Trendy Cupcake

Hey girls! It's Wednesday and time for another Pink Papery Studios Challenge. Our challenge this week comes from Shelly and is the “Mix It Up!” challenge. She wants us to use up the scraps that we all have! We were to create a card using at least 2 OR MORE decorative paper scraps!

Now, I'm not a long-term scrap saver. I may save it for a week or so, and if I use it then great, but if I don't use it then it'll go in the trash. I knew this challenge was coming up so started making a conscious effort to save scraps. Even then, I barely had any in the pile. Some scraps from the Basic Grey Figgy Pudding pack and a little bit of some paper that said Merry Christmas. I decided to use the BG and see if I could make it look like a birthday card. I am a girly-girl but have many friends that are not into the frilly like I tend to be. I think of them as hip and trendy and think this card would be perfect for one of them! The sketch is from Challenge 209 over at SCS and with some tweaking I think I'll use it again.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! It's nice to have you visit. Be sure to visit all the rest of the team (links over there to the right) and see their creations - some gorgeous stuff!! Also be sure to stop by the blog all this month. Amy, the owner of Pink Papery Studios celebrated her birthday yesterday and has a month long party planned. Can't wait to see all the fun stuff!!

Have a beautiful day!!

A Fresh Take on Scraps

Hi girls!! It's Tuesday and that means it's time for another Twinkling Tuesday Sketch by Madelynn. I was able to stamp with my good girlfriend on Saturday (Hey Girlfriend!) and had lots of little snips left over from the ATC's I made. I decided to put them to use and used them in my card for this week's sketch.

I still love the Fresh Cuts set and I hadn't used it in a long time. I used Cameo Coral with touches of Old Olive and little Banana to accent. Can you tell from my photo that I used a standard sized card but have it opening from the short side? A little different, but nice I think. I used 2 different cuttlebug folders on this card and popped up the main image panel as well as the whole panel on the chocolate chip base.

Be sure to stop by the rest of the Twinkle Team and see what they came up with using Madelynn's sketch. Bonnie at The Lucky Clucker is our featured Twinklette this week so be sure to visit her. The rest of the links are in my sidebar.

Also, we'd love for you to play along with us. Please use keyword MTTSC3 when uploading and then be sure to leave a comment on Jessica's blog so we can all stop by and take a look. I hear there is Blog Candy involved this week so be sure to give this one a try!
Have a beautiful day!! I'll see you tomorrow for another Pink Papery Studio challenge too! It also involves scraps!!

Welcome Chick

Hi girls!! (I hope that doesn't bother any of you - I'm a southern girl and it's a term I use for all the women in my life and I mean it most affectionately. I guess it's kinda like "ya'll" where I'm from).

Anyway, it's Wednesday and time for another Pink Papery Studios DT challenge. This week I laid out the challenge to create a SIMPLE card. Or to take the week off. Either one. I'm always looking for an excuse to stamp so I made this little tag. I had hoped to have it done and "scheduled" a week ago but that never happened. I brought some items with me to my in-laws and in the bag were all the new PPS stamp sets I just got. I was drawn to this set as it is seems very "folk art" to me and I don't have many stamps like this in my collection. There is a bird house and another bird in it so it's very versatile.

Simple to me means QUICK. And one of the quickest, simplest ways I can think of to add color to a project is a watercolor wash. As I was looking at the items I brought, I was thought of my MIL who has created one of the most welcoming homes I've ever been in. She always has tons of little touches for her guests (like a Christmas tree in my BIL and SIL room that has her baby booties and a picture of my BIL as a baby and baby washcloths for them). I could totally see her leaving out some towels in the bathroom with this little tag on top to let her guest know how happy she is to have them. The bathroom is done in this gorgeous warm tones of gold and amber and that inspired my color combination. I created a little tag from some watercolor paper and just used my markers to scribble on one of my acrylic blocks. Then using my blender pen (b/c I forgot my waterbrush) I created a row of color using: More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust and Chocolate Chip. Once it dried, I overstamped it with my chicken and added the welcome sentiment. Tying a quick little bow finishes it off nicely. This didn't take very long but is really cute!!

Hope you are having wonderful times with your family and loved ones. All my best wishes to you and yours!!

A Criss-Crossed Love

It's Tuesday and my first official post as part of Madelynn's Twinkle Team! The sketch this week was a doozy. I did pack a small bag of stamping supplies to bring to my in-laws of some very basic and loved items. I think the Tres Chic background is very versatile and can go with just about anything. It's also a great way to add texture when stamping with the same color.

I apologize for the poor picture quality. It has been grey and c-o-l-d here since we arrived and there is no Photoshop here for editing purposes. I did use a free online service - Foto Flexer - and managed to make the photo look better than it originally did. I know that's not saying much since the lighting is still so poor. It's really pretty in real life. The base is chocolate chip stamped in chocolate chip. I used Mellow Moss ribbon for my crisscross section and some green cs that I ran through my cuttlebug and my scallop punch for the middle bit. I think it might be Old Olive? I wish you could see the heart in real life - it's SOOOO PRETTY!! I was originally going to have lots of colors on the heart and used my markers to achieve that. Once I stamped it I wasn't too happy with it so I cleaned my stamp and just inked it up with pink. The second stamping came out so cool as it is pink and brown all variegated together. I'm not sure if it's because my stamp wasn't clean enough or if some brown ink contaminated my pink marker but I love the look. I really think it's the marker and I'll buy a new pink one and keep this "ruined" one for the effect.

The original sketch has the sentiment on the left but I switched mine to the right as the word "love" was perfectly positioned. I wanted it to stand out more so I went over it with my white gel pen and added the other 2 words. By incorporating the scallops, ribbon and a sentiment with 3 words or more I can also count this card as one of the Holiday Challenges over at SCS.

Thanks so much for looking! Be sure to check out the rest of the Twinkling Team to see their take on this week's sketch! The links can all be found in my sidebar!!! I promise to take new pictures when I get home so you can see the pretty heart!! Thanks for stopping by!

Have a beautiful day!!

Love to You & Yours

Just a quick post today! We are leaving for my in-laws today; I can't wait to see them. My husband's brother and his wife will be there as well as the rest of the family. We haven't seen them in sooo long. They are expecting their first baby in February and I am pumped about seeing my SIL's preggo belly. I'll have online access at my in-laws but sometimes it's a pain to try to blurf as they block all cookies and it just takes forever it seems. So I just want to say to my SBS gals - have a wonderful week and I'll be catching up with each of you about this time next week. I'm sorry I haven't even been by *this* week yet but I know you are each busy just like me. Actually, this applies for all of you that I visit every day. I hope to be able to check in while I'm away but if I don't, I'll see you soon! And now for a little something:

I had been saving this to share as it was for a swap and then by the time they were swapped and received, I had forgotten about it. We had to use scallops somewhere on our ATC and I chose this funky lime green lace! The flower is totally glittered and really stands out! About a year ago I started attending the local stamp club again and instead of cards, they were making ATC's. It has been such a great year with lots of familiar faces and even more new ones. The neatest gals are in the club and I have so enjoyed getting to know them. I remember last year thinking I would hate ATC's and never be any good at them because they were so small. I was going to do it for the fellowship with other stampers but I have grown to love making them. Are any of you ATC creators too? How do you store yours? Mine are in a ziploc bag for a month and the little man loves to look at them every day. And every day it's like he's seeing it for the first time. Cracks me up. Then they go in a basket when I get the new bunch in.

Merry Christmas. May it be a beautiful, peaceful one for you.

I Can't Stop Smiling

I wanted to share with you one of the cards I made with my sister and some other friends a few weeks ago. I picked up the peach element in the dollar section at JoAnn's back in October. It is completely covered in glitter. I know it looks shiny and smooth in the photo, but it's just raw, chunky, sparkly glitter. I was looking at the peace (pun intended) I thought about one of my favorite card artists and how she had been layering buttons on her cards. I wanted to achieve the same thing and have a card with some pretty stuff on it but nothing that would detract from the message.

Peace is what I hope you find in the coming days as Christmas quickly approaches. Peace is what I hope you find in the new year and all throughout 2009.

Thank you so much for stopping by and visiting my blog. Your visits and your sweet comments make my day!

And finally, I wanted to share with you why I have been grinning and floating for the past 2 days. First, a major goal of mine was realized this week. I had a card picked up for publication - this has just rocked my world!!! I am so excited and honestly, still in shock....I didn't expect to be able to say that I had met this goal this year. Granted it won't be out for months and months but still - I got the acceptance this year! Anyway, I knew you would understand my joy.

Another reason I'm floating this week is because I have been honored to be included as part of the Twinkle Team (more info here). I am so excited to be a part of this. In case you aren't familiar with this brand new sketch challenge, here's some info. Jessica, The Whimsical Butterfly is a fellow DT member for Pink Papery Studios. I have really enjoyed getting to know her over the last month. Her daughter sits near her and doodles and sketches while Jessica stamps (how cool is that?). Earlier this week, she created a card sketch for her mom to use; the sketch's will continue every Tuesday. I'm so excited about this because I love kids being interested in any artistic endeavor, be in drawing, painting, sculpting, whatever. My grandma was very talented and her home was filled with paintings that she did. I was always in awe of her ability. Now, I can't really draw much beyond a doodle and I grew up thinking that I wasn't any good at art and didn't have any creativity. My only claim to fame was my excellent penmanship (which completely got destroyed in college - why couldn't they have had laptops back then). It wasn't until I was a newlywed that I discovered stamping and it was like all this creativity just gushed out of me, as if a dam had been broken. I am so thankful to have the skills and talent that God has given me, thankful for the resources that I've been blessed with to continue to develop them, thankful for the friendships that have blessed my life as a result of stamping. There are times when I wish that I had known as a child that I had an artist inside me, that she had been freed years ago. And that's why I love it when kids get excited about creating - anything - stuff - whatever it is.

Anyway, this has gotten to be incredibly long and if you've stuck with me this long, then thank you. And know that you bless me everyday - and I hope to do the same for you!

Have a beautiful day!!

You Never Know

I have lost data in the past and it s.t.i.n.k.s.
And creates a s.i.c.k. feeling in your stomach.
I hope that you never have to experience this.
I hope and wish and pray that I never do again.

There is a new? - at least new to me website that will back up your blog and there is a free option. It's call BLOGGLED and you should go check it out. It's taken me about 5 mins to get my blog backed up.

Have a beautiful day!

Favorite.Card.Ever

This is the card I mentioned in my last post. I met Jessica through the PPS DT and have been a fan ever since! Her daughter loves to sketch and doodle as she stamps at night and created a card sketch! So every week will now have "Madelynn's Terrific Tuesdays" as a part of it. I was thrilled to be able to play along this week. I've had this stamp for years but haven't used her in a long time. She was near the top of the box, quietly pleading to get out and see some ink. I paired her with this week's color challenge from SCS. I'm not a fan of Kiwi Kiss, but I can take it in small doses.

As I was coloring her I realized that she made me think of Project Runway and the fashion sketches they do. I used the houndstooth embossing folder for texture. The kiwi ribbon is actually some "vintage" seam binding I picked up at an estate sale. I used grey ink to stamp the background and the words on my flowers. I like to think this looks like a page in a fashion designers notebook as they work on their new collection. I love the collage nature of this card, a look I love but don't achieve very often!

This is one of my favorite parts of this card:

I just took some ribbon snippets to simulate fabric swatches. I ran them through my houndstooth folder too but you can't really see the embossing in the photo - or in real life for that matter. Perhaps I need more pressure when embossing ribbon? Or maybe because it is not a grosgrain it won't hold?

The inside reads "You're Fabulous". And you, each of YOU ARE FABULOUS!! Let me know what you think and have a terrific night!

Glistening Pink Snow

I just want to say thank you so much to each of you who have lifted me up this past week with your visit and your sweet comments. Last week was a rough one for me - nothing major or chaotic - just some low spirits and your friendship seriously made me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy. I also LOVE IT that you love the bow. Wish I could take credit for it - but I bought it that way. In Walmart. They also have it in a Gorgeous Burgundy color.

Now if you've been here before, you know that my sister fell in love with a purple tree. A few years ago I saw a really pretty pink feather tree and promptly added it to my wish list. It's still there. But I love the color pink and I love how Christmas can be represented in so many non-traditional colors these days. And in a magical world, snowflakes might fall in bright pink and green!

Jami challenged the Pink Papery Studios DT this week to create our own decorative paper using stamps. I used the snowflake from the Catch a Falling Snowflake set. I even stamped and embossed some with this pink glitter embossing powder I have from Judikins. They have the prettiest colors of embossing powders! I had to take a photo to show you since most of it is getting covered up. Can you see the sparkle? Very cool IMO!! (Look close, you'll see a sneak of another card I have to show you too - probably one of my all-time favorites!) ((And yes, I know I say that a lot, but that's what happens when we keep creating right, we love the next project and then the next.))

I also used the tree image from the Simply Christmas set. The Between Us Girls line is one of my favorites!! I have the digital version of this stamp set so it took me awhile to finagle this card. I used the lasso tool in PS to just capture my tree and then pasted so that I had 2 side by side. I printed out a 3rd tree separately. I also wanted to paper piece my trees - you can see a tutorial on digi paper piecing here.I finished it off with even more falling snow on my main panel, a snippet of ribbon and sparkly gems in the corners. I almost left off the ribbon and the gems. Do you think it's too much?

Have a beautiful day!! And stop by the other girls blogs - their cards are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

p.s. hubby just called to tell me I have to leave NOW to meet the family for dinner (yea, with a baby napping and all that goes to get them out the door....please commiserate with me!) So I'll work on editing my other card later and get it posted.

Goodies Galore!

Suzy over at The Paper Monkey is having a wonderful giveaway in the spirit of Christmas. Seriously. It's a sweet treat for one lucky girl. Hoping it's me. But I'll be excited for you if win!!. Check out the details HERE.

Pumpkin Thanks

I know everyone is posting holiday cards around blogland but I wanted to share this one. It's one of my most favorite cards ever!! I created it to submit for publication and alas, it didn't get picked up. :( I found the ribbon first, already made into this scrumptious bow and snapped it up right away. One thing you can't see in the photo is the base has been embossed with the textile CB folder.

Have a wonderful Saturday. I convinced hubby he should take the little one with him to the gun show so I could get ready in peace this morning. I'm off to finish that up before I head out for the day.

Hi girls!! I hope you are having a wonderful day!! It's Friday and tomorrow I have my last 2 jewelry parties of the season!! I'm looking forward to them....but also looking forward to being done with work for awhile, KWIM?

My local stamp club was supposed to meet on Tuesday for our Christmas party but it was cancelled. Apparently the roads were slippery. As a result, I was totally depressed the rest of the night and into Wednesday. We were to make christmas themed ATC's this month and here is my creation. I searched for vintage sheet music and vintage santa images on Google Images. After trimming and adhering to my card base, I did the Cracked Glass technique. When I pulled them out of the freezer, almost all of them had those little bitty holes on them. They were perfectly smooth when I put them in. Not sure what happened --- maybe my EP is too old???

I wanted to do a transfer technique for my Santa image but decided that it would take too long to do 16 of them. So I was so happy when he became transparent during my heating and embossing process. I'm calling it "faux transfer".

Just a little snip of paper, lace and some vintage buttons to finish him off. For the gingham ribbon, it was originally brown and white which was too stark , so I just used a light brown copic marker to tint it. Perfect!!

Card Scents Up for Grabs

Amy, owner of Pink Papery Studios has some wonderful blog candy over on her blog. You can go here to enter!

She is giving away some Card Scents and some Shimmer It! I love my card scents and they are so easy to use. It just adds another layer to your card - sight, texture and now scent!

PLUS - The Fall and Winter card scents are on sale! I have Icicles and Christmas Lane and Christmas in the Country. They are all wonderful!! I also have a list here of 4 more that I'm going to pick up (I'm just waiting for Friday and the release of the new Shimmer It) . If you order 3 then you get a 4th one free. Order 4 card scents and get a 5th one free plus the new Believe Shimmer It.
You can view the Card Scents that are on sale HERE and HERE.

First Snowfall

Hello girls!! Can you believe it's Wednesday already? I have my tag for today's Pink Papery Studios challenge. Janna challenged the DT to create a tag using the colors blue, purple, silver and white. I loved the color combo she suggested the minute I read it and was so excited to play. I used the Catch A Falling Snowflake set from the Trafalgarssquare line over at Pink Papery Studios. The more I use this sweet little girl, the more I fall in love with her!! I just love how she is so excited about the snow and trying to catch it in her coat!! I hope you can see some of the sparkle and shimmer in the photos. I am so desperately hoping that I get the light tent I put on my Christmas list. It seems like what works one day won't work for the next 3 around here.

Here's how I created her:

1. Stamped girl using StazOn Timber Brown on my tag (which is really a playing card blank I picked up at a local teacher supply store)

2. Cut out a mask for her and created a simple color wash for my sky using Bashful Blue (SU!) and my waterbrush. I even added a touch of purple to show how COLD it is! I can just imagine her not wanting to come in even though her mommy says it's getting late and cold. Oh to be a kid again and not feel the cold!

3. Stamped the snowflake using Colorbox Silver. When using a stamp like this multiple times, I always make sure to twist and turn my block as I stamp; this ensures that my snowflakes don't all look the same. I then used my Clear Shimmer It and went over the sky again to give it a subtle sparkle, just like itty bitty snowflakes falling down. Added some pearls to the centers.

4. I knew I had some stuff to use for snow so I went digging in my stash and found these cool little flakes from Perfect fX; just some Tombow glue to adhere them I don't know where to get them these days or if you even can as I've had them for YEARS!! But I know that there are other products out there very similar. In the same drawer I found my Perfect Pearls paints which I haven't used in a long time either. I decided to use those for her coat but had to create my own color as the purple I had was, well...let's just say VIVID!! I toned it down with what I thought was lavender but was really blue. Turned out perfect!!

5. I decided that I wanted a few flakes falling in the sky too so placed some random tombow dots and shook on some more Perfect fX. Should've thought about the paint not being quite dry as there is quite a bit on her little coat too. Now she looks like she's playing in a blizzard instead of a peaceful snow. Oh well. I still love this tag.

6. Finished it off with some ribbon, a snowflake button and a little sentiment tag.

Spelling it all out like that makes it seem like this took a lot of time, but it really didn't. I'm so glad you stopped by! Be sure to go check out the rest of the DT and see their tags. They are gorgeous!! You'll find the links in my sidebar. Would you prefer them linked in the post? I know I read almost every blog in Reader so it's nice when they are included. And if that's what you want, then I'll take the extra time to include them. Perhaps someone knows an easy way to include them than having to open, copy and paste links from every blog every time??

Thanks for stopping by today!! I so love having you here!! If you play along in our challenge, be sure to let me know so that I can come check it out! Upload at SCS or PCP using Pink Papery Studios as your tag or leave a comment here!

A Teasing Test

I've been playing with webresizer and I want to see how this border option shows up on my blog. Come back in a few minutes to see the rest of this project!!

Stamp Inventory

I have been working on inventorying my stamps. First, so I would know what I had and most recently, to participate in image swaps. One of my blogging friends had a blog set up with her inventory and I thought that was a great idea. So I set one up to for reference.

It's only partially complete but feel free to see if there are any stamps you would like images of and then send me an email.

Cassie's Stamp Inventory

Happy Wednesday everyone! That means it's time for another challenge for the Pink Papery Studios DT. Lorelie and Lindsay both suggested that we create a handmade gift. I used one of the Sista's images, Cindy Lou, this week. She looks so happy to be vacuuming and she's all dressed up for it too! It totally made me think of those kitchy 1950's images you see with the sarcastic sayings so I wanted to create my own kitchy card! And as everyone who knows me well would vouch, I'd rather be stamping that vacuuming!! But if I had one of those fancy Dyson vacuums, well, I might dress up for the occasion!!

I used a paper bag as my card base this week so I could tuck the cider mix into it. I think this would be a neat card to send to a long-distance friend with an invite to share a cup of cider and catch up; with all the virtual options these days, it could easily happen!! I also think this would be a neat card for a friend who was ill or recovering from surgery - you could offer to vacuum for her and then share the cider afterwards.

ETA: When I started this challenge I was going to make a completely different gift (you'll just have to wait to see it) but I didn't have the shade of CS I needed and rather than brave the cold, I just decided to make something different. Picked my image, had an idea and went with it. When I uploaded my project to the DT blog, I saw - really, re-saw but that's not a word - Jessica's gift - and mine is almost the same. I bet I was subconsciously channeling her!! I hope she doesn't mind!! Stop by her blog and see her cute gift!! And you'll realize that she's so sweet, she doesn't mind how close our projects were!!
Hope you are having a marvelous day!! It was C-O-L-D and very windy here this morning. But the wind has calmed down and so it's not so bad out now.

All Wrapped Up

Amy, the owner of Pink Papery Studios, challenged the DT to use one of the new images last week. I know most Christmas trees are green, but my sister fell in love with a purple tree when we went to Canadian a few months ago. As a newlywed, it wasn't in her budget to get it, but she has talked about it a lot since then! So I colored my tree purple for my project. My sis also loves bright, bold colors and I imagine that this is her, wrapping gifts this holiday season. I took a toy container that my hubby was going to through away and re-purposed it! One of her first jobs was to wrap gifts at a local gift store. She wraps presents BEAUTIFULLY! SO I loaded it with all kinds of goodies that she can use to finish off her packages - bells, bows, candy canes, tags and even a purple pen!! I guess if she can't have the tree, she can have purple presents!!

Thanks Girlfriend

Hey!! It's Wednesday again and that means it's time for another challenge from the Pink Papery Studios design team. This week I wanted to use one of the digital images and I thought I would show the steps to completing my Sista for those of you that may be new to digital stamping!! It's really easy!

1. When you purchase the digi-stamp, you'll receive the image in an email. Save it in a file and you'll always know where it is. I have a file in My Documents labeled Pink Papery Studios which is where I save all my digi images.

2. Open up MS Word (or the equivalent for your computer). You want to insert your digi-stamp into your document. For me, I go to INSERT, then PICTURE, then FROM FILE.

Find your image on your computer. Again, keep them all in one file in your documents for quick and easy access!

This is what you'll have. You can see that the image is really large.

3. One of the great things about digi-stamps is that they can be sized to any project that you have! After you have inserted your image, you will want to re-size it. You can do this by clicking on the image and using the "drag" method. Or you can do it by inputting the size that you want. To do this, select the image by clicking on it once. Then RIGHT-CLICK and select FORMAT PICTURE.
Go to the SIZE tab and change the height or the width to the size that you want. You only change one as they are somehow "connected together" so that they both change proportionally and your image doesn't distort.

Once you have your image to the size that you want, print your image onto your cardstock. If I'm not sure what size I want, I sometimes insert the image several times and size it many different ways so that when I print I have lots of options.

I wanted my Sista to wear a cute tunic so I knew I wanted to paper piece her top. It's very easy to do this with digi-stamps too!! I start by laying a piece of computer paper over my cardstock with my printed image. (You can just barely see it coming through)

Then I cut the pattern paper that I want to use to size. I only need enough for her top.

Using a glue stick, I glue the PP down on the computer paper, lining it up so that the portion I want to paper piece will print on my pattern paper. It is only necessary to glue down the top edge of your pattern paper. You can use a temporary adhesive but I just use a light swipe of a glue stick that I keep here by my computer.

Insert your paper into your printer and print again. This is what you'll get!

You can just repeat the process as many times as you like for multiple cards or for different papers that you may need.

This week the design team was challenged to make a thank you card. Last week I subbed in my friend's Keno group and had a wonderful time! The hostess served this yummy Thai Chicken pizza and a Bar-B-Que pizza with pomegranate martinis. They were all DELICIOUS!!! Especially the martinis!! So I thought I would send her a thank you and this Simply Sistas image with her drink from Pink Papery Studios is perfect!! She's having a pomegranate martini just like I did!! The original image is just a cute little dress, but leggings are all the rage right now and so I added leggings to her outfit by just coloring in with a black marker! Totally loved how it turned out! And off course, some bling on her belt!! My card is based on the sketch (#204) at SCS this week.

All in all, it took me longer to create this post that it did to make TWO matching cards today!

We'd love to have you play along too! Create a thank you card for someone and be sure to post the link so we can all see it!! Also, stop by the other girl's blogs and see what they have created!! Links are in my sidebar!!

Terrific Treat

Hi Everyone!! Just a quick log-in to post the Terrific Treat winner ---- VALERIE!!!
Thanks to everyone that played along and helped spread the word on diabetes!! I so appreciate it!! Valerie - email me your address so I can get your treat out to you!

I'll be back later with my Pink Papery Studios card but right now I've got family coming over so need to scoot!

Chocolate Roses

Hi! I'm posting later than usual - for this week anyway! But I've been busy working and housework this morning. My grandma is coming in to town today - in fact she's already here! My mom called about an hour ago wanting to know if the little man was still up. He wasn't but he should be very soon! It's been awhile since my grandma has seen him so I know she'll be surprised at how big he is.

She is flying out tomorrow to go spend Thanksgiving with my uncle and his family. Since I saw the limited supplies challenge at SCS was a chocolate theme one, I decided to make a wrapped chocolate bar for my fifth grey and red creation. Pretty basic and simple. I chose the base for my "white chocolate" color requirement and the embossing made me think of all the decorative molds you can get for chocolate. I colored my rose using my Prismacolors and baby oil. Pretty happy with how it turned out. The bonus part is that I added some Hot Cocoa card scents at the end so my treat smells as yummy as it looks!!

Have a great weekend and I'll see ya'll around the blogsphere!!

Thanks so much for coming back today to check out my fourth card featuring grey and red in honor Diabetes Awareness Month. I've so enjoyed hearing from each of you and your stories that you've shared.

I was going to create my card for today's post last night, but ended up working instead. So when I went in this morning, I was thinking I was either going to use Rain or Shine from MFT or Live Your Dream from Stampin Up. I even came in to the computer to look up the What's Up Wednesday Challenge. But when I went back in and sat down, I just got pulled into a completely different direction.

I have had this stamp for years and I think it's a quote we all have seen before. It is very true I believe and it just called to me. Such beautiful typography needs beautiful paper so I dug into my paper stash. My red today is not a bright red but more muted, almost burgundy in nature. I think the paper might be Anna Griffin but I could be wrong. I embossed the sentiment using Versamark, Basic Grey ink and clear embossing powder. That was the "hardest" part of the card? Are you like me and just in awe every time you emboss? It never gets old watching it turn. I remember the FIRST time I saw embossing: I was in college and one my roommates was an art major and she embossed something using OUR STOVE!!! I remember thinking she was crazy and watching her carefully just in case she set the place on fire!

I hope you are warmer where you are than here. A cold front blew in and it's FREEZING!! I mean, it's like 47 degrees outside, but that's cold here!!! I am going to run and start a load of laundry and curl my hair. I am subbing in my friend's Keno group tonight. Wish me luck that I win ... preferably the CASH PRIZE!!

Have a beautiful day!! All of the stamping friends that visit me each day, your praise and support are parts of MY BEAUTIFUL DAY!!

Something Warm

Thanks for coming back today, my third day of Diabetes Awareness. Did you know that 8% (that's 23.6 million) of the American population deals with this chronic disease every day? It's challenge day for the Pink Papery Studios DT gals and it was my week. I challenged everyone to use red and grey in their creations. Please go see what they've been up to - you'll find all the links in my sidebar!! We'd love to have you join in too!!

Today I have a little treat to share with you. I like to call these "sussies" - they are just little tokens of affection or appreciation that you give to those you care about. I think it's always so nice to just surprise people with something nice. I am a giver who has a budget that doesn't allow me to give extravagant gifts. But I am also a believer in it's not the "cost" of something that touches people.....it's the fact that you CARED. And I give freely, with no expectation of anything in return.....which means when I give, I don't want people to feel bad because they may not have something to give in return. That's why sussies are so great: they aren't so expensive that they'll make someone feel bad (or worse, obligated to return the favor) but they let someone know that they are SPECIAL - and that's an awesome thing to be able to do.

As Christmas approaches, there are even more people that I want to give to this holiday. When I was teaching, I always loved to give little sussies to my teacher friends at Christmas. I taught high school so that was a lot of teachers. This is a perfect little sussie to give when you have lots of names on your list. You can get 6 packets in a box of cocoa mix, add a little prettiness to it and it's such a nice treat for the receiver. As a past teacher, I can tell you that this - or anything like it - will be so appreciated: it's either the beginning of the day and you get a warm, fuzzy all day long or it's the end of the day and it's a perfect pick-me-up to carry you on home and into the evening. What a nice treat to have as a take-home prezzie when you have a holiday party or guests stop by unexpected. Hide one is a neighbor's mailbox. Leave one on the co-workers desk or a basket to put by the microwave at the church for all the staff. I will be making more of these!

I just used my Nestabilities for the all the layers. Some quick and simple stamping, tie a ribbon, use a little sticky strip and it's done. I finished it off with some stickles in the scallops, on the ground to represent snow and even have some drifting down on the sweet little bunny (perhaps you can see it glisten in the first photo?)

My image is from a set called Be Merry at Pink Papery Studios. The new site is almost ready and Amy plans to make it live this weekend!!

Have a beautiful day and I'll see you tomorrow!!

It's Always with You & a Terrific Treat

I know that diabetes is something my family thinks about a lot but from the comments yesterday, it's affecting so many of you too. From yesterday's post: November is Diabetes Awareness Month. My grandfather was a diabetic for years and my mom was diagnosed several years ago. The Diabetes Association uses the colors grey and red for their awareness colors. The grey represents the drudgery of dealing with diabetes every day and the red represents the multiple blood tests that a diabetic performs each day. To spread awareness of the disease, I'm featuring grey and red projects all week!

I used CPS91 as my sketch for this card. I was going to use my bird from the Always set, but he wasn't in the box nor was he right out on my desk. I wonder where he flew off to? Some lace, a vintage button and a distressed flower are my little details. I love how this card has a modern feel with the polka dots and vintage flair with the lace and button. I just noticed that the word "hope" is kinda in the center on my card. Couldn't done it better if I'd planned it that way!!

I really want to spread the awareness of diabetes and I'm hoping you'll help me! So I'm gonna offer up a Terrific Treat as a bribe (which I said I would never do, but hey, decisions can be changed.. I've just decided to do this as I'm typing this post so I don't have a picture right at this moment to share with you, but I'll work on that later tonight.

How to win my Terrific Treat?

1. Post a link on your blog to THIS POST (one entry)

2. Create along with me by uploading your grey and red creation to your blog. Leave a link here

so I can come see it (one entry)

3. Bonus entries for sharing the link on any message boards you frequent and for subscribing to

my blog and for sending your card to someone with diabetes.

4. You can take the Diabetes Risk Test HERE. It doesn't take very long and is a really neat way

to see what risk factors you may have if any.

You Really Want to Know?

My friend Tara recently joined the blogging world and I think she's loving it!! You should go visit her - she's a pretty funny read. And of course, she had a really pretty blog page after just a few days - and so sweetly hooked me up with the info to get one too! You can find the link way up there in the upper left corner on my screen. What I love about Tara is that she is completely honest and just puts it all out there. What you see is what you get - a trait that I happen to {love} in my friends!!

So she tagged me to share 7 random things about myself. And I am happy to share with you because I know that you are just *itching* to know more about me.

1. I spent almost my entire day going through a stack of Parenting, American Baby and babyTalk magazines today. I subscribed to them when the little man was born hoping that they would turn me into this wonderful, magical mother. I'm sure they would have if I had bothered to read them every month. Of course, reading them today, I realized that a lot of being a mom is instinct and I haven't done too bad of a job! Yea me!!

2. My first college roommate called my toes "finger-toes" because they were so long. Trust me, I wish I had short, stubby toes that are oh, so normal. If my toes were half as long, I'm convinced I could wear a 9 1/2. And I'm sure it's much easier to find cute shoes in a 9 1/2 than it is in an 11.

3. We have grown our own pumpkins for several years now and managed to harvest 12 this year
- our biggest crop to date!

4. One of my favorite shows is Project Runway and while I think Leanne does great work, I really, really wanted Korto to win. That coat she made from seatbelts was amazing!! I consistently loved the things she created.

5. I would be one happy girl if Sonic decided to bring back Pickle-Os. There is nothing like a fried pickle chip as a snack.

6. So far, I've got 2 presents out of the way: bibs and some cardboard blocks (just like the ones they had in the church nursery all those years ago) for the little man. I wish I could be like those women who have all their shopping done in September! I wonder if they hire out?

7. In my mail today, I got a request from the cable company to let them handle my phone service and a request from the phone company to let them handle my internet service. Why can't they both just be happy being really good at providing the one service that they originally started with?

Well, there you have it, 7 more random things. Consider yourself tagged if you want to play along.

A Special Week

November is Diabetes Awareness Month. My grandfather was a diabetic for years and my mom was diagnosed several years ago. The Diabetes Association uses the colors grey and red for their awareness colors. The grey represents the drudgery of dealing with diabetes every day and the red represents the multiple blood tests that a diabetic performs each day. Now, my mom is not down in the dumps with her diabetes, but I can imagine that it does get old having to think always about blood sugar, carb intake and the like. She manages very well with her diet but was put on insulin several months ago. With my history, I really need to make more of an effort to eat right and exercise which are two of the major ways that you can help prevent becoming diabetic. In honor of all those with diabetes, I am dedicating my blog this week to projects featuring the colors grey and red!



The main image panel on this card was created using the Faux Silk technique and a collage style of stamping. The jewel in the center of the bow was from a pack of Christmas embellishments I picked up last year at Hobby Lobby. I am in {love} with this card. Do you think it's wrong to feel so proud of yourself for creating something beautiful? I know pride is not a characteristic that God wants us to have; but sometimes it's just darn hard not to be!!




My friend Vicki from Stamped Smiles sent me this award. Really touched my heart that she would say such sweet things about me. If you are a reader of her blog, you know how talented she is and if you aren't head over and visit her!

I'm supposed to pass this award on to 5 other stampers as well. So many to chose from so I'll list 5 even though I could list several more!!

1. Janna - she hasn't been stamping very long but {oh, my} is she talented!

2. Lorelie - I love all the layers on her cards!!

3. Maren - she always uses ribbon and has a clean, crisp style!

4. Cindy - amazingly talented and her blog is almost always Just Stampin Up stuff which I love!

5. JanTink - such a fun blog to read as she has a terrific sense of humor. And she has no problem being proud of her GORGEOUS creations ... so you know what, I'm gonna take a lesson from her and be proud of myself too and not feel bad!! God gave me some talent to use and develop.

Well, the list could go on, but I'll stop here because I REALLY need to get some work done today while the little man is off at MDO. I do hope you'll come back all week - I love it when you stop by!!

Softly, the Garden Calls Me

I created this card eons ago when I first got this stamp back in May or June. I was entirely too intimidated by the gorgeous colored cards on SCS to try that but definitely wanted to use it. But I was stuck with it - couldn't come up with anything. I fell in love with this card and the monochromatic design of it. I changed the color scheme and the design just a little bit. I also added the stickles around the flower just recently as a way to add a little something more to it!

Upgrade

Remember this card?

I finally joined the Fan Club over at SCS earlier this month and one of the challenges is "More is More" where you create a card and then create a second card that has more - an upgrade! I was totally inspired by that challenge on this card.

Always is still my favorite Stampin Up set and I needed a quick but WOW card for my TACO night a few weeks ago (Totally Awesome Creative Opportunity - I saw it somewhere online). I remembered the card I created a few months ago and decided to ramp it up a bit.

(Whoa - what a difference in lighting - I used the exact same paper!) For the new version, I added piercing and a flower and popped up the entire panel on dimensionals. I also changed the sentiment to fit the upcoming holiday!

Welcome Sweet Griffyn

One of the gals in my lia sophia organization had a sweet baby girl yesterday morning. I was able to see both of them this morning and oh, what a treat. Griffyn is light as air - aren't all babies when they are freshly born? And despite his excitement about going to see a baby, my little man wasn't quite sure what to think of mommy holding a baby once we got there.

Emily - the new momma - is a tough girly-girl who is not really into pink ---- but I couldn't resist this sweet printed baby paper in my stash. I tempered it with gray and white. I think it came off sweetly sophisticated instead of sugary sweet - a lot like Emily!! Can you see the glitter paper I used as a mat?

Before I tucked this into a clear envelope, I scented it with Ah Baby! from Card-Scents (the new website is still under construction but will be up soon: http://www.pinkpaperystudios.com/) I'll always remember the look of delight on Emily's face when she saw her card. You know the one - it's the same one we see on everybody's face who gets one of our cards - that look of wonder that says "wow, I'm so special to her she made me a card of my very own!"

Thanks for stopping by today!! Have a beautiful night - The Office is on tonight - hope it's a funny one!!