004-05:00

Well, we are all into the start of summer and it has been wonderful. I hope it has been good for all of you too. The weather has cooperated for the most part and it feels so good to be outside. We have had several evenings when we sat outside and enjoy a fire and believe it or not - even the mosquitoes have cooperated around here !! LOL !! They have been biting my DH more often than me and that is highly unusual.

I did have a class last week and I just have to share with you the wonderful project that we worked on. We did the card keeper boxes. This is the first time that these two ladies have done anything like this and I'm so impressed with the outcome that I just have to share.

Debbie's box is done in this great blue and green paisley with some green and yellow accents. The picture just dose not do it justice. It is so adorable. The ribbons are mostly SU and of course we added some Prima flowers and a few flower bling accents (every girl needs a bit of bling). The inside holds 12 divider tabs, on for each month.

Nancy's box was done in chocolate and light turquoise. The ribbon she used was SU ribbon and Mayarts. The primas and jewels were added to this box too and just was the perfect finishing touch. She also put dividers on the inside and everything coordinates.

I hope that these ladies get many years of use out of these adorable tins. I'm also so happy that they enjoyed making them. Now we will have a place to put all the cards we make at our other classes. I feel like a proud Mom when your children do so well that I just had to share !! :)

Because these ladies are friends, I just brought a ton of stuff over and let them pick what they wanted. If I should do a class that is larger, I would pick out the papers and the coordinating embellishments and sell it as a package deal. It would make it much easier for both the student and me !! I have also discovered that when you give people too many choices they can't make a decision. That can take a lot of time. Your 3 hour class has just been doubled in time !! LOL !!

Well, I'm off to do some shopping - hope you all enjoy your weekend.

Gift Journals

2008-07-03T17:43:00.005-05:00

Hi All - I hope that you are enjoying the wonderful weather and looking forward to the 4th holiday. I'm having a BBQ on the 5th and I'm really looking forward to it. Family and friends will gather in my yard and we will talk, laugh, eat and drink and just enjoy the day. I'm really in the mood for that interaction - can't wait.

I think my anticipation for my BBQ on the 5th might be because of the tension that I have experienced at work these days. A few of my best friends just lost their jobs and their last day at work was this past Tuesday. I was struggling as to what to give them as gifts and I decided that I would make them journals. We had been talking about sketch journals (two of them are good customers of mine as well) and gratitude journals, to help them through this difficult layoff. They had about 30 years with the company, combined, and their whole department was eliminated. So here is what I came up with.

This one is for my dear friend Debbie. Her and I have worked together for my entire career at the airline and she will be missed. However, because we enjoy getting together monthly to stamp, she will always be a part of my life.

This next one is for my friend Nancy. I knew that green was the color for Debbie but I was at a bit of a loss for Nancy. I think that she likes all colors !! So when I found this Basic Grey paper in my stash, I just knew that it would work for her.

Now the next one is the one that disturbs me the most. Even though we laughed real hard about it and Jill didn't want me to change a thing, I'm still disturbed by it. Can you see the error ?? Yep, you got it - I put her initial on backwards !! Can you believe it. The best part of it is that the book was shown to about 12 people and only 1 person noticed it !! I cannot believe how I can do that and I wasn't rushed when making them. Well dear Jill, if you read this - just tell everyone that I took creative license with the alphabet !! Or you could say that it is one of those funny looking t's and you just changed your name to Till !! I love you anyway and I hope that you find a good use for your mixed up journal !!

All journals are made with Basic Grey paper, Papertray Ribbon and the pages inside are cut from Neenah Bright White cardstock. The Bind-It-All is what I used to put them together. Chip board diecuts are from Stampin'Up.

Well, I hope you enjoy the journals and I truly hope that you enjoy your holiday weekend.

2008-06-25T15:35:00.002-05:00

I must apologize for my absence. My household has been a bit hectic and it has taken me forever to get back to my stamp room. I was up there last night and made a cute journal for a co-worker who is retiring - unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of it. Hopefully I'll be able to do that tomorrow. Tonight I have to make a sympathy card - I always procrastinate on those because if it is for someone I care about, I have to be careful of tears falling on my work !! But, it will get done and I'll feel better for doing it.

I have also had major computer problems. I think most of it is fixed now and it looks like I won't have to consider a new computer purchase for at least another year. So, for now I'm up and running and should be able to come back here a little more often than I have. I'm just a very bad blogger - need to correct that sometime soon !! LOL !!

I did manage to get my raised flower bed in (with most of the work being done by my husband and son). I still need more flowers, but I have to say it looks pretty good. My whole yard would finally be shaping up but unfortunately, I lost two trees. One from a terrible storm that we had and the other just didn't survive the winter. The big one won't be coming down until fall and I'm sure I'm going to cry over that one. It is my shade tree in the back yard. The little one is an ornamental tree in the front yard. It was a Rose of Sharon and I'm looking for something a bit hardier that can withstand our winters. It's amazing how this past winter has put us so far behind. Most of our major garden work is done in May, however, we had nothing but rain every time we had a day off!! Mother Nature sure played a lot of tricks on us this year.

So that is what it has been like in my household. I'll post some pictures soon, now that the ole 'puter is up and running !!

Thanks for stopping by.

2008-06-07T10:44:00.002-05:00

Hi all, I hope you are enjoying your Saturday. It is hot, muggy but sunny here and after the horrendous winter and terrible spring, I guess we can't ask for anything more.

I have a couple of projects to show you that I put together for my class in May. Yes, I know, I'm a bit behind. But what the hey - there is not expiration date on creativity !! :) This is a card tote that have been done by many. I'm pretty sure that this version came from my friend Val, who got it from our friend Mish, who expanded the version from something she saw done by our friend Cami !! LOL !! When you are surrounded by so much talent, it starts to blend together. I can only say how thankful I am for all three of these ladies and you will be too if you visit their blogs. All of them are listed on the right side of my blog.

This is a cute little tote that holds 4 cards with envelopes quite nicely. Makes an adorable gift for most anyone. I used the tart and tangy set from the May Occassions mini. I absolutely love this set. I also used the matching designer paper called Summer Picnic. All products in this project are Stampin' Up with the exception of the Prima flowers. Hint: I wanted the flowers (there are two of them) to be more dimentional so I took the bottom one and turned it upside down. This made the petals curl towards the background where the top flower curls away from the card stock. Turns out really cute and perky.

Well, I'm off to get stuff together for the garage sale next week. Enjoy your weekend and I hope there is sun where you are living.

2008-06-01T10:24:00.008-05:00

Okay, first I will apologize to my few followers for not having posted for awhile. Things have been a bit crazy around here and unfortunately, not a lot of stamping has gone one !! :( And, just so you all know - I miss it terribly. I had a horrific day yesterday, running around doing errands for other members of my family. I had to complete my shower gift (for the mother of twins - invite posted earlier) and I didn't get into my stamp room until 2:30 in the afternoon. Then of course, I was interrupted for dinner and a neighbor came over with some delicious homemade ginger snap cookies that she made, and that meant another break. I'm not protesting - the cookies are wonderful and I'm always willing to take a break - but I sure was cramped for time.

With that said, I'm still very happy with how my present turned out. Here are the pics of the finished product.
The package on the right are the thank you cards that I made for the Mom to be. The cards match the invitation with the same Basic Grey designer paper. The cute little box is the egg box from Papertrey. Unfortunately, I couldn't use the egg insert because I bought baby leg warmers and they were too bulky for that detail. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with this cute box, go to Papertrey.com and view Nicole Heady's site - you will see some amazing stuff). I also included two bibs that are from Midwest Airlines that say "Chocolate Chip Cookie Crumb Catcher" !! :)

The card on top of the box is made with the new baby set from Papertrey. Love that set. The book in back is a Shel Silverstein book. If you haven't read any of his books, I highly recommend them. They are wonderful children's books that I still enjoy reading.

Here are some close ups of the items.I hope you enjoy my projects and I hope the Mom to be does too.
I will be back soon with some class cards that I made and I actually did an SCS Challenge !! But, I'll keep you in suspense with that one !! LOL !!

Have a great Sunday everyone.

2008-05-18T21:17:00.005-05:00

Hi All - sorry that it has taken me so long to post. I get involved with these projects and I have a hard time concentrating on anything else. There was a time when I could do 5 things at once but I guess that ability dwindles with age !! LOL !! I have a friend that I think was trying to get me to post again because she made it a point to say that she was checking my blog hourly to see if I had done anything yet !! I guess that hint was pretty subtle, don't you think? Thanks Lana, I've been obsessing ever since. Now that I'm posting, I may be able to sleep better. Ha, ha, ha !!

Well, I finished the graduation announcements that I was commissioned to do, by a coworker. I sure hope that the graduate and her Mom like them. Excusing all sense of modesty, I really like them !! LOL !! That is really a good thing because it sure is hard to work on something that you don't like !!

The school colors are black and red so I decided for a black card base and accent with red matting. I r wanted to do the lettering in gold leaf on the front but I was running into a lot of complications. My glue pad dried up and I didn't have a refill, I didn't have the right size alpha stamps and I didn't have the right Cricut cartridge so the alpha didn't work !! I vacillated about this for two weeks which really put me behind.

So, I decided to just print it out on the computer. I'm so glad I did. I had to make 25 and doing the gold leaf or the embossing would have been way too time consuming. With the right font on the computer, it looks a lot more professional too.

Hint: When you are printing a verse off of the computer and need to trim down to fit a card, insert a dialog box around your verse. I'm working in Microsoft Word when I do this. Make sure that it is about 1/8 inch larger (use the ruler guides on the left and top of the viewing area) than what the final piece needs to be. That way you will be trimming them all the same size and you can trim away the dialog box and no one will
know !!

So, here is the card front and inside. On the inside I also put a 3" x 4" matt and I used the slot punch in the upper right had corner. I adhered it to the top of the inside of the card and this is where the graduation picture can be inserted. It won't fall out but the receiver can take it out easily.

I also used some simple flourishes that came from two different Papertrey sets. I stamped them in gold metallic because I just wanted to add a bit of pizazz. The white paper is Neenah bright white card stock - love this paper and it is really a pure white. Black and red paper is Stampin' Up. I also used my Scor-Pal to do ridge line around the perimeter of both the front piece and the inside piece. I think it steps it up just a bit in overall design.

Well, I hope you like it. I also had a class this past week. I'll post those creations soon. I hope everyone has a great week and I hope we all have wonderful Spring weather to enjoy.

2008-05-03T18:11:00.006-05:00

So, I last posted the baby shower invite that I was working on. Well, last Sunday I went to the "Grandma to be" (Jody) house and with another friend (Marge) and "Auntie to be" (Katie), we were going to assemble all of the invitations. Well, I put Marge on the Cuttlebug die cutting process (mostly because she hate tying bows). She had to cut 100 little scallop circles and 50 large scallop circles and emboss the cuff of the card. I put Jody on adhering the designer paper to the already scored and embossed, card base. Katie was to wrap the favor boxes with designer paper. As for me, I had already cut the paper and was scoring the card base and I cute the inside invitation as well as did all the bows.

Well, the plan was all set except I wasn't counting on Katie bringing her two kittens over so that Marge, the cat fanatic, could meet them. We all ogled over the baby, which has only been with Katie for 4 days. Then we started working. For awhile the little guy was sitting on the back of Katie's neck and he looked like a fur boa !! Absolutely adorable. But the he started to explore. The older kitty (excuse me but I don't remember their names), decided to just jump up on top of the cabinets in the laundry room. Here are a couple of pics that I took of this little stinker. He was just happier than a pig in mud up there. We all made a fuss and he did stay up there for awhile. In the meantime the little kitty becomes MIA. I had to run home because I forgot one of the dies (why can I never pack everything??? I write it down but there is usually a missing item - UGH !! ) When I returned the first thing everyone asked me is "did you see the little cat run out the door when you left?"

Well, let me tell you, my heart sank. I could not imagine being the cause of the disappearing cat. Poor Katie was in tears. We rang the doorbell (my cat comes running if he hears the doorbell - weird I know), Katie walked around with a squeaky toy. She had a flashlight and looked under everything, in every closet, in the basement rec room, absolutely everywhere. Then she started outside, talked with the neighbors, looked in bushes, up trees. Marge was even banging on the hood of her car just to make sure that he didn't crawl up inside of her car !! A neighbor walked by and made a point to say, "you need a key to start that car !!" Oh the humiliation we will deal with when it comes to our "pets" !

Needless to say, card production basically came to a standstill. The mood was a little gloomy. Katie couldn't go home and tell her boyfriend that she came back with one less cat !! Oh, what to do, what to do ??

The phone rang. Jody picked it up and was talking with her other daughter (Kelly - Mama to be). Jody was walking around while talking - not adhering designer paper as she was instructed. She walks past the powder room and started straightening the hand towels and futzing around when all of a sudden we hear, "I found the cat!!" You will never believe where this little one decided to take a nap. Can you see that little stinker on that shelf? He didn't even move the hand soap to get back there. That shelf is only about 6"wide and about 5" deep. You can see a closer look at the picture on the right. The best part was, we made a lot of noise - 4 women in a small powder room exclaiming over Jody's discovery - and that little s$$t never even woke up !! Can you believe it ?

So, we started our card production at about 11:30 a.m. and did not conclude until about 8:00 p.m. No thanks to the 2 hours of slow down created by one tiny little kitten !! Needless to say, the favors are not completed. Thank goodness we don't need them until the day before the shower !! :)

So, hopefully I will have a card to post for you next time. I just couldn't let this story go without some "cat" recognition. I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.

2008-04-26T20:16:00.003-05:00

I'm back and I can't begin to tell you where the time goes. Life just keeps interrupting my stamping time - but then I know we all go through the same thing. Anyway, all is good and I've been working on baby shower invitations, for a Friend's daughter. The best part is, she is expecting twins - a boy and a girl. The invites and the party favors will be done tomorrow. Grandma and Aunt to be and a good friend are helping me to assemble the 50 invites and the 50 favors. I think it will go pretty smoothly because the invite itself is pretty simple - even though it took me about 6 tries before I was happy with the results. Here it is.

The paper is from Basic Grey - Oh Baby Girl. I just love these elephants. I was very excited when I found this paper at Archiver's because it is last years design. I was working with the elephant stamp and no matter how I colored it, I just couldn't make it coordinate with the paper. Then one night at about 2:30 in the morning, I decided that I should just stamp the elephant on the scraps of the designer paper and then cut him out !! It worked great. Amazing how those sleepy thoughts can work out so well !! LOL !!

We haven't decided yet if we are going to use the "It's a boy, It's a girl" medallion's. I figure that maybe we will come up with a brainstorm tomorrow. I used the Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss embossing template (from Electic Paperie) for the fold over cuff. The scalloped circle is done with Nestabilities dies (from Ellen Hutson).

The inside invitation start out with "Double the Diapers, Double the Pins, Double the Onesies, Hurray they're Having Twins ! I copied this for the stamp set in SU Occasions mini, By Ones and By Twos. I just rephrased the last line to make it more original. I think it works.

Well, I hope you like this invitation and mostly, I hope Mom and Dad to be will like it. I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.

2008-04-17T19:55:00.004-05:00

I am such a terrible blogger!! I have to be enthused about what I'm posting and obviously, I have not been too enthusiastic lately !! And then I come on here and see the I got 7 comments just over my computer crisis and they are all from very dear friends !! So I apologize to each of you for not giving you any where near as much inspiration as you all give me on a daily basis.

I don't have anything real new to post. I have been working feverishly on the invites to a baby shower. The mother to be is a daughter of a good friend, so I want them to be special. She is having twins - one boy and one girl. That in itself is exciting, but I want the invites and shower favors to be special too. When I come up with the way I want them, I'll post. In the meantime I'll post a couple of cards that I did awhile back but I still like the way they turned out.

I've always liked this stamp set from SU. It says exactly what you want to say in just a couple of words. This was one of the first square cards I did and I really like them. Still don't understand why they cost more in postage. I have complained to my DH but then he is just a carrier of the mail and does not have the ability to change policy - at least that is what he keeps telling me !! LOL.

Anyway, I accompanied this with a post a note holder. This design came from either Val, Mish or Lana. These three ladies give me constant inspiration but this is where I play the old card. I don't remember which one started this trend - sorry ladies !! It makes a really cute gift, which this was for a co-worker's birthday. I know she enjoyed it because the holder is hanging in her cubie at work, needing another post a note pad. I forgot to mention that this was for a larger pad that was lined - the kind that companies usually do not supply !! Maybe this year for her birthday I'll just get her another pad !! LOL !!

Well, this will have to tide you over for now. I'll be working in my room all weekend and I hope to have some fresh stuff for you next week. Thanks for stopping by ladies, it's nice to know that my blog is visited !! :)

2008-04-10T19:27:00.002-05:00

Holy Moly !! I was in a computer crisis the last 4 days!! I used my computer on Sunday morning and then Sunday evening it was all wonky and wouldn't let me do anything. I tried again on Monday and it was worse. I tried calling a computer intelligent friend and didn't get an answer. Talked to several people at work and one of our IT guys said he didn't think it was a virus. I was only a little relieved because we were still unsure.

So, my dilemma was do I call Dell and be on the phone for hours only to talk to someone I don't understand, and feeling like the problem would never be resolved or take it into Milwaukee PC and get it over with. I went to Milwaukee PC and it was great that I did. He knew what was wrong in about 20 minutes and fixed it and we picked it up the next morning!! So, I worried about a virus and it was just a video card!! Yea !! I really didn't want to have to buy a new computer this month - and I certainly can't life without one !! LOL !!

I'll be back this weekend with some creation that I'll be working on !!

Have a great weekend everyone !

2008-04-06T13:47:00.005-05:00

Happy Spring Everyone !!
Isn't it wonderful when the sun shines. No matter what is going on in my life, the sun really helps to make everything feel so much better. It just makes you want to smile and that makes everyone around you smile too !! Good Bye winter - we have had enough of you!

Well, my last post was for a friend that challenged us to wish her a Happy Birthday on our blogs. I just had to accommodate. She is the coolest person and she can write a tall tale that will keep you in suspense for weeks. Many of us in our stamping group would love it if she had a blog and contributed to it weekly, but we have not been successful in getting her to do that. So for now, I will have to be happy with the snippets that she leaves behind for us, once in awhile. (I know she is going to read this so I had to add that !!)

Well, we had our last stamp camp of the season and it was a huge success !! We had 23 attendees and I really think that these ladies are getting down to a routine. My flyer said that the stamp camp would be from 12 to 5 and everyone was done before 4. We even had a few late comers and they managed to finish too !! The reason that it was the last of the season is because we have this wonderful location at a garden center. Melinda and her husband are nice enough to allow us to use their facility, which has wonderful lighting and plenty of room for us. Because their busy season is coming up, we now have to wait until fall for our next camp. No problem, we all like to take a break during summer - not from stamping, just from events.

Here are the cards that I had for the stamp camp. This first one is a 3"x6" size. It is a very fun size and if you are a gift card or check gift giver, they both would fit in here perfectly. You would just need to make a pocket on the inside for them. This is just a note card and the Thank you saying on the front comes from the new Occasions Mini catalog from SU. The designer paper is Bali Breeze which I teamed up with So Saffron and Taken with Teal cardstock. The organdy ribbon is from SU and has been retired.

The second card I had so much fun making. The set is Tart and Tangy from the Occasions Mini. I wanted something full of that sunshine that we all so need about now. Because we were going to have about 3 other cards at the stamp camp using this set, I decided to make limes, knowing that would not be everyones first choice. That way I wouldn't have to worry about duplicating anyone else's efforts. The limes were done in Certainly Celery and I used Summer Sun for the base of the cards. The matting was done in Certainly Celery and Pumpkin Pie. The designer paper is Summer Picnic, which matches perfectly with this Tart and Tangy set. Ribbon is May Arts which I got from Startlitstudio (link to store is on the right).

Well, I hope you enjoyed these cards and I hope that you try out these layouts. They both are easy to mass produce and you can change out the sentiments to accommodate your needs. I'm off to enjoy the sun streaming in my house. Hope you have the opportunity to do the same. It really will make you smile !!

Darthy's Birthday Spectacular !!

2008-04-03T16:48:00.002-06:00

This greeting of birthday wishes if for a special friend who is celebrating the 10th anniversary of her 39th Birthday !! I do have that right, don't I Darthy ??

I hope your day was filled with Love and Surprises !!

Easter Sunday Production

2008-03-24T17:49:00.004-06:00

Well, Easter Sunday was pretty uneventful in our house. My one son was working and my other lives in Indiana and was just here a couple of weeks ago. At the cost of gas - and they are both always broke - I said that we wouldn't make a big deal out of Easter dinner. Little did they know that my husband Adrian and I did. We put a leg of lamb on the grill and had baked potatoes and fresh asparagus. It was one of the best meals we have had at home, in a long time. Good thing we liked it too because we will be eating lamb for about 3 more meals !! LOL !!

So because that meal was so easy, I spent the biggest part of my day stamping, after I took my friend Marge to the airport for her yearly phoenix trip. She goes to 88 deg. weather and leaves me with 12" of snow !! So I went upstairs with good intentions on getting everything done, but I'm really not a "speed" stamper. I have a stamp camp this Saturday and haven't started those projects yet but I managed to get my birthday cards done. I'm surrounded by Aries and that has been quite a challenge in my life !! Oh well, most of the time it is just fine and they all will get their cards on time for a change !! Yippeeeeeeeeeee!!

The first group of cards all have the same base and stamped image but they are assembled slightly differently. The card base is SU Soft Sky with the next layer in Apricot. This piece I ran through my Cuttle Bug with the new dotted swiss embossing template (purchased from Electic Paperie) - oh how I love this embossing template. I'm sure I'll be using it a lot more in the future. My image by Stampendous (also from Electic Paperie) was stamped on SU Whisper White except for one. To be truthful, I didn't have any more remnants of white left over so I used the apricot !! I used Sky at the matt and on the Apricot image I added a layer of white just to kick it up a notch. On the upper two cards I used the ribbon as the corners. The ribbon, brads and flowers are all from Starlitstudio. If you haven't checked out Cindy's inventory, use the link at the right and get going. There is a lot there to see and like and you will NEED it !! LOL !!

The next card that I did was using the Berry Sorbet paper from Papertrey Inc. I just got it this week and could hardly wait to rip open the package. The designer paper is from SU and the colors just went together wonderfully along with SU Chocolate Chip. I just love that satin ribbon from SU. It was part of the 2007/2008 Holiday collection and I'm so glad I bought extra. The sentiment is from Papertrey's birthday sayings stamp set. The framing on the butterfly is done with the Nestabilities that come from Ellen Hutson's store. And then I added the paper piercing, which I think can be used on every card. It just adds that little bit of subtle umph !!

Well, I hope you like my Easter Sunday Production. It was a fun day and I'm happy because I only have 7 more birthday cards needed before April 13th !! UGH !!

2008-03-22T18:40:00.005-06:00

I'm hosting an ATC swap with some friends of mine. I have been trying to do one every other month. I just love ATC's. For those of you that are unfamiliar, ATC stands for Artist Trading Cards. They are these cute little miniature cards, 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" in size. They are the size of baseball trading card and just very fund to collect. Our theme for this month is Spring. Goodness knows we really need Spring soon. 12" of snow on March 21st, the first full day of Spring, is just more than a soul can bare !! So it was fun finishing up my ATC's today.

The cardstock and ribbon are all from Papertrey Inc. Great colors and quality stuff. The designer paper is from SU. The stamp image is an Inkadinkado that was given to me by my friend Lana. If you haven't checked out her blog you ought too. It is full of inspiration. The charm is from Cindy, owner of Starlitstudio. Link is on the right column. And of course the scalloped oval is done with my Nestabilities which came from Ellen Hutson. Check out her blog and all the great stuff she has in her store. You won't be sorry !! :)

Well, I hope you like the ATC's. If you have any questions, I will answer them so just leave them in the comment section. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Easter Sunday with family and friends.

Another Class Project

2008-03-20T17:43:00.004-06:00

Well, as promised, I'm back this week. I thought that today was a good day, being the first day of Spring. And, believe it or not, it was a Spring day today. It was 45 deg. and balmy and on top of that almost all of our snow is gone. I can hardly wait. This has been a long tough winter and I'm sure we will all be happy for it to be over. I suppose that is why most all of my cards have had that Spring feeling. I want to move beyond the doom and gloom of the grey sky's and cold temps.

This card is using all the new PaperTrey products, the paper, and ribbon and oh I'm so in love with it. The stamp is one that I fell in love with from Stampendous. I bought this from my friends Joy and Daisy over at Electic Paperie. Although this is one of those horrible pictures that do not have the good lighting, I can tell you that this card looks very soft and elegant in real life. The cardstock, designer paper, ribbon and ink are all in Aqua Mist. It is a beautiful color and oh so Springy !! I also used a few splashes of Diamond Stickles in the center of the flower just to add a bit of bling (wink, wink).

Here is another card that I had fun making. It is done with Cameo Coral from SU - a color that I don't use all that often but it went perfectly with the designer paper from SU, Ginger Blossom. The stamp set is SU Embrace Life. I cut out the flowers and water colored them with the great water color crayons from SU. Then I took a pen and curled the petals of the flower under to give them more dimension. I used dimensionals to pop them up. I added the cute flower textile trim at the last minute. It was sitting on my desk and I thought "Wow! this goes together" and glued it on the underside of the Ginger Blossom panel. I made another card with out the trim and I really like this one better. Now if I was like my friend Cami, I would have sewn that trim on. I just haven't gotten to that point yet. I figure by the time I start sewing on my cards, everyone else will be done doing that and it will be a whole new technique !! :)

Well, that is it for today. If you like what you see, please leave a comment. I hope that everyone has a Happy & Sunny Easter Holiday.

2008-03-18T16:42:00.004-06:00

I had a good friend tell me that she visited my blog and that I hadn't posted anything since February. I was shocked - not because I didn't post anything that long, but more so that she came to visit !! LOL !! When people don't leave comments, then the blogger never know you were visiting. I just figured that I was doing this for my entertainment, in my spare time!!
So, with that being said, I must apologize to those of you who do come and visit - I really had no idea !
I have more class projects to post and I'll start with two of them today. This particular card is a trifold card that is embellished with a punched flower. I used both the small and the oval SU punches for the five petals. The center of the flower I die cut with my Nestabilities. I liked using the word "Wonderful" as the stem of the flower. I added some SU grosgrain ribbon and some Stickles for a little bling. The designer paper that I used is SU's Le Jardin. Cardstock is SU's Certainly Celery and Apricot Appeal. The card is a standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card so it fits an A2 envelope. This is also a great fold for sending pictures. They can be easily attached to the inside of the card - like a mini album.

The next card that we did is is a fun triangular fold. The picture turn embellishment on the right, is actually holding the card closed. The stamp set is by Stampendous and this is the cup cake set that was exclusive to Electic Paperie. I just love this set and there are so many things you can do with it. The outside boarder of this card says "happy birthday my little cup cake". Because this set is acrylic and goes on an acrylic block, it is very easy to do this kind of boarder because you can see exactly where you are stamping. The designer paper is Flowers for You by SU. The embellishments are from Oriental Trading. The layout for the card comes from SCS and is really a fun fold to try.

I have to apologize for the pictures. I'm always taking them late at night and I don't have a place with real good lighting. I hope to change that problem soon. I think that is why I don't post real often - I need to correct the picture taking issue. So, I better get on with it.

Well, that is it for today. I'll be sure and post something at the end of this week. If you like what you see, please leave a comment. If you have a question, please ask - I'll be happy to help out. Have a great week.

Class Cards

2008-02-28T19:23:00.005-06:00

I was in a cyber conversation today with a friend of mine, Heather McNally, who politely reminded me that I needed to update my blog. I told her that I don't get that many visitors and she said, "I visit" !! She is the sweetest most sensitive young lady that I have ever met so I have adopted her. After all, I don't have daughters and I think my boys would benefit from having a sister. Besides that she has two beautiful little boys and because I doubt I will ever be a Grandma, I will just adopt Tyler and Caden too !! :) Love you Hooty and I'm updating this just for you today.

I took a few days vacation - the r&r that is needed with this long cold winter. So part of the day I went to my stamp room. Put a few things away and started getting ready for my Monday class. Here is what I came up with.I chose to focus on different closures for this class and I think that they will like my creations so far. The card on the left is a gate fold card. It is held shut with the Basic Grey magnet closures. I bought them from Satrlit Studio last year and never used them. Boy, was I missing out - they are wonderful. The card on the right has a scalloped edge that I learned how to do from my other "daughter" Cami. She is so ingeniouse and has no problem thinking out of the box !! :)

You can see the gate fold better with this picture. I used the SU textured card stock in Blue Bayou. I just love working with this card stock. It is perfect weight and the texture really adds a lot to the cards. It also folds easy. The card itself, measures 12" x 5 1/2". The card is then scored at 2", 4", 8" and 10". Using the Scor Pal for this is wonderful. It makes the job of multiple scores so easy. Once the card is scored then you cut off 3/4" from each end. The ends then become the flaps. I then took 2 pieces 1" x 5 !/2" piece of River Rock and scalloped the edges and adhered them to the underside of the flaps. I cut 2 pieces 1 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece of SU DS paper Porcelain Prints. These were adhered to the front flaps. I then positioned the snack on the underside of the right flap and I put in the brads. I then adhered the flaps to the base of the card. When folding your card, be sure that the texture of the paper is on the outside.

The stamp set that I used was SU's Blooming with Love. This is a great spring set and has multiple uses. If a Mom loves gardening - it will be good for that special card in May too ! :)
I colored in the images with reinkers and blending pens. I also lined the image with River Rock that I scalloped on the edges.

This card was a lot of fun to do because it was so easy. The stamp set was SU's Priceless. The DS paper was A flower for you. The center flower was stamped a second time and cut out so it could be raised over the original image. The center of each flower has a rhinestone from EK Success. I purchased them along time ago and just discovered them while cleaning !! LOL !! I guess I need to do that a little more often.
The bottom edge of this card is scalloped with a corner rounder. Cami has an excellent tutorial if you want to visit her blog. You'll see lots of other great stuff their too.

All ribbon is from Starlit Studios - you can never have too much ribbon !

Well, I hope you enjoyed looking at these cards. Hooty, I hope you like them too !! :) Thanks for looking and I hope you all stop by again.

Happy Valentine's

2008-02-16T19:22:00.004-06:00

I hope that you all had a chance to spread the love on Valentine's Day. I know a lot of people say that it is a Hallmark Holiday, but those of us who make our own cards know better. And besides, I don't know how you feel about it, but I don't think that a lot of us say "I love you" to those we care about and for, often enough. So we assign a day to do that and I think that can be a good thing !!

We had another stamp camp last weekend and it was a huge success. I think everyone is so tired of this snow and they just wanted to get out and have fun. Here are the two cards that I contributed to our stamp camp. Both of them are very simple to make and yet were a big hit. Simple is hard for me so I was happy that I did accomplish it with something that I liked too!!

This card is my version of a monochromatic. The scan is light and even though I tried to adjust the contrast and colors in Adobe, this is the best I could do. All stamps for this card come from the Sale-A-Bration set Birthday Whimsy. The slanted tag says "Happy Birthday". I drew in the strings for the balloons with a Sakura glitter pen. I used the pen to highlight some of the areas of the balloons and the present. The third balloon I cut out and positioned with dimentionals. I also tied a silver embroidery thread to it and allowed it to hang loose. The background is the designer paper from SU and all colors are done in Soft Sky. The inside of the card says "and many more...."

This card is done in Groovy Guava and Certainly Celery. Background is stamped with Canvas and Sale-A-Bration's Friendship Blooms. The large flower from this set was stamped on Whisper White and then punched out with the scallop punch. The sentiment is mounted on DP in Groovy Guava and then Certainly Celery. I added a small flower brad from Oriental Trading in the center of the flower. It was then mounted on a larger scallop circle done with Nestabilities die cut system. The flower was mounted with dimentionals.

Two easy and fun cards - the kind that is nice to do and to keep in your home stash. Thanks for stopping by to take a look and I hope you all had a Love Filled Valentine's Day !! :)

2008-02-10T14:56:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone in the Midwest is keeping warm today. It is so cold outside that even our dog Murphy, won't go outside. He and my husband usually go for 45 minute to 1 hour walks every afternoon. Not today, it was just too cold so 20 minutes was all they could handle. When I say cold I mean 7 degrees below zero with wind chills as cold as 30 degrees below zero. Now that's a chiller and this is the coldest winter that I have in memory. Oh well, I guess we will all just have to tough it out and how that spring will again renew our faith in Mother Nature !! LOL !!

Well, this weekend is a historic one among my stamping community. Four outstanding stampers and scrapers started their blogs to showcase their goods. They are
Kar
HB
Prinny
Lana
Be sure and visit these blogs. You will not be disappointed, I promise you !! :)
I'm off to get some Valentine stuff done. I'm a bit behind because I had a class and a stamp camp this past week, both which were very successful. Thank you ladies, it is always so much fun showing you new products and techniques. We will be having another stamp camp on March 29th. I'll post the flyer here so save the date and come and have fun with us.
For now - Stay warm !! :)

2008-02-06T21:06:00.000-06:00

Well, it has been awhile since I have been here. So long that I had a hard time remembering my password. I have been busy stamping, just haven't taken the time to post anything. I know - that is no way to blog. I'm going to try and be here more often, for those of you who do visit.

It was easier for me to stamp and post here today because I was snow bound. Mother Nature sure did a number on us today. I think the final numbers were 16" of snow which fell in 24 hours. I can not remember the last time we had a day where it never stopped snowing. All schools, malls, and even the airport closed due to this act of nature. I guess it is not nice to fool Mother Nature !! :)

Here is one of the latest project that I have completed. My good friend Nancy and I took a class at our local scrapbooking store. It was a lot of fun and I love this project. I'm ready to make more. This is the Love album from Bo Bunny Press. The album is made from chip board and is naked when we got it. We had to do the altering with the Bo Bunny papers and the ribbons. The store is Essential Scrapbooking on Howell Avenue. It is a beautiful store and I love the couple who own it. Nancy and I are taking another class there next Wednesday. It is for quilted cards. I'll be sure and post those projects as well.

Well, that's it for today. Sorry that I have been mia - I promise to make my next visit in a much shorter time. I hope everyone has a great week.

2007-12-11T09:33:00.000-06:00

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack !!!

Soo sorry for the long absence. I have just been overwhelmed with projects and life in general. I was in my first craft fair at the end of Nov. Getting ready for that sure can be challenging. Thankfully my dear friend Nancy shared the table with me and added many of her wonderful stamped creations. We did pretty good at the fair but we did better at my place of employment Sold lots of St. Nick goodies and Secret Santa goodies. It was a lot of fun.

Our craft fair table looked great. I was really pleased with the way it turned out. Here is a picture of how it was set up. The branch is from my friend Marge's yard. My DH spray painted it for me and I stuck it into an old heavy wine jug and then we hung our ornaments on it. I think that we were very festive. It was a fun experience.

I'm off today because of terrible icy conditions here in the Midwest, so I'm going to get to my Christmas cards - finally !! :) I will be sure to post one as soon as the design is final.

Also, I think that I will keep the type in red for Christmas! I need all the push I can get to get into the spirit of the season !! LOL !! And, thank you for being patient with me. I promise not to disappear for such a long time again.

Frappacino Bottles & Carrier

2007-10-21T14:01:00.000-05:00

I was asked by Laura of SCS if I could post my Starbuck's bottles and carrier. I did these for a retreat last year and have more bottles and carriers to do. It was a fun project and makes a cute gift. I had a friend that did this for a new baby and filled one bottle with baby powder and put a shaker top on it. One bottle was filled with q-tips, one with cotton balls and the last one was filled with baby liquid soap. Very cute idea.

I didn't fill my bottles with anything, but if you were to make it for a crafter, I could think of a lot of stuff to fill it with. Ribbons, UTEE, embellishments, just to name a few.

Well, here it is and I sure hope you like it. I haven't looked at it for awhile and I forgot how much I liked it. Now I may go and make another one today !! LOL !!

I used paper from Crate Paper - I just love that paper. I also used sticky tape because I wanted to be sure that everything stayed. I added some chipboard letters, prima flowers and Cindy ribbon for Starlit Studios. It is just a fun project and fun to look at - even if it is empty! :)

Craft Fair Production

2007-10-14T00:34:00.000-05:00

Well, I was very busy today. I think I accomplished a lot but it is not enough for a craft fair, I have a long way to go. Here are a couple of samples from my production line.

This is an ATC (Artist Trading Card) for a swap that I'm in. All ATC's have to be 2 1/2" x 3 1/2". You can get 10 from one 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of card stock. The theme of this ATC swap was winter. Mine is more Christmas because I added the wording "Be Merry" but I think that works for winter.

I absolutely love the new corner punch. I really debated on this punch because I have been making my own corners for years. Well, let me tell you, this punch makes that job so easy and consistent, I don't know what took me so long to get it !! Very fun to use. The branch is from Peaceful Wishes and the spotted background is from Itty Bitty Backgrounds. I did the edges of the white card stock with direct to paper technique. It gives it more definition.

It you haven't tried making ATC's you should try it some time. They are so fun. They are also great for recording different techniques.

Here is another card that I got done today. Don't you just love Fall and all the earthy colors that go along with it. I loved coloring in these pumpkins and the gourd. I used the Water Color Crayons and the aqua painter. Be sure that when you do this coloring technique, you need to use Stazon or Craft ink. Make sure your ink is completely dry - a heat gun helps if you're impatient like I am. With this card I used the Brown Craft pad. The ribbon is from Starlit Studios.

This card was so fun. The stamps are from Papertrey and it is the first time I had a chance to use them. I think that I could fall in love forever with acrylic stamps. So easy to see where your putting your images. And lining up wording is a snap with a grided acrylic block. But my real highlight for this card is the Nestabilities. They are the scalloped dies that I used in my CuttleBug. How fun. I have had them for over a month and forgot about them. Now that I discovered them and love them, you will be seeing them a lot more.

Yes, you can say I'm a tool freak. I think I learned that bad habit from my Mother. She always used to say that if you don't have the right tools, the job becomes very difficult. That is why she always had the best in kitchen appliances and sewing machines. Well Mom, if you saw my room today I'm not sure if you would be proud of me or just have heart failure !!

I'll continue with my production line in the next few days! Let me know what you think - go ahead I can take it - and if you have suggestions, give those too. This is my first craft fair and I can use all the help I can get !!

Here's to a sunny and very productive Sunday ! :)

2007-10-11T09:50:00.000-05:00

Well, I sure have been a little lax lately when it comes to blogging. I have so many things going on that I'm amazed that I get anything done. The first thing that I'm preparing for is a craft fair. This is something that I have never done before and I'm a bit nervous. Fortunately, I have a friend sharing my table - so I know that I won't look too empty !! LOL !! The craft fair is at a senior center near my home. It is open to the public and is only one day. So, I think that this is a good way to get my feet wet. For those of you who are in the vicinity - here are the details;

Craft Fair
Wilson Commons Senior Center
South 13th Street just on the other side of Wilson Park
Sunday November 18th
9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

If any of you have the opportunity, stop by and say hi !! :)

That is going to be a really big weekend because I'm also going to a mini stamping retreat on Friday and Saturday before the craft fair. Now you understand my anxiety. I have to get ready for that with a shoebox design and everything has to ready to go for the craft fair. We will be getting home on Saturday early evening. To late to finish stuff up then !! :)

I did manage to put something together. Here is my first memory box.
I made it for a special bride. I know, it doesn't look like something you give to a bride but this bride is different. She loves fall colors and her entire wedding is going to be in fall earthy tones. So... in keeping with what she like, that is how I did the box.

It is covered in beautiful shades of brown and golden paper (not sure who the manufacturer is). The ribbons are varigated with a deep red, gold and green shades (Starlit Studio). The balloons that you see is where the bride can put a picture of her choice. The picture frame is slightly raised with demensionals. The ribbon loop at the top of the box is to pull out the picture backing easier. The metal book label says "heartfelt".

The inside of the box has a pocket on the cover. Inside the pocket I inserted two large tags. The tags can be used to frame a special photo or to do some memorable journaling. Anything that will be something that the bride & groom would like to remember of their special day. I also used a contrasting paper on the inside to add a little interest. It seemed to be a big hit at the shower and I'm sure that the bride loved it. She has been loving stamping and anything artistic and crafty since she was a little girl. She knows that I made the box special for her to put all the wonderful memories that she will gather on her special day. She is a beautiful young lady and she deserves to have something unique and special, made just for her.

Well, I hope to return soon with some of my craft fair items. Keep your fingers crossed so that I can stick to my agenda and have everything completed and ready to go.

Thanks for visiting my blog :)

Bridal Shower giveaways

2007-09-27T20:59:00.001-05:00

Boy! How time flies !! I haven't been here for 24 days and yet it seems like yesterday. What has been going on all this time. Well, I had a cold which turned into a cough which I still have. The cough is going on it's 5th week and there are moments where it really wears me down. I'm not one to usually get sick so this is even tougher - I'm not a good patient !! LOL !!

I also put together, with my 2 best friends, 50 shower gifts. They turned out so cute and the bride loved them. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a real good shot of them. I have about 20 pictures and none of them are really great. So, I hope you can get the gist of them here.

I used two different ribbons. One was variegated with fall colors and the other ribbon was a solid cranberry red - the color of the bridesmaids dresses. We filled them with white shredded paper and I didn't like that so we dyed the paper with walnut ink. It turned out really nice and took away the white glare of the paper. Then of course, you add chocolates ! :)

I only tied the ribbon on the top of the 2" clear cube box. That way they don't have to be untied to get inside. The ribbon was adorned with pearls, just to give it the right amount of bling.

The tag was printed on the computer with the name of the bride and groom and their wedding date. When all of them were completed, it was something to see. Here they are, taking up almost my whole kitchen table !!

My dear friends worked their little fingers off. They dyed paper, punched, eyeletted, stuffed, closed, tied tags and couldn't believe how long this could take. We started at noon and got done around 7:00 p.m. with only a 1/2 hour break for pizza (which my dear husband was kind enough to go get for us) !! The only thing they wouldn't do was tie those damn bows !! That job was exclusively mine. Lucky I love ribbon.

Well, I hope you enjoy these and I'll be sure and not take so long next time to post. I'm a little behind on some stuff but I'll eventually catch up. I promise, you will see the results. I'll also let you know how it is going with a craft fair that I'm going to be doing. This is a first for me so I'll take good notes in case anyone is considering it.

Have a great autumn weekend everyone and don't forget to stamp something ! :)

2007-09-03T09:34:00.000-05:00

So where did the month of August go ?? I hadn't realized that my last post was in July !! Sorry for the delay in getting here. I was extra busy las month getting ready for my stamping retreat. It is a retreat in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin with 23 of the worlds most wonderful woman. This group was formed little by little and our common thread is stamping. Our 4 days together in August is the best time ever. We laugh, hug, stamp eat, laugh, hug, stamp & eat ..... well, you get the picture. I haven't sorted out my pictures yet, but when I do, I'll post one here.

I did stamp yesterday - although I think my pictures of my cards did turn out that well. Here they are. This is those big paper clips from Walmart. With the help of my CuttleBug and Stampin' Up designer papers, I made these bookmarks. I just love them and they work really well (something I find necessary because I love a cool bookmark in my book) ! :) I'm going to be selling these at a craft fair in November. As soon as I'm clear on the details of the craft fair, I'll post it here.

This card was part of a Virtual Stamp Night challange. In my stamp group someone puts together some layouts and color schemes and we all try to make something. This one is just using pink and brown. The image was from an image swap that I was in. What a fun thing to do - you might want to try it with your stamping friends. You all stamp images and then exchange them. It gives something different to work with along with the fact that everything is already stamped. You just have to color !! :)

Here is another image from the swap. Very fun to do. The stitching on the background paper is faux stitching. Can't compete with Cami and her sewing so I thought I would try this. It is fun ! I chalked all of these images. The cup cake mouse I did with blender pen and this one is just plain chalk. I forgot how fun my chalks could be.

Well, I promise not to wait so long before the next time that I post. I have some fun stuff coming in the mail and I want to share them with you. And of course, Halloween is coming and I have to make some stuff for that too!

I hope you all enjoy your labor day and have a great week !!

2007-07-29T12:33:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm back from the Northwoods. We ended up having the most beautiful weather. Some rain, not enough though but sunny and about 80 degrees. It doesn't get any better than that. I didn't take any pictures this year. As a matter of fact, we didn't even take a group picture this year. What is with that !! Well, at least all seven of us are on the same page - none of us took any pictures !! LOL !!

Here are the booklets that I made for the girls. I think that they liked them and I sure hope that they will use them. They are made from coasters, using the bind it all and adding cut sheets of copy paper. Each booklet has about 50 sheets of paper. The coasters were covered in the Costco paper pack, we all bought for a steal.

These were really pretty easy to put together. You will find the Bind-It-All and machine and coasters at Electic-Paperie. Joy and Dailsy will be happy to accommodate your "needs" !! LOL !!

The ribbon is Cindy ribbon, of course. You can find that at Starlit Studios. If you haven't checked out her store, please do so. She has some great stuff.

Well, I'm getting new windows this week which means I have to clean the stamp room - Ugh !! I'm off to do that now. I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.

2007-07-25T12:13:00.000-05:00

Here is the card that I made for my husband's birthday. I love this dog but it is a horrible stamp. It is one that I bought at a stamp convention, unmounted and it doesn't stamp well. You have to put a lot of pressure on it to get a clear image. Seeing as how I was doing this at 1:30 a.m., I was having a hard time mustering up the strength to get a clear image.

The paper is the stuff that I purchased from the Costco find. I thought it went well for a man's card and the SU Close to Cocoa cardstock as an accent. I colored in the dog with Prisma color pencils.

The best part is I think he liked it !! LOL !! Men have a hard time expressing their likes - at least my man does but that's okay, I know he appreciates it.

My next post will be what I made for my "card" group, for our up north mini vacation. Now by "card" group I mean actual playing cards. We play sheepshead, a card came popular in Milwaukee and few other places in the Midwest. We have been playing cards together for over 30 years - can you believe it. Well, we meet every July in Wild Rose and spend three days of card playing, talking, eating, shopping, card playing, talking, eating and drinking !! LOL !! It is just a fun weekend.

I can't post what I made for this event because I just mentioned my blog to a very dear friend and she is going to check it out. I don't want to ruin the surprise !! So, I'll be posting sometime on Sunday and I'll catch you all up.

In the meantime, check out Beth's blog. The 19th of July she gave birth to her sixth baby and she is the most beautiful baby ever (or at least until the next one comes along!!) She posted picks and a great story of her time with her children before she had to go to the hospital. If we are not talking stamping, there is nothing better than talking about babies !

Enjoy the rest of your week.

2007-07-23T09:29:00.000-05:00

Well, spent my day making some wine charms for a 30th birthday party. My son has a very good friend who is turning 30 and the party is in Atlanta this coming weekend. He wanted to put her picture on some charms to put on everyone's glasses. Well I decided that a tag would be better because the charms were too small and the picture would be too difficult to get that small. So here they are. The birthday girl gets the one with multi colored beads and every other one has only one color. I think he is going to like them and I'm pretty sure she will too. I hope you enjoy them too !!

I'm getting ready today for my girls weekend in the north woods. We have been getting together at a friends trailer for the last 16 years and it is a fun weekend. We play sheepshead, eat, drink and shop but most of all laugh. My dear friend Marge drives up with me every year (3 hour drive) and on the way up we solve all the problems of the world. It is the best time.

I usually make something for this group and I haven't started yet - although I do have something in mind. I'll post what I complete for them, before I leave on Thursday.

Have a great week everyone.

2007-07-21T08:56:00.001-05:00

I had so much fun making this card, even though it is totally out of the box for me. I rarely use three contrasting colors. I debated as to whether these colors did okay together or not. But when I looked at it the next day - I decided it was okay.

I sent this off to a dear friend, Cindy owner of the Startlit Studio. It was her birthday this past week and I sure hope that it exceeded her expectations. She is such a sweet and generous person that she deserves it all. If you haven't already visited her store, please do so. Lots of cool stuff in there and great prices. The ribbon on this card it Cindy Ribbon. (store link at right)

I used the new piercing templates that I got at Ellen Hutsons store. They are so much fun. You will be seeing more of that around here. Visit Ellen's blog listed at the right and then go visit her store. Lots of eye candy available.

Well, I'm off to do errands and to get some stamping in. I have a mini girls weekend coming up and I want to make some fun stuff for it. I'll post what I create.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend. The weather is going to be great.

2007-07-14T23:21:00.000-05:00

I made this card a little over a week ago and a very dear friend fell in love with it. Well, I was sending her a card anyway so I thought I better send her this one. I'm really glad I did because it is her kind of card.

I bought this cute little duck in his tennis shoes, at a stamp convention here in Milwaukee, several years ago and I never used him. Now isn't that foolish !! LOL !! I think that happens when you just have too much stuff - then you lose track of what you really have. Well, I dug him out and fell in love with him all over again. He is from Mostly Animals stamp company. I have tried to locate them on line and didn't find anything except for stamps selling on Ebay.

There really isn't a lot of coloring with him because the stamp does give you a lot of shading and feathering. So, I decided to just use my prisma colored pencils. I did it in the method taught to me by Ellen Hutson - she does some phenomenal coloring with colored pencils. Her trick is to layer the colors and blend with the lighter shades. It really is a lot of fun.

So, I finished the card and promptly sent it to my wonderful friend Lana. You may know her from SCS as LunarLana. If you don't know her work, just go check out her gallery on SCS. It is full of eye candy. She liked my duck so much that he is sitting next to her computer. Now that's a real compliment coming from a real professional.

I hope that you enjoy this card too. This little duck is meant to bring a smile to the receiver.

2007-07-14T14:50:00.000-05:00

Well, I have been tagged by a sweet stamper friend - Piris (Iris Garden). What this means is that I'm supposed to tell you 7 things about me and then tag 7 others to do the same. I usually don't participate in these "get to know you surveys" but because it is only 7 things, I think I can handle it.
1.) This September I will have been married to the same wonderful man for 35 years !! LOL !! I know that is more years than some of you have been on this earth, so it is okay if you call me Mom !!
2.) I have been a crafter all my life. It runs in the family. My Mom did some beautiful knitting and sewing. My Sister was a beautiful knitter (she sort of has given that up over the years). My Aunt use to paint English bone china (I have a complete service for 12 with serving pieces that was our wedding present). I had an Uncle that was a wood carver. And it goes on and on ! :)
3.) My Son's are my biggest accomplishment in life. They may not be doctors or lawyers but they are kind, generous and polite young men. I consider that a huge achievement in the world today.
4.) I play sheepshead (a card game big in WI) and have played for the last 40 years. My Dad taught me and liked playing with me until I started winning. I play cards with 6 women. Four of these women went to high school with me.
5.) I'm still good friends with someone that I went to grade school with.
6.) I live in a little house 5 blocks from where I was raised !! :)
7.) I love stamping more than most things in my life. But what I love most about it are the incredible friendships that I have made along the way.

So there you have it. Little known facts that really don't mean a lot to too many others !! :) So, who do I tag now? I'll have to come back to that.

Happy stamping !! :)

2007-07-07T20:12:00.000-05:00

Well, it is 8:15 here and the temperature is still reading 87 deg. It was an unbelievably hot day but I didn't do much outside. Went to my jeweler this morning to get a ring repaired and bought two pair of earrings !! LOL !! I can never go there without coming home with something !! Oh well, all women need to add a little bling in their lives ! :) Then after lunch I went upstairs to stamp. It is a great thing to do on a hot day.

Here is the third card that I did for my class a couple of weeks ago. I absolutely love this designer series paper from Stampin' Up that I used for the background. It is the best ever. I love the fact that you get every sheet in the same color but different patterns. Very cool to use. Of course, I also love this stamp set - Office Accoutrement. It is so fun to use. The paperclip is from an assortment of embellishments that I bought on QVC during one of their scrapbook days. The ribbon is Cindy ribbon - I don't know of any other kind !! LOL !!

Don't you just love these "In Colors" ? The colors in this card are Wild Wasabi (the card), Vintage Violet (the matting) and Soft Sky (the designer paper background). They all blend so well together. I'm just itching to try the River Rock. It just may become my new staple.

I also love using this spiral punch and I'm so happy that it made it into the new catalog. It really is a lot of fun. It doesn't fit most roledex files but I understand that there are some out there where it will actually fit. If I find one, I'll let you know.

We (my class) all agreed that this card would be a good card for a male office mate. Not too personal and not at all feminine - just very neutral.

Well, I hope everyone had a great 4th. Stay safe and play safe in the heat. It is going to be in the 90's for the next couple of days.

2007-07-02T21:46:00.000-05:00

Well, does everyone have their new catalogs yet? Or better yet, have you already placed your first order? All I can say is that the designer paper is to die for. I'm so in love with all of it that I'm sure I'm going to be ordering at least one pack with every order I place.

The second card that we did at our last class is using the designer paper, Prints. I love the concept of this paper. Double sided in very muted designs - almost monochromatic. And the best part is that you can buy the whole pack in one color, of your choice - there are 16 colors to choose from. Great idea when you making a lot of cards.

This card is using the paper is Soft Sky, one of the new In Colors. I thought that I could never part with Caribbean blue, but guess what? I can. This paper is wonderful. The background of the card was done with Baroque Motif and versa mark ink. The Blue Bayou is the perfect contrast to the soft sky, which I used for the center medallion and the matting. We chose not to use a sentiment because this is a good card to have on hand "just in case" and you can add the sentiment before you walk out the door.

Of course the ribbon is Cindy ribbon from the Starlit Studios. I also used Stickles in the center of the medallion to just give it a bit of glitz. Sorry that it doesn't show up in the scan.

I'll try and post the third project tomorrow - before the very busy holiday. Then I'm spending time on my "want" & my "need" list so that I can place my order from the new caddy !! I have to figure out how to make those "wants" into "needs" or my order is going to be pretty small !! LOL !!

2007-06-30T10:34:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been awhile since I've posted. Where does the time go - I guess I will never know!! I have been enjoying the additions to everyone else's blogs though. There is some incredible stuff out there and if you haven't taken the time to visit the blogs I have listed here - which is a great place to start - your missing out on a lot. I cannot tell you how talented these ladies are, you will just have to take a look for yourself.

The new Thomas Kinkade stamps are incredible and Val does an outstanding job with them. Ellen has a classic, clean, crisp style that I have yet to achieve, and her coloring is extraordinary. Michelle always has something funny, cute and nostalgic to present and her writing in her blog is wonderful. Full of wit and humor, it is so worth the time to read. Then there is Cami - her creations are incredible and sewn together beautifully !! LOL !! (Had to get that one in Cami). Now Kendra has been adding a travel log about her great experiences on her Alaskan cruise and land trip with her family. The pictures are incredible and the stories are wonderful.

So, if you don't have time for that long summer read, might I suggest the short stories that you find on these blogs. It will keep you entertained, enlightened, informed and always leaving with a smile on your face.

I did have a small class on Monday of this week and the request was for masking. I did this card - not your typical masking project - because I felt that the only way to teach masking is through repetition. So, we repeated moving the masks around the center to create this big flower. We Cuttlebugged the background so I didn't want it to busy with pattern and that is why I decided to pull some color across the white petals with a dauber. I like the affect it has and I'm so in love with this color Groovy Guava and all of the new In Colors. They are wonderful.
I brushed the Guava over the Cuttlebug background too to enhance it a little more. The ribbon is Cindy ribbon of course. Not a lot of embellishment but I can't live without my ribbon !! LOL !!

Well, I hope you enjoy this card. I have two others that I will upload later. I'm going to go and enjoy some of this beautiful day. I hope you all can do that too.

2007-06-17T20:53:00.001-05:00

Well, it is Sunday and it has been some weekend. We went to a surprise 25th wedding anniversary party for a dear friend. We had so much fun with a lot of new acquaintances. I love it when evenings turn out that way. Unfortunately, I forgot to scan the card I made so it is truly an original - even I will forget what I did and it won't be duplicated !! LOL !!

That was how my Saturday ended after taking a week to set up for a garage sale on Saturday and not having one single person show up !! We are trying it again next Saturday and I sure hope someone comes around. Oh well, you take and chance and not every time does it work out.

Today we attended my Boss' wedding reception. Being his second marriage they had a private ceremony on Friday and a catered picnic today. We were not looking forward to it but much to my surprise, it was a wonderful afternoon and he seemed genuinely happy that we were there. It was at Grant Park, on lake Michigan and the weather there was wonderful compared to what it was at home - hot and humid. So that helped.

They Bride and Groom didn't want any gifts but of course, I had to make a card. Well, this is all I could come up with this morning. I like the colors and I think it turned out okay - I'm not wild about it though. I used the new Baroque Motifs set coming out in the new SU catalog this July. I also used the Wild Asparagus paper that a friend purchased for me from Costco. It really is a perfect match. Add a little bling and a short but sweet sentiment and, voila!!

Well, that was the weekend at the Staniak house. More excitement that what we are use to and now we would like a day off. Unfortunately, it is back to the old work grind tomorrow. My husband bought a lottery ticket and one a dollar and said, "sorry honey, we can't retire yet !!" Oh well, it will happen soon enough.

Have a great week and please feel free to leave comments on any post here on my blog. I like to know what you think and I'm happy to answer any questions.

2007-06-15T06:39:00.000-05:00

Well, my son has left for home this morning. He spent a week with us and did a lot of stuff for me. He cleaned our carpeting and then helped me set up for a garage sale that I'm having tomorrow. All I have left to do is pricing and sorting of cloths. My kitchen cupboards look wonderful because we lightened them up considerably. He even wiped them all down for me. What a great kid I have been blessed with. So his request for cards was a no brainer, however I didn't get to the last one. I got the two important ones done though.

Here is the baby card I made for him to give to a friend. I didn't know what I was going to do when I sat down to work on it. I remembered that I had this stamp set from the spring mini - still available until June 30th. So I experimented with coloring of the bear. I wanted to do the Gamsol and Prisma pencil coloring but I'm not real sure about my stumps (the tool you use to do the coloring with). There are different grades of them and I don't think I have the right ones. I also had to experiment with the right paper to use. I ended up with a water color paper and I'm okay with the results. If you want to see some exquisit coloring, go visit my dear friend Lunar Lana's gallery on SCS. Her work is outstanding.

So once I figured out the coloring I asked Nick if the couple new if it was a boy or girl and he said they didn't know. So I decided to go the yellow route because I had to use my yellow Cindy ribbon (Starlit Studio's - link on the right) . But just yellow didn't make it so I tried the orange (inspired by the ribbon) and BINGO !! That was it. I softened the orange a little by putting craft white around the edges, direct to paper style.

The heart is a little chipboard heart that was in the fall preview catalog that is coming out in July. I covered it with the same background paper and then coated it with crystal effects and sprinkled ultra fine glitter on it.

Then I looked at the card and decided it it needed something else and of course I did the doodle stitching around the edges. I don't have a sewing machine, otherwise I would have tried to sew around like my fried Cami has been doing lately. If you want to see some great sewing, check out her blog (listed on the right).

So there you have it. It took me an hour and a half to do this card but actually, it all came together in the last ten minutes !! But, now that I have the whole design down, I'm going to make a few more for my stash !! I hope you all like it.

2007-06-12T22:13:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been a few days. It has been a bit hectic around here. I had a retired stamp sale this past weekend and did pretty good. I still have a lot to unload though !! UGH !! So my son came home to help me set up for a garage sale this weekend !! I sure hope that I get rid of a lot of stuff because I'm running out of room for everyday living !! Oh well, the frustration of minimizing the stuff didn't stop me from stamping. Here are the two creations that I came up with this evening.

The first is a birthday card that my son asked me to make for him. I used a Magenta cat stamp - just love the Magenta cats - and some SU retired designer paper. This is a gate fold card that I did with inspiration from Beate on SCS. It was fund= to do and I'm sure that I will try this one again. The paper piecing on the front is something that I have always wanted to try. I think I may do it again but it is a bit putsey. The ribbon, which didn't scan the right color, is from Starlit Studios and holds the card closed.

Here is the inside of the card. I wanted you to see how I ran the ribbon through the inside of the card through slits that I put in the creases of the card. I added the designer paper on the inside again because I just like the look and of course, it covered the ribbon.

My second card is an oldy that I forgot I had. I created the matt with the step punch with the corner guard removed. It was a bit putsey too but it still was fun to do. The flowers are not as bright as they appear and I did the centers with white liquid applique. Ribbon is just adhered with a glue dot. All stamps are retired.

Well, that's it for this evening. I have orders for a wedding card, a baby card and I have a wedding and an anniversary to get done for this weekend. So, I'll keep up with the posts as I complete them.

I hope that everyone is enjoying the nice weather. Have a great week and thanks for checking in ! :)

2007-06-05T22:49:00.000-05:00

Well, no room pictures yet. I still have a lot of sorting and picking up to do and life seems to get in the way. I have to make an organized path before we're measured for windows though.

I did manage to crank out a card tonight. I used the Wild Asparagus paper that Nancy bought for me in CA at Costco's. I love it and plan on doing a lot more. I'm just going to have to case some of my inspiration stampers a couple of times until I get the hang of it.

I also tried to get a little shabby with this one but I guess when you add a satin trimmed ribbon, you kind of loose the shabbiness !! LOL !! Oh well, I still like it.

Something that I have always done with a dark colored card stock card is put a white panel on the inside so that it is easier to write a message and sign your name. This time I didn't like the way it looked so I used the same patterned paper and stamped my message on that. I have decided that I really like it and I may do this more in the future. It really seems to give it a more complete look.

I also used my favorite sentiment stamp from Wordsworth. I never have to worry about this stamp being under used because it fits so well with so many cards. I love Wordsworth stamps. When I go to a stamp convention I usually have a hard time picking out the one that I want the most. That usually means that I go home with more than one !! :)

Well, I'll try and get room photos for you eventually but it is more likely that you will see more cards and stuff. By the way, I didn't mention how much I love my new room. It is so much more fun to stamp now, even though it isn't completely done !! Thanks Nicholas, this is the best idea you have ever had !! (Nicholas is my youngest son who prefers being called Nick !! - more on that later).

2007-05-31T19:54:00.001-05:00

Well, I'm finally getting some of my stuff together. I have a new stamping desk in my room but putting everything away is some major task. I think that it is going to take me longer than planned. I do have to get it to some resemblance of order because we are being measured for new windows in the upstairs bedrooms on Tuesday. Ugh!! That means this weekend I'm going to be stowed away - and not stamping - until I can see the floor in both room !! LOL !!

Well, I did finally get the birth announcements done that I'm giving as a gift to a co-worker. He and his wife are expecting their first and they had ordered them from me. Then we had a shower for them and I decided that it would be a nice present. Thanks to my dear sweet Cami (did I mention that I plan on adopting her !!) I totally cased her card and here they are. This card of Cami's has become very popular. It is a tri-fold card with her famous tab closure (upper right). I used the Marvy Giga circle scallop punch for the photo window. On the inside I did the standard form with baby's name, weight and date of birth but I started it with "And then there were Three" and ended it with "The proud parents are". They were both thrilled with it. I hope you like it too.

2007-05-26T08:20:00.000-05:00

I have a new Banner !! Isn't it wonderful !! Thanks to a dear friend Beth, I have a very fun spot to come to for showing my creations. If you are thinking about doing a blog and would like to have a one of a kind banner for your blog page, please contact Beth. She can do anything and will work with you to customize "your" look ! She is just amazing. You can contact her by clicking here.

I won't be posting anything this weekend because I'm in the process of revamping my stamping room. I'll take some before and after pictures - just not sure I'll ever publish the before !! LOL !! I even amaze myself that I can work in that room.

Well, I'm off to box and clean everything that is in there. I'll check in later and let you know how things are going. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Memorial weekend.

2007-05-21T18:05:00.000-05:00

Well, it has been a pretty busy week around here. I still haven't completed graduation cards but I have managed to assemble 19 baby announcements and 1 wedding card. The wedding card is simple but I have decided that I like it. I have to practice simple because I don't always do that very well !! I used the new SU pallet papers. They will be in the next catalog in 12 x 12 size and they really are fun to use. Not sure of the color names yet but this one matched the celery grosgrain ribbon perfectly. I edged everything with craft white - a technique that I have learned from Pine (check out her blog. you'll love it if you do !)

We had a scare this weekend too. Our cat Sassy (Stinky is what my husband calls him) was pretty sick. We took him into the vet this morning expecting to have to put him down. He is 12 years old. Well, turns out that it is a bladder infection and after the probe procedure, he is doing fine. He will be able to come home on Wednesday. I'll post a picture of him later. I want to get a good one of him so he can show off, like he likes to do !!

Well, I hope that everyone has a great week. I'll post some other stuff towards the end of this week. Enjoy !

2007-05-13T12:03:00.000-05:00

Well, the retirement party was a success. I was just on the phone with the retiree and she was thanking me again for making her "survival kit". It was so much fun. I bought the see through acrylic paint can from Eclectic Paperie - their prices are much better than any other place I have seen them - and the can arrived in time. Thank you Joy and Daisy for being so efficient in your deliveries, it is really appreciated by us procrastinators !! :) I suggest that you all go and visit their store, you won't be disappointed.

This isn't the best picture of the can because I took it after it was given and dismantled (I almost forgot to take the picture altogether !! What was I thinking !!). But I think you can get the idea. The paper (SU designer series paper from the spring mini) is lining the inside of the can which is so easy to do. You really do not need to do anything more than that, but the ribbon (some from Mike's and some from May Arts) handle is always a big hit. I added a few prima flowers (Starlit Studio) on the outside with flower brads in the center. The are attached with glue dots (SU).

Well, now I'm off to shower and then stamp. I have to make three graduation cards and two baby cards and 19 more baby announcement cards, which I gave for a baby shower gift. So Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful creative Mother's out there and I hope you enjoy your day.

2007-05-08T22:30:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm on a role. I have a very dear friend that is retiring from teaching at the end of the school year and the girls are going to help her celebrate, this Friday. I wanted to make an over the top card and I'm hoping that this one fits the bill. It is made with a retired set that I love, Best Blossoms. The scan does not do justice to all the bling. The line down the "I" in Big, are pink crystals, there is glitter outlining all the pick flowers. The message has pop up dots behind it. The loopy brads and the flower ribbon brad is from Oriental Trading. I love embellishments almost as much as ribbon !! LOL !! The ribbon is from Starlit Studios. I also put glitter around the message using the sticky tape. This is a trick that I cased from a beautiful birthday card that I received from a dear friend HB. Her work is amazing and you can view her gallery on SCS.
Now my only problem is, I don't have an envelope to fit it. This card is 5 3/4 x 5 1/2 and I never bought the large square envelopes. I may have to make one, but that's a project for tomorrow.
Enjoy !

2007-05-07T20:02:00.000-05:00

Well, here are the beautiful cards that I was given by some of the very most talented ladies every. They all came with wonderful wishes for my birthday and I'm just in awe. They are sitting on my kitchen table and sometimes I just find myself gazing and smiling. I have decided that they will be displayed all month - after-all it is my birthday month !! :) Thank you ladies, you all know who you are. I love everyone of these works of art.

Lost Upload

2007-05-07T09:47:00.000-05:00

Well, it is Monday and I had wanted to post all of my beautiful birthday cards that I received this past week and I came to my blog and discovered that my first image was missing. Being the techno-challenged that I am, I can't figure out why this happened. So I was leary of posting another picture, but I don't give up that easy. I'll post the picture this evening when I get home from work, and we will see what happens this time. So hang in there with me, this is all part of the learning curve that I mentioned !! LOL !!

2007-05-04T23:01:00.000-05:00

Well, my first image to my new blog is a swap that I'm participating in with some very dear friends. The swap feature is to use the new pallet papers from Stampin' Up. These papers are double sided and are very fun to use. To make the center punched flower pop, I punched a 5/8" circle in black and adhered that behind it. I also used a glitter pen (it doesn't show in the scan) in the center of the flower. The scan also makes the placement look crooked but it really isn't !! :)

This layout is cased from Michelle Wooderson - a lady that has an outstanding stamping style. She calls them "Tent Topper Cards" and I think the design has taken off. If you haven't been awed by her portfolio, I suggest you take a look at her blog Mish's Blog

There is someone else that I would like to mention in my first post. Beth Silaika the Creator and Designer of my blog banner. She is just a genius at this and if your interested in her services, you can contact her through her blog "Freckled Fun Designs". You will be very happy if you do.

My goal is to post stamped creations weekly and I hope you stop by to see what is new. I also hope that you enjoy what you find here.

Happy Stamping !!