STAMP SOMETHING CHALLENGE - I'M HOSTING!!!

Happy Friday everyone!! Thanks for the well wishes about my appts yesterday - it was a very loooonnnnngggg day that started at 5am and did not end until 7pm when I finally got home, uggghhhh!!! Needless to say, my whole day was gone and I did not get to pick up a stamp - THAT is not acceptable, lol!!! And, today will be busy seeing our lawyer (we are in litigation with the builder of our house!) so not a whole lot of creating time today either!! But, I do have something exciting to share today - the STAMP SOMETHING CHALLENGE, which today I AM HOSTING - WHOOHOO!!! So, I chose something a little different: a scrapbook layout. But, not just any scrapbook layout, it has to have the following elements to count for the challenge:

(1) Three Buttons

(2) Four Brads

(3) Two Different Ribbons

(4) A Title Made with Letters (either chipboard, paint, stamps, or stickers)

(5) Subject has to be ALL ABOUT YOU!

(6) At Least Five Things About You Must Be Listed

(7) Can be Either a 12x12 or 8.5x11 layout but nothing smaller!

So, the DT gals told me I stretched their creativity this week, but loved doing the challenge! I am glad - that is what a challenge is for, right?? To stretch that creativity?? So, I chose to do a two page 12x12 layout. I decided to base my about me page on pieces of me that make me who I am. I loved doing this, it really made me thankful for all I have in my life, and those special people in it who touch my life and make it better!

Here are some close ups of the two pages that make up my layout - the paper line is from Sassafrass Lass and is available at Coconut Scrapshop! The stamped letters for the title are Stampin' Up! Best Friends Alphabet Upper, which is retiring soon:-( The jigsaw puzzle pieces are from the awesome Stamps for a Cause Set Gina K designed to raise money for Autism Awareness called Love You to Pieces - what a fabulous stamp set for a very worthy cause! As you all know, I don't buy other companies stamps, but I will ALWAYS Gina's Stamps for a Cause sets because she donated a portion of each sale to the that cause and I love that! I hope you all will join in my challenge - and check out the other DT members take on this, they ROCKED it, I am tellin' ya!! They made beautiful layouts!! And, if you make your own, make sure you upload it to the Stamp Something site, there is special blog candy available for this one - Jen from the Coconut Scrapshop generously donated a $15 Gift Certificate for the lucky winner! Whooohooo - she has such fabulous stuff in her store, and many of the CHA products are already arriving and in stock. Isn't this awesome??? Thanks Jen, you are such a sweetie!! So, get to scrappin' ladies, I can't wait to see what you come up with! Okay, I have blathered on long enough, have a wonderful weekend!

TAMARA's SKETCH CHALLENGE!

Hi all!! I can't believe it is already Thursday - time sure does fly when you have swaps to do - LOL! But, today is time for Sketch Challenge 54 over at Tamara's! I love this one because it is a circle shaped card, and I just love those! I decided to use my Carousel notes for this one because they were perfect for this. And, I did not use one stamp - can you believe it???!!! I actually made this card using all Stampin' Up! rub-ons and I really like the way it turned out! And, I did use my Jumbo Eyelets as the spine to hold my Carousel Notes together as well, gotta love 'em! The ribbon is Certainly Celery. The center of the flower is a build-a-brad with yep, a rub-on in the center! Cool, huh?! The only thing not SU! are my little pearl accents, but I love them so I added them as well! So, make sure you head over to Tamara's site and check out what the rest of the gals on the DT did, I guarantee you won't be disappointed! And, if you do the sketch, make sure you upload it to the site so we can all come over to your blog and take a look! This is a quickie post - I have to drive to Sacramento (two hour drive) today for some VA military health appointments (someday they will all be done!) so I will be gone all day without getting to do my blog surfing!! So, I will see you all tomorrow!!

FRESH CUTS SWAP CARD

Happy Hump Day!!! I have been very busy trying to get all my swap cards done for Convention. I really don't like mass producing cards, but it seems the best way to do this....so I made twenty of these with my Fresh Cuts set. I know in the pic it looks like I used purple but it really is Bashful Blue, I don't know why it came out this way - sorry! I kept it simple and have not decided whether or not to add brads to all of them or not - I mean, that IS a lot of brads, but I like the way it looks. What do you think??? I used my Scalloped Edge Punch again, I am definitely addicted - lol!! This card is pretty simple, so I will leave you with a recipe! I have some design team responsibilities to catch up on today, so it will be a day in the scrap room for me (poor me, lol!) Tyler went camping, Kayla is at a friends, Tony is at work.....ahhhhhh, the house is ALL MINE!!!! I love days like this! I hope you all have a fabulous day!
Card Recipe: (all products are Stampin' Up!)
Paper - Basic Black, Bashful Blue,and Naturals White card stock
Ink - Bashful Blue Classic Stampin' Pad, Black Stazon
Stamp set - Fresh Cuts
Accessories - Scalloped Edge Punch, 1 3/8 inch Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, White Narrow grosgrain ribbon, black brads

IT'S PASTA TIME!

Hi all!! Well, I have to say, I have received more emails and comments from people I have never spoken to before who all saw my stuff at CHA and took the time to compliment me on them - how nice is that??!! I tell ya, crafters are a very special group of people, and I love being a part of this world!! So, thanks to all of you!! And, for those of you kind enough to ask, yep, 2.5 pounds DOWN at WW yesterday - whoohoo for me!!!Today I am sharing with you the recipe swap card I made for Courtney's monthly swap - if you want in on this, all you have to do is sign up! I tell ya, I have received some wonderful cards, and I am building quite a nice recipe book!! This month was some sort of casserole so I chose my chicken spaghetti, a hit with everyone! I made twelve of these this time - one extra for my friend Melissa who could not sign up this month due to other commitments....so M, one of these is on its way to you!!!! I tried to keep this one a little more simple than the other ones because I have so many swaps to do for Convention, but I still thought it came out cute! Everything used is Stampin Up! except I did cute the letters out with my Cricut! I will leave you with the recipe, now I am off to blog hop!! Toodles!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Garden Green, Naturals White card stock, Cutie Pie Designer Series Paper
Stamps - Voila to Go
Inks - Close to Cocoa classic stampin' ink (recipe printed on computer)
Accessories - Old Olive narrow Grosgrain Ribbon, 1 3/8 inch Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch

ANOTHER NEW SNEAKY PEEK!!

Happy Monday all! I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! We went to the peach festival in a neighboring town with my SIL and her husband, and we had a great time! We opted not to take the kids, but to make it an adult night out, and it was a lot of fun! Can you say peach margaritas!! Whoohoo, they were yummy! Yesterday I spent making some of my convention swaps and I am going to share one of them here today. I used a brand new set from Stampin' Up! called Sock Monkey - isn't he adorable! I think so, I just love this little guy and had so much fun playing with him!! I used some of the yummy new dp Bella Rose on this card and ended up doing some masking so it looks like he's holding a bouquet of bananas. I did not want to paper piece since I made 25 of these (and well, only have one pack of the new dp) so I colored my image in using my Stampin' Write markers then took my white gel pen and added the polka dots to simulate the paper! The scallops were made using my new scallop edge punch - oh, how I love that new punch!! I am pleased with how this came out, but they did take awhile as I made so many of them - here is a peak of the bunch I made sitting on my workbench:! Lots and lots of monkeys holding bananas - lol! But, they will make great swaps for Convention and I am glad I have managed to get some of these done!! I will share another one with you tomorrow but now I have to run to Weight Watchers and see how this week went! I was good, so I am hoping for there will be less of me - LOL! I will leave you with the recipe, then I am outta here! 'Till tomorrow, toodles!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Kraft, So Saffron card stock, Bella Rose Designer Series Paper
Inks - Brown stazon, Summer Sun, Old Olive, Mellow Moss, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Cameo Coral Stampin' Write markers
Stamp sets - Sock Monkey
Accessories - Large Oval Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Very Vanilla narrow grosgrain ribbon, Old Olive narrow grosgrain ribbon, Stampin' dimensionals

RETIRING STUFF....AND AN AWARD!

DISOUNTED RETIRING ACCESSORIES

Stampin' Up! has released a partial list of retiring accessories and they're discounted by 25%, while supplies last. Here's the list.........
Item # - Item Price - listed after discount
109117 167 Pocket Notes assortment $7.46
110479 168 Jersey Shore Designer Series paper $7.46
110699 168 East Coast Prep Designer Series paper $7.46
109159 169 Flowers For You Designer Series paper $7.46
110273 169 Spring Fling Designer Series paper $7.46
110748 170 Notebook Designer Series paper $7.46
109153 170 Porcelain Prints Designer Series paper $7.46
110751 171 Azure Designer Series paper $7.46
109164 171 River Rock Prints Designer Series paper $7.46
109175 171 Almost Amethyst Prints Designer Series paper $7.46
109168 171 Groovy Guava Prints Designer Series paper $7.46
109169 171 Close to Cocoa Prints Designer Series paper $7.46
110284 182 Eastern Elegance Rub-Ons $8.21
110285 182 Urban West Rub-Ons $8.21
110281 182 Cherished Memories Rub-Ons $8.21
109185 190 Jersey Ribbon Originals $9.71
109187 190 District Ribbon Originals $9.71
109189 190 Beachfront Ribbon Originals $9.71
110716 191 Wild Wasabi striped grosgrain ribbon $5.96
109062 191 River Rock double-stitched grosgrain ribbon $6.71
Hodgepodge Hardware Kits that are also 25% off, while supplies last, price listed is after the 25% discount.
105532 188 Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware $20.96
105531 188 Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware $20.96
105515 188 Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware $20.96

If you are interested in placing an order, just send me an email!! Hurry, these won't last forever!
Don't forget to check back tomorrow for the complete list of retiring accessories!!

And, look what I got from some fabulous people! This award came from Charmaine, who is one very talented lady and who inspires me everyday with her gorgeous creations! Thanks to you, my friend, this means a lot coming from you! Now, I am supposed to pick seven - is that all I can pick??!!! I visit many wonderful blogs daily that inspire me, so it is hard to pick just seven!! So, I wanted to pick some that I discovered recently who I love!! Here they are in no particular order:

Dani - Dani Gets Crafty

Christi - Story About a Girl

Marilyn - Stamp With Marilyn

Lee - My Reality...It's All Good

Jessie - Can You Say???...Addicted to Stamps!

Donna - Serenity in Stamping

Angie - Schwooo!

Thanks for inspiring me everyday ladies! Smooches!

SCRAPBOOK SATURDAY - MADE WITH NEW PRODUCTS FROM BLACK MARKET SOCIETY!

Happy Saturday all!!! Here are two layouts that I made using the new line from Black Market Society called When the Weather is Fine! I love this paper, the pics just don't do it justice! These pages are proudly on display at CHA right now!! And, the new line will be available at Coconut Scrapshop so make sure you stop in and order yours! This first layout features two of their pattern paper in this line plus some of their cutouts that I used for tags all over the page!! I freehanded the curves to give the feeling of waves on the page, painted, glued, and glittered a little wooden doodle, and added two prima flowers with Stampin' Up! clear buttons in the center. If you look closely under the buttons, you will notice that there is another piece of dp plus a SU!rubon on top of the button! These pics are me and my sis at Big Bear Lake, isn't she beautiful! And yes, I am brave putting myself out there in a swimsuit but hey, it is what it is!!! This second layout I went a completely different way to show how versatile this line of paper is. This gorgeous girl is my oldest son's girlfriend of three years, Nikki - these are her senior pictures. I actually took her outfit shopping and took her to her senior photo shoot (Nikki does not have the best home life and has become like a daughter to me) so these pics are extra-special to me! For this layout, I used three different patterns of When the Weather is Fine line, using two of them and cutting them into even sized squares, then sewing them all together to create the centerpiece for the page. The letters in the title are cut out using the third pattern, pulling all the page elements together. I used my new stamp Stampin' Up! set Dreams Du Jour thinking it perfect for this theme! And, I added some rubons (well a lot of them really!) as well as some flowers with some flower brads in the center. There are little pearl accents all over the page, some buttons, and a chipboard bird that I painted and glittered, then mounted over a scalloped circle out of the dp. I am pleased with how both of these layouts came out and I am hoping that the Black Market Society folks like them too! Thanks for stopping by, it means more to me than you will ever know! Have a fabulous weekend - smooches!!!