Merry Christmas!

Hello everyone! I  know it's been a really long time since my last post. This has been a tough holiday season this year with the lost of my mom. Seems like I can't keep up with everything anymore. I know that time heals all, so  hopefully I'll be able to get back to things soon. I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Here's a picture of Monster and Chloe getting ready for Christmas. As you can tell Monster was not happy about this, and Chloe is definitely laughing at him. DD #3 and I had a ball dressing them up and taking the pictures. These two dogs have been such a joy this year, I feel very blessed to have them!

Do you have a New Year's Resolution? Mine is to post more often, so hopefully you'll see more from me!! ;) Well, I hope each of you have a wonderful Christmas. Take care and enjoy your family and friends, but remember what this holiday is all about, the birth of our Lord Jesus.

Dynamic Duos #78

Hey everyone! So aside from last night's post, it's been awhile since I posted. I went on vacation for a week and it seemed like I got behind by a month! lol Almost not worth going, kind of. ;) So I finished prepping for a workshop I'm giving on Friday and I thought I'd create something for fun. I went over and checked out what this week's challenge is over at Dynamic Duos and decided to join in the fun. This week's challenge is "Subtly Yours" using Always Artichoke and Crumb Cake. I still have a few projects to create for a Christmas Card class I'm giving on Saturday so I killed two birds with one stone. Always trying to multitask! :)

 My Always Artichoke ink pad is one of the new foam pads which tend to be really juicy so I through on some clear embossing powder to make the tree pop. Then added some bling with Dazzles. I sponged the label with some Crumb Cake to give it a hazy effect.

I think it turned out kind of vintagey, which I really like but hardly ever achieve the effect. If you get a chance, head over to DD and play along. Have a great evening and I thank you for stopping by.

All Supplies SU! unless noted:

Cardstock: Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Ink: Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip
Markers: Always Artichoke, Soft Suede
Die Cut: Spellbinders
Retired Ticket Corner Punch
Stamp sets: Special Season, Christmas Tagables, Christmas Messages
Basic Jewels
Clear embossing powder
Dazzles

Happy Veterans Day!

I know this is really late in posting, but I wanted to thank all the veterans, current and past, before this special day ended. And most especially, one very close to my heart, my beloved dad. 5 years ago tomorrow he went home to the Lord. He was the most patriotic person I have ever known, so it was no coincidence that he suffered a fatal stroke on this special day. Thank you to all the service personnel that put their lives on the line so that we may live in freedom. Have a good evening, and I thank you for stopping by.

Vegas Baby!

Hey everyone! Happy Wednesday! How is your week going? Mine will be short because we just got back from visiting DD #2 in Las Vegas. She moved down there in May and we have finally been able to go and visit her. All I can say, WOW! It's been a long time since we've been there and boy, has it changed!! So many new hotels and restaurants and I think we walked to all of them! lol We had such a good time and are so proud of her. It was really hard to come home and leave our baby, but the holidays aren't that far away.

While we were gone I found that I had won an Honorable Mention Award over at Dynamic Duos for my fall leave card! How cool is that? I'm hoping to get in my room tomorrow and create something for this week's challenge!!

Have a great week and I thank you for stopping by!

WCMD and Another Challenge

Hey everyone! Have you been enjoying your day celebrating World Card Making Day? I was able to get several cards done and this one was created for the challenge over at Fab Friday. Their challenge this week is a color challenge using Tango Tangerine, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, and Basic Black which is perfect for a Halloween card.

One of the things I really like about SU!'s cardstock is that the colors match everything, including other company's products. Yesterday when I was out running errands I ran into Joann's and I found some washi tape in one of the dollar bins. I have fallen in love with washi tape since I got my first roll from SU! in May. This card was made using SU!'s washi tape and some of the tape I got yesterday, which is the white with skulls and the white with purple and green eek, which matches RR and OO. The other two strips of washi tape are from the Witch's Brew in the Holiday catalog. Then I added some TT ribbon which was from SAB in January and some RR ribbon which is in the current catalog. I then used the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set using TT, RR, and OO inks. I cut the circles with the cricle framelits and a scalloped circle die set in my tool stash. The haunted house stamp is from the Best of Halloween set and I added some Basic Jewels for bling.

I continued the theme on the inside using the sentiment stamp from the Best of Halloween using RR ink. Well, I hope you enjoyed your day, I know I did and I thank you for stopping by.

World Card Making Day and a Challenge

Hello everyone! Happy World Card Making Day!! Can you imagine a national day just for one of our favorite hobbies??? How cool is that! So to celebrate I have been in my favorite room in the house (between loads of laundry, yuck!) trying to catch up on some cards needed in my life. I checked out this week's challenge over at Dynamic Duos which is to use Island Indigo and Cajun Craze. Island Indigo has to be one of my very favorite colors from SU! and I was very happy to see it become one of the new permanent colors after this year's refresh.

 Lately I've been trying to use up my scraps and I was able to fine everything for my card there. I used Cajun Craze for the card base and Island Indigo for the mat. It's always nice to have everything already cut for you, makes the card making a snap! I used the Magnificent Maple stamp from the new Holiday Catalog and stamped it on the card base using the Cajun Craze ink, then stamped it on Whisper White and used clear embossing powder over the ink and hit it with the heat gun. Loved the effect it made. That is one nice thing about our new foam ink pads, they are very juicy and take embossing powders very well. Then I used a dauber with some Island Indigo and sponged around the leaf. The sentiment stamp is from the retired set called Made For You. I really like the font on this set, it's just so cute! I used my white gel pen for the faux stitching and then added 3 of the new Regal Candy Dots in Cajun Craze. I popped it up with some dimensionals to give it some depth. The ribbon is some left over from Sale-A-Bration in Island Indigo.

Here's the inside of the card where I carried over the same theme. The sentiment stamp is also from the Made For You set.

Well, I hope you are enjoying World Cardmaking Day!! If you get a chance, go play some...it's makes for a great afternoon!! Thanks for stopping by!!

Sunday Evening

Hey everyone, how was your weekend? Mine was pretty good. Crafted with some girlfriends, enjoyed some overcast/cool weather while hanging with DH watching the Giants final game of the season and made 2 batches of jam, not to mention the various other chores. After everyone left on Saturday I thought I'd check out the new challenge over at Dynamic Duos. This week's challenge is to use pinks, Primrose Petals and Blushing Bride. Well, for me this screams BABY CARD!!! lol because did I tell you, I'm going to be a Nana?? lol

I used the Primrose Petals for the card base. The Blushing Bride was cut with the Large Scallop Edgelit and then embossed with the Delicate Designs folder. I had some left over Blushing Bride ruffled ribbon from when it was an In-Color and I thought was the perfect touch. The elephant stamp, stamped in Basic Gray, was from my stash, I think it was from Recollections. The sentiment stamps are from the Sweet Essentials stamp set stamped with Primrose Petals. Then I added some Dazzles and Rhinestone Basic Jewels, cute and blingy!!

So, can you tell I'm thinking "girl"?!? lol Although since we've never had any boys around, I'm thinking it could be fun except for there's so many more cute girly things to buy for babies!! ;) Either way, I know I'm going to have the cutest grandbaby ever!!

Well, that's about it for tonight. I hope you have a great week, and I thank you for stopping by.

Fall is Finally Here!

Hey everyone! How's your week going so far? I don't know how the weather is where you are, but it definitely feels like fall right now and I am just loving it! Fall is definitely my favorite time of year, the cooler weather, the warm colors of the leaves, and best of all, the family time. I love having my family at the house and cooking/baking for them. I don't cook much during the summer because of the heat, bbqing yes, but not a lot of baking. So for the next few months I'll be making up for lost time! ;)

Well, with fall in mind, I thought I'd share the cards from our workshop Friday night. The ladies had a good time and really enjoyed making these.

This card was made using the Regarding Dahlias stamp set that I received free for collecting 6 of the Best of stamp sets that SU! is releasing in celebration their 25th anniversary. The sentiment is from the Sweetly Framed stamp set that is available when you host a qualifying party.

This card was one I cased but tweaked a little bit. We used the September Best of Autumn stamp set and the Label Love stamp set with matching punch and the 3/4" scalloped circle punch for the sentiment. The ladies really loved the stretchy ruffle ribbon that is in the new in-colors. The leaf on the tiny clothes pin was punched with a punch from my stash, thought it coordinated well with the leaf stamps.

Then the third card was another I cased and tweaked some using the Papillion Potpourri stamps set and punches. The stamp set and bitty butterfly punch is on sale through the end of September for 15% off. The sentiment stamp is from the set called Four You.

I hope you liked the cards. If your are interested in any of the products on these cards, please feel free to contact me or you can go to my SU! website here and shop til you drop! lol

I hope you have a great week, and I thank you for stopping by my little blog!

Let the Cute Begin!

Happy Sunday everyone!!! We got some exciting news last night. I'm going to be a Nana! My DD #1 and her DH are expecting!! Woo hoo!!!! DH and I didn't think we'd ever be grandparents. I feel so very blessed! This year has been exceptionally hard for our family and this was just the happy news we needed!!

I wanted to participate in a couple of challenges, so what better theme than to celebrate our happy moment!! I am entering this in Dynamic Duos color challenge and Freshly Made Sketches sketch challenge. And what stamp is more perfect than this image from the Best of Brides and Babies. This image is perfect and really says it all. I intend to do some serious baby shopping in the next few months, because after all, how cute are babies?? lol

Thank you so much for stopping by, I have to go make my shopping lists! I hope you have a good rest of your weekend!.

All Supplies used from Stampin' Up!

Card stock: Pistachio Pudding, So Saffron, Whisper White
Ink: Soft Suede
Markers: Pistachio Pudding, So Saffron
Ribbon: Pistachio
Candy Dots: Soft Suede

Never Forget!!!

With thoughts and prayers for everyone affected. We will never forget!!!

Dynamic Duos Challenge #69

Hello everyone! Hope your weekend was a good one. DH and I spent the weekend in Medford, OR visiting his parents, who just moved up there, and celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary. I have always loved Southern Oregon, and it was so much cooler than here in Redding. Came home today and it's 102! Yuck!! Come on fall!!!  :)

So while laundry was going I thought I'd create a card for the challenge over at Dynamic Duos which is to use Old Olive and Pacific Blue colors this week. Since I didn't clean my room from the last challenge and making anniversary cards (DD and DSIL's is tomorrow), I still had some Old Olive scraps on my desk.

I have seen some different folds on several different websites lately and thought I'd make one for a change. I cut the Pacific Blue card base at 4 1/4" by 11 and scored it at 2 3/4" and 8 1/4", which when the tabs are folded in, you have a perfect A2 size card. The Old Olive mat is cut at 5 1/4" x 4" and the Whisper White is cut at 3 3/4" x 5", all basic mat sizes for this card.

And here's the inside of the card. I used the Petite Pairs stamp set for the sentiments and the Papillon Potpourri which is part of the Butterfly Bundle that's on sale for 15% off through the end of September. And of course I had to add some Dazzles to the some of the butterflies. Gotta have some bling with butterflies!

Well, time to get dinner on the table. I hope what's left of your weekend is good and that you have a fantastic week! I thank you for stopping by.

Happy Labor Day!

Hello everyone, remember me? :) I know it's been a long time since my last post, but life got in the way again. At the end of June my sweet mama took a fall and ended up in the hospital. Her health had been failing for awhile and her little body just couldn't fight any more. She went home to the Lord in early July and we've been taking care of things ever since. For those of you that have older parents, you know how over whelming it all can be. Some days it's all you can do to get through the next minute, but knowing that she's pain-free now and with my daddy has helped me make it this far. Thank goodness for my scrap room! Paper crafting really is my therapy!

I wanted to share a thank you card I made for someone and to get back into the swing of things, I'm going to enter it into Challenge #68 over at Dynamic Duo. This week's challenge was to use Perfect Plum and the second color is  your choice. I chose Old Olive which just seems to go so well together. I used the Simply Sketched stamp set that you can get with your hostess dollars when you a qualifying party or online order. This set is so versatile, I've used it many, many times, in fact, I used it for the card made on my last post.

I used the Perfect Plum and Old Olive markers to color the flower image and used Old Olive ink on the sentiment stamp. I rounded the corners of the mats, added some pearls and ribbon, and voila! Clean and simple, easy peasy!! I'm hoping to be able to post a little more regularly, that is as much as time allows. So many balls balancing in the air right now, I have to be careful not drop one. ;) Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you have a good evening.

Dynamic Duos Challenge #57

Hey everyone! Happy Wednesday!! Hope your week is going well. I wanted to share with you the card I made for the latest challenge over at The Dynamic Duos. This week's challenge is to use Pear Pizzazz and Basic Black colors for your project. So, I'm giving a workshop for a brand new customer on Friday, and she wanted to learn how to do the chalkboard technique. With that in mind, I thought this would be perfect for this challenge. The stamp set is a new hostess set available in the new 2013/2014 catalog called Simply Sketched. I think it's a great set to show off this technique too since it looks hand sketched. I wanted something clean and simple for this workshop as the gals are new to paper crafting. I think they're going to have fun with it.

I hope you have a nice evening, and if you get the chance, head on over to The Dynamic Duos and check out all the cute projects. Thanks for stopping by!

All supplies used from Stampin' Up!

Happy Father's Day!!

Hi everyone! Happy Father's Day!! This will be short as I'm having everyone over for brunch and need to get cooking, but I wanted to be sure to and wish everyone a happy day. This card was from our May club meeting and is perfect for the sailor in your family!! lol I was going to share the cute card I made for DH, but when I uploaded the pics, only the inside made it to the computer. oops! Oh well, so  I thought I'd share one of my favorite pictures of my dad and me instead. He' celebrating in Heaven again today, but he's definitely in our hearts this morning!

This shows you one of my many projects on my list....scanning my wedding album!! ;) Well, I hope you have a wonderful day and spend it with the dad's in you life. Thanks for stopping by!

Sorry I'm Latte

Hello everyone! Hope you're weekend was good. Since it was so hot outside, we decided to just enjoy the day at home. I was able to get in my scrap room for a little bit to make a couple of cards. I wanted to share the one I made for one of my girlfriends. Hopefully she won't read this until she gets her card though! ;) Her birthday was last week (oops!) and with all the "stuff" going on, I wasn't able to get her card done. I like to make very personalized cards and you'd think I'd get them done well ahead of time....good plan, but not well executed. :)

I made this card entirely from scraps in my stash, and do I have a stash!!! lol I could probably wallpaper a couple of houses with that stash too. I pulled out my Cricut which was getting a little dusty since I became a demonstrator. I used the Love a Latte Lite cartridge for the cup and used the new Artisan Label punch from SU! for the sentiment.

Well, guess it's time to get ready for the week. Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you have a great week.

Other products used:

Card stock: Stampin' Up! and Recollection
Printed Paper: Unknown
Stamp sets: Scrappy Moms and Hero Arts
Ink: Stampin' Up! Choc Chip and Crumb Cake
Stickles: Distressed Vintage Photo
Liquid Pearls: Dark Choclate
Glitter Pen: Martha Stewart

Dynamic Duos Challenge #56

Hey everyone! How's your weekend going so far? It's really hot here, so just one more reason to stay in and play in my craft room. I was already planning to be in there to prep for a couple of workshops, so I thought I'd create something for the new challenge over at Dynamic Duos. The challenge for this week is to use the colors Soft Suede and Blushing Bride. I wasn't a big fan of Blushing Bride when it was an In Color in 2010, but I'm over it. lol It looks really good with Soft Suede.

I used a stamp set from Sale-a-bration that I absolutely love! I really wish it was in the new catalog. It's called Feeling Sentimental and has the cutest old fashioned stamps in it. You just have to distress your project when using these stamps! I distressed the embossed mat with ink and scissors on the sentiment mats. The ribbon is actually white and I dyed it with the Blushing Bride ink pad.

Well, hope you have a great evening, and as always, thank you for stopping by.

All supplies from SU!

Ink: Soft Suede
Card stock: Soft Suede, Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla
Stamp set: Feeling Sentimental
Embossing Folder: Argyle
Ribbon: Whisper White Organza
Basic Pearl Jewels

The New Catalog is Here!

Hello everyone! It's time for 2013/2014 catalog!! You should see my Wish List!! lol

Ready for the weekend? I sure am! It's been one of those weeks, just never enough hours to get everything done that is on my list!! And to top it off, we are in the middle of a heat wave. Yuck! Hello summer!! I know we get heat here in Redding, but not like this so early in the season. This is more like July and August weather. 106 today and tomorrow it's supposed to be 113. So, this will be the perfect weekend to stay in and craft with goodies from the new catalog!!

I wanted to share the card we made at my open house last weekend for the launch of the new 2013/2014 catalog. The ladies had a blast chatting and playing with the new product. They really loved the new embossing folder with coordinating stamp and I love the color renovation that SU! did this year, it all really goes together so well.

Here's the list of items we used:

Card stock: Whisper White, Crisp Cantaloupe, Island Indigo
Ink: Pistachio Pudding, Island Indigo
Marker: Island Indigo
Stamp set/Embossing Folder Bundle: Wildflower Meadow
Fabulous Pharases Stamp Set
Modern Label, Word Window, Boho Blossoms punches
Basic Pearls
Dazzling Details

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend!

One More Day!!

Good morning everyone!! Only one more day until the 2013/14 Catalog goes live!!! Woo hoo!! I am so excited for the release! I'm having an open house to celebrate the launch, which is only the second launch since I became a demo. So in honor of the release I wanted to share some sneak peeks. I'm looking forward to so many of the new items, and especially the color renovation. I thing SU! did a great job with the changes. Well, enough chit chat. Here are my peeks. Some of them have a combination of Sale-a-bration, retired, current and new products. It's hard to say good bye to your favorites, so I decided to use a little bit of everything.

I hope that gave you a good idea of some of the fun things coming up tomorrow. Stay tuned  for some more later on in the weekend. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a great day!!

Hey everyone! How was your Wednesday? Nothing special here, but it is a short week! I wanted to share a sympathy card I made for a coworker who lost his MIL. Seems we have a need for more and more of these lately. Sometimes I really struggle with these cards, but for some reason this one just came together. I knew I wanted to use some of the new In Colors that will be released on Friday, but that was about it...that is until I sat down in my scrap room and saw the Stippled Blossoms stamp set sitting on my desk It was one of those "ah ha!" moments. I made it a 5x7 card since so many people will be signing it.

Well, just wanted to share this with you and I hope it gives someone some inspiration. Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you have a great evening.

All supplies SU! unless otherwise noted:

Ink: Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Pistachio Pudding, Wild Wasabi, Baked Brown Sugar

Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Pistachio Pudding

Stamp Sets: Stippled Blossoms and Love & Sympathy

Dazzling Dazzles

Happy Memorial Day!

Good morning everyone! I just wanted to wish you all a Happy Memorial Day! I know I posted this card before, but I thought it was so appropriate for today. I hope you all have a wonderful day and remember why we have this holiday. Thanks for stopping by!!

Dynamic Duo Challenge #54

                           

Hey everyone! Are you enjoying your Memorial Day Weekend? I had a great day in my scrap room. I have an open house planned next weekend to celebrate the launch of the new 2013/14 catalog, so I've been busy getting samples made using some of the new product. I also took a few minutes to create a card for the new challenge at Dynamic Duos. Since blue is my favorite color, I couldn't resist playing along again.

For this card I used some new and retiring items. The challenge colors are Bashful Blue and Midnight Muse, and you can use any neutral. Since blues are associated with baby boys I decided to go with a baby theme. I used the Easy Events stamp set, which is retiring, for the sweet little duck, and the new Best of Brides and Babies for the teddy bears and inside sentiment. The ovals were cut with the oval framelits and the corners were punched with the retiring Scallop Trim Corner punch. I used Soft Suede ink for the teddy bears and the sentiment on the inside was stamped with Midnight Muse ink. I used some Dazzling Details on the ducks umbrella, eye, and the cute onesie, but I don't like the way it turned out on the duck, gave it a funny sheen. And of course the ribbon is the Midnight Muse Stitched Satin ribbon.

I hope you have a great evening and enjoy the rest of your weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

I Am Now a Dynamic Darling!

                                            
Hi everyone, happy Friday! Are you ready for a long, holiday weekend? I know I am!! Hoping to get some crafting done and enjoy some good family time.

I am so excited, I just found out that I won an honorable mention winner over at Dynamic Duos!! woo hoo!!! In fact, it's the first challenge I've played in in over a year!! :) I feel so blessed when someone compliments my projects and to win a challenge after so long makes me ecstatic!!! Thank you to Janet for picking my card. I'm still grinning!!! lol

That's it for now but I'll be back later in the weekend with some sneak peeks for the new catalog. Have a great evening, and if you're traveling for the weekend, be safe! And as always, I thank you for stopping by!

Thinking of You

Hey everyone, can you believe I'm back with another post? :) Before I go any farther with my post, I just want to say that my thoughts and prayers are with everyone that has been affected by the bad weather the last few days, and especially all the families that lost loved ones today. It's hard to imagine the devastation, but know that you are all being lifted in prayer.

My post for today is a card I made for another challenge, this time over at Fab Friday. This challenge was to make a project using the colors, Primrose Petals, Summer Starfruit, Very Vanilla, Raspberry Ripple, and Soft Suede. Again I wanted to use some retiring product and thought the Thinking of You single stamp was perfect, as was the Poetry Print Designer Series Paper which has all the challenge colors!

I made a Z fold card, which is one of my favorites. and cutting out the stamp with the Window Frames  Framelits made it even easier for the flap. I used dimensionals to each layer of the stamp gave it even more depth. I used a circle die in my stash to cut out that portion of the stamp since I could never cut it out that perfect by hand. And of course I just had to add some bling! ;)

Here is the inside of the card following the same pattern. I thought the sentiment from the Blessings From Heaven was perfect for the inside. I hope you like the card and that you'll stop over at Fab Friday to see all the cute projects over there. Have a great evening, and I thank you for stopping by.

All products from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted