Some more birthdays!

January is birthday full around here!! My sister in law and brother in law both have birthdays in January and so we had a combined dinner at my mom in laws house this weekend! I wanted to do something for them, but wanted to keep the cost to a minimum so I went with personalized goodies! They were a hit! : ) They both love blue, so that was the theme color and I just went from there! I made him a 2-4-7-10 box, but altered it some! I filled it with chocolate and stamped it with the froggy from SU! Unfrogrettable! I added google eyes for some fun effect! He also got a composition notebook, post it note holder and giant paper clip book marker! She got a composition notebook, post it note holder, book marker, birthday calendar (posted earlier!) and a couple of stamps! It was a nice party! : )

I have given the gifts away and didn't make a recipe list prior so I will skip it! If there are any questions, please ask away!

Have a great day! :)

Challenge!!

I have not participated in any challenges up til now, but when I saw this one I could not resist! What a very fun thing! The challenge was offered by JanTink (link is listed in my side bar). I follow her blog regularly! She is so funny and unbelievably talented! Her challenge was to find a coffee mug that you love and use it as inspiration for a card. I am a cow nut! LOVE them and I have a couple of cow mugs! This one is a particular favorite though and so I thought it would be perfect for this challenge! This card came together very easy and left me feeling happy and wanting a cup of coffee! : )

I did a lot of layering! Love that matted look! I also paper pieced the sweet cow's galoshes with paper I cut from A Christmas gift bag! Fun!! Fun!! Fun!! I may have to try more of these challenges! : )

Recipe:
Paper: SU! Basic Black, Real Red and Whisper White
Stamps: Cow Stamp by Penny Black, Heart stamp by G Studios
Ink: SU! Real Red, Basic Black and Bold Bright Markers
Extras: Eyelets, Heart brad, spiral punch, scallop circle punch, white gel pen and red and cream colored ribbon
Techniques: Paper Piecing

Card for a dear friend!

I made this card for a very special friend of mine! We went to high school together and have been friends for a long time. I had plans of making an entirely different card for him, but the set of stamps that I ordered hadn't found their way to my mailbox yet...sigh! So, I set out to make another card and for the life of me I just could not seem to pull it together! I tried several different layouts and then a ton of different colors. Nothing seemed to come together! I finally went with this one and although I liked the card I felt like it was so 'girly'! I explained the whole thing to him and promised to make him another card once my new set finally arrived! Fortunatly, he knows me well and understands my quirkiness! LOL He was sweet and said he liked the card in all of it's girl-i-nes though! That in itself makes him a great friend! Happy birthday, friend! Have a great one! : )

A card for my Upline!

I have the sweetest Stampin Up! upline ever! I was flipping through a magazine one day and saw an advertisement for Stampin Up! and was intrigued! I went to their website and used their demo locater to find a demonstrator in my area. I met her online and then wound up going to one of her workshops and that is how I got hooked on stamping! When I say hooked...I mean hooked! I was bitten hard by the stamping bug! My collection began that very night and now I see stamps in my sleep! Ribbon has taken on new meaning and sparkley things...FORGET ABOUT IT!!! I am hooked, hooked, hooked!! LOL

I wanted to send her a little I am thinking of you! I used the pattern from a recent challenge on split coast. You can find it here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=315128
I thought it was perfect to let her know I was thinking about her! I made the heart and fastened it together with two brads. I tied a ribbon on the top and used pop dots to raise the sentiment up off of the heart. I made the scalloped edges by punching out circles and adding them one at a time. I used a white gel pen to add the dots on the scallops and paper pierced the edges of the heart. Then I added a few flowers with a sparkly jewel center! : )

Recipe:
Paper: SU! Glorious Green, Pretty in Pink, Orchid Opulence, Whisper White and Old Olive
Stamps: Stampin Up!
Ink: Bold Bright Markers, Groovy Guava
Extras: Ribbon, Brads, Gel Pen, Punches, Prima Flowers, Sparkle from Michael's
Techniques: Paper Piercing

Awwww! Thanks Big Sis!

I was so excited to receive my very first card from my Secret Sister this weekend! It is absolutely adorable! I LOVE snowmen! Thank you, Big Sister! I LOVE it!!

Some of my blogging sisters and I are participating in a Secret Sister exchange this month and next! Everyone gets a big sister and a little sister. You get to send your little sister cards and little trinkets (if you would like!) and you get to receive the same from your big sister! It will run from 1/15- 2/15 (ish) and then you reveal your identity the last week of February! So much fun!!!

Hmmmm, wonder who my big sister is?! : ) Can't wait for my next card!!

Have a great day!

Let's get organized!

I am the world's worst birthday remember-er! I have such good intentions, but then three days after that special someone's birthday has come and gone I usually have that 'light bulb' moment! So, when I stumbled on Beate's Card Organizer on SCS I was so excited to make it! Each month has a pocket to hold birthday cards and lines to jot down all of the birthdays you need to remember! Too cool! I found the tutorial on SCS here http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ee/index.php/resources/tutorials/card_organizer/
I will be giving this one to my sis-in-law as a birthday gift and making another for myself later! The pages are made from 6 12 x 12 sheets of card stock and then the two covers. I used my book binder (a must when you home school!) to bind the whole thing together! Viola'! : )

Recipe:
Stamps: SU! Baroque Motifs (Love this set!!)
Paper: Neutrals from Michaels, SU! Brilliant Blue and River Rock
Ink: River Rock, Wild Wasabi, Not quite Navy and Ballet Blue
Extras: Gold Brads, Ticket Punch, Baubles from Michael's Dollar bins
Techniques: Paper Piercing

One man's trash...!

My oldest son's girlfriend (who is an absolute little doll!!) has picked up on the fact that I like chocolate! I confess...I am a true choco-holic! I eat chocolate almost every day and would eat it three times a day if I wasn't so concerned with attempting to be semi healthy! I love chocolate cake and cookies and chocolate truffles and chocolate ice cream and chocolate turtles and hot chocolate and chocolate pie and chocolate bars! Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! Yum! Anyways! My son's sweetie got me a delicious box of Whitman's Dark chocolate for Christmas! It wasn't long until the box was empty and I couldn't bear just throwing it out, so I did what any dedicated stamper would do! I altered it! I covered the sides and the top and stamped on the top! I transformed it into a birthday gift for my uncle! It will hold a dvd, a package of microwavable popcorn, one candy bar and a matching card! The dvd sits in the box at an angle which will make it easier to get out! I figured I would stamp some tissue paper with birthday stamps and crumple it up to fill the open space under the one side of the dvd! I forgot to add an apostrophe before I took the picture, but that has since been corrected! Hope he likes it!

Recipe:
Stamps: SU! Unfrogettable, Priceless and Whimsical Upper Case Alphabet
Paper: Joanne's designer paper, SU! Blue Bayou, Very Vanilla and Wild Wasabi
Ink: SU! Wild Wasabi and Brilliant Blue
Extras: Ribbon, SU! Gold Brads, Memories Eyelets, Scallop Punch, Stick on jewels from Michael's
Techiques: Paper Piercing

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this technique!

I tried the latest technique from SplitCoastStampers and really LOVE it! It is called Faux Silk and you create it by using tissue paper and a glue stick! You stamp an image on your tissue paper, color it as desired and then crumple it all up! You take white card stock and cover it with adhesive (I used a glue stick). Uncrumple your tissue paper and smooth it out over your card stock! It is soooo pretty! I made several cards using this technique and the same layout just changing the sentiment! Did I mention...I LOVE this technique?! : ) Here are a couple of the cards I made!

Recipe:
Stamps: SU! Embrace Life
Paper: SU! Wild Wasabi, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White and Pretty in Pink
Ink: SU! Basic Black, Wild Wasabi, Pretty in Pink and Bold Bright Markers
Extras: Scallop Punch, Ribbon, Pop Dots and Jeweled Brads
Techniques: Faux Silk and Paper Piercing

Someone's getting married!

Hubby's cousin is getting married in March and we attended the bridal shower this weekend! This is cousin # 3 in a family of 4 boys of which 3 have gotten married in the last year! We have attended 3 bridal showers, 2 weddings and a baby shower for these guys in the last year! LOL Their parent's must be exhausted! This is the card I made for the most recent shower! : )

Recipe:
Stamps: French Script, Michael's Dollar Stamp and Bride and Groom from Stamendous
Paper: SU! Blue Bayou, Sky Blue and Whisper White
Ink: Taken with Teal, Basic Black and Versa Mark
Extras: Gold Embossing Powder, Gold Brad, Jewel Brads and Heart Brad
Techniques: Embossing and Paper Piercing

Awwww! Feel better soonest!

My uncle has been under the weather for quite a while now and I wanted to send him a little cheer-me-up! I knew I had the perfect stamp just begging to be inked! Now I wouldn't wish feeling bad on anyone, but I must admit I have been very anxious to use this stamp! I fell absolutely in love with this little fella when I saw him! Look at that poor, sweet little mouse face! I knew if anything could bring a smile to my uncle's face this mouse could!

Recipe:
Stamps: Feel Better Mouse by Great Impressions, Alphabet from Target Dollar Spot
Paper: SU! Wild Wasabi, Blue Bayou and Misc No name Papers
Ink: SU! Basic Black, Handsome Hunter and Bold Bright Markers
Extras: Brads

My baby child turned 9!!

My youngest child celebrated her 9th birthday this week. This is her last year in the single digits! Her name is Hannah and she is such a great kid! She smiles all the time and is full of energy! She never sits still and is just so much fun to be with! We call her our little party in a box! It makes me sad to see my kids growing up so fast!!

We decided to have a small family party this year, but I wanted to make it special for her. We had a pajama party! All of our relatives showed up dressed in their jammies and slippers and we had breakfast for dinner! We had the works! Three kinds of pancakes, bacon, ham, sausage, scrambled eggs, fruit salad, muffins, biscuits with butter and jelly! Yum! We had home made carrot cake (her favorite!) and chocolate cupcakes w/ chocolate icing for dessert! It was fun!

These are the invitations we made and a picture of the birthday girl! Happy birthday Hannie! I love you lots and lots!

Recipe:
Paper: SU! Very Vanilla, Orchid Opulence, Pretty in Pink and no name paper from Michaels
Stamps: SU! My Favorite Bear, Michael's dollar stamps
Ink: Cranberry Crisp, Wild Wasabi
Extras: Ribbon, flower baubles, and blender pen and pop dots

What's in a name?!

I found a really cute set of playful alphabet letters at Wal Mart the other night! They are clear stamps and each stamp is about 1 1/2" tall! They are cursive letters and just looks so whimsical and fun to me! They were only $9.00 for the set and I had passed them over several times. I finally broke down and bought them and am now in love!!! Giggles! They have so many possibilities and are very quality. I had a few quiet minutes yesterday morning and made this little name decoration for my youngest daughter! She had a bday party last night (more about that to follow!) and I wanted to make her a little something!

She really likes purple and so I stamped her name in purple and added some silver stickles. I stamped it on Very Vanilla and matted it against Orchid Opulence. I added some gigantic brads in mauve and purple and then used Time Well Spent from SU! to add some girl-y little touches! I made a kite tale kind of ribbon for the bottom and a hanging loop on the top. The ribbon was a Michaels find (dollar bin!). Fun, fun!! : )

Calendar comes to a screeching halt!

Hiya everyone! Well, I set out with very good intentions of making my annual calendar for my kids surrogate grandparents. I laid out all of my supplies and made a big cup of hot chocolate and set out my snack (chocolate of course!) and then my printer refused to cooperate! First it would not print my pictures correctly and then it just refused to print! Grrrr!!!! I was able to print out the actual calendar and get it bound and then...nothing! I am going to have to run to Wal Mart and use their fancy-schmancy Kodak printer to finish printing the pictures! I explained my dilemma to surrogette Grandma in hopes that she might say, "Well, I understand completely! Let's just let this one slide!" No such luck!! I was in no uncertain terms told I had better get busy on that calendar! Guess I will be making that trip to Wal Mart! I did finish the cover and thought I would share that!

I found the cutest set of clear stamps at Joannes! They are just faces and the family names (mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, brother, sister etc). They even have a cat and dog! I snatched those right up (using my 40% coupon of course!) and used them to make this cover! I also used a little alphabet set to add the names. I chose colors that were person appropriate and then matted them all against SU brilliant blue card stock.

I will share more of the calendar as I get it finished! : )