Stamp Happy Felicia

Praying for You

2009-09-08T01:48:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post as I'm heading out the door soon. This is a card for some friends who recently lost their mom from breast cancer. I used Mojo103 sketch for this card and it came out just as expected. I love this sketch I think I'll be using it for one of my Christmas cards this year. Hope everyone has a great week!

Holiday Helper

2009-08-21T11:48:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! I've finished my first Christmas card for this year's batch. Actually this will be one of our Christmas cards for Christmas card class. I used the sketch #232 from SCS. I used an OLD stamp set from 1999 called Holiday Helpers. I love the little 4 images because they fit perfect in the square or circle punches. Hope you enjoy the card!

Warrior Center thanks.....

2009-08-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post tonight. I needed to make a few thank you cards for some people who helped our hispanic american club cook dinner for the Warrior Center on Landstuhl. The Warrior Center is a center for the wounded warriors who are in Germany at Landstuhl hospital recovering from injuries. Our club cooks dinner for them every other month and this month they were served a great Panamanian meal. I used Mojo Monday sketch 98 for my inspiration.

Vacation Bible School thank you

2009-08-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

This week is Vacation Bible School for us! What an exciting time for all the kids. I am volunteering all week long and one of the organizers asked me to make thank you cards for the private organizations who provided snacks throughout the week for the volunteers. Of course I said YES! I went with the theme of VBS which is Kingdom of the Son it has all the animals from the Wild About You set by Stampin' Up! so I thought perfect! I used Taylored Expressions sketch challenge #75 this last friday it was a perfect sketch for my card. I personalized each card by stamping the initials of the private org's name on the front. Animal Crackers Jack Stripe by Making Memories is the scrapbook paper I used on the cards. The ribbon comes from Taylored Expressions online store.

Rock N Roll Thank You

2009-07-24T04:56:00.000-07:00

These are the Thank You cards for all the wonderful volunteers in our hispanic american club who volunteered to cook and prepare food for the Freedom Fest on base during July 4th. Oh man was it a loooong day! Tonight at our meeting we are giving them a small gift of appreciation and I made these cards to go along with them. The Upsy Daisy stamp set is new to me. I've had it for about a month and this was my first time inking it up. I can tell this stamp set is going to get a lot of usage! The card base is Regal Rose, with Chocolate Chip mounted on top. So Saffron sits underneath the "Sunshine Lollipop" patterned paper by Sassafras. On the opposite side of the paper there are hearts in pink! It's super cute paper. I used the rock n roll technique on the main image with So Saffron and Regal Rose. Now I'm off to get ready to skype with my dad. My oldest son is in the states for the summer so we're going to skype to see him and my grandma! They are all on their way to San Antonio today to drop off my son to stay with his best friend for the next two weeks. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

2009-07-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

I am so ashamed..lol 3 months?!! I don't even know if anyone is following me anymore. :) You know I went through this long 3 month hiatus and I don't think I touched any of my stamp supplies but maybe 4 times. And those 4 cards that I did make I didn't even snap a pic and post them. I don't know what happened to me I just was not interested. But yesterday yesterday something happened. I was cleaning out my stamps and organizing them to look nice and neat when it hit me I REALLY enjoy making cards and giving them to the people that mean so much to me so why did I quit? I realized how much fun it is and so I'm on a mission..to start fresh all over again! This card was a birthday card for my friend June who just recently celebrated a birthday. I used Basic Grey at the card base and layered it with So Saffron, the patterned paper I do not remember who it is by. The image is from Whiff of Joy Stamps. I saw this stamp on someone's blog and thought it was the cutest image ever! I went online to order it and saw they are based out of Europe which was great because I got my stamp a few days after ordering. I was just able to have it shipped directly to my house in Germany rather than waiting for it to come to my U.S. addy! Anyway I hope those who are still here enjoy the card and you can count on finding some more soon. I think I'll take the pressure off of myself by trying (or thinking I need to be posting daily) because I think that's really what got me. I don't know why I felt as if I needed to post something every day. I don't have time to post something every single day. I have a husband and family who demand my attention and lots of other commitments so why I put that pressure on myself is beyond me. LOL I do have 15 thank you cards that need to be made by Friday so be on the lookout for those coming up! Enjoy the card.

New blog page

2009-04-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

Everyone's probably noticed the new overhaul on my blog. I wanted something fresh and new. I was visiting someone's blog a couple months ago and read that Shelsscraps had made the banner,background page, etc. I contacted Shel and let her know what I was looking for. She was absolutely wonderful to work with! She tweaked whatever I wanted tweaked. She even gave me the 3 column layout which I had no clue how to do. She even made me a matching watermark. I just haven't used it yet. But I will soon! Thank you Shel for making my blog page exactly what I wanted. Next time I'm in the mood to change you'll have a returning customer! I still have some things to add but need to find the time to make it all complete. I hope you are enjoying the fresh cute colors!

Dreams

2009-04-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

Super quick post tonight as I'm headed to bed but needed to get one of the cards I've made posted. I used one of the sketches from I Heart 2stamp. Of course because I'm in a rush I can't find the link on her site. So I will come back and link it up to the sketch tomorrow. Have a great day everyone!

1 Month

2009-04-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Yes I am alive. lol I just want to thank all of you for being concerned about where I've been. I'm so touched by the emails I've received asking if I'm ok. My health has been good except a yucky sinus infection. Life just got busy and I also lost my mojo. But I've never lost my mojo for an entire month I don't think. It seems forever since I have stamped anything. I'm so sorry for not even checking in on any of my blog groups. I've seriously had no motivation to stamp anything or even check blogs which is quite shocking. My very good friend Amy came from San Antonio last week and she left this morning. She got my mojo back. Yesterday was her last full day here so we did stamp camp ALL day long. It was so fun and I think that's just what I needed. So THANK YOU AMY for getting me back into my grove. Too bad it took a friend all the way from San Antonio to come and help me get it back. lol I will miss you dearly friend and hope you enjoyed your time here in Germany. Come back soon! I've got several cards we created and I'll be posting soon. I'll be doing all that today snapping pics and writing them. Can't wait to get some free time to check in on everyone. Maybe late tonight because all day today I will be cleaning because tomorrow my mother in law arrives! I'm so happy with these back to back visitors. My mother in law will be here for 1 month. Can't wait to eat some good ol mom's cooking! I hope everyone is doing great!!!!

What stamp is this?

2009-03-07T04:21:00.000-08:00

This is just a quick post on this Saturday morning. The sun is SHINING here in Germany. The last few days have been rainy and yucky. I was going through some stamped images I've received and thought this little boy was the cutest thing! Does anyone happen to know who makes this stamp and or what it is called? He reminds me of my son Manuel and I would love to be able to purchase this stamp it makes cute little boy cards. I left my card with no sentiment on the front because I'm not sure what I will use it for yet. I don't have very many boy stamps so this was a lot of fun to play with. I threw a little bit of red in with the Certainly Celery & Bashful Blue actually one of the sites I visit gave me this color combo when I put in the two Soft Subtle colors. I really like the pop of red. I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

You Brighten My Day

2009-03-03T09:26:00.001-08:00

ETA: I just had to repost a new picture. I just love the sketch challenge this week at Mojo Monday. It is one I will use again and again I'm sure. I tried to get the card and picture done before dark but didn't quite get it done so the pic is a little dark. I love these Riley stamps!! I'm definitely going to have to get some more. I only have 1. I colored him in with my Watercolor Wonder crayons and a blender pen. I pulled some scraps for the designer paper out of my scrap basket and it worked well! I love using up my scraps even if it means repeated cards using the same paper. But I try to space it out. Someone should have a scrap swap. lol I know I have a lot of scrap paper I'd like to exchange out sometimes I think scrap paper is just as good as a whole 12X12 sheet of designer paper. Because you can use it for challenges like this. Enjoy your Tuesday!!

Smile Daily

2009-03-02T12:22:00.000-08:00

Well hello everyone!!! We had a fantastic weekend. Saturday was my hubby's graduation party which turned out fantastic! Can't beat lots of friends and excellent food. Sunday morning my birthday however was a little bumpy at 4am ended up in the ER with my 12 year old for a ear infection. I ended up coming home just in time to shower and make it to church. I came home and slept most of the afternoon so it was a nice quiet birthday! We'll celebrate this weekend with dinner. I couldn't wait for the last two days to pass so I could get to stamping again. I've seen all these challenges and inspiration that I had to post something today. Sorry the picture is so dark but it's night time here. I'll probably repost a new picture tomorrow morning. This card is for the Cupcake Craft Challenge blog. The challenge is a inspiration challenge with pretty yellow flowers. I used my last big piece of Wild Wasabi. I really wish Stampin' Up! would keep some of these in colors because they are some of the best colors they offer. I used my Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder on the two yellow strips. I used the stamp set Women of Life by Papertrey Ink and the sentiment is from Stampin' Up! called Edgy Eloquence. For the inside of the flowers I used some green flock. I tried to flock some chipboard circles that fit perfect inside the bigger flowers however that didn't work out too well. But I think it looks perfect the way it is. It's really so summery. Definitely looks better in real life. I hope you ladies check out the Cupcake Craft Challenge blog they have some cute things going on over there!

Get Better Soon!

2009-02-25T11:36:00.000-08:00

I completed this for the Blogabella challenge but didn't post it in time. I still wanted to share it. The challenge was to use Red, White, and Purple as the color theme. Hope everyone's enjoying their Wednesday. We just came back from church for the Ash Wednesday mass and we ate a light dinner and now it's time for bed. We have a early morning ahead of us and I have a lot of planning still with my husbands graduation party this weekend. He completed his Bachelor's degree last week and we were unable to attend the ceremony in Virginia so I thought we could at least have a party. And Sunday is my birthday so if I don't post any more until Monday next week now you know why. I've got a lot going on!

You're The Best!

2009-02-24T11:04:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone in blog land!! I can't tell you how much more surfing people's blog I do than I should be stamping. I'm so pumped up to stamp my heart out but by the time I finish surfing blogs I realize oh my how much time I've just spent on doing just that that now I don't have time to create a card. Well tonight while blog surfing I came across the CPS blog and of course had to participate for the first time in their sketches. I've always admired the blog but never taken part. So here is my card! The card base is Pixie Pink. The dp paper I'm not sure it's in one of my previous posts though cause I've used this paper on a card before. I used the stamp set call A Little Birdie Told Me by Stampin' Up! I stamped the image is staz on ink and used my watercolor pens to color in the birdie. On the two strips of paper on bottom of card I used some Queen & Co jewels the little orange flowers I thought matched perfect! I hope you all take part in the CPS challenge as well! Have a great day!

The Pink Elephant #2

2009-02-18T13:16:00.001-08:00

I have 2 blog posts today so make sure to check below for the other posting. I came across The Pink Elephant on a blog recently and bookmarked it because it was a new blog starting up. I can tell these ladies are going to have some fun things in for us. Here is my card for the second challenge which is using glitter on your card! The card base is Basic Black with Pixie Pink matted on top. The designer paper is from the Black Market Paper Society called Ebony & Alabaster 6X6 pack I found that at Gina K's website too. The paper is textured and is so pretty in person. I used Cupcakeabella from Stamping Bella I stamped her in Staz On black ink onto Gina K's Pure Luxury 120 lb. white cardstock. Man oh man is that the thickest cardstock I've ever come across. It stamps wonderfully and you can watercolor and use blender pens on it with ease. I used the Labels One by Spellbinders to mat her on. I paper pieced the same dp onto the cupcake liner. I used star dust stickles on the pink dots on her dress, and black diamond stickles to outline the cupcake's frosting and then on various dots on the designer paper. I can't wait to see more challenges by The Pink Elephant!

Congratulations Geli

2009-02-18T10:42:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I kinda fell off the blog wagon for a week because I've been busy that and I couldn't find my camera until tonight. lol My husband hates how I can never remember where I put things. My youngest sister Angelica (Geli) got married and I wasn't there but I did put together a card to go with her gift. I can't believe I missed her wedding but those are the kinds of things we have to sacrifice with being overseas. I used Jen Del Muro's sketch for this week which was really fun and one I'll turn to often I'm sure. The card base is Rose Red with Regal Rose layered on top. I used Stampin' Up! Raspberry Tart dp paper which I LOVE! It was my first time ordering this paper and will order some more soon. I used the stamp set Botanical Blooms by Stampin' Up! which is one of their Sell-A-Bration's sets. Very pretty and delicate set that it is. I used my Swiss Dots cuttlebug embossing folder and finished the card off with 3 buttons. Now I just need to go out and find her wedding gift here in Germany and mail it off.

June's Monogrammed Cards

2009-02-09T03:16:00.000-08:00

My very good friend June asked me to make her some monogrammed cards with the first initial of her last name. I used my new JustRite Damask borders set for her cards. This is my first set from JustRite and I REALLY love the product. I'll probably be ordering some more JustRite products in the near future. The only request June had for her cards was that I use a little bit of pink somewhere. I hope it's not too much pink, at least I don't think it's too much pink. I'm sure she's going to love them. I used some designer paper from GCD studios called Simpicite from the Cosette Collection. I really like this paper!! I'm glad I ordered 2 sheets I might have to make some for myself.

Sweet Valentine Double Pocket Bag

2009-02-08T12:48:00.000-08:00

Right before we moved from San Antonio a bunch of my friends and I met up for one last dinner at The Cheesecake Factory at the mall in San Antonio. Jeneane my upline brought me a adorable double pocket bag filled with some stamp goodies as my going away present. I was in love with the bag and asked her to give me directions. She sent me a 12X12 piece of paper with the dimensions on the back. I'm not sure who originally came up with it but quite a while after she gave it to me they posted a tutorial on Splitcoaststampers for this Double Pocket Bag. It may look a little intimidating but if you give it a try it is really super simple. So tonight as I sit here in peace and quiet after putting the boys to bed I thought I'd rather not do a card. I feel so guilty ALWAYS doing challenges. I feel like all my personal creativity has gone away like I can't survive without a challenge so I pulled out the directions for this bag and decided to recreate it with a Valentine theme. I will be filling this to the brim with little things for my son's teacher aide Mrs. Carenza. She is going to die when she see's it. She's all about cute crafty things!
I used 1 piece of 12X12 designer paper by Sassafras called Sunshine Lollipop, the Sweet stamp from Sweet on You by Stampin' Up!, and some shiny chocolate ribbon from American Crafts ribbon. You can't see it but on the opposite side of the heart paper is stripes in the same color pink, a orange color, and brown color. It's some really cute paper and thick too! Anyway I hope you'll give this project a try!

PTI Bitty Dot Sketch Challenge

2009-02-07T13:02:00.000-08:00

I sure hope you all are following all the sneak peeks at what Nichole has going on over at her blog Capture the Moment. My pocket book is already hurting and the release isn't even here yet. :) I LOVE LOVE LOVE Papertrey Ink products. I'm going to tell my husband who reads this (he's probably read it before I actually tell him) that my Valentine's gift I will get for myself by ordering some of the PTI new products next week. :) This card is for her challenge today. I hope you all take advantage of her challenge you have the opportunity to win their entire ribbon collection!!! This sketch challenge was a LOT of fun to do. I partnered this challenge with Stamp Something's Valentine Challenge. Their challenge was to make and post something card, candy, gift or anything you're going to give to your loved ones. So I've made this card for my husband who will see it before Valentine's day but oh well. I'm so happy it's not too feminine. I used my new paper from My Mind's Eye called Irresistible Flying Hearts. I used the retired Stampin' Up! Tall Tales alphabet stamp for the I and U. I used the heart from Simply Said. To me the heart needed something extra so I just cut out a flying heart from the dp paper and mounted it with a pop dot on top of the heart. I also dragged the white cardstock across my Ruby Red ink pad to give it a little dirty look. I'm off to maybe do one more card for the night. I've got to get up early for church so it has to be a quick one.

Hey Sweetie

2009-02-05T01:05:00.000-08:00

I'm the General Treasurer for our enlisted spouses club on base and I've been asked to make the members birthday, congrats, and new baby cards. Since it's been almost a week since I've really stamped I figured I'd get my mojo flowing by completing two challenges in 1 card to get me movin! I saw Taylor's TECC53 sketch challenge which I really like and also liked the Our Creative Corner Crazy For Heart's challenge.
Last Friday I placed my first order with I Heart Papers and can you believe my order was here on Wednesday?!! I didn't realize I ordered so much My Mind's Eye paper but man they have a great selection. For my card I used paper from My Minds Eye called Irresistible Sweet Blossoms. I used Regal Rose as the card base and layered it with Bravo Burgundy. I used the Swiss dots cuttlebug embossing folder. The stamp set is from Hey There Cupcake. I found some cute heart jewels that I completely forgot I had by Queen & Co. On the outer edges of some of the cardstock I distressed using one of my keys on my keychain. Well I'm off to post my challenge cards on the respective blogs. Can't wait to check everyone's cards out they did for the challenges as well. I'll be sharing the cards I make today for the club and sharing throughout the rest of the week and weekend.

Thank You Teri!

2009-02-03T03:28:00.000-08:00

Sorry Teri for not posting this last week! I received my January RAK from my January partner Teri from Big Ideas From A Little Girl. She sent me 5 rolls of valentine themed American Craft ribbon, a package of Hero Arts flowers, a bunch of various stamped images, Animals cuttlebug embossing folders each animal has a heart somewhere in it, and a yummy package of chocolate covered macadamia nuts. We love the candy Teri. My friend Dawn who is from Hawaii used to always send us these candies before they were stationed to Japan. I love the cute little card you made as well. Thank you again Teri. Keep in touch!!

Valentine's Mailbox

2009-02-03T03:11:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone! I've been missing for about a week. I had so many things going on first was those headaches turns out it's nothing to worry about per the doctor. I was in one of those non craft moods too all week. Plus I had spent most of my week shopping. I wanted to send my nieces and nephews on my side of the family some clothing from some German department stores. I've found that their clothing is really good quality and super super cute stuff especially for little girls. This week and next I'll be shopping for all the nieces and nephews on my husband's side. There are like double of them on his side than on mine. His mom's birthday is coming up as well so gotta find her a gift too. She's such a simple woman so it's hard to decide what to get her without going too over the top. Anyway we also this weekend had a church retreat where my son celebrated for the first time the sacrament of Reconciliation. He's attending CCD to complete his First Communion in April. My mom and mother in law are finally happy he's going to make this sacrament as well. It's something well overdue. I've just been a rut and not feeling creative or like making anything at all. Oh on top of that my computer has crashed but I'm getting a new one as soon as our income tax money comes in. I've had the hand me down laptop for a long time. Each of us have our own laptop so it's my turn for the new one! So sorry for the pictures they won't have my watermark on them until I get the new laptop. I've lost all of my contacts as well and all of my blog pictures I had taken. Enough complaining now on to my morning and how this cute little mailbox came about. I went to breakfast this morning with a friend and came back to finish Desperate Housewives season 4 to realize I watched the last one last night! I got up and stood in my craft room for about 5 minutes before deciding what to work on. I finished this cute little mailbox from Target. It was my LAST ONE! (insert crying face here) I've decorated it and my son will give it to his teacher for Valentine's this year. I hate to let it go but it's too cute not to pass onto someone. I am in love with this designer paper from Stampin' Up! I think it's some of the cutest paper ever too bad it's retired. I'm not exactly sure yet what I will fill it with for her. Maybe we'll make a bunch of little heart cookies and fill the mailbox.

My First Blog Award

2009-01-31T11:09:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited that I've been given a blog award by Barbara and Alison. They both gave me the same award so I'm going to combine them both here. I have to pass the award on to 5 people and list 5 of my addictions. Ha ha that will not be hard. My 5 addictions are:

1. Internet
2. Baking
3. Guess purses
4. Volunteering
5. Papercrafts

I pass this award onto the following people. I enjoy visiting their blogs often.
1. Karolyn from Paper Therapy
2. Teresa from Enjoy the va. sunshine
3. Carmen from Queentomas
4. LaToya from My Paper Expressions
5. Joy from Share Joy

Have a great weekend everyone!

Happiness Always

2009-01-26T12:09:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone just a quick post tonight. I'm going to make an effort to get some sleep. My husband works night shift and usually after he leaves for work I blog hop around and it's been super late before I get to bed and then I'm up at 6am to get the kids ready for school. I've been waking up with a lot of headaches lately and think maybe possibly from not enough sleep? So this is just a card I made last week for the sketch challenge over at Papercraft Planet. I'm really enjoying that site alot! Lots of cool challenges and groups. I hope you enjoy the card! Goodnight everyone.

Recipe Somethings - Challenge

2009-01-24T12:20:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't you know that the Stamp Something blog had the perfect recipe challenge for me on Friday? The challenge is to make a project all about recipes. My mom has been asking me to make her something to keep all her recipes together. I can remember being a child and my mom always had a drawer in the kitchen full of cut out recipes from magazines. I think I was about 7 when I first remember, and here is it 23 years later and do you know she still has that same drawer with all the recipes? lol So now it's time to get all those recipes on recipe cards so she can be more organized. I can't wait for her to get her box of goodies. I know she doesn't read my blog cause she's not all that computer saavy and so I can say what's in her box. She's going to probably cry when she looks at the box. On the inside of the lid I've handwritten her a note something to personalize it from me. I can't wait to hear from her when she receives it. I had a lof of fun with this challenge. A few months ago I ordered the egg boxes from Papertrey Ink when Nicole first introduced them along with the recipe cards. They are something amazing! I'm going to order some more and give them as birthday gifts to those friends of mine that I know love to collect and use recipes. I used the Recipe Box stamp set by Papertrey Ink too. The dp paper is by Making Memories in the Noteworthy collection called Hillary Lace Flower. This is some YUMMY paper! I'm off to finish a few more challenges I wanted to finish before the weekend is up. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Saturday! Our Saturday is almost over....

Owl Be Yours Valentine

2009-01-23T02:43:00.001-08:00

This is for LaToya's challenge in SCS blogger 7 group. Her challenge was to make a Valentine not using any pinks, reds, or white. Man was that hard!! I kept pulling out my favorite color Rose Red. I pulled out a few different sets to complete my card like the tree from Season of Friendship by Stampin' Up!, Wise Owl by Papertrey Ink, and the hearts are from two other sets that I don't know the names of. We're getting ready to have a movie night otherwise I'd research and try to find the name. I will come back and fill that in later. I chose to use Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Close to Cocoa, and Very Vanilla. I stamped the tree in Close to Cocoa, and stamped the hearts in Perfect Plum all over the tree. I then stamped the owl in Chocolate Chip and colored him in with Stampin' Up! markers. I cut him out and put him on a fat pop dot. I used and old retired background stamp from Stampin' Up! One of my favorite background stamps to this day! I was going to either put purple flock or purple glitter on the hearts to make them pop but can you believe I don't have anything purple!? So that's on my to buy list next little online shopping spree I do. Anyway ladies I hope you enjoy the card! Can't wait for this groups next challenge!!!

Stamping Friends Phonebook

2009-01-22T11:34:00.001-08:00

I have completely forgotten to share this wonderful decorated address book that Norma sent to me. She was my swap partner for December. She lives in Canada and it actually made it here before Christmas! Anyway the book is amazing and she hand wrote a note on the inside cover. It came at the perfect time because I was shopping around for a new address book. I have all of my contacts in Outlook but I have the crappy laptop and any time I want to get into outlook it's so slow. She covered it with some beautiful paper too! You too can sign up for swap partners on Tracy's blog here. She holds a monthly swap you and another person will be matched up and required to send each other a card or any other items you'd like by the end of the month. It's a lot of fun! My January partner Teri is from Hawaii. I'll post the card she sent me as soon as it comes in. I should be taking pictures of what I sent them and I did not. Thank you so much Norma for this wonderful book. It will be put to good use!!

Jory's Hope For A Cure

2009-01-20T08:06:00.000-08:00

This is Jory & my son Luis. Jory and Luis met when they were 3 years old. They are 12 now. They met at daycare while we were stationed at McChord AFB, WA 9 years ago. Luis and Jory became best friends instantly. At the age of 5 Jory was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy. It was hard for my son 5 at that time to understand why Jory was in a wheelchair and could no longer walk. It was hard at the time to explain to him what was wrong with his friend. Jory and his family are our family they mean so much to us and they are such a grateful family. Jory is such a strong kid and I admire that he doesn't let his disease get him down. Never does he feel sorry for himself. Now that my son is older he understands and still questions why Jory has such a disease. Luis prays for Jory often. Then we moved to San Antonio, TX stationed at Lackland, AFB. Then we found out that Jory and his family followed us! They moved there shortly after we did and both boys were so excited to be able to hang out and have sleep overs. While we were stationed in San Antonio the MDA held yearly walks to raise money for MDA at one of the local malls. We walked with Jory and his family and raised money. Every February is the walk and usually in January is when we start to raise money. So I'm sending out a post in case anyone is interested in donating even if it's only $5. Every little bit helps to get these kids the help that they need. I can't put into words how much we love to do this every year for Jory and his family. We hold the MDA very near and dear to our hearts. You can find the link to our homepage for donations here: Jory's Hope For a Cure

Rockstar Birthday Box

2009-01-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

The daughter of a friend of ours had a birthday recently. She's into the rockstar items that are popular right now. I used a hard box that my husband got when he bought his latest wallet. I covered it with paper and inserted some tissue paper and put inside the rockstar earrings. Sorry to keep it so short!

Cowboy Kid

2009-01-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

I bought this set when it first came out cause I loved it. Ask me how many times I've used it? Twice! I'm pondering whether or not I want to sell it. It's in my pile of things to sell. I started off with this card to use for Julee's Mojo Monday challenge last week but I didn't like how it turned out so I just completed it.

Birthday friend

2009-01-14T02:46:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I'm at the library on base and wanted to post some cards. But I've set them up to post on different days. We still don't know when the internet company will be out to our house to fix it. We've called everyday and their response to us is that they are extremely busy they'll call when they call. YIKES! I'm dying over here with no internet. Good thing is though I'm getting projects done! Ok well gotta keep it quick hubby is asking me when I'll be finished. lol This card is for a very special internet friend I've made recently. She recently had a birthday and with all of the Christmas things going on I was late with sending it out. Isn't that cupcake ornament cute? Actually I don't know if it's an ornament. My sister sent me two of them she knows I think cupcakes are the cutest things ever. I still don't know where I'll put them in my house. Ok well off to post some more cards. I miss checking in on everyone! It's snowing like crazy here in Germany. I'll be going home to enjoy some hot chocolate and relax until the kids get home from school.

Out of the loop....for the moment

2009-01-10T03:19:00.000-08:00

Well I think our contract for internet & phone at our home has expired without us knowing. It must be a German thing? Anyway our contract is all in German and we came home yesterday to no internet or phone. I must go and get someone to translate the contract to let us know. So for the meanwhile I won't be posting until internet is back and up at my house. I sure hope it's soon because I have some serious withdrawls. lol I'll check in on everyone when I'm back online. Enjoy the weekend!

Love of a Lifetime

2009-01-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

I don't always get to play in Jen Del Muro's SFYTT but I do really love her sketches. On Sunday I mentioned I was able to make a few cards and this is another one that I was able to do. Keeping with the whole Valentine theme but with cupcakes! My sister in Kansas knows that we have a very tiny selection of scrapbooking supplies here so when my mom sends me a box almost weekly my sister makes sure to send me something cute she's found at Michaels. She loves me and I love her so much she doesn't know how appreciative I am! Thank you Angelica if you are reading this. Anyway I thought using these Martha Stewart cupcake stickers would work perfect for the panels. I added a little button with some yummy ribbon. I must get more of that ribbon! Now onto my little rant about my card. The very last thing I did was I wanted to stamp the sentiment directly on the Close to Cocoa cardstock well I did but it was ALL kinds of slanted. So of course I could not let that go I stamped it on Whisper White and cut it out. I am so annoyed when I'm putting the finishing touches on a card and I screw up at the very end. Please tell me I'm not the only one who does this? lol

Happy Birthday cupcake - OCC Challenge

2009-01-05T00:28:00.000-08:00

If you have never checked out Our Creative Corner you must do so now! They have some of the best challenges ever. This sketch is super cute! If you participate you have a chance to win a new stamp set as well! I went straight to my stash of scrap paper and found the very last piece of this designer paper that I am in love with. It's my last tiny little piece and I knew it'd be great for this challenge. I love the colors in the designer paper. I went over the lighter pink lines in the paper with some fruit punch stickles to give it some glitter. I also used the swiss dots cuttlebug folder and flipped it backwards to give it a different texture. I'm off to see what the other ladies did with these sketch challenge.

TECC49

2009-01-04T12:07:00.000-08:00

Today we ended up doing nothing! It was a lazy day at home to prepare to get back into the swing of our routines starting tomorrow. I love routine. I think the kids are so ready to be back in school. I know I am! I was able to crank out a few cards today. I love when I can just do a card here and there throughout the day. I chose to do Taylored Expression cupcake challenge #49. Luckily I already had a piece of chipboard from Stampin' Up! inked up with real red craft ink. I couldn't figure out what to do with it so I put it back in my stash to use later. And what do you know her challenge was a perfect time to use it. So I quickly grabbed it and put it together with some black and white cardstock to make a Valentine themed card. It's a 4X4 card base on Basic Black. Then whisper white, and the inked up chipboard on top. I cut some small thin strips of Basic Black cardstock to get the squares. This will be going in my pile of Valentine cards for me to mail out. Or who knows maybe it will end up being one of my son's teachers card.

SCS Blogger group 7 girls

2009-01-02T09:13:00.000-08:00

Hi ladies!
I just wanted to let everyone know that I've not been able to visit everyone's blog just yet. Some have probably seen in previous posts that my husband who is in the Air Force was in Spain for about 5 weeks for work. Well he came back on New Year's Eve!! So needless to say I've not been able to visit or post a whole lot. He has the next week off so I will try to check out everyone's blogs when I can catch a moment here and there. I hope you all understand! Can't wait to get to know you all much better.

Twinkling Tuesday

2008-12-30T05:56:00.000-08:00

I visit Jami's blog Stamp Happy! with Sgt. Stamper quite often. She usually checks in on me often as well. She is so talented and has just started her own stamp line and I can't wait to see what she has in store for us. While visiting her blog this morning I saw her cute Dress Up Lily card she made. I decided to participate in the sketch challenge as well over at The Whimsical Butterfly. I pulled out a Riley stamp image I had received in a Riley image swap over on SCS. Those swaps are great ways to get several images from a stamp line you may not have. I decided to pick out my designer paper first from Papertrey Ink called Polka Dot Parade. This paper is so yummy! I kept it very simple and neat. I like clean lines I'm finding. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T00:45:00.000-08:00

I just want to wish a very Merry Christmas to everyone out there. I hope your day is filled with peace, and joy. Enjoy your day with your family and friends. We are hosting lunch with all of our friends today at 2. We woke up this morning and did a web cam Christmas with my husband who is currently in Spain for work. That's the military for ya! Many missed holidays, birthdays, anniversaries but what can you do. We made the best of it and I'm just happy he was able to watch the kids open their gifts. Merry Christmas........

Just Because

2008-12-08T23:57:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling so good right now house is clean, laundry is drying, and dinner is already planned and it's only 9:01am! I'm even showered!! I'm at least showered because I'm leaving in a bit to volunteer in my son's classroom. Anyway I checked out Julee's Mojo challenge and actually had it done last night however I really dislike taking picture's at night. I took the picture this morning and it's super dark background cause it's sitting on my black craft table. Oh well...I used Julee's Mojo64 sketch challenge and incorporated Color Throwdown's CTD22 color challenge. I used Basic Black, Regal Rose, & Certainly Celery. I keep trying to use up this background paper because I have bits and pieces in my scrap drawer and wouldn't you know this fit perfect for the card! I used the sentiment "just because" because I love giving. Even if it's not your birthday. This is the time of year people should really give back to the community or their friends who help them a lot. I have a big heart with a small pocket book so I can't always afford to get gifts but I love to make a stack of cards or alter some 3-d item to lift a friends spirits if they are down and out. I hope you all are able to relax during these next few weeks before Christmas arrives.

Manuel's Christmas tree

2008-12-08T10:55:00.000-08:00

Manuel's teacher sent home a Christmas tree kit which included some green and blue construction paper. They had to make a tree out of the green paper and glue it to the blue paper. Then use whatever supplies you have at home to decorate it. Of course he wants to use my stamp supplies. I asked him to look at my punches to see what we could use for ornaments and he picked the 1/2 inch circle punch. I put glue dots where he pointed on the tree he wanted them and he stuck them on. He wanted to draw lights he drew three and gave up. He wanted snow flakes so he used some Whisper White craft ink and stamped away. Then he saw the snowman and Santa Claus stamps sitting on my desk and asked to stamp one on each side. He said "mom can we use some of that (stickles) for the sparkly stuff like on our tree?" He was referring to the garland on the tree. However I controlled the stickles I can't waste stickles. :) After all was said and done the next morning after everything dried he asked to take a picture so we could email it to his dad who is away for work. He wanted to show dad what a cool job he did on his tree.

Luzern, Switzerland

2008-11-30T06:51:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving Day! It's my favorite holiday hands down. It's a celebration of reflecting back on your year and seeing how God has blessed you in your life. I love the way it brings together friends and family to eat a lot of food and enjoy each other's company.
My son Luis and I went to Luzern, Switzerland yesterday. We had a fantastic time. I love being able to stroll the streets in Europe. Learning about the history and visiting lots of churches. The architectural detail in churches are amazing in Europe. I just wanted to share a few photos of our Luzern trip.

Look at those beautiful Swiss Alps in the background!

Here I am on the Mill Bridge...

My son Luis and I are on the street in downtown Luzern close to the shopping district.

Here is a picture of the Jesuit Church of Luzern on the inside. It was absolutely amazing.
That's all I have for today. We're spending the rest of the day just in our pj's because we all have colds coming on. We took a long nap this afternoon and now I'm ready to check out some blogs and maybe make a few cards to share tomorrow.
Everyone enjoy their Sunday!

Simple Snowflake

2008-11-25T04:08:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! This week is so busy!! I'm sure it is for everyone out there. I've been working on more Christmas cards. Luckily I'm almost finished. I anticipate being finished by Sunday so they can be in the mail by Monday! I just wanted to make a very simple Christmas card so that I won't be spending my entire free time in my stamp room. My husband is away in another country for the next few months for work so I'm playing single mom and must keep the kids busy. I love the way this card turned out. It's so simple and sparkly. I debated about sponging white ink all around the edges but I really like the simplicity of the way it is. I used the Snowflake Additions stamp set by Papertrey ink. Cute cute set by the way! I embossed the sentiment "the world is your" in winter white embossing powder. I'm keeping it short because I've got 12 loaves of Pumpkin bread to make today. Each one of my close friends is getting a loaf for Thanksgiving...so I need to start baking. I hope each one of you have a very blessed Thanksgiving.

Happy Turkey Day

2008-11-13T06:13:00.000-08:00

I had time today to participate in Julee's Mojo Monday challenge. The kids are off of school today and tomorrow for parent teacher conferences so I'm hoping to get a lot of stamping time in. Mojo Monday #60 is a super cute sketch! I'll be using this sketch pretty often I think. These are my Thanksgiving cards for this year. I better get them out soon. I think it takes about 2 weeks for regular cards to get to the states from here. Oh well they might be a little late but it's the thought that counts right? I used Turkey Day from Sweet N Sassy stamps. I'll have to come back later with supplies used.

Late Halloween post

2008-11-06T04:38:00.000-08:00

Once again life has become super busy with this household. I just wanted to post a super late picture of a few of the Halloween jars I made for neighbors and friends. I went to all the thrift stores on the three bases around and picked up jars or canisters whenever I saw one that I could decorate and put candy in. I think these two came out pretty cute they went to two of my neighbors. The german kids loved them!

I've Been Tagged

2008-10-23T05:24:00.000-07:00

I've not kept up with my blog I noticed it's been about once a week. Here I thought once both kids were in school I'd be able to blog all day long or work on projects so I could post them to my blog. YEAH RIGHT! lol I think I'm living in a dream world. I try to post at least once a week though. I was reading through my comments on a recent post and see that Angi over at Making Mayhem tagged me. So here are the rules and 6 random things about me:

Rules:
1. Post the rules on your blog.
2.Write six random things about yourself.
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post.

6 random things about me

1) I am seriously having homesickness this last week. I just want to take a visit back to the states soooooooo bad. I miss all the scrapbook stores, and Target, and eating out. I miss the Target dollar spots, and dollar trees. You can find so much cool stuff to alter from those two places.

2) I wish I could be Martha Stewart ok not her literally but I want to be so talented like her. I love to pamper my friends and family with crafts, and baked goods!

3) I love quilts! Although you may already know that if you read my blog often. I'm still trying to find someone here in Germany to teach me.

4) I love to find great deals at thrift shops. I miss the thrift shops in the states.

5) I am a procrastinator! HUGE but you wouldn't know that if you knew me. I find it so much better to work under pressure. It's a adrenaline rush that I do enjoy even if I'm complaining about why I procrastinate. Is that weird or what?

6) I am a SHOPPER! I'm always doing online window shopping and when I find a good deal I will buy it.

I'm tagging:

Carmen

Joy

Jami

Suzy

Jeneane

Ally

Bella Birthday Wishes

2008-10-23T05:15:00.000-07:00

This Cuppacakeabella stamp from Stamping Bella is my favorite! I had to put it to use because I've had this stamp for a few weeks now and just did not ink it up yet. I used stickles on the dots on her dress and on some of the lines in the cupcake liner. I paper pieced the liner from the same paper I used in the strip on the card. Love this card!

Cupcake help

2008-10-23T05:11:00.000-07:00

I found this cute sentiment from the Arts & Crafts center on base and had to come home and make a card with it! The sentiment is by Inkadinkadoo. My friend Amy and I have been swapping cards monthly and this month's theme she chose cupcakes! So Ms. Amy if you're checking my blog this is one of the three cards I'll be sending to you. Hope you like it girly! I used the cupcake image from Crazy For Cupcakes by Stampin' Up!

I Want to Win This Quilt!

2008-10-17T02:15:00.001-07:00

This post in completly non stamping related. I have two other loves besides stamping. I know shocker! I love reading quilt blogs and I love all the home decor blogs out there as well. But I simply LOVE quilts. Only problem is I don't know how to make them. I rely on my Aunt from Minnesota to make me one every once in a while. I love the detail that goes into quilting. I need to learn how to quilt soon! Elizabeth at the Pigtails & Snails blog made this super cute quilt and she's giving it away! I hope to win that quilt! It's adorable!! You can enter as well just by clicking on her blog name and entering your post. Good luck!

Happy 5th Birthday Manuel!

2008-10-17T02:05:00.000-07:00

Last Friday Oct 10th was my son's 5th birthday. My husband and I went to have lunch with him at school and we passed out cupcakes to his classmates. I can't believe he's 5 already. It seems like just yesterday we had him. It sounds cliche I know but seriously where does the time go? He's such a momma's boy too. When he was smaller and I carried him everywhere he always twirled my hair around his fingers. To this day that's his favorite thing to do is to sit in my lap or when reading books at bedtime he loves to twirl my hair. I'm sure as he gets older that will stop and will make me sad. I just don't want them to grow up so fast! Happy Birthday baby!

My New (old) craft table

2008-10-17T01:52:00.000-07:00

I used to use a writing desk as my craft table but it just wasn't big enough. I had been searching and searching the Ramsteinyardsales.com website for a old farmers kitchen table. I wanted something that I could sand and repaint to give it my own flair. Well this lady was selling a old kitchen table and it was exactly what i was looking for. It came with 4 ugly chairs and the table for $50! What a deal it was!! Those I will have to recover but I'm not sure how to do that so I'll have to find someone who might know to help me.

Here is what it looked like when I bought it and I had started to strip the paint.

Here is what it looks like after. I painted it black to go with my decor in the room. I really love the way it turned out and I think I've found a new hobby that I'd enjoy doing.

I'm always on the look out for a piece of furniture that I can make my own. It's kind of hard here in Germany though because on the economy the thrift stores aren't so cheap once the Euro is coverted into dollars.

Thanks for taking a peek at my room!

My Craft space

2008-10-17T01:32:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to share for a while now pics of my little crafting space but it was never clean enough to take a pic and also I had the hardest time figuring out how to put text under each picture. Meli from The Glitter Goddess blog helped me figure out how to do that so here I am ready to post about my room. My choice of room color's is black and white. I will not be painting my walls because we are only stationed here for 3 years and I just don't feel up to painting it back when we are done. If I wanted to I'd probably paint it a sage green color to set off the black and white.

I purchased the letters from Hobby Lobby before leaving the states. I covered them using some black and white paper I bought online. It sits above the entrance to my living room.

This little corner of my room is part of my storage. I bought the black bars at Ikea to hold my punches. The 4 drawer chest I bought at Hobby Lobby each one holds different things. The 3 hanging cloth shelf on the wall I purchased at Ikea as well and it holds my nestabilities, cuttlebug items, my mini sewing machine and too much stuff to list!

Here is my Longaberger shelf which holds some of my embellishments. I don't have much storage space in the room so a lot of my other embellishments including all my stamps are in the hallway only a few feet away from my craft room. The hallway has built in shelves.

This is the wonderful window that was built by the German owners years and years ago. I love it because of the light it lets into the room.

Here is my double door windows that lets in a TON of light. I love these doors. They both open so when it's beautiful outside I am able to open them wide open and let in all the fresh air.

Thanksgiving Dinner invite

2008-10-14T14:11:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post tonight. It's 11pm here and I told myself I'd be in bed by midnight. I need to get some sleep I have a bunch of errands to do tomorrow that will probably take up my entire day unfortunately. These are my Thanksgiving Dinner invites to 5 of our friends we're having over for Thanksgiving dinner this year. I'll come back tomorrow to add in details.

Alexis Name Frame

2008-10-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I went to a babyshower and as part of my gift I made the baby a name frame for her bedroom. All the women who were there (mainly non crafters) went bonkers over the name frame. At the baby shower I had several women come up to me and ask if I would make them and sell them. Let me tell you it has really taken off! I'm not sure if it's because we are in Germany and these are not so popular here but I've been getting orders left and right. I'm down to three frames though. YIKES! I'm waiting on a box of frames to come from a friend. She hunts down all the Wal-Mart stores and buys the frames that I need. I'm probably going to have to look at various stores around here to see if I can find something similar. However it won't be as cheap so I'll have to raise my prices. The dollar is bad here in Europe. The last few days the dollar has gone up. But at one point it was $1.71 for every Euro. Now it's at $1.39 for 1 Euro that is today's rate. It's fluctuates daily. So I just wanted to share a picture of the name frame I did as my first order for Alexis. Her mother absolutely LOVED it. The picture doesn't do it justice. The colors are more bold in real life.

Precious Friend Boxy-bag

2008-10-07T05:02:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post today because I have a project I want to complete before the kids get home in a couple hours. Have you seen the adorable instructions that Jodylynn over at Confessions of a Ribbon Addict has posted for this boxy bag? It is super easy to make. I hope you give it a shot!! I haven't put anything in my box yet. My friend that I'm going to give it to is in love with these candies from a local German store so I need to go get some and package it up and give it to her. Thanks for looking!

Bella Buttons & Bows challenge

2008-10-06T09:05:00.000-07:00

While blog hopping yesterday I came across Leanne's Mile High Stamp & Scrap blog. She posted a challenge for us to play in using a Bella image, bows, and at least 5 buttons. Of course I had to participate. This card took me 24 hours to finish because I kept coming back to it. I kept changing things around. I finally ended up making a 5.25 X 5.25 card because the Partygirlabella image was so large. I used 5 buttons, the large Pepe Jeans button has another flower button on top. I thread ribbon through both and tied a knot. I used the heart from A to Z Accents from Stampin' Up! I stamped it in Versamark ink and used it as a background on the So Saffron cardstock.

supplies: Partygirlabella, A to Z Accents stamp sets, Bordering Blue, So Saffron, Certainly Celery & Regal Rose cardstock, buttons, Stampin' Write markers in Bordering Blue, So Saffron, and Certaily Celery, ribbon, corner punch

SFYTT

2008-10-05T07:50:00.000-07:00

I completely forgot about card making day yesterday! What a shocker! Actually we were busy all day anyway so I wouldn't have had time to make anything. I spent my Sunday blog hopping and couldn't believe all the challenges for card making day and decided to partcipate in a few. I check on Suzy's blog often Inky Rubber. I LOVE the cards she makes using Jen Del Muro's Sketch For You To Try (SFYTT). I've always checked Jen's blog out but never participated. Here is my first card using her sketch challenge for card making day. I used a double sided piece of cardstock by Making Memories Noteworthy collection called Audrey Pink Floral. I HEART this cardstock and unfortunately I only bought 1 piece while at the craft center on base. I went back yesterday and there was NONE left. Of course because it's soooooo pretty! I love the flowers on one side and the polka dots on the other. I wanted to distress the card so I sponged all pieces with Stampin' Up! ink pad in Creamy Caramel. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Bloomin' with Garden Riley

2008-10-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

I should totally be meal planning for the next two weeks & finishing up my resume right now but I'm so tired of planning meals that I had to find something to distract me. What a better way to get sidetracked than to post something on my blog? I haven't done a Mojo Monday challenge in a while so I did Julee's sketch this week. Isn't Garden Riley sooooo cute? I participated in a Riley image swap recently and got this image in the swap. I'm definitely going to have to start buying some more Riley's. I love the way this card turned out and my coloring isn' so bad either. I really can't get the coloring down but I think I did pretty good this time. I used some paper I bought recently by Making Memories it's called Garden Party the green plaid paper is called Garden Party Stripe, and the flower paper is called Garden Party Flowers.

supplies: Pretty In Pink, Chocoalte Chip & Whisper White cardstock, Making Memories Garden Party scrapbok paper, Staz-On black ink, Taylor Tots, Garden Riley stamp, ticket corner punch, pop dots

Project Rudolph bags

2008-09-27T06:46:00.000-07:00

I've been making bags for Project Rudolph. I kept them fairly simple because she needs about 7,000 decorated lunch bags. I'm just doing what I can probably about 200 bags. If you would love to help with Project Rudolph Tawny is still in need of decorated lunch bags and letters from children and adults. You can read all about her Project Rudolph here. When she arrived here in Germany two years ago she wanted to give back to the men and women that are in Iraq and are transitioning through Ramstein PAX termanal or those who are being seen for medical care at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center from Iraq. She hands out and mails downrange these decorated lunch bags with various goodies to let the men and women know that we care about them and are deeply grateful for their sacrifices. I would love it if you could help her meet her goal. Please read the article and decide if you can help in one way or another. If you want you can link my blog into your blog to spread the word. It's almost October so the sooner these are sent to her the better!

Sweet day...

2008-09-26T00:00:00.000-07:00

Well two days in a row of posting a card what do you know? Life has once again picked back up and so I've not stamped in a while. I have urges to stamp all the time but when I can fit it into my schedule is the problem. I really liked the sketch challenge over on Our Creative Corner blog a few weeks ago but never had a chance to play so I've sat down and finally made a card for it. I picked my cardstock color choices from this ribbon that I've had FOREVER and have never used. I know it's kinda summery colors but there's no law that says we have to use fall/winter colors because we're in Fall season right? I used my new Crazy For Cupcakes stamp set by Stampin' Up! If you're interested in purchasing it let me know because I'm a SU demonstrator. Thanks for looking!

supplies: YoYo Yellow, Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore & Whisper White cardstock, Crazy For Cupcakes stamp set by Stampin' Up!, Noir black palette & Real Read ink, Argyle Cuttlebug embossing folder, sponges, and ribbon

Cutie Patootie friends

2008-09-25T05:41:00.000-07:00

This Mistletoe Pixies image by Stampendous is one of my favorite Christmas stamps. I love how the two are so snuggly. This is my October Christmas card that I will have for Christmas card class in a few weeks. I just ordered some more of the background paper because I love it so much! The background paper is by Sandylion called Let It Snow. I found it at the arts & crafts center at another base near here.

supplies: Bravo Burgandy, Bordering Blue, Kraft & Whisper White cardstock, Noir black palette ink, Stampin' Up's stampin write markers, blue & white polka dot organdy ribbon, Sandylion Let It Snow background paper

Bad or Fattening?

2008-09-17T09:10:00.001-07:00

Of course I'm posting on a Wednesday don't you know it's Splitcoaststampers sketch challenge Wednesday? :) This cute little card is my contribution to sketch #194. I love this mini Inkadinkadoo Bad or Fattening stamp set. I bought it over at All That Scraps a few months ago. I used the Stampin' Up! Cutie Pie paper that is no longer available. Boohoo! Well take a look and enjoy! Don't those little cupcakes look delicious?

Supplies: So Saffron, Bashful Blue & Purely Pomegranate cardstock, Palette Noir ink, Inkadinkadoo Bad or Fattening mini stamp set, Lemonade twill ribbon, circle punches, Prima flower, Stampin' Up! black Vintage brad

My Catch All Can

2008-09-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

As I was doing a ceiling to floor cleaning of my kitchen and dining room last week. I came across this Starbucks cocoa can I had lying around. It was black so I thought it will be perfect to dress it up and use it as my new catch all can on my new craft table that I'll be bringing into the house tomorrow. I decorated it pretty simple just wanted to keep things simple. I will use this can on my table to put pens, bone folders, markers, scissors, etc while I'm stamping. Then I'll put them in their rightful places later. But at least they won't be rolling around the table as I try to work. I used a flower chipboard piece by Stampin' Up! and I covered it with Basic Black cardstock. I used circle punches, and Taylor Tots to decorate it. The raspberry twill ribbon is from Taylored Expressions.

Thanks Over & Over

2008-09-10T02:58:00.000-07:00

Good Wednesday morning everyone! This is my card for the SCS sc#193. I used several Stampin' Up! markers to color in the daisy image. The image is by TAC. I used some scrapbook paper by Fancy Pants Designs. Thanks for taking a look!

supplies: Daisy stamp by TAC, Circle of Friendship stamp set by Stampin' Up!, Not Quite Navy, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, & Whisper White cardstock, Fancy Pants Design scrapbook paper called True Blue, Earth Elements button, Nestabilities

Owl Happiness

2008-09-09T01:19:00.000-07:00

I check in on Tamara's card sketches pretty often but I hardly have time lately to participate. So this last sketch #60 I did! I really like the 4 panels on the card background so I gave it shot. I used some scrapbook paper by Fancy Pants Designs. I am in love with the Wise Owl set by Papertrey Ink. It was my first time inking that stamp set up. I love all the phrases that come in the set. I did make color my owl to be a girl owl in pretty pink. I gave her belly and eyelids some glitter using the Fruit Punch stickles. I have a horrible headache this morning and I was really hoping to get outside to start painting my used craft table I purchased recently. Right now I'm doing all my stamping on a little desk and it's just not enough room. A lady I know here was selling a farmer's style table, she used it as her kitchen table. I loved the look of it and bought it. I've stripped the paint off of it, now it needs to be re-painted. I'm hoping to get it done before this weekend. I'll be posting pics of my craft room once my new curtains are hung and my craft table is finished! I'm so excited.

supplies: Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip & Soft sky cardstock, Chocolate Chip ink, Fancy Pants scrapbook paper, Photo corner punch, Blender pens, Fruit Punch stickles, Earth Element Watercolor crayons, Doodlebug button

Blog is getting a facelift

2008-09-07T20:45:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let everyone know I'm trying to update the look of my blog. Giving it a facelift! I'm not done adding back in the buttons and making it look like it did before. I had a hard time getting the header to fit just right and still getting it to fit just right. Who knows by the time I'm actually done it may look more different. :) I felt it needed some personalitiy and I was visiting someone's blog last week and noticed her cute layout so I went to the website she purchased it on and bought one of my own too. Thanks for bearing with me!

Time Spent with Friends

2008-09-03T02:06:00.000-07:00

Today is Manuel's first day of Kindergarten so here I am sitting at home and it's a little strange not having him around. I will post pics soon of his first day. I made this card because it's rainy here today yucky wet weather! I wanted something bright and sunny. Summer is almost over so I figured I'd knock one more summer card out. I found this cute Bo Bunny Shabby Princess collection designer paper called Ella Dot with the cute polka dots on front, and the plaid on back. Well I'm off to figure out what to do with myself. Hope everyone has a great day!

Supplies: YoYo Yellow, Green Galore, Real Red & Whisper White cardstock, Bo Bunny Shabby Princess Ella Dot designer paper, Stampin' Up! Time Well Spent stamp set, Real Red & Green Galore ink, Prima flowers, Stampin' Up! vintage brads, Cuttlebug, Stampin' Up! ticket punch, Green & white polka dot organdy ribbon & pop dots

Sweet Birthday Wishes, TECC31

2008-08-31T22:58:00.000-07:00

Good morning! I woke up this morning to the noise of rain just pounding down outside. I LOVE it when it rains. I had no clue it was to rain on Labor Day here in Germany. Oh well, it will be a perfect day to do odd and end things around the house. I especially love the mornings when the kids sleep in and I can check email and get on online in peace and quiet. That's why I'm trying to get my card posted for Taylored Expressions cupcake challenge #31. I finished my card yesterday but ran out of time to post it. Yesterday while checking my myspace account I thought hmmm....why not use the color scheme from my myspace page to use for her challenge. My page is set to private but you can find the myspace page from Pyzam here. The colors in the page are Tempting Turquoise, Pink Passion, Basic Black, Apricot Appeal and Whisper White. I used just a bit of the Apricot Appeal to throw some of that color in there somewhere. I inked up my Birthday Cupcake stamp set by Inkadinkadoo. I purchased it at Joanns.com during 4th of July when it was on sale and shipping was free! What a deal right? I stamped the heart from the set as a background on the Pink Passion and then I went over the hearts with my new Black Diamond stickles I bought at the Spangdahlem AB crafts store. My sweet husband drove me an hour and 15 minutes away just so I could go to the craft store. They have a large selection of stuff on hand. He made my day Saturday! Instead of using a sentiment in the oval circle I used my large sentiment from the Birthday Cupcake set on the main image panel. My mom lives in Kansas and she goes to Topeka pretty often. She was there recently and happened upon a new scrapbook store. She does not stamp or not scrapbook at all but she's always thinking of me so she went in to see what she could find. Well she found this ADORABLE cupcake punch by EK Success. Actually the owner had made several cards using the punch and my mom could not find the punch so she ordered one. When it came in my mom went to get it and sent it to me! She knows I love cupcakes. I paper pieced the cupacke. I used some black eyelet designer paper for the liner, and I cut out the pink passion cupcake top. I also punched and pieced a piece of apricot appeal for the candle portion. I added some rhinestones because all cards need bling somewhere! Finished it off with some black and white polka dot organdy ribbon! Uh-oh I hear people moving about upstairs. In a few minutes I'll have to start breakfast so I'm off to start my day!

Supplies: Birthday Cupcake set by Inkadinkadoo, Black Diamond stickles, Black & White polka dot organdy ribbon, Scallop oval punches, Cupcake punch by EK Success, Basic Black ink, Tempting Turquoise, Pink Passion, Basic Black, Apricot Appeal, and Whisper White cardstock, Rhinestones, Pink Passion Stampin' Up! stampin write marker

Rock Star Onsie

2008-08-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

This morning we had our monthly Stampin' Up! meeting and our wonderful Ally demonstrated how to do this very cute and simple onsie card. She found the tutorial here. This card is super cute you can dress it up as much as you like. And the best part it's so EASY and quick. I have this great designer paper by American Crafts called Fortune Teller with all the stars. I thought this would be cute to dress up the onsie. I used large brads by American crafts in pink. I didn't mean to put them so close together but it's still cute so I left it be.

Edited: I updated this post with the link to the tutorial

Supplies: Elegant Eggplant cardstock, American Crafts Fortune Teller designer paper, American Crafts large pink brads, Scallop punch, Stampin' Up! 1 3/8 inch

Boo Time, SC191

2008-08-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

Today I managed to clean house for good part of the day so that when my husband went to work (he works night shift) that I would be able to sit down and stamp the night away. I think I got 2 cards done and it's almost 10pm here. So much for stamping the night away ha? I always sit down and start blog hoping and next thing I know I've spent hours looking at and commenting on blogs. About my card I want to say I didn't color in my witch image from Booglie Eyes because I just don't have the coloring skills like so many talented ladies out there. I tried 3 times to color her cape but it just wasn't happening. I used the sketch challenge over at SCS. A few months ago I bought the twill bundle from Taylored Expressions and realized the Key Lime twill ribbon matched to the t with the color in the designer paper. I stamped the sentiment in the old Stampin' Up! Parfait spectrum pad. My mom is constantly searching at local garage sales where she lives for SU items and she found and bought this spectrum pad. She is so sweet but she really doesn't know what to look for. If she had known this pad is half way dried up she wouldn't of bought it. But I appreciate her thinking of me often so I used it on my sentiment for this card.

Supplies: Only Orange, Whisper White, Basic Black, Lovely Lilac cardstock, Stampin' Up! halloween designer series paper (Sorry do not remember the name of the paper), Square punches, Stampin' Up! Booglie Eyes set, Taylored Expressions Key Lime twill ribbon, Lovely Lilac eyelets.

Booglie Boo

2008-08-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the urge to make some Halloween cards because Halloween is near. I'm not sure what we will do for Halloween this year. I know there is trick or treating on base however I can only imagine how extremely crowded it will be. We will probably end up going anyways because well we're over here and have to let the kids enjoy their American traditions. I recently purchased the Vampire Riley stamp and wanted to use that as the main image but my coloring was so not working. It was all wrong. I really wish I had some copic markers to color. I tried coloring him three different ways and it just was not to my liking. So I took out my handy Booglie Eyes, it's one of my favorite Halloween sets. I also used some old Stampin' Up! ds Halloween paper I think it's from 2 years ago. I bought several packs of that paper because it was too cute for Halloween. Thanks for stopping by!

Vienna, Austria

2008-08-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

When we were stationed in Texas and my husband was teaching classes at Lackland AFB he had a student in his class from Austria. His name is Sebastian. Sebastian and my husband became good friends. When Sebastian left he always extended the invitation to go visit him in his country. While family was in town we decided what a perfect time to go. Sebastian is in the Armed Forces of Austria. He was our tour guide for 2 days. He set us up in a nice hotel and showed us his home. We loved Austria!! We will go back probably next year for his wedding. The only downside was it was SUPER DUPER hot!!!!!! Did you know Austria has the world's oldest zoo? We did not go but we went to the front gate.

These two pictures are of the palace in Vienna. My 12 year old son Luis is standing in front of the Palace ruins, and the other picture is taken from the Palace looking into old Vienna. Sebastian showed us how easy it was to ride the subway and buses in the city. He took us to every tourist attraction. But for dinner on our first night he took us somewhere special on the outskirts of the city at the border of the mountains for dinner. The wine was fabulous as well as the food. We finished up our second day in Vienna visiting his workplace and had lunch before we took off for Garmisch, Germany.

Paris, France

2008-08-25T12:19:00.000-07:00

Paris is AMAZING! We definitely (just hubby and I) have to go back before our 2 years is up here in Germany. You need more than 1 day to really enjoy Paris. If you have the time and money then a week is good. There was so much to see and do in Paris. I want to keep my posts short because there are several places I want to post pics about. The Eifel tower was the highlight, but so was seeing the Louis Vuitton building. If only I could afford to buy anything in there. :) I was so impressed with the details in the buildings. Just absolutely breathtaking!! I can't put into words how amazing it is.

Amsterdam

2008-08-25T12:09:00.001-07:00

I've mentioned in a previous post that I would share pictures from our recent summer travels. My husbands parents and his Aunt and Uncle came to visit us for 3 weeks so we took a summer vacation. We went to all these places by car. The closest country we live near is France. We are about 20 minutes to the France border. As soon as I get my International Drivers license you better believe I will go to France on my own while the kids are at school on day trips. There is a store called Cora that isn't too far away from the France border it's like a super Wal-Mart. Ok onto my review of Amsterdam. Well in my honest opinion everyone has their places of enjoyment and this was not one of them. Perhaps we just did not know where to go in the downtown area but the area we were in was jam packed with marijuana everywhere. Of course that's one of the things Amsterdam is known for it's legalization of drugs. Maybe I didn't really get to enjoy it because we didn't arrive until 5pm and a lot of the tourist attractions closed early. Well here is a picture of my husband and I at one of the many canals. The kids really enjoyed the canals. There was a huge population of people from every country imaginable!

Cute As a Bug, Mojo Monday #49

2008-08-25T10:26:00.000-07:00

Ok well here is my last minute attempt at this Mojo Monday challenge #49. I forgot all about it and I think I have 30 minutes left to enter the contest. I've had this cute 12X12 paper by Making Memories in my pile for a while now and wanted to use it. I only have 1 Verve Visual stamp set and hate to use the same one over and over again for her challenges. I also had to change the saying to stick outside the main image as if I had put it underneath it would've covered the sentiment.

Supplies: Brocade Blue, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White cardstock, Making Memories ds paper, Brocade Blue & Wild Wasabi ink, Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug emobssing folder, Stampin' Up! vintage brads

Ruby Snowbunnybella

2008-08-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

Edit: Sorry everyone the previous dark picture was really bugging me so I re-took the picture to show what it really looks like. Much better in my opinion!

Hi everyone! Sorry it's been almost a month since I've posted anything. As I mentioned in my previous post we did have family come for 3 weeks. They left last weekend and well life's been busy getting the boys ready for school to start. We had a fantastic time with our family. It gets so lonely living overseas with no family. Essentially our friends always become family it's a way of military life. Anyway we went to many places while they were here. Our main highlights were Paris, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Vienna, Rome, and Milan!! I'll be posting a few pics of our adventure while they were here soon.

To jump start back into my mojo I went over to SCS as always for color inspiration Tuesday. Today's colors were different but very cute!! The colors we were challenged to use are Close to Cocoa, Ruby Red, & Blush Blossom. I participated in a Stamping Bella image swap on SCS and today they came in my mail so I decided why not pull out a fantastic bella to color and use as the main image for this card. I went with a winter theme because before you know it winter will be here.

I used stickles in the fur of her coat. On top I used my new Copper stickles, and on her boots I used Stardust stickles to give it a little girly girl glitter.

Supplies:
Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Ruby Red, Blush Blossom cardstock, Snowbunnybella, Copper & Stardust stickles, brads, Cocoa grosgrain ribbon, Snowflakes Cuttlebug embossing folder

OCC Dry Emboss challenge

2008-07-24T00:26:00.000-07:00

We have family from the states coming to visit us in Germany tomorrow and I've got a whole list of challenges that I sooo want to finish before they arrive because I know the entire 3 weeks they are here I will probably not stamp very much at all. But I have a TON of cleaning and washing bed sheets, etc to do before tomorrow morning that I probably even will not get to the challenges I have on a list. I love reading the OCC blog and thought this was a challenge I could handle. The challenge is to use dry embossing somewhere on your card. I went over to Taylored Expressions blog to pick a sketch challenge because I love her sketches. Not to mention I have this new Hero Arts Cupcakes stamp set that had not been broken in yet. So I knew this was the chance to break it in. I think it came out pretty cute. I ran the striped squares through my cuttlebug using the Tiny Bubbles embossing folder. I used some of the pink twill ribbon and the absolutely adorable Taylor Tots from Taylored Expressions.

supplies: Chocolate Chip, Gable Green, Regal Rose, & Whisper WHite cardstock, Hero Arts Cupcakes stamp set, Nestabilities, designer paper from Hobby Lobby, taylor tots

Verve Diva Challenge Part Deux

2008-07-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

I have completely forgot to look at the Verve challenges going on at SCS and now that I have 1 set of theirs I can feel good about entering them. Their stamps aren't required but it doubles your chances of winning so I think I need to get some new sets. I can't use the Anniversary birds in all their challenges. :) Anyway you can find more info on the challenge here which ends midnight on Wednesday so if you want to participate hurry and get your card in today!

card supplies: Night of Navy, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, & Whisper White cardstock, Night of Navy, Pumpkin Pie, and Wild Wasabi ink, brads, prima flower, ticket punch, star dust stickles

Happy Anniversary June & Anthony

2008-07-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

My friend June and her husband are celebrating their 8th anniversary today so I had to make them a quick card. Of course I had to use my new Anniversary Birds set by Verve Visual because it's new to me and I just got it last week! So it worked perfect! I really like this set.

card supplies: Basic Black & Whisper White cardstock, Black & White Eyelet paper, Cuttlebug, Noir Black Palette inkpad, ticket punch, black brads

Lizzie Anne Birthday Sketch Challenge

2008-07-18T23:57:00.001-07:00

I'm a day late posting my card I made for the birthday bash going on over at Lizzie Anne designs. I chose to use sketch #3. Sorry for the poor picture quality I think something is up with my camera. I used the single stamp Hey Cupcake. It's my first cupcake image and I use it a lot!

Girly Friendship

2008-07-06T13:37:00.001-07:00

It's Mojo Monday time! I love Julee's sketches at Poetic Artistry. This is for Mojo Monday #44 check it out here. I wanted something very girly so I picked out my Doodlebug Black & White eyelet paper first and went from there. I knew it was going to be mainly black and white but I needed a pop of color so I chose Regal Rose. It's a color I keep reaching for lately. I also used the Regal Rose marker to put some color in her cheeks. I paper pieced her dress from the same black and white paper. You can totally tell I'm no professional at coloring. But hey practice makes perfect right? I hope you enjoy the card! Thanks for stopping by.

July Christmas card

2008-06-29T09:56:00.000-07:00

Each year I have Christmas card classes for my customers that start in July and end in November. Each month we will make 10 cards so that in November they have completed 50 Christmas cards. It's something we look forward to each year!! I can't believe it's already that time that means Christmas really isn't too far ahead. YIKES! Here is July's Christmas card the girls will make. I bought this Penny Black stamp last year and had not used it yet so I decided to break him out. The stamp is called Warm & Cold. I love this image. Old Olive is the color I chose for the card base. Not Quite Navy is mounted on top. I used Bashful blue with my snowflakes cuttlebug embossing folder. I stamped the image on Whisper White cardstock and mounted him on Chocolate Chip. I used the ticket punch for the corners. Old Olive brads were used on front of the snowman for his buttons. I used Star Dust stickles under the snow to make it sparkle. I really hope the gals enjoy this card! Thanks for looking...

Cupcake Picks

2008-06-25T13:09:00.000-07:00

So far each day this week one of my friends has celebrated a birthday! It's been a busy week I tell ya. Yesterday it was my friend June's birthday. We celebrated the day by going to the swimming pool in my village and had picnic lunch with the kids and I made her these cupcakes. The cupcakes are home made and the recipe can be found here.I thought a easy way to spruce them up would be to make these cupcake picks. I used the Hey There Cupcake set by Stampendous which could only be found exclusively at Eclectic Paperie.

Pineapple Delight recipe

2008-06-25T13:04:00.000-07:00

This month for our demo meeting we were to make recipe cards and make the actual dish for everyone to try at the meeting. I decided to make this yummy dessert my friend Paulette made for me when we were in San Antonio. Everyone who tries it falls in love with it. It's so easy and I would've never thought to put any of these ingredients together. I have no clue what the actual recipe is called because this whole time I've just called it Paulette's dessert. lol I also decided to have them laminated so that when the girls are using them and they get dirty they can just be wiped off and like new again! I really hope everyone tries the recipe. If you do come back and let me know if you liked it.

You're the Best

2008-06-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

I have a few different posts today because I've been busy! This first one came about when I was asked to teach this gatefold techinique at our Stampin' Up! demo meeting for the month. I also decided to use SCS color challenge yesterday but I couldn't stick with just the 3 colors of Wild Wasabi, Taken with Teal & Whisper White. I ended up adding some Rose Red so I guess this doesn't qualify for the color challenge. I love this card. I'm really happy with how easy it was and the way it turned out. The anchor you see in the lower right corner is keeping it closed together. It opens on both sides. I really hope you enjoy it! Thanks for looking...

Brilee's Announcements

2008-06-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

My good friend Kristie who I miss so much is expecting her first baby girl soon. I was so happy when she emailed me and wanted me to send her some ideas for birth announcements. She wanted something that she could include a small photo with. So I put this together and she absolutely loved it! I can't wait to get started on these birth announcements for her and Brian for their new baby girl. This card is a gatefold card I found the directions on the Scor-Pal site.

Sunflower Fun

2008-06-19T05:32:00.000-07:00

It was almost effortless for me to decide exactly what I wanted to do with this image. I was blog browsing this morning and came across this great color challenge at Jen's Stampin' Spot. I knew I wanted to use the TAC image I bought two months ago. I LOVE sunflowers. I colored the image in using Stampin' Up! stampin write markers. Usually it takes me half the day to figure out what I want to do with a card so maybe I can get in another card before hubby wakes up. Card details: Card base is Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun is matted on top. I used the Swiss Dot cuttlebug embossing folder AGAIN. Yes I'm obsessed with this particular folder. I used the Stylized Flowers embossing folder on the Wild Wasabi cardstock. The sunflower image was stamped on Whisper White matted on Summer Sun & Chocolate Chip. I didn't put a sentiment on the outside because I'm not sure what occasion I will use the card for.

Hey Cupcake

2008-06-18T12:47:00.000-07:00

It took me way too long to make this card! My 4 year old must have interrupted me a million times. I just could not get this card together. I'm so glad I did get it done though. I sent him upstairs with some grapes to watch a movie and I knew that'd do the trick. He LOVES his grapes, he gave me just enough time to put it together and post it here. I made this card using the sketch challenge over at SCS. It's Wednesday so it's sketch day! I love sketch day even if I don't do every single sketch. When I'm stuck on a design I always head over there to look at the master thread to find a sketch I would like to use. Now onto the card details: Pink Passion was used for card base, Green Galore matted on top. I used the Polka dot cuttlebug embossing folder on the Green Galore to give it a little something. I found this awesome paper by American Crafts called Celebration Fortune Teller. I love this paper!! You can't really tell but the stars that look black are actually a dark purple. It's so fun and cheery! I love fun and cheery. I used my Lizzie Anne Designs stamp "Hey Cupcake." I used the sentiment from Time Well Spent by Stampin' Up! Added some green brads, and a orange Prima to finish it off. Thanks for looking!

Girlfriends Mojo Monday #42

2008-06-17T09:12:00.000-07:00

The sketch over at Julee's blog is so wonderful this week that I had to make a card. It's Mojo Monday over there. I broke out my Stamping Bella stamp that I bought a long time ago and have not used. I was really intimidated by it because of all the details you have to color but once I started coloring it wasn't so bad. I tried to stay within the colors in the paper & cardstock used. They are having Chocolate ice cream hence the color of the ice cream. I try to incorporate chocolate where ever possible in life! :) The card base is Bashful Blue, Cameo Coral is matted on top. I used some cute scrapbook paper I found at the arts & craft center on base two days ago. The paper is by American Crafts called Spring & Summer Teacups. You'll see some other cute papers I picked up there in future posts too. I stamped the "Sweetybellas" stamp in Stazon black ink on Whisper White cardstock. I colored the image using Cameo Coral, Bashful Blue, Creamy Caramel, Certainly Celery & Chocolate Chip stampin write markers. It was matted onto more Cameo Coral cardstock and used dimensionals to make it stand out a bit. I used blue prima flowers with black brads from the vintage brads by Stampin' Up! I used the Much Appreciated stamp set by Stampin' Up!

Coffee & Friends

2008-06-10T04:47:00.000-07:00

Man I miss my friends in Texas! The last few months I was there the girls would come over for stamp classes and we'd have coffee and breakfast items. I bought this stamp set and remembered I have not even used it yet. Last night it tasted it's first ink! I think I'll mass produce these cards and send them to my friends in Texas. The card base is Chocolate Chip, Purely Pomegranate layered on top. I used the Polka Dot embossing folder from Cuttlebug. I layered Creamy Caramel on top of the Pomegranate. I used a dauber to daub Creamy Caramel onto the Creamy Caramel cardstock. The stamp is from Inkadikado set called Houser Coffee Classics. The coffee cup I colored with the Chocolate Chip stampin marker directly onto the stamp. It comes out darker than using the stamp pad. I also daubed Creamy Caramel onto the Whisper White cardstock and used vintage brads in all four corners. I used some polkda dot ribbon from a ribbon share and finished the card off by stamping the saying in Chocolate Chip.

Penguin Chick Sketch Challenge

2008-06-08T12:38:00.000-07:00

I haven't been too active in stamping lately. I'm ready to get back into the swing of things though and I thought the perfect way was to do this sketch challenge #179 from over at SCS last week. I actually did this card on Wednesday but am just now having a chance to post it. I bought these stamps from Eclectic Paperie when they first came out. I'm just now inking them up! These penguins are so cute. I stamped Penguin Chick by Imaginisce Stamps with Palette Inkpad in Noir Black on Whisper White. After stamping her in Noir Black I used my 2 way glue pen and sprinkled pink Fun Flock on her hula skirt. Amy over on Prairie Paper & Ink did a tutorial on how to use Fun Flock with 2 way glue so I followed her directions. It was so easy! Nestabilities were used for the scallop circle and plain circle. I LOVE the Nestabilities my second favorite item by far. Perfect Plum was used as my card base I then layered YoYo Yellow on top and used some paper I bought from Hobby Lobby a long time ago before I left the states. The paper is so bright and cheery that I chose to stick with 2 colors from the paper. I used white polka dot ribbon on top of the YoYo Yellow strips down the right and bottom sides. I used a little bling in the middle of her flower in her hair.

Be Happy

2008-06-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

Oh am I oh so happy! I finally purchased the Scor Pal and let me tell you it's the best thing since sliced bread. I'm sure you've all read about the reviews on this tool and it is for sure a MUST HAVE!! I decided to try out the Scored Lattice card intstructions in the April/May issue. My lines aren't exactly even on each side but it looks pretty good to me for the first try. I kept the card very simple and similar to the sample in the April/May issue just changed the colors, stamps, ribbon etc. I hope you enjoy the fun card as much as I do. I used Chocolate Chip as the card base, Regal Rose is the piece that I did the scored lattice technique to, Rose Red as the mat for the Whisper White piece. I stamped Changito Loco in Chocolate Chip on Whisper White. Colored him in with Creamy Caramel. I used the ticket punch on all four corners and I added some bling to all four corners.

Ladybug life

2008-04-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

I had such a fun time making this card! I think it was a sketch challenge on MFT I think. I saw the sketch on SCS and I believe she mentioned MFT. Anyway story behind the card: I needed to make a card for a very good friend of mine Rita. Since we've been in Germany she's always done little things to make our transition over here better like always inviting us for dinner, bringing me home made lumpia which is the BEST i've ever had. They always want to take us to see new sights, and she has called or text me every single day since being here to make sure I'm ok or if I need anything. I thought the saying on the bottom of the card was perfect! Because even though they may seem like little things to others it's been a HUGE little things to me. I am so appreciative of her and her family. I think I will make her something chocolate cause she is a chocolate gal! Probably some home made Mocha Cupcakes from Batter-Splattered blog that I love! You can find the recipe here. I have made these and they only make 9 cupcakes so double your batter because let me tell you they will NOT last 1 day. They are the best chocolate cupcake I've ever tasted! For my card I used Purely Pomegranate as the base, matted a piece of printed cardstock from my wonderful Pocket Full of Posies stack by Die Cuts With a View. I then cut squares in Soft Sky, Summer Sun, Purely Pomegranate, and Whisper White. I layered them and on the Whisper White piece I stamped the heart from the A to Z Accents by Stampin' Up! in Purely Pomegranate on all four corners. I punched out a scallop in Summer Sun, used my circle punch for the Whisper White circle and stamped the big ladybug from Little Lady set by Papertrey Ink. I used 3 black brads from the vintage brads by Stampin' Up! on 3 of her spots to give her a little depth. I can't wait to give Rita this card on Friday!

Thank You BERRY Much!

2008-04-14T12:04:00.001-07:00

A few other ladies and I are doing a mini card swap here in Germany and this is one of the cards I came up with. I got my Tart & Tangy set in the mail and just had to use it. I had fun making it and it was a lot of work sort of. You can't tell by the picture but the Green Galore piece has dimensionals on all four corners to make it pop up from the card base. I started off with a standard size card piece of Whisper White. I cut a piece of cardstock 5 1/4 X 4 and stamped the Print Pattern background in Green Galore onto the Green Galore cardstock. I then punched out 3 scallop circles and used my 1 3/8 inch circle punch to punch out the middle. I positioned the scallop cirles on top of the Green Galore cardstock and drew circles so I knew where to punch the wholes so I could stamp the strawberries directly onto the Whisper White card base. I used the Real Red & Green Galore marker to color the strawberry. The middle strawberry I embossed the top in Green Galore and put a dimensional underneath it to make it pop. My card needed some kind of embellishment and I didn't feel I had enough room for ribbon. So I opted to punch out 4- 1/4 inch cirlces and use Green Galore brads through them on all four corners of the card. I needed a sentiment and knew I wanted it to read Thank You Berry Much however the stamp from Much Appreicated reads "Thank you very much" I opted to use my Basic Black stampin write marker and ink up the Thank you portion stamp then hand wrote in the "Berry" in Real Red. I then masked off the first three words and inked up the much portion of the saying and stamped it. It looks so much better in person!

Black & White prima's

2008-04-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

Lindsay's blog In My Stamp Room's catchy blog header caught my eye! I've just recently found it and visit it often. I did not realize she has sketch challenges which seem to be my "thing" right now. It's so much easier to be able to sit down and create when there is a sketch challenge rather than trying to come up with one on your own. Tonight I decided to give her Thursday Sketch challenge a shot. Let me tell you it was so painless and not messy! Usually when I do a sketch challenge you should see my desk area. It is full of probably all the supplies I own because I will start with something I see in my mind and it will end with something completely different than what I started with. But this challenge I kinda knew exactly which paper I wanted to use and wanted it to be a mainly black and white color scheme. To start off I used Whisper White as the base. I purchased the Doodlebug Black & White eyelet paper at A Walk Down Memory Lane because they actually had it in stock! Thank you A Walk Down Memory Lane I had been on the hunt for this collection for a while and the best thing it was on sale!!! Back to my card......I then cut a piece of Whisper White cardstock and matted Basic Black to it then another Whisper White and topped it off with Prima flowers purchased at Eclectic Paperie. I used Real Red brads in the middle of the black Prima flowers, and a Basic Black brad in the red & white polka dot Prima flower. I then doodled a little and decided to not put a sentiment on front because I'm not sure what occasion the card will be used for. I'm on a roll today got 2 cards under my belt because my family has let me enjoy my day in between spending time with them....

Taylored Expressions Color Challenge 11

2008-04-13T05:49:00.000-07:00

All weekend I've been wanting to do this color challenge Taylor posted on her blog. While at the Black Forest yesterday I was trying to come up with a layout and what I wanted to use. I'm pretty happy with what I chose. This time I made a card 5X5 which I've never done before. I like how much room there is to play with! The card base is Tempting Turquoise, then I used my slit punch to make a scalloped edge on Pumpkin Pie after that I cuttlebug'd that piece with the swirls embossing folder. I layered a piece of Soft Sky on top of the Gable Green. On the Gable Green piece I daubed Gable Green. On top of that I wanted the Soft Sky to pop a little because it looked a little dull so I layered a piece of Whisper White on top. I used my scallop punches and stamped the Hey There Cupcake set on my card. I added some brads on the lower left corner and I punched out some corners using my Stampin' Up! Photo Corners punch. I also daubed Pumpkin Pie onto the corners too. Lastly I cut some Gable Green polka dot ribbon from a ribbon share Taylor held a long time ago.

Life May Not be the Party

2008-04-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

I had fun with this card tonight. Once again this is a sketch challenge over at Poetic Artistry. I went through two different designer papers and finally decided on this one. I'm glad I did cause I like the whole pink, green, black combo. The card is BasicBblack for the base, Gable Green was matted on top and embossed using the Swiss dots cuttlebug folder. Swiss dots is my favorite cuttlebug folder. A piece of Basic Black matted the Pink & Lime Argyle designer paper by The Paper Studio purchased at Hobby Lobby. I then matted a piece of sponged Pixie Pink onto Basic Black cardstock and used 3 black brads on the left. For the prima flower I used some bling for the center. I hope you enjoy! Thanks for looking.

Heartfelt Thanks

2008-04-06T03:28:00.000-07:00

I have found that being a military wife and living overseas in Germany there are some very special women who are always willing to help eachother out. I posted on the germany military wives yahoo group two weeks ago about needing a king size bed frame. When we ordered our new kind bed but forget about the frame we knew we'd need one. The wait to get one on base was like 4 weeks long and I kinda wanted one for my new bed now. Many ladies made many suggestions but Julia someone I've never even met emailed me personally and said hey we're going to Mannheim to get one I can pick one up for you. She genersously paid it and picked it up. This morning my husband is going over to pick it up and pay her for it. I am so grateful to her for helping me out. It's people like this that make living in Germany really great. Thank you Julia!

Mojo Monday

2008-04-05T12:31:00.000-07:00

I really like the card challenges over on the Poetic Artistry blog. This is challenge number 31. She always has such nice sketches and card samples! I decided to use some paper I bought a while back from Eclectic Paperie. I unfortunately don't know who it's by. I used Rose Red as the card base and matted the designer paper to it. I used the Swiss Dots folder Old Olive & Rose Red pieces of cardstock. I stamped the flower from Bud Basics in Rose Red then I cut it out to give it some dimension. A vintage brad was inserted in middle of a brown prima flower and finally through the cut out flower. It was matted on a scallop circle.

Birthday flowers

2008-04-04T22:38:00.000-07:00

I love this color combination! I wish I had Basic Grey by Stampin' Up! but I didn't so I used Basic Black instead. Although last night I did place a order for the basic grey ink pad, and paper! Can't wait to get it. This was a color challenge over at SCS. I used the Paisley cuttlebug folder on basic black. I used the stamp set Women of Life by Papertrey ink using black Stazon ink. I really don't like the way the picture makes the ink look like I didn't stamp it clearly because it did. Not sure why it looks kinda blotchy. I then stamped the middle of the flower in bashful blue and used stickles for the middle of 4 flower buds. I wanted to put ribbon but didn't know where to put it so I tied little bows in the bigger two flower buds with the black gingham ribbon. I matted that image on bashful blue cardstock. To give it one last element I put a bashful blue square rhinestone in the bottom right hand corner.

Beate's Sketch Challenge #40

2008-03-24T00:06:00.000-07:00

Every weekend Beate holds a sketch challenge on her blog which you can find #40 here. This is the first time I've participated in it. See I tell ya I'm on a roll with these sketch challenges. Usually I will find a sketch challenge and say I'm going to do it. Only NOT to do it because I get so busy. Last week I made it an effort to sit down and put some stamping time in for me. I used the Bee Trio stamp by Stampedous. I love the Bee Happy collection. Eventually I will own the whole collection. :) I used pink passion as the card base, matted a piece of patterned paper from The Pocket full of Posies w/ sparkles stack by Die Cuts with a View 8X8 pack on top of the pink passion cardstock. The Bee Trio stamp was stamped in stazon black ink and matted on top of pumpkin pie cardstock. The flower punch by Stampin' Up! was used and punched out in Orchid Opulence. I used the birthday sentiment stamp from the set called Circle of Friendship by Stampin' Up! Thanks Beate for the challenge!