You're A Catch!

When I sat down this afternoon to make a card (or two or three or twelve), I had a picture in my head..

Let's just say that this wasn't it. This is the only card I got done this afternoon. A friend appeared online and we ended up chatting and I got distracted.. (Friends don't let friends craft while chatting?).. Anyway - enough babbling, onto the card.

I saw this paper while I was digging through my stash the other day and I set it on top of my table, so that I would remember to use it soon, because it was C.U.T.E.! So, today I grabbed my Stampin' Up! Pacific Point and Tangerine Tango textured cardstock and this fishy paper. I also grabbed 2 fishy stamp sets, and opted for my (Mom's) Sushi Party set by Stampendous. I love this set! I picked the sketch from Stamps & Smiles sketch #9, the current challenge. And this is what I came up with.

The flower.... hmmm... the flower started out as a charm with silver cording.. that didn't work. Then it became a fishy shaped brad, cute but the fish was orange, and an orange brad on orange cardstock didn't work either... then I tried the orange fishy brad on the blue flower and that just seemed wrong to me... so I layered the flower, added a pearl and some waterfall Stickles and done. Stickles save the day... AGAIN!

It's still not my favorite card, but it fits the sketch and I'm sure it will make a cute card for someone, someday!

Thanks for stopping by! Next time maybe I'll have something more impressive to show you! Hahaha!

New Beginnings - SSC#1

WooHoo! The Stamptacular Sunday Challenge Blog is up and running! With Challenge #1 posted, I am just bouncing off the walls with excitement! I can't wait to see all the wonderful submissions that you send in! Remember, there is a chance to win prizes and of course, the honor of winning a Guest Designer Spot with me and the rest of our amazing Design Team!

Our first challenge is New Beginnings - appropriate, don't you think?

When I thought of New Beginnings, I though of two things... New Baby and New House. When I got down to my craft room to work on this project, my baby blue cardstock was calling to me, so I went with New Baby. I hope you like this project and I hope that it and the other Design Team projects inspire you to participate in the challenge!

I have created a cute little gift bag for a new baby. This is such a simple project that turned out so cute, I will definitely remember it next time I need a gift! The bag is made from a white lunch sack, that I trimmed down just a bit and attached the decorated cardstock front and back to. Then I cut strips of cardstock and used glue dots to attach them to the inside of the bag to create handles. A touch of tissue paper and, Viola! Instant gift sack!
I used Stampin' Up! cardstock, designer series paper and Just B stamp set. I added some ribbon from my scrap box. I cut and embossed the sentiment with my Oval and Scallop Oval Nesties. The cute little Duckie was found at Michael's.

It's Almost Time!!

Only a few more days!!! Are you as excited as I am? Our first challenge is ready to post on Sunday, April 5th! As part of the Design Team, I already have my first project done and I can't wait to share it with you! You will be able to see it on the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge Blog first thing Sunday morning! The details on what I used to make it will be posted here on Sunday as well!

All of us on the Design Team look forward to seeing your beautiful projects every week! The more you participate, the better your chances are of winning a Guest Designer spot! You can find more details on how to win, by visiting the blog. We will also have prizes offered up by wonderful sponsors for winners of challenges!

I've already seen many of my friends names on the Followers list (and I love each and every one of you!!) And I hope to see many of your names listed on our challenge submissions! I can't wait to see what everyone creates!

Join us on Sunday for "Grand Opening" games, fun and prizes!!

You only have to contain your excitement for 3 more days! I know you can do it!

See you on Stamptacular Sunday!

My Beautiful Bellas!

I love my Bellas! Who doesn't love their Bellas? Just look at those smiles, that hair, the poses that show all that attitude with style and flair! Bellas Rock! And I love my Bellas!

So, here are a few cards that I made with my precious, beautiful Bellas!

This first one is for the Bella Sketch Challenge over at SplitcoastStampers.. I've never entered this challenge, so I'll have to figure out how to submit it (gallery, maybe?) but, of course, I'll put it here for you all to enjoy!
This second card is for the challenge in the Addicted 2 Bellas group over at CafeMom. This is an older MojoMonday sketch (I think it's #70).
(Can anyone explain to me why MwahBella only has one sleeve?)

Both cards use stamps from Stamping Bella, DCWV Spring Stack and Spring MatStack, and Whisper White cardstock. I colored Bella with my Stampin' Up! markers and my Skin White Copic. I added some Diamond Stickles to iPodaBella's sweater. I used my Pinking Circle Nesties with MwahBella.

My Hero!

When I saw that Hero Ian was on sale at The Greeting Farm the other day, I couldn't resist! He's been on my wish list for a while now.. and now he's mine! All Mine! Whoah!
So, I made this card, no sketch, no challenge... just because I really wanted to color my new stamp!
I really like this card.. it's simple, to the point and not to frilly, so it's great for the guys, too!I colored Ian with my Copics, popped his AK and the sentiments on Stampin' Up! dimensionals, trimmed the corners with my corner rounder (did a little funky trickery on that!), added some awesome camo ribbon that I found in Callie's ribbon jar and added some little black doo-dads. Whisper White cardstock, and DCWV Spring MatStack.

The Scary Mojo Monday card...

When Callie showed me the sketch for this weeks Mojo Monday card... it scared me! I can't tell you why.. but I honestly didn't think that I would get it done! So, I did a few other cards first... and kept looking at that sketch, trying to figure it out and muster up the bravery to give it a try... finally, it came to me! I borrowed Easter Riley and some more of Callie's new Spring Stack patterned paper, and came up with this:
I colored Easter Riley with my Stampin' Up! markers. I used DCWV Spring Stack and Spring Matpack. I cut out my sentiment (unknown) with my Pinking Circle Nesties. Ribbon and cardstock from the scrap stash.

Fun at Callie's House!

It's spring break at Emily's preschool this week and I was stumped as to what to do to keep her entertained for a whole week when it's too cold and wet to go out to play and there's not many place to go around here to play inside... so I decided that this would be a great time to drive over to Idaho to visit my wonderful CafeMom friend, Callie!

So, the kids and I hit the road Monday morning with no real plan other than to get there and see how things go! I packed up a few of my crafty things, a project that I was working on and my Chocolate Cappuccino Cupcakes that I had made for Sweet Callie! After a long drive, made longer by some car sickness problems in the back seat (Poor Em, she's ok now and did great on the way home!) We made it to Idaho and met up with Callie! We followed her out to her tiny little farm town and for the next 2 days, we hid out inside while the snow fell outside! We watched the kids go crazy, chatted, ate, talked, laughed and stamped! We had so much fun! Callie is the sweetest, most wonderfullest friend ever! And I am so glad that we live within driving distance so that we can get together again!

This post and the ones above and below it, show some of the cards that I made while I was there and the kids were busy watching movies! I got a chance to use some of Callies wonderful stamps, like Charlie here. Isn't he the cutest? You can find him at www.cleardollarstamps.com and he is always up to something fun! Here he is prancing through the daisies on a warm spring day (what I was wishing for while watching the snow fall...) I made this Charlie card for The Sugar Bowl challenge this week which is to make a Spring or Easter card... this card will be going in the mail soon, as it is an Easter card for someone special... I actually made 2 of these, so they are for 2 someone specials! I hope they like it!

(Ah well, guess I should read the rules.. For the Sugar Bowl Challenge, you must use a Sugar Nellie stamp.... this is the second time I've tried to make a card for this group and not been able to manage the rules... they have lots of rules.. it's all supposed to be fun, isn't it???)

I used Charlie Daisy and colored him with my Stampin' Up! markers and some Diamond Stickles on the Daisies.. the patterened paper is from the Spring Stack and the cardstock, mulberry, ribbon and flowers are from Sweet Callie's stash.

Card Patterns - Sketch #8

WooHoo! Here I am, 2 weeks in a row, with a submission for Card Patterns! Yay, me! I kinda think this card needs something, but that's probably just me being picky... I mean, really, it's got a Bella, a puppy, sparkle and shine... what more could it possible need?
This card features PuppyBella by Stamping Bella, DCWF Pet Stack, Cuttlebug Friends embossing folder, Classic Circle Nesties and cardstock from Sweet Callies stash! Bella and her friend are colored with Stampin' Up! markers and a Skin White Copic.

Monsters V. Cookies

Just some fun shots from this evening.

Everyone had a special cookie to enjoy after dinner...

But I think Bradley enjoyed his the MOST!

He had cream in his hair!

Needless to say, tonight became an unscheduled Bath Night!

Enjoy!

Click on the collage to view the photos larger.

Papertake Weekly #11

This one is for the Papertake Weekly sketch challenge this week. I was also thinking of the Sugar Bowl challenge, as it is to make a card your Mother would like. (I think my Mom would love this card!) But you can't combine their challenge with any other, so I'll just go with Papertake this time. The Papertake sketch is awesome! I just love it and I know I will use it again!
This card uses: Great Impressions stamps, Stampin' Up! cardstock (Perfect Plum, Pale Plum and Whisper White), Stampin' Up! DSP, Making Memories brads, Stampin' Up! inks, markers and blender pens, Diamond Stickles, Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder and Cuttlebug.

Card Patterns - Sketch #7

I'm a little behind on my CardPatterns entries... I just realized that my last entry was Sketch #3! Oops! Well, let's see if I can keep up for a few weeks!
Here's my entry for Sketch #7...
This is one of those cases where the picture in my head looks nothing like the card in front of me... I'm not happy with the coloring and if it weren't for Stickles, this card probably would have been scrapped! Still think the frosting is too dark, but the Stickles went a long way towards saving it!
All products by Stampin' Up! except - oval and scallop oval Nesties, Distress Stickles and ribbon from my stash.

An Award! Thanks, Joanne!

My new friend and fellow DT member, Joanne gave each of the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge DT members an award! Sooo cool! Thank you so much Joanne!

This award is given to blogs that inspire you, make you smile or laugh, give you great information, are a good read, have a wonderful design or for any reason that you think makes them "Uber-Amazing"!! So, share the love with the bloggers you love!

Of course, there are rules!
-Add the logo to your side bar or post
-Nominate 5 blogs that you think are "Uber-Amazing"
-Remember to link the person who gave you this award

I would like to share this award with...
My dear sweet friend Callie!
The always amazing Lisa!
The wonderfully creative Carisa!
The awfully talented Heather!
The background queen Anna!

Happy Stamping, ladies!

Emily's adventure...

I wish I had a picture to go with this story, but I just have to share this with you!

Monday was a school day for Miss Emily, but Mommy was feeling horrible with the flu and couldn't muster up the energy to drive her there, so we stayed home.

Later in the afternoon, Emily said that she really wanted to go to school and see her friends. I explained that I didn't feel good and couldn't drive her there. So, she quietly got up and went to her room. She came out a few minutes later fully dressed, shoes on and backpack ready. She said, "That's OK, Mommy, I'll go without you!" I was so tired and ill that I just nodded and said "Ok, Emily, I'll miss you!" She says, "I'll miss you, too" as she goes through the door to the garage.

I'm thinking, no worries, she can't reach the button to open the garage door... just as I hear the garage door go UP! Ummm... adrenaline is a wonderful thing... I jump up and run to the garage to find Emily IN my car, IN the driver's seat... ready to go! She had pushed the button on the garage door remote!

I open the car door, trying not to fall over laughing and tell her she needs to come back inside and she says "But, Mommy, I can go to school without you! I'm a Good Driver!"

Oh, Emily... sometimes you're just too smart and too cute!

PuppyBella A2 Card Box

This one is for a challenge on CafeMom in the Addicted 2 Bellas group. We are to make an A2 card box to store cards in and if we want to, we can make matching cards. But I saw this dog bone paper and thought it would be cute with my PuppyBella stamp by Stamping Bella! So, I created a box to fill with doggie treats to give to someone.. I have no idea who yet, but I'm sure I'll figure it out!
I used Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip and Confetti Cream cardstock, Stamping Bella's PuppyBella stamp and a Stampin' Up! alphabet. Stampin' Up! photo corner punch. Patterned paper is from DCWV, ribbon from my stash. Image colored with Copic Markers.

Cute Photo of the Kids

Courtesy of Daddy while Mommy was working late...