So Hard To Say Goodbye

Hey to you all. It's been a little while since my last post. Things have been pretty hard around here. We recently found out that my mother has breast cancer. Many of you know that I am a cancer survivor. My heart is heavy not only with my moms diagnosis but with the knowledge of the road ahead for her. This is such a tough fight.

With that, I am going to lighten my stamping load. I cannot believe that I will have to scale back but I know that with the summer approaching and the need to spend as much time with her as possible something will have to give. Ugh. I've been part of Sharon Johnson's stamping team for such a long time. I have had so much fun working with Sharon and all of the rest of the Stamp Simply team. Sharon has such an amazing challenge each week and I have truly been blessed to be a part of it. A couple of months back Sharon asked for each team member to host the first challenge each month. It's somewhat kismet that my turn up is now. For my last official challenge I am contributing a sketch to keep your stamping simple. It's an EPLS {easy peasy lemon squeezy} to help you whip up a card in no time flat. Here's a shot of the actual sketch.....

My card for this one uses one of my favorite stamps from The Stamps of Life. Take a peek.....

The paper I used for this one is from Jillibean Soup. Head on over to Sharon's fabulous blog for the rest of the link list for the Stamp Simply team and to see Sharon's beautiful sample.

Thank you again, Sharon for asking me to join your team. It's truly been so much fun and such an honor to work with you! :) You are such a sweetie!

I will be back to post you all next week. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I am happy to say that I am taking a little break from all that is my 'regular' life to head on over to one of my LSS to see some of my stamping friends! What a welcome trip this is. I will share some pictures once I get back. :)

Take care each of you!

Stamp Simply Time

Back again...and I'm going to confess to a weeee bit of sssstttttrrreeeeeeeettttcccchhhinnnggg of todays challenge. Today's challenge is to use a bit of chipboard....mine is sort of chipboard'ish in a cork-board kind of way. So sorry, I'm in the process of cleaning everything down stairs in my stamping space and I have NO clue how to find my chipboard yet! Yikes! It's a mess down here. See what happens when you get a wild hair to 'organize'. Anyhoo, you can find all of todays challenge deets over at Sharon's fantabulous blog along with the DT link list to all of the beautiful samples of the rest of the team. Here's my sample....

The paper for this one is Jillibean Soup. The ribbon is PTI. The sketch is from CPS. LOVE this weeks sketch.

Hope you have a wonderful day! I will post you soon!

Stamp Simply Time

It's time for another Stamp Simply challenge. This weeks challenge is to create an Easter card. I have a little something different than my usual for this one. One of my friends {Lisa} is a photographer and she always takes the cutest pictures of her dogs for the holidays. They are always dressed up so cute! Here's the shot she took of one of her dogs, Nola.
How cute is she! I decided to 'borrow' Lisa's photo of Nola and print it off on a transparency so that I could add it to a card. Here is the final product.....

The photo doesn't do this one justice. I love the subtle coloring from the photo. It's really beautiful when you see it IRL. Here's a close up.....

The sentiment is from one of my favorite Papertrey Ink sets. You can always find the perfect sentiment in the perfect card size with their stamps. The paper is also PTI as well as the ribbon.

Be sure and check out Sharon's beautiful sample as well as all of this weeks challenge deets at Sharon's blog. You can also view the rest of the samples here.....

Deb Neerman: Paper, Ink, Scissors & Stamps

Marlene Bender: the March guest designer

Barb Anders: Paper Pursuits;

Jenny Gropp: One Krafty Kat;

Tammy Hershberger: Stamp Happy;

Janine Orchard: 2bKrafty;

AJ Otto: The Willow Garden;

Deb Saaranen: Dream In Color; and

Barb Schram: Explore. Dream. Discover.

Be sure and load your samples to SCS using the keyword ssnotime132. Hope you all get the chance to play!

Have a good one! I will post you soon! :)

Stamp Simply

It's time for another fun Stamp Simply challenge. I so love this challenge. This weeks challenge is to create a Clean & Simple card using texture. I really enjoyed this challenge. I love adding dimension and texture to projects especially anything CAS. I like the contrast and the challenge to keep a project truly CAS while adding to it. Here's what I came up with.....

I used the new Unity KOTM for this one. I also added some Jillibean Soup patterned paper. I popped up the gumball machine and then paper pieced the bottom portion while adding a bit of Crystal Effects. Here's a close up....

That's it for me. Be sure and check out our fabulous leader, Sharon's sample at her blog and then take a peek at the rest of the Stamp Simply team.....

Deb Neerman: Paper, Ink, Scissors & Stamps

Marlene Bender: the March guest designer

Barb Anders: Paper Pursuits;

Jenny Gropp: One Krafty Kat;

Tammy Hershberger: Stamp Happy;

Janine Orchard: 2bKrafty;

AJ Otto: The Willow Garden;

Deb Saaranen: Dream In Color; and

Barb Schram: Explore. Dream. Discover.

Hope you all get a chance to play with this one. Be sure and upload your creations to SCS using the keyword ssnotime131 if you do.

Have a wonderful day! I will post you soon! :)

Get Well

It's time for another fun Stamp Simply challenge. This week we are making get well cards. I pulled out some older Unity for this one. Take a peek.....

You can find all of the deets on this weeks challenge at our talented leaders blog....Sharon Johnson. Also be sure and check out the rest of the team.....

Deb Neerman: Paper, Ink, Scissors & Stamps - February Guest Designer

Barb Anders: Paper Pursuits;

Jenny Gropp: One Krafty Kat;

Tammy Hershberger: Stamp Happy;

Julie Koerber: Out to Impress;

Janine Orchard: 2bKrafty;

AJ Otto: The Willow Garden;

Deb Saaranen: Dream In Color; and

Barb Schram: Explore. Dream. Discover.

Be sure and upload your creations to SCS using the keyword ssnotime128.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I will post you soon!

Stamp Simply

I LOVE Sharon's Stamp Simply challenge this week! This week we need to create a 'recipe' card. By that you need to create a card using a tab. You can find all of the deets over at Sharon's blog. I love adding tabs to cards. Whether they are paper or metal I think they add such a nice touch to any project. My card isn't exactly a 'recipe' card....but it does have a tab. Take a peek....




I used one of the beautiful sentiments from this months Unity KOTM. LOVE this one! Be sure and check out the rest of the team....

Deb Neerman: Paper, Ink, Scissors & Stamps - February Guest Designer

Barb Anders: Paper Pursuits;

Jenny Gropp: One Krafty Kat;

Tammy Hershberger: Stamp Happy;

Julie Koerber: Out to Impress;

Janine Orchard: 2bKrafty;

AJ Otto: The Willow Garden;

Deb Saaranen: Dream In Color; and

Barb Schram: Explore. Dream. Discover.

Be sure and upload your creations to SCS using the keyword ssnotime127.

Have a wonderful weekend! :)

Stamp Simply....Post #3

Me again! It's been a busy day of posting for me! This is the third for today. We were gone this past weekend so it's been pretty quiet over here so it seems a bit crazy with everything today!...but in a fun way! Now it's time for Sharon's Stamp Simply challenge. This weeks challenge is to create using the colors purple and green. I used a bit more from the Unity KOTM for this one. Take a peek.....

I really love this sentiment. I stamped it twice and then cut out the butterfly to pop it up a bit. The paper, ribbon, and button are from PTI. The patterned paper is Bo Bunny.

Be sure and check out the rest of the team....

Deb Neerman: Paper, Ink, Scissors & Stamps - February Guest Designer

Barb Anders: Paper Pursuits;

Jenny Gropp: One Krafty Kat;

Tammy Hershberger: Stamp Happy;

Julie Koerber: Out to Impress;

Janine Orchard: 2bKrafty;

AJ Otto: The Willow Garden;

Deb Saaranen: Dream In Color; and

Barb Schram: Explore. Dream. Discover.

If you get the chance to play with this fun challenge be sure and upload your creations to SCS using the keyword ssnotime126.

Post you all soon! :)

Simply Vintage

Hey Peeps! It's Stamp Simply time. This weeks challenge...vintage. You can get all of the deets over at Sharon's blog while you are checking out her fabulous sample. I decided to use a little something from Making Memories Vintage collection for this one to create a baby card. Take a peek....





Here's a close up of the cute heart.....





I really love the crinkle paper behind the heart. It's one of my favorite elements of this embellishment.


Be sure and check out the rest of the team......Which I would list but for some reason I am not able to copy and paste with the links attached. We just updated the internet explorer so I have to cut and paste my images now. I'm guessing there is a trick to copying the link list but that is for another day! When I am not dragging myself to bed! ;) Soooooo tired! We had a no school day here. We woke up to freezing rain. I'm not sure I remember this type of thing in the entire time I've lived in Indiana. So weird! I will take snow over ice any day!

I'm off. I will post you all soon. I'm not sure if I will be posting before Monday. Big game this weekend! Go Colts!


Have a great weekend everyone! :)

Simple Flair

It's time for another Stamp Simply challenge and this week I am combining it with the Unity Friends with Flair. How fun is that! ;) This weeks challenge is to create a little something 'springy'. You can find all of the deets on Sharon's blog.

I pulled out some of my favorite Bo Bunny for this one along with one of my MOST favorite Unity sets! Take a peek.....

Now head on over to see what the rest of the team came up with.....

Michelle Woerner, December Guest DesignerJanine OrchardJulie KoerberAJ OttoTammy HershbergerDeb SaaranenBarbara AndersJenny GroppBarb Schram

Be sure and upload your beautiful creations to SCS using the keyword ssnotime122.

Hope you all have a wonderful day! :) Hugs!

A New Love!

Hey Everyone! Back again. It's snowing here. Can I tell you how excited my kiddos were when they finally heard they would have a two hour delay in the morning? Can you remember the days of waiting to have school cancel or start late? They are so cute! It really makes me giggle! ;)
Ok....time for another Stamp Simply challenge and I am soooo excited to be using some NEW Flower Soft and Unity for this one! New Kit of the month and New super FINE Flower Soft! You can find the new Unity kit now over at the Unity site but the new Flower Soft will be introduced at CHA in just a couple of weeks with product ready for purchase Feb 1. You will not believe how AMAZING this is! I LOVE the new colors and just love how tiny each little 'flake' is. You can really create some amazing detailed creations with this!

Soooo....with this weeks Stamp Simply challenge:

Deets: ssnotime121 -- Love is in the Air - With Valentine's Day as our next major card-giving day on the horizon, let's get something ready to add to our stash. How about a card using a heart, Valentine or lovey-type theme -- no other rules -- let's just add to our stash with some hearts and/or lovey type cards -- and if you need a wedding card, this would be the perfect challenge for that too -- let's just love it up this week!!! No other rules - just run with it and have some fun!!! (Thank you, thank you, Sharon for typing that up for me! ;)) ....Sounds like fun, right?!


You can view Sharon's beautiful sample over at her blog and be sure and link up your beautiful creation there as well.


My sample......with a bit of Jillibean Soup......

I used the fine Flower Soft to outline the love sentiment. I really love how detailed this product is. You can find more information about Flower Soft at there website (specific product details on the fine Flower Soft coming Feb 1). You can find the new Unity KOTM at the Unity site.



Be sure and check out the rest of Sharon's team:


Michelle Woerner, December Guest Designer
Janine Orchard
Julie Koerber
AJ Otto
Tammy Hershberger
Deb Saaranen
Barbara Anders
Jenny Gropp
Barb Schram

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I will post you soon! :)

A Simple Gift

It's time to Stamp Simply and what perfect timing here! I am trying to finish up all my last minute Christmas gift giving so this weeks challenge is perfect! The one catch with this weeks challenge is to use 'snow' in our projects. Here's what I came up with....

I've spent the entire day baking. I have a huge plate ready to go for my hubby to take to work tomorrow, lots of plates for friends and about a dozen little boxes (as pictured above) for my children to take to school tomorrow for their teachers and the school staff. Phew! What a day!

These little goodie boxes are holding my homemade turtles. These are sooooo EPLS to make. All you need are caramel, milk chocolate, and pecans. Layer a baking sheet with pecans, cover with caramel. Bake in an oven pre-set to 200 degrees for around 5 minutes and then dip in melted chocolate. So easy but boy do they taste so GOOD!

The little boxes are from Michaels. I used the snowflake Martha Stewart punch for the border of the red card stock. The patterned paper also had glittery snowflakes but the picture doesn't quite show that off. The stamp is from Papertrey Inc.

Be sure and check out the rest of the team.....

Michelle Woerner, December Guest Designer
Janine Orchard
Julie Koerber
AJ Otto - will post mid-day on Friday
Tammy Hershberger
Deb Saaranen
Barbara Anders
Jenny Gropp
Barb Schram

And don't forget our fearless leader, Sharon Johnson.

Hope you get a chance to play. If you do, be sure and upload your creations to SCS using the keyword ssnotime118.

Post you all soon. I'm off to watch the rest of the Colts game and then off to bed! ....if I can actually stay awake long enough to see the whole game! ;)

Have a good one! :)

Stamp Simply

It's time for this weeks Stamp Simply challenge. This weeks challenge is to make a 'tag'. All of the specifics can be found at Sharon's blog. This one is ssnotime116 for uploads to Splitcoast. When you get there and read the specific instructions you will see that I have sort of strayed off task just a wee bit. Here's the deal. I pulled out some new BoBunny for this project. Everything is from the A Gift Of Love line. It's ADORABLE! I LOVE this line! Well, one of the stickers said 'Dear Santa, I can explain everything'. Instantly I knew I had to use this sticker. We've had a bit of a rough morning. Everyone is home today and the older two were having a 'moment'. (that sounds much better than fighting...denial...I live there) Anyhoo, I figured I would make a tag to include with our cookies for Santa. We are gonna need it this year. So on my way to a tag I ended up with a mini 'tag' book.

Here's the cover:

While I was trying to decide how to put everything together. You know, the cookies and such, I remembered a little glitter incident that took place here just a couple of days ago. Actually, I remembered it because I still havent' gotten all of the glitter out of the carpet down here. Then I remembered walking downstairs only to find the fish tank full of toys and cookies. Holy smoke I know a little boy that really needs to make his own explanation book! So here you go.....

The glitter. I have a couple of small drawers that are filled with glitter containers of various sizes. Hey, I'm a glitter nut! I guess he decided it was really fun to play with and he said when I caught him...'Mommy, it's just like sand'. Honestly! Lost are about a dozen bottles of glitter. Some of those were the really big Martha Stewart containers.

Ok....the next picture is not for the faint of heart. I didn't take the picture until after we got the toys out. My older two boys were really upset as they thought the fish were all crushed. The entire tank was filled with train tracks, cars, stuffed animals, and cookies. I think he may have sprinkled a little bit of glitter in there as well. All I know is that the cookies feel apart when I tried to get them out and the toys all went in the trash. YUCK!

***Remarkably, NO fish were killed in this incident. How that is possible I do NOT know! And that is what our fishtank looked like after all of the toys were removed. It's still not perfectly clear. I'm afraid I will kill the fish if I changed to much water at once but we are working on it.

Do you love this face? Holy smoke! This is the look that he gives everyone this year! Everywhere we go he is scrunching his entire face up. No matter what the situation or who he is looking at. And there I am, just shaking my head.

This is the epitome of Hayden. Crumbs on his lips, hat on backwards, sweaty....what more needs to be said.

Then you have those really sweet moments when you just want to squeeze his little cheeks. For as mischevous as he can be he is a zillion times sweeter. He's a sweetie. Yeah, I know, he really doesn't need this book to help him out with 'santa'. But she is really going to love looking back on it in the future!

Hope you all enjoy! Check out the rest of the team.....

Michelle Woerner, December Guest Designer
Jennifer Buck
Janine Orchard
Julie Koerber
AJ Otto
Tammy Hershberger
Deb Saaranen
Barbara Anders
Jenny Gropp
Barb Schram

I will post you all soon! :)

Wrap It Simply

Back again for this weeks Stamp Simply challenge. I popped back in just in time for some super fun holiday challenges. Sharon always has such great challenges that really help to get us ready for the holidays. I really love that! For more on the challenge and a super BEAUTIFUL sample from our fearless leader you can check out Sharon's blog.

This weeks challenge is 'All Wrapped Up'. Create a little 'somethin', somethin'' that's wrapped. Love it! To keep it simple I pulled out a window bag and filled it with some yummy brownies. Then I created a hand made ornament for the bag tap that can easily be removed and then hung on a Christmas tree. Take a peek.....

Here's a closeup of the tag on the ornament....

The stamp is from The Stamps of Life. This is the November release set. This set is one of my favorites. The glitter is from Martha Stewart. This is the tinsel glitter. I feel in love at first site. How fun is that sparkle!

Be sure and check out the rest of the Stamp Simply team:

Bethany, November Guest Designer
Janine
Julie
AJ
Tammy
Deb
Barbara
Jenny
Barb Schram

Hope you all have a great weekend! I will post you all soon! :)

Simply Step Away From the Kraft

It's time to Stamp Simply! This challenge is super fun and so Simple. ;) Sorry...couldn't resist. This week we need to create a card with a leaf image but you also have to sponge as well. You can get all of the deets overe at Sharon's fantabulous blog while you are checking out her amazing sample.



Get the kraft out! ;)



Seriously! I realized as I was snapping a shot of this weeks card that I have been OD'ing on the stuff lately! EPLS...CAS (clean & simple)....and kraft. Lately I am just loving it and just can't seem to pull myself away! I think I need a mini challenge for myself. You know, to create something bright and a wee bit wild! ;) I will work on that this weekend. lol.



Ok...back to this FUN challenge! Here's what I came up with.....

LOVE this leaf! This is from Unity Stamp Co. I used a sentiment from PTI. Uh, yeah....just used this one. It was still sitting on my acrylic block and looked perfect for this one. I sponged the leaf first with ink then covered it with a little glossy accents. It needed to shine a bit. Added a few holes and a bit of stitching...easy.

Be sure and check out the rest of the team....

Charlene, September Guest Designer

Janine

Julie

AJ

Tammy

Deb

Barbara

Jenny

Hope you all get the chance to play. Be sure and upload your creations to SCS using the keyword ssnotime106.

Post you all soon! :)

A CAS Stamp Simply Challenge

Today will be a busy one for me. It's Thursday night which means it's Stamp Simply time and in just a bit marks another Just Rite blog hop. I so love a good challenge so you know it's been a fun week of stamping here!



This week Sharon's challenge is to create not only a Clean and Simple card but to only use black or brown ink. I pulled this one out for this weeks challenge....

Now head on over to the rest of the Stamp Simply team and be sure and check out Sharon's fantabulous sample! :)

Charlene, September Guest Designer
Janine
Julie
AJ
Tammy
Deb
Barbara
Jenny

Post you soon! :)

Simply Halloween Flair

Happy Day! :)

Today's challenge is a bit of a combo for me. Today is one of my favorite challenges....Stamp Simply....and it's also Unity's Friends With Flair day. You can find all of the Stamp Simply deets at Sharon's blog while you are checking out her fantabulous creation. All of the Friends With Flair over at the Unity blog.

We are making Halloween cards today. I absolutely love making things for Halloween. I used one of my favorite Unity Halloween images for this one. Take a look....

I really love those little spiders.

Now check out the rest of the Stamp Simply team.....

Charlene, September Guest Designer
Janine
Julie - Julie is taking the night off tonight!
AJ
Tammy
Deb
Barbara
Jenny

Enjoy the rest of Friends With Flair and if you get the chance to play with this weeks Stamp Simply challenge be sure to upload your creations to SCS using the keyword ssnotime104.

Have a great day! :)

Over Stamped!

;) Happy Friday! :) It's Stamp Simply time! :)

This weeks challenge is to stamp a sentiment over your stamped image. You can find all of the deets over at the fabulous Sharon Johnson's blog. This is ssnotime103.

I pulled out some new Unity for this one. This set is actually not available just yet but will be soon.

I stamped the ornament and then overstamped the sentiment. I also added a little Glossy Accents from Ranger. The paper is Papertrey Ink.

Be sure and check out the rest of the Stamp Simply team.....

Charlene, September Guest Designer
Janine
Julie
AJ
Tammy
Deb
Barbara
Jenny

Hope you all have a great day! I will post you soon! :)

Step On Out!

Taking a step out of my comfort zone. I love this type of challenge! Every now and again you can find yourself in a bit of a rut. You get in your 'safe' spot and just sort of coast through it. Thanks to Sharon this week we are all going to take a little detour. Are you ready? We are at ssnotime102 for this one if you are uploading to SCS.

Where do I begin? First I pulled out some of my favorite Crate Paper. Ok....not quite out of my comfort zone. I've really never met a piece of Crate that I didn't LOVE! Next up, Papertrey....? Yeah, yeah, I know....more that I LOVE! So far I'm sure your scratching your head wondering when I'm going to actually follow this weeks challenge. Well, take a peek.....

Masculine. That's a place I don't often go. I'm really not sure why I don't do that very often. One reason pops to mind....no ribbon! As in no big whoppin' bows! I live in a house full of boys so I will take any opportunity to slap a bit of ribbon on something and usually the only one is a card!

Take a closer look at the stars.....

I used Stampin Up's new silver paint. Being as impatient as I am I decided to dry it with my heat gun. I really love the way it sort of bubbles up. It was perfect for this. Don't you love it when something works out that way. ;)

Ok....now check out the rest of the team.....

Pat Adam, August Guest Designer
Janine
Julie
AJ
Tammy
Deb
Barbara
Jenny

I will post you all soon. Hope you have a good one! :)

It's Stamp Simply time! This one is ssnotime101 :) This weeks challenge to create with polka dots. I just happened to have this cute little polka dot paper from the Little Yellow Bicycle with these cute little polka dots that I thought would be perfect.


The sentiment is one of the rub ons that coordinates with the paper. EPLS!

Now head on over and check out the rest of the team....

Pat Adam, August Guest Designer
Janine
Julie
AJ
Tammy
Deb
Barbara
Jenny


Have a wonderful day! :)

Stamp Simply Friend, Take Two

...Take Two because I apparently don't know what day it is! This weeks challenge is to create a card for a friend. ;) Hmmm....sounding familiar? Sorry, I think I had my days mixed up in my small flying freakout last week. Those of you who have been reading my blog for a long while will know that I am so terribly afraid of flying for some very good reasons! But we will skip that and move on to the super fun challenge for this week!

All the deets are over at the super talented Sharon Johnson's blog. I pulled out a new stamp set, well, new to me. This one is from Papertrey Ink...it's one of super sweet Lisa Johnson's sets, On My Couch.

Love this set and the sentiment is so cute! All of them are actually!

Now be sure and check out the rest of the Stamp Simply team....

Pat Adam, August Guest Designer
Janine
Julie
AJ
Tammy
Deb
Barbara
Jenny

I will post you all soon! Hope you all have a great one! :)