Moms Been Scrappin

It's a Blog Hop - Wings and Blooms!

2012-03-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! Welcome to the first stop on our first blog hop at Crafting by Designs! Since we're so close to the first day of spring, our theme is Wings and Blooms, so get ready to see some fantastic projects of things with wings and all kinds of flower blooms :)

I made two projects to share with you today - here's my first project made with one of my favorite stamps from StampersBest that can be found HERE.

I colored my image with some copics then fussy cut it and popped it up with some dimensional dots on a pretty piece of DCWV paper and finished it off with some hand died crumpled seam binding.

For my next project I pulled out another favorite stamp from Flourishes in honor of St. Patrick's Day tomorrow.

I decided not to use traditional colors for this project and accented the clover with pink cardstock and ribbon with some flat back pearls.

And now for some blog candy! We will pick one winner, chosen at random, from all the comments left on all the blogs in the hop that are left before midnight on Monday March 19. So the more comments you leave, the more chances you have to win! Just be sure to leave your email addy so we can contact the winner. Want another chance to win a prize? After visiting the last blog, hop on over and join us at Crafting by Designs, and show us your Wings and Blooms project!

Now it's time to hop on over to Tammy's blog at Cuttin' and Stampin'.

In case you get lost along the way, here's the whole blog hop line up:

Doris at Moms Been Scrappin (you're here)
Tammy Smith at Cuttin’ and Stampin’ (your next stop)
Cindy Leek at Papers Pads and Pictures
Julia Vazquez at Papers and Scraps Creations
Sharon Duff at Sharons Scrappin
Chrissie Tobas at Harvestmoon Papiere
Rene van Wyk at Life in the Craft Lane
Aletha Jane Williams at AJ’s Designs
Tammy Martinez at Whimsically Me
Suzanne Russell at Beauty and Blessings
Beth Pollack at Mossberry Cottage
Berni Cuttino at Chasing the Dream
Deb Fortin at Paper Arts and Other Crafty Things
Gwen T at Wind Chimes and Lilacs
Theresa Gerber at Crafts Friends and Angels
Susan Janicki at StampersBest
Gloria Suave at Globug Ideas

Enjoy the rest of the hop and don't forget to leave your comments!

Who's ready for a blog hop?

2012-03-13T20:27:00.003-04:00

Hello blogland, long time no see! I'm slowly catching up and after this week should be back to my regular crafting time. I'm in a clean and purge mode in my craft room and am just about done - I actually saw my desk today :) And that's a good thing, because I've got to get two projects finished for a blog hop with my crafty friends over at Crafting by Designs this Friday!! Want to hop along with us? Sure you do - hop on over there now and sign up before noon tomorrow and you can get added to the blog list. Or stop by on Friday March 16 for the complete list of hopping blogs and play along with us. Hope can join us :)

My poor little blog

2012-02-26T19:49:00.001-05:00

Hello blogland! My poor little blog has been neglected for two weeks, but I've been super busy with things in the house, two daughters birthdays and some health issues. My craft room has been turned upside down, but it's a good thing - I started to look for something I knew I had and ended up finding some great treasures I'd forgotten about, so it's been clean and purge time for me and lots of items added to my Etsy store so they don't go to waste! I've gotten some layout pages done, and here's one of the pages - this is one of my favorite pics of the girls when they were little, looking for Santa on Christmas Eve:

I used some Simple Story elements to make this page one-two-three :) And have you stopped by Crafting by Designs lately? Fantastic challenges from fantastic guest designers, so be sure to stop in this week and join us.

Day Two of Scrapbook Throwdown

2012-02-08T19:27:00.001-05:00

Hello blogland! I'm a day behind, but wanted to share my project from Day two of the Scrapbook Throwdown. Our challenge was to use a color theme, and I found my inspiraion on Pinterest.

I chose the inspiration picture because of the graduated shades, which I love, and thought of a new paper collection I just picked up from Paper Crate - and they matched pretty well. I made the white twisted ribbon flower and added some Prima pearls and added a pink pearl brad in the center. For the hearts I just used some scraps from the collection and a Martha Stewart heart punch. Day two - check!

Scrapbook Challenge Throwdown

2012-02-06T20:02:00.000-05:00

Hello blogland! I was a lucky winner of a spot in the Scrapbook Throwdown that started today, and I'm soooo glad!! I'm so far behind on my scrapping and this is just the push I need to get back on track and get those creative scrappiness going again :) Today's challenge was to create a layout using 4x6 pictures - check!

I kept my layout pretty simple, not too many layers. What I did do was reuse the outline that I cut out from the photo mat on the left and used it on top of the two photos on the right. I used Simple Stories Year in Review on top of a piece of Tim Holtz cardstock for the layout - just love Simple Stories!!

Day one down, can't wait for day two :)

PS - I forgot to add, this is my daughter Amy who did her SECOND Tough Mudder event with a group of friends (Team Gooney) and raised money for The Wounded Warrior Project. Twelve miles thru mud and water and hills and electric wires and under barbed wire, but she finished!! So proud of my little Tough Mudder!

Quick Valentine Candy Bags

2012-02-01T19:21:00.000-05:00

Hello blogland! How did it get to be February already? I was busy, busy today - I was asked to make an assortment of candy bags for Valentine's Day which was fun, fun, fun :)

All I can say is I need a new bag of M&Ms.....I also took a trip to A.C. Moore today and was surprised to find that their paper pads were all 40% off and they had a TON of new My Minds Eye 6x6 pads which I ended up paying just over 2 bucks each. Sa-weet! I was really happy to see that many of them mix so well with the Simple Stories line that I'm using for several scrap projects and I can't wait to get my hands on some of their new lines being introduced at CHA. More scrappy goodness......

Just a little Love

2012-01-26T16:51:00.002-05:00

Hello blogland! I have one more valentine's card for this week made from the scraps on my desk:

The scraps were from a Crate Paper valentine collection, the heart stamp is from StampersBest and the love stamp is from Unity. Tie it up with a little bakers twine from Martha Stewart and I was done in no time flat :)

Next up, Crafting by Designs has two great Guest Designers this month for our new features A Year in Cards and Get Ready for Christmas. Take a peek:

Heide Dronchi challenged us to make a sympathy card based on this card - sympathy cards can be hard to make, but this this is a gorgeous card.

Gwen T. challenged us today to make a few Christmas cards based on her card - simple design with just the right touches. Want to join us? Sure you do - there's still time to make some projects for our January challenges at Crafting by Designs - go HERE to join.

Operation Write Home Deadlines

2012-01-25T20:52:00.000-05:00

Hello blogland! I've been working on a box of cards for Operation Write Home and I thought this would be a good time to remind my bleeps of some deadlines coming up FAST:

Easter - due Feb 15

Bunnies and chicks, as well as religious cards are welcome! Please separate "spring" from "Easter" in your packages, as we want to be certain anything for Easter specifically gets mailed in time.

Mother's Day - due March 31It's not too early to start thinking about Mom and Dad cards! Consider sending in a half dozen of these while sending in your other spring cards, just to get our stash built up for the first Moms Day boxes! Also - if you can separate your cards out so that the ones that say "Happy Mother's Day" are separate from the ones that say "Love you Mom", that helps us be able to get the Mother's Day cards targeted to mail first, and fill in with the general ones!

A few special notes regarding holiday cards:

1. With the reductions in overseas deployments, we need fewer cards. (We still need a lot, but much less than before.) Therefore please take your time, and focus on quality over quantity. We get a lot of cards tossed together as multiples - speed is no longer an issue, so we can take time to play and really get creative now!

2. If you're making a lot of cards for any season, multiples OR just a large number, remember to get your cards in TWO WEEKS BEFORE any posted deadlines; sending a couple hundred cards right at the deadline really makes it nearly impossible to get your cards mixed in the last couple boxes!

3. Make "general" cards that can also be used for a holiday - those are the MOST useful to our heroes. Love cards during Valentines season, spring flowers at Eastertime, snowmen at Christmas. No sentiment gives the card a longer shelf life and makes it more flexible for our heroes' use.

Remember, just because the military is finally out of Iraq doesn't mean that OWH doesn't still need cards! Please consider making some cards for this wonderful organization! Go HERE for all the details.

A birthday card from scraps

2012-01-22T19:05:00.000-05:00

Hello blogland! I've been catching up on my scrapping and was on a roll this weekend! I got three layouts finished yesterday in no time using the "Happy Day" collection from Simple Stories - love it! Today I wanted to clean off my desk and decided to make a birthday card for my next box to Operation Write Home from the scraps sitting there and here's what I came up with:

I distressed the edges to make it a little more vintage looking and popped up the sentiment and banner with some pop dots to give it just a little bit of dimension. One-two-three and it was done and is already in the box ready to go to one of our heroes. Don't forget to stop by OWH and check out today's sketch challenge HERE.

More CAS cards and fun techniques

2012-01-18T18:43:00.000-05:00

Hello blogland! I had another fun day at Day 8 of the On-Line Clean and Simple class and have two new cards to share with you:

This first card is from Jennifer McGuire's Mirror Image Stamping technique and was tons of fun. I'm not crazy about the stamped images I chose and think I'll be re-doing this one.

This second card is a cut-out shape on the front page and masked that image on the inside of the card. This was very quick and easy to do but tomorrow I'll be adding a large stamped image onto the front of the card - just too plain like this.

Can't wait for Day 9 of class - this has been so much fun and given me so many great ideas for CAS projects.

Another CAS card and technique - masking

2012-01-16T19:02:00.000-05:00

Hello blogland! I'm playing catch-up with some of the cards from the On-Line CAS card making class, and this card is from Day 2 - masking. How come I've never done this before?? It was so fun and easy, I'll be doing it more :)

Fun, fun, fun and so easy too - and the big secret? Post-it notes! I used the Post-it notes to make a rectangle in the center and used one of the new Sizzix/Hero Arts Die and Stamp sets to cut out a mask for both the flower and sentiment. After stamping the text in the center and removing the post-its, it was simple to stamp the flower and large sentiment. One-two and it was done :)

Next up, here's another quick and easy valentine card made from a wide ribbon and a thin ribbon:

Another super simple CAS card - the LOVE stamp is from a Tim Holtz set but the heart was cut from 4 inch rosette trim from KarlaS001 Etsy Shop. I stamped a heart image on a piece of scrap cardstock and traced in on the back of the trim to cut it out - no shredding or tearing :) I finished the card off with two pieces of red/white ribbon and two pieces of white pearl sprays also from Karla's shop and viola, done!

Distress Inks and Watercolor Paper

2012-01-13T17:40:00.000-05:00

Hello blogland! Today I have two more cards to share from the On-Line Clean and Simple class - Day 5:

This first card is my version of the project presented by Jennifer McGuire and I had a ball making this one! Using watercolor paper for the card base, I heat embossed the butterflies and sentiment with white embossing powder, then topped it off with some Distress inks sprayed with Perfect Pearls and let it air dry. Quick, easy and fun.

This second card is my take on the project presented by Shari Carroll and although it used the same supplies it was much more detailed and took a while to complete. I changed a few things but in the end, it's a fun project. Can't wait for day 6 of class :)

Paper Piecing and a Bloomer

2012-01-12T11:42:00.001-05:00

Hello blogland! I'm on a crafty roll this week and have another card to share :) I'm trying to catch up on the weekly challenges at Crafting by Designs and the challenge was to bread out some valentine stamps, and I knew just the stamp to use:

Both stamps are from StampersBest and you can find them HERE. I stamped the heart image twice; first on some light brown cardstock and next on the red gingham cardstock, both from K&Co. I cut out a few of the hearts from the gingham cardstock and then layered it on top of the other piece. But it still needed something.....and lucky for me I just got an order from KarlaS001 Etsy store that had the pink bloomers in it. One was sort of heart shaped, so I played around with a little glue and helped it along, and viola - a valentine bloomer! Be sure to check out both StampersBest and KarlaS001 Etsy store - fabulous!!

Two cards from CAS class

2012-01-11T16:42:00.000-05:00

Hello blogland! I had some time to play today and got two cards made from Week 1 of the Clean and Simple on-line card making class going on this week. What fun! CAS is my style anyway so I've been looking forward to this class :)

This card is from a sketch from day 1, and the idea is to mask off a section of the center and then use a large background stamp around it - easy. Then I took a Unity stamp and inked up just a small section of it and added it to the middle and lightly colored the image with Copics. A small Unity sentiment and three tiny brads and I was all done with this one!

Next up is a card from Day 2, and took out the largest stamp I have (from Stampin' Up) and used the brightest red ink I had (also Stampin' Up), and masked off sections of an A2 card so only a portion of each image stayed on the card.

Two minutes and this card was done :) By changing just the sentiment, this card could be used for so many occassions.

Putting away the holiday stamps

2012-01-08T14:05:00.000-05:00

Hello blogland! It's time to put away the holiday stamps and take out something with flowers :) This is one of our first challenges over at Crafting by Designs this week, and I dove right into it.

This version was colored with Copic markers, layered on a scrap of DCWV paper and some Tim Holtz paper and a piece of antique ivory lace.

This version I colored with some watercolor pencils and blended with a water pen, layered up on scraps of DCWV paper and a piece of Stampin' Up ribbon, and used a Unity stamp for the sentiment.

Come on over to Crafting by Designs and join our new challenges - so much great creative inspiration!!

A Year in Cards

2012-01-04T23:06:00.000-05:00

Hello blogland! The first week in January is just flying by - almost Thursday already! I wanted to share my first project of the new year.

This is the first card in a new series at Crafting by Designs - A Year in Cards. We're building up our stash of everyday cards and I chose to make a Thinking of You card for a dear friend who is having a rough time right now. Sometimes it's just a little thing like a card that can bring a smile, and I hope this card does just that.

Stop over at Crafting by Designs and see the other great creations and challenges.

What's new for 2012 with Crafting by Designs?

2012-01-01T18:48:00.002-05:00

Hello blogland and Happy New Year! The holidays came and went in a woosh, but we had a wonderful time. And this week it's finally time to get back to some new features and challenges at Crafting by Designs.

Want to join us? Sure you do - pop over HERE and join us!

Brand new weekly challenges, some new weekly features, and two great sponsors this month.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T18:53:00.002-05:00

May the joy and blessings of Christmas

be with you and your family!

Just a few more holiday cards for this year

2011-12-20T20:10:00.000-05:00

Hello blogland! I have a few quick holiday cards to share with you today which will probably be the first in my stash for next Christmas :) All were made with some of the new StampersBest holiday releases.

Happy Holidays Kirby rubber stamp

Go check out all the stamps at StampersBest HERE and use the coupon code MBS10off when you checkout to save 10% on your order :)

New Design Team at Crafting by Designs

2011-12-18T18:00:00.007-05:00

Hello blogland! I'm so thrilled and proud to announce the newest DT for Crafting by Designs:

Doris T (you're here)

We've got some great things planned for you starting in January so please be sure to stop by and join us!! Click on the link HERE to join - see you there :)

Snowmen and Sugar Queens

2011-12-15T20:08:00.001-05:00

Hello blogland! Ten days till Christmas and I think I'm finally catching up! I'm done making Snowman Soup, Reindeer Poop and the adorable Snowman candy bars, and happy to say my daughter and I raised more than $800 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society via Team in Training. Now my daughter will be going to do a half marathon in Disney World next month as the final part of this great fundraiser. So proud of her......

I do have something to share - I made a banner for my oldest daughter who is doing a craft fair this weekend.

I used my Cricut Imagine to cut out the letters and a Sizzix top note die for the backgrounds, added some glitter and the Sugar Queens banner was ready. And speaking of Sugar Queens, need a sugar fix? Do you like cake pops? Looking for a special holiday treat like hot chocolate on a stick? Go check out her Etsy store HERE. Fantastically delicious :)

Paper Piecing a Poinsettia

2011-12-03T21:15:00.000-05:00

Hello blogland! I've finally found a free moment to play with a few of my new stamps from StampersBest and wanted to try something different with the pointsettia. It's such a nice size, so I gave paper piecing a try and here's what I came up with:

I used a piece of dotted red paper from a DCWV Christmas stack and used a Martha Stewart gold glitter pen to highlight the gold dots. Then I just used some green and white scraps for the rest of the flower and leaves and tied some red/white ribbon on the bottom and used a new sentiment stamp to finish it up. You can see all the new StampersBest stamps HERE.

I just love snowmen...

2011-11-29T19:42:00.000-05:00

Hello blogland! A few weeks ago I told you about helping my daughter with a big fundraiser for the Leukemis & Lymphoma Society via Team in Training, and we've been whipping up some Snowman Soup Packages and Reindeer Poop.

These have been flying out the door as fast as we can make them, so THANK YOU to everyone who has purchased them. Take a look at what we came up with today........

They're giant 4.4 oz Hershey Chocolate bars in this adorable wrapper courtesy of Laurie Furnell, then topped off with a warm fuzzy pair of stretchy gloves. Do you love them - I can't stop making them! So not only do you feed your sweet tooth, you get a warm pair of gloves AND make a donation to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I know you're all thinking "I can do that", but in case you can't or don't have time and think this is a great way to support a great cause, please check them out in my Etsy store HERE. Thank you!

Ok, now I've REALLY got to get back to my Christmas cards! I got a lovely box of new stamps from StampersBest that are just screaming for me to play with them, so I'll be back tomorrow to show you what I made with them :)

More new holiday stamps from StampersBest

2011-11-24T22:08:00.000-05:00

Hello blogland! If you're like me, you're still making holiday cards, and I've got a new batch from StampersBest to play with this week. Check them all out HERE . Take a look at a few:

Create a Christmas Ticket Rubber Stamp Set

Do you like elves? If so there are four more that go along with Elf Garland Dance Rubber Stamp.

How about penguins? This little guy is just adorable and can be found HERE.

There are tons more, too many to show here. Want to save 10% off your order? Use the coupon code mbs10off at checkoff. Better yet, want 15% off your order? Use coupon code thanksgiving from November 24 to November 28 only and get 15% off your total order!

Up to my eyeballs in Snowman Soup and Reindeer Poop

2011-11-12T18:34:00.001-05:00

Hello blogland! This past week my daughter and I have been as busy as little elves making Snowman Soup kits and packages of Reindeer Poop for a holiday fair next weekend. Wanna see?

The Snowman Soup kit is a packet of Swiss Miss hot cocoa and a baggie of mini marshmallows. Isn't he adorable?

And this little baggie of Reindeer Poop is really chocolate covered raisins. What were you thinking it was? We made a ton of these and all are available in my Etsy shop HERE. 100% of the sale of these items are being donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society via Team in Training, which is a huge fundraiser my daughter is doing. Need a little something for a teacher gift or for the mailman and UPS guy, or for a Christmas cookie exchange? Please consider giving them one of these :)

Operation Write Home Veterans Day Blog Hop on 11-11-11

2011-11-09T18:14:00.001-05:00

Hello blogland! Operation Write Home is hosting a very unique bloghop for Veteran's Day this year! With the date being 11-11-11, they've invited 11 amazing companies who LOVE our heroes to join in this special event on Veteran's Day weekend. The hop will begin on the Stars and Stamps blog HERE- mark your calendar and please join us!

In the mean time while we wait, check out the great tutorial on the OWH Stars and Stripes blog for a pop-up easel card HERE.

Design Team call for Crafting by Designs

2011-11-07T18:04:00.004-05:00

Hello blogland! If you're not familiar with Crafting by Designs, we're a small group looking for some new crafty members and several new Design Team Members. Interested? Sure you are! We have two new challenges each week, we love sharing new techniques and projects with each other while having daily chats and some fun. To become a member go HERE.

We're also having a Design Team call for a few spots beginning in January. If you'd like to be considered, here's the simple requirements:

1) Sign up for a 6 month term

2) Participate in at least three challenges per month, preferrably more
3) Share some of your projects and talents with our members
4) Comment on challenge and gallery projects
5) Be willing to share the CBD fun on your blog (if you have one)
6) Have a friendly personality with a desire to create

To apply, please email me at Momsbeenscrappin at yahoo dot com with the following:
1) Your name
2) Your email
3) Your blog (if you have one but not required)
4) Tell me a bit about yourself, any DT experience (not necessary), and why you'd like to join our DT
5) Two of your favorite card projects

What's in it for you: Friendship from a great bunch of crafters and some great design team experience :)

That's it! We're not a high maintance group and vary the challenges each week to include Copic/Markers; Cricut/Die Cutters; Color Combos; Use Your Stamps/Scraps; Sketch; Clean and Simple; you get the idea - something for everyone!

This call will be open until December 15th and chosen designers will be contacted by December 18th. Come join us!!

Clean and Simple Holiday Cards

2011-11-06T16:24:00.000-05:00

Hello blogland! Like everyone else, I'm wondering how it got to be November already! And like everyone else, I've been working on holiday cards and having a ball! First, I needed a nice clean and simple design to use for some card sets for a fundraiser for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society that my daughter is doing. I headed right to some of the new holiday designs from StampersBest and have had a ball using them.

Candy Cane Rubber Stamp

Christmas Tree Rubber Stamp

Sentiment from the Christmas Holly Borders Set

Christmas Ornaments Rubber Stamps

Decorated Reindeer Rubber Stamp

And here's one using one of my favorite Unity Stamps:

Cute, right? Are you still looking for some holiday stamps? Hop on over to StampersBest and get 10% off your order total by using the coupon code MBS10off at checkout.

Holiday Card Boot Camp 2011

2011-10-25T19:17:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! It's been almost two weeks since I've gotten to play in my craft room, but now that I'm all caught up with the other stuff, I've got all day tomorrow to play. But what did I do today? I signed up for Holiday Card Boot Camp 2011 and I can't wait!! No matter how many holiday cards I've made, I can always use some new inspiration and who better to get it from then Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Warner. Haven't heard of Holiday Card Boot Camp? Go HERE for all the details and come join me, but hurry - classes start on November 7.

New StampersBest Stamps

2011-10-14T15:21:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! Are you working on your holiday cards yet? I've been trying to get a few made each week since the summer because..... it's October already!! This year I'll be using these adorable little snowmen (or is it snow people) from StampersBest.

This first stamp is Snowman Hugs found HERE

This stamp is Snowman and Birdies found HERE

This stamp is Snow Family found HERE

If you're not a fan of the snow people or to see more of them, go check out some of the other holiday and new releases from StampersBest HERE and if you use the coupon code mbs10off when checking out, you'll save 10% off your order. And after you've bought your stamps, check out the contest they're running on the StampersBest blog HERE and their Facebook page HERE for a chance to win a lovely bunch of their stamps.

New challenges at Crafting by Designs

2011-10-07T21:46:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! It's Friday and that means two new challenges at Crafting by Designs. The first challenge is a color challenge based on this beautiful picture from Littleblueprints.blogspot.com

What a lovely autumn picture and great inspiration to make a card! Want to join us? Sure you do - send me an email or leave a comment on this post and I'll send you an invite. All challenge entries are eligible to win a prize from this month's sponsor Basically Bare.

Operation Write Home Blog Hop

2011-10-01T03:00:00.005-04:00

Hello blogland! Welcome to my stop on the Operation Write Home blog hop! I'm already elbow deep in holiday cards, how about you? Here's a few cards I'd like to share with you:

I've got a thing for snowmen and these are both stamps from StampersBest. I've been making cards for Operation Write Home for two years now and always have them in mind when I'm making cards for challenges during the year - I try to make two of the same card and one goes right into the OWH box. This way I have a nice variety of cards to send to our heroes, and one for me! Enjoy the rest of the hop!

Haunted House free digi from StampersBest

2011-09-28T15:05:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! Did you get your free haunted house digi from StampersBest? Hurry while it's still up - go HERE to download it. Here's what I did with mine:

I colored it with copics and used some silver stickles on the trees and Glossy Accents on the moon and windows. Spooky!

Be sure to stop by on Saturday October 1st to join the Operation Write Home blog hop!

Crafting by Designs Challenges and a free Halloween digi from StampersBest

2011-09-23T18:23:00.003-04:00

Hello blogland! What's better on a rainy Friday than playing with some new stamps for some challenges at Crafting by Designs! We have two new challenges this week: one from our guest designer Sharon Duff who chose a Halloween theme and the other is embossing. The embossing one was easy - I pulled out my box of embossing folders and here's what I ended up with:

I used a piece of Tim Holtz Distress cardstock and the embossing folder really makes the color pop, and it highlights the Memento Inks I used on this big StampersBest stamp. Easy peasy :)

Now the Halloween challenge was a bit tougher - I just realized I did not have one single Halloween stamp! But a Sizzix die would due:

Layered on some DCWV paper and more Tim Holtz cardstock and it's all set to go. And if you're looking for a great Halloween digi, check out this great haunted house freebie - yup I said freebie - from StampersBest HERE. And be sure to stop by their store HERE and check out all their stamps - and use coupon code msb10off to get 10% off your order.

Two new challenges at Crafting by Designs

2011-09-17T15:01:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! It was so nice to be able to play in my craftroom again, but it seemed as if my mojo wasn't anywhere to be found. But after playing for a little while, I did manage to get a few cards made for our two new challenges at Crafting by Designs.

First up, Use Your Stamps:

For this first card I used a stamp from StampersBest and chose to use some fall colors and layered the image on some DCWV cardstock and design paper.

This little guy is from an Inkadinkado stamp set. I stamped him once on the white base then again on some designer paper, cut him out and used some pop dots to give him a 3D look.

Next challenge - CAS, my favorite.

I used a few StampersBest stamps and chose to use some fall colors ink pads and not color in the image, then layered it on some DCWV paper and a few little pieces of bling to bring out the ink colors. Easy peasy.

Go check out all the new releases over at StampersBest. Want 10% off your order? Use the coupon code msb10off when checking out. Want to come play with us over at Crafting by Designs? Sure you do - send me an email or leave a comment here and I'll send you an invite.

Two new challenges at Crafting by Designs

2011-09-12T15:32:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! Just a quick post today so I can finish getting my craft room ready to play again. No rain for 4 days now and my basement if finally dried out - hope it stays that way :) I wanted to share our two new challenges at Crafting by Designs. The first is "Bling it on" - make any kind of project using some bling. Here's a great sample made by Sharon Duff:

Next up is "Ink it Up" - use at least two kinds of ink in your project: ink pads, alcohol ink, perfect pearls, glimmer mist, whatever. Here's a little card I made using four Tim Holtz Distress inks.

Want to play? Sure you do - send me an email or leave a comment on this post with your email addrss and I'll send you an invitation to Crafting by Designs!

Never forget

2011-09-10T18:38:00.004-04:00

Remembering those lost and those saved

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me....

New Releases at StampersBest

2011-09-09T17:46:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! Rain + basement = no crafting for me for another week. Hurricane Irene may be long gone, but it rained all week in NJ which brought more water into my basement where my craft room is. Hopefully the sun will stay out to help dry everything up so I can get some crafting done.

While I wait for that, I think I'll need some retail therapy, and I'm starting at StampersBest. They just released a ton of new stamps for September: borders, sentiments, winter, animals, floral, halloween and so much more. Go check them out HERE. Want to save 10% on your order? Use the coupon code msb10off at checkout.

Two new challenges at Crafting by Designs

2011-09-03T19:19:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! It's been a long week since Hurricane Irene blew thru NJ and left lots of water in my basement. I can't get to my craft room because it's the only room in the basement that doesn't flood and everything else is packed in there. Crossing my fingers that maybe after this weekend I can unload everything and get some crafting done.

In the mean time, I just posted another new challenge over at Crafting by Designs.

Our first challenge for this week is a color challenge based on this beautiful Monet painting:

Look at one of Cindy's samples:

Next up is a CASE study based on this gorgeous card:

Come on and join us! Leave me a comment with your name and email addy on this post and I'll send you an invite. Our fabulous sponsor this month is StampersBest!

Go away Irene!

2011-08-26T16:33:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! Just popping in very quickly to wish everyone on the East Coast of the US a SAFE weekend with Hurricane Irene heading our way. I live on the East Coast of NJ and we're in the projected path of this monster and have just finished preparing our house.

Not looking forward to this at all, but I think we're ready. Go away Irene - out to sea all the way!!

A Dose of Hope

2011-08-23T20:21:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! You may remember two of my previous posts that my daughter Amy had participated in and completed two Tough Mudder events to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project.

Next up, she's participating in a sports endurance event as a member of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training to raise funds to help find cures and better treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. All her hard work will culminate with a half marathon in Walt Disney World in January 2012 and while she's preparing, she's raising funds for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. For more information on LLS and to make a donation, please visit her fund raising page at A Dose of Hope. I love this kid!

StampersBest YouTube Challenge

2011-08-15T18:26:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland!

Come join the 1st YouTube/StampersBest Challenge! Create a project using any of the Borders or Frames rubber stamps from StampersBest.

How to enter: Post a video response showing your project to the challenge announcement on StampersBest YT channel by Aug. 31st (no mail in).

The winning entry gets: $50.00 to spend on anything in store at StampersBest.com

Add your entry at: YouTube/StampersBest

Go shop at: StampersBest.com

Find more inspiration at: StampersBest.blogspot.com

Want a coupon to save 10% off your StampersBest order? Use code msb10off at checkout.

Crafting by Designs Challenge - Cards for Operation Write Home

2011-08-08T19:19:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! What a fun time this weekend during the Blogoversary hop for Yvette at Cre8tivegirls. I hope you enjoyed my tutorial for coffee filter flowers - if you missed it, go HERE. They're so quick and easy to make and if you use white filters you can color/dye/stain them any color you want.

Next up - two new challenges from Crafting by Designs. The first is to make an altered item, and I painted up a blue flower bucket.

Perfect to put some cut summer flowers in :) The next challenge is to make card for Operation Write Home and what better time to do it than now after the horrible tragedy of the downed helicopter. There are no words to thank these men and women for their sacrifice, and if I can help by making cards for them to keep in touch with their family, that's the very least I can do. Want to join us? Leave me a comment on this post with your email address and I'll send you an invitation to Crafting by Designs or you can go straight to the OWH website and check out their card making requirements. Here's a few of the cards I made for this challenge which wil be send to OWH:

Thanks for stopping by today :)

Cre8tivegirls Blogoversary Blog Hop

2011-08-05T09:00:00.008-04:00

Hello blogland and welcome to the Cre8tivegirls Blogoversary Blog Hop! Today you should have come here from Emma at Creative Time for Me, but if you're lost go HERE to start at the beginning of the hop. Our theme is "firsts", and I'd like to share a tutorial I've tried for the first time - quick and easy coffee filter flowers.

Here's a quick list of items you'll need:

-cone shaped coffee filter

-scallop or circle paper punch or die

-your favorite ink/stain spray such as Glimmer Mist or MoonShadow Mists from Lindy's Stamp Gang

-a small brad for center of flower

-heat gun

Step 1:

Spray both sides of the coffee filter with your favorite ink or stain - I do this in an old box.

Step 2:
Use your heat tool to dry the coffee filter.

Step 3:

Using your paper punch, cut out 4 scallop circles - you'll get 8 because the coffee filter has two sides.

Step 4:

Pile together all 8 scallop circles and poke a hole in the center; secure with a small brad.

Step 5:

Gather each layer towards the center of the flower.

Step 6:

After all 8 layers are bunched upwards, carefully fluff them out to your desired fullness.

You can make these flowers as big or as small as you wish depending on the size paper punch you use. For my samples, I used a 2" Stampin' Up scallop circle punch. This was the "first" time I've made these, but it won't be the last - I'm hooked now!

I'd also like to share a card I made- not a first, but a thirty-first anniversary card for my husband.

Yeppers, 31 years with this man......I'd do it all over again and I hope I get another 31 with him!

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial and card! And now you're off to visit Chris at Craft E Mama's Craft Haven. Enjoy the rest of the hop :)

A Triple Challenge at Crafting by Designs

2011-08-02T21:31:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! This week at Crafting by Designs, we have a Triple Challenge, and boy was it fun! The first part of the challenge was Use Your Stamps: make a project using either a digi stamp or a rubber/clear stamp you haven't used in a while. I made both!

This adorable digi image is from CD Designs and was so much fun to color!

For this card I used a Unity stamp and sentiment I've had in my stash for a while, and paired it up with some patterned paper from K&Co on a kraft cardstock base.

The next part of the Triple Challenge was to make a CAS card, and here's mine:

This quick card was made with a kraft cardstock base and a clear stamp set from The {Stamps} of Life and some chalk inks, a little stickles and a scrap of dyed seam binding.

The last part of the Triple Challenge was a Color Challenge with some fantastic colors!

I chose the light pink, hot pink and black colors and used a digi stamp and sentiment from The Cutting Cafe. This challenge kept me busy this week, but boy was it fun! Want to play along with us at Crafting by Designs? Send me an email and I'll send you an invite!

StampersBest: Borders and Frames Challenge

2011-07-30T18:08:00.001-04:00

Come join the 1st YouTube/StampersBest Challenge! Create a project using any of the Borders or Frames rubber stamps from StampersBest.

How to enter: Post a video response showing your project to the challenge announcement on StampersBest YT channel by Aug. 31st (no mail in).

The winning entry gets: $50.00 to spend on anything in store at StampersBest.com

Add your entry at: YouTube/StampersBest

Go shop at: StampersBest.com

Find more inspiration at: StampersBest.blogspot.com

Want a coupon to save 10% off your StampersBest order? Use code msb10off at checkout.

Getting back to scrapping

2011-07-29T19:25:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! When I started this crazy paper crafting hobby of mine 10 or so years ago, I was a scrapper. I made scrapbooks for gifts, for friends, for my parents, for my kids, but I never made one for me. Then my hobby took a turn to the Cricut for a while, but I still scrapped. Then somehow I started making cards, and put my scrapping on hold. How'd that happen? I've got enough 12x12 paper stacks to climb up to the moon and back, so it's not that I don't have any paper. Was I missing my scrapping mojo? Maybe.....well my bleeps, I think I've found my mojo push. I stumbled on a wonderful blog that has some of the best page layouts I've ever seen and it's given me the push to pull out the photos and catch up on my scrapping.

If you need a mojo push for your scrapping, stop by Scrap a Little Sketches and check out all the great layout sketches from Helen Croft. Some of my fellow crafters from Crafting by Designs will be joining me every week when we challenge ourselves to do at least one layout per week to help us get caught up. Want to join us? We've got room for more members at Crafting by Designs; just send me an email and I'll send you an invite!

A fun copic challenge

2011-07-23T13:05:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! I forgot to post this card yesterday - it's this week's second challenge at Crafting by Designs. Our challenge was to use summer colors on our project: yellows, blues, reds, and I had the perfect summer image to go with these summer colors.

It's one of my new stamps from StampersBest. I fussy cut the image after it was colored with Copics, and just popped it up on a piece of cardstock from the DCWV Mariposa stack, added a sentiment from The Cutting Cafe and a piece of dyed seam binding - easy peasy summer colors birthday card :)

Use Your Scraps

2011-07-22T16:29:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! It's roasting in NJ - 104.6 in my backyard...in the shade! Even the birds aren't splashing in the water fountain today, and the pool water is like bath water. So this heat calls for quick crafts, and I have a new one to share with you. One of the new challenges at Crafting by Designs is Use Your Scraps, and our challenge is to create a card or layout using the first 3 pieces of patterned paper scraps and one piece of solid scrap you see in your scrap pile, and make stripes out of them on a white or black base.

Easy peasy! I used a Martha Stewart corner punch on the end of each piece for a little added interest, added a digi stamp from The Cutting Cafe which had been tinted with Lindy's Stamp Gang startburst stain, and a piece of seam binding that has been dyed with Lindy's Stamp Gang Tibetan Poppy. This card took less than 5 minutes - it took longer to tie the bow :) So come on, get those scraps out and use them!

What do you do with all your projects?

2011-07-18T22:45:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! This morning I went into my craft room to start playing with my new stamps from Stampers Best, but first I had to clean off my desk, put away the cards I finished last week, take a few pictures. When I make cards and they come out really well, many times I'll make two or three of them. One will go right into the box for Operation Write Home (as long as it meets their requirements of A2 size and no glitter), and one will go into my box for when ever I need a card. But really, how many cards do I need? I thought maybe it's time to open up that Etsy shop again. I enjoy sharing my cards and I did pretty well with my shop, but this time I decided to try Art Fire. I don't want my cards to just sit in a box, I want someone to enjoy them, and since I've got pictures of most of them, the process is going pretty quickly.

So that got me thinking - what does everyone do with all their cards? I'm getting a headstart on my holiday cards, and I always keep a big stash of birthday cards (remember June), but most of us don't craft to become rich. We'd go broke buying all the supplies! Well, let's see how this works out :)

Christmas in July!

2011-07-16T13:19:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! It's another beautiful weekend in NJ and I'm going to two BBQs today - smile :) But next to a day spent with good friends and good food is a day spent playing with new stamps. Yesterday I got a whopping box full of brandy-spankin'-new stamps from Stampers Best and I can't wait to dig in!

I picked a lovely assortment of summer, fall, winter, love, Thanksgiving, nature, and vacation stamps. There must be a hundred new items to choose from and it was tough to narrow down my list. But what I couldn't resist at all were the new snowmen; I've got a thing for snowmen. Here's two cards I made for this week's CAS Challenge - Christmas in July at Crafting by Designs.

Cute, right? It was even more fun making snowmen cards when it's almost 100 degrees outside. And what's Christmas without presents? For all my crafty friends, here's a 10% off coupon code for Stampers Best when you sign up for a FREE Premium membership, so you can get some new stamps too :)

Cards for a wedding

2011-07-14T19:20:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! My bestie's daughter is getting married soon and that means I need a few wedding cards. I've been looking for just the right design for a while now, but sometimes you just need to let the design come to you. So when I went into my craft room yesterday, I pulled out a bunch of paper, put some back, took more out and waited until the ideas started flowing. Here's what I came up with:

I did some embossing on this creme cardstock and used a scrap of the cardstock I used for to make the bridal shower invites, and added a touch of vintage lace for this first card.

This design was sort of CASED from a card I saw in a challenge a while ago and added some Prima flat back pearls to dress it up a bit.

This card is my favorite, and made from scraps - I saved a pretty scrap piece of white and creme vellum to add on top of the creme cardstock base, a piece of ribbon, a pretty paper flower from Jolee's, some rub-ons and a few more flat back pearls. Now I'm off to share these with my crafty friends at Crafting by Designs.

Some new stamps and a new adventure

2011-07-07T20:52:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! How'd it get to be Thursday already? Do your days get mixed up when there's a holiday on a weekday? Mine do - I kept thinking it was Wednesday all day.

I've been playing with my new stamps from Stampers Best and wanted to share two little summer cards.

These two stamps were so fun to use - and the cards will be part of the first two challenges at a new little craft community called Crafting by Designs. Fun, fun, fun.....

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T11:59:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland and happy July 4th! I have one quick card to share with you today before I head off to a family BBQ.

I love to make scrap cards and this was a fun one. A white cardstock base made the white stripes, a few pieces of a red patterened paper for the red stripes, a tiny piece of blue, some white stars from Recollections, and three EK Success embellies to announce the picnic today. I even used my white pen to make some faux stitching and ta-da, all done.

Have a safe and happy day today!

How sweet it is!

2011-07-01T10:44:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland and happy Friday! I've had a busy week and am finally catching up on my blog reading. I was so surprised and honored to find that two very talented ladies have given me blog awards! The first is from the very talented Mary at For The Love of Art.

The second is from the equally talented and super sweet Yvonne at One Creative Mama

There's absolutely no way I can pick who to send this to - I have a nice long blog list and I admire each and every one of them for sharing their incredible talent with me, so if you're reading this, I'm sharing these wonderful awards with you. Thank you so much Mary and Yvonne for these great awards; I'm so honored you thought of me!

Black and White card

2011-06-27T13:08:00.002-04:00

Hello blogland! Today I have a black and white card to share with you that was super easy to make. I love border stamps; you can do so much with them. I decided to use this stamp instead of a piece of lace and used some Versa Mark and white embossing powder to make it then fussy cut it out (which didn't take long at all).

The white cardstock was embossed with a Sizzix embossing houndstooth folder, and I used a scrap piece of ribbon right on top of the stamped image to give it a little dimension. The sentiment and lace border stamp are both from Stampers Best, and if you haven't checked them out you need to skeedaddle right over there. There are lots of brand new stamps to choose from too. I got a few new stamps from them last week and plan on playing with them all week.

I've already stamped each of these images and I'm working on a bunch of projects that I'll share later this week. And if you notice, there are two snowman stamps in this pile - it's time to start working on Christmas cards! I try to do about 3 or 4 a week starting in July so by December I've got a nice stash all ready to go.
So head on over to Stampers Best and if you sign up for a FREE Premium Membership and it's your first order, use my discount code of mbs10off and get 10% off your first order. When you're done there, stop by the Stampers Best blog HERE and see my little black and white card :)

Cricut Imagine - it works!

2011-06-26T15:53:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! This is just a quick follow up to Friday's post about my brandy spankin' new Cricut Imagine. I received a replacement cartridge from Provo Craft, did the initial update and it works beautifully! Here's a quick little project I made yesterday using the Imagine More Cards cartridge.

I cut it out without using all the layers, but did layer the two little yellow flowers on top of the red and white ones, just because they were so darned cute and wanted to use them. I need to figure out how to resize items before they're cut, and next I'll hook it up to my Gypsy and really get at it.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend - I am :)

Cricut Imagine, here I come!

2011-06-24T20:14:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! Last week I took the plunge and got myself a brandy spankin' new Cricut Imagine. My delight, however, was short lived when I discovered I had a bum Imagine More cartridge and couldn't do the initial update. But Provo Craft came to the rescue and sent me a new one. So tomorrow I'll be crossing my fingers that all goes well and I can start playing with the newest addition to my craft room!

I'm sad because Simply Scrapping Crafts is closing and I won't have a weekly challenge for a while until I find a new challenge site to play at. But I will have some brand new cards made with my new Stampers Best stamps next week. If you haven't checked out Stampers Best, please skedaddle over there and take a look at their brand new slew of stamps.

As I leave you, take a peek at this card made with my favorite House Mouse stamp. Life's short, eat dessert first!

One Creative Momma's Blogoversary Blog Hop

2011-06-22T12:00:00.002-04:00

Hello blogland! If you've come here from Lucianna at Dilsaverdesigns for the One Creative Momma's One year Blogoversary blog hop (that's a mouthful), welcome - you're in the right place! I'm helping Yvonne celebrate her one year blogoversary with yet another birthday card. Since I've been on a roll making birthday cards for June, I was happy to share another for the blog hop.

This little birthday card was really fun to make. I cut out the red doily from a piece of Jillibean Soup cardstock and added two Special Moments embellies and a sticker from SRM. Easy peasy! A little dimension, a little color and a big birthday wish! Check out some other of my June birthday cards below.

EDITED: Here's the original birthday card I made for this blog hop - it got lost in the transfer from my old laptop to new laptop, so I just re-took a quick picture to share with you!

I've been seeing these lacey layers on lots of cards lately and like the effect. I happened to find a piece of patterned cardstock from DCWV that matched the layers and just kept going; next was the Maggie stamp that I fussy cut and popped up for a little dimension and another birthday card was done :)

Now on to your next stop on the hop Paula at Alluringinkspression.

Another birthday card for June

2011-06-21T20:53:00.002-04:00

Hello blogland! The June birthdays continue and I have another one to share with you. This card is one of the fastest and simplest cards I've ever made.

I used scrap pieces of DCWV cardstock cut with a Stampin' Up square punch, a bit of Martha Stewart bakers twine, and a small Unity stamp and viola - all done! I've got two more birthday cards ready for this month and I'm done for a few weeks. Whew!

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for a Blogoversary blog hop with Yvonne at One Creative Momma. Guess what our theme is - birthdays! Love it :)

Check out the new Stampers Best Blog

2011-06-17T18:42:00.009-04:00

Hello blogland and happy Friday! I don't know how the weather has been by you today, but it's just crazy in NJ today. The three "h's" - hazy, hot and humid means one thing: thunderstorms and boy have we had some doozies today! I'm typing fast because the sky is getting black again and I think round three is on it's way.

If you've ready any of my little posts you know I'm in love with Stampers Best stamps - just love 'em. Well they're got a brand new blog and they've featured one of my cards - squeel!

These stamps are from the Summer Tile set found HERE. I colored each one with a different Copic color family and popped it up on the embossed white background, added a little strip of yellow ribbon and a clear sticker from SRM stickers. Easy peasy!

Please go check out their blog HERE and their great store HERE. And to make things a little sweeter, get 10% off your first order when you sign up for a FREE Premium Membership by using my discount code found in the left sidebar (msb10off).

Thank you so much

2011-06-16T20:51:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! Birthday month continues and I had a lovely one. Birthdays require thank you cards and I'd like to share one I made this week:

This card was so simple to make - I started with the flower. I took 7 plain daisy petals from I Am Roses and sprayed them with Red Hot Poker Orange Starburst Stain from Lindy's Stamp Gang. After they were dried, I folded 6 of the petals into quarters and hot glued them to the base petal and topped it off with a pearl button in the center.

This card was for last week's Clean and Simple challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts. Be sure to stop by and check out a new CAS challenge tomorrow.

June is birthday month

2011-06-08T20:52:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! We're only 8 days into June and already I've needed 5 birthday cards. I love June. I hate June. Don't get me wrong - June is the best month of the year because my birthday is in June too (tomorrow in fact). But everything seems to happen in June: birthdays galore, several anniversaries, Father's Day, graduations. That's a whole lot of cake and a whole lot of cards. Here's a few I'd like to share with you:

For this card I used two stamps from Stampers Best - the plaid background is one of my new favorites.

This card was also made using two stamps from Stampers Best - I layered the flowers for a dimensional look. Go check out Stampers Best - the best red rubber stamps I've ever used! And to celebrate my birthday, get 10% off your first order by using my discount code in the left sidebar.

For this little card I used a Unity stamp and a small Stampin' Up stamp.

And for this last set I used another favorite from {The Stamps of Life}

Now I've got to get busy on a few Father's Day cards and a graduation card for my daughter.....after my birthday!

What a week!

2011-06-03T17:47:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! Whew - what a week it's been! Summer has come early to NJ and I've spent a lot of time outside this week. I've been planting the rest of my flowers and getting some vegetabled in the ground too; all the patio furniture is out and cleaned and ready; I even got the garage cleaned out! And now it's time for some me time in my craft room. Check out this black/white card I made for this week's CAS Challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts:

I just love clean and simple cards, and this was such a fun card to make, and it took me 5 minutes. I've had a stack of American Crafts Pearl cardstock for the longest time and decided to pull out a piece of the white. I punched out two 1.5" scallop circles from the white pearl cardstock and one black 2" scallop circle from black cardstock. To make the flower, I folded the white scallop circles in half then cut a small slit between the scallops, not quite going all the way to the fold; this makes the little petals. I just glued the 2 white flower halves onto the black scallop circle and added a fancy brad to the center. Viola - instant flower. To make the white background, I cut a piece of the white pearl cardstock and ran it through my Big Shot with a Sizzix embossing folder then added a piece of sheer white ribbon and a sticker from SRM. I topped it off with a scrap piece of black/white check ribbon and this little card was done! Go check out all the great stickers at SRM - this little "hello" has a clear background so it just blends right in.

Operation Write Home Memorial Day Weekend Blog Hop

2011-05-28T10:00:00.002-04:00

Hello blogland and welcome to my stop on the Operation Write Home Memorial Day Weekend Blog Hop. You should have come here from Patty at Patty Creates blog, but if you're lost, click on the banner at the top to get to the start of the hop. If this is the first time you've stopped at my little blog - welcome!

For my "missing you" project this weekend I'd like to show you a clean and simple card using a Sizzix embossing folder and a small Stampin' Up stamp which was cut out with a Nestabilities scallop circle die.

This card was in my last box of cards that was sent to Operation Write Home and I hope it made someone smile when they sent it to a loved one. When my Dad was in the Army in 1940 there wasn't an organization like this that provided cards to write home, so I'm pleased that I help our service men and women in a little way with a few cards.

This card will be going in my next box of card to OWH - I made it for this week's Clean and Simple Challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts. The background was created by using Lindy's Stamp Gang Ponderosa Pine Olive spray, then I heat embossed the Band of Brothers stamp from Stampers Best, used some Tim Holtz salvage stickers, some faux stitching on the side, and 3 acrylic stars and it was done. What a good message to remember as we celebrate this Memorial Day weekend - Freedom isn't free.

Now on to your next stop on the hop - Amanda at Who are You Calling Crafty? Enjoy the rest of the blog hop!

A challenge for Breast Cancer Awareness

2011-05-20T19:29:00.002-04:00

Hello blogland and happy Friday! Another week has flown by, but I've got a great Clean and Simple Challenge to share with you from Simply Scrapping Crafts. This month there are lots of walks for Breast Cancer Awareness, and the DT gals and I decided to devote this week's challenge to that. Check out these great inspirations cards from the team:

Doris

Angie

Amy E.

Amy M

Paula

Yvonne

We had a great time working on this challenge - as you see, it doesn't always have to be just pink. Yvonne and I both used Lindy's Stamp Gang products on our projects this week - love that stuff! And Lindy's is our sponsor this month for the CAS Challenge group at SSC, so be sure to stop by and check out our challenges for your chance to win a great prize package.

Another Cricut Corner Challenge Project

2011-05-17T19:08:00.002-04:00

Hello blogland! I didn't get to post this project from Simply Scrapping Crafts Monday Cricut Corner Challenge yesterday, we were having a bit of a problem loading or posting for a few hours. This week's challenge was to make a project using either the Multi-Cut or Mix and Match features and here's what I came up with using the Wild Cards cartridge:

I've had my Cricut Expression for a while now and have never used the Mix and Match feature before and let me tell ya', this is quite a time saver! Instead of taking my mat in and out after each cut, this allows you to use several different functions like shadow, icon, layer, etc. without having to unload your mat between each cut. I cut all the pieces for my card and envelope using the Mix and Match and only had to remove my mat to add more paper for the larger envelope.

This whole project took me about 10 minutes because I saved so much time using this feature. I'm sure it's going to get used much more in the future :) Be sure to stop by SSC to see more inspirations projects for this week's challenges and check out the great prize from this month's sponsor Lindy's Stamp Gang.

One last thing - I want to wish a very happy birthday to my Design Team mate Angie Smith - please stop by her blog HERE and leave her some birthday love today.

A new Clean and Simple Challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts

2011-05-13T18:54:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland and happy Friday! I have a new Clean and Simple challenge to share with you from Simply Scrapping Crafts. Our challenge this week was to use masking on our projects and I had a ball doing this project. I hadn't used my masks in a while but it's really easy, like the reverse of stenciling.

For the mask I used a large Tim Holtz borderline mask and sprayed my white Bazzill cardstock with Lindy's Stamp Gang's Treasure Island Aqua Moon Shadow Mist, blotted it and heat dried it. I added my sentiment from Stampers Best Someone Special Sentiments set using Stampin' Up Taken with Teal ink. The flower was made using 3 layers of a Stampin' Up 5 Petal Flower punch on a piece of white cardstock that had been sprayed with Lindy's Stamp Gang's Delphine Turquoise Starburst Stain and topped off with a mini mulberry rose colored with Tibetian Poppy Teal Magical Mica from Lindy's. It sounds like a lot of steps, but this card took me about 5 minutes to make from start to finish. Using the sprays from Lindy's Stamp Gang let me decide how light or dark I wanted the background and the Moon Shadow Mists get a two toned effect when heat dried. The shimmer is beautiful! Go check out all the companies I highlighted above then stop by Simply Scrapping Crafts CAS challenge and our great sponsor this month: Lindy's Stamp Gang.

Happy Mother's Day Monday!

2011-05-09T22:48:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! I hope all the Mother's had as lovely a Mother's Day and I did! And since it's Monday, it's time to share this week's Cricut Challenge from Simply Scrapping Crafts. We're still reviewing the features and functions of the Cricut machines, and this week's challenge was to use the Center Pointe Feature. I have to admit, I've never used this button before and had no idea what to use it for. But the videos the DT has been sharing has been a good review and I have to tell ya', I was impressed that the Cricut Expression can do that. After choosing my paper, my idea was to make a few cuts for a Mother's Day card I was making for my Mom. But after making the cuts I changed my mind about what to make and here's what I came up with:

Whatcha think? This card took me about 5 minutes to make - I kid you not! The paper I used was from the DCWV Mariposa stack - I cut one piece of 12x12 in half to make a 6" square card base. The flower and sentiment were both cut from the Mother's Day 2010 cartridge. The flower cut actually belongs to a pinwheel and I decided to cut it in 2 different sizes (2 inches and 3 inches), I curled the edges under with the end of a thin paint brush, stacked them all together and used the mini I Am Roses bud to secure everything. Easy peasy and Happy Mother's Day Mom! Here's a closer look at the flower:

Be sure to stop by Simply Scrapping Crafts and check out this week's great challenges and all our May sponsors.

A new Clean and Simple Challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts

2011-05-06T23:00:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland and TGIF! Where did this week go and how did it get to be May already? Well it's Friday and I have a new CAS challenge to share with you from Simply Scrapping Crafts. We have a fabulous sponsor this month: Lindy's Stamp Gang! Woo-hoo! Our challenge this week was to use white and only one other color on our project. Here's our sketch:

And here's my sample:

This was a really fun challenge - I love pink and I love Lindy's products so this was a no brainer for me. To keep my project just pink and white I used a plaid background stamp from Stampers Best and instead of ink I used VersaMark to stamp the image and added white embossing powder. After heat setting I sprayed on Lindy's Cotton Candy Pink Stain and heat set again. Presto - I had my pink/white plaid paper. I did the same for the sentiment paper this time using a Michael's dollar stamp. I tore each piece, added some Basic Gray bling, some ribbon from My Favorite Things and I was done.

Want a chance to win a great package of products from Lindy's Stamp Gang? Then join me over at SSC every Friday in May for a brand new Clean and Simple Challenge.

A new Cricut Challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts

2011-05-02T21:39:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! It's Monday and that means a brand new Cricut challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts!
We're still going through some of the basic features of the Cricut machines, and this week's challenge is to use the Flip feature. Here's my little project:

Card Recipe:

Cardstock: DCWV

Die cutter: Cricut Expression

Cartridges used: title - Sweethearts; animals - Live Simply

Other: Zig 2 way glue

Feature used: Flip - used on turtle

This was a really fun and simple project! I had never used the Flip feature before and it worked out great for this card. I flipped the turtle to face the right so he was nose-to-nose with the hare - the perfect pair :)

Be sure to stop by SSC this week for all new challenges - something new each day!

One last CAS Challenge for April

2011-04-29T20:04:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! It's Friday and that means a new Clean and Simple Challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts. This week's challenge: use a non-craft item on your project. I have to admit, this one really made me think outside of my comfort zone - and it took me a while to come up with something for my project.

But once I got an idea, I think it turned out pretty cool. My non-craft item is the big white flower made from....white Michael's plastic bags!

How did I do it? I cut up a few bags, taking off any portions with writing, and making rectangles of the cut pieces. I then layered 3 or 4 pieces, turned my iron to high, and put the rectangles between two towels. I then began to iron the pile and kept the iron moving. This can take a few minutes, but the plastic rectangles melt together to make a leathery feeling swatch. I used the Tim Holitz Tattered Florals Sizzix die and cut two of the large, medium and small flowers; creased all the petals in half upward to give the flower some dimension; used a small hole punch on all the centers and used a large K&Co. brad in the center. Whatcha think? I'll definately be making these again, lots of fun!

Be sure to stop by SSC and check out all the challenges - something different every day of the week!

Monthly Blog Hop from Simply Scrapping Crafts

2011-04-25T10:08:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! If you've come here as part of the monthly blog hop from Simply Scrapping Crafts - welcome! Our challenge this month was to make something for our current season. I live in the US and spring is finally here - flowers and trees are waking up and birds are chirping and singing. With this in mind, here's my project to share with you:

This was a really fun project to make! The cardstock is from Colorbok and the ribbon is from Michaels. The birdcage and bird are grunge board that I cut using a Tim Holtz Alternations die from Sizzix. I used some Starburst Stains from Lindy's Stamp Gang HERE: Cocoa Bean Copper for the cage and Winter Jasmine Gold and Tibetean Poppy Teal for the bird. After this was dried I covered the bird in VersaMark and several coats of UTEE embossing powder. After it was cooled, I bent and cracked the UTEE on the bird.

It made a great effect - almost looks like the lines of it's feathers. I added a copper pearl for the eye and some copper brads at the bottom of the cage and I was done. A happy little spring card to make someone smile.

Be sure to check out all the things we have going on over at Simply Scrapping Crafts - daily challenges, Copic classes, card workshops, and much more. Enjoy the rest of the blog hop!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T18:07:00.001-04:00

Khrystos Voskres! Christ is Risen!

Voyistynu Voskres! Truly He is Risen!

Happy Easter!

A new Clean and Simple Challenge

2011-04-22T18:53:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! This week has just flown by and I have a new CAS challenge to share with you from Simply Scrapping Crafts. Our challenge this week was to use paper piecing on a project and I had a blast with this one. Here's my project:

I chose a My Favorite Things Pure Innocence Stamp for this project. I stamped it once on white cardstock then stamped it again on this DCWV patterned paper and carefully cut out just the dress and after coloring the original stamped image with copic markers, I added the cut piece right on top. Easy peasy! I added some Stampin' Up chocolate chip ribbon, a few I Am Roses mini roses that I edged with Distress ink, rounded the card corners and I was done!
Come check out the other great inspiration samples for this week's CAS challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts HERE and the great prize from this month's sponsor My Favorite Things.

A tisket, a tasket, a little Easter basket

2011-04-19T11:09:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! First, I want to wish a happy 25th birthday to my daughter Amy! My post from yesterday didn't post for some reason, so this is a belated shout-out to my birthday girl:

Next, here's a cute little Easter basket all ready for some treats. I made it for this week's Cricut Challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts.

This week's challenge was to make a project using these features on the Cricut: Fit to page; Fit to length; or Real Dial size. I used the Easter 2010 cartridge to make this simple little basket and used the Fit to Page feature. Easy peasy! Be sure to stop by Simply Scrapping Crafts each day for another great challenge!

New Stamps at Stampers Best

2011-04-16T21:19:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! It's another cold, rainy day in NJ - so much for spring! But what better way to spend a rainy day then playing with new stamps! I've been playing with some new stamp sets from Stampers Best - have you checked them out lately? Take a peek at these:

Butterfly collage

Spring Tiles

Grunge Chandelier

These are just a few samples of the new releases at Stampers Best that you can find HERE. They offer deeply etched red rubber stamps either mounted or unmounted and the best cling cushion made - I love it! Are you in the mood for a sale? If you sign up for a FREE Premium Membership and enter the coupon code mbs10off during check out you'll save 10% off your first order- easy peasy! Go check out Stampers Best - you won't be sorry! Later this week I'll have some completed projects using my new stamp sets.

A new Clean and Simple Challenge

2011-04-15T18:44:00.001-04:00

Hello blogland! Ah, finally Friday! This week just flew by :) I have another Clean And Simple project to share with you today from the weekly CAS Challenge at Simple Scrapping Crafts. The challenge this week was chosen by the very talented Amy Everson and she chose a monochromatic theme. I thought that would be simple....until I got started. I wanted to reach for different colors, but instead chose shades of orange:

Card Recipe: Stampin' Up and DCWV cardstock; misc. stamps; My Favorite Things lace border; Prima embellishments; glue dots and 3m glue.

Once I got going, this challenge was really fun! Please stop by SSC and check out the other great inspiration projects from my fellow CAS team members HERE. Our sponsor for this challenge this month is My Favorite Things and they've given us a great prize for one random winner. While you're there check put the other great weekly challenges - there's something for everyone! There's even a Design Team Call still going on for a few more weeks.

I'm having the best week :)

2011-04-14T19:10:00.003-04:00

Hello blogland! I'm just having the best week - how about you? I can hardly believe it - I've gotten another lovely blog award this week from the fabulously talented Lisa at Paws4thought. She is the new Copic Challenge Director at Simply Scrapping Crafts and one of the nicest people - please go check out her blog and leave her some love.

This special award comes with the rules that I must follow in order to accept this award.

Thank the person that gave this award to me and link it back to their blog.
Share 8 things about myself.
Pass this award to 8 other individuals that I have recently discovered and am inspired by.
Leave a comment on their blogs so that they can pass along the recognition!
Pass along an award of recognition to some other lucky stylish bloggers out there.

Ok, here we go:

I love to cook, but cannot make a good hard boiled egg.
I kicked a very bad coffee habit about 10 years ago, but still crave it
I have a very bad paper hoarding problem
Chocolate still gives me a migraine headache - sad, right?
My newest craft obsession is Copic markers
My newest Kindle book is "Water for Elephants"
I'd rather be outside playing in the dirt than inside playing in my craft room (sometimes)
I'm the foster mother to a box turtle and 4 of her babies

I'm going to leave this lovely blog award up for grabs for any of my followers, it's just too hard to choose who to give it to and I think you all deserve it. Thanks again Lisa, I'm honored and grateful.

My First Tilda Stamp

2011-04-13T11:55:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! Wow - this week is just flying by! Here it is Wednesday already :) I want to share a card I made with my very first Magnolia stamp - meet Tilda:

I had such a ball coloring this little cutie! I entered her into a bi-monthly challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts in the Magnolia Lovers Group HERE. Stop by and see all the lovely creations from these talented artists!

Simply Scrapping Crafts is still looking for a few more Design Team Members. Go HERE for all the details:

It's wonderful place filled with talent, challenges and friendship - stop by and join us!

Ready for Easter Goodies

2011-04-12T17:07:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! I have another little project to share with you - it's my project for this week's Cricut Challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts:

Our challenge this week is to show the differences in using the correct speed, blade depth and pressure. Here's the project recipe:

Die cutter: Cricut Expression
Cartridge: Easter 2010
Size cut: 2.5"
Pressure: vellum, 3; cardstock, 4
Speed: vellum, 3; cardstock, 4
Blade depth: vellum, 3; cardstock, 6

Easy peasy when you take just a minute to use the correct settings. Please stop by SSC HERE and join in the Cricut challenge this week!

A new Clean and Simple Challenge

2011-04-10T16:32:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! Boy am I behind in my blog posting this week - I have a new Clean and Simple challenge to share with you over at Simply Scrapping Crafts. Our challenge this week was to make either a card or layout based a this sketch and here's my card:

This was a fun challenge - I wanted to use several punches and dies for this card and I used three. The scallop border on the left and the yellow rose were made using metal Die-namics dies from My Favorite Things - I love 'em! They cut so well, so clean through so many different materials. I used thick yellow felt for the rose and the Die-namics cut through it like butter! For the three small top note shapes I used a Stampin' Up punch and added some Prima bling.

Be sure to stop by at SSC and check out all the challenges we have going on and come join the fun! See you there!

A lovely blog award

2011-04-10T15:53:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! How's your weekend going so far? They sure do fly by fast, don't they?

I got such a lovely surprise when I read the comments on my last blog post - The Versatile Blogger Award from the very talented and oh-so-nice Yvonne at OneCreativeMama.

Thanks so much Yvonne - I'm honored! The rules to accepting this award are to thank the sender, tell 7 crafty things about yourself and share this award with 10 fellow bloggers. Ok, here we go:

I have a paper hoarding problem :)
I also have a stamp hoarding problem, but I love to use my stamps
I'm finally done removing my wood mount stamps from the wood blocks and have them all stored in CD cases and they're all catalogued
Sometimes my ATG gun and I don't get along too well
I love my Cricut and Gypsy but don't use them nearly enough
I could color all day with my Copic markers
My newest favorite tool are Die-namics metal dies from My Favorite Things

After making my list I saw that it was just about the same list as Yvonne's, so I'm putting this award up for grabs to any of my followers who would like it. Be sure to stop by Yvonne's blog and check out her beautiful work!

Another CAS Challenge on SSC

2011-04-03T11:02:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland and happy Sunday! I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday but I have another Clean and Simple card to share with you:

I made it for this week's CAS Challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts - go check them out HERE. I used one of my new favorite Die-namics dies from My Favorite Things and you can find them HERE - it's the 1/4" Rosette die and is so easy to use. After I cut out the 2 strips, I used a Martha Stewart Eyelet Border Punch on one side, shaped the flower, secured it with a glue dot at the bottom and under the button and viola - done! The border strips at the top of the page were scraps and match the colors on the button in the center of the flower.

Be sure to stop over and join the fun at SSC - we have a great new sponsor in the CAS Challenge this month: My Favorite Things and they will be sending a $25 gift voucher to a random winner drawn on May 1. Plus the call is still on for a few more Design Team members so stop by and check it out!

Stampers Best - Stamps and a Coupon

2011-03-30T21:49:00.002-04:00

Hello blogland! I cannot believe that the weatherman is talking about a few inches of snow heading to NJ tomorrow! What happened to spring? Oh my....well, while I'm waiting for my tulips to thaw out, I've been playing with some new stamps from Stampers Best. I am so excited to be joining their Design Team and love working with their rubber stamps! They're deep etched red rubber and come mounted or unmounted. Take a peek at my very first project:

I just love pink and black combos and this French Swirl background stamp was perfect for this. For a step-by-step tutorial to make this card go HERE. In honor of joining their Design Team, Stampers Best is letting me offer my readers 10% off their first order when you sign up for a FREE Premium Membership. Just enter the coupon code mbs10off during check out - easy peasy! Now go HERE to check out their beautiful stamps and if you're unmounting some of your wood block stamps like I did, be sure to check out their Cling Cushion which comes in sheets and bulk rolls too.

It's Friday and that means a new Clean and Simple Challenge

2011-03-25T18:09:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! It's finally Friday and that means it's time for a new Clean and Simple Challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts! This week's challenge is to use texture on your card and the my fellow DT gals and I came up with some pretty good looking cards - take a look:

Here's our inspiration sketch

Here's my card - do ya' love it? I used a Sizzix Swiss Dot embossing folder on the card base, some ruffled pink ribbon and I made these cute little pink felt flowers with a Die-namics rolled flower die from My Favorite Things. Easy peasy!

Here's Angie's adorable card - love those lady bugs on the ribbon!

Here's Amy's card - look at those yummy colors!

Here's Paula's beautiful card - so pretty!

And here's Yvonne's card - just look at that yummy cupcake!

Please stop by Simply Scrapping Crafts HERE and play along with us. By adding your CAS card to our challenge you have a chance to win this great prize that will be drawn on April 1!

And there's still time to apply for a spot on a few of the Design Teams - stop by SSC for all the details!

And spring is gone.....for now

2011-03-23T17:36:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! Mother Nature is a funny gal - NJ woke up to SNOW this morning! My poor little tulips and daffodils are so confused! Look at these little crocus shivering:

I just heard the weather forcast for later tonight and not only can we get more snow, we may get THUNDERSNOW! Oh that Mother Nature - what a funny gal she is! How did she know that we put our snow shovels away last weekend when it was 75 and sunny? I hope she has her laugh and tomorrow morning when I wake up it will be all gone and spring will have returned!

Spring is finally here!

2011-03-20T14:09:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland and happy spring! It was a long hard winter in NJ and I'm so glad that today is the first day of spring. Time to hear the sound of birds chirping instead of snow blowers buzzing. Time for all the tulips and daffodils to wake up and show us their beauty. And it was with this thought in mind that I decided it was time to play with some of my favorites: flowers from I Am Roses and some sprays and stains and magical micas from Lindy's Stamp Gang:

I painted these flowers with Magical Micas, dried them, curled and layered them and viola - spring!

The recipe for both cards is simple: ribbons from My Favorite Things; skeleton leaves and flowers from I Am Roses; Starburst stains and Magical Micas from Lindy's Stamp Gang. Easy peasy!

Enjoy the first day of spring!

New CAS challenge posted and a Design Team call

2011-03-18T15:18:00.002-04:00

Hello blogland! It's Friday so that means there's a new Clean and Simple Challenge posted over at Simply Scrapping Crafts - come on over and play along! This week's challenge is to make the focal point of your CAS card a SPRING theme. Here's a peek at the sketch and my card:

I made my card from a kraft cardstock base and used a Sizzix Daisey die to make the flower. The stamp is from Stampin' Up as well as the twine. Easy peasy! Be sure to stop by SSC and play along for a chance to win this great prize package:

Do you think you've got what it takes to be a designer for Simply Scrapping Crafts Store? SSC Store is seeking new Design Team memers to proudly represent our store on our Ning Site. You can apply by heading over to the SSC website HERE for all the details and contacting Judy Law. There are still openings in these Challenge Catagories:

COPIC: Seeking 3-4 Designers
COLOR: Which is Cards/Layouts Seeking 3-4 Designers
CAS: Seeking 2 Designers

Call Deadline: Sunday April 15, 2010

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T10:52:00.002-04:00

Hello blogland and Happy St. Patrick's Day! On this day I think of my grandparent's grandparents who came from different parts of Ireland to the United States. All I am is because of my ancestors and I'm proud to share that Irish heritage with my family. Today I thought I'd share a few pictures that I took on a trip to Ireland a few years ago.

This is one of the beautiful sights found in the Ring of Kerry.

Looking up at Blarney Castle, just before we kissed the Blarney Stone.

My daughters Sara and Amy at the edge of Ireland at Slieve League.

The sun peeked out while we stopped for pictures at this pretty spot.

Enjoy your day and may the luck of the Irish be with ya'!

An Irish Blessing

2011-03-15T12:20:00.000-04:00

Hello blogland! Are you ready for St. Patrick's Day this week? Everyone's Irish that day! I made this little card using non-traditional colors. What do you think?

This lovely stamp and sentiment are from Flourishes and can be found HERE. The base cardstock is from DCWV, the ribbon is just a random piece from my stash and the pearl embellishments are Prima. But a new product for me that I'd like to share is the white panel from My Favorite Things that can be found HERE. These pre-cut panels are the perfect size for an A2 card and are fantastic to use with Copic markers as I've done here. They come in white and cream and I just love 'em - be sure to check them out!

And now for an Irish Blessing:

May you always have

A sunbeam to warm you

Good luck to charm you

And a sheltering angel

So nothing can harm you

New CAS challenge posted at Simply Scrapping Crafts

2011-03-11T19:50:00.002-05:00

Hello blogland! It's Friday and that means it's time for a new Clean and Simple Challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts. Come on over and play along with us! This week's challenge was to use a patterned paper for our background or card base and here's what I came up with:

Card base: DCWV
Patterned paper: DCWV
Sentiment: My Favorite Things, Pure Innocence Stamps
Border: Die-namics scallop border from My Favorite Things
Embellishments: Prima

Take a look at this great prize package from this month's sponsor Simply Scrapping Crafts:

Want a chance to win these goodies? Come on over to SSC, join the CAS Friday Challenge and check out how. Hope to see you there!

CAS card challenge

2011-03-08T21:24:00.001-05:00

Hello blogland! This week is just flying by for me - here it is Tuesday already! Want to see what I've been working on? Here's my card for the Clean and Simple card challenge going on every Friday over at Simply Scrapping Crafts - come on over and join us!

To make this 3-D effect, I stamped my images right onto the card base then again on a separate piece of cardstock and carefully cut them out. I rolled the butterfly wings around a pencil to make them stand up a bit, added a small dot of glue to the bottom then centered them on top of the first stamped image. Easy peasy! The butterfly stamp and sentiment are from Unity Stamps, the inks used are from Stampin' Up, the border strip is a Die-namic die from My Favorite Things.

Be sure to stop by SSC each Friday for a new CAS challenge - hope to see you there!

OWH Bunny Blog Hop

2011-03-05T09:30:00.005-05:00

Hello blogland and welcome to my stop on the Operation Write Home's Bunny Blog Hop! If you've come here from the very talented Linda at The Stampers Torch, you're in the right place! If you're lost, go can go to the start of the hop HERE.

Spring is less than 3 weeks away and I can't wait! It's been a tough winter and I'm looking forward to the little flowers that are starting to poke their way through the frozen soil in my garden. The crocus and little daffodils and tulips are waking up and soon will bring a welcomed splash of color to the rest of the sleeping garden. It was with that in mind that I made the following cards to share with you today:

This little card was made using some white cardstock layered with a piece of DCWV cardstock. The gerber daisey stamp is from Flourishes and can be found HERE. I colored them with a few copic markers and found a piece of matching ribbon in my stash - a pretty little "Thank You" card for my next OWH box.

Just a quick reminder, the deadline for getting Easter cards delivered to the OWH mailers is March 18 and the Mother's Day card deadline is March 31. If you've never made cards for OWH, you can all the details HERE.

If you're a first time visitor, thanks for stopping by and I hope you come back again! And now your next stop on the blog hop is AMY at THIS BUSY GIRL Enjoy the rest of the hop!

Holey Moley, I'm excited!

2011-03-02T16:41:00.002-05:00

Hello blogland! I'm so excited I think I'm gonna bust - I applied for a position on the Design Team of Simply Scrapping Crafts and was accepted! I'll be working on CAS (clean and simple) cards but there is something here for everyone. Want to know how to use Copic markers? There are classes and challenges offered for that. Do you like scrapbooking? There are classes and challenges for that too. Do you like working with digital images and stamps? That's there too. Come on over and play with us HERE and be sure to stop back on Friday to play along with my first CAS challenge. Here's a sneek peek:

See you there!

Pure Innocence Stamps from MFT

2011-02-27T14:42:00.001-05:00

Hello blogland! I hope you're enjoying your weekend - I'm busy cooking a birthday dinner for my oldest daughter today but wanted to share two little birthday card I made with my new Pure Innocence stamp from My Favorite Things. They are the sweetest little images and new images are due to be released on March 1.

They were both made with cardstock from DCWV and embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder, and colored with Copics. The top one was cut with a Nestibility die and the botton was cut with Martha Stewart border punch. Easy peasy!

Back to the kitchen for me, but before I go I want to remind you about the Operation Write Home Bunny Hop on Saturday March 5th - please join us for the fun! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

It's birthday week!

2011-02-23T12:44:00.000-05:00

Hello blogland! It's birthday week in my house - today my baby turns 20 and on Sunday my oldest turns 27. They've gone from sweet chubby babies like this....

To beautiful young women like this:

Where-oh-where did all that time go? Wasn't it just yesterday that I was changing diapers and picking up toys and reading them stories? Sigh......Well I need to finish getting tonights birthday dinner and cake ready, so enjoy the rest of your day :)

A Friday thank you card

2011-02-18T23:01:00.002-05:00

Hello blogland!
It was a be-U-ti-ful day in New Jersey today - 72 degrees! A little taste of spring as I watched most of the snow melt on my lawn. It was fun while it lasted because the temps are going to dip back down into the 30s this weekend.

After dinner I headed to my craft room to get a thank you card made and here's what I came up with:

I made this card from scraps I found in my stash. The card base and patterned papers are all from DCWV, the border is cut from a Tim Holtz Sizzix border die, the florish is also a Sizzix die, both oval punches, ribbon and the sentiment are all from Stampin' Up. Easy peasy! I'll be adding it to my box of cards that are going to Operation Write Home. They're a great organization and if you've never heard of them, please check them out and consider making some cards for them. But first I'm going to add it to the weekly card challenge over at Simply Scrapping Crafts. Wanna play? Come on over and join us HERE.

Enjoy your weekend!

Simply Scrapping Crafts, oh my...

2011-02-17T20:29:00.001-05:00

Hello blogland! Have you ever found a blog or group or place that just seemed to have something for everyone? I'm sure there are kabillions like that in blogland and to each their own, but have you ever visited Simply Scrapping Crafts? If not, you should! I found this great group a few months ago from a link on the Cricut Message Board and have been happily lurking around getting inspiration :) I like what I make, usually, but when I see some of the things these super talented ladies make, I feel like a kid in kindergarden who is just learning how to use a crayon :) But I'm getting brave and joining some challenges and am looking forward to more. And, they are now offering classes on Copic markers - not certification classes, but very comprehensive classes for people like me who have joined the world of copic markers and don't know what they can do. There are tons of different groups including photography and digital stamps. Go check them out - you won't be sorry!

CAS cards

2011-02-15T17:06:00.002-05:00

Hello again Blogland! Two posts in one day for me- holy moley! I wanted to share a few CAS (clean and simple) cards:

Clean and simple - easy peasy too :) Want to play along? Hop on over HERE and join the Creative Card Challenge at Simply Scrapping Crafts.