I have a secret!!!!

Or should I say, I HAD a secret, because I am sharing it with you today!  There is a new color challenge blog making their big debut tomorrow, and I made the Design Team!!!! I know you can't see me, but I am doing the happy dance!!!

Our first challenge at Color Me Beautiful begins Saturday, and the colors are gorgeous! I really hope you will stop by and play along! I would love to see where these colors lead you!!  Our team will officially be revealed on the blog tomorrow, so you can stop in check us out (please accept my apologies on my picture...) and become a follower if you like!

We have BLOG CANDY!!!!!

I have an update to the blog candy!! Now there are even more goodies to win!!   Be sure to pop in at Anything But A Card Challenges for the details and your chance to win! Also, our first challenge begins tomorrow. I'm hoping to see you play along!!



Hello there! No project today, but I do have some exciting news!  I was recently picked to be on the design team for Anything But A Card Challenges, a brand new challenge site!!  We are hoping to have a lot of people playing along and sharing their crafty goodness, so there is BLOG CANDY available to those who help us spread the news!!



Isn't this so exciting?????  Be sure to go to the challenge blog to grab our badge and  enter!

Scrapbook Monday-Animal Kingdom

Well, hello there! I hope you had a wonderful weekend!  I had a bit of a monumental weekend as I celebrated a milestone birthday.  I'm not saying how old I am, but it rhymes with shorty!  I remember when I used to think that this was old.  Now I'm thinking it's all a matter of perspective!  I can't be old yet!!

I am reaching the end of my Disney pages as we come to Animal Kingdom.  This was the last park we visited and while we really enjoyed this park (just might be my favorite), we were glad to be heading for home the next day.

One of the coolest things we went to see was It's Tough to be a Bug 3D show.  Lots of special effects like smelling a stink bug, feeling the 'acid' from one of the bugs hit our faces, and all of the creepy crawlies that were moving under our seat. One awesome show!! DD#2 liked the buggy 3D glasses so much she wanted to keep them!  The large boulder looking thing was being touched by almost everyone who passed it.  After reading the sign that it was a dung ball, lots of EEEEWWWWs rang through the building.

We had lunch reservations at Rainforest Cafe and I couldn't wait for the girls to have their first experience with this wonderful eatery!  They had so much fun checking out the front of the building and wanted to pose by the sign.  Jaws hit the floor as we entered and they saw all of the extravagant decor.  The food was wonderful and we each ordered a different dessert and then had a little sampling party. Yummy!

We had the most wonderful time wandering around the park.  There were so many animals to see and the landscaping was beautiful and very nature inspired.  We rode the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch and the girls had a blast exploring and learning about conservation.  DD#2 even had a lengthy discussion about animal poo with one of the animal care specialists.  He commented that we must live on a farm since she wasn't at all inhibited by the feces talk.  She quickly informed him that they help Grandma and Grandpa clean out the chicken houses and sheep barn.  It was fascinating to see how much work goes into keeping all of the animals healthy.

I am almost to the end of my Disney postings, but never fear, there will be plenty of other great projects to share!  I am a parent volunteer for DD#2's Girl Scout troop this year and they put me in charge of the scrapbook.  Guess I'll HAVE to stay caught up on that one!!

Have a wonderful evening and an even better week! Thanks for stopping by to visit and happy crafting!

Now that's my idea of quilting...

Hi! I am so glad you stopped in today because I am sharing a 'quilting' project we made at my stamp club meeting.  No, I didn't develop amazing sewing skills overnight! A shudder just ran down my spine thinking about that one!  But I do have a super easy way to give the feel of quilting to a card without touching a needle and thread.  

When I opened the package of Orchard Harvest DSP, I loved all of the great colors and fun patterns.  The country fabric style made me think of quilts.  So I set out to make my own.  This is by no means an original concept.  I have seen versions of this all over blogland and can't really credit any one person.  So if you've ever made a card similar to this, consider yourself credited and thanks for the inspiration!

I started with a 4x5 piece of cardstock (color doesn't matter, scraps would be fine) and attached 1 1/4" squares of different patterned paper.  It works a lot better if you start in one corner and work across and down at the same time.  Then I lined up the piece on the top note die and ran it through the big shot. Taadaa!    It can be made even more authentic with faux stitch lines from a marker or run it through the big shot inside an embossing folder.  I decided to keep this one simple.  I did however emboss the early espresso piece to dress it up a bit.  So there you go, your very own quilted card!

I hope you week is full of crafty goodness and thanks so much for visiting my little blog!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-island indigo, early espresso, very vanilla, Orchard Harvest DSP, Ink-early espresso, Stamp Set-Curly Cute,  Accessories-vintage wallpaper folder, top note die, large oval die, island indigo ruffled ribbon

Scrapbook Monday-going random

Hello! So glad you stopped in and I hope you had a wonderful weekend! 

Until today, I have been posting my pages in chronological order and keeping with one park.  But I refuse to be 'that lady'. You know the one that holds you hostage while you see 1000 vacation pictures, that while they are lovely, they all start to look the same and it gets really old really fast...  So I am going to bypass several pages that have similar layouts to what I have already posted and will post some different styles and my favorite pictures.

Nothing so special about the layout, but I love the pics!

This was at the Crystal Palace.  They had the most 

wonderful topiary characters at the entrance.  These were

made of tons of little artificial flowers!  The girls loved

having another character dining experience!

I LOVE Epcot! Something about feeling transported to

different lands without a passport that is truly magical!

My sister and I spent some quality time in the Germany

section.  DH and the DDs were impressed and a little

embarrassed as we began to hum and sing along with the

music playing in the stores.  Little did they know that we

grew up listening to A LOT of German music.  We ooohed 

and ahhed over the old world ornaments and the ornate

cuckoo clocks.  The only thing that didn't tempt me was

the beer-yuck! Never did acquire a taste for that! 

Once again, DH questioned my sanity as I took a pic of

the roof garden and asked if we could do something like

that on a shed or garage.  Good thing he loves me!  By the time

we reached the pyramid in Mexico, I was so thankful there wasn't

an authentic set of steps to enter the building!  We were

almost finished with the park and my feet were begging

for mercy!

Well, I hope I didn't bore you too much with my little vacation display!  I am almost finished with the album and am so glad I did these while everything was so fresh in my mind.

Have a wonderful week and happy crafting!!

Wrapped up in fall!

Hello! I hope your weekend is off to a wonderful start!  I have my upline Stampin' Up meeting today, so my morning will be full of crafty fun!

I really got into the fall theme for our latest stamp club meeting!  All three cards featured goodies from the Holiday Catalog and were perfect for fall!  

I don't normally do a whole lot of creating with Halloween but the Googly Ghouls stamp set (also part of the Ghoulish Googlies Bundle) was just too cute! The bundle is perfect for making little treat bags so I made sure I put it on my preorder.  When I saw the adorable mummy card at  Robyn's Stamping Hood , I knew I had to CASE it!

 

The 'wrapped' background is an easy technique but looks so awesome.  I started with a piece of whisper white cardstock in the size that I wanted the layer (sorry, didn't write down the measurements...).   I cut 3 strips about 1" wide  and the same length of the layer with the paper trimmer. Then I did some very unscientific or mathematical cutting.  Just make sure that the one side is wider than the other. Hope that makes sense.  This does not have to be even and actually looks better when it's a little wavy.  Before adhering the 'wraps', I inked all of the edges with basic black ink, then alternated the strips onto the layer.  The rest was pretty basic.  Don't you just love the little googly eyes (or is that just the preschool teacher coming out?)!

Thanks once again for stopping by and I hope you find some time to be crafty this weekend!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-whisper white, basic black, pumpkin pie, Ink-basic black, stazon black, Stamp Set-Googly Ghouls, Accessories-lots of punches: word window, modern label, scallop circle, and 1 3/4" circle, googlies, basic black scallop dots ribbon

Masculine cards don't have to be scary!!

Hello! I am half way through my first week of school and they haven't made me run for cover yet!! hee! hee! I managed to get my three projects prepared in time for my club meeting this past weekend! Nothing like working under pressure!! The day was so unusually beautiful and cool that we changed locations and went outdoors to a local park.  We ladies sat at a picnic table in a shelter house to get crafty while our children played together on the playground.  Fun for everyone!!  As a payment for their babysitting duties, I took my girls to the local ice cream shop after the meeting for some yummy treats!  I was a little bummed that they didn't have mango flavored Dole whip as the flavor of the week and consoled myself with a pineapple sundae! Oh, the sacrifices I make...  But enough of that!

I had something interesting pointed out to me at our club meeting.  I have never considered myself a great creator of masculine cards.  It is always so much more natural for me to go with whimsical or flowery when I make cards.  Because of this, I always have plenty of feminine and kids cards on hand, but have to make sure I actually have guy cards when the occasion arises.  This led me to the assumption that I am not good at the manly design.  I started off our club saying "I always struggle with guy cards..." and one of the ladies started to laugh. When I stopped, she said "You ALWAYS say that and then show us these great cards!" Hmmm... So now I am going to change my mindset on masculine.  I think it is so easy for many of us to say "I'm not good at..." when we really mean it's not our favorite style.  After all, I live in a home where the estrogen outnumbers the testosterone 3 to 1 (the dog and cat cancel each other out), so I tend to go girly.  But seriously, isn't masculine a lot simpler?  (I know... stay with me for a minute!) Find some manly paper, slap on a sentiment or image, and the embellishing is minimal. I usually do embossing on my cards anyway so really the only difference between the card below and a girly card is what I DIDN'T put on it!  This partially explains my blog title today.

The other explanation of my title lies in the paper.  I used Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP for this handsome card!  Yes, Halloween colors on this paper!! But don't you just love the manly prints in this pack?!  They remind me of some blazers you might find in a second hand store!  I adhered the alternating vanilla and patterned strips onto black cardstock, then embossed them with the houndstooth folder.  The chevron folder added some texture to the basic gray strip, and the brad (from antique brads collection) was the perfect finishing touch.

So no more excuses! Repeat after me-"Masculine cards are NOT scary!" Now go make something manly!  Have a great rest of the week and happy crafting!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP, very vanilla, basic gray, basic black, tangerine tango, Ink-stazon black, Stamp Set-Word Play, Accessories-houndstooth & chevron folders, decorative label punch, antique brads

Scrapbook Monday-Epcot continues...

Hello! So glad you stopped in to visit today!  By the time most of you are reading this, I will be immersed in the first day of school! I have two classes today and many are first year students, so I will be on my toes all day!  I will also probably be exhausted by the time I get home.  Good thing it it also DH and my anniversary. No cooking for this girl tonight!!

I have a few more MDS pages from our Disney trip.  These are from Epcot in The Land section, and also Imagination.  These are very simple and super clean pages.  By the time I had the pictures where I wanted them and the journaling done, there wasn't room for much more!

 Living with the Land was the first ride we went on after 

dinner.  The perfect thing to allow our food to settle as

we enjoyed our boat ride through the greenhouses.  The

plants and gardens were amazing!

The Imagination section of Epcot was a great interactive

area of the park.  We took a Journey into Imagination

with Figment.  It was pretty cool in that you didn't really 

see a lot, but as you heard different sounds, you could

imagine what was going on behind the doors and then

there was the lovely skunky smell at the end of the ride.

The girls loved the activities available at the end of the 

ride and even emailed their own version of Figment

to our house.

Now that school is back in session, I may not be posting as frequently.  I am planning on keeping the Scrapbook Mondays going since I really need to work on the mountain of photos and images that need to be printed!  Of course, when I keep taking pictures, I don't get any closer to being caught up! Oh well, all the more reason to use the wonderful supplies I already have so I can get some new goodies!!

I hope you have a wonderful week and thanks so much for stopping by to visit me today! Happy crafting!

Tiffany's Color and Sketch Challenge

This has been one crazy week! Trying to get the girls back into the school routine while I'm putting in long hours preparing for school is not an easy thing to accomplish!!  I managed to make one more card for our Stampin' UP team meeting before the madness started!

Our team leader, Tiffany, gives us a sketch and some cardstock every month and challenges us to make a card using the colors and sketch together!  This month our colors were Calypso Coral, Baja Breeze, and Daffodil Delight.  I'm not sure that I have ever used Calypso Coral before this card!

I have to admit that the color combo really threw me.  I was having a hard time coming up with a plan that balanced the colors properly.  After going through my various DSPs, I came across Summer Smooches which contained two of the three colors.  It was a little easier from there.

I went completely away from my CAS roots and added lots of layers and a bunch of pearls!  I think it turned out pretty good!  I'll get to share this with my crafty sistahs next weekend.  We always have so much fun!

We had a pretty good rain storm Thursday night and the temperature today was actually a little cooler.  Just the thing I needed to motivate me to create the fall theme projects for my club meeting!  Good thing since we are meeting tomorrow...did I mention how crazy my week has been?!  I will be posting my new fall creations over the next few days and before long, I will have some Christmas gifts in the works.  Have a wonderful weekend and happy crafting!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-calypso coral, baja breeze, daffodil delight, whisper white, Summer Smooches DSP, Subtles Pack DSP, Ink-calypso coral, Stamp Set-Just Believe, Accessories-basic pearls, 1 3/8" circle punch, large scallop circle punch, baja breeze seam binding

Lovely as a Christmas Tree

Hello all! Well, it's officially back to school time for my girls and back to work for me. As you are reading this, we are trying to readjust to the routine and survive our first day back!  My classes don't start until Monday, but I have a lot of planning and preparing to do before then!

This will probably be the last of my Christmas cards for a little while.  I have some other fun things to share in the week to come and have some other projects that I need to complete.  Plus, before long the weather will become cooler and then I'll be in fall mode!  I used Merry Monday sketch #17.  I have to credit my blog friend, Sherry,  for the snowflake inspiration! I was looking at the circles on the sketch and trying to come up with something to put in their place when I saw her card.  I loved her snowflakes and thought they would go so well with the pine tree and DSP that I wanted to use. It's a little hard to see in the picture, but I added dazzling details to the pine needles and the ground. Gotta have a white Christmas!

I hope the rest of your week is full of crafty goodness and thanks so much for stopping by!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-cherry cobbler, gumball green, very vanilla, Be of Good Cheer DSP, Ink-gumball green, early espresso markers, Stamp Set-Lovely as a Tree, accessories-1" circle punch, dazzling details, basic rhinestones, non SU snowflake punch

There's a new challenge blog in town...

Hello all! I can barely contain my excitement!!  I had recently applied for a DT position with Shopping Our Stash, a challenge blog that I love to visit  for motivation to use up my goodies.

Well, I was not picked to be a member of their DT, BUT I was invited to join a BRAND SPANKIN' NEW challenge blog called Anything But a Card Challenge Blog.  As you may have guessed from the name, this blog will feature just about anything but cards, so now I have even more motivation to get my scrapbook pages and albums finished!!  I am thrilled to be a part of this and feel a little in awe of the other talented crafters on this team!  Hopefully I will live up to the faith Carla has placed in me!

We are not up and running yet (planning on a September debut), but please be sure to stop by and become a follower so you don't miss our first challenge!  I hope to see a lot of familiar faces playing along!

Thanks so much for stopping in and I hope to see you at the new challenge site soon!

Scrapbook Monday- On to Epcot!

Well, hello there! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Our's was quite busy!  A nearby small town had their local festival and DD#1 played in the whiffle ball tourney. They lost, but with a team name like The Bench Warmers, I'm not sure they were planning to be the best team there!  The divisions were 12 and under, 13-18, and adults.  Her team was the youngest group in the division, but other than the first game, they kept the scores very close.  They had  a great time, and DD & two other girls on the team had the pleasure of whacking the ball past one of the boys on the other team who seemed to be of the opinion that girls couldn't play ball.  Made her mother so proud!  We also had DH's 25 year class reunion this weekend.  We had a great time visiting with out of town friends and didn't get home until the wee hours of the morning!

I have a few more MDS scrapbook pages for you today.  These are also from our Florida vacation and feature some of the pictures from Epcot.

I used the picture of Spaceship Earth (the Epcot ball) as my

background for the family pictures we took at the entrance 

of the park.  I think it worked well to get that picture in

the album and made a nice introductory page to this part

of the vacation.

DH and the girls worked together to play different math

themed games to fill a piggy bank.  Youngest DD really

wanted to do this, but I think Oldest ended up enjoying

it every bit as much!

The light bulb in these pictures is actually projected onto the wall 

and then spotlights light up the area below.  Oldest DD saw it and 

ran to the wall.  True to her theatrical nature, she struck a silly 'aha!' pose 

and I managed to be ready with the camera.  DD#2 was not

to be outdone and came up with her own 'thinking' pose.

I have to share this story with people who will truly understand and feel my frustration!  Since Stampin' UP is offering special pricing on digital pages during the month of August, I am determined to finish this album so I can get all of the pages printed and save a little money at the same time.  I had finished placing my pictures in the layouts (no scrapbooking, just picture arrangement) and had moved onto the disc containing the pictures my sister shared with me.  I was almost finished and was working on adding the DSP and embellishments to a page when my computer glitched.  I decided to close out the page and when the box popped up asking if I wanted to save this page, I checked no.  My thinking was that if it was something messed up, I could go back and redo that page from the beginning.  Imagine my reaction when I pulled the album up to show DH how much I had accomplished and all of the pages I had worked on that day were gone...  I actually let a few choice words fly before getting a grip and then just kept repeating "You've got to be kidding me..."  DH didn't quite understand why I was so upset until I told him exactly how many pictures I had arranged that day (there were over 200 on my sister's disk, plus the ones I had just finished from my files).  Then he wanted to know how long it would take to redo it.  Not something I wanted to think about after spending the whole morning working on them!!  So my plan for today is to try this again, only I will be much smarter and back up the pages as I go!!  Wish me luck!

I hope you have a wonderful week and happy crafting!

Flashback Friday, Another Christmas Card, and A Close Call!

Hello all! I have reverted back to my older Christmas DSP again for this week's flashback project!  I also pulled out an older stamp and a retired stamp pad to keep with my oldies theme!

I am amazed at the number of Christmas cards that are in my stash now!  I might actually be finished before Thanksgiving!  Then what will I do?!  Hmmm... I may have to rethink this whole process or I will lose my membership card to the Procrastinators Club. (I don't really have a card... they keep telling me they'll send me one...)

But anyway! On to the card!!

I really like the little snowman image and it was fun to pull out the blender pen to color in the bits and pieces too!  Not a very difficult card to make and now my Ski Slope paper is all but gone as well!  I think this will make a nice card for a little one!

My flashback items were the Ski Slope DSP, a retired Kiwi Kiss ink pad, and the non SU snowman stamp.

Now... on to something a little more personal.  As the post title states, I had a very close call the other day.  No, not a car wreck, accident, or anything like that... THIS was much more serious!
The girls and I are sitting on the couch watching a movie and the phone rings.  Youngest DD truly believes she was born to answer the phone, so she sprang up to grab the phone.  This is where the story begins...

DD-"Hello?....Yes..." a very confused look crossing her face as she hands the phone to her sister...
"It's for you?!"
As DD #2 takes the phone, DD looks at me with wide eyed wonder and whispers "It's a BOY!"
Mom-"GASP!" then a bionic Mother's ear kicked in as I shamelessly eavesdropped on the conversation...
DD#2- "Hello? Oh, Hi (enter boy's name here)"
*I felt a tiny bit of relief as it was one that I knew well, but only a little relief...
"Umm... I'm not sure... I'll have to ask..."
*At this point, I have a dull ache in the pit of my stomach...MY BABY IS ON THE PHONE WITH A BOY!  AND SHE HAS TO ASK ME SOMETHING!!!!!!! I suddenly begin to have flashbacks of her playing in the dirt... climbing trees... begging for a softball glove, helmet, and cleats so she can look like a real ball player... throwing on the closest shirt and hoping it's clean... No...It can't be...Must be a mistake...
DD#2-"Mom, it's (boy's name) and he wants to know..."
*Before she can ask I'm inwardly pleading 'please don't let me have to be the mean mom yet...please don't let this be a date request...I am really not ready for this yet!'
DD#2 continues "if I can play on the whiffle ball team he's trying to get together for the fest."

OH THANK YOU GOD  for small miracles!! My baby is still a tomboy and her friend is only calling cause he knows she will be a good athletic addition to the team!  So, after breathing a sigh of relief, I said 'of course she could play' and got the details for the weekend!

While I realize this really isn't as life altering as an accident or illness (had plenty of experience with those!), it really was a major deal for me.  I realized that my baby is not really a baby anymore and that I have a new role as Mom.  Because at some point, it will be a boy that doesn't want to play whiffle ball, and 'likes' my daughter, and I get the nasty job of telling her that there is no way that my middle school aged daughter is going on a 'date'.  But better me than her father, who almost busted a vessel in his forehead as I shared this story with him! Tee! Hee! He has a new role coming too!
Oh...did I mention she's starting to enjoy clothes and shoe shopping, and makeup...sigh...

Thanks for letting me have my Mommy moment and have a wonderful weekend!!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-riding hood red, whisper white, Ski Slope DSP, Ink-chocolate chip, marina mist, riding hood red, kiwi kiss, pumpkin pie, Stamps-Four Frames, Joyous Celebrations, Accessories-decorative label punch, blender pen, marina mist dotted scallop ribbon

Playing with some new toys!!!

Well, I have been a very good girl using up some of my old Christmas DSP and supplies.  So good, that I decided I deserved some time to play with brand new goodies! So today you will get to see some of the lovely items available in the new Holiday Catalog that began August 1st!!  If you would like to view it online, be sure to click on the link in the left column. If you want a real life copy, email me your address and I'll be sure you get one!

As a demonstrator, I actually ordered and received my goodies a month early!  It's a good thing I did, because after paying the dentist for my DD's appliance, taking care of book rental for school, and finishing the back to school shopping, I'm just about broke!!  Good thing I'm heading back to work so I can earn some more stamping, I mean, bill paying money!!  A girl's gotta craft, um..., I mean eat!

One of the main reasons I committed myself to using up some older paper was that the paper in the new catalog was so wonderful, I wanted it all.  I did show some restraint, there may be a pack or two that I didn't order...  But one that I had to order was Snow Festival.  I loved the mixture of colors in this pack.  While my cards today feature more traditional colors, you could easily use some of the other colors in the pattern to go for a fun and nontraditional style.

See those wonderful little images?  They are from a page that has 16 different squares, just perfect for trimming and using as a focal point on a card.  The sketch from Merry Monday worked perfectly with this paper.  I used sketch #16. Both of these cards literally came together in minutes.  No stamping at all!  The longest process was cutting the snowflakes with the big shot and the wonderful NEW Snow Flurry die!

Well, I guess it's time I got off of my computer and did something productive... After this coming weekend, my house will be terribly neglected for a week or two as the girls and I return to school!  I'm hoping Shadow won't be too lonely without all of the chaos of summer break!  Knowing him, he will enjoy having the couch to himself again! Have a wonderful day and happy crafting!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-gumball green, soft suede, silver glimmer paper, Snow Festival DSP, Accessories-Snow Flurry die, big shot, basics glimmer brads

My Stampin' UP Website

When I first became a SU demonstrator, I did not take advantage of the personal website  that was available.  I have since grown my business to the point that I feel I need it.   I am proud to announce that my Stampin' Up website is now officially open!!

Want to know what's new with SU?  You can go there to view the latest promotions, view my class schedule, find great projects, and order wonderful Stampin' UP supplies!!

Click here to check it out!

Of course, I will still be here as well, posting my little heart out!

Hope you have a fabulous day and happy crafting!!