Totally Random

Have you ever thought about why you blog? For me, I love stamping and I LOVE looking at other things girls have created. Being able to share is such a wonderful, fulfilling thing - it's almost hard to explain, but I bet you know exactly what I'm talking about. How cool is it that we can cyber-connect and share our art and passion?!? I know that I've made some awesome cyber-pals. I was tagged by Amy (The Scrap Addict). She recently started her blog so go check it out and leave her some love. Don't you remember how exacting it was to see comments on your blog when you first started? Actually, does that ever go away? I know I still get the BIGGEST smile (hey, I'm in Texas, of course it's big) when I read the comments and encouragement ya'll leave for me! So A BIG TEXAS THANK YOU!!!

Okay, here's the Tag Details:
1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

7 facts about me:
1. My mom makes this YUMMY chocolate sheet cake topped with pecan halves. A few months ago I blurted out that my baby brother was selfish b/c he was sucking the chocolate off the pecans and then spitting them out. He apparently doesn't pecans. I love pecans. I feel totally justified but it seems to have made a HUGE impression as I got reminded of it TONIGHT. Of course, we were celebrating HIS birthday so there were NO PECANS on the cake, and I of course felt neglected and jilted. Now who's the selfish one?

2. I have a sign that hangs right above my computer screen that says "never, never, never give up". I keep it there to remind me that I can do whatever I put my mind too.

3. Heidi Daus is one of my favorite jewelry designers. You can see her stuff here on HSN if you are interested:
http://jewelry.hsn.com/heidi-daus_c-j_a-664_xc.aspx?sz=11&cm_re=LN*Brand*HeidiDaus&prev=hp!sf&lastbc=!664&ccm=J

4. We grow our own pumpkins to carve. We've done this for 3 or 4 years now. We have 7 pumpkins to harvest this year - our biggest crop ever!! If you want to grow your own too, just save the pumpkin seeds from this year and then next year, toss em out in your patch. I think hubby planted ours in early summer this year. Little One loves to go look at them and water them.

5. I can't stand spiders and when we came home tonight we saw a HUGE spider spinning a web off of our porch. I doubt I'll be able to sleep tonight worrying about him getting in the house. Plus, hubby thinks it has an egg sack on his butt - well, I guess it would be her butt. Whatever.

6. He's still on his web. I refuse to believe that anything so icky and creepy could be a girl.

7. My college French professor used to get a big kick out of me. She never laughed OUT LOUD, but she didn't always HIDE her smile either when I spoke. Seems everyone thought my Texas accent was a hoot when trying to pronounce a foreign language. I wonder why I thought of that.

If you want to play along, consider yourself TAGGED. Just leave a comment here so I - and all my readers - can check it out!!

I (heart) this card!

I created this card for Jen's SFYTT over at I(heart)2stamp! If you use your bella with it, you get a chance to win a gift certificate to Stamping Bella. I just ordered some stamps and they arrived today - just in time to get a card together before the deadline. I totally {HEART} how it turned out. Being a gal that loves to sparkle, I had to add a small crystal gem to her wrist - can you see it? Nothing makes me feel better than having a great bracelet on!! I'm going to send this to a very special friend - she loves to wear bracelets too so I think she'll get a kick out of it!!

This is the first time I've participated in one of her sketch's and I'll definitely have to do so again. Thanks for stopping by and all the sweet comments!! Have a great weekend. Hubby has an event tomorrow so my friend Bridget is coming over to stamp. I can't wait - but I have to figure out something for us to snack on while we work!!

Isabella & Cupcake

One of my SBS3 gals, Katie, is having a giveaway that includes Teachabella. As a former teacher, I really want her. I still have tons of friends that teach and of course my little man will be in school before I know it. Katie has a sketch on her blog for this giveaway and her is my creation. I used the Isabella & Cupcake stamp that I just got from Simply Sistas and scented her with a Birthday Cake card scent. It smells soooooo good - and JUST LIKE CAKE!! I might have to bake now as I'm craving cake after making this card.

Howl of the Lonely Wolf

Here is a swap card that I made last week. I bought this set because I don't have too many stamps that have a masculine touch -- several baseball themed ones, but that was about it. When I was working on this card, hubby walked by and remarked that it was not like what I usually made - DUH!! Ya think!?! There's not a rhinestone or piece of glitter anywhere on this card!

I colored my foliage and my wolf in the same way. I inked up my stamp using markers, shading directly on the stamp. For the wolf, I used a sponge dauber to blend them even more. You can't tell in the picture, but there is a little bit of texture to the wolf too from the sponge. Distressed edges and a swipe of an ink pad on the background finishes it off. I created the sky by scribbling on a stamp case with my marker, then picking up ink on a sponge dauber. It's a mixture of dabbing and swirling the color onto the paper after that.

Thanks for stopping by!! I hope you have a beautiful weekend!! It's been like fall around here for the last week and today is shaping up to be a rainy, grey one!! I just LOVE IT!!!

Bloom

I mentioned that a few weekends ago, my friend Bridget came over and we spent the day stamping. She created this card and I loved it so much I had to make one just like it! I think the only thing I did different was use the scallop border punch along the edge! I apologize for the pics on my blog lately, I can't seem to get good lighting and at the most recent photo session, my little man kept crawling all over me!! The ribbon matches the flower much better IRL.

Hopefully though you get the idea! I love quick and simple cards - don't you? Especially when they turn out sooo elegant looking!!

Always Fall

Always is one of my most favorite stamp sets by Stampin Up! When my friend Bridget came over several weekends ago to stamp, it was one of the sets that I pulled out to the kitchen table. I wanted to use this ribbon that I bought who knows how long ago - I think it was a dollar spool from Michaels.

Hope you enjoyed it! I know I enjoyed making it and sharing it here with you!!

Sweet Baby

Here is a card that I made earlier this summer and can finally share with you. It was for my secret sister, who was expecting a grandbaby. As you know, baby cards are one of my most favorite kind to make....so I was very happy when I found out that my secret sis had a little one on the way in her family!

I totally (heart) this "old" baby set from SU! It's cute and whimisical and so fun! Totally cracks me up with the phone in the carriage! I'm not sure why b/c I'm not really a chat on the phone kinda gal.....so this was never an issue in my house when I was growing up. My sister on the other hand.....

You can't see that the middle layer has text stamped in blush blossom all over it in this photo....but it's there and didn't look quite so weird in real life!

Enjoy your day - may it be a beautiful one full of blessings that make you laugh and fill your heart!

Sweet Song

Here is another card I created for the latest VSN. The challenge was to watercolor and this is a great stamp to use for that medium. I was stamping at my table and had all my markers with me but not my stamp pads and I was too lazy or too "in the groove" - yea that's it, in the groove, to go get my pads. So I just swiped my markers on a stamp case and colored away. I'm really happy with how this card turned out!

We are headed to OK to see my in-laws for the weekend in the morning. Of course, I have tons that I need to be doing for that, but I've been working and now I'm blurfing and typing this post. Ah well - it's nice to take a break, isn't it? I'm looking forward to good food, good visits with my in-laws (who I am lucky to have - they are wonderful and I adore them), good shopping and great swimming in their pool. I hope little one is as happy to be in the water this summer as he was last summer. We'll see. I hope that you enjoy your weekend too - make it a beautiful one!!

*speechless*

First, let me just say that I have clutched your kind comments from my post earlier this week to my heart!! So super sweet and it's nice to know that ya'll are glad I posted again!! Thanks so much for letting me share with you and for checking in here on what I've been up to!! I feel so incredibly lucky to have blogging friends!!

Second, Danyelle directed me to her blog (Hangnailz n' Papercutz) - where she rained some love down on my blog --- when I saw that - I was speechless! with a HUGE grin on my face!! It means the world to me Danyelle - so thank you from the bottom of my heart. And while you're there - be sure to check out her Aug 25, 2008 post: I love her background!!

I definitely need to share this - there are SOOO many blogs that I enjoy reading; although my new items are over 1,000 and have been for weeks. I could mark them all read and start fresh, but they are in my reader for a reason - and I don't want to miss a thing!! (sure, you can sing it with some Aerosmith attitude). Here's a few blogs that I love: certainly not a complete list, honestly, not even a dimple in the list but ones that I enjoy none the less - and maybe a new one for you to discover as well!

CakeWrecks - I just found this one today - hilarious. Not stamping related at all, but if you love sarcasm, you like to laugh and you enjoy cake - it's worth the trip!!

Stamps, Paper and Ink - Cindy has a beautiful blog! I am in awe every day of the art she posts on her blog. I also love it because it is a SU focused blog!

PagePlans - a sketch challenge blog. Even though I haven't had a chance to play every week in quite some time, I still love to go check it out!! They have great sketches and a wonderful design team!! And they are starting the search for a new design team very soon. I tried out last time and didn't make the cut - but that is okay! I'll try again this time and hope that you'll join me!!

OLW - another non-stamping blog --- but it's scrapping, so that's close, right? (says the stamper who is not a scrapper, yet wants to be......but isn't really one yet, b/c honestly......they are worlds apart - for me at least!) So, if I'm not a scrapper, why do I love this blog? 2 reasons: ONE: I would like to be a scrapper - esp. one that looks at the bigger picture and not just "today was a holiday" kind. My goal is to start and work back through all the one little words. TWO: thought-provoking posts!!! They always make me think, always make me feel. And looking at how other women are thinking and feeling, I feel not-so-alone in this world.

oh my. I could keep going and going and going, but I'm going to stop and go sneak a bite of brownie as I start dinner. That's the thing with blogland - you keep discovering new wonderful blogs and in a perfect world, the vacuum would run itself, the bathroom would never be dirty and I would just speak the words "fettucine alfredo, ceasar salad, grilled chicken, cheesecake" in front of an appliance resembling my microwave and 30 minutes later, a ding and dinner would be done! I tried it last night and it didn't work.

Have a beautiful evening!!

WOW!

I knew that I hadn't posted in a long time; I've been in a funk and haven't really stamped a whole lot lately - but I didn't realize it had been A MONTH!

My dear friend Bridget and I were able to get together on Saturday and spend many hours stamping together. We haven't done that in AGES!! And Bridget is a friend that I met through stamping years and years ago. It was such a great day - the best day I've had ALL MONTH!! I'm tempted to share everything all at once, but I think I'll space it out!! This card was SO SIMPLE!! Seriously, I think it took about 3 minutes to make! I had looked at the VSN challenges from Friday night and the first one was a colored animal - think Eric Carle. I had my Always set out because it's my favorite!! And I pulled out this scrap of red ribbon and knew immediately that I wanted to make a SIMPLE but BOLD card. Even though there is not much to this card, it is one of my most favorite things I've ever created.

Stamp: Always, Stampin Up!

Ink: Real Red, Stampin Up!

Ribbon: unknown, satin