November 29, 2008

SCRAPBOOK SATURDAY - CAN YOU FEEL THE CHILL!

Hi all!!! Well, I hope everyone who went shopping yesterday got all the deals they were looking for - I did :-)! Very happy although I did not get my shopping all done so I will be back out there during the week since I want to be done!!! It has gotten cold here so I thought I would share this layout I did a few days ago depicting our beautiful snow-covered landscapes in the mountains - you may recognize one of the pics as the header on my blog! The layout of this page was actually done using Pamela's sketch from over at the Coconut Scrapshop - she is a fellow DT member and a very talented gal, so swing on by her blog if you get the chance!! She stamps and scrapbooks fabulously! Now, I want you to know how excited I was to FINALLY get a chance to use some of the HUGE Felt Flurries - they are sooooo fun to play with!!! I love the layering effect and how pretty they look! I also used a few of the smaller one and added some fun buttons!! The middle of the large ones have silver snowflake brads I had in my stash. I also did some sewing on this layout, around the edges of the half-circle. And, I stamped little snowflakes all over my white thickers letters in Bashful Blue ink! Here is a close-up so you can see how they turned out! This was a really fun page to do - and I love that we are surrounded by this beauty where we live!! Well, I am off to a scrapbook crop tonight, whoohooo!! I can't wait, I need some time with some other gals chatting, and scrapping for my own personal enjoyment!!! Have a fabulous weekend and I will be back tomorrow with a fun project to share!!

November 28, 2008

BLACK FRIDAY - STAMP SOMETHINGS

Hi all!!! Well, I am stuffed full of turkey and today is the biggest shopping day of the year, so it is been a fun couple days so far!!! In honor of Black Friday, our challenge at Stamp Something today is to stamp something using black as your focal point!! Now, I will tell ya, I had a hard time with this one because I very rarely use black in my cards. BUT, I decided to use my sock monkey and went from there. I mixed basic black with Pirouette Pink, then paper pieced my sock monkey, adding a hat and present so that I could make him a Santa monkey *wink* Make sure you go on over to the Stamp Something site and see what the rest of the DT gals did - they will rock your world with their creativity!!! And, how about giving the challenge a try? Just upload and leave a link so that we can check it out and enter yourself in for some yummy candy!! Now, I am off to shop, shop, shop!!!! I will tell you all about it tomorrow!! See ya!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Basic Black. Pirouette Pink, Whisper White card stock, Bella Rose Designer Series Paper
Inks - Black Stazon
Stamps - Sock Monkey, Crab & Company, Best Yet
Accessories - Ticket Corner Punch, Black Brads, Basic Black narrow grosgrain ribbon , Wide Oval Punch, Designer Label Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

November 27, 2008

HAPPY THANKSGIVING - AND TAMARA'S SKETCH CHALLENGE

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!! I know we all love to eat the yummy dishes we prepare for this special day, but don't forget o take some time to reflect what you are thankful for!! I can tell you - I am thankful for my wonderful husband, my beautiful children, the fact that we are healthy, have a warm place to live, clothes on our bodies, and food in the fridge. And, I am thankful for those serving overseas right now in protection of our country so that we can enjoy this day with our family and friends!! I hope everyone has a great Turkey Day!!! Now, I know that a lot of my friends have either alread celebrated their Thanksgiving or don't have one in their country and so I do have a card for you today using Tamara's sketch challenge. I will be honest, I had a harder time with this sketch, but I think it turned out okay. I used my Winter Post stamp set for the image and the Home for Christmas set for the sentiment! I also did some paper piercing and added some vintage brads along with one of my favorite felt flurries!! The background strips are actually wide pieces of chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon over Riding Hood Red Patterned Prints Dp. I hope you like it and will hop over to Tamara's site to check out what the rest of the DT did for today! And, how about giving the sketch a try yourself? Just upload the link to the site so we can all see!!! So, I am off to get things prepped for dinner this afternooon - just a few last minute details to see to since I did most of it yesterday!! I will be back tomorrow with Stamp Something Friday - Happy Turkey Day!!!!

November 26, 2008

LITTLE GIFT CARD HOLDERS

Happy Thankgiving Eve!!! Today I will be spending a TON of time in the kitchen getting ready for tomorrow!! The good thing about doing a lot of it today is that tomorrow I will get to relax and enjoy myself. So, this is a quick post because I have to get that oven turned on, and get crackin'! I wanted to share a couple more gift card holders that I made using the Holiday Lineup stamp set!! I just adore these stamps, they are perfect for lighthearted fun cards such as these which I am giving to my kiddos for Christmas! Each one of these holders has two pockets inside, one for the little card I made to match the holder, and one for the gift card itself!! Here is the card for this one! I used the Deer Friends set to make the tags and embellish the little cards, they go so well with the Holiday Lineup!

And, here is another one that I made - I think this one is my favorite, I love the facial expressions on the reindeer, they make me giggle! Such personality, I tell ya!! I also made a matching card for this one and it will go to my son Tyler! Here is a pic of the whole set. I really enjoyed making these and have already had requests to make some more for some friends who want them for their kiddos!!! They really do make the whole gift card giving thing fun!!! I hope you like them - I will leave you the recipe and then I am off to the kitchen!!! I hope you all have a WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!!! I will be posting tomorrow for Tamara's sketch challenge, and will be back on Friday with the Stamp Something Challenge so I hope to see you then!
Gift Card Holders Recipe:
Paper - Pacific Point, Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Baha Breeze card stock, Ski Slope Designer Series paper
Inks - Brown and Black Stazon, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Ruby Red, Brilliant Blue Stampin' Write markers
Stamps - Holiday Lineup, Deer Friends
Accessories - Scalloped Edge Punch, Circle Scallop Punch, 1 3/8 inch Punch, 1 1/4 inch Punch, Riding Hood Red Striped ribbon, Pacific Point Striped ribbon, gold cord

November 25, 2008

SU! HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA SALE

WHOOHOOO!!! Check this out ladies - this is FABULOUS!!!!! Stampin' Up is having a Holiday Extravaganza sale from November 26 - December 1!!! Here are the details...

--There will be various limited one time bundles of products on sale for 20 - 50 % off
--Sale runs from November 26 - December 1
--Specific details of what is one sale post on November 26


***THIS IS AN ONLINE SALE ONLY SO ORDERS MUST BE MADE THROUGH THE ONLINE ORDERING SYSTEM*** You can order from me here to take advantage of this fabulous sale!! Get those gifts for your stamping friends or heck, get it for yourself - LOL!
Check out my website on Wednesday to see what is on sale!! And remember, order early because the bundles are limited, and once they are gone, they are GONE!

HIGH HOPES SKETCH CHALLENGE

Hi all!! Whew!! This is shaping up to be a busy week just like I thought it would be - I will be spending most of my time between now and Thursday doing some baking and cooking (and stampin, I mean, let's be honest!) getting ready for our big family dinner on Thanksgiving!! There will be 25 of us, and that is a lot of food!! It will be fun though! I just wish my mom and sister were going to be here as well, but at least I will get to see them at Christmas!!! So, today I wanted to share a card I did using my friend Ila's sketch that she posted for the High Hopes blog!! I just love the sketch and had to play! Check it out here, and try it yourself! I used one of the new sets from Our Craft Lounge (I know, contraband!) and I just love the way this turned out!!! And, since I was already straying from the straight and narrow, I decided to use some dsp from my stash and tried out the My Minds Eye line called Confetti. Pretty colors, huh?! I did use a lot of my SU! punches to make the flowers and the sentiment and the image ovals were cut out using my Coluzzle! The ribbon is that beautiful Riding Hood Red Taffeta, yummy!!! I also tried my hand at the Fiskars water thread punch that I won as part of a card contest and I really like it!! So fun to play with! I added some faux stitching down the center, using my Ruby Red Stampin' Write marker. The brads I used are also Ruby Red. The buttons are from the Rich Regals family, and matched perfectly with this paper. The card stock is More Mustard and the image is stamped on Whisper White and colored in with my Stampin' Write markers! The grass and sky are actually sponged on with daubers, using Old Olive and Baja Breeze stampin pads. I love this giraffe and made this card for my husband. I often hide cards in his truck, his briefcase, or his lunch and now that he is a commuter husband (meaning he will only be home three days per week, uggghhhh!!) I will need to build up my stash!! Enjoy your day, and I will be back tomorrow with something really fun that I am teaching in an upcoming class ! Since I pretty much wrote down everything I used, I am not going to leave a recipe, but if you have any questions, just hollah! Toodles!!

November 24, 2008

RUDY THE REDNOSE REINDEER

Happy Monday all! I am happy to report that I am feeling about 90% better today - LOL! Not 100% but hey, close enough!!! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend - I am going to share a card today that I taught in a class last night (yep, I had to teach yesterday, but it was fun!) They wanted to make Christmas cards so we did and this is one of them! This is such a fun set, I love the Holiday Lineup - totally makes me giggle every time I ink it up! I decided to play up Rudy's nose so we used some Dazzling Diamonds and the ladies loved it!!! It was a fun group, we enjoyed stamping, and laughed a lot which in my mind, is the best part of getting together! I will leave you with the recipe below, and then I am off to catch up on my blurfing and hang out with my kiddos since they are home for the week - whoohoo!! See ya tomorrow!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Riding Hood Red, Naturals White card stock, Bella Rose Designer Series Paper
Inks - Chocolate Chip classic stampin' pad, Ruby Red Stampin' Write Marker
Stamps - Holiday Lineup, Punches Three
Accessories - Square Scallop Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Wide Oval Punch, Silver Brads, Liquid Glue, Dazzling Diamonds, Chocolate Chip Wide Grosgrain Ribbon