Check it Out!

Thursday is Tutorial day over at Croppinsville! That's my day!! I hope you'll blurf over there and have a look around!!

Back Home

We are back home from the mountains! Such a wonderful trip; loved getting to spend time with my family. I always leave the mountains wishing I could live there year-round. It's such a slower pace of life.

I'm not sure how many projects I'll get done to post here this week. My little guy came home with a cough so was super cranky yesterday.
Thanks for stopping by - it was so much fun to read through all the sweet comments ya'll left for me while I was gone! Have a beautiful week and I'll check back in later!!

Croppinsville

Croppinsville is a new stamping resource! Allie has a brick-and-mortar store in Collinsville Oklahoma and also a web store - which is now up and open!! I am so blessed that she asked me to be one of her bloggers. For the last month or so, exciting things have been going on "behind the scenes" to bring you a MUST READ BLOG!! The Hometown Bloggers have tons of stuff planned to inspire you. I hope that you'll blurf over there and either subscribe through FeedBlitz or add the blog to your reader. You won't want to miss a day of the fun!

Today, Jen posted:
This week, tell me what 5 crafting tools that you wouldn't want to live without.

So here's mine:

1. Adhesive! Without it, nothing sticks. And I want a wide variety to choose from!!

2. Stampin Up Mat Pack! I just got this recently and I want to pierce everything!!
It's so easy with the guide. I can't believe I waited so long to order it!!

3. Stamp-A-Ma-Jig! I've stamped for 8 years and always thought this was a "fluff"
tool. It wasn't necessary and was just one of those things
someone came up with to get you to spend more money. However, I
get frustrated when things aren't placed "just so". So I ordered
one and I'm in love!! I really should move this to the top spot
since I have no intention of it ever leaving my desktop!!

ACK!! I keep listing embellishments and have to delete them b/c they aren't a tool!! Silly me!

4. Crop-A-Dile! This was another tool that I thought was completely unnecessary. I
mean, I have 3 anywhere hole punches and a Japanese Screw Punch that
was supposed to be the ultimate. But I used one of these at a Karen
Russell class on some chipboard and it was so EFFORTLESS!! I
immediately fell in love and was thrilled when my MIL bought me one
for Christmas - not so thrilled that she bought it in front of me
several months BEFORE Christmas and made me wait though!

5. Craft Knife! I think this is a basic tool that has so many uses. Of course it cuts paper and can do fine detail work, but it's also a great glue dot applicator and package opener. I have tons of the standard skinny metal handle ones but I love the ones that are out now that are comfortable to use - you know the ones, with the rubber grips and the thicker barrels.

I'd love to hear all about your 5 MUST HAVE tools!! I'm sure you'll clue me in to a few that I don't have - and that I MUST!!!

My Cups Runneth Over

The theme at my local ATC Club was "punches". My original card was some flowers but then I saw a card on SCS that used a scalloped circle to make a bra. I thought it was so cute and decided to go in that direction. My circles were too big for an ATC so I used a smaller scalloped oval that I had. The straps were from a picket fence punch that I cut in half and then of course the word window punch. I also browsed the gallery for some fun sayings and saw a few that highlighted the pun in "celebrate". I think this is a fun card for the Fourth of July.

Have fun ya'll!! Thanks for stopping by. We are headed to NM with my family for some R&R. I'll be back next week to catch up with all that ya'll have been doing!!

Shopping Flags

Conference was this week and I found these really cool notebooks at JoAnn's in their dollar section that were pink and black and said BLING on the front. Before I went to deliver them, I remembered that my friend Suzann had given me these really cool post-it flags for marking my catalog. So I ran out to WalMart and bought a whole bunch. Isn't it agonizing to get a catalog and want to mark it up, but you don't want to do that until you have others to give away?!? It is for me so I thought this would be the perfect way to flag all the pieces they fell in love with and keep their catalog pristine. I paperpieced one of the shopping bags and sentiment from a MFT set.

I'm sorry this photo is so rotten, I had to snap it late at night with the glare from the kitchen, but hopefully you get the idea. I wished I had taken a photo of the whole package with the notebook and the glittery pen they got. One of my girls just loved it and was so impressed and wants me to show her how to do stuff like that. Isn't that the coolest thing when someone who isn't a stamper, loves what you did and wants to know how to do it too? I know it made me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Make it a beautiful day!!

Here is the second card I received from the Biggest Card Swap from, Tineke Kolkman in the Netherlands. I think this is a Sugar Nellie image. I've seen it used on several blogs and admired it but seeing it in real life makes me admire it so much more! I love how she layered all those pattern papers and the sweet little stick pin!

Thanks so much Tineke - this card is GORGEOUS!!!

Thanks to all of you for stopping by. It's such a treat to get to share stamping with you! Have a beautiful day!!

Loads of Kisses and Hugs

Here is the card I made for my husband for Father's Day. I originally started it for my dad's card; when I was growing up he drove this old pickup that was once red but had faded to this orange/rust color, so I was trying to re-create that. After I got it done, I decided to make a baseball theme card for him since my Mom is taking him to Yankee stadium in July. I won't be showing that card because it is probably one of the worst cards I've ever made. Of course, my dad loved it but.....you know....I knew I wasn't happy with it. But I was out of time as we celebrated yesterday so I couldn't redo it.
I am loving my mat pack. I used it to make sure my holes for my brads were even, but they don't look even in this photo. That frustrates me a little bit - any hints from those of you that have been using it for awhile?

Have a wonderful day!!

Fresh Cuts

I used the sketch over at Page Plans this week for this card. I barely got it done for this week but I am completely in love with how it turned out. I haven't had the Fresh Cuts set very long and I really wanted to use it for this sketch. After much fiddling, this is what I came up with. I also ordered a stamp-a-ma-jig with this order. I can't believe I stamped for so long without this. It was always one of those "things" that I thought was unnecessary and just a shameless ploy to get you to spend money on a tool you didn't need. Boy was I wrong!! I love it!! I love knowing exactly where my image will be and not eyeballing it anymore!!
I used the Le Jardin paper and stamped the Thank You sentiment in So Saffron on the middle panel - love the subtlety of it. The flower is a big MM flower I had and I stamped the main image from the set in Bashful Blue as well as the little flowers. Faux stitching, pearls and some retired organdy ribbon finish it off. I don't own the pretties kit but I think I'm going to order it and some taffeta ribbon and demo this card at my upcoming workshop. I think taffeta ribbon will look soooo good on this card!

Thanks for stopping by!! Hope your Saturday was full of beauty!!

Old Eyes

Seriously. I'm only 35 but I think my eyes are 90. Two years ago when I was first pregnant with my son, I was at the eye doctor getting my eyes checked. I was in every other week trying to find the right ?prescription? My contacts would work for a few days and then they wouldn't - things were blurry and would go in and out of focus. After several weeks, morning sickness hit and I didn't want to go anywhere, so I cancelled an appointment. And then I read in one of the prego books that your eyes get weird. So I just switched to my glasses because they were the most consistent. Well, Dane is one now so I guess I should go back in and start the process over again. How do I know this?

First exhibit: This card (found at this link) by Melissa Phillips that she posted on her blog, LilyBean's Paperie. She has been one of my favorite artists in the magazines and then I found her blog. love, LOve, LOVE her work. Love her style. When I first read this card, I read "Dry Cleaning". Yes. You notice it actually says Day Dreaming.


Second Exhibit: This card (found at this link) by Sherrie over on her blog, Card Creme. My eye went straight to the image in the upper left corner. I thought it was a fancy perfume bottle - you know the kind where they have the "ball" that you squeeze to squirt perfume? Then I read the sentiment - and thought - well, okay, perfume gets rid of body stink, I guess that makes sense. It wasn't until I read the description that I realized it was a boat. yeah. Definitely need to call the eye doctor. And if you don't currently check out these 2 blogs, I encourage you to go for a visit!

Biggest Swap Ever Card

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I signed up for the "biggest swap ever" that Karin is hosting. Every week there is a new swap to sign up for and they are so easy as there are not many cards to make. This is the first card I received; from Dorien in the Netherlands.

On a completely non-stamping note, I am so excited that today is June 8th! I've never been one to get so into a show that I just am distraught if I miss it. But Army Wives Season 2 premiere is tonight and I'm so excited. It is one of the two shows that I make sure to watch every week! The Office is the other one - although they are only showing re-runs right now. Love the summer shows that come out so re-runs don't have to be watched!

Make it a beautiful day!!

Trois Grand Mordre

My fourth card for the Big Bite Giveaway. Not sure if I got this in before the deadline or not. Either way it's done and it's going in the mail!! Totally love how it turned out!!

A Big Bite - Part II

I managed to get a third card done for the Big Bite giveaway on Lesli's blog, Dragonfly Time. I flipped the sketch this time and left off the sentiment block because I didn't want to block the puppies too much!

I think I'll use this for my FIL for Father's Day!

A Big Bite

Lesli is having a contest for a Big Bite over on her blog, Dragonfly Time.
My MIL gave me a crop-a-dile for Christmas so I can't really justify buying a Big Bite. But I sure could justify winning one!! Lesli posted a sketch to use for entries into her contest.

Here is the first card that I made. The papers were from a little mat stack I picked up at the dollar tree eons ago. They only had one package. I don't normally use colors like this but I love them! I'll be sad when it's all gone! I really love how this card came out! I distressed all the edges and then did faux stitching around the edges. I wanted it to look like I really stitched it so I didn't keep my holes straight as I pierced them, giving it an authentic look! I LOVE how this turned out!! (On a totally unrelated note, but I'm typing it b/c I just thought of it and I don't want to forget it --- but how good would that orange panel look quilted???)





This is the second card that I made using some Stampin Up! DP that I won in a blog candy contest ages ago - I think it was a Christmas themed pack of some sort. This card started with the rosettes first and then grew from there. The sentiment is a CTMH sentiment that was within easy reach. I'm not sure if I am thrilled with the pop of pink or not. You can see here all the dimension on this card.