It's A Two-fer

It's a two-fer! I have the lofty goals of completing lots of challenges today...well, like five minutes ago! There are some really fun ones out there. Unfortunately...there's just not much time...so, it's a two-fer! I am combining Sharon's flap challenge with Beate's inspiration challenge for this one. Here's the flap open....

...and here it is closed....I am thinking I am going to have to take these pictures over again tomorrow. It's dark and they just aren't coming out right. Here's what stinks about this card....my fingers had a bit of ink on them and I got a few smudges on the image piece. Aaahhh! What a total drag. I tried to fix them but it really didn't work. Tomorrow is Hayden's first birthday! Can you believe it! ...I am a bit behind the eight ball around here trying to get stuff ready...so there really isn't any time to fix this any better than this. Sorry...

On the plus side....that inspiration piece was awesome! So love the colors and layout of the piece. What a great project...and the flap seemed to fit for me.

Hope you are all having a great day. I am hoping to get a scrapbook page in for Hayden turning 1...still can't believe that it's been a year! Wow! It just really does fly. I am also hoping to finish a few more challenges. ...I also have a few PTO things for tomorrow...yeah....lofty goals!

Thanks so much for stopping by...and thank you so much for your kind words. You are all so very sweet. I am so lucky to have such great blogging buddies!

Take care and I will post you soon! :)

Thanks Julie!

Ok...so Julie Koerber was such a sweetie to offer to help me figure out Photoshop so that I could create a blog banner. Have you guys checked her blog out? She rocks!

...anyhoo, I've been working on trying to figure the whole thing out for a few weeks....not having any luck. I just couldn't get past the 12x12 digi-paper I was using. Last night I was blog browsing and came across a place that you could purchase a banner for 2 bucks! I figured that would hold me over until I could email Julie and get some direction from her. If you came by yesterday you saw a really cute banner with a couple of birds on it. Super cute.

...first funny thing...I called my friend Bobbi...you guys hear me raving about her all the time! She rocks also!...and what's the first thing Bobbi says?....'that just doesn't look like you'! I so love her! You know you're great friends when you can really be honest! Love that!

...so then I am just obsessed with fixing it...and by that I mean making my own! Thanks soooo very much to Julie! I couldn't email her last night as I had hoped as Hayden is getting a new tooth and super cranky. I had to cut my night short and go take care of the poor little guy who just wouldn't stop crying. But I get a chance to email Julie today and when I ask about my prob with the paper she says...'crop it'.

....duh! She's such a genious...and I am a little afraid to admit that, well, that just hadn't occurred to me! We will just go with the whole I was thinking about it to long thing....but really...just didn't even cross my mind!

...and viola...a banner is born. Albiet a pretty simple banner...but one that Bobbi does agree looks a bit more 'like me'! ...love her!

Ok...you've read this far...I am going to share another card with you....sorry for the ramble but I really wanted to thank Julie for all of her help...she is soooo awesome....and Bobbi for being honest.....Thanks so much you guys! You are great friends!

...and on to the card.....it's another from the 'You Know Your Old When' set from Gina K....soooo love this set!

Just love this little guy! He is just the cutest thing!

One more quick question....When I had Bobbi check out the final product the banner did not come up. If you are viewing this and have the same problem please email or post. I'm not quite sure what was up and am hoping I have it fixed.

Hope you are all having a great day and I will post you all soon!

Another GinaK

How much do I love this set! It's such a fun one to play with! I'm talking about Gina K's You Know Your Old When set. Love it! Here's my latest...

The inside of this one says 'getting lucky means you found your car in the parking lot'! How funny is that! ...and how sad that at the ripe old age of 39 I can totally relate to this one! ;)

Loving this set!

Well I am off to finish a few things around the house and then I am hoping to get some more stamping in. I still need to do Sharon's flap challenge...that sounds like such a fun one! I am going to check out Beate's inspiration challenge...so looking forward to that! ....and I actually made it to the GinaK forum last night and there are a couple of challenges there as well! One here and one here! So much stamping so little time!

Hope you are all having a great morning and I will post you soon! :)

How Exciting!!!

You all have to check this link out....Bobbi rocks! How awesome is that card! I so loved it when I saw it! ...and look at her go! She is so awesome! How cool is she and how cool is that card! You can check out more of Bobbi's great stuff here. She rocks!

Congrats, Bobbi! This is such a cute card!

Take care and I will post you soon! :)

How Cute Is He!

You know how I love this set! This is from the Tickle Your Funny Bone 'You Know Your Old When' set from GinaK. It's sooo much fun to play with. ...and this little guy! He's too super cute! Something about him reminds me of my Grandaddy. Anyhow....I masked a bit to use the teeth...which crack me up!...and here you go...

How funny is this! The inside of this says '...you and your teeth don't sleep together'! Talk about a crack up! I think I am giving this to my husband this year! ;)...just kidding!

Hope you are all having a great day! Thanks so much for stopping by! I am off to pick up at school and get a few things done around here.

Take care and I will post you soon! :)

Gotta Love The Cake

Hello to you all! Hope you are having a great Sunday morning! We've thawed out here and are having a wonderful warm day...inside! It's still kinda cold outside but better there than here!

I've got another quick GinaK to share with you. I so love this set! ...oh, sorry. I've said that before! ;) Anyway, here's the card...

You've gotta love that cake! It's the cutest! I wanted it to look like a party so I added the buttons and brads to the already dotted paper hoping it would look like a bunch of confetti. Hope you all like this one.

Have a wonderful afternoon! I will post you all soon! ;)

It's 50 Degrees!!!....INSIDE!

So we wake up this morning thinking it feels kind of cold inside. I don't really think that much about it as my husband is home and he really likes it cold. I figured he forgot to turn the thermostat back up before going to bed last night. Once I get downstairs I realize there is a problem! The thermostat is set to 71 and it's 60 inside! By the time the air people get here it's in the 50's!

So...we have a broken whatch-a-ma-thingy and do you know it's going to cost over $800! ...Ok...luckily I purchased a contract thingy with them last fall. You know when I did it I thought I was waisting money! Turns out it just paid for itself! Although we had to pay for the service call we did not have to pay for the $800 watch-a-ma-thingy! Whew! What a relief!

So now the temp is back up to around 60...my fingers are thawing...now maybe I can get some stamping done! I am off to try a couple of challenges and finish up a couple of other projects.

I hope you are all having a great day! I will post you soon!

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge

How fun to finally have a chance to stamp! It's been another long and crazy day!...fun but crazy! I thought I would start the weekend off with Beate's weekend sketch challenge. I am using another GinaK for this one. I so love this stamp set! It's a definite fav!I'm glad you all stopped by! I hope you are having a great night! I am calling it a day. Quick post...quick card. I look forward to sharing more with you this weekend!

Take care! :)

A Little Quick EPLS

I can't believe it's been since Tuesday since I've posted! What a crazy week! On the plus side...my desk is soooo super clean! You all are safe viewing here today! ...probably won't last...but today is a safe day! ;)

So how much do I love my Gina K's! Wow! These are such fun stamps! I have had so much fun playing with them. I have a few things to share but I will start with something that is EPLS.

This is one of my favorite hearts. It's just so cute and whimsical. I love it. Yes, this is probably one of the easiest cards around but I really like it. I used stickles. I really don't have very much experience with them....but they are sooo sparkly. I love them as well.

...just a giant love fest! ;)

Hope you are all having a great night. I am off to bed. I have a couple of cards to finish but unfortunately I am out of mini-glue dots! What a drag! I will have to make a quick Michaels run in the morning.

Post you all soon! :)

Beate's Inspiration Challenge

How excited are you that Beate has added an inspiration challenge to her week! I was thrilled! When I saw the little purse! Wowza...those are some awesome colors and what a funky fresh design! :)...So excited to play!

So what's really funny about this today? Do you ever start a project heading in one direction only to completely turn around and go someplace else entirely? ...I do this often!...and tonight is no exception! There is a little something I wanted to try with my copic markers...it turned out really neat to! That I will have to share later...I will have to incorporate it in a different card because the black from the purse made me pull out...of course, black card stock, which reminded me about Beate's chalkboard tutorial...she's so creative!...I was in love with this technique the moment I saw her card! How beautiful! I love the contrast of color! It's just so vibrant and beautiful! Awesome!

...so I pulled out my new Polka Dot Basics set and started playing around...and the next thing you know the whole thing had changed...no copics only chalks...using the chalkboard technique...So love this technique!

Here it is.....

Funky, fresh ...or just funky...I don't know but man look at that color! You gotta love the technique! It soooo rocks! Love it! Thanks so much, Beate for another fun challenge and for another great technique! I so love this one!

Hope you are all having a great night! I am off to get a little sleep. Tomorrow I have promised myself that I would spend the day cleaning my stamping area! This card probably took three times as long as it should have to complete because my desk is such a mess! I would take a picture and show you but then I think you would all have to run out for an update to your tetanus shot! It's a disaster!

I hate the stamp-n-search game that I have been playing for the last week! It's no fun! Besides...Hayden is not only tall enough to grab everything that is left on top of the desk...he is now really curious about everything he sees! He covered himself with a glass of water this afternoon right before bed. I'm just glad the computer wasn't near him when this happened!

Y'all take care and have a great night! I will post you all soon!

How Sweet!

Ohmygoodness! How sweet! How sweet!

Yesterday I read a post from Julie asking me to check out her blog...I headed over to find out that she had 'tagged' me with this .....

Ohmygoodness! How sweet is she! I have been fortunate enough to get to know Julie a bit and I must say she is such a sweet person. So super nice and very helpful....not to mention extremely creative!...and did I say sweet?...She is super, super sweet! Thank you so much, Julie! That is so nice of you and such an honor to me.

Well, I was getting this post ready...my tag list is super long! ...hope there is no minimum...one of the people on the list of course is Terrie! I was first reading some of the new posts only to find that she beat me to the punch by nominating me with this...

Terrie is another sweetie that I have been fortunate enough to get to know a bit by blogging. She is awesome! ...and also super creative!...and also...super, super sweet! Thanks so much, Terrie! You are such a great person and I am so honored that you chose me.

These gals both rock! Rock!

You all rock! How am I going to choose anyone! So is there a limit to this? Because quite frankly...I can't narrow my list down! Are you reading this right now? Guess what, tag!

I so love each of you! You are all so completely awesome! I am so inspired by each of you every day! Yup, I have a difficult time getting dressed every day to...trying to narrow down a list of all of you is impossible!

Thanks so much to each of you for always being so super creative, super supportive and just plain nice! Your all so awesome!

Big hugs to each of you! Have a great day! ;)...and pass it on!

P.S. Terrie...I usually check my blog on my laptop...the volume is always down as it is usually someplace that I need to be quiet....and windows always makes such yucky sounds... I had no idea you had such great tunes on your blog! The boys were getting funky with their bad selves! ;) Love it! I will have to remember to turn up the volume next time! :)

You Gotta Have Friends

Well I'm finally finished! ...sort of.... I made Angie a phone book for all of her 'old' friends and all of the new ones she will make in her new home. :(...insert sad face here! I still need to add the page tabs...They are finished but my fingers aren't going to work with all of the little letters right now. I will save that for morning. I also included a set of notecards so that she could write. Of course, I will probably just stalk her with the phone but it's the thought that counts. ...she can use them to write me to tell me not to call so much! :)....just kidding!

Here's the finished product....The colors are perfect for her. I know she will love the pink and black. I'm hoping she loves the rest. How depressing it's been to see the moving truck in front of her house all day! I will really miss her.

I hope you have all had a great day! Mine has been just as crazy as usual! I am so looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend!....oh yeah, it's only Monday! ....it will be here before you know it!

Have a great night and thanks so much for stopping by! I will see you all soon! :)

Never Leave Your Camera At Home!

Ok....I so love Bobbi! You all hear me talking about her all the time. Well, we took Angie out Saturday night and I forgot my camera. Thank heavens Bobbi thought to bring hers! I asked her to send me a copy of the picture the waiter took of all of us together. She called to tell me it was in my email box....here it is....

There's Meg, Amanda, Bridget, Me, and Angie.......and where the heck is Bobbi! I know she was in the picture but ???? Did the waiter cut her out?

I was on the phone with Bobbi while I was pulling this up. At first I didn't realize. I knew something was wrong but I wasn't sure what. Then I start to count heads...then I look down the rows...I say...'hey, Bobbi, where are you?' ...she says...'I was hoping you wouldn't notice'!

Wouldn't notice!!!! That is so Bobbi! ...you know she isn't going to send me the original either! This is why you should never leave home without your camera!

Well, I couldn't get this thing to print for the life of me! ...so I called Bobbi and asked her to please do it for me. She did and she included the uncropped photo as well...of course she included it in sepia! I needed black & white! You know she did that because she didn't want me putting it in the frame! Girl! I will get that picture! mwaahahhhaaaahhaaa! :)

Seriously...I will get that picture! I want it in black and white for the frame! ....and here is why....

You know...I think I can offically say I am a rub-on-a-holic. Wow. What will I do when they are no longer fashionable!

So now I am going to have to do something special with the uncropped version...I think it will get a scrapbook page. I love sepia. I've got some great papers that will go with it! I will post it once I have finished!

Hope you are all doing well! I will post you soon!

Just A Quick Little Something...

What a gorgeous day we've had here! The high was 63 degrees! Wow! How exciting to see the sun and be able to take the kids out for a little fun! We went for the longest bike ride. Hayden had his first ride in the bike trailer that has now toted three kids around this neighborhood. We have definitely gotten our moneys worth out of that thing! What a great day!

Most of my stamping today has been spent working on Angie's gift. It's moving right along. Although, an unfortunate incident with the bind-it-all will mean a trip to the scrapbook store tomorrow as I am in need of a little more paper and a little more chipboard. What a drag that was...I wanted to cry!

So before bed I thought I would try another something from the sketch book. This is such a simple card. It's a one layer...with the exception of the sentiment. ......and here it is.....Hope you like this one. I needed something quick....and I officially have scratched two things out of my book! This is huge for me! I really do have such a bad habit of getting it in there only to leave it in there!

I hope you have all had a great day! I must say....I am hoping for a little more warm weather. I am ready for flowers! Lots and lots of flowers! I really need to get outside and do some planting! I am now on the lookout for my daffodils. Maybe they will start to show themselves soon!

Take care and have a great night! :)

The Purse

I will confess that I am still not sure what I think about this one. I stayed up pretty late working on this last night and by the time I went to bed I was pretty sure I would wake up and go with plan B. ...and true to form, I spent all night thinking of what I needed to do to make this 'right'. I solved that...or so I thought...and still thought I would go with plan B as this took an eternity! and I have to start working on a little something for Angie.

Not sure what was up when I came downstairs this morning but when I looked at it with fresh eyes, well, I decided it wasn't as bad as I thought. Granted, it's still not quite 'right'...but not necessarily 'wrong' either. I hate when that happens! I added my little tag and here you go...my purse for Sharon's Stamp Simply challenge.....I made this big enough for either a chocolate bar...what gal doesn't need, er love!, chocolate or a gift card. It's super small! Part of what bugged me last night was that I thought I had gold brads. I really wanted to have the little nail heads. Of course, if I have them they are -?????- I put my purse in the background to show the inspiration but like I said yesterday...it's ginormous! There is only a little snippet of it. What ever possessed me!

Thanks so much, Sharon, for another fun challenge! Now I have got to start on Angie's thing...she leaves in just a few days! How sad is that! I will so miss her.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Saturday and I will post you all soon!

Take care! :)

RAK From Lorraine

I so love surprises...ok...time to clarify...not like the fridge is broken surprises but nice happy ones!....just thought I would throw that out there!...after this week...it's not such a bad idea! :)

...back to my really nice surprise! I received this beautiful card from Lorraine aka @ SCS as Tavias Charms and you can view her gallery here.

Thanks so much, Lorraine! This was such a wonderful surprise! And thank you so very much for your kind words! You are such a sweetie!

Isn't this the cutest!

...And now it's off to work on Sharon's Stamp Simply challenge. Have you guys checked it out yet? You get to make a purse! ...ok...you could just use purse images on your project...but...How cool is that! I am really excited about this one! You know, I have never made a purse before. I've seen lots of 'em....and they are always adorable! Part of the reason I am so psyched about this is that this is one of the things I put in my little sketch book yesterday! It's kismet! How cool is that! I have this ginormous purse that I never carry...I always overload the thing and then it just gets wayyy to heavy....but I thought it would make for a really cute paper purse. Well, we shall soon see!

Hope you are all having a great Friday and I will post you all soon! :)

Shaking Off The Dust

Wowza! I can't believe how long it's been since I've sat in this chair! ...the cushion felt so fluffy when I sat down! It was no longer mashed with my imprint! ;)

I've been taking care of one or the other of my boys for the last few weeks as they've battled this flu thing. Now I understand why they would seem fine one minute and then completely crash the next! After the fridge repairman left yesterday...one more thing to add to a beautiful week! ;)...I was thinking I was actually going to come downstairs and do some stamping...I came down the stairs, sat on the couch for a minute to look through my paper...and realized that I needed desperately to sleep! It just sort of hits you like a ton of bricks.

Today is a much better day. My appetite is coming back...wooohooo...I love food to much to be missing any meals!

....Ok....speaking of...I'm not sure if any of you are interested but I am going to share a recipe! Do any of you love chicken and dumplings? I sooo love them! Now, this recipe is not for my homemade version...by that, I mean everything from scratch...if you want that I will be happy to forward it...although, please keep in mind I cook like I stamp! A little of this, a little of that...not necessarily any measuring of anything....but man...it's good!...the recipe that is! :) This is a version I got out of my Southern Living so many years ago I can't even remember. So long ago, that at one point when I thought I lost the recipe and tried to search it on the website, it was gone! Talk about a panic!

This is the perfect recipe when you are in a pinch....or not feeling well!...or maybe you just don't like to cook that much. It is truly EPLS!

Here goes....As if this is what you came here for! :)

1.) 4 cups water
2.) 3 cups chopped cooked chicken...I usually buy the rotisserie thing....it's so simple!
3.) 2 (10 3/4 oz) cans cream of chicken soup, undiluted
4.) 2 tsps chicken bouillion granules
5.) 1 tsp seasoned pepper
6.) 1 (7.5 oz) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

Bring the first 5 ingredients to a boil in a dutch oven over med-high heat, stirring often. Separate biscuits in half, forming 2 rounds; cut each round in half. Drop biscuit pieces, 1 at a time, into boiling mixture, stir gently. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15-20 minutes.

...can't get much easier than that! Hope you don't mind...not sure...maybe I'm suffering from withdrawal from not posting you guys for what seems like forever...so I just keep on talking...er, um...typing! :)

Now on to the card! This I will admit is also EPLS! I just got a new Papertreyink set and thought I would use it. Here's a quick one I came up with.....

That's what I've got so far....

Cool thing....the kindy pickup line worked in my favor today! Hayden didn't want to nap so I put him in the car early which gave me a ton of time there today! I have about 7 new drawings in my sketch book that I can't wait to start! I will be posting them as I finish them. Sooo excited! I am hoping that I am all caught up tomorrow so that I can begin.

Bummer...I never got a chance to do most of last weeks challenges. You know I have a hard time with that! I always feel like I want to go back and do them later but by then the new weeks are out! It's really hard to just move forward sometimes! Tomorrow is Friday...there will be lots of new ones out then! A whole new reason why being sick really stinks! I've missed a ton of stamping time! ;)

I hope you are all having a great week. I can't believe it's almost over. I look forward to posting you all more really soon!

Take care and have a wonderful night!

Quick update & Meg's Card

We've been battling the...flu?...here for the last couple of weeks. First, Evan...then Carter...Hayden even got sick...now me. I started feeling really bad Sunday and before Monday morning it was all over! I am finally feeling somewhat normal! Finally!

Well, I haven't really stamped much of anything in three days now...feels a little strange not to have ink on my fingers! So today I will share another card swap card....hopefully I will catch up around the house tomorrow and be able to get a little stamping in then. ...now that I am feeling better I am suffering withdrawals! ...12 steps...I don't know...probably not a bad idea...but I am so not ready for that! ;) ...just give me my stamps! aaahhh! ;)

Here's a fantabulous card from my sweet friend Meg. You can always count on Meg to step it up. She didn't let us down this time. Meg used the shaving cream technique on her egg. How cute is that!

...I was hoping that I might have the energy to stamp a little something...just not going to happen tonight. I am making progress. I grabbed the computer and brought it upstairs. I will spend the evening catching up on all of y'alls stuff. It's been a few days since I've been able to do that.

On the plus side of all of this...my husband is due home any moment. He's been gone for the last couple of weeks. Wouldn't you know that would be when everyone gets sick! ;)

I hope you are all doing well...and that you are all staying well! Take care and I will post you soon! :)

EPLS! Taylor's Challenge

I was really excited to participate in Taylor's cupcake challenge this week. For this one, you weren't supposed to use stamps. You are supposed to use an embellishment of some sort....these I have a plenty!...seriously...they are coming out of my ears! I really have a problem with buying these things only to sit in a drawer! The longest part of this challenge was deciding which one to use! Once that decision was made...the rest was EPLS...that's easy peasy lemon squeezy in the Buck house.

So here's what I came up with....

I need a baby card....and I still have a ton of these little pacy's...sassy's as Carter called them when he was little....so here it is. Thanks, Taylor for a fun challenge. This was awesome!

Hope you are all doing well. I am still not able to get onto SCS...I currently feel like I am stalking SCS and all of you that have SCS blogs! I keep checking and checking and checking and....

...you get the picture.

I will post you all soon! Take care! :)

Lisa's Card Swap Card

I wanted to share another card swap card. This one is from another great friend of mine, Lisa....ok...Lisa's blog I can actually link! I am on day number 2 of not being able to get onto SCS or any SCS blog for that matter! How very frustrating is this! Lisa's blog has tons of great pictures. She's such a fantabulous photographer...as well as a great card maker!

I am going to try and post a few more of these today as well as hopefully have something of my own to post. I think Carter is feeling a little better. He fell asleep last night at 5PM! Hayden seems a little better although he woke up at 5AM! Evan feels great! ...I, well, not sure how I am feeling...trying to tell myself I feel great...but in all honesty...that's just not the truth! uhgh!

Post you all soon! ...have a great morning! :)

My Card Swap Card From Bobbi

I can't believe I haven't started sharing these with you guys yet! We had our card swap Monday night...and what beautiful cards I have to share! The first one I am going to show you is from one of my dear friends, Bobbi. Her cards are always super cute!

...I will first share that Bobbi is the reason I had to get myself some prismas. She uses them often and her images are always just stunning!

Ok...time to see for yourself....If you would like to see more of Bobbi's beautiful cards you can find them here.

...ok...will come back later to add that link...is anyone else having trouble connecting to SCS? I have been unable to do so all morning! Very frustrating! I was wondering if it was just me.

Thanks for stopping by. I am off to get a few things done around here and then down stairs to hopefully get some stamping done.

Post you all soon! :)

Bellatastic for Sharon's Challenge

I so love the Bellas! Do you all see that I have a problem! So many stamps so little time! There really ought to be a twelve step program! The problem is...I DON'T want help! :)

...ooookkk...moving on....

Finally I am finishing Sharon's Stamp Simply Challenge. I really love participating in these every week. Sharon's always gets me thinking as simple is really hard! ;) Thanks for that, Sharon! Here's my card...

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you are all having a great evening! I think I am going to stamp some more! I do have a problem! ;) ...like I always say...there are worse addictions! :)

Post you soon!

Baskets of Happiness

I was so excited that my new GinaK stamps arrived today! I have a couple already and am in so much love with all of them! They are so much fun! I think this basket of flowers from the Basket of Happiness set is the cutest! I love it. When I got my carousel notes from SU I new I had to have this stamp. Of course...I couldn't just use the notes as is! ...I have such issues!

Here's what I did....

Ok...so you untie the ribbon and open the 'card/envelope to find this....

The little note card slips into the envelope and the whole thing ties closed...yes, it works just as easily with the scallop note slipping in the envelope...hey, I really wanted the stamp to show! I was thinking this would make a great little something to slip to friends. I love the rub-ons. This is from the Love Birds set. The outer circle of the front has the definition of friend. I've got quite a few people that I could give this to! I need many more rubons! ;)

Hope you are all doing well. I am off to play with Evan for a little while. I've spent so much time taking care of the sick ones I think he needs a little one on one before bed. I will come back to stamp after that. Hopefully I will finish my card for Sharon's challenge...and hopefully have something else to share!

Take care and I will post you soon! :)

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge...

...yes, here it is...one day before Beate's next weekend sketch challenge #35! ;) Better late than never is my new motto! :) I really loved this sketch and thought of this immediately! When that happens I know I have to give it a go. Here's what I came up with....
When you open the door it looks like this....

Thank goodness for these little magnets I bought sometime ago...they worked perfectly on this card.

I needed a card for a new neighbor so this worked out perfectly! Hopefully today I will be able to drop this off at some point! Who knows how that will go....I've got another sick one at home today....round three! I am so hoping this is where it ends! ....yuck, yuck, yuck!

I am off to make a little lunch...hoping I don't see it a second time! Sorry....hope you aren't reading this before your own lunch! Take care. I am hoping to get a couple more cards finished and posted sometime today...who knows how that will go!

Post you soon! :)

Jen's Sketch

I used my prismas! They are so much fun! Yes, I need tons of practice...but hey, there's tons of time for that! These things are so much fun! Here's what I came up with. This is supposed to be for Jen del Muro's sketch. I did shrink my card as I wanted the flower to work with the sentiment...hope this counts....Loving the prismas! They are sooo much fun...wait...I said that already! ;)

Hope you are all having a wonderful day...I am off to do a little more stamping! I am having a stamp fest today! ;) I told the boys that when they got home from school they could either play in the snow or do a craft....I will be stamping...wooohooo...haven't been able to do that for quite some time!

Post you soon! :)

Happy Birthday...ChaChaCha

A whole year older! How exciting is that! ...

...Ok...I can promise you one thing...this will be a really short post as I hacked into my finger today while cutting an onion...happy birthday?

Other than the pain and gore it's been a birthday for the record books! ...fortunately most of it good! I've been puked on, cut my finger, time for taxes....that's the not so good stuff... hey, every day has something...

ok...remember this one....

This brings me to one of the fun parts of my birthday...I so love this Bella! Well last night my friends surprised me with a little birthday celebration...ohmygoodness...my friends are sooooo awesome!...and again with the surprise and I had noo idea!...my head must really be buried in cards! ;) That makes twice in just a few days!...anyway, they brought me this bella-tastic birthday cake!......
How stinkin cute is this! Oh my!!!!!! You know I didn't want to cut the bella! ...I cut all around her! The cake is delicious! It's one of my favs...an almond pound cake with chocolate truffle filling. Doesn't that sound decadent?! Yum, yum, yum!

I haven't had a chance to take a picture of all of my 'yummy' new cards from swap! I will take those pictures tomorrow when the sun comes out....that really does make a huge difference! Here is my card...Simple, simple, EPLS....

I also had the pleasure of attempting to open a few very well wrapped presents from my boys. They wanted to surprise me and since they couldn't find the wrapping tape they used packing tape! They did a GREAT job! :) All in all a great birthday!

Well, by short post...well, relatively speaking! Before I go, I just wanted to thank each of you for your sweet birthday wishes. I really have the most awesome online stamping friends as well. You guys are so wonderful and I can't tell you how much I really appreciate each and every one of you. You are constantly making my day!

I hope you are all having a great one! I am going to try and do a little stamping...this should be interesting! My new birthday present was some prismas...I've never used these before...I have been so excited all day to give them a try...I found the tutorial on Gina K's blog. I've been waiting all day to use these puppies...I'm hoping my finger doesn't get in the way.

Take care...if I come up with anything fab and I can find enough light to take the picture and post it I will give it a go. Probably without much text...my finger is throbbing a little tiny bit....wawawa! :)

Post you soon!

Sketches, Sketches....Too Many Sketches! :)

Ohmygoodness! I am on overload tonight! ...in a good way! :)

I am really behind in my work. I still need to finish up some projects as well as finish up my card swap cards and cut out all of my stuff for my stamp class tomorrow night. ...and what am I doing? ...y'alls sketches! :)

Totally kidding...I love your sketches! I just have a really hard time getting my priorities straight tonight! ;)

There are so many sketches this weekend...and I am still behind from last weeks! You've got Beate's, Sharon's, Jen's, and Taylor's. Then while going through my blog roll I found even more! Terrie linkes you to Claudia's...not a sketch but a fun challenge with blog candy....Kristen has one....ok...I have one...wink, wink...and then I get to Julie's blog and she has one to!

Where to begin! This is always a problem for me. While rocking Hayden to sleep, I was trying to get really creative with my own as I actually will be swapping it tomorrow night!....the 'thinking chair' strikes again! er, um...unfortunately not for my own swap! I had, what I hoped would be a great idea for Julie's....and here it is....


Yes, it's a simple one...who knows...once I've 'slept' on it I may wish I had changed something...somtimes I just don't give myself a chance for that! I hope you all like this one...I thought it was a really fun sketch and a fun card. ...and I do wish I 'had a bit more light to take the picture....hey...it's late!...and I am really impatient today! May tweak the glitter and tag...in this light it doesn't even look like it matches! uh!

Take care...I really am off to finish my 'chores'! :)

Quick One For My Workshop

Ok...if you are coming on Monday and don't want to be spoiled you should close this window now! :)

For my next stamp class we are learning how to make ATC cards which will end up being our next card swap. How fun! Well what a great coincidence that Taylor's weekly cupcake challenge involves ATC cards!! Yeahhhhh! Perfect for someone like me who is currently really short on time and wanting to finish everything! ...you know I still have her challenge from last week to work on! Where is my time going!

The sad thing is that nothing is really speaking to me. Then I came across this package of paper, Spring Silhouettes. I'm not sure what really possessed me to buy this. It's pretty but it's not the norm for me. Soft Sky is a fav of mine but the paper is really romantic and while I am a huge fan of romance the paper just didn't seem to fit me. ...and then I saw this sheet and totally fell in love!

Enough of my blabbering! ....I'm trying to fill up enough space so that if anyone from my class checks this out early they will be able to close the window before the surprise is ruined! Hey, some of them really like surprises! Can't stand them myself!

...except for Friday, let me just tell you all how awesome my friends are! My birthday is Tuesday. You may remember that I was telling you about taking a friend to dinner Friday as she is moving soon. Well, the whole thing was a ruse to get me out for my birthday! How sweet is that! I never even guessed what was up! Yeah, I am a bit slow! We had an awesome time...although, we didn't get back until late which is part of the reason I didn't stamp Friday night.

...that should do it....here's the card....

What's with my re-newed interest in the gingham ribbon?! This is the second card in about a week that I used it for...in pretty much the same way...yes, this isn't exactly jumping out of the box...but it needed to be quick and all SU.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I am off to work on something for card swap tomorrow night....nothing like waiting until the last minute! I promise I have been doing lots of stamping...there is a permanent impression of my backside on this chair for sure! I will share all that I have been working on as soon as possible.

Take care and I will post you all soon!

AAAAHHHHH....almost forgot....there is a tutorial for this at SCS that Jen del Muro so graciously posted. But for this tutorial I would never have even known about these things! :)

I've Got Some Verve! :)

If I'm late that is! :) ...it's a good thing I crack myself up! :)

Ok...so while doing the laundry today I found this really cute blankey of Hayden's....it had inspired this card last week while doing the laundry and of course I didn't write it in my little book...the book was in the basement - I was upstairs...I just didn't have the energy and I knew I wouldn't forget! Ha! What a laugh that is! If I don't write it down, I've got problems!

Anyway, there I was doing the laundry yet again only to come across the same blankey and it was a 'V8' moment. So I rushed downstairs to throw this together. Tonight is a girls night and I really need to get a few things done before....

So here's the card....

...well, I sort of 'girlified' it...his blankey does not have a girl puppy on it...but I really wanted to use the flowers. Love the felt flowers!

That's all for now. Depending on how things go this evening, I might actually come home and stamp...the gals that I am going to dinner with are laughing at that sentence by the way! We are going to be taking Angie out tonight...she's my friend that is moving in just a couple of weeks. What a bummer! Who knows when we will make it home...and by that I mean from a mom standpoint...keep in mind that for me 10 is REALLY late! I don't get out much!

Thanks for stopping by and I will post you all soon! ...and yeahhhhh!!!! it's the weekend!!!! Time for more challenges! I am sooooo excited!

Another Verve Visual Entry

Here's one more for the Verve Visual contest. I had a really hard time taking this picture because of all the silver. I will take it again with a little natural light in the morning and see if I can get this any better. It's so shiny in person. I love that!...especially since the sentiment says 'your time to shine'! What an awesome couple of stamp sets! I love them both!

Here it is...

I hope y'all like this one. I am off to play with the boys a little before I send them to bed and then, if all goes well, a little more stamping!

Take care and I will talk to you all soon! :)

Valentines For The Boys Classes

Nothing like waiting until the last minute! ;) While doing a quick Target run yesterday, I realized that tomorrow (today now!) was Valentines Day. Yeah, yeah, how can I forget something like that!? Anyway, wouldn't you know that when I finally made my way back to the holiday section of the store they literally had one box of boy Valentines left! This I desperately needed as you can't send any food in to the kids in Carter's class...one of the kids has a peanut allergy. So Carter got the Spiderman Valentines and he attached them to the playdough containers that we got to go with them.

Evan wanted something with candy...who can blame him! He knows there is always some left over...heck, I wanted to make something with candy as well just for that very reason! Thank you Beate! I used her pull treat pouch for all of these. Evan picked the colors...he did a mighty fine job! ;) and the stamp...here's the final product....


After these, I made one for Carter's teacher. He was already asleep so I got to pick the colors....

So that's how I spent Wednesday night. Today I am working on one more Verve card, another Gina card, and a tutorial of my crabby pail...sorry that one has taken so long....I think I will send it in to SU...I always forget to do that!...and I am going to try and change the shovel and make it hold candy as well...I'm really craving the chocolate!...that will give me a great excuse to buy some M&M's!...like you really need an excuse for that!, and I need to finish...and by finish I mean start....my gift for Angie.

Gotta run. I will post you all soon!

Take care! :)

Sharon Johnson's Challenge

This week....er, um, last weeks Stamp Simply challenge from Sharon Johnson....man, I'm really late!...was to create a card using something that you bake with. You could use cakes, cookies, cows!...anything you cook. How about cherries?


What stinks about this...somehow while placing my SU preorder, I forgot to order the stamp that actually goes with this paper. What a drag! On the other hand, that sort of keeps me in line with
the whole 'simply' part of the theme. But there's not much stampin' goin' on for this one! ;)

I do love this paper...and I will be really honest with you, I didn't think I would like it. It's soo super cute in person! When I saw it in the mini I wasn't so sure. Now I want another pack! Cute! The rub ons are awesome as well...and the main part of this card!

Again...simple, simple, simple! Just a quick little something.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you are all doing well and that you've had a wonderful day! I look forward to posting more tomorrow!

Take care! :)

Beate's Pull Out Treat Pouch

Tonight is our PTO meeting. Since Nancy is out of town I will be running this one....a first for me. We got together last week before she left town to go over everything and she dropped off the door prizes which she left for me to wrap. Woohooo! You know this will be the highlight of the evening for me!

One of the gifts, a magnetic notepad, I wrapped using Beate's tutorial on SCS for a pull treat pouch. One quick thing...the wrapping paper is from the SU holiday mini. The funny thing about this paper is that when I saw it at Christmas I totally did not think it looked especially Christmas'y'...now I think it looks too Chirstmas'y'....go figure! Another thing...I didn't stray far from Beate's original...ok...this is almost an exact copy! Hey, I was in a rush and why mess with a great thing! ;) Anyway, here they are....


The shamrock is a mascot thing....have you ever heard of such! Go 'rocks!? Whatever.... Anyway, this is it...do you think the lucky recipient will be offended if I ask them for it back!? Just kidding! ;) I have now changed my mind on Evan's class Valentine for about the 5,000th time! I am sooooo mass producing these!

....Beate! You rock!!!!!! These are awesome! I sooo love them. Thanks for all you do!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I am off to finish up a few things before tonight. Hope you are all having a wonderful day!

Take care! :)

Verve Visual Challenge

Ok...one more. Here's one of my cards for the Verve Visuals Sketch Challenge. I so love this stamp set! Here's the card...

Hope it's ok to flip the sketch....fun sketch!

...and off to bed?....I am soooo tired and my head is starting to hurt again! I think it's time to call it a night! But I haven't even played with my new stuff yet! Not sure if I will be able to sleep! ;)

Talk to you all soon! Take care! :)

Quick One...

Well, we are officially sick! At least some strange bug has decided to take up residence in our home. Evan went to school today but then came home and promptly tossed his cookies. I have had the worst headache again....not tossing anything...thankfully...and not sure if it's possible but the toffee chocolate does seem to be making me feel a bit better! ;) ...needless to say, there's not much stamping going on!

I did a quick one with my Papertreyink 'Out On A Limb' set. Which I will share with you now...

Such a fun set! I am really loving this set...oh, I've already said that about a thousand times! Sorry....problems with repeating myself over and over!

That's it for now. I was working on a couple of things last night....not quite ready to share....still needs...?...maybe it was the headache! ;)

I am off to play with some stuff! My pre-order just arrived from SU. Man!, that new hodgepodge set is awesome!!!!! I am going to start playing with that first. My hope is to have something to show you all tonight.

Hope you are all having a wonderful night! We are supposed to get snow tonight. I never have faith that our weather team will get it right. Every time I get excited that there will actually be substantial snow, it always passes us by. I really would love to get dumped on by snow tonight! The boys would love it as well. So what do you think?...if they cancel school because of snow does that mean that they will cancel the PTO meeting as well? Nancy is out of town....this will be my first meeting to run....hoping not to completely ruin the whole thing!

Talk to you all soon! Take care!

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge

What a weekend! Evan was sick Thursday and Friday....but by the evening we thought all was better. Saturday no probs...both boys had a birthday party Saturday evening...we were on track. Then around 3PM, Evan gets sick all over again! Poor guy! He had to miss the party. The good thing is that nobody else has gotten sick...major miracle!

Well, maybe nobody! I feel terrible today! My head is killing me! Not sure if it's just the lack of sleep over the last week or if I am coming down with something. This is putting quite a crimp in my weekend stamping fun! You know I live for the card challenges! I can add them to yet another reason to look forward to the weekend! By this time I have usually already completed at least two cards! Right now I am feeling lucky to have finished this one! Ugh!

Anyway, I started with Beate's weekend sketch challenge. As I am sooooo late, I'm sure that the rest of you have already finished this one! This one is a little funny to me....not the sketch....the sketch is beautiful!...and check out her card! gorgeous!....but the colors I've chosen....that's what is funny to me! ;)

Last week, Taylor had a color challenge and used four colors that I love on their own but never thought I could pull off together. She had such a beautiful card! Don't ya love it! Imagine my surprise that I actually chose paper that has almost all of the colors in it and that I actually am using it! I bought this paper thinking it was beautiful! I still do. But again, I have a little comfortable place that I don't love to step out of! Anyway, here's what I came up with....


Rub ons are fast becoming a favorite of mine. They make a card really easy! With the way I am feeling today, I needed that! Sorry this isn't over the top for sure! I am going to have to revisit this sketch when I am feeling a little better. It's sooooo cute! Love it!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I am hoping that I will be up for a bit more stamping tonight. I am feeling a little better but still feel a bit like I was struck by a mack truck!

Talk to you all soon!

One quick one...

The other day while blog surfing...it's taking longer and longer to do by the way! I keep finding more and more of your awesome blogs and I am so addicted to each and every one!...I came across a link to Card Positioning Systems. What an awesome site filled with nothing but sketches and examples. How cool is that!

So I found a couple of sketches that I fell in love with and made a few cards I thought I would share with you...and here's one....


I really love this stamp. I have a friend who is having a baby soon...of course it's a girl! I think that is why I keep making boy cards...I don't want her to know what I am making for her! ;)

Here's the next one...this uses the second sketch I tried out....

Back to the first sketch...this sketch was so fun!
























Hope you are all having a great night. I think I am off to bed. Not much stamping for me tonight....way tired!

Take care each of you and I will see you all soon! :)

Jen's Sketch For You To Try

One more before bed. Jen del Muro has such a cute sketch this week. It was the perfect way to finish the night. I was working on it while watching the game...really exciting game! Anyway, games finished and so is my card....

I really love this paper. I wish I could buy it as a set. I think it does stink that it only comes in a scrappin kit. ...could be a sign I should start doing some more with my pictures! ;)

Anyway, thanks so much for coming by today and checking things out. I have had a ton of fun this weekend with all of these great challenges. Now it's off to work on some of my own stuff. ...what a concept! ;)

Have a wonderful evening and I will see you all later! :)

Just Smile And Nod.... :)

Yeah! It's Sharon's stamp simply challenge! For this one, the challenge is to use anything pretty that you have. How fun is that! I so love the pretty stuff! I am currently in a Soft Sky mode...which I think is beyond pretty! So of course I chose that color. Another pretty fav of mine is pearls. How pretty are they!

So now the time to just 'smile and nod'.....Easter??? With these colors? They don't exactly scream spring. Eh, whaaatever.

I so love this! It's pretty simple but I just love the color, the pearls, and the fun flock which is completely waisted on this picture! You can't even see it! Bummer!

What a great weekend of challenges! I have had so much with all of them! Thanks again for everything you guys! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by. I am off to play with Evan & Carter. Carter has been begging to play Jimmy Newtron all day! When I tell you we've played this game 15 times it's a gross understatement!

Hope you are all having a great superbowl weekend! Take care!

***quick edit...when I look at this online it looks much brighter than it does in my hot little hand. The close to cocoa color actually looks almost pinkish. The one I am holding has lots of brown which is why I didn't think it looked really springish. ;)

And Taylor Makes Three

I posted earlier that I was working out of my comfort zone. Well Taylor's challenge is sticking with that! For her challenge you had to use Real Red, Pixie Pink, Tempting Turquois, and Chocolate Chip for your card. While I love all four colors, picking them all at once, I can assure you, would never have happened but for this challenge!

So here's my card....How fun! Again...I really do love stretching myself. This card did just that. What a fun challenge! Thanks so much, Taylor! I had a great time playing!

Thanks for stopping by and I will post you all later! ;)

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge

Well here is the second sketch challenge to take me out of my comfort zone. How fun is that! I so love when there is something that will really make you think. So often I can get in a little rut with the same ol' same ol'. How nice to have these fun sketches to really make me change things up a bit.

Here's my card for Beate's wsc #33.....

I pulled out my rub-ons for this one. I have been cleaning my stamping area as Hayden has decided to keep growing and can reach all the way to the middle of my desk! Yesterday was quite a trick to accomplish anything! All of my supplies were in the middle of my desk. I had a huge pile of stuff that I kept taking away from him. I am almost completely reorganized! Woohoo! Tomorrow should be back to business!

Hope you are all having a great weekend and I will see you all soon!

Take care!

My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge

Today has been a pretty fun day. The boys were out of school so for most of the day we have played. Every now and again I would sit down and do a little stamping...but then it was back to playtime.

Here is something that I've actually finished today. I have a few projects started but they will take a little longer to complete. It was fun to participate in the My Favorite Things sketch challenge. This is a first for me. I must confess that as much as I love SCS, I get lost trying to find my way around. Part of that is just because I get so distracted looking at all the pretty scenery!

But today I found it and what a fun sketch! I had such a great time with this one. Here's my interpretation of Cindy's wonderful sketch....

And there you have it. Thanks so much for stopping by and checking things out. I am so excited that today is Friday! ....More and More and More Sketches!!!! They will be the perfect intermission for the other projects I am working on.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Friday and I will post you later!

My Sketch Swap Example

I put this together last night but it was so late I just didn't have the energy to post it....

.....'How many monsters does it take to put in a light bulb?' .....'11'.... That was my joke of the day from my oldest son, Evan. I so love his jokes. Just smile and nod...and throw in a little giggle. Hey, it makes him happy.

Anyway, as usual, give me a sketch and I will run with it a bazillion times! When I am doing other peoples sketches I will usually stick with just one card as I am trying to keep the fact that I am obsessed with stamping a secret...but when it's my sketch....well, I already know how obsessed I am! Everyone in our little swap group is aware. Might as well just go with it! ;)

Here's what I did last night...

I flipped it....not a surprise. It's still the same sketch, it just gave me another option. I love options. I also really love this set.

I found a link to a My Favorite Things sketch last night....it of course was way to late for me to do anything with it...but it is my goal for today!

Hope you are all doing well and I will post you later!