St. Patty's Day Birthday

Well, it's been about a month so I guess that means it's time for another post! That seems to be my MO doesn't it? I mean to post more often, but life with three kids and a husband who works out of state keeps me busy doing lots of other things! That's why I LOVE it when someone asks me to create a special card for them..... it's an excuse to put things on hold and stamp! My friend Cathy has a daughter in my son's class and since her birthday is near St. Patrick's day she asked me to come up with a themed birthday card for her. Let me know what you think:

This first one is from a retired SU set called "Pinch Proof." It was a bit tricky because I had to color on the stamp itself as I wanted the leprechaun to have a red beard and a green suit. I don't know where the shamrock paper is from... I've probably had it for years. My kids are involved in Irish dancing and so whenever I see Irish themed scrapbook paper I buy it!


This next one is made using the new SU cupcake punch.... I LOVE this punch and it makes cards come together super quick!


This last one is my favorite. But you probably guessed that when you saw it was from the SU "Greeting Card Kids" stamp set, huh?! (remember how many Christmas cards I made with this set!) I cut a slit by her hand, made a little four leaf clover and slid it under the slit to hide heart... pretty clever don't you think?


Hopefully it won't be another month before I post again, but I make no promises. Especially this week when my kids have several Irish dance performances. If I can remember I'll try to post a picture of them... they look fabulous all decked out in their costumes!

Until next time.....

Happy Stamping!

Blogger Award.... for moi?????

A great big thank you to the leader of our group of Stampin Up demonstrators..."The Crazy Stamping Ladies"..... Maureen! Can you believe she sent me a blogger award? Now I really have to live up to it and start posting more often! So in order to accept the award I have to tell 8 random things about myself....

1. I have been married to my high school sweetheart for almost 19 years.
2. I have 3 fantastic kids who love stamping as much as I do!
3. I LOVE to bake and HATE to cook.
4. I listen to country music & always sing to the radio even if I don't really know the words.
5. I love reality TV... especially The Amazing Race, American Idol & So You Think You Can Dance.
6. I eat popcorn nearly every single day.
7. I decided to try Irish dancing as an adult, fell in love with it and even did a few competitions before I tore my plantar facia (for the second time) and ended up quitting.
8. If I could only have one candy for the rest of my life it would have to be plain M&M's.

So there you have it... some random info about me!

And now I would like to nominate my dear friend Christy, owner of "1 Creative Bug" to receive the Stylish Blogger Award! Be sure to check her out here. She is an amazing scrapbooker with tons of great ideas!

And since I now have to live up to an award, I will definitely be posting more often. In fact, here is one of the cards we made at my monthly stamp club meeting:



This card uses the new "Take A Spin" stamp set from the Occasions Mini Catalog. Isn't it fun?
I'm having the group over again tomorrow for the Feb. meeting.... be sure to check back if you want to see what we make!

Happy Stamping!

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!

So my daughter was invited to her friend's 12th birthday and I heard she still loves Spongebob (of course, who wouldn't?) so I decided to make her a special card. My son just happened to be wearing his Spongebob t-shirt to bed so as I was putting this card together I kept calling him into my craft room so I could have another look. Poor guy... after the umpteenth time of climbing the stairs he finally took his shirt off and said "here!" as he tossed it to me! (Or was he throwing it at me???) Anyway, here it is:



Happy Stamping!

Monster Birthday

Wow! It really has been forever since I've posted anything. Hopefully you will enjoy this Birthday card I made for my Husband's Goddaughter who has a birthday right before Halloween.



All supplies are Stampin Up! (except the googly eyes)
Cardstock: Whisper White, Real Red, Pacific Point, Old Olive, retired DSP
Ink: Basic Black
Stamp Sets: "Make a Monster", "Look Who's Turning"
Real Red grossgrain ribbon
Various circle punches to make the "8"

I made some other cards over the weekend too. I'll try to post them in the next few days. In the meantime... Thanks for stopping by & Happy Stamping!

My Convention Swaps!

Well, I told you I would figure out what to do with all those little packages I made a few days ago. Here is what I came up with:

Don't the little packages look GREAT! I didn't get my order of Designer Series Paper quick enough so I had to improvise and make my own. I am very happy with the way this card came out... it looks so cheerful! I was able to make 20 swaps. I am not sure if that will be enough, but since this is my first time to convention I felt that was a good number.

Here is a list of supplies:
(All from Stampin Up! of course!)
Cardstock- Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Cherry Cobbler
1/8" Taffeta Ribbon- Daffodil Delight
Classic Stampin' Pads- Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler
Stamp Sets- "Playful Pieces" (Level 3 Hostess Set) and "A Word For You"

I'll try to post some pictures and do some blogging while I'm at convention... as long as you try not to be jealous of all the fabulous things I get to see & do!!!

Well, that's it for now... thanks for visiting!

Convention Swap Sneak Peak

AS PROMISED..... Here is a little sneak peek at what I'm putting together for my convention swaps. And when I say "little," I mean it literally... take a look at these:

Aren't they just the cutest "little" gift bags you ever saw! As soon as I got this Hostess Set I knew I wanted to make little gift bags. This level 3 Hostess Set is called "Playful Pieces" and comes with 30 different stamps! I can't wait to play with it some more... my mind is just going crazy with all sorts of ideas for different cards. But all that will have to wait until after convention. Right now I've got to focus on getting my swaps made... convention is ONLY 5 DAYS AWAY!!!

As soon as I've got it all sorted out, I'll post a picture of the completed swap along with a list of materials.... so be sure to check back in the next few days to see what I come up with!

Thanks for visiting!

Woo Woo! Convention here I come!

I am SO excited to be going to the SU convention this year! It will be my first time and I can't wait to get away with my some of my stamping gal pals! Heidi came up with the idea that we should do a shoebox swap one of the nights we are there. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I said "that's a great idea!" Especially considering I was leaving for 6 weeks and I couldn't possibly take that many stamping items in my carry on luggage! So I decided to take ONE stamp, 4 markers, 2 stamp pads and some cardstock! And even though this little cupcake stamp is from a retired set I just LOVE it! So here is what I came up with for the swap... I sure hope they like it!



Oops! I just noticed that the cupcake in the upper right corner is a bit funky... oh well, I guess it just adds charm! Besides, nobody ever said handmade items had to be perfect, right?

All Supplies are from Stampin Up!
Cardstock- Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Basic Gray
Stamp Pads- Melon Mambo, Basic Gray
Markers- Real Red, Melon Mambo, Basic Gray, Early Espresso
Extras- Retired DSP, dimensionals, Scallop Oval Punch, Oval Punch, retired cupcake stamp

Thanks for visiting today! I hope you'll come back tomorrow for a sneak peak of the swaps I'm making for convention!

Not in the trash!

I love small cute little things. I think that's why I have so much fun making mini cards. Not only are they fun to make, but it is a great way to use up smaller bits of paper! My daughter and her friend got together to decorate their binders before school starts and when they were done they just threw the leftover paper in the trash... IN THE TRASH!!! Can you believe it? Certainly I could make good use of those bits and pieces. Certainly those scraps were large enough to punch out some shapes. Certainly they would not go to into the trash! Here is what I came up with:

A set of six 3"x3" mini birthday cards! The colors are Dusty Durango, Certainly Celery and Marigold Morning. The sentiments are from "A Little Birthday Cheer" from Stampin Up! The patterned paper is from DCWV.






I've almost got the Blog Candy ready for my first giveaway.... are you subscribed to this blog? If you are then you'll be the first to know when I post the giveaway.... it's happening this week!

Latest Card Creations

Well, it was a very productive weekend to say the least! My mom and my sister came over on Saturday for a "day of scrapbooking" but I just couldn't get in the mood to scrap so I opted for stamping instead. Here are the cards I came up with:


I made this card for my daughter's friend who LOVES owls... and who doesn't just love owls? Especially this one with his great big eyes. I tried to use scraps of paper and ribbon that I had... which turned out to go with the new Dusty Durango cardstock and ink from Stampin Up! The owl stamp is from TPC Studio.











Another cute owl card! For this one I used Melon Mambo cardstock and ink, Bermuda Bay cardstock and ink, and the "All Holidays" stamp set... All from Stampin Up! The little owls in the circles are actually puffy stickers that my daughter gave me for my birthday. (I like owls too!) I think she found them at Borders Bookstore.












I know the kids aren't even back to school yet but I just got this new Sizzix die and I couldn't wait to use it. The back ground is So Saffron from Stampin Up!
and the gingham tie on the front is just a piece of scrap fabric I had leftover from an old craft project. Isn't it cute with the bats popping out over the house?













This wedding card was very easy to make and came together quickly. The bride and groom image is a stamp from Inkadinkado. The picture doesn't show it very well, but I embossed the image with the "frost" Versamark pad and I used white organdy ribbon to "fancy it up." The cardstock colors are Whisper White, Basic Black and Mellow Moss from Stampin Up!









I think this card "ROCKS!" When I got this stamp set from Inkadinkado I knew I wanted to use the guitar with a purple color so I chose Orchid Opulence from Stampin Up! I went shopping at the mall today with my daughter and a few of her friends and it seems that neon has returned! (So the color of this card it "so totally hip!") Now, if I could only find a stamp set with leg warmers and fingerless gloves......













My friend Cathy bought this cherry blossom paper at The Paper-Source and asked me if I could come up with a card for her. She wanted me to come up with something that was versatile enough to use different greetings. This is such a simple card layout and I think it would work well with any patterned paper you may have. I used Real Red, Very Vanilla, Pink Pirouette and Soft Suede cardstock. The greeting is from the "Teeny Tiny Wishes" stamp set, all from Stampin Up! I used a punch for the larger flowers then used foam tape to give it that 3-D effect.











This card is very similar to one that is featured in the Stampin Up! catalog. For mine I used Blue Bayou, Kiwi Kiss, Soft Suede and Whisper White cardstock, and the new "Extreme Elements" stamp set from Stampin Up! I didn't have the surfer stamp that they show on the card in the catalog so I used one from TPC Studio. SO many of my cards are girly... with flowers or sparkles and ribbon, I wanted to do a more Masculine card! think it turned out pretty good, what do you think?












As you can see I was a very busy bee! I'm hoping to get these listed for sale in the card shop in the next day or two. I am also working on putting together my very first BLOG CANDY giveaway! I know it will be Halloween themed but I'm still deciding on what to include. Be sure to check back soon... or better yet, sign up to get my blog updates via email, then you'll be the first to know when I'm doing a giveaway! The sign up link is in the right column!