Last challenge of the VSD!!

Hello! Back again with the bonus challenge from our fun VSD weekend! This was a sketch challenge and this is what I came up with:



This is my third post for the day! be sure to scroll to the bottom! I am on my way out the door to gymnastics! Have a wonderful day and I will be back soonest!

VSD Challenge #5

Back with the next challenge!! This one was hosted by Melanie! Hey Melanie!! Here are the details:

Christmas in July (???)
Since we are just a few short days away from July I thought for our 5th challege we would do a Christmas in July theme.
So your challenge is to create a Christmas card. That is it, nothing special required. NVR, just please try to use a minimum of 1 stamped image on your card.
Have fun!!

Here is my card:



This is my second post today so be sure to scroll to the bottom! :)

VSD Challenge #4

Hello! Wanted to share the next challenge with you! I am on a super tight time crunch today so I will save the chitter chatter for another post! This next challenge was a lot of fun to do! It was hosted by Nancy! Hiya Nancy!! It required thinking outside of the box! Here are the details:

Since the 4th of July is getting close, my theme is going to be Stars and Stripes with a twist. The twist is that your card must be some shape other than the traditional square or rectangle.

Also, so my Canadian peeps can play along, you do not have to use red, white or blue. The only requirement is that there be Stars and Stripes and the card must be some other shape than a traditional square or rectangle.

Here is my card:






I drew a cupcake and added star shaped sprinkles and stripes on the cupcake holder! Great challenge, Nancy!! :)

VSD Challenge #2

Back again with challenge #2! This was another great one! Melina hosted this one {{Hey Melina!}} Here are the details:


CHALLENGE #2

I've got a color challenge for you with a theme twist...

Your colors are:

Chocolate Chip
More Mustard
Old Olive
Basic gray
Very Vanilla

Now for the theme twist. I NEVER have masculine cards around when I need them. I'm not good at doing masculine either....so.....Make your creation with manly men in mind.

Also, use pewter or silver embellishments.

So, to summarize:

1. Make a card/project using as many of the colors listed as possible. Get as close as you can. It doesn't have to be the exact SU! color.
2. Make your project masculine
3. Use pewter or silver embellishments.

Here is my card:



This one was fun too! This is my third post today so be sure to scroll on down! I am out for the night, but will be back tomorrow with more of the challenges! Have a wonderful night!

VSD#4 Challenge #1

Back to share challenge #1 from our VSD with you! This is my second post today (if you can believe that!) so if you missed the first one be sure to scroll on down when you are done with this post! :)

Our first challenge was hosted by April! Here are the details:

Hello Ladies.....How is everyone today? I hope you are ready for your first challenge of our wonderful weekend VSD! I told you all you'd need acrylic or transparency sheets for my challenge because we are making acetate cards today!


This card can be any theme you want it to be and you can make it any way you want it. You don't even need to stamp on the acetate directly if you don't have the right kind of ink. Once you look through the gallery you will see many ideas and veriations on how to use this awesome stuff.

Here is my card:











I will be back later today with the next challenge! :)

Can you say awwww?!

Hello there! :) The weekend is here and I have a bazillion things on my to do list! One of them is VSD #4 with my wonderful Crafty Critter group! I have made so many wonderful friends in this group of ladies. They are all such warm and wonderful people! {{Big hug girls!!}} I will be sharing projects from that with you here throughout the weekend. I am also working feverishly on my convention {Woooooo Hoooooo!} swaps! My poor ole' house needs some serious spring cleaning and we have a family dinner/cookout tomorrow which will require a trip to the grocery store today! Lots going on! :)

I wanted to pop in this morning and share a card I made using one of the images I received recently from my good friend, April! Hiya April! :) This is the cutest little image! She is a fairy and has petite little wings and a wonderful sense of fashion! I needed to make a card for another of my very sweet friends, Cammy! Hiya Cammy! :) I thought that this image was perfect for the card! {{Cammy, April sent this image to me from Germany!}} Too cool! That little fairy is racking up some serious air miles! :) Here is my card:



The other cute thing I wanted to share with you guys was a picture of my furry grandkids! :) Aren't they just the sweetest?! The fluffy one (Carlos) is such a love bug! So sweet and laid back and the sleek one (Ellie) is full of mischief and energy!! I just love these little guys!



I am sad that they are leaving today to go back home! I will miss them!

Ok, I am off to work on the first challenge for our VSD! Have a great morning! I will be back soonest! :)

More Stamp Club projects!

Hi there! Hope you are having a full and productive Thursday! I am up to my eyebrows in swap parts and pieces! {{Loving it!!}} I will share more about that later! I wanted to stop by and share a few more stamp club projects with you! Here are two more that my girls got to make:


This is a simple gable box all dressed up! This goes together super quick and provides a wow factor. It is an even sweeter gift filled with a bag of chocolate!


Here is the side view and some details:

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Rich Razzleberry and Very Vanilla
Stamps: Itty Bitty Bits and Water Color Trio
Ink: Rich RazzleBerry, Garden Green ans Melon Mambo
Punches: Large Oval
Extras: Very Vanilla Ribbon


This is a cute little basket I had a dream about! I fell asleep trying to come up with a cute different ice cream idea and this was the result! The baskets are each made from a 5" X 5" square of paper and then adhered together and dressed up with a yummy ice cream cone! I used Neapolitan colors for the basket! Yummmm-o! I used the Kissing Technique fort he ice scream scoops and discovered I love that technique! You can do so many fun things with it!! I also ran each of the baskets pieces through the new square lattice embossing folder to give them the waffle cone appearance! Fun! Fun!!



Some details:
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Whisper White and Creamy Caramel
Stamps: Sweet Scoops and Itty Bitty bits
Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip
Extras: Square Lattice Embossing folder, 3 punch pack, gold brad

I filled each of their baskets with Hershey's kisses when they were finished making them! :) This was a fun project. They are really cute in person.

Ok, I am off to tackle my To Do list! Wish me luck! I will be back soonest!

P.S. Only 26 more sleeps until Convention!!

Sliding surprises!!

Hello! How are you today? Doing well, I hope! It is Wednesday already!! Where has this week vanished to? I have been diligently working on my convention swaps so maybe that explains the whole time thing! I will share more about that with you later! :) Today I wanted to share a card from my last Stamp Club with you! This is a slider card that we made! These cards are so neat because they have those fun hidden layers just waiting to make an appearance! It is like a surprise party! LOL Here is a picture of the card 'closed' and then with the surprise showing:





Paper: Wild Wasabi, Rich Razzleberry and Very Vanilla
Stamps: Elements of Style and Teeny Tiny Wishes
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink
Pucnhes: Round Tab
Extras: Aqua Painter, White Gel Pen and Gold brad
*all supplies Stampin Up!

You can find this fun tutorial here! Go ahead...make one! You know you wanna! :)

Ok, back to reality! Have a good day! I will be back soonest!

P.S. Only 27 more sleeps til convention!!! :)

Mass Swap Production Day!!

Hello there! Happy Tuesday to you! Hope you are doing well today! Ok, so if I haven't mentioned it yet...I AM GOING TO THE STAMPIN UP! CONVENTION!!!!!! WOOOOHOOOOO!!! I am so stinkin' excited that I feel like I could explode into a jillion little tiny pieces!! I officially leave in 28 days!!! (also known as 28 more sleeps!)!! I am going with my wonderful down line Jo (Hiya Jo!!!). She is so much fun and I cannot wait to spend the whole week with her! She is my BFF's mom! I so wish we were taking her (my BFF) with us too! :( (Hiya Kelley!!!) I also wish I was taking my mom with! The four of us would have such a blast. We plan to keep them updated on our antics while away though! This will be my first time attending the convention and it is in Utah. I have never been to Utah and am really excited about seeing new things. I am also super excited about meeting new people! The folks in the stamping community are such warm, nice, wonderful people and I love meeting new faces! Ok, so anyone that knows me knows that I tend to be a bit of an overachiever sometimes. So, on that happy note I decided that I was going to have to make a few extra swaps to take with me!! 480 to be exact!! Big Grin!! NO problem, right?! LOL Well, this past weekend my DL and I and a few other very sweet and generous ladies got together to mass produce some swaps (between the two of us we think we need to take close to 900!) {{And the insanity sets in!!}} We had a great couple of days and got so much accomplished! Here are a couple of pictures from our weekend:


That is me in the back on the left and my SIL in front of me (in blue) and my adorable dl across from me and my BFF's MIL on the end). Kelley took the pictures so was not in them. (I am kicking myself for not getting a shot of her!!)



Here we are with stuff spread out everywhere! We made a giant mess, but boy was it fun!


Here is a little roommate gift I made for Jo. She and I will be rooming together in Utah! It is a notebook to take notes of all the fun things we will learn during convention! I made a pocket to go on the inside cover to hold other notes and lists etc. I used the new Garden Gala DSP from the upcoming new SU! catalog. This paper is GORGEOUS!! They will be releasing a ton of new beautiful DSP in the catalog!!


This is the bag tag I made for her! When we check in one of the goodies we get is a new bag (bouncing up and down!!!) with some new stamps in it! (more bouncing!!). Well when your bag looks just like the other 4000 demo bags all running around convention you need something to make yours stand out and that is the purpose of this! It matches her notebook! :)

Ok, I have tons to do today so I am off! Have a wonderful day! I will be back soonest!

Hello blog...remember me?!

Hello blog! Remember me?! Wow! I cannot believe it has been over a month since I have posted here! Life has a funny way of getting in between me and my good intentions sometimes. We have had a rough couple of months and things have been kind of on spin cycle for us. We lost another member of my husband's immediate family due to cancer and it has been tough to bounce back into our routine. It really makes you think about life and your priorities and how important your time and your people are. I have really missed posting here though as this is a happy creative outlet for me and I feel like that is really important as well!

Ok, enough with the babble! On to some pictures! I have lots of stuff to share with you guys! Some of it is crafty and some is just personal! If any of it bores you however feel free to skim on through! :) Yesterday was Father's Day and so the kids made hubby the breakfast of his choice and some fun little gifts! Here he is with 3 of our kiddos (our oldest is working and was unable to get away):


This is hubby with our youngest! She made him this cute fan that says I am your fan and a NASA hat from a recycled milk jug! Giggles! He was such a good sport and wore the hat for quite a while!


Here he is with our youngest son who gave him a card with a recording of Napoleon Dynamite spewing out miscellaneous funny appropriate dad-isms! (which was a big hit btw!)


Here he is with our oldest daughter! She made him the card they all signed this year!

Our gift to him was a set of new grilling tools! That was the good news! The bad news was that he had to cook his own Father's Day dinner with them! I don't think he really minded though! Fun day!

Ok, on to some crafty something or anothers! Our challenge for my last Stampin Up! demo meeting was to make 4 pieces of coordinating card candy per person! I went with my favorite color combo and one of my favorite new Stamp sets! the set is Elements of Style and is just beautiful! Here are my pieces of card candy:



Paper: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Crumb Cake and Chocolate Chip
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Punches: Scallop Circle, 1 3/8 Circle and 1 1/4 Circle, Scallop Oval, Med Oval, Heart, Butterfly, Tag and small flower form 3 Punch Pack
Extras: White Gel Pen and Gold Brad

Ok, I am off for a full day! Gosh! It sure feels good to be back! I have really missed you guys!

Have a good day! I will be back soonest!