FOUR WHEELIN', A SNEAK PEEK, AND SOME CARDS FOR THE TROOPS!

Hang on to your panties girls, this is a long post because I have LOTS to share today - LOL! First, here is my scrapbook page for Scrapbook Saturday! Tyler and Kayla love riding around our property on our quad! These pictures were taken a couple of months ago and Tyler actually let Kayla drive - and I discovered what a speed demon my daughter is, lol!! Seriously though, they are very careful and Tony and I are always out there with them. I thought these pictures were awesome because they are actually doing something together, having fun, without getting into arguments and yelling at each other - which seems to happen more and more frequently *sigh* so I treasure these moments! So, for this page I used my August kit from Coconuts which featured the Rose Moka paper line - fabulously yummy paper!! This kit also came with a brown lace patterned paper which I used because I thought it was perfect for this layout! The letters were cut using my Cricut and the big number 4 is a piece of chipboard from Stampin' Up! Onboard set. I stamped the little wheels from the Loads of Love truck stamp because I thought it would add a little something! The tag I made using my Tag Punch, and I added a Jumbo eyelet with some Chocolate Chip and Always Artichoke narrow grosgrain ribbon. The buttons are also from my kit - Jen always packs her kits FULL of embellishments which I love and use them all every month!!! I am very happy with this layout, the kit worked fabulously with my pics, I just LOVE this paper! It is all gone, but not to worry, September is right around the corner and the kit for September is in one word - AMAZING!!!! So, I am going to give ya some sneak peeks into what this kit has - you are going to want to rush on over there and buy this kit, I am tellin' ya! This kit from the Coconut Scrapshop will feature the paper line from Mollie and Mac, which is new to me but these papers are just fabulous - check them out!!! And, check out the sheer scroll album from Maya Road that Jen is including - I just love it!! There are so many cool things in this kit! Here is a list of what is going to be included: Heidi Swapp Journaling Spots, Cat eye blue ink, bazzill Adorn it Sticky note pad paper, Brown Gems,
Adorn it Tan Alphabet stickers, maya road damask sheer ribbon, maya road sheer scroll frame book, and brads or eyelets. And did you know that first time buyers can get their kit for only $15???? Yep, if you have never bought a kit before, just use the code "Firsttimebuy1" and you will get $10 off - what a deal!! So, what are you waiting for - get on over there and order this kit (well, after you finish reading my post, lol!) And, tell Jen that I sent ya! And, last but by no means least, here is the Cards for the Troops stuff I promised to share! I was very excited about how it went - my goal was 100 cards, and we made 140! My goal for coffee was ten pounds, and we got twenty-two pounds - whoohoo!! So, I will be shipping all of this to Iraq and Afghanistan! And, he has asked me if I would do this again over the holidays since it went so well this time - and of course I will!! But, I am also asking YOU all to send me holiday cards for the Troops for them to send home to their families and friends! Why??? Well, because when you do an event of this magnitude, I have to keep the cards really simple and I would like to add some cards that have just a little more to them from talented peeps such as yourself!! So, if you are interested in sending Halloween, Thankgiving, and Christmas card to the troops, send me an email and I will send you the addy to mail them to along with my heartfelt appreciation!! There will be more information forthcoming on this as we get into the holiday months!! Here are a couple of pictures from yesterdays event - and yes, I have their permission to post these, lol! It was kind of funny really, I had way more interest from the guys who came in than the ladies, none of them wanted to stamp - go figure!! It was lots of fun though and I am very glad I did it! This first pic is of the stations I had set up at the table - one for each type of card. The next ones are some of the people kind enough to take some time and stamp a card and more importantly, donate coffee to ship! Look, even my honey showed up and stamped!! Gotta love that man- well,

you don't, but I certainly do!!! I mean, just look at him - stampin' away! That's love right there - LOL! Okay, I have probably put all of you to sleep or you have left by now, but if you have not and you read this whole post, I really do appreciate and love ya for it!!!! Smooches all - have a fabulous weekend!

SCHOOL SOMETHINGS - AND MY FIRST POP UP CARD!

WOW!! Friday already - this has got to be the fastest week ever!!! But, I love Fridays because it means no homework, no rushing, and STAMP SOMETHING CHALLENGE, whoohoo!! This week's challenge is School Somethings - anything you want to do as long as it has something to do with school. Scrapbooking, cardmaking, 3d items, whatever you want! So, I got to thinking, do I want to scrapbook or make a card - and then, I thought, why not combine both? Now this is not something I have ever done before, but I do like it and think this makes a nice family card to send (like my mom!) because it has a little of both!! Since I have never done this before, you will have to let me know what you think! This is Kayla on her first day of school this past Monday! She is getting to the point where she hates me taking that annual photo - just look at that face!! (sorry it is fuzzy, but it was really late when I took this picture!) But, I will do it until she graduates, just like I did her brother and her other brother before him - LOL! Even with that face, she is still a cutie though! At least when she is not being sassy (must be the age, it is KILLIN' ME!) Make sure you get on over to the Stamp Something Site and check out what the other DT members did this week, they are sure to WOW! you! And, why not give it a try yourself and upload your link to the site? You might just get chosen as a GDT - how awesome is that??!!! I would also like to share with you this free standing pop-up card I made - it was the Weekly Inkling on Splitcoast this week and I just had to try it! I am thrilled with how this came out, and although you can fold it flat and mail it (love this!) I think I will use it as a halloween decoration! I can see myself making some more of these - there are so many cute things you can do with this design!! Thanks to MaryJo Albright for sharing this tutorial this week - she rocks!!! So, I will leave you with the recipes, off to get the dreaded mammogram - uggghhhh!!! I will post pics of the Cards for the Troops Event tomorrow, it went REALLY well!! And, since tomorrow is Saturday, I will have another scrapbook page for you!! And, if that's not all, you will get a sneak peek at the Coconutty September Kit - can I just tell ya how yummy this kit is?????? Maya Road, beautiful papers, ack - it is fabulous!! So, make sure you stop by so you don't miss anything! Toodles!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Brilliant Blue, Naturals White card stock, Patterns 6x6 paper (hostess set)
Inks - Pink Passion Stampin' Write marker, White gel pen
Stamps - One Smart Cookie
Accessories - Small Star Punch, Large Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch, Very Vanilla narrow grosgrain ribbon, mini glue dots, Ticket Corner Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Silver Brads

Pop-up Card Recipe:

Paper - Only Orange, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Black, Naturals White card stock, Ghostly Greetings Designer Series Paper

Inks - Only Orange Classic Stampin Pad, Black Stazon Ink, Gable Green and Only Orange Stampin' Write Markers

Stamps - Booglie Eyes, Haunting Halloween

Accessories - Kiwi Kiss double striped ribbon, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8 inch Circle Punch, Sticky tape, Tag Punch, Jumbo Eyelet, Crop-a-dile, Old Olive, Only Orange, Basic Black narrow grosgrain ribbons

TAMARA'S SKETCH CHALLENGE - MY NEW FAVORITE!

Hi all!! Yep, it's Thursday again and guess what that means?? Another fab sketch from Tamara!! And, this one is totally my favorite out of all the ones we have done so far! I just love the four images in the corner and can see me playing around and moving them around - totally fun!! I made this card for an upcoming Christmas card class that I am having - one down, fourteen to go, lol!!! But hey, it's a start, right? *wink* So, make sure you head over to see what the rest of the Design Team did - this is the last week for a lot of them, and we will have some brand new designers next week! So, go and give a shout out to the gals, their creations are fantabulous!!! And, if you do the sketch, make sure you upload the link to the site so Tamara can show off your creations and we can all ooh and aaah!!!! As for me, I spent the last day and night cutting card stock and getting ready for my Cards for the Troops Event this afternoon! I am a little nervous as I am going to be by myself so I have decided to set it up in stations to make it easier on me AND them, lol!! Since I can display my stuff, I have chosen all the upcoming classes that I have and will have sign-up sheets available as well. I really hope this goes well, I think sometimes we build up our expectations and are inevitably let down by reality. I will let you know tomorrow how everything went!! Until then, here is the recipe for this card - toodles!!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Riding Hood Red, Pretty in Pink, Naturals White card stock, Bella Rose Designer Series Paper
Inks - Riding Hood Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Stamps - Deer Friends, Holidays and Wishes
Accessories - 5/8 inch chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon, button bouquet red button, ticket corner punch, scallop square punch, mini glue dots

CARD CLASS SAMPLE

Hi all!! Not a very inspiring title I know, but hey, it is what it is - LOL! And, this IS another card for my upcoming 6 for 10 card class. I thought I had shared it, but nope so I am doing so now!! I used some more of the yummy Bella Rose dsp and my two feature sets which are WOW Flowers and Eastern Blooms. This is a very simple card but I still think it came out pretty - what do you think? Today will be a very busy day for me - I have my Cards for the Troops Event tomorrow so I will spend the day getting ready for that plus I have some class projects that I need to finish up for my September classes - I swear, there does not seem to be enough time in the day to get everything done, lol! So, I will leave you with the recipe and I am off to cut LOTS o' cardstock!! Let's just hope LOTS o'people show up for it!! Hah - until tomorrow!! Toodles!
Card Recipe:
Paper - Riding Hood Red, Pirhouette Pink, Chocolate Chip card stock, Bella Rose Designer Series Paper
Inks - Riding Hood Red Classic stampin' ink
Stamps - Wow Flowers, Eastern Blooms
Accessories - 5/8 inch Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, 1/4 inch Circle Punch, Scallop Circle
Punch, 1 1/4 Inch Circle Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, mat stack and Paper piercer

UPSY DAISY AND TOPSY TURVY!!

Hi all!!! Well, I think the title of this post about sums it up - I stamped with Upsy Daisy and I feel like my life is Topsy Turvy! The card is made using Chris' sketch from Page Plans, and I love it! I used my new set Upsy Daisy and decided I wanted to have differing shades of colors on my daisies so I used my stampin' write markers, colored in different areas with different colors, took my blender pen and mixed them together and voila! a water colored image with different colors! This card reminds me of fall, I am sure it's the colors! I am really ready for fall - it is going to be around 108 here for the rest of the week and that is just too too hot for my blood!! I am ready for some cooler weather and some rain - we need it bad!!! Anyway, I digress....The dsp that I used is called Haiku and it is one of my favorites from the new catty (and I have a few, lol!) The Creamy Caramel piece of the card is a free form shape that I stamped in Close to Cocoa with my Sanded background stamp and cut with my paper snips. I then added some stitching because, well, because, lol!!! I really like the way this card turned out - I made it for my dad and his wife because right now my dad is dealing with having had to put my Grandpa in hospice care and the diagnosis is not looking to positive. It is very sad to me, I have been estranged from my grandparents for many years, but I do remember some very fun times as a child spending time with my Grandpa - he used to call me Al. My heart is sad, and I will miss him! And, I know my dad is having a hard time with all of this as my Grandma is not well either. So, just like I always do, I turn to my stamps to make me feel better, and hope that what I create will have the same effect on my dad. Here is the recipe.

Card Recipe:

Paper - Creamy Caramel, Naturals White, Old Olive card stock, Haiku Designer Series Paper

Inks - Close to Cocoa and Always Artichoke Classic Stampin' Pads, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, Really Rust, and More Mustard Stampin' Write Markers

Stamps - Upsy Daisy, Sanded background stamp

Accessories - Always Artichoke narrow grosgrain ribbon, mat stack and paper piercer, vintage brad, 1/4 inch Circle Punch (flower is from sizzix die birds and blooms),Ticket Corner Punch

This next card I made for my sister who is in the hospital after having really major surgery. With respect to her privacy, I will not share any details here, but this was a biggie and she is constantly on my mind! I just want her better and out of that hospital and home where she belongs so she can rest, heal, and be surrounded by those of us who love her! So, I wanted to make this card for her to let her know that I love her and I am thinking of her!! She is such a special person, I am very blessed that she is my sister - we are very different, but very close, and so I hate that she has to go through this! I love you Jeanne and I am sending you lots of big hugs and smooches!!!! So, I used my Upsy Daisy set again, but this time I used a lot more of the More Mustard and Really Rust for the colors. The dsp is Haiku again, and I used some of my fabulous Silver Hodgepodge hardware. I will leave you with the recipe for this one as well! And, for those of you emailing me about my knee, a huge thanks to you for thinking about me!! It is VERY sore, very swollen, and I get to go back to see Ortho today - and they are not optimistic. However, I have two weeks to prove them wrong, so I will be staying off it, and icing it regularly to try and get it to heal on its own!! Sheesh, this has been some week and it's only Tuesday - LOL! Thanks again for the sweet comments and well wishes, you all are the best!! Smooches to all of you!

Card Recipe:

Paper - Really Rust, Whisper White, Old Olive, So So Saffron card stock, Haiku Designer Series Paper

Inks - Old Olive Classic Stampin' pad, Really Rust, More Mustard, Old Olive Classic Stampin' Write markers

Stamps - Upsy Daisy

Accessories - Old Olive narrow grosgrain ribbon, Styling Silver Hodgepodge hardware, 1 inch, 3/4 inch, and 1/2 inch Circle Punches, Ticket Corner Punch, Sponge, Old Olive brad, Designer Label Punch, mini glue dots

IT'S THE BIG SHOT BABY!!!

Whoohoo!! I got some time to play this weekend with my new Big Shot and I had a blast!!! So fun and easy to use! So, I thought today I would share a couple of projects that I made using my dies and stamps! The first project is a scrapbook page I did using Lesli's Sketch from Pageplans. I have been dying to play along again and I had some time so I took advantage of it! Of course, I am probably way past the deadline date, but hey, I did it, right?? So, for this layout I used my new Decorative Strip die called Join in the Cheer for my title. I think it has a lot of uses and can see me using this for Christmas, family moments, etc. I chose it for this page because it describes EXACTLY what my children bring into my life! I cut chipboard first, then sent my dsp through the machine and, using my glue stick, adhered it - it worked perfectly! Then, I used the flowers from the Birds and Blossoms Sizzlits set to embellish my page - and yes, I added brads to the centers of two but could not resist adding a Jumbo Eyelet to see how it would look - and I LOVE it, LOL! The stamps are from the set I got free at Convention called Inspired By Nature because I thought it fit the pictures beautifully since my kids were sitting in our old wooden trailer out behind the house - and yes, they were goofing around, but I love to see them like this and was happy to catch these moments on film! The next project I did is a card. I decided to use my Baskets and Blooms Die for this one because there are so many different elements to it. I just love that outlined daisy and the variety of other flowers on this die!! I also used my Top Note Die for the Big Centerpiece with the decorative edges - just love this!! I used a piece of my 6x6 dsp that came in one of my hostess gifts and it was the perfect size - gotta love it! I used two stamp sets for this one as well! This was a fun card to put together, lots of elements, but I like how it came together! I will leave you with a full recipe for both projects, then I am running out the door (actually hobbling with my bum knee) to go to Weight Watchers. The last three weeks I have not gained nor lost so I am really hoping to have moved off my plateau this week! Chat with you all tomorrow - toodles!
Page and Card Recipe:
Paper - More Mustard, Really Rust, Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, and So Saffron card stock; Kraft Patterns Designer Series paper (hostess level I gift)
Inks- Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Pads, Really Rust Stampin' Write Marker
Stamps - Wow Flowers, Eastern Blooms, Inspired by Nature
Accessories - Old Olive narrow grosgrain ribbon, Old Olive Brads, Small and Large Oval Punches, 3/4 inch circle punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Crop-a-dile, Jumbo Eyelets, Stampin' Dimensionals, Anywhere glue stick, mini glue dots, Build-a-brad
Big Shot Accessories - Birds and Blooms Sizzlits, Baskets and Blooms Die, Join in the Cheer Decorative Strip Die

HALLOWEEN TAG SWAP

Hi all!! WOW!! I have been so busy this weekend playing with all my new Stampin' Up! toys, I have tons to share, but tomorrow is when I will begin showing what I have been up to with my new Big Shot! Today I want to share these cute little Halloween tags I made for a recent swap I participated in over at the Coconut Scrapshop - too fun!! There are all kinds of fun swaps including an Halloween ATC swap that is still open if you are interested! So, I made a dozen or so of these little tags and everything is Stampin' Up! except the dp along the bottom which is imaginesce, isn't it cute??!! I had not received any of my dp yet from the new catty, but this fit in nicely with my theme and hey, I love it!! The stamp set is Batty for You, which is totally cute and perfect for Halloween cards! And, I used some of my fave punches, like the new Scallop Edge Punch and of course my Circle Scallop punch which works so well with my other Circle Punches because they all nest together perfectly! And, no project would be complete without my Jumbo eyelets, I just love them!! I mean, I got three pieces of ribbon threaded through that baby, lol! I had great fun with these - see my boogly eyes?? No, they are not Stampin' Up! either, I don't know who makes them, I just have a huge container full and thought they would be cute!! And, Jen loved them so that is all that mattered to me *wink* Speaking of Jen, she has a fabulous offer going on right now at Coconuts - if you join her monthly kit club, she is giving a free album (worth $25) away for FREE!!! WHOOOHOO - I mean, who doesn't love free???? And, check this album out - it is not a cheapy one, it's REALLY nice! It's an expandable 12x12 post-bound album that includes 20 pages and 10 top-loading page protectors!!! It's totally beautiful and yours FREE if you sign up for either a 3 or 6 month membership - and then you get a kit filled with beautiful items coming to your door every month!! So, check it out and let Jen know I sent ya!! Here is the link:

http://coconutscrapbooking.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=27&products_id=2027

So, I am off to my SILs to barbecue and watch the guys shoot clay pigeons in preparation for the start of dove season next weekend! I am not a huge fan of hunting, but my husband loves it, grew up doing it, and is thrilled to get to hunt with his dad again so who am I to rain on his parade! So, I will quietly eat my bratwurst and think happy stampin' thoughts - LOL! Until tomorrow, enjoy the rest of your weekend! Smooches!