Just HAD to share...

Bradley is Walking! Go, Bradley, Go!

Stamptacular Sunday Blog Hop!

Let Summer begin with a Stamptacular Blog Hop! If you haven't had a chance yet to visit each of my fellow Design Team member blogs, now is the perfect chance!

If you've come to me first, you need to back up! Hop on over to visit Paula first, and she will direct you to the next blog and so on, then you will come back to me and I will send you on your way! :o) Don't forget to leave some love on each of the girls blogs! You need to visit each one of us and leave each of us a comment to be able to win the grand prize! So, get outta here! Go see Paula and work your way back here!

Ok, now that you're back... don't the girls have AMAZING blogs? I love them all!!

So, Let's Get This Summer Started!!!
Kite Festival is coming up and we are sooo excited! Long Beach, WA hosts the largest kite festival in the world during the third week in August every year, and we try to make it there as often as we can. My Mom will be joining us this year and I just cannot wait!!!
We are also looking forward to a few smaller events and activities this summer. We have to get ideas to keep Emily busy as her last day of school was Friday! She is fascinated with volcanoes right now, so we are planning on taking her up to see Mt. St. Helens at some point this summer. We are also looking into the Portland Pirate Festival in Portland, OR, in September. We are close to Couer D'Alene, ID as well, which is a beautiful city with fun boat rides and home to the Silverwood Amusement park, so we are thinking of a weekend there as well. It's looking to be a pretty busy summer! We would like to get Emily into swimming lessons and maybe some soccer lessons as well!
There are lots of birthdays during the summer as well! Hubby's birthday is in July, our Anniversary and my birthday are in August, my Mom's birthday is in September!
I don't think we'll be lacking in things to do this summer!

I've sprinkled a few summer themed projects throughout this post, I hope you enjoy them!

Ok, I've kept you here long enough, from here you want to go visit Carly, she's the last stop on this hop and has the details on the grand prize, which is being donated by the wonderful Carly, herself! Thanks, Carly!

I hope you are enjoying the blog hop and I am so glad that you are all loving our Stamptacular Sunday Challenge blog as much as we, the Design Team do! Thanks so much for joining us every week!

Have a wonderful summer! Be Safe and enjoy your families!

SSC #9 - Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Well, it looks like we have a wedding challenge this week at Stamptacular Sunday Challenge! Wedding cards are one of those cards that I don't have much call to make, but when I do need one, I never have one and can never come up with an idea... so it's nice to have a challenge like this to get me to make a card, while my mojo is flowing, so that I have one when the time comes!

Wedding cards have such potential to be so very elegant and gorgeous and I really do hope you visit the Design Team Members and see the absolutely stunning cards they have all created! I just know that you will be as wowed as I was when I saw them!

Our prize this week is KL Stampin' and Scrappin' - a wonderful online store full of wonderful goodies!

This card was fun and I really like the way it turned out! The stamp is the same one I purchased over 8 years ago, to make our wedding invitations with! I saw this stamp in the store before I had any idea what I was planning on doing for our invitations and it just called to me! I love the basic lines and simple design.

So, just for giggles... (you don't have to do this for the challenge, I just thought it would be fun!)
Something old - my wedding stamp
Something new - the Martha Stewart wedding cake charm
Something borrowed - the colors from my best friends upcoming ceremony
Something blue - the sparkly blue Paperzone cardstock

Products used: Stamps by A Muse Art, Cardstock by Paperzone, Scallop oval Nesties, pearls, charm and ribbon by Martha Stewart, Divine Swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder, Going Gray classic ink pad by Stampin' Up! and Dazzling Diamonds glitter by Stampin' Up!

Stamptacular Sunday Blog Hop!

Starts tomorrow!!
Join us for the best blog hop ever!
We're so excited, you should be too!!
It all starts - HERE
See you tomorrow!

Happy Memorial Day!

I have just put the flag out on our house. Our street looks so nice with all the flags waving in the wind. I hope that everyone has had a wonderful weekend, celebrating the coming of summer with backyard barbeques, block parties, surprise parties (in Callie's case, she just threw a surprise party for her hubby's 30th!) and pool time fun.

I also hope that everyone takes a few minutes out of our beautiful days to remember the fallen, the soldiers who have fought for us and won. Even though they are lost, they are all in our memories and will forever be honored as heroes for protecting and preserving our freedom. There are some truly moving pictures on the Washington Post website today of the annual "Flags In" ceremony at Arlington Cemetery, where soldiers place over 250,000 flags at each grave marker.. you should go take a look at the pictures.

On a lighter note, my Dad had an idea for a challenge in one of my card-making groups. He said I should have my girls make patriotic cards in honor of Memorial Day, and he will vote on his favorite card to win a prize! He hasn't voted yet, so I hope he doesn't see this post!! I told him not to go to my blog until after I received his vote! I posted the challenge to my Addicted 2 Bellas group and asked them to all make a patriotic card using a Bella image. Some really amazing cards have been created and I am so glad that the idea was well received and that the girls are so patriotic! Here is the card that I created:I tried to make this card so that he wouldn't know it was mine... I still think it looks like a card made by me, though! I just hope he likes it!

Have a wonderful holiday, everyone!

SSC #8 - Oh For The Love Of CHOCOLATE!

Well, isn't this a challenge just built for me? And, of course, for all of my chocolate loving friends!

This week at Stamptacular Sunday Challenge, we want to see just how much you love your chocolate! So, grab your brown inks, your chocolatey papers and something yummy to inspire you and start creating! The design team and I really had a lot of fun with this challenge, and I hope you have a chance to visit each member and see what they've come up with! All of the members blogs are linked in my sidebar.

We have a wonderful prize this week, being offered up by Die Cut Dreams! Go check the website, there is a whole bunch of really cool stuff!!

For my project this week, I immediately thought of a tried and true favorite Stampin' Up! stamp set! I've always loved this set, for the simple reason that it is so easy to add "chocolate" to the fruit! It's so much fun to use! I had a scrap of this adorable chocolate chip paper for the bottom and after much searching and a little bit of stressing, I finally found my acetate sheets for the package!
And, no, I'm sorry to say, but all the chocolate covered espresso beans have been eaten! I don't tend to share those, as they are my favorite!

All products by Stampin' Up! with the exception of a white Galaxy marker and the acetate sheet.

Mojo Monday #87

And my last card of the day - be sure to scroll down to see the other 2, please! :o)

This one is for Mojo Monday, this is a great sketch! It's got lots of layers and combines squares and circles, which is hard for me, so this really was a good challenge! The very first thing I thought of when I saw this sketch, was "Boatloads of Love"... I don't know why.. but that's what I thought and I stuck with it! I hope you agree that it's a good choice!I had a hard time with the background paper (the plaid at the top). I didn't think it matched but I needed something up there and then when I got it all together I thought it really looked ok! Both patterned papers are from Daisy Bucket, and if you've ever used their paper (it's phenomenal!) you know that it has this wonderful texture to it... well, I wanted to keep that texture, so I had to choose coordinating papers from my Daisy Bucket stash! I hope it works! I think it does...

Products used: Boatloads of Love by Stampin' Up!, sentiment unknown, Night of Navy and Bordering Blue cardstock by Stampin' Up!, Patterned papers by Daisy Bucket, Scallop border punch by Stampin' Up!, Classic circle and Scallop Circle Nesties, Paper piercing tool, dimensions and skittles.

House Mouse & Friends Challenge #38

This one is for the House Mouse and Friends sketch challenge this week. This was a cool sketch and I thought it would be a good one to get myself back in the groove. I had fun with this one! I haven't used this stamp much and I really do love it! These little mice are so fun to color and now that I have my new Brilliance ink pad, I can color with m Copics and not worry about smearing! I was so happy!!It's a simple little card, but I like it!

Products used here: Stamps by House Mouse and Stampin' Up!, colored with Copics, brads by Making Memories, Piroutte Pink and Riding Hood Red cardstock by Stampin' Up!, Candy Lane Designer Series Paper by Stampin' Up!, Classic Oval and Scallop Oval Nesties, lace from my stash.

The Corrosive Challenge - Let's Rock!

I really wanted to work on some challenges this afternoon, as I have fallen soooo behind and haven't been participating in anything lately! But I was lacking a bit of mojo.... until I hit the Corrosive Challenge Blog! Ok, really, who can resist a challenge with a picture of Axl Rose? So, yes, the theme this week is Let's Rock! And who do I turn to when I think RockStar? Well, my darling RockStar Anya, of course! My Mom laughs and says "Again? Don't you have any other stamps?" hahahaha (Thanks, Mom!) But, I love my Anya! And here she is!
I don't normally use my own handwriting on my cards.... I never think it looks quite right, but until I find a "rock star" type stamp... this will have to do!

Products used: The Greeting Farm's RockStar Anya, colored with Copics and Stampin' Up! markers, Basic Black and Pink Passion cardstock by Stampin' Up!, patterned papers by DCWV, Waterfall and Magenta Stickles, White Gel Pan, fibers from my stash.

Just a couple of challenge cards

Good evening everyone! I was part of a "Swappy Card Kit Challenge" in 2 groups over at CafeMom and I thought I would share my cards, now that all of the cards have been shared and the voting is over. And, no.. sadly, I didn't win either of the challenges, ah well.. it was fun anyway!

This first one is for the Addicted 2 Bellas group. We were given partners and we were to send our partner a kit of everything she would need to create a card, including image. Once we received our kit, we were to create the card and email it to the challenge host, my sweet friend, Callie. Callie also happened to be the one who sent my kit, and I loved it! This image is one that I have been eyeing ever since it was released, but I still can't convince myself to actually buy it! Good thing Callie has it, we can share! Every single little thing on this card was included in the kit she sent me, the only thing I added was adhesives and markers to color the image.This second card was for the group Cute Critters Club and this challenge was also hosted by Callie. I recieved my kit from Heather, and again, a very fun kit to play with! The colors were a challenge, as they are not my favorite colors to work with, but I enjoyed it and I think it turned out pretty good! Also, all I added to this kit were adhesives and markers... well, and a paper piercing tool!I can't give an deets on the products used other than the stamps are from Stamping Bella and House Mouse... they were kits, I don't know what the girls sent me! :o)

SSC #7 - Pink, Green & Brown

Happy Sunday, everyone! I'm hanging out in Portland, OR today with the kids and my Mom and it's warm and beautiful here!

Today's challenge at Stamtacular Sundays is to use the colors Pink, Green and Brown! And our prize is being offered up by Bearly Mine Designs, a disk of 700 design papers, all 6x6, in 10 different color schemes, plus some designs for Christmas and birthdays! For more details, visit the SSC blog. Donna, the creator of Bearly Mine Designs is one of our own Design Team members and has offered up some of her papers for us to use on th

is challenge - so to see a very small sampling of her paper designs, visit each of the Design Team members blogs. As always, you can find them listed in my sidebar.

For my card, I wanted to use as many of the papers as possible. These papers are sooo easy and fun to use! I absolutely love that you can never run out of paper! Just print off a new sheet and you're good to go! I think I used every pattern that Donna gave us to make this card! I hope you like it, it's a little different for me and I wasn't sure about it while it was in the works.. but I think it turned out well!

Thanks for stopping by! I look forward to seeing some familiar names on the challenge blog this week! I love visiting each and every blog, thank you so much for playing along!

Products used: Bearly Mine Designs digital patterned papers, Stampin' Up! cardstock, Stem Sayings by Stampin' Up!, Cuttlebug Build-A-Flower die cut set, ribbon from a secret sister and pearl brad from my stash.

Now that she's seen it....

...I can share it with all of you!

I made this Sketch Book for my Secret Sister in the Addicted 2 Bellas group over at CafeMom! Apparently it was a hit! Carisa was my Secret Sister this time and she says she Loves this book! I'm glad you do, my sweet.. I almost "forgot" to put it in the box!! Haha! And, yes, I even included a sketch to get her started :) Carisa, I used a piece of plastic (from some packaging I had laying around), cut to standard card size (4.25 x 5.5) to do the outline, then I used it as a ruler to do all the inside lines. I also made myself a 5.5 x5.5 template, so I have those ready when I get around to making my own sketch book!

I have to plug the paper, because the designs are awesome! Go check out my fellow Stamptacular Design Team member Donna's store, Bearly Mine Designs! She has lots and lots of wonderful papers that come to you on disk and you just print them out! How cool is that? No more running out of paper! Hah! I love it!

So, without further delay... here she is! I used Content-To-Be-A-Bella by Stamping Bella, colored her with Stampin' Up! & Copic markers, cardstock by Stampin' Up!, patterned paper downloaded from Bearly Mine, pearls by Martha Stewart, oops, can't remember who made the stickers and all the ribbon and lace is from my stash.

A SKETCH For Stamptacular Sunday!

Happy Mother's Day to all! I hope you have a wonderful, relaxing day! :) I... will be at work, but I did get a wonderful drawing from my daughter this morning and some new stamps from my parents and hubby! Yay!

On to the challenge! We have a wonderful sketch for you today! I LOVE sketches! And this one was just soooo much fun! So, here's the sketch, followed by my card.
Our prize this week is a great pack of goodies offered up by our very own DT member, Nikki!

Be sure to check out all the DT members cards! As always, they are Amazing! You can find the DT members links on my sidebar.

So, have some fun with this sketch, I can't wait to see what you create! And, don't forget to enter submissions for 3 challenges this month to be eligible for a Guest Designer spot in June!

This card uses Stampin' Up! Cardstock in Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue and Whisper White, patterned paper from my stash, ribbon also from my stash, green skittles, hardware by Stampin' Up! and the Stampin' Up! Ticket Corner Punch. The Image is from PaperMakeup Stamps, "Emma" and she is colored with Copic and Stampin' Up! markers. A tiny bit of sparkle added with Sakura glitter pens.

There's a Blog Hop going on!

Papermakeup Stamps is having an awesome Blog Hop!
Start here at the Papermakeup Stamps blog.. then continue onto each blog and collect the letters to form a word. This word will be a discount code to use that will get you 7% off your order! Also, if you email Katie the word, as detailed on the PMS blog, you'll be entered to win the ENTIRE new release! Yay!
So, go.. play, hop, have fun! And good luck.. not that you'll need it because, I'm gonna win! hehe!
Happy Hopping!

My Crafty Mommy!

Hi everyone! I just had to share this picture that my Dad emailed me! My Mom recently went to California to visit a couple of her Sisters. Now, my Mom always has to bring home a souvenir for her coworkers, but on this trip, she couldn't find anything that she liked enough to bring them. So, while she and her Sisters were at a friends house, they picked some lemons off of a tree in the yard. I don't know exactly how many lemons she picked, but she packed them and brought them home. Of course, she had to do more to these lemons! So, she went to a local quilting store and bought some supplies. She wrapped the lemons in yellow tulle and tied it off with yellow pipe cleaners, adding a small tag stamped with a sun! On the inside she wrote "A little sunshine from California!" Now, isn't she just clever! I love my Mom! I guess some of her creativity wore off on me!She also baked some cookies (Peanut Blossoms), and those she put in the decorated tubs (that once held popcorn)!

Thanks, Cass!

My dear friend, Cass is a persistant one! Hehehe! She left me this award some time ago, and when I visited her blog, I said "Aw, that's so sweet!"... but then I got distracted, as I normally do, and forgot to post a Thank You!
So, Thank You, Cass for this:

And, now.. to choose among my many, many favorite blogs, here are 10 of my faves.
(many of you have probably recieved this already, as your blogs rock! So, here it is again!)

Right back at ya, Cass!
My Sweet Callie!
Lisabee!Heather!
Carisa!
Mercy!
Norma!
Anna!
Becca!
Rach!

Thanks to all of you girls and all the blogs that I visit for providing smiles and inspiration every day!

SSC #5 - Mother's Day

This weeks challenge at Stamptacular Sunday Challenge is a celebration of Mother's Day! Our wonderful sponosor this week is Sketching Stamper Digi-Stamps and they have provided each of the Design Team members an image to use to showcase their wonderful artwork! Be sure to check out the rest of the Design Team to see 3 other images that were used beautifully! And, don't forget to make a Mother's Day card for the challenge this week! You can use any stamped image, of course!
My card uses the Daffodil Jug image from Sketching Stamper.Products used: Image by Sketching Stamper, colored with Sakura Glitter Gel Pens, cardstock and ribbon by Stampin' Up!, patterned paper by DCWV, flowers by Prima, pearls and stickers from my stash, and Diamond Stickles.