A VALENTINES DAY POCKET CARD

Hi all! Today I am going to show you a pocket card I made with the Happy Heart Stamp Set. I am doing a workshop with this set next week and have been playing with it a lot to see what I can come up with. I am definitely not thrilled with this card - something about it bugs me! But, I am going to share it anyway and see what you think! Here is a picture of the card put together with the pullout still in it. I made the scallops with my 1/4inch circle punch (I have never been able to figure it out the other way) by adhering the circles to the back of the flap since I knew the flap would be sealed down anyway. The base of this card is Real Red, not a color I used often, but perfect for Valentines, don't you think? Then, the front is layered with Kraft which is what I used for my pullout as well. I did round all the edges as well to give the card a softer look. And, here is a picture with the insert pulled out. Nothing really hard about this card, pretty self-explanatory so if you have any questions, feel free to ask! I DO read every comment and try and answer every single question I get. But, no harassing me over using my jumbo eyelets again - I can't help myself I tell ya - I love those things! And, I did get a couple of questions about my stitching and what kind of machine I used. Okay, guys, Alex DOES NOT SEW!!! I tried, bought a mahine, took sewing classes, and failed miserably. All of my stitching on my cards is faux stitching using my mat stack and paper piercer because I know that is the only way my cards will ever have stitching on them - LOL! Sad, but true!! Okay, on to today's fact.

FACT #6

My middle name is Ilse and it is a German name. In fact, my whole name is German - I was born there. In Bremerhaven, Germany, to be exact, which is Northern Germany. I am named for my Oma, which means Grandma in German. My mother met my father while he was stationed in Germany, and then we all moved back to the states when I was two. I did not get to see my grandparents very much growing up because they were so far away, and my grandma has since passed away. However, I feel like a piece of her is with me always since I am her namesake.

Well, that's it for today. Enjoy your weekend!

I HAVE BEEN TAGGED - MULTIPLE TIMES!!!!!

Okay, Okay I give :-) I have been tagged by lots of different people for things so let me see: the first is the Share the Love Award which I received from Kathleen of My Happy Place and Amy from AmyG.Designs. A big {{cyber hug}} to both of you - I visit these ladies' blogs everyday, they are supertalented, but more important, they are totally wonderful and warm women who I enjoy blogging with and hope to meet in person someday! Now, I have to nominate three people and I am going to nominate three that always visit my blog, always have wonderful, kind things to say, and have awesome blogs themselves (this actually could describe many more than three but three is what I am allowed). So here they are!
Melisssa from Simply Pink
Dawn from TreasureOilerDesignz
Debbie from StudioBeeCreations
If you have never been to their blogs before, go check them out, they are truly talented and wonderful people! Okay, on to the next tag - whew! I have been tagged by three different people for the same tag! They are Lulu, Erin, and Tracy two of which are in my SBS9 sisterhood group and one from a neighboring sisterhood group! Thanks gals!
This is called the middle name game. Here are the rules...
1. You must post the rules before you give your answers.
2. You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name.
3. After you've been tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and answers.
4. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged & need to read your blog for the details.)Well, here goes..
I love to stamp, scrapbook, and create, it is a passion of mine!
Love to meet new people and make new friends
Sit at my computer probably way more than I should
Eating is a hobby I should probably get rid of, but dang, food is good - LOL!

So, there you have it. I am sure you are wondering about my middle name - it is ILSE, and it is german. Stay tuned tomorrow for more facts about my middle name and why I have it! So, I know I am supposed to tag people, but everyone seems to have been tagged for this so if you have not, consider yourself tagged! Have a great night!

A LITTLE BOX OF GOODIES

Yahoo - Friday at last!! I don't know about you, but this seemed like a REALLY long week to me!! Maybe because my daughter was home with the stomach flu for three days - ughhh!! If there is one thing I hate cleaning up...well, you get the picture! Today I want to share with you a little treat box that I saw on Cambria's blog. I had asked her for the directions and she was kind enough to post them on her blog. If you have never seen her creations, you are really missin' out because she has mad stampin' skills! Thanks Cambria! So, here is the box. The one thing about this box I did find out is you must be VERY precise with your scoring because if you are off even a teeny little bit, it does not fold correctly (this was my second attempt - LOL!) But, once you get it, it comes together pretty quickly! As you can see, the box comes together on each side with my favorite embellishment (this week *wink*) jumbo eyelets. You just thread the ribbon through each side (I used Pixie Pink ribbon)and it pulls the box together. I used Kraft for my base and stamped the little flower all over it from Happy Heart. It is stamped in Pixie Pink ink and highlighted with my white gel pen. That is all there is to it! The cello bag is actually a medium size and I think the large would look better inside this box. But, I did not have any, so medium it is. I stamped the outside of the bag with the little butterfly from Happy Heart and used white stazon. It is hard to see in this picture but it looks really cute IRL. The tag is actually from the same stamp set mounted on Kraft and Pixie Pink punched tags and highlighted again in gel pen. Then, I used chocolate chip ribbon through another jumbo eyelet that you cannot see in the picture. If I had to do it all over again, I would not do this - I would just pull the bag together and tie with wide ribbon. Here is another picture showing it from another angle. I really like this little box and think it has great potential for many different types of gifts so I see myself playing around a little with this one. And now, to answer a few of your questions. Some of you wanted to know what song I sang - it was Martina McBride's Concrete Angel. I am a HUGE country music fan so that is pretty much all I listen to. The other question was did I have to stand up in front of everyone and sing and the answer is YES! It IS a little nerve racking but I really had fun and I would do it again! Now, on to the facts. Today is
FACT #5
I love to read and I am an avid reader. I read probably two to three books a week! It is my escape, a lot like stamping is. I read mostly thrillers and political fiction and share this passion with my oldest son who reads everything that I read. So, we save money on books - LOL!

That's it for me today. I hope all of you have a fabulous weekend!!!

A CUTE HOSTESS GIFT - AND, FACT FOUR

So many of you left such kind and sweet things on my last post that I am overwhelmed! Thanks to all of you who thought enough to stop by and wish us a Happy Anniversary! Tony took me to a beautiful restaurant that is on the 6th floor of the casino - what a gorgeous place! And, the views - and the food - and the wine, oh, it was heaven!! He also brought me home a beautiful flower arrangement full of all my favorite pink and white and red flowers! I love that man!! And yes, he did love his card and laughed when he saw I had posted it since he did not have it yet!

Okay, now on to my new little hostess gift set I made. I saw this on someone's blog (not sure who) but if you know, let me know and I will give them proper credit. I thought it was a really cute idea and so I made one of my own! Here it is! Isn't it cute? The little bag fits two cards and envelopes. I made the theme thankyou since I want to give it as a hostess appreciation gift. I thought it came out pretty good if I do say so myself (and I am!) Both the bag and the cards use the new Ginger Blossom DP and everything coordinates. The handles of the bag are ribbon. Here are some close up pics of the two cards. I am not sure if you can tell, but I also stamped on the envelopes. I love using those jumbo eyelets, I think they add a lot. And of course, a little bling never hurt anyone *wink* so I added some rhinestone brads. I did a lot of stitching on both the cards and the bag as well as used several of my punches. I love punches! I also used my stencil to make the swirly design, just flipped it on its side so it does not look like a water spout anymore - LOL! The stamp set I used was Stitched Exotics and the sentiments come from the stamp set Much Appreciated which is very appropriate for this little project! Here is a closeup of the bag. The first pic is the front of the bag, the second is the back, and the third is the sides so you can see what I did. As you can see, these sides of the bag coordinate with the cards - too fun! I loved making this and see myself making lots more as gifts! I did not list the recipe for this so if anyone has any questions, feel free to email me and I will answer them, okay? And, I know this is a long post (sorry! ) but I cannot finish until I post fact number four in my quest for 100 facts. So here it is!
FACT #4

I entered a karaoke contest in Hawaii and took second place out of 150 contestants - I won $500! It was on the beach at a party thrown at one of the resorts our friends were staying at and we had a great time AND I earned scrappin' money!!

Have a wonderful day! I hope I did not bore you too much!!!

15 YEARS AND LOVIN' EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

Edited to add: FACT#3 - My husbands nickname for me is Sana(pronounced Sauna) - when we were dating, I told him that is what my sister called me when we were little because she could not pronounce Alexandra. He has called me that every since, teasing me with my childhood nickname!
Hi all! Today is my 15th year anniversary - yep, I have been married to the wonderful man in this picture for fifteen of the best years of my life! I hear wives complaining about their husbands all the time, never having anything good to say, but I have to tell you, Tony is my best friend and I love being around him and doing things with him! In fact, when he is away, I feel like a piece of me goes with him! So, I am happy to celebrate this fabulous occasion with him! Okay, enough of getting sappy! I made him a special card that I will share with you all here today BUT there is a message on the top inside of the card that I edited in on photoshop just for this post because I know he is going to be reading my blog today and I want him to see it - teehee! So, here it is! This is a very simple card with a very simple message - love. And, I do, with all my heart! And, here is the inside!



Yes, I call my husband Hoss and have for years. Corny I know, but so what - he loves it! And, tonight he is taking me out to dinner but won't tell me where, just that he has it all planned! So, I cannot wait - I will share with you all tomorrow! Until then, here is the recipe for the card!
Card Recipe: (all supplies SU!)
Paper - Basic Black, Real Red, Whisper White
Stamp Sets - Circle of Friendship, Lots of Thoughts(SAB set),
Stitched Exotics
Inks - Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad, Real Red
Stampin' Write Marker
Accessories - Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Large and Small
Tag Punch, Mat Stack and Paper Piercer, BB Brads

SALE-A-BRATION - WHOOHOO! AND, FACT TWO

Hi all! Well, the first of February is almost here and you know what that means, right? Stampin' Up! Sale-A-Bration month baby!! I love it - free stamps AND rub-ons??? I mean, come on, who doesn't? And, the stamp sets and rub-ons are so stinkin' cute, I love them all! As a demo, I was able to preorder some SAB stuff and you know I did *wink*. So, here's the deal: for every $50 in Stampin' Up! product purchased you receive a free Stampin' Up! Sale-a-bration stamp set or set of rub-ons. Hostesses receive a free set for every $300 in party sales. New recruits can get ANY stamp set free(up to 47.95)from the current catalog, and current demonstrators can earn free stamp sets based on sales during Sale-a-bration. Pretty cool, huh? I know I love it! Today's card is made with the SAB set So Many Scallops which I love because it works so well with our Circle Scallop punch. And, all the SAB sets are die cut so I had it mounted in like ten seconds! I love that! So, here is the card. I love the way the Jumbo Eyelets fit right in the middle of the flowered sayings, I think it really adds some pop to the card. I used the same stamps for the background as well which pulls all the layers together. The flowers are popped up on dimensionals at differing heights to give the feeling of a bouquet. And, of course my DP is the yummy Ginger Blossom in the new catalog. The rest of the card is pretty self-explanatory and the recipe is below. Before I get to that though, I need to leave my second fact of the 100 for my scrapbook page challenge so here goes:
FACT #2
My husband and I have two anniversaries and we celebrate both. We got married in a small civil ceremony on 30 January 1993 for home buying purposes. However, we had a huge wedding on 22 May 1993, which is the only one family knew about until recently. And, tomorrow will be 15 years for us - whoo hoo!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Kraft, Cameo Coral, Whisper White, Ginger Blossom DP
Stamps - So Many Scallops, Much Appreciated (for the sentiment)
Inks - Black Stazon, Cameo Coral, Pretty in Pink, Mellow Moss
Accessories - Corner Rounder, Circle Scallop Punch, Dimensionals,
Jumbo Eyelets, Cropadile, Very Vanilla Grosgrain, Vintage brads

STINKIN' SWEET AND A FACT A DAY

Here it is, Monday again - where does the time go?? This weekend flew by! So, I have a couple of things to share with you today. One, by bloggin' friend Angel from Angelosity has extended a fun challenge to us bloggers. She is reporting a fact a day about herself for 100 days and at the end of the 100 days, those facts will be put together in a scrapbook page that we will all share with each other. How cool is that??!! I am totally going to do this - I think it is a great thing to be able to share facts about yourself and think of what a wonderful page you will have for your family when you are done! So, are you in?? Get over there and let her know and me know so we can all check out each others posted facts! So, here is my first one.
FACT #1
I have lived in three different foreign countries (Germany, Scotland, and Italy) and eight different states(Hawaii, Virginia, Maryland, Maine, Florida, California, New Jersey, and Washington DC(not a state but a place)) in my lifetime because my dad was a career Navy officer and so was I.
Okay, who's next??!! Come on - this will be fun!
So, on to my card. I used my other favorite new stamp set Pun Fun - it has the cutest little images and sayings! For this card, I used the little skunk because it is sooo cute and fun to color too! This card is actually for a friend of mine and is already in the mail but I wanted to share it. I hope you like it! Recipe is at the bottom! Have a great day!
Card Recipe: (all supplies SU!)
Paper - Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Whisper White
Stamp Sets - Pun Fun, Stitched Exotics (background flower)
Accessories - Corner Ticket Punch, RR brads, Blue Bayou Double stitched Ribbon, Stampin' Write Markers, Blender Pen, Black Stazon

BEATE'S WEEKEND SKETCH CHALLENGE

Good afternoon all! Today is a quick post but I wanted to show you the card I made for Beate's weekend sketch challenge. I love this layout because it is simple and clean - in fact, I am going to use it for one of my workshop cards since they are all beginner stampers and I think this would be perfect - thanks Beate!!! So, for this card I chose the SU! set Pun Fun because I love all the cute little images and sayings that match! I chose the whale because I have been dying to ink him up and today seemed like the day! I did a lot of layering on this card (I love to layer, I can't help myself!) and I faux stitched all of them. I used my stampin' write marker to ink the whale so that I could use the sentiment separately. It worked out pretty "whale" - tee hee! I am trying to get the hang of the chalk thing - I have never been a big user but it is a very versatile medium and so I really want to master it. Any tips would be gratefully received!! The stencil and piercing to the side of the image is from the Classy Brass template from SU! called Priceless - I used this because it reminds me of water spouts which I thought was perfect for my little whale card. I added some dazzling diamonds too just to give the water effect. The rest is pretty self-explanatory and the recipe is below. Thanks for stopping by - I appreciate every comment and yes, I read every single one of them and respond! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!!!
Card Recipe: (all supplies are SU!)
Stamp Set: Pun Fun
Paper: Night of Navy, Brocade Blue, Whisper White
Accessories: Paper piercer and mat stack, stampin' write
markers, stampin' pastel chalks, dazzling diamonds,
two-way glue, blender pen, slit punch, EE brad, large
and small oval punch, dimensionals