Hip HOP!

Happy Hip Hop! ...don't ya love how it's not even necessary to write 'Thursday'! It's now synonymous!

My post today is full of November Kit of the Month goodness! Have you checked out the new kit yet? If not you can find it here...hey...you may be shopping later...I know I will be! Did you see the sneak peek yesterday??? Such Unity goodness! :)

The deets: white twill ribbon Walmart...yup, from the sewing section, copic markers, dew drops, My Minds Eye paper I picked up from Eclectic Paperie

Here's the box...it's a box of M&M's I picked up from the dollar section....
......and here's the card......

How many ways do I love these cute little flowers! They're fun!

Now...onward! Time to hop on down the line! Head on over to Laura Williams' blog.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you all have a wonderful hip Hop day! :)

A Unity Sneak Peek!

Hip HOP! ...oh wait...it's not Thursday yet is it??? Sorry...I'm suffering withdrawals!

...but I do have.....

A Sneak PEEK!

Check this out....

How excited am I for tomorrow! :) Wooohoooo!

....is it time yet? LOL! I'm that little kid in the backseat.... is it time yet????

...and did you know there are other sneak peeks out there tonight???

Catch you all tomorrow over in the hip hop!

The November Artisan Showcase

Happy Wednesday! For me this day is one day closer to the completion of a huge event that has had me so very busy! I am looking forward to this weekend when I can breathe again! Things have been crazier than I can even begin to tell you! I still have a few more phone calls to make today to tie up some loose ends and then I need to map out the event...type some notes...and somehow work some stamp time into all of this! lol! ;)

I was so excited to see that the November Artisan Showcase is up on the demonstrator side of Stampin Up. If you are a demonstrator you can view it here. If not, our challenge this month was to create with rub ons. I am a HUGE fan of rub ons. I will confess that in my early days of stamping I didn't like them very much. I found them difficult to use and I just couldn't 'see' it. When SU first started selling them I thought I would give them a try and now I'm a convert! They're awesome! I think part of what has helped is that there are so many to choose from. Some of my favorites are the 'flourishy' ones. I think they add such a nice touch to so many projects.

...sorry...getting a little wordy this morning! ...and to think I haven't even had my first cup of coffee! ;)

How about the card!

The rub ons for this one are from the mini catalog. All supplies are SU.

I will be back later today for the challenge and blog candy. I would like to stick with Christmas cards again. I can't believe it's already the 12th! I am not ready! ;)

Thanks for stopping by! I will post you later!

Have a wonderful day! :)

Inspire Me!

Happy Tuesday! This will be a quick post! I've been swamped with a function I am heading up and am so excited that it will be over Saturday! Ahhh...time to rest! :) It's been insane trying to stay up with everything in the meantime...especially when you add the sick kiddos to the mix!

Ok...not doing so great at keeping this brief am I!?

It's BIC time! Woohoo! Check out Beate's inpiration piece for this week...I love the birds and the wavy look of the photo in the background...those were the elements that got me moving. I picked up one of my newest stamps for this one! Take a look.....

This one uses one of the stamps from Unity's November KOTM. LOVE this one! The paper is from My Minds Eye. I also used so saffron, white and kraft card stock. The ribbon is so saffron twill and the metal pieces are ...ok...I have no clue! That's another one I've had forever and a day!

Thanks for stopping by! Head on over to the rest of Beate's team....

Charmaine Ikach
Danielle Lounds
Dawn McVey
Silke Ledlow
Susan Roberts

Post you all soon! :)

What, No Ribbon?

Holy heck! How can I make a card and NOT use ribbon! I LOVE ribbon! I can't get enough of it! But todays challenge requires buttons and NO ribbon! OMGosh! Am I even going to like this one!?

Ok...moving on from my rant! Here's my card....

The paper for this is from My Minds Eye...it's actually one of those big mat packs I picked up at Hobby Lobby this weekend while taking one of the boys to a birthday party. I am notorious for buying those things and NEVER using them! This one I LOVE! The stamp is Unity...Humble Bloom. The flower is Heidi Swapp. The button is Basic Grey....that's it...NO ribbon to report. I really want to throw some ribbon at this one to!

Be sure and check out the rest of the throwdown gals...although our list is a bit shorter today! Illnesses, travel...so many things going on! :)
AJ Otto
Brooke Lien

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

A Blog Candy Winner, An Apology, A Quick Card...Not So Much

...and could my title be any longer! lol!

So where the heck have I been! :) For those of you that read this stuff...you probably remember me saying about a week ago that my boys were sick. Well, this is one stubborn bug! My youngest woke up Friday night sick...I'll spare you the details! ;) Needless to say, I am one sleep deprived mom! Not a ton of stamping going on here this weekend!

Thanks for being so patient. I have a blog candy winner to announce and a not so quick card to share.

First the blog candy! Thank you so very much for spreading the love! It's such a great feeling to hear from you guys! I know that everyone you left a comment for loved it! And the winner is.....

#45...Ravengirl!...You're the winner girl! :) Congrats to you!

Now if you didn't read this earlier...I'll confess it might have gotten lost in a previous post! Sorry...it wasn't intentional, I wasn't expecting this info yet! I had an appointment the day after the CT and everything is clear! :) That's the greatest news ever! :) Hopefully some celebrating will come once Hayden is better! Poor little guy!

Now on to a (NOT so) quick card!

I wanted to play with some of my PTI this weekend. I have some new stuff that remarkably hasn't been inked up yet! I have this function this week that has kept me so busy! I am finished on Saturday! What a huge relief that will be! I am so behind on my stamping! :)

So here's the quickie...not so much!

The stamp is PTI, the paper is the new Ocean Tides from PTI...the chipboard is completely overused by me! I have so many of these little snowflakes and I can't get enough of 'em! So why isn't this the easiest card on the planet? It's the whole 'make your own DP' thing that slowed me down! Yeah, well...anything for the card, right? :)

Hope you are all having a great night! Be sure and send me your deets Ravengirl!

Post you all soon! :) ...like in a few hours with the hardest challenge on record! ;) Ok...not so much but it was really hard for me! :)

Bringing The Outdoors To Our Cards?

It's that time again! Time to Stamp Simply! LOVE this time of week! Wait till you see what Sharon has in store for you this week! What a FUN challenge!

...But first, before I get started let me share! A HUGE, WARM welcome to our newest addition...AJ Otto! :) Woohoo! I {heart} AJ! She's such a sweetie! :) ...and our newest guest designer....Cathy Tisdale! She's so sweet to! :) Such an amazing group of stampers! :)

...Now on to this weeks challenge! Let's bring the outdoors in...yup, getting back to nature! Yeah, when I first read this one, I was a little bit stumped! If you look outside my window most of the pretty fall colors are gone! For sure all of the beautiful summer colors are! Then today I saw my beautiful fall grass that was at the perfect dried state and just went from there. A little Unity goodness (this is from the Autumn Blessings kit) and viola....

The paper is SU...the ribbon is SU...although it's retired...I think you can still pick it up over at Flourishes...for sure you can get the most beautiful pink! LOVE this ribbon!

That's it for me! Be sure and check out the rest of the team....

Check out Cathy Tidwell’s sample here.
Check out Julie Koerber’s sample here.
Check out Dee Jackson’s sample here.
Check out Janine Orchard’s sample here.
Check out Becky Oehlers’ sample here.
Check out AJ Otto’s sample here.

Hope you are all doing well and that you have a wonderful day! I will share my good news! I wasn't expecting to have it yet! I had a dr. appt today...regular thing...and they just so happened to send him my CT results! I so love my dr.!...he gave me the results and I am so happy to report that I am all clear! What a wonderful blessing! :) Thank you so very much for all of your kind words! You are all so very supportive! Thank you for being there! :)

Post you soon! :)

Hip HOP!

Happy Hip Hop Thursday!



Have you been to Angela's blog yet? If not head on over there so that you can see all of the specials and then start a hoppin'! :)


I've got a couple of cards for you today....both Christmas cards. The first one uses one of Unity's new releases...it's called Wee Forest Shanty. I thought this little house would be perfect for a Christmas card. What do you think?

The paper is from The Little Yellow Bicycle....LOVE their stuff. The house is one of my favs! I added a little glitter to make it look snowy.

My second uses Christmas Listthe ....... from Unity. I so love this one as well. I pulled out some Basic Grey paper...not Christmas paper at all!...and used it with one of my Little Yellow Bicycle rubons and added some rhinestone gems....

That's it for me. Head on over to the ever so fabulous Robyn Weatherspoon and I will check you all out in the Hip HOP forum at SCS later today!

Have a hip HOP happy day! :)

A Little Stressed

Hey Everyone!


Well, I spent my night starting and stopping so many projects and cards....I just couldn't concentrate. I had planned on posting something today but I will confess to being just a little overwhelmed!


Why you ask? Well, today I am getting my 5 year scans. Many of you already know that I am a cancer survivor. I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in September of 2003. I had 6 long months of chemo (although compared to some, that's soooo short!) and then 1 month of radiation and have been so very blessed to be cancer free. I still get really nervous at scan time. Really nervous. I'm guessing that will always be the case.


Today I am going to share one that I love...an oldie but one of my favs....and then post some blog candy that I had intended to post later....I'll share more after the card....

This is one I shared back in July. It's using one of my most favorite Unity kits EVER!...Hey Chick. I LOVE this set! I also love the October Afternoon paper...LOVE October Afternoon!



Ok...so moving on to the blog candy. How about a little comment game? I guess it seemed perfect to post this today since I am needing a few kind words myself! :) What you need to do to be included in the drawing is to pick three blogs that are listed on my sidebar...anywhere on my sidebar and leave them a comment...if you want you can leave more than one! ;) How about this....For every three blogs you leave a comment on you can enter...so enter as often as you like! Fair?



What are you playing for? Besides bringing a smile to someones face? How's this.....

A Stampin Up...partially mounted...stamp set...Sidekick Sayings, Print Pattern paper pack...never opened...5 yards or ribbon, primas, and some glittery brads.

I hope you are all having a great day! I am off....I have to take a benadryl first...I'm allergic to the dye they inject me with....I will be a bit loopy for the rest of the morning! LOL...ok...when am I not slightly loopy! ;)

Hope you all have a wonderful day! I will keep you posted...although I don't see the dr. until the 25th so probably will not have results until then.

Post ya soon! :)

ETA: I was so stressed yesterday that I didn't even list a deadline for this one! Let's run it until Saturday...I will announce the winner on Sunday...that way you can leave lots of love! Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm happy the test is over and will try and not freak out waiting....but I will keep you posted once I hear something.

Have a great day! :)

Beate's BIC 30

Happy Tuesday! :) I hope you are all having a great day! :) Today it's time for another fun inspiration challenge from Beate! Take a look at todays inspiration piece....

One thing popped into my instantly when I saw this! I LOVE the circles! While the colors are fabulous also, I chose a different color scheme. I am in full Christmas mode now! I'm not so sure I will end up with a 'set' of Christmas cards to send out or if I will just send a bunch of different ones. I am having such a hard time deciding! One thing is a definite...this will NOT be this years mass produced card! Someone will get it...but only ONE person! LOL

Here's my card for this week...

I went only with the circles. The reason this is actually a bit of a bear...the stickles and liquid pearls are a bit temperamental! This is actually the third card...the first two were both ruined when either my liquid pearls or stickles spit out to much goo...or because I accidentally shut the card before it was dry! ...and to think!...it looks so EPLS! (easy peasy lemon squeezy)

Here's one of the inside...I took the circles all the way down on the bottom under the sentiment...

...and for some reason it seems like this picture loaded REALLY big! Sorry...I am actually typing this Monday night and am just to pooped to change it!

So dash on over to the rest of Beate's team and see what they came up with...

Charmaine Ikach
Danielle Lounds
Dawn McVey
Silke Ledlow
Susan Roberts

And by the time you read this...I will be off to a hair appointment...a MUCH needed hair appointment! Hope you all have a fabulous day!

I will post you soon! :)

A Get Well For Amber

Happy Monday! It's time for another throwdown! ;) Ok...light on the throwdown side today...the cards today are for our good friend...the ultra talented, Amber! Did y'all know that she had to have surgery on her leg? Yuck! Surgery stinks! So in honor of the convalescing Amber!...we all decided to make her a 'get well' card.

You guys can play! The more the merrier! We've got a link set up over in the Unity forum at SCS that you can link your get well card to. Upload your card to your SCS gallery or your blog and then link it here.

This weeks challenge was a real pain to me! :) You know I LOVE the dsp! This week...NO dsp! NO DSP! Who's idea was that anyway! Well, since my boys are both still sick! What's up with that anyway! I needed a quickie! This card is super simple! It would take longer to cut out the butterfly than to create this whole card! Here it is.....
The deets: Floral Fantastical stamp kit from Unity; kraft, white, berry bliss card stock all from PTI; berry bliss dot ribbon PTI, copic markers, liquid pearls, scallop border punch

Now head on over to the rest of the gals to see what they came up with....AJ Otto, Brooke Lien, Maren Benedict....and of course...you can stop by Amber's and leave her well wishes. She's such a trooper! Feel better soon, Amber!

I'm off to try and get the boys to eat something! They don't have much of an appetite...this card could be for them...except that they hate pink and butterflies...and Amber needs it so much more! They would just prefer a kiss...how nice is that! I love that they still love my kisses and hugs!

Hope you are all well and that you have a wonderful day! :)

Easing Out Of Halloween!

You're probably wondering what I mean by the title. I'm sure you've all guessed just how much I LOVE creating Halloween projects. Let's face it...it's not every day you can throw purple and orange together and get away with it! And the jiggle eyes! Don't even get me started! No self respecting Halloween card is complete without 'em!

I've got a quickie little something for you tonight...yeah, sorry it's taken so long to get todays post together...our little stomach bug wasn't gone after all! It's been a crazy day taking care of all of the little sickies around here!

....oh yeah, back to my problem with moving past all of the fun Halloween creations! I'm trying to ease myself out of them! I pulled out my Hey Chick kit from Unity...no Halloween there. The paper is from We R Memory Keepers...NO Halloween with this dsp! So how am I easing myself out of it???? Check out these peepers.....

What can I say...I have a weekness for the jiggle eyes!

That's it for me. I'm going to do a bit more stamping. I hope you are all doing well and that you have a wonderful weekend! :)

Simple Boo

Happy Halloween! :)

Well, you know I couldn't post today without it being a Halloween card! You would have had to check my temperature if I had done that! ;) So today's had to use a button....you know for Sharon's Stamp Simply challenge. This week is 'Button up for ....fall....Winter!'

Hmmm....buttons..........................................................

I opted to use mine on my tag...because I am somewhat button challenged!

Here's my Mummy card....


The deets: My Minds Eye dsp, Very Vanilla cs SU for the mummy...which I just cut into strips and then distressed with black ink...it was actually pretty simple...although definitely not a 10 minute card...or maybe that was just because I was watching TV while making it!...., purple ribbon Martha Stewart...and I picked it up in the clearance section for $1.99! LOVE a bargain!....'Boo' sentiment PTI, jiggle eyes...

jiggle eyes! OHMYHECK! They are FABULOUS! Look at this.....

They're from Jeepers Creepers and how stinkin cute are they! I'm in love! LOL...yes, I realize how sad and pathetic that really is! :)

Ok...time to check out the rest of the team....
Check out Darlene Pavlick’s sample here.
Check out Julie Koerber’s sample here.
Check out Dee Jackson’s sample here.
Check out Jennifer Buck’s sample here.
Check out Janine Orchard’s sample here.
Check out Tammy Hershberger’s sample here.
Check out Becky Oehlers’ sample here.

If you are uploading to SCS remember to use the keyword ssnotime59.

That's it for me. I'm actually off to bed! :) Carter is sick again. Poor little guy. It's probably more like still sick but he seemed ok today and yesterday. I'm hoping he is better by Halloween night....I would feel so bad for him if he missed anything!

Post you soon! Have a wonderful and safe Halloween! :)

A Hip Hop Christmas Trio

Hip HOP!

I'm so excited for today! You know I LOVE hip hop! :) ...and as usual, Angela has a whole list of goodies for everyone today! Don't ya LOVE her! :) She's the sweetest!

Well there are some fantabulous new releases today! I am soooo happy that I have a few in my hot little hands! I created a trio of Christmas cards with them....

I'm still trying to decide what to do for my Christmas cards this year. I've usually already decided...and started!...by now! I am slightly stressed that I have NO idea! Although any one of these would be fine! I LOVE the new images!

Here's the first one....

I LOVE the stocking! This one is called 'Stocking of Elegance'. Isn't it wonderful!

My second card uses the new 'All Santa's Reindeer'. It's not a silhouette stamp but I LOVE it this way!

I decided to color him all black...it worked to me with this one. I also used the Worn Grid background stamp.

The next card uses the new 'Trinity Trio'.....

LOVE these trees! :) Aren't they fab! So many great images!

The deets: All stamps Unity! ;)...guess that goes without saying! ;) Sorry, I didn't have the direct links for these but just click on the one I provided and by then you will see the new hip hop releases....Ok...the rest...Kraft card stock PTI, Fancy Pants dsp from Jacksonbelle Embellishments, Ribbon from SU, chipboard pieces...from Archivers...can't remember the brand!...sorry about that! :)

Now on with the hop! Hop on over to the ever so fabulous Robyn Weatherspoon....and I will see you all in the forum in a bit! Off to hop!

Post you soon! :)

Happy Fall!

I cannot believe that it's actually fall! It's almost Halloween! How is that even possible! It's freezing here and although I am not ready to say I miss summer, I am not ready to be cold!

Last night while listening to the weatherman say that we were getting ready to have the coldest day of the season...I thought I would revisit my favorite little scarecrow from Unity. I LOVE this little guy!

How cute is he! I left this one without sentiment so that I could use it for anything. Here's the deets...Cosmo Cricket paper, So Saffron CS SU, ribbon SU, Dew Drops from Jacksonbelle Embellishments, and of course this cute little guy is from Unity...Fall Festival.

That's it for me. I am off to finish playing catch up around here. It's amazing how behind you can get when everyone is home sick! :)

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Ever So Grateful

Happy Inspiration Tuesday! You all know how much I LOVE Beate's Inspiration challenge (#29)! It's one of my favorites! This weeks challenge is AMAZING! Take a look at the piece that Beate chose for us....

How much do I love the colors and 'cleaness' of this picture. Everything is wonderful! I actually wasn't quite sure what direction I wanted to take for this one. I didn't want to lose anything! ;) So I pulled out some kraft, some twine, and my Gratitude=Joy stamp from Unity...to create this....


Simple and clean. My favorite!

Be sure and check out the rest of Beate's team....

Charmaine Ikach
Danielle Lounds
Dawn McVey
Silke Ledlow
Susan Roberts

Hope you are all doing well! I'm off to try and get caught up! Yesterday was a crazy day! Two of my boys were sick...I'm actually typing this Monday night...hoping that tomorrow morning by the time you all read this everyone will be well again! If not...I won't be catching up on anything! :) Just still giving a ton of hugs and running around getting this and that for the boys!

Post you all soon!

A Two-fer!

It's time for our Monday challenge. This week...a sketch! Brought to us by the one and only Amber! But I am not going to stop there! Oh no! Have you all heard about the fantabulous challenge that Angela is hosting at Unity? Create a card, page, project of whatever nature...using Unity....and using one of the four Twilight books as inspiration.....

...once you've done so be sure and upload it at SCS and use the keyword USCSC1121 by October 30...3 winners will be chosen!....all the deets are at the link I provided above.

So this card comes to you with the above as inspiration and sticking to this fantabulous sketch from Amber.....
...and here's my interpretation of both......



You could totally switch the vampire sentiment for a nice heart or anniversary/love sentiment but I figured since I had the vampire sentiment I would go for it! ;) I truly have a few friends that I could send this to! LOL! This ones pretty simple: black card stock, white card stock, curly lable punch SU, Unity stamp, velvet border...cannot remember who makes this anymore!...gems from Glitz.

That's it for me! Be sure and check out the rest of the gals....
AJ Otto
Amber Height
Brooke Lien
Maren Benedict

Hope you all have a wonderful day! :) I've got one home sick and one that wasn't sure he wanted to go...not sure that he was actually sick! ;) Off to put on my nurse hat! :)

Post you soon!