Do You See What I See?

And yes, from there I started singing Christmas carols - fa,la,la,la,la! Should be of no surprise though, my daughter, almost 2, sings Jingle Bells repeatedly throughout the day; so Christmas carols are commonplace around these here parts!

I did this card for Shannon's contest, to make a card with stamps used in a way that they were not necessarily intended. I had to do this challenge, because it truly was a challenge! Love this idea!

In this card I used a few things for their intended purpose (obviously), but I also used some other things that I saw a bit differently. The main thing I changed (and this was the start of the whole card), was from an old SU! set called Framed Greetings. This was one of my first SU! sets, and I have thought about parting with it, but I go back to it every so often, so not yet ready! Anyway, I used the purse from that set and turned it upside down to make the chef's head and hat, then I gave him some eyes so he could see what I was doing to him :-) I added Star Dust Stickles to the curlies of his hat to make it sparkle a bit. Then I made him an apron out of some generic red cardstock and a Zig journaling pen. I cut that out and added a little strip of checkered Papertrey White that I colored with a red marker. I used the smallest "stem" stamp from Papertrey's Green Thumb set for his arms, pants, and the spatula handle and doodled on some extras. I used the cupcake outline from a Technique Tuesday Collector's set called Icing On The Cake for the spatula base, and colored it in with a black Prismacolor pencil and OMS, and added some Black Diamond Stickles to the spatula and grill for sparkle. The rest is pretty self explanatory. I doodled the outline to make it mirror the smoke coming from the grill, and added some black mini brads to finish it off. I got to use some of my dollar stamps that have been eagerly awaiting ink. I buy tons of those things and then forget to use them. So this contest made me look at everything I have, thanks Shannon! Oh, one more thing, the ink is my new favorite Black - Brilliance Graphite Black, and the paper is Papertrey White, Cool Caribbean SU!, and Paper Company red.

Here is a pic of the stamps I used:

Well, I think that about covers it! Can't wait to see who wins, there are some really cool designs coming from Shannon's contest. Great prizes too!

Have a fabulous weekend everyone! Thanks for visiting!

Do You Have A Green Thumb?

I can't seem to put my Papertrey stamp sets away! I had them for so long without the time to use them, and now they have a nice little home on my desk, just like my glue :-) I am also truly LOVING the Versamagic Dew Drop Inks! They work so well on all types of paper, and are such a deep color, they work almost like craft inks.



The card base is from a card boxed set I got from Michaels. It's kind of a mustard color with speckles on it, almost like recycled paper. The rust color is from the new Paper Company collections, called Desert. Followed by some MME striped from the Asparagus collection. The White paper is of course, Papertrey Ink (that's the only white I seem to use these days). I used flower stamps from both Papertrey's Green Thumb and Butterfly Kisses and the "smile" is from Paper Tray again. I used Dew Drops in Brick Red, Gingerbread, Spanish Olive, and Sage. I also used Stampin Up! Marigold Morning ink (retired) and Colorbox Chalk Ink Yellow Ochre (I love, love, love chalk inks!). I added a little Gingerbread ink to the main image to give it a more natural feel, the white seemed too stark to me. For the white flowers, I brushed some Making Memories white scrapbook paint onto the stamp and then stamped away. I don't have white craft ink (on my never ending wish list), but this works well! The scalloped piece is made with a corner rounder, then pierced, and highlighted with a Signo Gel Pen. The ribbon is Mellow Moss from SU! On the inside it reads, "It's Your Day!" So I guess it's a birthday card, always need those!

September is a big month around here. First is my daughter's Birthday on the 2nd, then my long time friend Steve on the 3rd, my nephew's follow on the 24th and 25th, and then ME! on the 26th, our very dear friend Vic (currently in Iraq flying planes from the ground - very interesting stories) on the 27th, and one of my mother-in-law's, Connie, on the 29th! Very busy Birthday month here! I think I'll ask for a gift certificate to Papertray for my birthday - he-he!

OK, well, I guess I should go play with my kids, they are looking at me with sad eyes...

Have a wonderful day!

Super easy B-Day card for a guy!

Ok, so I kept reminding myself it was my brother's birthday, and I had to get a card made, but I so dislike making masculine cards (because I can never think of what to do) that I kept putting it off. So, I was at storytime with my kids at the mall, and went to the card store to buy one (GASP! - I know, but it was getting close and I had nothing!). Then I came across this concept from, I think Papyrus, and said to myself "I can do that!". So I went home and reproduced it; it isn't an original idea, but very cute nonetheless!

I used Very Vanilla cardstock for the base. Used what I think is 18-gauge wire to make the shape of the hanger and used a glue dot behind the top part to secure it to the card. The sentiment is Papertrey's Paper Tray of course, stamped in Staz On Black. The ties are made out of MME Magnolia collection scraps. I love those papers! Super easy and quick! One the inside I stamped my own sentiment that read, "Tie One On - he-he!". I think he liked it, or at least got a kick out of it! He laughed when he left his message on the voice mail!

It's kind of dreary here right now, no rain, just gray. I like days like that, but somehow today I can't muster up the energy to get the kids out of the house! Right now that are playing well together, but you know that it is just a matter of time...

Hope you enjoy your day!

A Super-Quick Healthy Recipe That Tastes Good Too!

Good morning all!
Do you love the idea of eating something healthy, but that tastes good too? I have been trying a few new recipes (while tweeking them a bit to meet my tastes) and this is a fail-safe recipe that so far everyone loves (even people who look at it and say that looks interesting!). A friend of mine who is also an at-home caterer discovered a fabulous, super-quick, recipe that everyone loves, and passed it on to me. I wanted to pass it on to you all for something really quick for you to try. Here goes:

• 1 whole tomatoe chopped, seeded and drained
• 1 can of corn drained
• 1 can of black beans drained
• a few dashes of hot sauce

Here is where my tweeking comes in... I use 1 can of diced tomatoes with mild green chilies already in them (faster and no mess). The I add a few dashes of mild green hot sauce because my kids don't like things really spicey. There you have it! I serve it like a dip/salsa with multi-grain tortilla chips. Wonderful, quick, healthy, black bean salsa if you will! Try it and hope you like it!

Lots to share...

I love my camera! I am soooooooooo happy that we got it back! It really didn't take any time at all and they seem to have done a great job. Something about calibrating the lens, and testing the aperture??? As long as it works, I don't care what they did :-).

Then we had family in town and I just wasn't thinking about blogging :-) Though I have missed stamping and creating, it was nice to just enjoy everyone. I thought about it a few times, but couldn't seem to find the time. And then first thing Friday, I fell off a curb (I know duh!) out front of Michael's of all places! What kind of irony is that!

I was carrying my little girl and holding my son's hand and went down one of those little hilly islands in the middle of the parking lot. Just singing the morning away, when BAM! I don't know where the strength came from, but I was able to get my kids back into the car when I seriously thought I was going to pass out. Somehow I fastened everyone's seatbelts, although I don't recall doing it, and called my husband, who I had just dropped off at work because his car was being inspected (this is all his fault right :-). I drove to his work and he drove me to the doctors. We spent most of the morning at the doctor's office getting x-rays, etc., to find that I have a severe hematoma?, and a possible hairline fracture. What a weekend! And it was absolutely beautiful here, missed it all. But I did get to stamp a little. So here is some of what I came up with...

This first one is the one I sent my cousin Tricia in the package we sent her last week. It is of course one of my Bellas. The white base is Papertrey's Stamper's Select. Flowahbella is stamped in Timber Brown Staz-On, and her dress is paper pieced with the patterned paper from a DCWV stack. The rest of her is colored with Prismacolor Pencils and OMS. I cut her out with the Curvy Cutter Oval set, and then mounted that onto a piece of Cool Caribbean SU! cardstock cut with mini scalloped scissors. The patterned paper is layered onto a piece of Tangerine Bazzill. I punched two small wholes at the top and bottom of Bella, and then in the patterned paper layers before adhering it to the white base, that way it was all hidden :-) I tied it all together with Moss ribbon from SU! and added some turquoise Stickles. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Paper Tray, stamped with Timber Brown on vellum and highlighted with some Stickles. I put glue dots under the flowers to hide the adhesive.

This is one I did this weekend for a friend who's father just passed away, Cancer yet again - anyone hate that word as much as I do??? I was trying to go for something understated yet pretty, but for a guy. I think it might be too feminine, but I gave it to him anyway; I am soooo not good with guy cards. I used some scraps I had left over from the Basic Grey Perhaps 6x6 pad, cut two strips of the green and used a strip of the Beatrice Pattern. Before gluing them into place I inked up the edges a bit with Chestnut Roan Fluid Chalk by Colorbox. I stamped Papertrey's Butterfly Kisses with Colorbox white and added clear embossing powder to make them stand out. Didn't stand out as well as I thought they would because of the patterned paper, so I made a reverse mask of the butterflies and sponged a little Gingerbread on them to make them stand out more. Then I adhered everything to SU! Chocolate Chip cardstock base and added a piece of twine with a tag made from the the yellow paper (think it's called East of the Sun) in the Perhaps pad. The white rim around the tag is Papertey's Stamper's Select cut with mini scalloped scissors, then sponged with a little Chestnut Roan again. The sentiment is of course Papertrey Ink's Paper Tray again, have I mentioned how much I love this set, so versatile! I find that I use it over and over again for almost every occassion. Looooooove it!

Now for the final card of the day...

This was inspired by the Splitcoast Inspiration Challenge from Saturday, found here. I needed an anniversary card for my parents, who by the way will be married for 38 years on the 23rd. This was the first card I did this weekend, so I was having a bit of a mental block. The challenge helped me come up with some colors. I had bought this set used from Lauren Meader (mytime on Splitcoast) a while back, and hadn't used it yet. So Big Blooms was perfect because I was a flowery mood. The card is a 5 1/2" square, different for me. I stamped the flower from SU! Big Blooms on Stamper's Select in Colorbox Fluid Chalk Warm Red. Cut that out and adhered it with dimensionals to a cuttlebugged piece of white measuring 2 x 3 1/2. The brad in the middle is from Joanns I think. The green scallops are made using the SU! Slit Punch on paper from MME. The brown is Bazill, but I am not sure of the name. The leaves are from SU! Best Blossoms, and they are stamped with Versamagic Dew Drops in Spanish Olive. I added strips of the MME green to the top and bottom, then some ribbon from the Michaels dollar bin, and then adhered the whole thing to Stamper's Select white. The sentiment is a shortened version of SU! Wonderful Words stamped in Chestnut Roan on an oval cut with my Curvy Cutter. The mini brads are again from Joanns, and it is also on dimensionals. The corners are punched with SU! ticket corner punch, but I think it's missing something. I struggled with putting brads in the corners, but I don't want to do it then hate it. All in all I like the way it turned out. This was my first inspiration challenge - I had fun with it!

WOW! I can't believe I just typed all that. Haven't done that in a long time. I hope you enjoy my latest creations. My kids will be up very soon. I must run, figuratively speaking of course - he-he! Thanks for visiting! Have a wonderful evening!

A Life Altering Moment

This is just a quick post to share something that has been on my mind for the last few days. For those of you that pray, please say a prayer for my cousin, her name is Tricia. She has cerebral palsy, and is an amazing woman who has done some great things with the life she has been handed. She was diagnosed last week with cancer and she is only 39. We worried she wouldn't understand what that means. I don't really know that I truly understand what that means; there are so many possible scenarios, it is hard to get a grasp on cancer. Tricia is such an upbeat person, many people, including myself, could learn a great deal from her. I can't begin to understand what she is going through right now. But I do know that she is a fighter, and stubborn as a mule, and I have every faith in the world that she will fight this. She actually said those words when they explained what it meant to be diagnosed with cancer, "I'm going to fight this!". So, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as someone who needs a little help right now. She will start chemo in a few weeks, after she recovers from her surgery (which is how they found it). We are sending her some love in a box, with cards from my kids, and some Care Bears (Good Luck Bear and Cheer Bear) to keep her going. Every thought and prayer helps. Thanks and have a wonderful night!

My guy!

My husband and I just celebrated our anniversary, separately I might add, but celebrated nonetheless. On July 27th I was in Philly with my mom and he was watching over our little ones for the weekend. This weekend, he had his guys' thing and I had the kids. Sense a pattern here? One of us always has the kids. We don't live in the same town as either of our family, and have only one family member close by. Babysitting has been a trouble spot for us these past few years, so we take what little free time we have together and try to make it as special as we can, while our two little ones sleep soundly nearby :-) For our anniversary I made my husband the first two pages of his scrapbook. We have decided that we want to leave a legacy for our kids of who we are/were (just in case anything ever happens). We want them to know us if God forbid we are taken from this earth. So, I made the first layout entitled "things I love about you..." I can't post it yet, but will as soon as I can, because our camera has finally reached Kodak for repair (I hope). But some of the things I love of about my husband read:

• Your positive attitude


• Your strengths make up for my weaknesses


• Your gentle and often calming nature


• The way you suport me in everything I do


• You love me for who I am


• Your love of life


• Your often strange sense of humor


• Your ability to see other's perspectives (sometimes I hate this too :-)


• The love you have and show for your children


• That you are still a kid at heart, and that you remind me how important that is

These are the biggest things that me happy I have him. He is a fabulous person; people like him even before they get to know him. We all laugh about my husband; he can seriously walk into a room of perfect strangers and by the end of the night he will have made several new friends. He never feels uncomfortable. He is happy to be who he is! I, on the other hand am more of a wallflower, so we balance each other out.

One funny story about him meeting people, and our friends still laugh about this, we went to an apple festival about two hours from our home and while browsing the little inn we came across a family who was visiting from Italy. They spoke very little English, but somehow my husband was able to hold a 30+ minute conversation with these people and in the end exchanged phone numbers, addresses and email with them "just in case" they ever came back. We just watched as this all unfolded in amazement. I don't know how he does it. They have exchanged emails a few times since and have seen some beautiful pictures of Italy, that we would otherwise never have seen. Perhaps one day we will get there... oh to dream, we can't even go on a date!

One of our friends pointed out that Doug has something in common with everyone. He really does! He is a pretty worldy guy. He knows a lot about politics, foreign and domestic, he enjoys sports and also a good book, and he spent a few years as a Marine and working for the military. He is just an all around great guy, and I am happy to call him mine!

My challenge to you is to think of at least 10 things that make your significant other so special. Sometimes it truly is the little things... Have a great day!