Stampin' in the Country

Christmas Bird

2011-12-05T00:01:00.001-06:00

I was going over some sketches that I keep in my sketch book and found this one. I liked the layout of it and thought it was the perfect sketch for combining different embossing folders. On this card I used the new Snow Burst folder and Northern Flurry. On the upper left corner I embossed just a couple of snowflakes from Northern Flurry and then on the lower right side, I used Snow Burst.

I made a little pine cone to tuck under my paper bow, along with some pine greenery. The paper bow is made from a piece of Frostwood Lodge DSP. LOVE that Designer Series Paper!!!! I added some Dazzling Details for the glittery snow on the pine branches and the pine cone.

My buttons are made with the 3/4" Circle punch and the Boho Blossoms punch. Just punch out a circle and a blossom, layer, and punch the button holes. I use a clear button that I die cut from my Buttons #5 Sizzlet. I lay my button hole template on my circle or flower, center it, mark the holes and punch with a 1/16" circle punch.

On the inside, I added a couple of patches of 'flannel' paper from Frostwood Lodge. I punched them with the postage stamp punch and added another button that I made with punches.

The Marina Mist button below looks like the center is layered on top in the photo (just noticed that), but it's not. I punched a 1/2" circle and then centered it in my 3/4" Circle punch and punched. I punched a whole 3/4" circle and inked up the inside edges of the 1/2" circle. Adhered the two circles together and inked around the edges of the button again with Marina Mist. The Cherry Cobbler button is die cut from Buttons #5.

Have a wonderful day today and thanks for visiting me here!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Marina Mist, Whisper White, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Chocolate Chip, Frostwood Lodge Designer Series Paper

Stamps:

Classic Stampin' Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Marina Mist, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White (Craft Ink)

Punches: Scalloped Oval, Builder Bird, 3/4" Circle, 1/2" Circle, Boho Blossoms, Postage Stamp

Dies: Buttons #5

Other: Northern Frost and Snow Burst embossing folders, Stampin' Dimensionals, Dazzling Details glitter glue, white crochet thread, white gel pen

Wedding Card

2011-12-02T17:15:00.001-06:00

I'm back to post the wedding card :). I was up all night :(. Just one of those nights when you can't sleep. I'm going to have to come back later and add the stamp set I used. I have it written down on a piece of paper, but the paper is at home (sigh). I used Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Whisper White, and retired Designer Series Paper. The bride is wearing light blue with her white gown, which is why I chose this color combination.

As you can imagine, I'm pretty tired right now, so not really chatty today :). Wishing you all a great weekend! Stay warm!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, retired DSP
Stamps: Occasional Quotes (hostess, retired)
Classic Stampin' Ink: Marina Mist
Punches: Heart
Other: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder

Digital Christmas Lodge :)

2011-12-02T03:51:00.001-06:00

I'll be posting a card later, but in the meantime, I was playing in My Digital Studio :). I often like to design my cards first in My Digital Studio... A) there is no waste of real paper, B) it's easy to remove or add elements, C) you can see how it will look before you ever cut into any paper. For my card below I used the Frostwood Lodge Designer Series Digital Paper (we can print out as much as we want on our printers) and the Christmas Lodge digital stamp set.

I love the Frostwood Lodge Designer Series Paper- the real paper, that is! I also love it in digital format and am soooooo happy that when it retires from the mini, I can still have as much as I need by printing it out :D.

I'll be back later after I get some pictures!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
My Digital Studio

Come to Bethlehem

2011-11-30T12:13:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I've been busy decorating the house for Christmas, thus my absence, but I stopped today to make a Christmas card. I used Come to Bethlehem- love this set! I stamped my background first with En Francais in Crumb Cake, stamped off once. The edges of my image are aged with Soft Suede and a sponge dauber. I ink up my dauber first and then stamp off on a scrap of paper before applying to my image. It gives it a softer look.

My poinsettia is done with the Five Petal punch, punched twice, petals curled with a chop stick, then layered. The center of my poinsettia is one of the flowers from the Boho Blossoms punch. Sponged the outer edges with Cajun Craze and then lined it up in the Snow Burst embossing folder.

The inside is double matted and stamped in Cherry Cobbler with two more holly leaves to match the front of my card.

The card base is 5.5". The Marina Mist frame is 4.5 and the inside Night of Navy frame is 4 3/8". I cut the Very Vanilla 4 3/8" square. The inside mats are: Night of Navy- 5.25" square, Marina Mist- 5" square, and Very Vanilla is cut 3.5" square. Have a GREAT day everyone!!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Night of Navy, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive
Classic Stampin' Ink: Garden Green, Night of Navy, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler
Stamps: Come to Bethlehem, En Francais
Punches: Five Petal, Boho Blossoms, 1/4" circle
Dies: Stocking Accents
Other: Snow Burst embossing folder, glue dots, Stampin' Dimensionals, gem

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-25T10:10:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a wonderfully blessed day yesterday! I have been busy in the kitchen for the last three days, so have not been able to stamp. Hoping to fix that today :).

Blessings!
Barb

Christmas List Organizer

2011-11-22T10:27:00.000-06:00

I saw this beyond brilliant idea on Artful Imagination's blog! She made a Christmas List Organizer! Every year I have several Christmas lists with me when I do my Christmas shopping, all written out on separate sheets of lined paper. You can imagine how much fun it is trying to switch between all those sheets of paper while shopping. With this little organizer you have all your Christmas lists handy in one conveniently sized little organizer, and it's pretty too! Many thanks to Artful Imagination for coming up with this fantastic organizer and sharing it! You have made my Christmas shopping so much easier!!!!

Back to the organizer :). She made inserts for the inside of her organizer, so I made my own inserts as well, using Word. I also made my organizer slightly different, in that I put a piece of Designer Series Paper at the top of mine to hide the top of my list sheets. I think that I'll make another one for next year and laminate my covers, so that all I have to do is print out new lists each year to add to the organizer. (Sigh) Hindsight is often better than foresight.

Have you started your Thanksgiving preparations yet? I'm off to start on mine now! I do a lot of baking for the holidays and it's so much easier to make up the pie crusts and freeze them a couple of days before I need them :). Have a great day today!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Baja Breeze, Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Real Red, Whisper White, Designer Series Paper (retired)

Classic Stampin' Ink: Garden Green, Melon Mambo, Wild Wasabi, Real Red

Stamps: Dear Santa, Sweets for the Sweet

Punches: 1" Circle, Decorative Label

Dies: Tasteful Trim, Stocking Accents, Northern Frost

Other: 1" Prong Fasterner

My Daughter's Card

2011-11-19T00:01:00.001-06:00

My daughter stamped a card for me recently :). She doesn't stamp often, but I thought her ideas for this card were cute. She used the Build a Bear dies to make a gingerbread girl. Ahhh, a child after my own heart ;-). Yeah, she totally owns it, lol!

She used a Sizzix embossing folder and embossed the background and colored it in with Stampin' Write markers. A white gel pen added the frosting to the ginger girl.

On the inside of the card, she used the zig zag from the Tasteful Trim die and added stamped candies at the corners carrying the gingerbread theme to the inside. She stamped her sentiment and punched it out, then popped it up on Dimensionals.

Her card definitely expresses a warm and cozy Christmas. I can almost smell the gingerbread baking :-). Have a great weekend!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies used:
Paper: Garden Green, Real Red, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip

Classic Stampin' Ink: Garden Green, Real Red

Stamps: Sweets for the Sweet, sentiment from a retired set

Dies: Build a Bear- Bear, Beary Dressy, Tasteful Trim

Punches: 1" Circle, Decorative Label

Birthday Card

2011-11-18T13:20:00.000-06:00

Here's a quick birthday card I made using four different stamp sets. I often like to combine more than one stamp set to achieve my final result :). It's amazing how many stamp sets compliment each other! This card is another 5x7 card. I seem to need the bigger size a lot more lately! I used the Petite Pennants punch for the smaller pennants and the Perfect Pennants Bigz die for the larger pennant. The punch and the die go nicely together, don't ya' think? To make the embellishment in the center of my larger pennant, I stamped the candy from Sweets for the Sweet and punched out the center using a 1/2" circle punch. Then I punched the outer part of the stamped candy with a 1" circle punch. I stamped my little 'wish big' sentiment onto Whisper White and punched it out with the 1" circle punch and layered them. I popped it up on a Dimensional as well.

The little sentiment banner on my card was made with the banner on the Petal Cone die. I simply die cut the banner and then trimmed it closer to the length I wanted my banner to be and laid it on top of the banner on the die and ran it through my Big Shot again. Easy Peasy!

For the inside, I stamped more candies in matching colors to the card front and layered two of the candies in the corner. Tomorrow I'm going to share a card that my daughter made for me. She doesn't stamp often, but when she does, she comes up with cute ideas :). See you then! Have a GREAT weekend!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Old Olive, So Saffron, Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Marina Mist, Pumpkin Pie, Pear Pizzazz DSP
Stamps: Sweets for the Sweet, Pennant Parade, Create a Cupcake, So Happy for You (retired)
Classic Stampin' Ink: Melon Mambo, Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive
Punches: 1/2" Circle, 1" Circle, Petite Pennants
Dies: Petal Cone, Perfect Pennants
Other: Snow Burst Textured Impressions embossing folder, Stampin' Dimensionals, white crochet thread

The Other Part of My Life :)

2011-11-17T10:20:00.003-06:00

No card today :). I am using today to study my other favorite thing to do... photography. My husband is so sweet. He knew that I wanted a good camera that I can really play with, so he got me a Canon EOS 7D :D. Can I say that I LOVE my camera?!!!!

In the world of paper crafting blogging, we rarely find out about the other sides of our favorite bloggers, so I just wanted to give you a little peek into my other world today, while I study things to do with photography :). I will be back tomorrow with a card or a project, but for now, here are a few shots from two very recent photo shoots that I did with two of my favorite subjects :). I'm just an amateur for now, but I hope to change that someday :)....

Don't you just love little kids walking barefoot?

They dressed up as Princesses for this shoot

Isn't she a little cutie?!

I don't edit my photos. My goal is to learn to take pictures without having to edit them. Uh huh, I have PS and I love it, but for now, I'm trying to learn photography, so I'm staying pure, lol! My daughter also dabbles in photography, and yeah, she uses my camera. Maybe I'll post some of her photos sometime- it's eerie how she will go out and photograph the exact same things I was thinking about and from the exact same vantage points I was thinking about. We are so connected that we often, and I do mean often, say the exact same thing at the exact same time. Or we will be thinking something and say it out loud and the other of us will say "I was just thinking that!" It's actually pretty cool :). Hope you don't mind me pursuing my other passion today! See you tomorrow!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Christmas Collage

2011-11-16T00:01:00.002-06:00

I've had this background stamp since it was introduced and have never inked it up until this weekend. I stamped the image with VersaMark and heat embossed in gold. I used my Watercolor Wonder Crayons to color in parts of the image. In case you want to use this image whole, the dimensions of the image are 4.5 x 5.75. My card is a 5x7 card.

After I had all the layers adhered down and finished my card, I decided that I should have inked the edges in Soft Suede for a more vintage look. Oh well, maybe I'll make another one :). Have a great day!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Very Vanilla, Real Red, Always Artichoke, Basic Black, gold glitter paper, gold metallic card stock
Classic Stampin' Ink: Cherry Cobbler
Stamps" Christmas Collage, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Dies: Stocking Accents, Timeless Type
Punches: Word Window, 1.75 Circle, Scallop Edge Border
Embossing Folder: Square Lattice
Other: VersaMark, gold embossing powder, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Blender pens, Stampin' Dimensionals

A Sweet Gift Box

2011-11-15T03:57:00.000-06:00

As a demonstrator, I have access to a lot of wonderful ideas and projects, not only through Stampin' Connection (an online community for demonstrators only), but also through the Stampin' Up! site for demonstrators. We have access to online videos showing projects made with Stampin' Up! products. The gift box below was one of the video projects. I used different stamps to make mine and different ribbon and a different tag, but the box idea came from Stampin' Up! To make the box itself, you simply die cut two Fancy Favor boxes, stamp them, and then slip one box into the other. The result is a box that is closed on both ends, but easy to open :).

For my box I used Real Red, Very Vanilla, and Always Artichoke. Those are great colors to use for Christmas projects! My tag is made with the Ovals die and the Designer Frames embossing folders. I used the medium oval for the tag and embossed it inside the Designer Frames folder. For the center of the tag, I die cut the smallest oval and embossed it with the Square Lattice embossing folder. I finished off the tag with a stamped image from Winter Post. Adhere some seam binding ribbon and add a bow and you have a pretty box for a gift or for special treats. I may add home baked Christmas cookies to mine- this is ideal packaging for a few Christmas cookies :). I hope your day is wonderful today! See you tomorrow!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Real Red, Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke

Classic Stampin' Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede, Always Artichoke

Stamps: Winter Post

Dies: Fancy Favor, Ovals

Embossing Folders: Designer Frames, Square Lattice

Other: Always Artichoke Seam Binding ribbon, gold crochet thread, 1/8 Circle punch

Gently Falling Leaves

2011-11-14T12:18:00.000-06:00

Sorry I'm late on my post today, had to take my daughter to the Dr. this morning. I don't have much time for chat today since I need to take her this afternoon for a test.

I used two stamps sets on the card below... Gently Falling and Falling Leaves. The leaves from Gently Falling (background leaves) were stamped in Old Olive and Cajun Craze. The leaves on the three circles are from Falling Leaves and I stamped them in Cajun Craze.

This inside is simple... Very Vanilla matted on Crumb Cake and stamped in Old Olive with one of the leaves from the Gently Falling stamp set. Quick and easy :).

Have a great day today everyone! See you all tomorrow! Please see the supply list below :).

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Cajun Craze
Classic Stampin' Ink: Cajun Craze, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Stamps: Gently Falling, Falling Leaves, Thank You Kindly
Punches: 1" Circle, 1 1/4" Circle
Other: Square Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder

Polar Party

2011-11-11T00:01:00.001-06:00

This is a very 'non-traditional color' Christmas card. I used Melon Mambo and Pacific Point along with Very Vanilla. I also had a difficult time photographing this one! Please forgive the photos, and hopefully you can get the idea of how this card looks in real life :). The trees and the penguins with their stacks of gifts were stamped on watercolor paper with StazOn Jet Black ink. You will want to use a permanent ink instead of a dye based ink for water coloring. I used my Watercolor Wonder Crayons and a blender pen to color my images. There is actually a lot of sparkle on this card. I used Dazzling Details to highlight the snow and the Christmas Trees and the snowflakes are die cut from white glitter paper. I love these little penguins- they are just soooooo cute!!!!!

For the inside of this card, I layered two snowflakes and both are die cut from more glitter paper. I used a scrap that I had leftover from my card front to 'hang' the snowflake from :). The Northern Frost snowflakes are so pretty and detailed and they layer together beautifully!

It's getting colder where I live- brrrr! Dropping down into the low 30's at night. The leaves are almost completely off the trees now too. Time for the land to rest until Spring :). I hope you all have a wonderful autumn weekend!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Melon Mambo, Pacific Point, Very Vanilla, watercolor paper, glitter paper
Stamps: Polar Party, inside sentiment from a retired set
Classic Stampin' Ink: Melon Mambo, Pacific Point
Other Ink" StazOn Jet Black
Dies: Northern Frost
Other: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, gems
Textured Impressions Embossing Folders: Snow Burst

Make Your Own Stamps :)

2011-11-10T00:01:00.003-06:00

After adding the labels to one of my clear mount stamp sets, I had a big chunk of blank rubber left over. I was looking at it and thinking it was such a shame to waste that big chunk of rubber, lol! So I die cut the chunk of rubber with my Big Shot and my Stocking Accents die :D. The background paper you see on the card below was stamped with my new die cut stamps, except for the stars. Pretty nifty, huh? After I stamped the background, I ran the card stock through my Big Shot in the Square Lattice embossing folder to add some texture. I also ran my Cherry Cobbler faux ribbon (card stock) through my Big Shot in the Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder. This was a really quick card to make!

On the inside, I added my sentiment (retired stamp set) in Cherry Cobbler, and die cut the holly leaves from Wild Wasabi and added a little punched heart in Cherry Cobbler- done!

Wishing you a wonderful day today!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Cherry Cobbler textured, Very Vanilla, Wild Wasabi

Classic Stampin' Ink: Wild Wasabi, Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard

Stamps: Perfect Punches, my own stamps made with the Stocking Accents die :D, inside sentiment (retired set)

Punches: 1 3/8" Circle, 1 3/4" Scallop Circle, Small Heart

Dies: Stocking Accents

Other: Square Lattice embossing folder, Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder

Snow Much Fun

2011-11-09T00:01:00.001-06:00

Did I ever mention that I love snowmen? I have a whole section of my home dedicated to snowmen when I decorate for Christmas :). What's not to love about snowmen? I love the snowman images in Snow Much Fun, so I pulled that set out last night and water colored it with my Watercolor Wonder Crayons and my blender pens. I love to water color! It's so relaxing! There is a lot of sparkle on this card, but unfortunately, the camera didn't pick it up when I photographed it (rainy day here so drab and dreary out and no bright sunlight). I added Dazzling Details glitter glue to the snowman and the little Christmas Tree, and of course, to the snow :). The snowflake is die cut from glitter card stock. I stamped a few buttons from the Button, Button stamp set. I punched the center holes of the button with a 1/16" circle punch and the circle punch from Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack.

I added a few buttons to the inside that I made with punches that were inspired by the Button, Button stamp set. Are these buttons not the cutest thing?!

To make the button, punch the little flower out from the Boho Blossoms punch, ink around the edge, and then punch a 3/4" circle and ink around the edge again. Glue the flower to the circle. Mark the center to punch the holes (1/16" circle punch) for the button, (I used a stamped button from Button, Button for a template to mark where the holes should go), and viola! Cute buttons!

Have a GREAT day today!!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, So Sffron, Very Vanilla, water color paper, Designer Series Paper Hostess Pack (retired- but you can purchase the new Pear Pizzazz Designer Series Paper)
Classic Stampin' Ink: Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz
Stamps: Snow Much Fun, Button, Button, Teeny Tiny Wishes, inside sentiment from a retired set
Dies: Northern Frost
Punches: Modern Label, Word Window, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, 3/4" Circle, Boho Blossoms
Other: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Dazzling Details glitter glue, Snow Burst embossing folder, Stampin' Dimensionals

Christmas Stocking Banner

2011-11-08T00:01:00.001-06:00

THIS is the project that started with my creative spark from visiting the flea markets and antique malls over the weekend. I was so happy to be feeling creative that I stayed up all night on Saturday evening! I was tired on Sunday, but it was so much fun to be in the creative flow again, that I didn't want to stop :). I made a banner using the Stocking die in the Holiday Mini. If you don't have this die yet, you really should get it! I did individual photos of each stocking for you, with the full banner at the end. I plan to attach them together with seam binding ribbon, but I'm torn between Baja Breeze and Cherry Cobbler. Hmmmm, maybe Always Artichoke seam binding ribbon? I can't decide (sigh). My stocking banner spells out 'Merry' and I plan to use this in my Christmas decorating this year. I die cut the stockings and the cuffs from acid/lignin free mat board so that it would be sturdier and hold up for a few years :). I covered the stocking with Marina Mist, the cuffs with embossed Whisper White, and the little stocking toe and heel is die cut from Frostwood Lodge Designer Series paper in the Holiday Mini. A few of the elements in the stockings are die cut from mat board and covered with card stock or Designer Series Paper as well. If you make one of these, use your own judgement as to what elements you die cut from mat board. Timeless Type die cut letters were used for each stocking. The first stocking is the M in Merry. I used the holly leaves die cut from the Stocking Accents die in the Holiday Mini and added a jingle bell punch. The jingle bell is punched from More Mustard, backed with Basic Black, and the top of the bell only has been embossed with the Snow Burst folder (Holiday Mini). The bell was also inked with More Mustard ink. I stamped the little candy bag on vellum and adhered my Cherry Cobbler stamped candy to the back.

Next up is the E stocking. I added a little note to Santa ;-). I stamped 'Dear Santa' in Cherry Cobbler and inked the edges with Crumb Cake ink. Crinkle up the paper a bit :-). I added a button die cut with the Sweet Buttons embosslit and tied with the Cherry Cobbler and White bakers twine.

On to R... I used the Stocking Accents die to die cut the little Christmas Tree- covered with Snow Burst embossed Old Olive, the candy cane, and added a little package to the back. The package is just a rectangle of Designer Series Paper and the bow was made with the Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch.

The other R... I was trying to think of things that go inside stockings and decided that a little spin top and a little elf doll were just the things to add to this stocking :). The elf is made using the Build a Bear dies (you really do need the Build a Bear dies :D !) and the top is made from the ornament on the Stocking Accents die. I covered the mat board ornament with some wood paper from Frostwood Lodge Designer Series Paper, which was also inked around the edges and over the paper to lessen the white shock of the paper ;-) I tied Cherry Cobbler and White bakers twine around the top of the top and added a Jewelry Tag punch under the twine. The tag says "Super Spin Top". The elf's little sign says, "Wish Big".

Last, the Y. The last stocking is a mirror of the first stocking, so it would be made exactly the same, just reversing the elements to the right side.

And here they are all together in a row. Until I decide which seam binding ribbon to use, you'll just have to visualize that the ribbon is there :D.

See you tomorrow! Have a wonderful day!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Marina Mist, Whisper White, Old Olive, Real Red, More Mustard, Basic Black, vellum, Frostwood Lodge Designer Series Paper
Classic Stampin' Ink: More Mustard, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Old Olive
Stamps: Dear Santa, Sweets for the Sweet, Pennant Parade, Tagtastic
Dies: Holiday Stocking, Stocking Accents, Sweet Buttons embosslit, Timeless Type alpha, Build a Bear Bear, Beary Essentials
Other: Snow Burst embossing folder, Jewelry Tag punch, 1" Circle punch, Curly Label punch, white gel pen, red gems

Cute Little Elves

2011-11-07T13:39:00.000-06:00

I've been gone from my blog for a while again, but if you come visit here, you already know that :). For the last few months I've had ZERO mojo. I tried to create, but it just wasn't really working- I was doing, not really creating- and I had lost the joy in creating in the process of just doing. My husband, our youngest daughter, and I went around to several flea markets over the weekend and for some crazy reason, that sparked the creative side in me. Odd, right? While out visiting the flea markets and antique shops around town, I found a few retired Stampin' Up! sets that I LOVED! Today's card is made with one of those sets... 'Santa's Helpers'. I just fell in love with the cute little elves! I used Pear Pizzazz, Regal Rose, Very Vanilla, and So Saffron as my color choices. They totally work together! My little elf is colored with Stampin' Write markers, a blender pen, and the So Saffron Watercolor Wonder crayon. I prefer to use the Watercolor Wonder crayons to cover large areas on my stamped images :).

The sweet little candies are stamped and punched out with the 3/4" circle punch. Makes them just a little bit smaller than the actual stamp from 'Sweets for the Sweet' stamp set in the Idea Book and Catalog. The Very Vanilla background is embossed with a snowflake embossing folder, but it's a shallow emboss so it didn't really show up very well in the photo.

Both the card front and the inside sentiments are stamped in Cherry Cobbler, plus I added three stamped candies, but punched them out in various sizes of punches. The Daffodil Delight candy on the left is the full sized stamp, punched with the 1" circle punch, followed by the 3/4" circle punch in Regal Rose, and last, the 1/2" circle punch on the right.

I have posts scheduled each day for the whole week, so please be sure to come back by :). You won't want to miss the project I did with the Stocking die ;-). Hopefully, my creative spark will remain in place now :). Thanks so much for sticking with me while my mojo was on vacation! Have a GREAT day!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Pear Pizzazz, Regal Rose, Very Vanilla, So Saffron, Pear Pizzazz Designer Series Paper from the Hostess pack (retired)

Classic Stampin' Ink: So Saffron, Cherry Cobbler, Regal Rose

Stamps: Sweets for the Sweet, Santa's Helpers (retired)

Other: Stampin' Write markers, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Sizzix embossing folder, Nestabilities

Skater Girl aka Build a Bear :)

2011-10-21T13:12:00.001-05:00

Wow! It's amazing how fast time can get away from you when you are busy! Yesterday was the first time all week that I've been able to get into my stamping room!

This month marks my skater girl's anniversary :-). She got on skates for the first time in her life in October 2 years ago. She could hardly stay up on the skates! The owner of the rink saw her struggling and came over and told my husband and I about the beginner skate classes. We asked our daughter if she was interested in taking the classes and she breezed through all three levels and made it onto the Artistic Skating Team by that January. She just completed her first year of competition in August. The skate year starts in September each year. She won three 1st place medals at the Regional Championships in June. This earned her three places at Nationals. At Nationals, she came in 15th place in the nation in Figures, 13th place in Loops, and 8th place in the combined events. Not bad at all for the 1st year at Nationals! Since this is her anniversary month, I wanted to make her a card and we got her a cake to celebrate. Below is the card and the cake :-).

If you guessed that I used the Build a Bear dies, you would be 100% correct! I had to make some adjustments to the die cuts to make the skate dress. All the members of the team wear black velvet dresses or pants and shirt (for the guys). Each dress or shirt has the initials K.P. on the left side below the shoulder in swarovski rhinestones. The K.P. is in honor of Kyle Peck, the son of our world class coach (John) in Chicago. Kyle was hit by a car at the World Championships in Rome and was killed. He was only ten years old. It makes me very sad every time I think of this. Since then, all of John's (Kyle's Dad) skaters wear black (John's favorite color) and the initials K.P., to honor Kyle. My daughter even has KP on her Nationals jacket to honor Kyle. So now that you know why the skate dresses are black, the skirts also come down to a point in the front and a slightly longer point in the back of the dress. This is standard for roller figure skate dresses. Just so you know, the dress bottom of the skater on the card is not wearing swimsuit type bottoms :-). She is wearing her dress in the points that skate dresses have. I used a pearl on the left shoulder to represent the KP because that sure wouldn't fit on the little skater in rhinestones! For the skates, I die cut them in Whisper White and then with a VersaMark pen, I colored in the very bottom of the shoes and heat embossed the bottoms in silver embossing powder. The plates on skates are silver, but my daughter pointed out that I could have done the very bottoms of the shoes in brown to match the heel and sole on the bottom of the boots. Just didn't think of that, lol! The wheels are done with a Whisper White 1/4" circle punch with a 1/8" Silver Glimmer Paper circle punch. Figure wheels are white so that's why I used white for the wheels :-D. For the skater's head, I used a 1 3/8" circle punch and for the hair I used a 1 1/2" circle punch. I punched out two circles first in Early Espresso and discarded the circles. Then I came back in with my punch and punched again twice, so I had the shape of the hair. My daughter actually wears this hair style. The floor is done in More Mustard and I stamped the Wood Grain background stamp on it in More Mustard ink. I sponged the very top of the floor piece in More Mustard to give the floor a little more depth on the card. The inside is stamped with, "Go Confidently in the Direction of Your Dreams," from the Word Play stamp set. So there ya' have it... my little skater girl Build a Bear. My real little skater girl LOVES this card! What more could you ask as a Mom :-) ? Have a great weekend!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Basic Black, More Mustard, Early Espresso, Silver Glimmer Paper, Blush Blossom (retired- please contact Stampin' Up! and ask them to bring this color back :-D )
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Classic Stampin' Ink: More Mustard, Marina Mist, Blush Blossom (retired)
Markers: Early Espresso, Basic Black
Dies: Build a Bear, Beary Essentials
Punches: Modern Label, Word Window, 1 3/8" Circle, 1 1/2" Circle
Other: VersaMark pen, Basic Pearls, Pretty in Pink Stampin' Pastels, white crochet thread for the shoe laces

Another Challenge Card

2011-10-13T00:01:00.004-05:00

This one was for the challenge at Inkspirations Challenges. The colors for the challenge are Rich Razzleberry, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, and Whisper White. I haven't used my Four Frames stamp set yet, so this was a good opportunity to do so :). I also used the Lace Ribbon Border punch and the Sweet Buttons embosslit. The sentiment inside the Frame stamp is from the stamp set Best of Everything.

For the inside, I left it blank and just added a little button in the lower right corner. The corners were done with a retired Stampin' Up! punch, but I don't remember the name of the punch :(. Since I listed everything I used, I won't post a supplies list today :). Have a great day today!

Challenge Card

2011-10-12T16:02:00.000-05:00

I haven't had much mojo this week, so when that happens I like to do challenges. Challenges are just that, they challenge you to think outside of your normal box, and that's a good thing :-). The challenge was for The Paper Players. I used the new Peekaboo Frames die in the Holiday Mini on the front of my card. Such a fun die!

When you open up the little window, there is a stamped message inside. The outside of the window has a wood grain mat that matches the card front. To create the card front background, I first stamped Very Vanilla with the Woodgrain background stamp in More Mustard, and then I ran it through my Big Shot with the Stripes embossing folder. With a sponge dauber, I lightly sponged over the stripes with More Mustard to bring out the embossing.

The leaves are stamped with More Mustard, Cajun Craze, and the outlines are done in Bravo Burgundy. For the leaves that are stamped in Cajun Craze, I sponged around the outsides with More Mustard.

The inside is sponged around the edges with More Mustard and the opposite corners are stamped. Thanks for stopping by today! See ya' tomorrow!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla, Bravo Burgundy
Classic Stampin' Ink: More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Bravo Burgundy
Stamps: Gently Falling, Falling Leaves, Day of Gratitude
Dies: Peekaboo Frames
Punches: 1" Circle punch, 1/2" Circle punch

Back to Christmas :)

2011-10-11T00:01:00.001-05:00

I seem to be jumping back and forth between Autumn, Thanksgiving, and Christmas :-). I ordered Tidings of Joy a while back and never had time to ink it up, until now. I LOVE this set! The images are the cutest and since it's a line art stamp, it can be colored! I used my blender pens and my Watercolor Wonder Crayons to color this image stamped on watercolor paper. It's been a while since I've colored in an image and it was so much fun to color! Soooo relaxing! I embossed the Very Vanilla background paper, but before I embossed it, I inked the edges with Bashful Blue. You can ink the edges after you emboss, but sometimes I like solid inking around the edges. When you ink the edges after embossing you catch the embossed areas with the ink and not so much inside the debossed areas.

Inside of card

Only one stamp set used on this card, so not so many supplies required :-). Just a note: when I colored in my image with my Watercolor Wonder Crayons, I also used the small tip end of some of my markers to color in those little teeny tiny spots- like the flowers on Mary's dress. That little tip on the markers is perfect for tiny details! List of supplies below. Have a wonderful day!!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Very Vanilla, Watercolor Paper, So Saffron, More Mustard, Early Espresso
Coloring Mediums: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Stampin' Write Markers, Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Ink, StazOn Black
Stamps: Tidings of Joy
Punches: Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border, Large and Small Star (both retired) but you can use the Stars #2 Sizzix die- the third and fourth stars down in size are the same sizes as the retired star punches
Embossing folders: Square Lattice used on the small star, Snow Burst in the Holiday Mini

Christmas Tree Treat Box

2011-10-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

Did you know that the Petal Cone die makes a great Christmas Tree? These will be cute to place beside each place setting on your Christmas table or just for special little treats for those special people in your life. I die cut two Petal Cones from Garden Green card stock and embossed them with the new Snow Burst embossing folder in the Holiday Mini- love this folder! I inked the edges and lightly inked over the embossed design with Garden Green ink. You can add little punched out circles to your tree if you'd like. Using 1/8" circle punch outs is time consuming, but cute :D !

You'll want to add your treats inside the tree before you add the tree skirt. Close up the flaps on the Petal Cone after adding your treat or little gift inside. Die cut a circle with the Clear Circle die in Very Vanilla and another circle from the Scallop Circle die in Cherry Cobbler. Emboss the Very Vanilla with the embossing folder of choice and ink over it lightly with Crumb Cake ink. Adhere to the bottom of your Christmas Tree. Punch out or die cut two little stars from More Mustard and add the little star to the top attached to a toothpick. You'll want to trim the toothpick to make it shorter though.

You could also leave out the treats and just make a few of these for decoration around your house :). Have an awesome day today!

Blessings!
Barb

Colors used: Garden Green, Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla

Build a Bear Pilgrim

2011-10-09T08:58:00.002-05:00

Surpise! A Sunday post! :-) I wanted to get this one posted early so I could participate in the SUO Challenge before it was too late.

If you've followed my blog for a while, then you will recall how much I love my Build a Bear dies that are exclusive to Stampin' Up! It's been some time since I've pulled them out, so I pulled them out a couple of days ago with a little Pilgrim in mind for a Thanksgiving card. I also wanted to participate in one of the challenges over at SUO Challenges. The challenge for the week was to use leaves, so I pulled out a few sets that have leaves, and this is the end result...

I used three stamp sets and a couple of retired Build a Bear dies to create my Pilgrim. His hat is actually made from the Large tag punch and the Large Oval punch, with a few alterations to the punched shapes. Please see below for the list of supplies that I used. Thanks for stopping by and have an awesome day today!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Cajun Craze, Pumpkin Pie, Very Vanilla, Basic Gray, Old Olive, Basic Black, Early Espresso, Blush Blossom (retired)
Classic Stampin' Ink: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Early Espresso, Basic Gray, So Saffron, Blush Blossom (retired)
Stamps: Falling Leaves, Season of Friendship, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Dies: Build a Bear- Bear, Beary Essentials, Beary Christmas (retired), Beary Girl (retired),
Punches: 1 3/8" Circle, Large Tag, Large Oval, Boho Blossoms, 1/4" Circle, 1/8" Circle
Other: Stampin' Pastels- Pretty in Pink

Add a Little More...

2011-10-07T00:01:00.003-05:00

I've been trying to work on Christmas cards here and there when I'm able to steal a few minutes. I've been making individual cards with specific people in mind. I have a friend who loves everything vintage and although the card I made for her isn't exactly vintage, it has a little bit of a vintage feel to it. Enough that I think she will like it :).

Inside of both cards

I made another card using the same design, but I added a little bit more to the design, just to show you how that little bit of extra can really enhance your card.

I brayered the inside of my embossing folder with Blushing Bride ink, placed my Very Vanilla card stock inside, and ran it through my Big Shot. Just that little bit of color really brings out the embossing. You can't really tell in my photo, but the darker edges around the Scalloped Circle, the Blushing Bride mat, and the holly leaves are heat embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing powder so that those areas sparkle. I also distressed the edges of the sentiment banner for a little added interest. Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by to visit!

Blessings!

Barb

Colors used: Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Very Vanilla, Old Olive

Silver Anniversary

2011-10-05T22:20:00.000-05:00

I don't mean to be so absent from my blog, but we have had several things that we needed to take care of that are very important. Hopefully, I will get back on track and get back into my stamping room. In the meantime, I have some projects that I stole a few minutes to make in between.

A wonderful couple that we know is celebrating their silver anniversary this month. I used a lot of silver on their card to mark such a special anniversary. If you haven't already, you need to get some of the Glimmer Paper in the Holiday Mini :).

The sentiment inside the card is heat embossed with silver embossing powder.

I made the envelope to match so it will look nice on their gift :). If you have any questions about supplies, please let me know.

Blessings!

Barb

Vintage Autumn

2011-09-14T00:01:00.001-05:00

I'm back to autumn again :-). Isn't it amazing how quickly the seasons change? Lol!

Yesterday morning an idea popped into my head using Crumb Cake and French Foliage. I am really into French Foliage the last few days. Not only is it an autumn set, it's a GREAT set! For my card below, I started out by distressing the edges all around the card, then inking them. I stamped the leaves, the words, and the splatters before moving on to the next step. For the next step, I ran some Very Vanilla through my Big Shot with the Top Note die, stamped it, and then aged and distressed it. I'm not sure if you can tell without clicking on the photo to make it larger, but the edges of the Top Note die cut have been distressed with the Cutter Kit distressing tool as well. The leaves were stamped, cut out, and layered, with the Cajun Craze leaf popped up on dimensionals. The Doily was stamped onto vellum, heat embossed, and cut out to layer on the upper right corner. I think the doily really added to the vintage flair :-D.

I carried the distressed, inked edges to the inside of my card and added a couple of stamped, cut out leaves to the lower left corner. I'm leaving it blank for now until I decide to use it. At that time, I can stamp a sentiment or quote, or add a hand written message. Just a head's up, if you scroll down a bit on my blog to the autumn treat box I made last week... this card would go perfectly with the box :-). I didn't even plan that, lol! Have a great day today!!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Stamps: French Foliage 121166, Winter Post 111780, Hello Doily 122845

Classic Stampin' Ink: More Mustard 103162, Cajun Craze 119671, Old Olive 102277, Early Espresso 119670, Crumb Cake 121030, Soft Suede 115657

Paper: Crumb Cake 120953, Very Vanilla 101650, Early Espresso 119686, Cajun Craze 119684, Old Olive 100702, Vellum 101839

Punches: Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border 119275

Dies: Top Note 113463

Other: Cutter Kit 106958, White Embossing Powder 109132, Stampin' Dimensionals 104430

Hello Doily Wreath

2011-09-13T00:01:00.001-05:00

You knew it was bound to happen, right... that the Hello Doily stamp would be turned into a Christmas Wreath? :-)

Have a great day today!!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Stamps: Seasonal Sentiments 121130 (retired), Hello Doily 122845

Classic Stampin' Ink: Cherry Cobbler 119669, VersaMark 102283

Paper: Cherry Cobbler 119685, Very Vanilla 101650

Punches: 1.75" Circle 119850

Other: Emerald Green Pearl embossing powder, ribbon

Christmas Postage

2011-09-12T11:31:00.001-05:00

So, I go from fall projects straight to Christmas... what a jump, huh?! The next two projects were projects that I worked on last week. I meant these for later on and planned to do more autumn projects for posting, but something big came up that we had to take care of on Thursday and then on Friday we left for Chicago to see our daughter's coaches up there for training over the weekend. I hope you don't mind seeing Christmas projects so early :-).

I used three stamp sets: Seasonal Sentiments (retired) Winter Post (main catalog) and Dear Santa (from the Holiday Mini). I also used the fairly new Postage Stamp punch and my favorite snow flakes of all- Northern Frost. The Cherry Cobbler Postage Stamp punch adds a little 'punch' to the color scheme :-).

It is about time to be working on those Christmas cards and you can see that I have started on mine ;-). Hopefully, I will have them all done by Thanksgiving so all I have to do is stick a postage stamp on them and drop them in the mailbox! Have a wonderful day today and thanks for stopping by!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Stamps: Seasonal Sentiments 121130 (retired), Winter Post 111780, Dear Santa 123834

Classic Stampin' Ink: Marina Mist 119668, Early Espresso 119670

Paper: Bashful Blue 105120, Marina Mist 119682, Whisper White 100730, Bashful Blue Designer Series Paper (retired)

Punches: Scallop Edge Border 119882, Scallop Trim Border 118402, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border 119275, Postage Stamp 122344, 1" Square 124094, Ticket Corner 119867

Dies: Petal Cone 121810, Northern Frost 120901

Other: Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Stripes 123128, Basic Pearls 119247

More French Foliage

2011-09-06T00:01:00.001-05:00

All right, so I was pretty into the French Foliage stamp set the two days I worked in my stamp room last week. After I got done with my box that you saw yesterday, I worked on this little autumn album. The cover is a Bind-it-all Cover All that I had just gotten to try out. It came with craft paper already on it and I LOVE the look of craft paper, so there was no need to do anything else, but stamp on it :-). Oh, and add the strap...

Back and spine of the book

You don't have to have a Cover All to complete this project. You can make your own covers if you have a way to bind your books or you can use the On Board Journal from Stampin' Up! (108495). The inside has 6x6 Very Vanilla pages with some Old Olive, Cajun Craze, and More Mustard pages thrown into the mix. I haven't gotten to decorating the pages yet, but as autumn leaves begin to turn, I'll be adding some of those photos to it. Maybe when I get it done I'll re-post the completed book :-). Have a wonderful day today!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Old Olive, Very Vanilla, More Mustard, Cajun Craze for the pages inside

Classic Stampin' Ink: Cajun Craze 119671, Old Olive 102277, More Mustard 103162, Early Espresso 119670, Crumb Cake 121030

Stamps: French Foliage 121166

Autumn Treats

2011-09-05T00:01:00.001-05:00

Autumn is just three weeks away. Did your summer go by as fast as mine did?! It's around the 100 degree mark here right now during the day, but it won't be long before the air starts to get a little crisper :-).

I've had this stamp set for quite some time... since the mini that it debuted in... and this was the first time I've ever inked it up. Can I just say that I LOVE this stamp set? I die cut the box from Crumb Cake card stock and punched the little window out of the front. The little window is actually covered with a piece of Clear Window Sheet. I put some candy corn into a cello bag and popped it into my little box :-). As you can see in the photo, I added a little belly band to the side, along with some leaves and a tiny stamped tag.

Back of the box

I think I'm going to make up several of these little boxes to give out. They are perfect for a little autumn treat! Have a great day today! See ya' tomorrow!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Crumb Cake 120953, Old Olive 100702, Cajun Craze 119684, Early Espresso 119686

Classic Stampin' Ink: Old Olive 102277, Cajun Craze 119671, More Mustard 103162, Early Espresso 119670

Stamps: French Foliage 121166, Teeny Tiny Wishes 115370

Punches: Jewelry Tag 117190, Large Oval 119855, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border 119275

Dies: Box #2 114518

Roses

2011-09-02T10:48:00.001-05:00

I had these tag pieces laying on my counter top in my stamping room and I had just made the tiny rose, so I combined them into the tag you see in the photo. The card evolved from there :).

This is definitely not one of those cards that you mail, unless you pack it into a box. I don't usually make cards that are this 3D, but that little rose just called out for a big rose, and who am I to argue :-) ? Thanks for stopping by today... see ya' on Monday!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Regal Rose 105130, Pear Pizzazz 119795, Very Vanilla 101650, So Saffron 105118, Old Olive 100702

Classic Stampin' Ink: Old Olive 102277, Regal Rose 105211, Early Espresso 119670

Stamps: French Foliage 121166, Touch of Kindness 123203 (Summer Mini 2011)

Punches: Extra Large Tag 119866, Large Tag 119876, Fancy Flower 118073, Boho Blossoms 119858, Triple Flower (retired)

Other: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder 117335

Here I Am...

2011-09-02T01:25:00.000-05:00

Wow, I didn't realize I had been gone from my blog for such a long time until Christene mentioned it in class last week. I've actually got a couple of projects to post, can you believe it?! The batteries died in my camera, so I'm charging them, so I can get some photos tomorrow morning, so I can finally post! :-)

In the meantime, Nationals was an AWESOME experience!!!!!!!!!!! We all had such a great time. My daughter did well for her very first Nationals and we are so proud of her. The photos below were taken by Clay Lomneth and Greg Blobaum, professional photographers at Nationals. They are really awesome as photographers and as people... we had a great time hanging out with them for ten days :-). Let me know if you ever need a great photographer and I'll send you right to them! ;-)

Loop Figures

Creative Solo

Aren't these photos amazing? We have a whole bunch more that they took, but it would take a long time for you to look at all of them, lol! I'm working on a scrapbook for my daughter with these photos and LOTS of other photos that I took. So far I have 40 pages and I'm not even half way done yet :-D. She did her Creative Solo to the song 'New World' by Toby Mac. If you are familiar with the Narnia movies, you will know that this song was in one of those movies. Her dress is based on one of Lucy's in the movies. One little girl at Nationals totally loved the Narnia movies and asked our daughter for her autograph... too sweet! (Yep, got a photo of that) ;-).

We had the whole month off from skating after Nationals was over and believe me when I say that after Nationals, you NEED the rest! Training starts up again soon, we are back to homeschooling for the year, and our schedule is starting to look like a regular schedule again- yay!

I had no mojo (we were crazy busy with skating), but I think it might be coming back a little bit. I haven't touched paper or ink since before Regionals and it was really nice to spend some time working in my stamp room yesterday and today. On that note, I'll get my first project posted tomorrow morning. Thanks so much to all of you who have stuck it out and still check my blog to see if I've actually been here yet (waving hi to Christene!)... :-D

See ya' in the morning!

Blessings!

Barb

Whoa!

2011-06-29T10:36:00.002-05:00

I've been away for a loooooong time!!!! I tried really hard to get back to stamping, but life is REALLY crazy right now!!! We just got done with Regionals and my skater girl did very well. We are getting ready for Nationals now so there is a lot more practice time! I will be back, but probably not until after Nationals! Miss you all and hope you are all well, blessed, and enjoying your summer!

PS- I meant to post a photo of her other dress that I worked on, but hadn't gotten any good photos of it until now :). So, here is her Creative Solo dress. She does her Creative Solo to a song from one of the Narnia movies, hence, the style of her dress :D. Believe it or not, there are just over 1,000 swarovski crystals on this dress!

Hugs!
Barb

Updating...

2011-05-30T16:17:00.000-05:00

I got the housework and the laundry caught up and then it was off to the last Meet of the year before Regionals and Nationals. It was a long Meet- 5 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and then 5 a.m. - 8:30 p.m. on Sunday. Regionals is next month and then Nationals is in July- then we get a small rest and then training starts up again for the new skate year, which starts in September. The first Meet of the new skate year will be in October when it all starts all over again :-).

I do have a card to post, but we just got back about an hour ago, I put everything away, and I have laundry from the trip washing. After that is dry, folded, and put away, I am going to rest! I will get it posted tomorrow and then I hope to have a couple of days to stamp. Did I mention that I REALLY miss stamping???!!!!

Happy Memorial Day weekend and thanks to all of you who left such nice comments about being here when I get back :-).

Blessings!
Barb

Catching Up...

2011-05-18T09:29:00.002-05:00

We are back from Chicago, but with all the business of sewing and hauling back and forth to the rink for practices, my housework got really behind :(. I spent a few days trying to get rest since I only got a total of 12 hours of sleep in four days while we were away. That was six hours of sleep the first night we got to our hotel and then six hours on another night during the Meet weekend, but I have no remembrance of what night that actually was. I so needed to catch up on some rest because I had not been sleeping well during my sewing stint either. Now that I am relatively working back on normal capacity, I have to tackle my housework that got ditched while I was sewing. This week I have been trying to get caught up on laundry and housework in between home schooling and practice times at the rink. I will be back to posting soon though! Thank you for your continued patience and support- you are all appreciated more than words can say.

In the mean while, since so many of you asked to see her dresses, here are a couple of photos during Figures. This dress in Royal Blue velvet is the one I had to make THREE times! That is three times starting from scratch. Not a fun time, but my daughter and her coach loved it so it was worth it :-). We found a lovely necklace with matching earrings to go with her dress. The necklace and the earrings have royal blue center stones surrounded by crystals- very pretty!

The bodice comes around in a curve and then the rest of the bodice and one of the sleeves is Royal Blue mesh. In this last photo, she is standing next to the referee waiting to enter the circles for figures for judging. The rhinestones on her Figures dress consist of three different colors of Swarovski rhinestones- Crystal AB, Jonquil AB, and Aqua AB. I didn't get a photo of the back of her dress, but the back comes down to a V and the Crystal AB's follow the neckline down the back. There ya' have it... the dress... and my little skater girl :-D. Have a great day everyone!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Sunny Fun

2011-05-11T15:58:00.000-05:00

This is the last thank you card I made before I got bogged down in sewing :-). I used one of the new sets from the Summer Mini- Sunny Fun. I love this set- too cute!

I used the new Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch to make the happy little sun on the inside of the card. This is a fun punch to play with! It's really three punches in one. I'm at the rink so I gotta run. See you soon! Have a great day!

Blessings!

Barb

Whew! We Are Back!

2011-05-10T09:33:00.001-05:00

Wow, what a month! I had one sewing fiasco after another in trying to get a couple of competition skate dresses done for my daughter. I had to make her Figures dress THREE times! The first time, the points in the front were too low- scratch! The second time, I spaced the fact that I was sewing with velvet and steam pressed the zipper and it went through to the front and ruined the velvet- scratch! By this time I was out of Royal Blue velvet and had to order more from New York and do 2 day shipping. The fabric arrived on Tuesday so I spent Tuesday cutting and sewing the new dress and then from Tuesday evening to Wednesday gluing the rhinestones on the dress. This takes a while because you have to glue each stone individually and then you have to wait for the area you're working on to dry before moving to the next area. It was cold here so it took the stones a loooooong time to dry. By the end of the day on Wednesday I was done stoning the dresses :-). On Thursday morning I packed and off we went to Chicago for the Meet. After four days, we were ready to get home and we arrived last night at 11:09 p.m.- home sweet home!

I had three cards that I had made while waiting for either fabric or rhinestones to arrive, but because of all the trouble I had with the sewing, which I've never had trouble with sewing until that Figures dress (!), I didn't have time to get them posted. I did get one posted before the fabric arrived, so will be posting the other two today and tomorrow. I won't get to stamp for a couple of days because I have a lot to catch up on- laundry, house work, grocery shopping, etc. I got sooooo behind working on skate dresses. I am looking forward to going back to my stamping room and just relaxing with some stamps, ink, and paper! In the meantime, here's one of the thank you cards I made.

I'm not going to take time today to post the supplies because I have so much to do today, but the embossing folder I used is in the new Summer Mini. If you have any questions, please let me know and I'll post the answer sometime this week :-). Have a great day!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Sewing Update

2011-05-03T09:28:00.001-05:00

I'm still at it :-(. I'm expecting a delivery of Royal Blue velvet today along with Royal Blue mesh. Why you ask? Because I botched the first two that I sewed- long story- and I had to order more fabric from New York and do two day air delivery. As soon as that gets here today, hopefully, it will be this morning rather than late this afternoon, I have to cut out the dress pieces and start sewing. My daughter's Figures dress is the Royal Blue one and I have to have it completely sewn by the end of today. Tomorrow I have to glue hundreds of Swarovski rhinestones on it- one by one. I ran to Hobby Lobby yesterday and purchased two more bottles of Gem Tack glue by Beacon (used for gluing on the rhinestones). I was paranoid about running out of glue right in the middle of stoning the dresses (sigh- yep, it's getting to me). On a positive note, I just finished gluing on the last rhinestone on her Creative Solo dress about 20 minutes ago. I just have to wait for the glue to finish drying and then I can hang that dress to let the glue cure for 24 hours. Then it goes into the garment cover to protect it. In case you are wondering how many stones I hand glued onto her Creative Solo dress, the final count is over 1,100. Uh huh, you read that correctly... over one thousand rhinestones on one dress. It adds quite a bit of heft to the weight of the dress, which is funny because the stones by themselves aren't all that heavy. I'm not sure yet how many stones will end up on the Figures dress, but at least 3 gross will. I'll let you know the final count when I finish it :-).

I've gotten several comments asking for pictures of the dresses. That is so sweet of you all to ask :-). I promised my daughter that her new dresses will remain under wrap until she debuts them at her next Meet, but I will post photos after that. I even have a nifty dress form sized to my daughter that I can put them on for photos :-D. Let me tell you that the dress form I purchased was a great investment! Who knew? It has been indispensable during the sewing process for fitting, figuring out how much elastic, etc. How did I sew all this time without one, lol?! All right, I've got to run and do some housework before the fabric gets here. The place is a wreck! There are pattern pieces and fabric and elastic and rulers and tons of other sewing stuff all over my dining room table. I can hardly see the tablecloth underneath it all! It won't be long now before I'm back. I cannot wait to get my hands on ink, card stock, and stamps again!!!!!! Have a great day and a great week everyone!!! Thanks for your patience while I'm sewing!

Hugs and Blessings!
Barb

Sewing and Thank You's

2011-04-22T11:11:00.001-05:00

I'm almost ready to be off and running.... ummmm, sewing :-D. I ordered a dress form, it arrived on Tuesday and I sized it to my daughter. Yesterday the swarovski crystals arrived and this morning the fabric arrived. I ordered a custom made to my skater pattern and that should be here today. Once that gets here, I need to make a quick skate dress to make sure it fits the way it should. Then I will be cutting into this gorgeous stretch velvet, one in ruby red and the other in royal blue, and making my daughter two competition dresses. If they come out, please pray they do (!), then I will commence stoning them. I am hoping that the pattern fits her perfectly so that I don't have to make adjustments to it. I can sew with the best of them, but I know very little about altering patterns and even less about drafting patterns. I am looking into some pattern drafting classes so I can learn how to do it. Let me tell you that the competition skate dress is a whole other beast from making wedding gowns or other clothing! I was able to alter my other pattern to fit my daughter, but the sleeve was just not working out no matter what I did. That was the day I realized I better learn how to make patterns! Then to top it all off, when she tried on the other dress the serger thread got caught in the zipper and broke it. You know that part of the zipper that goes up and down? Uh huh, it came clear out :-(. Dress scratched! To put another zipper in I would have had to take the entire thing apart because I had already serged the waist seam, just in case you are wondering why I didn't do that :-). I really didn't want to take the whole thing apart!

All right, so while I was waiting for the dress form, stones, fabric, and pattern to arrive, I made three cards that I needed for sending out. Please note- Christene, Isabella, Linda, Alice, and Donna, I am sending them out :-D. This is the first of the three and I used a new stamp set that is coming out in the new Summer Mini starting on May 1st. Isn't this bird bath sweet?

I love the bird bath and isn't this little kitty adorable? You are going to love the new sets in the Summer Mini! I think I have most of the mini on my wish list :-). I'll be scheduling my posts for the next few days. If my pattern comes today, I will be sewing away the entire weekend, so any prayers for my success will be appreciated more than I can tell you :-) ! Have a great weekend!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Peach Parfait-119794, Poppy Parade- 119793, Whisper White-100730, So Saffron-105118, Sunny Garden Designer Series Paper-119831
Stamps: Touch of Kindness- 123203 (available May 1st)
Ink: Early Espresso-119670, Tangerine Tango-111834, StazOn Jet Black-101406
WaterColor Wonder Crayons: Regals-119803, Subtles-119802, Brights-119804, Neutrals- 119805
Punches: 1 3/4" Scallop Circle-119854, 1 3/8" Circle-119860
Other: Blender pens-102845, Stampin' Dimensionals-104430

I Have Not Abandoned My Blog :-)

2011-04-19T16:41:00.000-05:00

I know I have been absent a bit and I will probably miss a few more days of posting throughout the month. I ran into problems with the skate dresses and have to start all over again, boo hoo hoo! These are very important dresses and they have to be done in a time frame- which is getting shorter- so some things have to hit the wayside and the blog is one of them :-(. I have a couple of cards that I will be posting this week that my gals did on Monday evening and maybe, just maybe, I will get some time to do a little bit of stamping while I am waiting for the fabric to be delivered. Yep, I had to order more fabric... (sigh) don't ask :-).

Thanks so much everyone for being so patient while I am sewing skate dresses. These are competition skate dresses so you can imagine how much my daughter is depending on me :-). A few prayers here and there that there won't be anymore snags along the way would be so appreciated!!!! Hope you are all having wonderful and warm weather where you are!

Blessings!
Barb

Stampin' Celebration Challenge #47 Number Two :-)

2011-04-08T00:01:00.001-05:00

This is the second card that I made for the Stampin' Celebration challenge. I was invited to be a Party Guest Designer this week, so when I made my card for the challenge, I made another one :-). For the inspiration photo, see my post below this one or hop on over to Stampin' Celebration so you can play too :-).

I chose only one part of the inspiration photo for the elements on my card to make a child's card. I used some of the colors in the stripes around the lion and made the stripes on a base of Pear Pizzazz. Even though the inspiration photo showed most of the lion's body, I decided to just make his head with some punches. Since there are several circle shapes in the inspiration photo, I used the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder for those :-D.

Since the lion has on a party hat, I stamped 'Happy Birthday' from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set. I really like the size of the sentiments in Teeny Tiny Wishes- they fit in teeny tiny spaces :-). Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day today!!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Peach Parfait-119794, Pear Pizzazz-119795, Whisper White-100730, So Saffron-105118, Marina Mist-119682, Chocolate Chip-102128, Very Vanilla-101650, In Color Hostess Level One Designer Series Paper-121028

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes-115370

Classic Stampin' Ink: Chocolate Chip: 100908

Stampin' Write Markers: Chocolate Chip-100071, Pretty in Pink-100045

Punches: 1" Circle-119868, 1/2" Circle-119869, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack-118309, 1/4" circle

Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Perfect Polka Dots-117335

Other: Stampin' Dimensionals-104430

Stampin' Celebration Challenge #47

2011-04-07T00:01:00.002-05:00

I was invited to be a Party Guest Designer at Stampin' Celebration this week. The photo above is the inspiration photo for this week's challenge. I actually made two cards for the challenge this week, so I will post my second one tomorrow. I've really enjoyed participating in the Stampin' Celebration challenges. There are so many fun elements to choose from in the inspiration photos :-). If you haven't participated in the Stampin' Celebration challenges yet, you should pop on over there and get started :-D.

For my card, I loved all the yellows in the inspiration photo, so I chose yellow as my base color. I chose to use the blue and white wallpaper in the inspiration photo for my background. I cut strips of Marina Mist and adhered them to Very Vanilla. As you can see in my photo, I also embossed the background with the Square Lattice embossing folder. Since there a few circle shapes in the inspiration photo, I chose to use a circle as my focal point. I added leaves and purple flowers, which you'll see around the bottom of the cake in the inspiration photo.

I matted Very Vanilla on Marina Mist and continued with the flowers and the leaves on the inside of my card.

Thank you so much to the Design Team at Stampin' Celebration for inviting me to be a Party Guest Designer this week! It was so much fun!!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Daffodil Delight-119683, Very Vanilla-101650, Marina Mist-119682, Pear Pizzazz-119795, Perfect Plum-101889

Stamps: Sense of Time-113804

Classic Stampin' Ink: Marina Mist-119668

Punches: Boho Blossoms-119858, 1/4" circle

Dies: Little Leaves-114511

Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Square Lattice-119976

Other: Fold-it- Bows Template (non-Stampin' Up!)

Sewing, Sewing, Sewing

2011-04-06T09:27:00.001-05:00

I've been missing in action from my blog for the last week due to sewing competition skate dresses for my daughter. She needs a new figures dress and a new dress for her creative solo routine. Even though she doesn't need them for a few weeks, I don't like to be last minute Annie and have tons of stress because I waited until the last minute :-). I plan the have them completed and hanging in her closet at least four weeks before she actually needs them. I'm not quite done sewing them yet, but once they are done, then commences gluing hundreds of rhinestones on them. The creative solo dress is going to be using some tiny rhinestones so I'm not quite sure if I'm really looking forward to working with those, lol!

I made a card days ago for a challenge that I saw online, but that challenge is long past now and I didn't get it posted on time :-D. The challenge was to use the colors pink, navy, green, and vanilla. I've never paired pink with navy before so thought I would try that color combination out. The end result is below :-)....

I used a Level One Hostess stamp set (Because I Care) for the main image. I think hydrangeas are such pretty flowers and I wanted a pink one :-). The stamp set comes with a single little flower stamp. I stamped several little flowers and punched them out with one of the punches in the Itty Bitty Punch Pack. The four petal shaped flower punch is a perfect fit for the little flower. I popped some of them up on Stampin' Dimensionals and added a fallen little flower at the base of the stem :-). Even though I missed posting this in time for the actual challenge, I thought I would share it anyway :-). Have a wonderful day today! I hope the sun is shining bright where you live and that the day is warm!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Pretty in Pink-100459, Night of Navy-100867, Very Vanilla-101650

Stamps: Because I Care-120118

Classic Stampin' Ink: Night of Navy-102977, Pretty in Pink101301, Old Olive-102277

Punches: Itty Bitty Shapes-118309

Other: Stampin' Dimensionals-104430

Stampin' Celebration Challenge #45

2011-03-28T09:31:00.000-05:00

I decided to participate again, in this week's Stampin' Celebration Challenge :-). I rarely do black and white cards, actually, I rarely use black at all. I'm not really sure why I don't use black all that much because it really adds elegance to everything. From the challenge photo, I chose as my main focus, the cake with the black and white flowers and the black line around the cake. The flowers on the cake have black stamens and black centers. To give the illusion of the stamens, I stamped only the bottom part of medium flower petal in the Build a Blossom set. I punched out the petal shape with the corresponding Blossom Petals punch. Since the colors in the overall challenge photo uses neutral colors, I inked the edges of my flower petals with Crumb Cake.

I used swirls behind my flower because there are swirls on the candy and on the tablecloth in the challenge photo. For the inside of the card, I stuck with the clean lines from the cake. I punched the corners and added a 1/4" strip of black. Later, I can add some elements to the left of the black line and add a sentiment or a hand written note to the right of the black line.

I'm glad that I participated in this challenge because it gave me a chance to use a color that I hardly ever use. Maybe I will start using black more often :-D. I hope everyone's week is off to a wonderful start and that the rest of your week is blessed! See you tomorrow!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Whisper White-100730, Basic Black-121045

Classic Stampin' Ink: Crumb Cake-121030

Stampin' Write Marker: Basic Black-100082

Stamps: Build a Blossom-121994, Teeny Tiny Wishes-115370

Punches: Blossom Petals-121808, 3/4" Circle-119873

Dies: Swirls Scribbles-113441

Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Perfect Polka Dots-117335

The Paper Players Challenge

2011-03-25T10:19:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I like to participate in challenges. It helps to make you think a little differently when you're creating within a 'specific' framework, so I have three challenge cards that I did yesterday. This one today is for The Paper Players Challenge and is Challenge #39.

It looks fairly masculine to me :-). Have a great day everyone!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Night of Navy-100867, Crumb Cake-120953, Very Vanilla-101650, Cherry Cobbler Textured-119690

Classic Stampin' Ink: Night of Navy-102977, Crumb Cake-121030

Stamps: Sense of Time-113804, Whimsical Words- 119119 (retired SAB 2010)

Punches: 1 3/4" Scallop Circle-119854

Easter Egg Flower?

2011-03-24T00:01:00.002-05:00

I love it when my daughter meanders into my stamping room. She sees things that I usually don't and the card below was her observation when she first saw the Easter Egg stamp in the Easter Blossoms stamp set. What she saw in the Easter Egg was a flower petal and she asked me if she could try to stamp one. "Sure!", I said

:-). Her stamped little flower ended up on this card....

And then she made a couple of cards herself :-). I've been encouraging her here and there to make some cards or to scrap some pages, but she is a busy skater so she hasn't really shown any interest in doing so....until now :-). In the first card below, she used one of the flowers from Greenhouse Garden to make fireworks...

In her next card, she again used the egg from Easter Blossoms to create another flower, a tulip...

It was really nice to see her get back to my stamping room and do some stamping. It will probably be a while before she goes back there again though, so I have to enjoy and encourage those little moments when they come :-D.

My Happy Birthday card has been submitted as a challenge card on SUO Challenges this week. If you like to do challenges, then head on over :-).

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Certainly Celery- 105125, So Saffron- 105118, Wild Wasabi- 108641, Whisper White- 100730

Classic Stampin' Ink: Tempting Turquoise- 100814

Stamps: Easter Blossoms- 122057 clear mount, retired sentiment used

Dies: Birds & Blooms- 113485, Sweet Buttons embosslit- 121813

Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Framed Tulips- 121809

Strength & Hope

2011-03-23T00:01:00.002-05:00

It saddens me to report that we know someone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. My husband has a golfing friend whose girlfriend found a lump in her breast recently and by the next day it had increased in size. I don't know all the specifics, but they were told that it is a very rare and very aggressive form of breast cancer. I don't know her personally, but I do know my husband's golfing buddy and he is so heart broken and so frightened. They are both frightened and understandably so. Of course, our hearts and prayers are with them until she is well. In the meantime, since she was going to start chemotherapy this past Monday, I wanted to make something that she could keep with her in her purse that will hopefully be an encouragement to her. I don't talk about my beliefs much on my blog, but today I am. I believe that the Word of God is alive, active, and powerful. Isaiah 55:11 states: "so is My word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." It is my heartfelt prayer, that not only will she be a survivor, but that the scriptures in her book will indeed become life to her, comfort to her, and help to bolster her faith. I stayed up late on Saturday night finishing the book up so my husband could get it to her on Sunday. I stayed away because I am still sick, better, but not 100% yet, and I did not want to compromise her since I know that chemotherapy weakens the immune system. Her boyfriend, Jim, told my husband that she was planning to take it with her on Monday for her first chemotherapy treatment. I am posting the book I made for her so that if you know of someone who might be encouraged by one, you can make one for them too.

Card made with Strength & Hope stamp set

Inside of the card

Cover of the Book using Strength & Hope

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

Page 7

Page 8

Page 9

Page 10

I used Pretty in Pink and Very Vanilla as my base on both the card and the book. The color scheme is a tetrad on the color wheel: Pink, yellow, green, and purple. I used a lot of different things to create this book, so I'm not going to list the supplies because it would be an incredibly long list and because the book is now in Laura's hands so I would have to guess as to what specific color I used where. I stayed within the tetrad though, throughout the book. I printed the scriptures out on Very Vanilla and trimmed to size. I used a lot of flowers and butterflies because I wanted her to have the feeling that she is walking through a flower garden. I have no idea why, but that was what was in my heart for her. If you pray, I know that Jim and Laura would both appreciate your prayers for them during this time and your prayers too for her health to be restored.

Just a reminder that the stamp set Strength & Hope will be available in the new Summer Mini starting on May 1st and is shown on page 27. Please consider purchasing this set as for every set purchased Stampin' Up! will donate $2.00 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. There will also be a digital version of the stamp set with digital papers available for My Digital Studio. $2.00 of each purchase of the Strength & Hope digital kit for My Digital Studio will also be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Blessings!

Barb

A Really Good Cause...

2011-03-22T00:01:00.001-05:00

This is a sneak peek of a new stamp set that is coming in the Summer Mini- Strength & Hope. Not only is it a beautiful set, but $2.00 from the purchase of each set will go to Breast Cancer Research. There will also be a digital kit available for My Digital Studio with the digital version of this stamp set, but also includes some very pretty digital papers. $2.00 from each purchase of the digital kit will also go to Breast Cancer Research.

Butterfly, Hope, and the words in the center are part of the Strength & Hope set

The flourish at the bottom is the fourth stamp in the Strength & Hope set

If you know someone who has breast cancer, and you would like to give them this card, I will send the card and the matching envelope to the first person who leaves a comment that she/he would like to have this card.

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink

Classic Stampin' Ink: Pretty in Pink, Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose

Stamps: Strength & Hope, Occasional Quotes

Punches: 1.25" Circle, 1 3/8" Circle

Textured Impressions embossing folder: Vintage Wallpaper

Other: Pretty in Pink grosgrain ribbon, pink embroidery floss

Easter Eggs

2011-03-21T00:01:00.001-05:00

This is a quick to make Easter card :). We had six inches of snow last week so, in rebellion to winter, I used bright springy colors :-D. The eggs are stamped, then cut out, and popped up on dimensionals.

I am writing these and scheduling them to post ahead of time, but while I'm writing, I'm still sick- ick! So please excuse my lack of chattiness (is that even a word?). Thank you for stopping by and have a great day!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Stampin' Celebration Challenge

2011-03-17T17:56:00.001-05:00

I guess that being cooped up in the house sick, isn't all that bad when you have time to surf blogs :-). I went to visit Allison's blog this afternoon and she has a challenge photo posted from Stampin' Celebration. I clicked on it to check it out and the napkin ring in the photo totally 'intrigued' me. Hmmmm, intrigued by a napkin ring... do ya' think I'm getting bored hanging out at home for a week straight? I used the Lattice die to cut out the vine part of the napkin ring in the photo inspiration and cut out the center with scissors. It was a matter of punching out a bunch of leaves from a heart punch and then punching out some blossoms, inking their edges, and then gluing the whole thing together. I wish I had inked the leaves too, but I just didn't think of it before I glued :-(. Sigh. There were some really pretty, round amber glass beads, mixed into the vine and the leaves in the napkin ring, so I added some amber rhinestones too.

Okay, so card front done, what to do about the sentiment.... Looked at the photo again and in another part of the photo is a little soap box with script writing in brown. Ah Hah! Looked through all my sentiments to find a script one and the right size font to fit onto my die cut. Found one! It just happened to be a wedding sentiment and wouldn't you know it? A gal in my women's Bible Study JUST got married! Ha! A happy camper am I!

Now on to the inside of the card. This is one of my favorite marriage sentiments, so I stamped it in Early Espresso. It needed something else though, so I added the little stamp in the corner and it happens that it's a pretty good match for the front. What a great day! I watercolored it with some ink and a blender pen with colors that match the wreath on the front of the card.

Oh my gosh, I am suddenly starving! I think I'm starting to feel better. My ears have been popping all day and my husband thinks that it's because this stuff is starting to break up. Gotta love the doctor for giving me some awesome anti-biotics :-D. They are the size of horse pills and a high dose so I guess they are doing their job. Maybe this hacky cough will be gone tomorrow! I have barely eaten all week, I think I'm gonna head into the kitchen :-D. Have a great day!

Blessings!

Barb

PS- I have posts scheduled clear into next week and I was sick in bed when I was writing them up, so if you read that I feel really icky- please disregard. I do feel better right now, so it should be uphill from here :-).

Supplies:

Paper: Pear Pizzazz-119795, Very Vanilla-101650, More Mustard-100946, Old Olive-100702, Soft Suede-115318

Classic Stampin' Ink: More Mustard-103162, Early Espresso-119670

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes-115370, Gods' Blessings-114972, Sweet Summer-123214

Punches: Modern Label-119849, Heart to Heart-119881, Ticket Corner-119867, Trio Flowers- retired :-(

Dies: Lattice-115958, Lots of Tags-114508, Beautiful Wings-118138

Textured Impressions embossing folder: Vintage Wallpaper-120175

Other: 1/4" circle punch, amber rhinestones

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

2011-03-17T05:50:00.000-05:00

Will ya' be sportin' a bit o' the green today? I woke up this morning to my daughter wearing her shamrock tee shirt, an Irish penny necklace, rainbow earrings, and her green and white with shamrocks argyle socks :). We are Irish, can you tell :-D ? I used Mojo Monday sketch #181 this week for my card below...

I am still sick and I think, as sick or slightly more sick, than I was over the weekend. My hubby was worried about me so he called our doctor yesterday and told him all my symptoms. I have been through three boxes of Puff's Tissues in two days! The doctor called in a prescription for me so I am hoping for improvement in the next day or so. I really don't like being sick :(. But I'm thankful for my hubby who loves me and watches out for me. He felt that I should have been better after just a couple of days and he even rescheduled an out of town appointment so he could be within 15 minutes of getting home- isn't that sweet? Usually though, I am better fairly quickly, but wow, this is some funky stuff. I sound like a frog :-P. I have one of those hacky coughs that make your throat and chest hurt. Apparently, an OTC cold medicine and I don't get along very well. I started taking it a couple of days ago and my resting heart rate is normally 60, but it made my resting heart rate go up to 84 and it made it skip beats too. The doctor told my hubby that I was not to take that ever again- no worries there! Actually, it will find its way to the trash :). All right, so enough about my woes :-D. I hope you all enjoy lovely Spring weather today and have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Pear Pizzazz, In Color Hostess Level One Designer Series Paper, Very Vanilla

Classic Stampin' Ink: Garden Green, Pear Pizzazz

Stamps: Lucky Shamrock

I'll come back and put the rest of the supplies later. If you need to know something about supplies for this card before that, please let me know.

Easter Card

2011-03-16T00:01:00.046-05:00

I thought I ought to get crackin' on some Easter cards before April gets here :-). I used mostly Whisper White with just a splash of So Saffron for color. White is such a clean and fresh color- makes me think of sheets drying on the line in the sun and how they smell when they've spent the day in the fresh air.

I used the Ticket Corner punch on the corners for the inside and matted it on So Saffron. My sentiment is stamped in So Saffron and I added a little butterfly to finish up the inside.

I am doing up the posts for this week in my bed on my laptop and I'm hoping my throat is much better by the time this posts :-). On that note, I think I need to rest a bit so please excuse me for not being too chatty this week. Have a wonderful day today!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: Whisper White- 100730, So Saffron- 105118
Classic Stampin' Ink: So Saffron- 105213
Stamps: Easter Blossoms- 122057 clear mount, God's Blessings- 114972 wood mount
Dies: Beautiful Wings- 118138
Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Framed Tulips- 121809, Elegant Bouquet- 115964
Other: pearls, So Saffron Stampin' Write Marker- 105114

Pretty in Pink

2011-03-15T00:01:00.000-05:00

I know I've used the Framed Tulips embossing folder a lot lately, but I just love it! It's so pretty and yells Spring :-) ! My card base is Pretty in Pink, I layered the Framed Tulips in Pretty in Pink, and then added another Pretty in Pink layer that I stamped with Whisper White Craft Ink and the Sanded background stamp. I was thinking of Spring and white washed fences when I made this card :-D. The embossed edges of the Framed Tulips are inked with three coats of Whisper White Craft Ink as well. The So Saffron Simple Flower embosslit is once again inked with Peach Parfait. A Marina Mist butterfly, Old Olive leaves, and some pearls complete the card front.

I left the inside mostly blank for a hand written note or a sentiment to be added later. I did add a little greeting stamped in Marina Mist and layered on the oval punches to the bottom though. I inked just the very edges of the Scallop Oval with Peach Parfait.

So there ya' have it. A card to add to your stash that can be used for many different occasions. Have a wonderful day today!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Pretty in Pink-100459, So Saffron- 105118, Marina Mist- 119682, Old Olive- 100702, Whisper White- 100730

Classic Stampin' Ink: Peach Parfait-119783, Marina Mist- 119668

Stamps: Easter Blossoms- 122057 clear mount, Sanded- 109294

Dies: Simple Flower embosslit- 114514, Little Leaves Sizzlit- 114511, Beautiful Wings embosslit- 118138

Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Framed Tulips- 121809

Punches: Large Oval- 119855, Scallop Oval- 119856

Other: pearls

Post It Note Pad Holder

2011-03-14T00:01:00.001-05:00

Do you have tools that kind of hit the wayside and you hardly use them, if at all? I have to sometimes make myself think of stamp sets, dies, punches, and other tools that I have that are neglected for long periods of time. Such was the case with my Simple Flower embosslit, so I pulled it out and gave it some love last week :-).

A local store had the new pink Bind-it-all version 2 on sale for half price and it came with some extras- like chipboard covers. I've been wanting the pink one since it came out, but since I already had the blue one, I really couldn't justify the purchase. So glad it was on sale! Uh huh, yes I did get one :-). I used it on my post it note holder below....

I inked the edges of the So Saffron Simple Flower die cut with Peach Parfait. The two colors really work well together. My covers are just two coasters that I covered with Blushing Bride Designer Series Paper from the Level One Hostess sets.

I used another Blushing Bride Designer Series Paper for the inside of my covers. The coasters both started out as black ones, but now they are nice and pretty :-). I plan to keep this little note holder in my purse for those quick notes that I sometimes need to write. This is a pretty quick and easy project and you could make a bunch of them in very little time. Have a great day!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Paper: So Saffron- 105118, Pear Pizzazz-119795, In Color Designer Series Paper Pack-121028
Classic Stampin' Ink: Pear Pizzazz-119784, Peach Parfait- 119783, Soft Suede- 115657
Stamps: Notes & Details- 122060 clear mount, Build a Blossom- 121994 clear mount
Dies: Simple Flower- 114514
Punches: Blossom Petals- 121808
Other: pearls, 4" coasters, post it pad

Sick :(

2011-03-12T08:47:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I got sick and got over that and now I think I may have strep throat :(. I barely slept last night cause my throat hurt so badly. I'm taking anti-biotics and Tylenol for the pain. Also drinking hot tea with honey and lemon. It's amazing how hot tea can soothe a sore throat- the hotter the better :). I'm writing from my bed on my laptop- aren't laptops wonderful? You can haul them around anywhere! I will be back on Monday morning with some projects. See you then! Have a great weekend!

Blessings!
Barb

Any Occasion, Quick and Easy

2011-03-03T00:01:00.001-06:00

Working on my stash again :-). This is another one that is quick and easy to make in several colors and great to have on hand for any occasion that needs a card. Get Well, Birthday, Thinking of You, Just Because....it works for everything! Well, maybe not for a masculine card ;-). I can't even imagine trying to give this one to my husband, lol! I used the In Colors to make this quick set....

Peach Parfait

Pear Pizzazz

Poppy Parade

Blushing Bride

Concord Crush

Have you noticed that I've used the same basic layout for all the cards that I've posted this week? It's amazing what little changes to a basic layout can make! Have a fabulous day!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Peach Parfait-119794, Poppy Parade-119793, Pear Pizzazz- 119795, Concord Crush-119792, Blushing Bride-119796, Whisper White-100730

Classic Stampin' Ink: Peach Parfait-119783, Poppy Parade-119782, Pear Pizzazz-119784, Concord Crush-119785, Blushing Bride-119786

Stamps: Punch Bunch-123211 (you can get it free during Sale-a-bration with a $50.00 purchase)

Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Framed Tulips-121809

A Little Gift Bag!

2011-03-02T00:01:00.007-06:00

One of my favorite dies for my Big Shot is the Fancy Favor die, exclusive to Stampin' Up! The bag can be used as a treat bag or a gift bag, it can even be used as a basket :-). It can be dressed up, dressed down, made into an elegant bag or any other theme you can imagine. It's a very versatile die! My personal opinion is that this die is a MUST HAVE in every paper crafter's tool basket :-).

I embossed my bag first with the Square Lattice embossing folder. It kind of reminds me of burlap :-). I simply added some leaves, a daisy with a button center, and a small butterfly. Quick and easy project to make for any occasion :-). Pop the daisy and the butterfly up on Stampin' Dimensionals and it's ready to go. Have a great day!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Pear Pizzazz-119795, Wild Wasabi-108641, Whisper White-100730, So Saffron-105118, Marina Mist-119682

Dies: Fancy Favor-115965, Beautiful Wings-118138, Little Leaves-114511, Daisies #2114520, Sweet Buttons embosslit-121813

Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Square Lattice-119976

Other: Stampin' Dimensionals-104430

Marina Mist and Daffodil Yellow

2011-03-01T00:01:00.001-06:00

I just love blue and yellow together and these two shades of blue and yellow are awesome together, in my opinion :-).

Card Front with Matching Envelope

Inside of Card

I usually do a little something on the inside of my cards. Something that brings an element from the front to the inside to maintain the theme of the card. I chose to mat Whisper White on Daffodil Delight and added a smaller butterfly. The use of two different embossing folders adds a bit more interest to the texture. Of course, always stamp your envelopes for your cards to complete your all over design/theme :-). Wishing you all a wonderful day! Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Marina Mist-119682, Daffodil Delight-119683,Whisper White-100730

Classic Stampin' Ink: Marina Mist-119668, Daffodil Delight-119667

Stamps: Best Yet- retired

Dies: Beautiful Wings-118138, Bliss-123217

Textured Impressions Embossing Folders: Elegant Lines-119277, Framed Tulips-121809

Other: Bow template, white pearls

Blog Awards

2011-02-28T21:12:00.000-06:00

I received two blog awards from my friend Donna- thanks Donna! If you like to cook or just love good food, visit her blog, but not before breakfast, lol! You will get really hungry looking at all the yummy recipes she makes! I really need to go and visit her soon so I can eat some of that great food she is cooking :-).

Blessings!
Barb

Where is Spring?

2011-02-28T12:14:00.001-06:00

We had snow again a few days ago- 3 inches! I'm so glad that it was gone in just a couple of days! I am more than ready for Spring to get here, although there are some tell tale signs appearing. The peonies are already sending up their shoots as well as the daffodils. Looking at a lot of white snow and brown grass made me really long for some Spring colors, as you will see in the next three posts :-) ....

I am not going to be chatty today :D. We made a trip to Chicago over the weekend because our daughter had a Meet and I got one entire hour of sleep the whole weekend. I learned that it isn't good to photograph Meets on one hour of sleep. I don't know how many good ones I got out of 1,434 photos, but I will be surprised if 200 of them are good ones :o(. After a brief look this morning I am really happy that I use a digital camera and not a film camera! Can you imagine the cost of losing that many photos after you took 1,434 of them? Anyway, I am absolutely exhausted! Hope you all have a GREAT day today! I may sleep part of it!

Blessings!

Barb

I will add the supplies tomorrow. I hope you don't mind :)

Supplies:

Paper: Pretty in Pink-100459, Whisper White-100730, Baja Breeze-111352, Marina Mist-119682, Old Olive-100702, So Saffron-105118, Designer Series Paper- 124156

Punches: Heart to Heart-119881

Dies: Daisies #2=114520, Beautiful Wings-118138, Sweet Buttons embosslit-121813

Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Framed Tulips-121809

Happy Birthday!

2011-02-25T00:01:00.001-06:00

I seriously need to work on building up my stash of cards. It is sooooo depleted! I like cards that are fast and easy to make and can be done in different colors easily for building up the stash. This one is done in Real Red and Whisper White with a touch of So Saffron. I'm planning to replicate this one in several colors and with different sentiments so I can fill up several areas in my stash box rather quickly :-).

Don't you just love the Framed Tulips embossing around the edges of the card? I think this folder is soooo pretty!

I haven't stamped the inside yet because I'm not sure if I will want to hand write a message or not later. I did add a little butterfly to the corner though :-). I'm planning on doing this one next in Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight. I've always loved blue and yellow together- those two colors together just make me feel happy inside :-). Have a wonderful day and a GREAT weekend!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: Real Red-102482, Whisper White-100730, So Saffron-105118

Classic Stampin' Ink: Real Red-103133

Stamps: Elements of Style-120045, Well Scripted-118601

Dies: Beautiful Wings-118138

Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Framed Tulips-121809

Tri-Shutter Card

2011-02-24T10:06:00.001-06:00

This type of card is called a Tri-Shutter Card. Interesting name, huh? It's a pretty cool card since it stands up all by itself for display and is always a nice surprise for whoever gets one. It's not your everyday, ordinary type of card :-). For my card, I used Marina Mist, So Saffron, and Cherry Cobbler, with just a splash of Very Vanilla. This color combo really makes all three colors pop, so I was really happy with my color choices.

Did you notice those cool little buttons in the centers of the flowers? I love them. They were made with the new Sweet Buttons embosslit in the Occasions Mini. A little bit of ink always adds more dimension to any die cut- especially die cuts that are embossed as they are cut. My buttons were done in So Saffron and Marina Mist, but only the So Saffron buttons were inked with More Mustard. Inking the Marina Mist buttons would have interrupted the flow of the card and would have left no place for the eye to rest. If you look closely though, the So Saffron flowers are inked a little around the edges with More Mustard, so it still draws the eye, but isn't busy.

Instead of using Designer Series Paper for my background, I chose to use texture for more interest. I chose the Square Lattice embossing folder. It reminds me of baskets and/or a woven background :-). Wishing you all a very happy day today! Thanks so much for visiting me!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Paper: So Saffron-105118, Marina Mist-119682, Cherry Cobbler-119685, Very Vanilla-101650, Old Olive-100702

Classic Stampin' Ink: More Mustard-103162, Cherry Cobbler-119669, So Saffron-105213, Marina Mist-119668

Stamps: Bliss-123217, Bold Blossom-122232

Punches: Butterfly-119848, 1.75" Scallop Circle-119854, Boho Blossoms-119858

Dies: Sweet Button-121813, Daisies #2-114520, Beautiful Wings-118138, Little Leaves-114511

Textured Impressions Embossing Folder: Square Lattice-119976

This is Why...

2011-02-23T20:11:00.000-06:00

Ok, I did get back into my scrap room and I did get some things made, BUT I have not had time to take photos and this is why....

This little cutie is Lila and she is the newest member of our family. She is our youngest daughter's Chihuahua puppy. We picked her out on Saturday, but we couldn't bring her home because she wasn't eating enough puppy food. We were going to visit her on Tuesday, but the breeder said she could go home. Of course, it didn't take my daughter five minutes to get ready and we were heading out the door to pick her up, lol! We had most everything we needed for the puppy already, but because we weren't expecting her to come home so soon, we had to go shopping after we picked her up. The only things we had to get was puppy food, a crate, and a pink puppy purse. Yes, we have been reduced to purchasing a pink puppy purse :-D.

Today was our long practice day at the rink. Lila went to the rink with us yesterday and met everyone and today she was right at home; to the point that she napped and not a sound at the rink bothered her enough to wake her. Tomorrow is our day off (yeah, for days off!), so I will get back to my scrap room and get some photos and post em'. Have a wonderful evening!

PS- As I have been typing this post, my daughter has been teaching Lila to 'fetch'. Too funny! Her favorite toy so far is a little pink tennis ball. She LOVES the thing! My daughter tosses it and Lila goes to get it and brings it back. She does slip past my daughter every once in a while to chew on her ball, but mostly she has been having fun bringing it back to her.

Blessings!

Barb

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T15:09:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to hop on here real quick to wish all of you a Happy Valentine's Day! I also want to say thank you to all of you for coming to visit my little corner of the web and for all the wonderful comments that you leave. It's such a blessing to have blog buddies! I made a little card for all of you :). It's not a 'traditional' type of Valentine, but I love these colors (Daffodil Delight and Marina Mist) together! And I hope you like the card I made for you!

My daughter has gone back to her own home under the watchful care of her boyfriend. We are close enough that we can get to her in a matter of minutes if need be and we check in on her often during the day. I am happy to report that she has not needed to use her pain medication for the last couple of days. She said that she doesn't have pain anymore, but that the cast is bothersome and uncomfortable. The thing weighs a ton! She is looking forward to getting rid of the temporary cast to move on to the permanent cast. That cast will be lot lighter for her! She is getting around a lot better and doing things on her own. She is using her crutches by herself to get to the bathroom and to get to other rooms, but is still resting her leg as much as she can. Of course, no weight on it until she sees the surgeon in a couple of weeks. She actually got out and about with her boyfriend yesterday and on outings they will take the wheelchair with them. It would be too tiring for her to walk any distances with crutches and hold her leg up the whole time with that HEAVY cast on it!

I'm getting caught up on housework and other things that I have to get done and then looking forward to stamping this week- whoo hoo!! I have a Stampin' Up! box arriving at my door this week too!

Wishing you all the most wonderful of Valentine's Days!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

My Digital Studio

MIA

2011-02-09T02:28:00.000-06:00

I've been missing in action from my scrapping room, but with good reason. One of my older daughters fell on Monday morning from a slip on ice and broke her ankle and leg. The three major bones that hold your foot to your leg- she broke all three of them. On Tuesday she had surgery to put in plates and screws to repair the bones. Needless to say, we have spent a great deal of time in the hospital for the last two days. She is not going to be able to put any weight on her newly repaired bones for a while so they have time to heal. She has a minimum of eight weeks of recovery time ahead of her. She is staying here with us and will go back home as soon as she feels up to it. I am so thankful that she lives only 15 minutes away and that I was able to get to her and take her to the hospital in a short amount of time. I will be taking care of my daughter and making sure that my skater girl gets to practice, so I may or may not get time to post much. I know I am very tired after two days of the hospital and not getting much sleep between the 33 hours she actually broke her bones to the time they were repaired. What is it about waiting in hospitals that makes one so weary? All you do is basically sit around and wait. I am up now at 2:19 a.m. to make sure she gets her pain medication in a few minutes when she is supposed to take it. After the pain that I saw my baby in for those 33 hours I do not want to let her get behind in pain medication. I am very thankful that she is feeling much better after her surgery. There is nothing that tears at a mother's heart more than not being able to fix something that hurts our children. Your prayers for her complete and speedy recovery will be greatly appreciated!! I hope you will stick with me while I am taking care of my daughter and my grandson and check back. I'm sure I will need to take a creative break :D. Wishing you all a wonderfully blessed day!

Blessings!
Barb

The Other Thank You

2011-01-27T00:01:00.001-06:00

This is the other thank you card that I made for Coach Lisa. I used the Clear Scallop Square die to cut the card base. It's so easy to do. Just take a piece of card stock that measures 4.75" x 11" and score it in the center at 5.5". Fold in half along the score line and crease the fold with a bone folder. Place the folded card stock on the die, lining the folded edge up close to the top of the scallops. You'll want your card stock just a tiny bit below the scallops so that it doesn't cut all the way through your card base. There should be a hinge at the top of your card base after die cutting. You don't want two pieces after die cutting :-). I die cut one extra scallop square to layer over the top on the front of my card base.

After I had my card base assembled, I die cut a circle and embossed it in my Big Shot, stamped the sentiment, and added a die cut butterfly. This is also a quick card to make :-). Have a wonderful day today!!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Stamps: Sweetheart-120780 clear mount, 120415 wood mount

Paper: Cherry Cobbler-119685, Whisper White-100730

Dies: Clear Scallop Square-115950, Clear Circle-114533, Beautiful Wings-118138

Other: Elegant Lines embossing folder-119277, Stampin' Dimensionals-104430

Masculine Thank You

2011-01-25T22:39:00.000-06:00

Lately, it seems that it's all about fast and easy for me, as I've made a few projects that were just that. My project today is no exception :). I made cards for my daughter's skate coaches on Tuesday to thank them for being such great coaches. This is the card that I made for Coach Mark....

Sahara Sand is the card base, with a simple stamped image. I stamped Whisper White card stock with my image and then die cut it with the Clear Circle die. It's really nice to be able to see where your image will be before you die cut it :). Hope you are all having a GREAT day!!! Thanks for visiting!

Blessings!

Barb

If anyone would like the supply list, just leave a comment and I'll add it :).

Just Got Back...

2011-01-24T17:12:00.000-06:00

from Chicago, that is :D. My daughter had a Meet this weekend. It was a loooong weekend for us, so I'm taking a day to rest. She did very well at the Meet! Meets are a lot of fun, but they are exhausting too, especially the very long drives and especially 'one' day Meets. I think I like two day Meets better! Hope to add some posts this week! Have a great day everyone!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Valentine Medallion

2011-01-21T15:52:00.000-06:00

We got over a foot of snow a couple of days ago here. and, it was snowing earlier. We might get another 1-2" again today. I like snow, but within reason, lol! Our very nice neighbor was kind enough to plow our drive for us when we got the foot of snow. I shoveled a path to the hen house this morning and I'm pretty sore. The hen house is a little ways from the house so I have to shovel a long path. After I post this I'm going to jump into a hot shower and see if that helps ease the muscles :). In the meantime, here's a card made with the Medallion stamp.

I used a card sketch from the December 2010 Card Maps on Page Maps. I hope you are all staying warm as toast and that you don't have to shovel snow. Have a wonderful weekend!!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
My Digital Studio

Couple of Treat Ideas

2011-01-20T00:00:00.001-06:00

Here are the other two projects that we did in class on Monday evening. The first one was done with the Scallop Square die and the Circle die. The Circle die was embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. Both of the projects below are quick and easy to create, so if you need a bunch to give out, it won't take you long to get them done.

This was done with the new Candy Wrapper die from the Holiday mini 2010. It is still available for purchase too :-).

The inside holds some Valentine M&M's in a cello bag, tied with a silver twisty tie. The Candy Wrapper die is really the perfect size for treats. You can fit Hershey's Kisses or Nuggets or Gummy Bears or.... well, you get the point :-D. Have a great day!!! Did you get snow? We did!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Stamps: Filled with Love Bundle-124381

Paper: Cherry Cobbler-119685, Whisper White-100730, Pretty in Pink-100459, Love Patterns Designer Series Paper- 124156

Classic Stampin' Ink: Cherry Cobbler-119669

Punches: 1" Circle-119868, 1.25" Circle-119861, Full Heart-119883, Heart to Heart-119881, Scallop Trim Border-118870

Dies: Clear Scallop Square-115950, Clear Circle-114533, Candy Wrapper-

Treat Box Card

2011-01-19T15:06:00.001-06:00

My blogging friend Kim had posted some cool cards on her blog recently. They are so cool, I wanted to make one too :-). I chose to use a Valentine theme for my card. The card actually has a treat box that folds onto the card and the card has a little pocket to hold tags or gift cards. I know, cool, right? Here is the card with the tag tucked in.....

And here with the tag on the outside so you can see it better.....

Yes, that is chocolate in there!!!! Hershey's Nuggets fit perfectly- five of them to be exact :-). We made this in class on Monday evening, along with two other projects that I will be posting tomorrow. I'm at the rink, so I'm going to watch my daughter practice for a bit :-D. Have a great evening!!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Stamps: Sweetheart-120780, Filled with Love Bundle- 124381, Teeny Tiny Wishes-115370

Classic Stampin' Ink: Cherry Cobbler-119669, Old Olive-102277

Paper: Cherry Cobbler-119690, Whisper White-100730, Pretty in Pink-100459, Love Patterns Designer Series Paper-124381

Punches: Full Heart-119883, Heart to Heart 119881, Round Tab-119864, Modern Label-119849

Other: Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder-117335, Window Sheet-114323

Winter Layout

2011-01-12T16:18:00.000-06:00

I absolutely LOVE winter on the farm!! Our snow always stays white and pretty and the scenery is breathtaking. Whenever we get a good amount of snow, I try to get out and get photos. That's one of the things I love about photography- you have a visual image for as long as your photo lasts :).

The top photo on my page is a picture of my husband's favorite tree. He thinks it's the coolest tree on the whole farm...and we have a LOT of trees around here! The bottom photos are the same post, just from different angles. I really like the way posts look with snow on top of them :).

I wanted to thank everyone again who left such caring comments about the loss of our kitty Lucky. We are still adjusting to him being gone. I am so very thankful for the power of a camera. Our camera's preserve our most precious memories for us. It was really odd that day that Lucky was so cooperative with my camera. I remember thinking that at least I would have some great photos of him for when he got old and it was his time to go. I had no idea that day that his time would be just a few months later, but maybe he knew and that was why he was so cooperative. I plan to do some layouts of Lucky, but it's just soon yet for me.

I hope you are all having an amazing week so far! We have gotten more snow- as much as in my photos above, so this will be our second official snow of this winter :D.

Blessings!!!

Barb

Supplies:

My Digital Studio

Thank You and Belated New Year's

2011-01-07T09:57:00.000-06:00

It was really hard for me to go into my stamping room this week. I actually avoided going in there as much as possible. The reason? Lucky, our kitty who died unexpectedly on Sunday, always sat on top of my papers or on the very top of the cabinet in my stamping room whenever I was in there stamping. Every time I go in there I see Lucky sitting up on top of my paper rack on the wall, but now he isn't really there- just in my memories (tears). I miss him so much. We buried him in the back yard next to Patch the bunny. It's even hard to look over where he is buried and I avoid looking over there too. It will take a long while to not think about Lucky every time I stamp :'-(. I wanted to thank those of you who left comments about Lucky and for your prayers too. I appreciate it so much.

Now on to happier thoughts... I made a card that I was going to post on Monday, so even though it's late by 6 days, I wanted to wish you all a very happy and very blessed and very prosperous New Year!

I used a stamp from the Holiday Mini 2009 for my card, but the rest is current. Can you believe that this was the first time I actually used this New Year stamp?! I don't know why I didn't get around to using it last year, but I still like this stamp a lot :-). I embossed the stamped image with gold embossing powder and matted it on Basic Gray card stock. Whisper White card stock cut to 4" x 5.25" and then torn around the edges and embossed in the Northern Flurry embossing folder. I added some gold pearls to the snowflakes to bring out the gold in the stamped image. My card base is Basic Black. Wishing you all a wonderful day today, stay warm! It's cold here today!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Stamps: A Brand New Year (retired)

Ink: VersaMark- 102283

Paper: Whisper White- 100730, Basic Black- 121045, Basic Gray- 121044, gold metallic (non Stampin' Up!)

Dies: Northern Frost- 120901

Other: Northern Flurry Textured Impressions embossing folder- 120902, gold embossing powder- 109129

Valentine Card

2011-01-07T00:01:00.001-06:00

While waiting for my daughter at the rink, I've been working in My Digital Studio. I made a digital card with one of the new Designer Series Paper downloads. This digital paper matches the paper in the Occasions Mini Catalog. I used a card sketch too, but I can't remember where I found the card sketch!

I hope you are all having a wonderful day and that 2011 has started filled with blessings for you!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

My Digital Studio

Need a few days....

2011-01-02T21:39:00.000-06:00

I intended to post a photo of a card that I made last week. Yesterday was not a good day and today it was even worse. Our little kitty Lucky died last night. My daughter found him when he just a few days old abandoned by his mother. We raised him on a bottle. He was such a sweet kitty and so funny. He was such a character. When he was little he would steal stuff out of my friend Donna's purse when she visited us. Of course, he didn't just take things out of Donna's purse- it was any purse he could find. He did finally outgrow that. I took these photos of him just this summer. I'm glad I have such great photos of him. He actually allowed me to do a photo shoot of him. Normally, he wouldn't sit still long enough, but on this particular day, he didn't mind.

I cannot even express to you the depth of the grief we feel over the loss of our dear, sweet kitty. He was a part of our family in the truest sense of the word. He died peacefullly, but he was only three years old. He left a deep, deep imprint on our lives and in our hearts that will never leave. We will love him forever and miss him always.

Sweet Lucky Boy, thank you for letting us be your family and thank you for so many happy and wonderful memories. I hope that somehow you know how much we love you and how much we miss you now.

I may not post for a few days. I hope you understand.

Barb

:-(

2010-12-31T13:52:00.001-06:00

I have a project to post today, but I didn't have time to take a photo this morning because my hubby invited me out to eat with him :-). Now I am at the rink blogging from my new laptop while my daughter is doing public skate. We are here early today because the skate team is doing a performance at the end of the public session and then, she has regular practice. We will be here a total of six hours today- yeah for the laptop!!!! I will get a photo tonight or tomorrow morning and get it posted, so please check back :-). Talk to you soon!

Blessings!
Barb

The New Petal Cone Die

2010-12-30T13:36:00.000-06:00

Just a few more days and the brand new Occasions Mini for 2011 goes live- whoo hoo! Lots of cute stuff in it! (Drum roll please...) Introducing one of the new dies in the Occasions Mini- the brand new Petal Cone die- taaa daaa! Isn't it sweet? Can you imagine the possibilities with this?!!

I used Pirouette Pink to die cut my cone. The scalloped edge and the little banner in Very Vanilla that you see are part of the die- cool, huh? You can fold in the top flaps of the cone the same way you would fold in the flaps on the retired Petal Card die and the new Petal Card punch. If you add the scalloped edge though, you won't be able to fold the flaps inside the cone, but doesn't it look pretty on the outside :-) ?

This was the project that I started a couple of days ago and I just finished it. Instead of moving on to my next project, I grabbed my camera so I could post it for you :D.

I hope you are all rested up after the holiday season! I've been having a shoulder issue for the last two days, but I think I am rested up now :-). Wishing you all a wonderful day today!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Stamps: Filled with Love- 121154 (from the Holiday mini 2010- better grab it before January 3rd), Teeny Tiny Wishes-115370

Paper: Pink Pirouette-111351, Very Vanilla-101650, Daffodil Delight-119683, Certainly Celery-105125

Classic Stampin' Ink: Pink Pirouette-111838, Cherry Cobbler-119669

Punches: Oval Large-119855, Scallop Oval- 119856, Heart to Heart- 119881, Flower Trio (retired), 1/8" circle (not Stampin' Up!)

Dies: Petal Cone-121810

Other: Real Red 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon-109034

White Christmas

2010-12-28T18:52:00.000-06:00

Did I ever mention that I LOVE winter at our house when it snows? We were blessed to have a lovely white Christmas this year! The day after Christmas I went out with my camera to capture some of the beauty before it all melts away. The shot below is from our west pasture. The trees all over the farm were covered with beautiful white snow crystals, making it all look like a winter wonderland. You can get completely lost in the beauty of it all.

My hubby decided to take a vacation this week and he hardly ever takes a vacation. What a nice surprise for us- we get to spend lots of time with him! I did work on one little project yesterday, so just have to finish it up and I can post it ;-). I'm really working on it Kim, lol!

Hugs and Blessings!

Barb

Update

2010-12-27T10:52:00.001-06:00

OK, I didn't get to my stamp room yesterday- I was worn out from Christmas! I decided to just sit around and do nothing.. well, actually, I spent the day watching movies with my hubby and our daughter :-). Today, I have cleaning to do- I just didn't have it in me to do the cleaning from Christmas day yesterday (gasp!), so I have to do it today. Hopefully, I will get it done rather quickly and then I have to clean my stamp room. You do not want to see my stamp room, it looks like a tornado hit it! I will be posting this week though- I do deserve some days to just stamp after all the work of the holidays right? :-)

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!! See you soon!

Blessings!
Barb PS- I got a laptop from my hubby for Christmas and I had no idea that my blog looked so funky! It looks completely different on my desktop monitor- probably because it's square. Hopefully, I can fix that when I change to my winter layout :-)

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-21T22:29:00.001-06:00

I will be missing from my blog for a few days. My daughter and I are sick- again :-(. Apparently, we caught this from her coach- who is also sick- again. He was sick a couple of weeks ago and so were we. He thought he was over it and we thought we were over it. My daughter and I started off with scratchy throats last night and this morning- ick- sick! Another reason I will be missing from my blog is because I have soooooo much to do in the next three days. I don't even want to look at my to do list at this point, although mentally, that big list keeps playing over and over in my mind. Hopefully, I get it all done. I will be doing it whether I feel icky or not, so I hope I feel better tomorrow! In the meantime, I wanted to take a minute to thank all of you for visiting my blog this year. I have appreciated your visits so very much and all of your comments have made my day each time :-). I have also appreciated your patience when I have been so busy I haven't had time to see the walls of my stamping room, let alone keep my blog updated. So, for all of you, I am posting a Christmas card that I made just for my blog visitors. I wish each and every one of you the most blessed, joyous, and most memorable Christmas of all.

I will see you after Christmas!!! I plan to LOCK MYSELF in my stamping room the day after Christmas for the whole day, so I should have some stuff to post next week! Merry Christmas my friends!!!

Hugs and Blessings to you!

Barb

Candy Wrapper Die

2010-12-20T00:01:00.003-06:00

I finally got the Candy Wrapper die a couple of weeks ago and it's quickly become one of my favorite dies. I made a bunch of these for little hand outs during the Christmas Season. You can put chocolates in them or small gifts. I've been putting chocolate in mine :-).

To make these, I die cut the Candy Wrapper and embossed just down the center of my die cut so that the ends are not embossed. After embossing them, I added some gold ink with a sponge dauber to make the embossing stand out. The gold really brings out the red and makes them look so rich. I stamped a sentiment and punched it out with the Small Oval punch and added a gold snowflake on a dimensional from the Northern Frost strip die. Tied the ends with gold cord and done!! Easy peasy...and fast! Thanks for stopping by today. I know everyone is busy- Christmas is almost here!!!! Have a wonderful day today!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes-115370

Card Stock: Cherry Cobbler-119685, Very Vanilla-101650

Ink: gold

Dies: Candy Wrapper-120890, Northern Frost-120901

Punches: Small Oval-119855

Jolly Holiday!

2010-12-17T09:08:00.000-06:00

Good Morning everyone! Yesterday I made some little mini scrapbooks from the Jolly Holiday Designer Series Paper. I LOVE the Jolly Holiday paper :D. I used the Scallop Square die to make the covers and the pages. I normally use acid/lignin free matboard for my covers. The matboard makes nice sturdy covers, but it's also archival quality. It's really easy to die cut the Designer Series Paper for the covers with the same die- no sanding, no fussing, a perfect fit :-).

The first page as you open the book...

I alternated the inside journaling/photo pages with Old Olive journaling lines/Cherry Cobbler photo mat....

With Cherry Cobbler journaling lines/Old Olive photo mat. I stamped the little deer from the Winter Post stamp set (LOVE that set!!!) with Early Espresso ink on each journaling page.

To finish off the book, I tied two little jingle bells with gold crochet thread to one of the binding wires.These don't take long to make and they are great little brag books to haul around with you or make several with different themes and keep them in a basket on your coffee table. These are a good size for sharing your favorite photos with family and friends without taking up too much space. I hope you all had a wonderful week and that your Christmas To-Do lists are very small :D. Mine is still pretty big, but I'm checking stuff off my list one by one! Have a blessed day today!!!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Winter Post-111780, Delightful Decorations-116517, Sentiments- from retired sets
Card Stock/Paper: Very Vanilla-101650, Cherry Cobbler119685, Old Olive-100702, More Mustard-100946, Jolly Holiday Designer Series Paper- 117159
Classic Stampin' Ink: Early Espresso-119670, Old Olive-102277, Cajun Craze-119671, Cherry Cobbler-119669
Stampin' Write Markers: Old Olive-100079, Real Red-100052
Dies: Scallop Square Bigz Clear-115950
Punches: Modern Label-119849, Word Window-119857, 5-Petal Flower-119880, Ornament-119847
Other: Iridescent Ice embossing powder-101930, VersaMark pad-102283, Bind-it-all

Another Packaging Idea

2010-12-16T02:01:00.000-06:00

I know other blogs are moving on to Valentine's Day, but I just can't quite bring myself to do Valentine's Day yet. Christmas isn't over yet :-). So, on that note, I just wanted to share another last minute packaging idea with you. I bake cookies like crazy in December and we always give them out to friends, well, of course, we keep some for us too ;-). My good friend Donna gave me the most awesome sugar cookie recipe last year when she came to visit and we baked Christmas cookies together. I am not kidding about the cookies. They are the lightest, tastiest sugar cookies ever! I usually put them in little tins that I purchase at the store for giving away. This year though, I thought they would look really cute in the Fancy Favor boxes.

Just add a little handle and you have a cute little box/basket! You can include a tag on the side for the recipient's name- great for personalizations! Have you gotten snow yet? I know some parts of the country have already gotten snow. Waving "hi" to Carol who has gotten snow already where she lives :D. Hope you are all staying warm and toasty!!!! Have a wonderful day today!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Card Stock: Marina Mist-119682, Cherry Cobbler-119685, Very Vanilla-101650, So Saffron-105118

Classic Stampin' Ink: Marina Mist-119668

Punches: Extra Large Oval-119859, Word Window-119857, Scallop Trim border-118402

Dies: Stars #2- 113461, Lots of Tags-114508, Fancy Favor- 115965, Northern Frost-120901

York Peppermint Patty Treats

2010-12-15T02:01:00.000-06:00

I think there were many of us papercrafters who were really disappointed when The Hershey Company changed the packaging for York Peppermint Patties. We had this lovely little round peppermint patty covered in a 'fitted' foil wrapper that could be covered with a stamped Scalloped Circle punch for any holiday. I know that there is another company who is sticking with the fitted foil wrapper, but in my opinion, they just don't taste as good as a York (sorry other company) :D. Scallop Envelope die to the rescue!!!! I die cut two Scallop Envelopes in Pink Pirouette and trimmed the very bottom flap of the envelope so that the flap was 1/2" long. Punch a shape out of the top of the envelope for a little handle and glue the sides and the bottoms- viola! It holds two York Peppermint Patties in their 'new' packaging perfectly!

I'll be making these for my daughter to give out to her team mates this year. So glad they don't read my blog :D. Have a great day!!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Card Stock: Pink Pirouette-111351, Very Vanilla-101650

Classic Stampin' Ink: Real Red-103133

Punches: Word Window-119857

Dies: Northern Frost-120901

Other: gold brad-104337

Place Setting Card

2010-12-14T02:01:00.000-06:00

This one is kind of a re-run. Recently, I posted some place setting cards that I made for my Christmas table. There were two- one with a poinsettia and one with a snowflake. The snowflake one was done in Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, and Very Vanilla. JoAnne's was having a Wilton baking supplies sale last week and I found these cute snowman paper plates with matching napkins. Since our children spend the night on Christmas Eve each year, we always have snacking food out- beef summer sausauge, cheese slices, crackers, veggie trays, punch, home made cookies and candy, etc. To go with the cute paper plates I found, I just changed the color of the name holder on the card :D. Instead of using Bashful Blue, I used Cherry Cobbler instead.

Cherry Cobbler and Marina Mist are an amazing little match for these snowman paper plates. I got the paper plates and napkins for 60% off! :D Aren't they cute?

Have a wonderful day today! I hope you are staying warm and dry!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Card Stock: Very Vanilla-101650, Whisper White-100730, Cherry Cobbler-119685, Marina Mist-119682

Punches: Modern Label-119849, Word Window-119857

Dies: Northern Frost decorative strip-120901, Table Setting-116819

Christmas Table Setting

2010-12-13T02:01:00.000-06:00

Remember last week I showed you the place cards that I made for my Christmas table? I made some napkin rings to go with them :-).

I used the Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder to emboss the napkin ring from the Table Setting die, both, exclusive to Stampin' Up! The place card is made from the Table Setting die also.

To make the poinsettia that I used on my napkin rings, I punched two flowers out from the 5 Petal Flower punch- one in Old Olive and one in Cherry Cobbler. I inked the edges of the leaves with Garden Green ink. I punched the center of the poinsettia out from More Mustard with one of the flowers from the Boho Blossoms punch and stamped the center with the same center stamp I used on my place card. The edges and the center are inked/stamped with Cajun Craze. I will be using red napkins on my dinner table on Christmas, but white was what I grabbed for the photos :D. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!! Have a wonderful day today!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Card Stock: More Mustard-100946, Cherry Cobbler-119685, Old Olive-100702, Very Vanilla-101650, Whisper White-100730, Garden Green- 102584

Classic Stampin' Ink: Cherry Cobbler-119669, Cajun Craze-119671, Garden Green-102272, More Mustard-103162

Punches: 5 Petal Flower- 119880, Modern Label- 119849, Word Window- 119857

Dies: Table Setting- 116819

Candle with Die Cuts

2010-12-10T02:01:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, I showed you a stamped image candle. Today, I wanted to show you that you can do the same method of melting images into a candle with die cuts too. I die cut several different sizes of snowflakes from the Northern Frost strip die in the 2010 Holiday mini. The snowflakes on this strip die are GORGEOUS!!!!

To apply the die cuts, you would place your die cuts where you want them to be on the candle and wrap the candle tightly with waxed paper, making sure the waxed paper is smooth. Using your heat tool, quickly and evenly heat the die cut and around its edges. This takes just seconds so be careful not to burn a hole into your candle. Pull the waxed paper gently away from the candle. You will be able to tell if the die cut melted into the candle all the way. If it didn't, just re-place the waxed paper and heat again. After the die cuts are set into the candle, add some stick on rhinestones.

Die cuts on candles are so pretty! I use my candles just for decorating purposes. I wouldn't recommend burning these and if they were lit, I wouldn't burn it past the start of the die cuts or the rhinestones. Once again, the Scallop Circle die makes pretty little candle coasters for displaying the candle :D. Have a holly jolly day today!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Dies: Northern Frost strip- 120901, Scallop Circle- 113468

Dasher Stamped Candle

2010-12-09T11:08:00.000-06:00

I'm feeling better today- so far :-), so I got some photos this morning. I've been working on things for my daughter's skate team Christmas Show raffle. The raffle helps to raise money for the team. I'm showing this kind of backwards today :D. I sewed a bag for the candle on my serger using sparkle tulle that comes on a roll. I topped it with a tag, a poinsettia flower, and tied it with gold crochet thread. The flower is punched from the 5 Petal Flower punch and the petals are curled under slightly with a chop stick. I added a star shaped gold brad to the center and an Old Olive holly leaves die cut (holly leaves not Stampin' Up!).

I LOVE the Dasher stamp!! He is the most elegant reindeer stamp I think I've ever seen. I stamped him on white tissue paper with Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Ink and cut him out close to the image. I placed him on the candle where I wanted him to be and covered him with a sheet of waxed paper. Holding the waxed paper tight and smooth over the image on the candle, I used my heat tool to melt the image and tissue paper into the candle. This takes literally seconds, so if you try this be careful that you don't melt a hole into your candle. Be sure to keep the heat tool moving quickly over the image.

I finished him off by stamping my sentiment on another piece of tissue paper and repeating the process outlined above. I also added some red stick on rhinestones to his antlers. The gold base that my candle is standing on was made with mat board, gold metallic card stock, the Scalloped Circle die, and my Big Shot. These make quick and inexpensive, but lovely gifts, for just about anyone on your shopping list. My tall pillar candles cost about $3.00 each, but if you were to buy a candle with an image on it in the store, you would pay about $10.00 - $12.00 each. Have a wonderful day today!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Stamps: Dasher- 116816, Many Merry Messages- 116586

Classic Stampin' Ink: Cherry Cobbler- 119669

Punches: Extra Large Tag- 119866, 5 Petal Flower- 119880

Dies: Scallop Circle- 113468

Peace, Love, & Joy

2010-12-08T13:09:00.000-06:00

Another Christmas card done in My Digital Studio :-). I've been sick for two days- so didn't have time to get photos yet :-(. Should be able to by tomorrow, as long as I don't get to feeling bad again. So far, I'm feeling not so bad, but not so good. Even though this card was done in My Digital Studio, Stampin' Up! has these papers and other embellishments in 'real' stuff, so it can be made for real :-D.

Hopefully, I will be able to hold out the rest of the day without having to go back to bed. I hope everyone is having a really great day today!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

My Digital Studio

Another Digital Card

2010-12-07T02:01:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I found more than one card sketch from the December Card Maps by Page Maps that I LOVED :-D. Don't you love this sketch?!!! To make the top part of the card in My Digital Studio, I simply added two circle punches, made them bigger, set them side by side, and filled them with Deck the Halls Designer Series Digital Paper. I used the Cherry Cobbler digital Seam Binding Ribbon as my ribbon choice. Easy Peasy and took about two minutes. Now I have to make it from the real paper :-D.

Have a wonderful day today!!!!! Oh by the way, I did get my husband's business Christmas cards done in ONE night- used a really simple design, got them addressed and mailed the next day. Scratching stuff off the Christmas to-do list is awesome :-D.

Blessings!!

Barb

Supplies:

My Digital Studio software

My Digital Studio digital downloads

Deck the Halls

2010-12-06T02:01:00.000-06:00

The Deck the Halls Designer Series Paper is so rich- ya' gotta love it! My card below is made in My Digital Studio using the very same DIGITAL paper :-D. Cool, huh? That's one of the things that I LOVE about My Digital Studio- I get to keep these wonderful DSP's 4ever :). Another great feature of My Digital Studio is that I can design my cards before I ever cut into my DSP.

I used a December Card Map from Page Maps to make this card. I love this sketch! I also shrunk the Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon (another digital download) to fit the card sketch better. You can't do that with the real ribbon :D !!! My good friend Donna just purchased My Digital Studio- see what ya' have to look forward to Donna? You are gonna have a LOT of fun!! ;-D

I'm looking forward to doing some digital scrapping with my Christmas photos this year in My Digital Studio using this DSP. Can't wait!!! Have a wonderful day today!!!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

My Digital Studio software

My Digital Studio downloads

Pretty Eggs

2010-12-04T03:11:00.000-06:00

I do have some posts scheduled already for next week. I'm really working on getting back to blogging :). I don't usually post on the weekends so I can spend that time creating, well, I used to spend that time creating until my daughter started competitive skating :D, but I wanted to show you my cool eggs, lol! We have some chickens that lay colored eggs. The shells right now are pink and a really pretty shade of green. There's a regular brown egg in my photo just for the sake of comparison. The green egg looks kind of gray in the photo, but it really is the prettiest shade of green in person. It's kind of fun gathering the eggs everyday now :D.

Have a wonderful, wonderful weekend everyone and I will see you on Monday!!

Blessings!

Barb

Place Setting Cards

2010-12-03T02:01:00.000-06:00

I got the Table Setting die when it was on sale during the Online Spectacular. Sooooo glad I got it!!! I made some little place setting cards quick, quick, quick! I die cut the cards, punched some Whisper White with the Word Window punch, used the Modern Label to punch out Garden Green, matted the Word Window, stamped the poinsettia on Very Vanilla, cut it out and popped it on there with a dimensional. Doesn't get much easier than that!!

I also made some with a snowflake from the Northern Frost die, using Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, and Very Vanilla.

And here they are together. These are going to look great on my Christmas table this year! My Christmas dishes have poinsettia's on them and I decorate the dining room with poinsettia's- so these will match perfectly.

It takes just a few minutes- literally- to make a complete set of these place cards. I'm going to work on the napkin rings soon :-D. Have a wonderful weekend and stay warm!!!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies: Please see the post above :-)

Tissue Box Cover

2010-12-02T13:44:00.000-06:00

I finally got some time to take some photos and wouldn't you know it- my photos came out all grainy! I checked my camera settings after I was done uploading them to my computer and realized that I never changed my camera settings from taking photos of the moon at twilight last week. DUH!!!! I have to take them all again, but I am posting the ones that didn't come out too awful :-).

This is a tissue box cover that I made with an elf I had laying around. I actually have several of these guys laying around because I made a bunch of them last year. The elves are made with the ornament punch (head) and the Build a Bear Workshop dies. They are such little cuties!

This is the top where the tissues come out :-D.

Sorry to not be chatty today, but I am in the middle of decorating the house for Christmas. I MADE some time today to get photos because I feel so badly about neglecting my blog. I really have too much on my plate I think :-D. I will get more photos and I should be able to update my blog for a few days worth of projects. I've been making things here and there as time allows. I think I need a time management course, lol! Hope everyone is happy and doing well! Thanks so much for visiting!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Real Red, Garden Green

Classic Stampin' Ink: Bravo Burgundy, Garden Green, Creamy Caramel (retired)

Other: White gel pen, gold crochet thread

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T07:34:00.000-06:00

Before I get going on all the preparations I have to do today for our family dinner, I wanted to jump on here real quick to wish everyone a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving!!! I also want to express my gratitude and thanks to all of our military members- and to my son in law, John, who serves in the armed forces and to my daughter's dear friend Michael- thank you for protecting our freedoms and our nation. John is back in the U.S. after serving in Iraq and Michael is currently deployed. Love and deep appreciation to you both!

Enjoy your day today everyone!!!

Blessings!

Barb

New My Digital Studio Downloads

2010-11-17T12:08:00.000-06:00

Since time is scare around my house, I was so happy to see some new digital downloads this morning for My Digital Studio! I made a quick card with my new additions :D.

I hope this card shows up against the background of my blog. I used Very Vanilla for the snow and a paper from the new Jolly Holiday Designer Series Paper download. I also used some images from the new Holly and Jolly Embellishments. I did this card in less than one minute- how is that for fast?! :D

I have some projects that I need to photograph and as soon as I get that done I will be posting to my blog. Sigh- I really miss posting here and I really miss working in my stamping room. Have a great day everyone and thanks for stopping by!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

My Digital Studio- 118108

Holly Jolly Embellisments download-123954

Jolly Holiday Designer Series Paper download-123953

Christmas Cheer Scrapbook Page

2010-11-04T12:16:00.000-05:00

All right, I'm trying to be a good little blogger by actually getting something posted :D. There are new digital downloads available for My Digital Studio and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Christmas Cheer kit!! I've used the Simply Scrappin' Christmas Cheer kit in real life and I LOVE the Designer Series Papers and the colors used in this kit. I was so happy to see it available as a digital download! Now, I never have to worry about running out of the papers that I love so much :). I love the papers so much that I couldn't wait to play with them in My Digital Studio, so I used one of the November 2010 Page Maps sketches to create a digital scrapbook page this morning :). I am so behind on scrapping Christmas photos it isn't even funny! I think I'm just going to start scrapping them in My Digital Studio and then have books printed out for us and a copy for each of our children. We have four girls and two boys so it will be so much easier to just scrap one book and make copies, lol! Ya' gotta love the digital age :D.

I started work yesterday on the projects for my stampers to do at our next stampin' night, so you probably won't see that stuff for a while ;-). My scrap room is a tea total wreck from all the sewing I did in there getting ready for my daughter's Meet, so I have to get it straightened up today so I can really get down to work. I had to take time out to play with the new Christmas Cheer digital kit first though ;-). I know you understand, lol!!! Hopefully, I can get my mess cleaned up pretty quickly today so I have some time to do some creating this afternoon. My daughter and I are having 'girl's night out' with a friend of ours this evening, so it will be late before we get back! Have a great day today!!!

Blessings!

Barb

Supplies:

My Digital Studio software- 118108

Christmas Cheer digital kit-123956