Rustic Daisies

Thank you Giveaway !!

2010-01-28T07:00:00.002-06:00

Good morning gals !! I just popped in to check on my work email and decided to check on the blog........I can't believe we hit 10,000 hits !!! I know it's minor compared to all of the great blogs out there, but it's a milestone to me !

In honor of our 10,000 hit anniversary, I thought it was time for a giveaway !! I have a box full goodies----stamps, ink, ribbon, etc. for this occasion !! All you need to do is leave a comment on this post and we'll select a winner on Monday. Tell us what you like about the blog, what you'd like to see more of, anything you want !!

I just want to say thank you for being a part of this blog with me. You gals are wonderful and I appreciate you taking time to come visit !! Have a great weekend !!

Stacy : )

Time for a getaway..................

2010-01-25T21:16:00.002-06:00

Happy Monday gals !! I just wanted to pop in and let ya know I'm taking a week off......I'm getting ready for a trip to Cedar Crest for the weekend with some girlfriends. Scrapbooking, good food & good company !! So, I have some things to finish up before I leave on Friday. Hope everyone has a great week and I can't wait to post some pics next Monday !!

Toodles------Stacy

A little bit of sewing......

2010-01-22T20:56:00.004-06:00

My plan for tonight was to finish up the rag tote that I was making for myself.....aren't those fabrics super cute ???

But as it goes, the kids saw me plug in the sewing machine and ran at me like a herd of buffalos !! "Mommy, mommy I want a purse !!" all 3 of them kept shouting....including my little boy lol So, I again had to put myself aside and work on 2 purses and a drawstring tote. This is my oldest with hers:

This is my youngest daughter with hers:

I didn't get a good pic of my son's bag, but I keep trying to tell him it's a bag not a purse !! He's so funny !! All of the fabric were scrap packs I picked up at Joann's. The girls haven't taken them off yet and my son put his in his special spot at bedtime.........

That's all of the creative juice I can squeeze out of myself tonight. Have a great weekend everyone !!

Happy MLK Day !!

2010-01-18T20:08:00.002-06:00

First and foremost....happy MLK Day !! It's been a pretty slow day around here, house to clean, kids to bathe. We did have some excitement though !! My baby girl had her first guitar lesson today !! I think I was more excited than she was lol......She looked so grown up carrying that bubble gum pink guitar into her lesson !! I know she'll do great ! She loves music !!

My card I wanted to show tonight is one of many projects that I've done over the past few days. There is an awesome store in KS and they're looking for 4 design team members. I thought I'd give it a try !!

The bottom of the card was being stubborn.....there is a strip of plaid on the inside that just didn't want to show itself : )

Have a great night !!

Take note...............

2010-01-15T20:08:00.003-06:00

Friday is finally here and luckily it's a 3 day weekend !! The weather is finally warming up (by warm I mean 30 degrees....lol) and I might actually get some time to work on some projects !!

Tonight I wanted to show you a post-it note holder I made for my office. I actually got the idea from one of the hundreds of blogs I cruised the other day, but unfortunately I forgot which one ! So thank you for the inspiration if you're reading this !!

The base of the holder is a 4x6 clear plastic picture frame that I picked up at the Dollar Tree. With a picture in it, it sits long ways (does that make sense ??) I cut a piece of cs down to the same size and inked the edges. I cut a scrap piece of pp down and inked the edges on it also. I used a SU punch to stamp my sentiment on and stamped and cut the bird to finish it off. After the paper pieces were assembled, I slid them into the picture frame. Since I'm left-handed, I decided to stick the post-it notes on the right side. I finished it off with some orange ribbon. the whole thing cost around 1.50 !! How cool is that ??

Hope you have a great and productive weekend !! Time to bust out some new supplies : )

Stacy

Last of the monograms...I promise!

2010-01-14T16:26:00.003-06:00

Hey there! How've you been? I've got a lot going on in the little head of mine so this is going to be a quick post tonight! These are the last of the monograms I made for my sister.

I used Lemon Tart ink and card stock on a cream colored background and Polka Dot Basics Two with the Just Rite Monogram stamper.

Here I used Spring Rain ink and card stock with a cream colored background and Damask Designs with the Just Rite Monogram stamper. I added a few little rhinstones to the middle monogram and really liked the way it turned out!

To give these sets away, I boxed them up, ten cards and ten envelopes, in PTI's clear card box. Super easy and quick!
Have a great night!

Becky

Happy Birthday Hollywood !!!

2010-01-11T20:32:00.005-06:00

It's hard to believe that at 10:37 am tomorrow morning, my baby girl is going to turn 5. It feels like she's been with us for many more years than that !! Her nickname, Hollywood fits her to a T.....she's spunky, smart, beautiful and full of life. She's a tomboy/diva and her laughter lights up my day.

After her first of 3 parties (uhhhhh....) we made cupcakes for her class at school:

And no party is complete without goody bags:

We made the little bags out of 2 top note dies that we stitched on 3 sides. We stamped Happy Birthday in pink and put a little stickle dot of purple on the "i". We strung through some hot pink ribbon and filled with goodies !!

Thank you Holly for choosing me and daddy to be your parents !! You mean so much to us and I can't imagine one day without you !! Happy Birthday princess !! I love you !!

Inspiration and a Notebook.....

2010-01-08T20:39:00.005-06:00

Hope everyone is staying warm !! I can't believe how cold it's been here in the Midwest the last week.....I'm ready for some sunshine !!

I have 2 things for ya tonight....first off is my basket of ribbon that was inspired by Nichole Heady's ribbon storage. I chose to put mine in a basket to make it a little easier to rummage through and I skipped the straight pins and chose to knot the ends....

I ended up rolling 70 rolls of ribbon.......this basket is huge and barely looks full...lol

The second for tonight is a notepad that I covered to carry in my purse. I found it at the dollar tree along with the clothespins. Nothing too fancy, just some scrap pp, letters cut from the cricut and some glossy accents on the flower "o".....

well gals, I'm freezing down here and I think the girls are ready to watch a movie !! Stay warm and have a great weekend !!

More Monograms!

2010-01-07T07:19:00.002-06:00

Good morning! It began snowing yesterday around noon and was still snowing when I went to bed around 10:30 PM. After the snow stopped, the winds started up and we had some drifting, mostly around our front porch. This, of course, is the side of the driveway which I park on. (just like we talked about the other day Stacy:) and no, I'm not going to try and back out into it!) The temperatures are going to drop like crazy the next few days, we're expecting a HIGH of -3 on Saturday but then warm back up next week. Unfortunately, the weathermen are saying they expect a lot more of the white stuff over the next two months before spring hits. I noticed this morning that Atlanta is supposed to get snow, so this crazy winter weather is happening everywhere it seems! Well, on to my project for the day!

Some more monogram cards for my sister! This time using Terracotta Tile ink and card stock, ivory card stock, Damask Designs set and Just Rite Monogram Stamper. Notice the Christmas paper in the background? Yeah, I took these pictures before the holiday and my lazy buns never got them posted! That's it for today, just a quickie little post. I'm off to keep my little family warm! I hope you're all safe and toasty wherever you may be!

Becky

Guess what?

2010-01-05T17:06:00.003-06:00

More snow tomorrow! Lucky us! We're having super cold temperatures and the snow just keeps coming! Abie has had school the last two days, not sure if she'll have it tomorrow or not. We'll have to wait and see. Today's post is from the set of monogram gift cards I made for my sister.

I used Polka Dot Basics Two, Raspberry Fizz ink, Raspberry Fizz and ivory card stock. For stamps, I used the Just Rite Monogram Stamper. It really made these note cards a breeze!I hit the grocery store this afternoon, along with everyone else in town, we needed a few things just in case we get snowed in. Hope all is warm and well where you are!

Becky

Mish's Sketch ...........

2010-01-04T06:30:00.000-06:00

Happy Monday gals !! Hope everyone is staying warm......it's been so cold here, we have snow that I swear won't melt until July !! The kids are wanting to go out soooo bad, but I can't let them go out in single digits !! We did an experiment this morning---we put a tupperware container with about a 1/2 cup of water out on the deck to see how long it would take to freeze...it only took 18 minutes !! I think that changed their minds lol

Ohhhh Mish !! What a great sketch ! My youngest daughter will be 5 next week and I thought this would be a perfect card for her. It has all the colors she likes and was a lot of fun to make:

The sentiment is a little hard to see, but it says "you're so sweet" (one of these days I'm gonna break down and buy a new camera !!)

Thanks for stopping by---stay warm and have a great day !!

A summer card...

2010-01-02T08:40:00.000-06:00

because is so freakin' cold here! It's freeeeeeezing here! Single digits for the lows and teens for the highs. Brr. We're doing our best to stay warm. We've got a fire going and we're all huddled under blankets, except for our youngest who seems to not be bothered one bit by the cold temps! Today's card is the summer card I made to go with the Christmas tea towel set I made. It bears a striking resemblance to the Veteran's Day card I made for my dad.

This card is 4x4 and I rounded the corners. I also added a bit of vintage trim and some thin red ribbon. I really wish it was 4th of July weather right now! Have a nice weekend!

Becky

Mish's Sketch

2009-12-31T14:57:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year's Eve! Do you have big plans for tonight? We don't! My mom and dad come over every year and we make lots of snacks, watch movies, play games, try to stay up until midnight and always fall asleep! One of us usually wakes up about ten minutes before the ball drops and wakes up the other three and we ring in the new year threw half opened eyes. Early this morning Mish Mash posted this fun sketch on her blog and invited people to join in. So I did. I'd like to say I sat right down and whipped this card up but I didn't. Abie had a friend over and in between clay bowls, Project Runway, poopy diapers, lunch and phone calls I finished this card.
I used Melon Berry and Enchanted Evening card stock, Bitty Dots Basics patterned paper in Melon Berry, Polka Dots Basics Two and Imaginesence stamps and Martha Stewart glitter in Lapis (I think). I also used my Apron Lace punch, Corner Chomper punch and some place white grosgrain ribbon from Joann's. This sketch was super fun to play along with!
I hope you all have a fun and safe night! See you next year!!

Becky

Goodbye 2009.................

2009-12-30T20:31:00.003-06:00

It's hard to believe that another year has passed. This has been a trying year for a lot of people, losing loved ones, money crunches, losing jobs.........I know that 2010 will bring hope and compassion and each of us helping those around us. It's a time to start fresh--try new ideas, get rid of old habits, make our little spots a better place.

I've been thinking a lot the last few weeks of things I want to improve upon. I don't make resolutions.....like diets, they rarely work !! I want to be in a better place this time next year and I have a lot of changes to make in order to get there. I'm one of the lucky ones---I have a wonderful family, a good job & no issues providing for my family. What I want to do for this next year is get back to the simple life. I want to make more homemade products, I want to learn to can, I want to learn how to sew better (lol...this'll be a challenge !!)

I want to teach my children what's really important in life.

Happiness.

Expensive clothes, shoes, cars are not important to me. (confession: I DO have a Dooney fetish !!) I want my children to be themselves and not try to be like others just because of what they have. I feel sorry for some of the children I see that are emotionally wrecked at such a young age because they weren't taught about the really important things in life. Do you think anyone is going to remember the car you drove when you took them to soccer practice? Nope......they'll remember that you TOOK them to practice and watched every game and cheered. That's what's important.

Happiness. It starts with us. We have to do the things that make us happy. That's what I want to do. You may see some crazy posts from me in the upcoming year, but I promise to pass on only the good tips and tricks, not the ones that didn't quite work out !!

So, I hope that all of you can see the positive in the year to come. Do some things that make you happy. Surround yourself with the people YOU want to be around. Experiment, have fun, have faith, have compassion.

Most of all, I hope you find happiness !!

Happy New Year !!

Whirlwind!

2009-12-29T07:01:00.004-06:00

Well, did you all survive? We did. We had a big snow storm here. It rained Wednesday and Thursday and changed over to sleet on Thursday afternoon. On Christmas Eve night, it changed over to snow, like something out of a movie, and when we woke up Christmas morning, everything was covered under a thick white blanket! It was perfect! Then it kept snowing, and snowing and snowing. It didn't stop until sometime on Saturday! Mike had to shovel the driveway two different times so we could get out. The kids went sledding on Sunday, we have the perfect hill in our backyard, and then came inside for hot chocolate with marshmallows! It was a great Christmas weekend. But, onward and upward! We're gearing up for New Year's Eve this week. I've already taken down all of the Christmas decorations, minus the main tree in the downstairs living room. And, I have a fun springtime card to share with you today!

This is actually the card I made to go with the spring tea towel I made for the Christmas gift set I made. I stamped Sweet Blush Polka Dot Basics II on Sweet Blush card stock and layered on Spring Rain glittered and punched pieces. On top of that, I layered the Everyday Button Bits birds. I finished off the card with the sentiment, which is very hard to see in the picture....

Here's a bit of a better look....

Hope you all had a nice holiday, wherever you were!

Becky

Time to relax............

2009-12-21T19:58:00.003-06:00

Happy Monday !! Can you believe Christmas is almost here ?? The time has flown and I'm already thinking about next year and all of the wonderful things we have planned. Vacation, projects, scrapbook trip.....good thing I'm starting early lol

For the ladies I work with, I decided to make homemade bath salts as gifts for Christmas. I was surprised at how easy it was ! Don't they look yummy ??

There are so many sites that offer recipes that it was hard to choose. I decided to go with a relaxing scent with paper and ribbon to match:

I have one more bit of news !! For all of you in Missouri, there is a new scrapbooking store in Independence called Christine's Corner. I was so tickled to walk in and see Unity stamps !! Next to PTI, they are my faves !! They are having an open house on January 2nd with lots of give aways, make and takes, etc. Check them out if you get a chance !!

Chow for now : )

Front Door Pine Cones

2009-12-19T13:04:00.003-06:00

Good afternoon. I don't even want to think about how long it's been since I've posted. My head is hanging low, I'm so sorry friends... I won't bore you with how busy we've been or how stressed I am, blah, blah, blah :) I will instead focus on how excited I am to see my girls faces on Christmas morning and how happy I will be to have almost two full weeks home from work and how hopeful I am that Mike and I have a super duper 2010!

Last year, Abie sold magazines for a fundraiser and I subscribed to Country Living. In the November issue this year, they showed the cutest project and I just fell in love with it. It was so easy to re-create. I cut eight two feet pieces of burgundy ribbon and hot glued them on to the backs of eight different pine cones. Then I gathered all of the ribbons up together, staggering them at different heights and tied all eight ribbons together into one knot. Then I trimmed the excess ribbon off and hung them on the door. I love the way it turned out. A little extra perk was that I used the cinnamon scented pine cones from Joann's so every time you open the front door it spells delicious!

Have a nice weekend friends!

Becky

Cards and a Recipe

2009-12-16T20:46:00.003-06:00

Hey gals !! Hope everyone is making it through the week ! It's been so busy at work that I feel like I haven't been there too much......2 days left !

I was sitting here wrapped in a blanket (No dear, I don't need a Snuggie lol) and even though I was fully ready to post, I couldn't stop thinking about food ! So, tonight you get a quick project and one of my favorite cold weather recipes !

The project: Martha made this cute wreath to display cards. It consists of nothing more than an embroidery hoop and clothespins that are hot glued on. How easy and cool is that ?? I jazzed mine up just a little with ribbon, but honestly I was in a rush to get some projects done and this one only took about 10 minutes:

I'm not sure why the pic turned out kinda sideways.....lol on to the recipe !!

Not sure if this is something I came across or made up in my head but this is one awesome casserole !!

Chicken and Stuffing Casserole

3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 box stuffing
2 cans cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup sour cream
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350

Cook chicken and shred (I like to boil the bird....easy to shred !)

Mix all ingredients together, pour in 9x13 pan and bake for 30 minutes

**Super simple and tastes great !! I've not tried throwing in a few veggies, but I think that would make it even heartier. Perfect for a cold Missouri night : )

Cold noses around...........

2009-12-14T20:57:00.004-06:00

Hope everyone is staying warm this holiday season !! It's hard to believe that Christmas is next week. geezzzz !! I have to admit that I have hardly started my shopping. I never wait THIS long, but this last few months has gone so fast. I plan to knock it out this weekend ; )

So I was browsing Splitcoast a few weeks ago and saw the cutest idea.....Reindeer Noses !! How adorable are these ???

I purchased the bags from HL, along with the paper. I had another use in mind for the paper, but just didn't get around to using it. I used the top note to cut out the toppers. I used my SU! punch for the labels and used the JustRight Stamper to stamp Reindeer Noses, using PTI Scarlet Jewel ink. The reindeers were cut on the cricut. These were super easy to throw together !! I think they were a bigger hit with the adults lol

Oh !! Candy...........8 Whoppers and 1 Sour Cherry each : )

Have a great week and we'll see ya Wednesday !!

Backwards!

2009-12-05T13:18:00.002-06:00

Hey there, remember me? The other half of this blog? Lol! We've been busy here, just like Stacy, getting ready for the holidays. My goal is to try and have everything completed by next weekend. We'll see if that happens! :) I have a little hostess gift to share with you today. I made this for my super sweet sister, Jennie, who had us all over for Thanksgiving.

I started with three little votives and made a simple wrap out of some patterned paper and a a bit of ribbon. The I created an acrylic box to hold them in. I stuffed the box with crinkle paper around the candles and after securing the lid with some ribbon, I attached a little fall tag.

Here's a close up picture of the bottom of the box and you can see the little candle too. Well, we have cleaned the house and made a significant dent in the laundry so I'm off to lay the little one down for a nap and get some crafty things checked off my list! Have a great weekend!

Becky

Last wreath.................

2009-12-04T20:23:00.004-06:00

Hey there gals !! I feel horrible that I haven't been able to get on here as much as I would like. As I'm sure you all know, the holidays are just horribly busy !! I have a million projects I want to share, but just haven't had time....I'm gonna get better about that !

Ok.....so I finally saw New Moon !! I have to say though, I was a little disappointed : ( I didn't think it was as good as the first, but the last 5 minutes was awesome !! Now I'm waiting impatiently for numero 3 !!

Now that I've wiped the drool off my chin (hee hee) let me share my last wreath with you. This one is hanging on my pie cabinet in my studio. My mother had given me a wreath that had those styrofoam berries that were starting to come off and change colors, so I decided to rip all those off and start fresh.

I cut out 3 different sizes out of three colors on the Cricut using the Christmas Cheer cartridge. Although you can't tell here, I ran some of them through the Bug with the swiss dots. I just randomly started tying them on the wreath with twine. I discovered a set of green and blue rhinestones in my stash and placed them on random flakes.

It didn't exactly turn out like I wanted, but it does look pretty good on my cabinet and maybe I'll try again next year !!

It's super cold here and I'm gonna cuddle up and get to crafting some more....have a safe and happy weekend !!

Wreath overload....

2009-11-27T20:21:00.004-06:00

Happy Black Friday gals !! How many of you got up at midnight or 3 to go shopping ?? This was the first year in a long time that I decided to sleep in and work on some Christmas stuff instead of shopping. I did miss the rush, but also got a lot accomplished today : )

This wreath (one of like 6 in the house) was inspired by the Starbuck's wreath from last season. There are two different sizes of red ornaments and two sizes of green yarn balls (thanks to my hubby who wrapped them all for me !!)

A close up:

This one is on the fireplace, it was too bulky to add to the front door.

That's all for me tonight.....got lots more crafty projects to get makin' !!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T07:57:00.003-06:00

Hello friends! I want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving. Mike and I have so much to be thankful for this year. First and foremost, each other. We celebrated our 11 year wedding anniversary last Saturday and we're still going strong. It's hard to believe that a 21 year old girl and 23 year old boy could get it right...but we did! We're also thankful for our two sweet, healthy little girls, our fantastic family, jobs which provide food, shelter and clothing and good friends who are always there for us when we need them the most. I hope you all have a great day and take a minute to remember what you're thankful for!

Grandma's Glittery Birthday!

2009-11-24T16:45:00.003-06:00

Greetings and salutations! I come to you with a quick post this evening as I'm up to my elbows in Christmas decorations. I've gotten the second floor done, after an accident involving a broken snow globe and some mildewed ornaments. So this evening, I've moved on to the first floor, which I've begun but am no where near finished with!

If you remember, a few weeks ago, I was going to my Grandma Mary's 80th birthday party. She was joking around that she was turning 40 and made a big deal out of no one mentioning that it was her 80th birthday. So, to honor her wishes :), I made her a 40th birthday card. I tried a few new things on this card, for starters, I used my Top Note die to cut out that orange felt. It went through my Cuttlebug like butta! Then I adhered some wide brown lace to the bottom and adhered the entire piece on the front and over to the back of the card. I had an old Prima flower I wanted to use but it was too peachy for that orange Top Note, so I smothered it in Martha Stewart glitter! For the 40, I trimmed those out with my Alpahlicious cartridge and smothered them in gold Martha glitter. I used sentiments from PTI's Life and hand wrote the "th".

Here's a (blurry) close up picture of the card. With all that glitter and bulk, I actually gave the card to Grandma in a cellophane bag.
All right, I'm off to decorate some more! Have a great night:)

For my baby boy.......

2009-11-23T19:39:00.003-06:00

Happy Monday everyone !! It's a holiday week and I love the fact that I only have to work 3 days lol

I am a very lucky mom. I have two beautiful girls and an adorable little boy. I never thought that I could have such a different bond with a son, but he definitely is the light of my life !! There's just something so special about a momma and her boy.

I was cruisin' the net the other day and stopped in on the goddess of all things crafty.....Martha ! lol Martha had some pics of a tea towel pillow and I thought it was such a cute idea. I decided to take mine one step further and embroider blue trucks on mine. Isn't he just the cutest ????

For the top side I used a tea towel and for the backside I used flannel. Nothing fancy here, just a run through the machine and there it is. I have to tell ya, the reason I made the pillow......Ryan likes to sleep on a stuffed crocodile toy and I felt so bad !!

Thanks Martha for the inspiration.....you rock !!

Flower Hair Clips

2009-11-19T16:11:00.004-06:00

Well, Stacy and I are on craft overload! We've spent the last few days pouring over websites and magazines and we're officially filled to the brim with craft! Has that ever happened to you? We are so inspired and have so many ideas that there just aren't enough hours in the day to create them! We both have long lists of things that we're trying to get done for the holidays so if we don't post every day you know why! :)

My project for today is one that was super simple but that turned out so great I'm sure to make it again and again. At the beginning of the school year I bought a bunch of clothes for the girls at Children's Place and their "theme" for fall was green, orange and brown. I made these little hair clips for them, and they perfectly match their clothes! I started with a Sizzix flower die and cut out four brown and four orange flowers, in four different sizes. (is that confusing or what?) The die has four different sizes on it so I just ran it through my Cuttlebug twice. Once for the orange and once for the brown. Then I layered two of the flowers together and sewed on a PTI New Leaf Vintage button with some brown embroidery thread. To finish off the metal edge of the clips, I glued on a little piece of brown satin ribbon. Then I simply adhered the flowers to the clips! These took no time at all to make and I can't wait to make more!

BTW, sorry about the picture. I was trying to focus in on the clip in my hand and it ended up flip flopping on me! Still, I think you get the idea. Have a great night!

Becky

Merry Christmas Teacher

2009-11-16T20:36:00.004-06:00

Howdy gals !! I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend !! I woke up to the news that we may get snow today......I'm not a cold weather creature and hate driving in bad weather ! So, to say the least, I was on edge all day. Luckily, it's been too warm here, so no snow....just rain !!

I'm so excited to share my little creation with you tonight.....I'm in full gear Christmas mode and this is by far one of my favorite things !! I started with a wooden embroidery hoop and inked up the edges to give it a darker hue. My original thought was to put the paper on the hoop just like fabric, but it was way to thick. I ended up adhering it to the back of both hoops.....kinda gives it a shadow box look:

I took a piece of white cardstock and ran it through the bug with swiss dots. I then took the vintage cream cardstock and sewed lines to give it a little dimension. The tree was cut with the bug and I added some flowersoft and stickles. I also added flowersoft to my landscape. Finally I heat embossed my sentiment from PTI and adhered with pop dots. Some red ribbon and lace to top it off !!

I think it turned out absolutely adorable and hope that Maddie's teacher thinks so too !!

Well, I smell popcorn and hear football, so that means the hubby is coming !! Have a warm night and we'll see ya soon !

Christmas Card Gifts

2009-11-14T10:28:00.003-06:00

Morning! How are you all today? We're having a lazy Saturday morning here. Except for Mike, who's stringing up the Christmas lights! We picked up some cool new lights at Target last night, ours from the last few years kept burning out and we felt like a new color this year...RED! I really love the classic look of white lights, completely outlining a house but the girls love the different colors. Guess who won that one? :) I'm really in the mood to decorate for Christmas but it's still a wee bit early for me. We put up seven, yes I said 7, different Christmas trees, in the house, each with a different theme, but I just can't bring myself to do it yet. Today looks like the last decent day, weather wise, for awhile so Mike decided to get the outside decorations up, just in case!

I've been busy here, crafting away. I'm making a few sets of cards for gifts this year and decided on a four seasons theme. These first two cards are the winter/Christmas cards for the winter season.

I used my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder on a white background and simply layered on light blue card stock, winter themed patterned paper, thick rustic looking twine and glittered snowflakes. I love the chunky twine with the delicate glittery snowflakes!

I hope you have a fabulous weekend! We have a busy day tomorrow, celebrating our Grandma Mary's 80th birthday. I'll be sure to catch you on Tuesday, until then...happy crafting!

Polka Dot Birthday Cherries!

2009-11-12T16:21:00.002-06:00

Hello ladies! (and any gent who might be reading this!) Happy Thursday to you all. I have a quick post for you tonight, Abie is dying to get outside. So, after she finishes her homework, and I finish my post, we're headed out.

My card today is a cute little 4x4 card I whipped up for Abie's friend Paige who turned 8 this past weekend. Paige is a girly girl and I wanted to make something to reflect that girliness! I started with a black base and heat embossed big clear polka dots on the front. Then I layered on a pieces of Raspberry Fizz Bitty Dots Basics patterned paper. I stamped the cherry stems from Everyday Button Bits in New Leaf Green onto a piece of Basic Grey pale pink card stock which I trimmed into a scallop circle and added two Raspberry Fizz buttons. Rather than stitching the buttons on, I adhered a couple of Kaiser gems in pale pink to the button holes. Next to the stems, I stamped the happy and birthday words from PTI's Let Freedom Ring set. To add a bit of sparkle, I drew around the scallops with my Quickie Glue Pen and sprinkled on some of Martha's Crystal Fine glitter. I popped the circle up with a pop dot and added it to the card front. I punched a hole in the top of the card to run twine through to tie it to the package.

I hope you all have a fab-U-lous evening! Tomorrow is Friday!! Woo hoo!

Veteran's Day...a day early

2009-11-10T08:44:00.004-06:00

Hello all! Becky here with a Veteran's Day card a day early. I made this card for my dad who served in Vietnam. If I'm being honest, I never really gave much thought to Veteran's Day until I started my job almost eleven years ago. Our office is closed on this day and for the first time, I realized that we celebrated Veteran's Day to celebrate our Veterans, like my dad. My dad is the coolest guy ever. Strongly silent, funny, heroic, and just an unbelievable man. Thanks to him, I had a great role model to base my husband after. Dad always made me feel safe, secure and I thought and still think he is capable of anything. Through all the pain and emotional turmoil he has endured since he came home, I realize it helped make him the man he is today. Thank you dad, for your service and Welcome Home.

All supplies by Papertrey Ink

Wrappin' gifts already......

2009-11-09T19:04:00.003-06:00

Hey gals !! Hope everyone had a great weekend !! The weather was so wonderful here....the kids played outside, one went to a sleepover and the two little ones and I had a sleepover of our own lol

I decided to get started wrapping up gifts and getting ready for all the craziness of the holidays. The tea towels I've been embroidering daily are going to friends and family. I decided on two towels each and wrapped them with twine. I finished them off with top note tags, lace, ribbon and a few holly berries:

I love the way they turned out and hope everyone will enjoy them !

Have a great night....see ya soon !!
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Fall Thanks

2009-11-07T08:10:00.002-06:00

Good Saturday morning friends! How are you today? Things are great around our house. It's going to be a beautiful day, Mike is getting out on the Harley with our neighbor and I'm heading down to the school so the girls can play in this awesome weather! Last night our sweet new neighbors had us over for dinner and I made this pumpkin bread to give them as a thank you. Of course I couldn't just hand them the bread, I had to make a cute little tag to go with it. You should have seen me last night, I rushed downstairs and was trying to whip this tag out before we had to be at their house by 6! The end result...I love but it looks like a tornado blew through my craft room! LOL!

On to the tag! I used some older My Mind's Eye two sided patterned paper and trimmed out a rectangle which I then rounded the corners on. Then I stamped the more solid side of the paper with Vintage Cream ink and the smallest script in Background Basics Text. I hadn't used this font yet because I thought it looked too tiny but I LOVE IT and will definitely be using it again! Next I layered on a piece of the patterned side of the paper that measured slightly wider than the tag and I punched the edge with my Upper Crest punch and I tied some Rustic Twine around the other end. While all this was going on, I set my Expression to trim out the leaves and acorns from the Doodlecharms Cartridge in 2". I placed three different colors of paper on my mat and the images were ready to go in a jiffy! After trimming them out, I spritzed them with some Glimmer Mist, which I bought years ago, but had only used once. I've seen a lot of people using Glimmer Mist lately and thought I'd give it a try. You know what? I LOVED IT too! :) I popped up the images with pop dots, after drying the glimmer mist with my heat tool and finished up the tag with a Mega Mixed Messages sentiment stamped in Vintage Cream.

I loved the way this tag turned out, especially on such a tight deadline, and thought it was the perfect tag for a little loaf of pumpkin bread!

I hope you have a great weekend!

Becky

Ornament Wreath

2009-11-06T21:04:00.002-06:00

Hey gals !! Short post tonight.....below are a few of the wreaths I made to display Christmas ornaments that the kids have made.........I decided to take back my tree and decorate it mommy's way !!

I'm sorry that I don't remember who's blog I saw this idea on, but thank you !! I've made 3 wreaths and I thought I would let the kids decorate them when it gets a little closer to Christmas.

Have a great weekend !!

Stacy

Last Birthday Card of 2009

2009-11-04T19:41:00.003-06:00

Hey gals !! How's everyone doing tonight ?? What a busy day !! Today is my brother-in-law's birthday, so I took the three kiddos out to dinner with his family and my parents.......daddy is at school right now (he missed out on a great meal !!).

I decided to make a card for him that was colorful......I'm already sad that everything around us is turning brown already : ( ......the leaves are falling fast and things are quieting down. So, I needed a happy happy card to celebrate today !!

Started with orange cardstock, 5-7.....the pp on top is from My Mind's Eye (ain't it fun !!). The balloons are PTI along with the sentiment:

All of the kiddos signed the card which always makes it special. We had a great dinner, great cake compliments of my sister and now it's time for baths !! Have a great night girlies !

Stacy

Teacher Gift for Halloween

2009-11-03T16:24:00.003-06:00

Well hello there strangers! It's been an entire week since I posted last and my only excuse is that things have been a bit crazy around our house lately! Today's project is a jumbo clothespin I embellished for Abie's teacher. I bought the clothespin in the Dollar Spot at Target, last year. I purchased several of them, all in orange, and used up all of them, or so I thought!

This was super simple to alter. I just trimmed some Basic Grey June Bug paper to fit the front and back and adhered using my Xyron sticker maker. Then I simply created a little tag for the front.

I trimmed out a squarish shape in navy blue and rounded the corners on one end. The other end got the Upper Crest treatment. I stamped some of the flower images from PTI's Green Thumb, using Versamagic ink and then heat embossed with clear powder. I wrapped some vintage trim around the tag a couple of times and tied on a little Kraft colored tag which I stamped the word "smile" on in Orange Zest. I finished off the tag with a little orange polka dotted doggie from some more Basic Grey June Bug, which I trimmed out with scissors and glittered up with Martha Stewart glitter.

I thought this turned out so cute and I'd love to have a little happy note holder on my desk, wouldn't you? Have a fun night!

For Teacher

2009-11-02T19:55:00.002-06:00

So earlier in the school year I had made this board for my daughter's teacher. I totally forgot that I had a picture of it !! I thought it turned out so cute (sorry the pic is a little blurry) and wanted to share it with you:

I started with a chalkboard that I covered in gingham paper. I adhered clothespins that I had covered in solid green cardstock finished with red ribbon. The cherries are from Everyday Button Bits. In the lower right corner, I heat embossed her teacher's name (ok....that wasn't too smart !! but turned out cool !!). I hung a tag from the middle pin that simply says "for my teacher".

Have a great night !!

Stacy

With Sympathy

2009-10-27T17:09:00.003-05:00

Good evening. Tonight I wanted to share a sympathy card I made for our boss Shari. I'm not really sure what to say about what's happened to her and her son. I am constantly thinking about them and what they must be feeling and going through right now. I hope they are able to come out of this stronger and with a sense of peace.

For Shari & Ty

2009-10-26T21:19:00.005-05:00

Tonight I wanted to share a couple of cards that I made for my boss and her son. Shari lost her husband this weekend and Ty lost his father. It was absolutely shocking to hear the news and we are all trying to deal with it as much for ourselves as we are for them.

The first card is for Shari. The sentiment says "I'm here for you". The balloons were chosen because I always think of uplifting when I see them:

The second card is for Ty. I wanted him to know that we are thinking about him just as much as we are his mom at this time:

Have a good night, Stacy

Strange place for inspiration...

2009-10-24T17:34:00.002-05:00

Happy Saturday to you! I bet you thought I was going to leave you hangin' again, didn't you? I've just been really behind all week and haven't gotten down to my craft room at ALL!!! Awful, isn't it? Earlier in the week I was thinking about cards, just because I can't BE in my craft room doesn't mean I can't THINK about it right? Anyway, I was toying around with different ideas and then our front porch popped into my head. Below is a picture of our front porch, right now. The red milk can was my Grandma Jean's and I added the Autumn rake and faux pumpkins.

Here's the card I came up with. Red milk can, rake and pumpkin, just like the front porch. I added the Ripe Avocado Bitty Dots Basics paper to mimic the green house and white trim. What do you think? Does it look like the front porch?

Stamps: Hero Arts, PTI

Paper: PTI

Ink: Colorbox

Other: trim from stash

I hope you all have a great rest of the weekend. I'll see you on Tuesday!

Raspberry Suite #18

2009-10-23T20:17:00.005-05:00

Happy Friday gals !! It's that time again.....color challenge !! Check out these fun colors:

I'm in the Christmas spirit, and I thought about using Everyday Button Bits. How cute did that turn out ??

I cut out a santa hat from the Christmas Cheer cartridge and used flowersoft to give it some dimension. The sentiment is a two parter......SU and PTI. I can't wait to see all the fun cards !!

Have a great weekend and stay warm brrrrr !!

Supplies:

Paper: PTI

Stamps: SU! and PTI

Buttons: PTI

Other: Brown ribbon, FlowerSoft, Twine

Christmas Card....what to do !!

2009-10-21T18:44:00.005-05:00

Happy hump day everyone !! Well, I decided on two different Christmas cards (I think), but I can't decide which is gonna be "the one".....lol

The first one is my take on the new Holiday Button Bits from PTI.....I haven't bought it YET, but am trying to get creative with what I have.

The 2nd card is totally different !! I decided to go with blue and green as my colors. Although it's hard to tell from this pic, I dotted each snowflake with stickles.........

So there we go !! two cards.......what to do !! Feel free to give me some feedback and suggestions ! Have a great night girlies : )

Yes, more Christmas tags!

2009-10-20T16:23:00.003-05:00

Good afternoon! Well, I'm a bit down today. Mike got some stinky news at work. He's still got a job, which we're so grateful for. Luckily, we have a strong a relationship and have been through worse and still persevered so I'm confident that we'll get through this too. We have two healthy happy little girls, a warm home to come to at night and great family and friends. No one can take that from us, and that's what's really important in life right? :) On a happier note, I've spent the last several "nap times" working on these Christmas tags for the girls. I just love the way they turned out!

I started with dark green and dark red card stock which I trimmed into tags from my Bags, Tags, Boxes and more cartridge. I did 3 3/4 and 3 1/4 inch tags. Then I stamped the background with PTI's Background Basics Text in Chestnut Roan. I used a bit of Vintage Cream ink around the edges. Then I trimmed a bit of Making Memories and Basic Grey patterned paper to fit. I trimmed the edge of the patterned paper with my Fiskars and EK Success border punches. After layering that on, I cut out one of the stocking images from Christmas cartridge in Kraft colored card stock. I stamped each of the stockings with snowflakes from that darn Joann's stamp set that I STILL don't know the manufacturer! I used Scarlet Jewel and Ripe Avocado ink.

I finished off the stocking by layering on some patterned paper and a little jingle bell.

Lastly, I trimmed out 1" tags on my Cricut and attached them to the brown ribbon with the girls' names on them. I just love these tags and think they're going to look great under the tree!

I hope you all have a great evening and kindness in your heart. Remember, your actions effect other people in ways you may not know. It's not nice to be mean.

Quilt Update

2009-10-19T21:54:00.003-05:00

Hey gals !! I've kinda been MIA for a few days......I had lots of things to get ready for the Halloween party we went to on Saturday. It was a great time !!

I'm very frustrated at the moment trying to plan out my Christmas cards !! I've been trying out different designs for the last hour with no luck. So, I thought I would show you an update on the quilt I started:

That is a sewing machine !! I've decided that it's not so bad after all ! lol I've gotten three out of nine rows sewn so far. Hopefully I will get some time this week to work on it and finish it by Friday.....that's my goal anyway lol

Well, I'm gonna get back to cards (eye roll here !) Have a great night and we'll see ya Wednesday !

Boss's Day

2009-10-17T12:42:00.003-05:00

Good Saturday afternoon to you all! I have a card to share with you today that I made for my boss for Boss's Day. However, Landry was sick the last two days so I didn't get to give it to him yet! :)

I started with a Coredinations card stock base measuring 4 1/4 x 5 1/2. I rounded the corners and used sandpaper to let the lighter color show through. Then I trimmed a piece of DCWV patterned paper, from the Green Stack, and attached a wide piece of twill around the edge which I had stamped on with CTMH's Ritzy Ribbon using Versamagic ink. I used staples to attach the twill. For my focal image, I stamped the branch from PTI's Out on a Limb set that I trimmed out with scissors and an Owl from Hero Arts. (Before you say it, I know, I've been stamping with A LOT of owls lately. I can't help it, they're too cute!!) I colored in my Owl with Bic Mark It's and popped him up with a pop dot. Then I stamped my sentiment from PTI's Autumn Abundance, in Colorbox Chestnut Roan, on a Stampin' Up! rounded tab punch in cream card stock.

Here's a pic with the envelope which I stamped an image from PTI's Autumn Abundance on in more Chestnut Roan. Hopefully he'll like it, even though it's late!
Have a nice weekend. I've been Christmas shopping this morning and Mike has gone to Hogtoberfest for the afternoon with our neighbor. It's nice to have Harley rider so close now!

Christmas Tags Part II

2009-10-15T07:58:00.003-05:00

Good morning ladies (and possibly gents)! Today I'm sharing the Christmas tags I made for our gifts. Our main tree, which sits in the living room, has all gold ornaments. Similar to my sister, the last two years I've had a theme for our presents. I wrap them in all white paper and pick a coordinating color to for the ribbon and tags. Now, one of these colors is always gold, to coordinate with the tree. This year, the other color is navy blue.

I started with navy blue tags, cut in various sizes with my Cricut, and then I stamped images from Damask Designs and that stamp set I picked up at Joann's. Next time I run by there I'll be sure to check the manufacturer. On half of the tags, I heat embossed with white powder. I love the contrast here!

Then, on the other half of the tags, I heat embossed with Antique Gold powder. I love the way these turned out too! All I need is a bit of gold or white ribbon to hang the tags, and they'll be ready to go!

I hope you all have a great day. I'm home with a sick little one again:( I'll see ya on Saturday with a fun Boss's Day card!

Christmas already???

2009-10-13T16:09:00.004-05:00

I know that's what you're saying! I must confess, I watched White Christmas and Home Alone this weekend AND I busted out the Christmas CD's in my car this morning! I can't help it. Every year, after the holidays, I'm so ready to take all the decorations down and I think I'll never do it again but sure enough, October rolls around and the bug gets me!

Last year I wrapped all of our Christmas gifts in white paper with gold bows and I made simple little tags in dark green. My sister liked the tags and said she was looking for something like them. I thought I'd make some for her this year, as they are so simple. Now Jennie's presents are wrapped in a combination of red, white and silver. I cut out various shaped tags using my Bags, Tags, Boxes and More cartridge in 3" to 3 1/2". Then I went crazy stamping them! I used several stamp sets, inks and embossing powder too. Below are a sample of the red tags I made with white embossing powder. I love the way they turned out.

Here is a sample of a white tag I made with the image stamped in red and then I went over it with my glue pad and sprinkled some ultra sparkly Martha Stewart glitter over it. I just need to pick up some thin silver ribbon to attach to each tag to finish them off.
Really simple project but gives it that nice personal touch! I also made tags for our gifts which I'll share on Wednesday! Have an awesome night!

Pumpkins !

2009-10-12T19:33:00.003-05:00

Howdy gals !! Hope everyone had a great weekend.........it was too cold here to be outside, so I've been able to get a lot done around the house !

I was surfing Splitcoast the other day and came across this tutorial on the cutest pumpkin basket. Can you tell what it's made of ????? Top note dies.....pretty cute huh ? I decided to make some for my bunco group. I'm making pumpkins, spider webs and frankenstein baskets. I can't wait to see how they turn out !! Check out the tutorial here: http://splitcoaststampers.com

Have a great night !!

Birthday Cupcakes!

2009-10-10T08:32:00.003-05:00

Happy Saturday! I'm coming to you from our kitchen island as Mike makes biscuits for breakfast! Am I a lucky girl or what? :) We don't have a lot going on this weekend, just trying to stay warm. It's 38 out this morning and the news said we might have a stray SNOWFLAKE this afternoon!!!! Don't get me wrong, I love the cooler weather but I'm no where near ready for snow! Looks like I'll be spending the next three days (woo hoo for Monday's holiday) in my scrap room, crafting away! On to today's creation...

I'm big on layers. I love to layer lots of stuff on my cards and projects, mainly because it's an easy was to cover up mistakes! LOL! So this card was a big step for me. I tried to go simple. My card base is 4 1/2 x 4 1/2, white. I then trimmed the cupcakes and candles from my Cricut Doodlecharms Cartridge, I have gotten so much use out of that one. After gluing all the little cupcake pieces together, I adhered the middle one to the center of my card with a pop dot and then added the two pink cupcakes on each side. Then I stamped my sentiment from Mega Mixed Messages and added pink and green stickles to my cupcakes for a little sparkle.

Here's a close up of the popped up green cupcake. I love how you can see the sprinkles!

Hope you all have a nice weekend. I'll see you on Tuesday!

PTI Button Bits

2009-10-09T18:30:00.002-05:00

Happy Friday !! Good for two reasons----PTI projects and a 3 day weekend !

I was sooooooo excited to see the new Holiday Button Bits ! How fun are all of those sneak peeks ??? I try to hold off until lunchtime, but anticipation won't let me !!

I decided to make my own button bits card especially for Halloween. Candy corn was the first thing that came to mind.

How cute is that ????? I paired it with another towel I embroidered (lol) and my favorite candy corn Hershey's Kisses !!

I think my creative block is gone !! Thanks PTI : )

Have a great weekend gals !!

Aarrh!

2009-10-08T16:12:00.004-05:00

Ahoy mateys! Have I told you before how much I heart Thursdays? I get the grocery shopping done on Thursday, we have awesome TV on tonight and if today is Thursday, it means tomorrow is Friday!!! Woo hoo! Today I have a fun little card to share. I had a scrap of Kraft card stock, I think it was 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 and I folded it in half. So this card measures 2 1/4 x 4 1/4 (I think!)

After folding the card, I stamped the Boo! sentiment from the Hero Arts Owloween stamp set, over and over in Chestnut Roan ink. Then I added on a scrap of Rusty Pickle Halloween paper from last year. I used some Making Memories pain around the edges, after distressing the edges with my Heidi Swapp edge distressor thingy. I added a few Vintage Buttons (True Black and Orange Zest) which I finished off with a bit of twine and ribbon. For my focal image, I stamped my Pirate Owl and colored away!

I just love the way he turned out! Super cute! Stamps: Hero Arts

Ink: Colorbox

Paper: Rusty Pickle, PTI

Other: Bic Mark Its, PTI Vintage Buttons, PTI Twine, Making Memories paint

I have made several Halloween cards this year and I thought I'd send them out to some friends in some cutesy envelopes. I just stamped various images from the same Hero Arts set, using different inks and Voila!

I hope you enjoy your Thursday as much as I plan to! :)

Trying a new craft.........

2009-10-07T19:59:00.003-05:00

Yep !! You heard right.......Becky and I are trying our hand at embroidery !! I never thought this was something I would like.......Becky still tells me I need to get "in touch" with my sewing machine, but to tell ya the truth.....that thing scares me ! lol A machine that forces a sharp needle up and down ??? I wonder which finger I'll lose first lol

On to pic numero uno-----these are 3 of the first tea towels I did. Not too shabby for a beginner !! I definitely like the patterns that require only one type of stitch (that's all I know !!)

I thought a close up probably wasn't a good idea in case any of you experts decided to critique my stitching (I'll get better)........but thought what the hey !! lol

I've decided that needles aren't so bad after all and I just bought my first round of material to try a rag quilt. Wish me luck !! : )

Purplicious

2009-10-06T16:45:00.003-05:00

Good afternoon friends! I have a fun card to share with you today, but first let me tell you how it came about. A couple of weeks ago, a friend at work had this fabulous purple nail polish. Now I know you're probably think purple? Seriously? But this is not just any purple nail polish, it's Purplicious and it's every bit of purpley goodness that you can imagine! Lol! I obsessed over it for two days with her and finally she said, "do you want me to get you a bottle?" I said, "of course!" So last week, I came into my office and opened my top desk drawer and there was a cute little package waiting for me, all dressed up in brown paper towels and tied together with rubber bands! I was so excited, it was my own bottle of Ruby Kisses Purplicious nail polish! Now the funny thing about this purple situation is that I have NEVER liked purple, so much so that I wouldn't buy anything purple and wouldn't even let our first/oldest daughter wear purple. Over the years, I've embraced purple and have actually grown to like the color! So, in honor of the Purplicious polish, I created the following thank you card for my friend!

I started with a 4 x 4 card base in PTI's Lavender Moon. I stamped the bottom half with one of the background images from Damask Designs and heat embossed it with black embossing powder. Next, I layered on a piece of Plum Pudding which I stamped with polka dots and heat embossed with clear embossing powder and punched the edge with my EK Success Upper Crest punch. Then I layered on a black grosgrain ribbon and a strip of sparkly Martha Stewart glitter at the top. To finish this card off, I stamped my sentiment in Plum Pudding on Lavender Moon, trimmed it into the shape of a flag and added some purple rhinestones!

Here's a closer look of the card, if you look closer, you can see that sparkly strip of glitter at the top!
Paper: PTI Plum Pudding and Lavender Moon

Ink: Versamagic and PTI Plum Pudding

Stamps: Heidi Swapp Polka Dots, PTI Damask Designs and PTI Mega Mixed Messages

Other: Martha Stewart glitter, ribbon and rhinestones from stash

Hope you have a good day!

A card and a challenge...........

2009-10-05T19:46:00.002-05:00

How goes it crafty crew !! Monday and what a beautiful day it turned out to be !! I'll start tonight with a card....once again, forgive my horrible picture taking abilities !! If you click on the pic, you can make out the details a little better lol

I'm kinda burned out on cards. Do you ever get that way ?

Becky and I have been talking about hosting a challenge. I think this would definitely help my mojo a bit ! The contest will start November 1st and run for 6 weeks. Each week we will pick a winner and at the end we choose an overall winner for all 6 challenges. That's all I can say for now......keep in touch for details soon !!

World Card Making Day!!!

2009-10-03T08:14:00.002-05:00

Happy World Card Making Day!!!

Hello there and good morning to you all! I'm so excited for today's post! It's my regular day to post but Stacy and I decided to post together and we each made two cards to share with you. I hope that you all get a chance to "get your craft on" today and make something fun! Without further ado...

My first card is a Halloween themed card made with Kraft card stock, Hero Arts stamps, PTI paper, twine and vintage buttons and a piece of trim. I layered and layered on this until it turned out just right. I love the way this card turned out!

Paper: PTI: Kraft, Bitty Dots Basics and Orange Zest

Stamps: Hero Arts

Ink: PTI Vintage Cream and Versamagic Black

Other: PTI twine and buttons, EK Success Large Scallop Punch, thread and trim from stash

As for my second card, I layered again, this time PTI papers, more trim and the cutest little bird I cut out with my Cricut. This card measures 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 which is such a great size to work with. I went with a fall them this time and what's funny about this is that Stacy made a card using the same colors and we didn't even discuss our creations! Lol, great minds think alike I guess! Actually, I think that we're together so much that we actually share half a brain sometimes! :)
Paper: PTI Orange Zest, Dark Chocolate, Bitty Dots Basics and Kraft

Stamps: PTI Autumn Abundance

Ink: Colorbox Chalk Ink in Chestnut Road

Other: Cricut Storybook Cartridge, Kaiser Kraft Rhinestone, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder and trim from stash

And now, a few words from Stacy:)

Happy World Card Making Day !! How awesome is it to have this day dedicated to card making? With emails and texting today, people sometimes forget about a good old card.....and what's better than a homemade card ?? Becky and I are excited to be a part of today and can't wait to see all of the wonderful creations : )

On to card number 1........Becky was actually my inspiration for this card. Her hubby is a big fan of orange, I love brown and white and the three colors together are so fun and fallish !! Becky's style is a little bolder than mine, I tend to be quite plain. Together, this card embodies both of our tastes and blends well. Like the card says.......Friends to the end !!!

My next card is a fun little Christmas card, perfect for the weather we're having here !! It's starting to feel that way already : )

I started with an ocean mist cs that I stamped snowflakes on using same color ink. I cut 2 snowflakes with the cricut in scarlet jewel. I adorned rhinestones to give it some bling ! lol

Thanks for stopping by today !! Time to start the blog hop and see all of the wonderful cards that were made in today's honor !

Raspberry Suite #17......part deux

2009-10-02T19:09:00.007-05:00

It's that time again.....another fun color challenge !!

Card base is Kraft and measures 4x5. The poppy cs was run through the cuttlebug with a folder that reminds me of Damask Designs. Next is vintage cream cardstock. The tree from SU! was stamped with Dark Chocolate and the leaves in Aqua Mist and Vintage Cream.

Tonight is definitely a good night to stay in and get inspired !! I don't think it got above 63 degrees today....I'm ready for cooler weather, but it sure came outta nowhere !! Have a great night and don't forget to stop by tomorrow for World Card Making Day !!

Ciao--

Raspberry Suite #17

2009-10-01T14:27:00.004-05:00

Hello there friends! Today's card is my submission for Dawn's Color Challenge. I'm always amazed at the color choices she picks out, they rock! I absolutely loved, the colors for this challenge and it totally inspired me to make a Christmas card.

I started with a Kraft colored base which measures 3 1/2 x 6 inches. Then I stamped one of the background images from Damask Designs using Aqua Mist ink. It was taking awhile to dry to I heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. Next, I trimmed a piece of cream colored card stock and ran it through the Cuttlebug with my Victoria embossing folder, first time I've used it! Then I punched the edge of the cream piece prior to adhering it to my base. For my focal image, I stamped the large ornament from a set I picked up at Joann's by....(don't hate me, I can't remember and I threw away the packaging, Aaaaaahhhhh) I stamped the image in dark chocolate on Pure Poppy paper and heat embossed it with clear powder for a bit of shine. Then I added some Kaiser Kraft pearls to the swirls. I popped the image up on pop dots and added a piece of Rustic Twine at the top. For my sentiment, which came with the ornament stamp, I stamped Dark Chocolate on cream card stock, trimmed it in half and adhered it to the card base.

Here's a closer picture of the base of the card stock. I wasn't sure about the Aqua Mist on Kraft but I really like the way it turned out.
Hope you have a great night. I'm planning on staying in with the fam!

Ready for Halloween !

2009-09-30T20:33:00.002-05:00

Happy Wednesday !! It's late and I'm exhausted !! If I start to make no sense, you'll know I'm falling asleep lol

The sentiment and spiders on this card are from PaperStudio. The spiders were actually all connected in a row and I brought the scissors to them and cut them apart. Stamped on white cardstock from PTI layered on dark orange CS.

Have a good night : )

Ink Storage

2009-09-29T17:28:00.003-05:00

Hello there! This is going to be a quickie post tonight as my youngest is sick and needs her mama. Last week, Stacy and I got our PTI order in and it consisted of ink and paper, NO STAMPS!!! Can you believe it? I ordered 18 of their inks, I think everything but Dark Chocolate, Fresh Snow, True Black and Pure Poppy. Anyway, I just ordered the cubes to see how well I liked them and I thought as I ran out of ink, I'd replace them with the full size pads. After I unpacked the box, I realized I was going to have a storage issue. Below is my solution.

I stamped each of the inks on a piece of plain white card stock and then used my small EK Success heart punch to punch out each of the colors. I used a glue dot to adhere each of the hearts to the labels on the backs of the inks. Then I lined all of the cubes into the lid of a rectangular canvas box (which held a birthday gift from Stacy to me, several years ago!)

Here's a little bit of a closer look at the cubes.
We'll see how well this works. So far so good! Hope you all have a good night!

Officially Autumn..................

2009-09-28T16:22:00.003-05:00

Yes......but it was 86 degrees here yesterday : ( I'm so ready for cooler weather and chili and hot cocoa.......yum !!

So to celebrate my favorite season, I played around with different leaf stamps to make this cute wreath. The wreath was stamped with Mailbox Greetings and the sentiment too. The background of the card was stamped in orange and brown from some fall stamps I bought years ago from Hobby Lobby.

Thanks for stopping by !! I have to run get ready for a birthday party.......have a great night !!

Little Halloween bits and pieces!

2009-09-26T14:41:00.003-05:00

Happy Saturday to you all! I hope you're enjoying your weekend. Mike and I are currently kidless! We just finished dropping off the girls at my parent's house for the night. We're planning on going out to dinner and couldn't be more excited! I love my girls but sometimes you just need a brake! Before I delve into my fun little project today, I just want to say that the recipe Stacy posted yesterday is delicious! We fixed them last weekend and they were a big hit here!

Now, on to my project. These little Halloween tags started out several weeks ago when I picked up three different $1 stamp sets at Joann's. The tiny images were too cute to pass up. That afternoon, I stamped two of the pumpkins and the Jack-O-Lantern. I practiced coloring the images in and cut one of them out. Just as I started to cut out the second pumpkin, Landry woke up from her nap, which = craft time OVER! Fast forward two weeks to when I made this Halloween garland. I got a bit overzealous with the 2" kraft colored scalloped squares and cut too many out. So, there they sat for days, in a pile, on my table. Fast forward one more week. I had no inspiration, no idea of what I wanted to do when I saw the half cut pumpkin on my table. I decided to finish trimming it out along with the Jack-O-Lantern. As I was trimming, the scalloped squares caught my eye. So, I played around, stamping, embossing, stitching and embellishing these cut little Halloween tags, using tiny bits and pieces of Halloween goodness!

Here's a close up of one of my two favorite tags. I heat embossed the cauldron and covered up the bubbles with little gems. Then added a bit of punched patterned paper, some twine and a True Black Vintage Button.

Finally, my favorite tag. I simply heat embossed the witch and added a bit of trim from my mom's trim bag and a small piece of black grosgrain ribbon.

There you have it! My little Halloween bits and pieces that just came together, by accident! Hope you all have a nice evening!

Off the subject..............

2009-09-25T19:56:00.002-05:00

Tonight I just didn't feel like making a card or gift bag or anything !! Becky and I have started embroidery and I've kinda been addicted this week. I've completed 3 tea towels and as soon as I'm done with the 4th, I'm gonna try my hand at a rag quilt !! So don't be surprised if something not in the shape of a card pops up lol

So instead of a crafty post tonight, I'd like to share one of my newest favorite recipes. When Matt and I were on our little vacation, the Innkeeper made these awesome egg blossoms for us. OMG !! They are wonderful and so super simple !! You have to try them out---they are addictive !!

*note: I always cut my pound of bacon in half and this recipe is for one blossom. It works with any amount you choose to make

Egg Blossoms

1 egg

3 strips turkey bacon

Heavy whippping cream (as needed)

Italian seasoning

Pam

To make:

Preheat oven to 350
Spray muffin tin with Pam
Arrange 3 pieces of bacon criss crossing in muffin tin
Break egg into center
Add enough heavy whipping cream to fill the cup
Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning on top
Bake for 20 minutes

How simple was that ??? If you decide to use regular bacon instead of turkey, just arrange the bacon like above and bake for 10 minutes before you add the rest of the ingredients. Non-turkey bacon needs a little more cookin' so that it does not come out too raw.

I hope you try it out !! I promise you will love it as much as we do !! Have a great weekend gals !

Boo!

2009-09-24T17:31:00.003-05:00

I love Thursdays! It's close to the weekend, it's a good TV night (Survivor AND Grey's Anatomy) and it's close to the weekend! :) Tonight's card is another Halloween one that I made last year, BB (before blog). Stacy and I had just bought our Cuttlebugs and we challenged each other to simply make a card with embossing.

I started with a black base and embossed three squares with a dotted border. I'm not sure what the name of it is but it's one of those that comes in a four pack. Then I die cut the spider, Boo! and ghost. I adhered them to the pumpkin colored card stock, added stickles for eyes and popped the card stock up on pop dots, across the card horizontally. To finish the card off, I tied some wide, black and white checked ribbon across the bottom.

Here's a closer picture of the card.

I hope you are enjoying your Thursday night!

With Sympathy

2009-09-23T07:00:00.002-05:00

Today's post is dedicated to Lorene who recently passed away. I didn't know her personally, never got the chance to meet her or talk with her, but she was an important part of my boss's life and I'd like to take this space to let them both know that we're thinking about them.............

Happy Owl-oween!

2009-09-22T08:08:00.003-05:00

It's cool here this morning and if you close your eyes, you would almost believe that it was Halloween! I LOVE it! Today's card is one I made last year after seeing an example in Archiver's flyer. After getting the flyer in the mail, Stacy and I ran up there one day and I was on a search for the Halloween Owl stamp set from Hero Arts. Stacy and I searched and searched and couldn't find them anywhere. We made a trip around the whole store and I was so disappointed that I couldn't find the stamps. I even asked one of the employees if they had the stamp set in, after all, it was in the flyer. Well, while the employee assured me they didn't have any, Stacy, The Magnificent, found the elusive stamp set!!!! I could have kissed her! They were hiding on the bottom row and we had both missed them somehow!

So, on to my card! It's a total copy of the one from Archiver's. I started with a black base and layered on white card stock with a pumpkin colored piece I cut out from a scalloped rectangle nestablities die. Below that, I layered on another small piece of pumpkin card stock. Then, I stamped my Owl Witch onto white card stock and colored her in with watercolor crayons. I adhered her to the pumpkin rectangle and layered a piece of acetate around the whole card which I attached with a piece of orange ribbon. To finish it off I stamped my sentiment on top of the acetate, lining it up with the pumpkin rectangle below.

Here's a closer picture with the acetate held up.

I hope you have a great day, wherever you may be and that you're enjoying you're weather, whatever it might be!

Something for a pumpkin door.......

2009-09-21T18:16:00.004-05:00

How was everyone's weekend ? We had one of the busiest weekends ever !! It was kinda nice to get back to work today to take a breath !! lol

A pumpkin door.......yes, I have a pumpkin colored front door !! Isn't it awesome !! I needed to dress it up a bit for Halloween.....am I starting too early ? lol So I decided a loooonnggg banner was just the thing !!

I started out with 5 in. scalloped circles in various colors. I ten cut 4 in. circles in various Halloween papers I have held onto (why ??). I cut my letters at 5 in. on the cricut using the Printing Press cartridge. I love how tall and skinny they are !! I then heat embossed all of the letters with clear powder.

There we go !! A banner that looks good against my pumpkin door !! Have a great one and I'll see ya Wednesday : )

What I'm working on...

2009-09-19T16:57:00.005-05:00

It's been a lazy day around here today. We slept in, had a yummy breakfast, went to the local Harley Dealer for a special event they were having and then came back home so Mike could mow. After Landry went down for a nap, I ran up to Hobby Lobby in search of this embossing folder.

You see, the other night I woke up in the middle of the night and had the idea to make these little tags for Halloween treats for Abie's class. I had all the materials except for the embossing folder. Once I got home, I got to work on the tags by trimming them out with my Doodlecharms Cartridge. I cut the pumpkins in shadow and they are 2" tall. After that, I ran them through my Cuttlebug with the Distress Stripes folder and finished them off with a bit of green and orange stickles. They're currently drying and I hope to finish them tomorrow!

Hope you all have a nice evening. We'll be dining Al Fresco tonight and enjoying the fabulous weather!

Let it Snow

2009-09-18T21:36:00.003-05:00

Happy start to the weekend everyone !! I really got in the mood for colder weather today. It was a little cool here for me and I had to put on a light sweater !! So I decided to play with some new stamps and make a Christmasy card........

I decided to go a little non-traditional and use green, pink, brown and white. I used one of my snowflake stamps in two different shades of pink to make the background for the card. The sentiment is also from the same set and I thought it would pop in bamboo leaves (from Memento). The ribbon was bought back in February and is supposed to be Valentine ribbon. The button is from PTI.

Have a great weekend !! We're taking the kids to the parade tomorrow at the Fall Fun Fest here in town and it should be lots of fun !!

Halloween Garland

2009-09-17T14:48:00.004-05:00

Hello there and a happy Thursday to you all! It's Becky with you this afternoon with a fun little garland to share. I trimmed out thirteen kraft colored scalloped squares with my Accents Essentials cartridge. Then I stamped them all with white ink and a star image from a $1 stamp set I picked up at Joann's. Then I inked the edges of all the squares with dark chocolate ink.

Then I used my Doodlecharms cartridge and trimmed out some of the leaves and acorns, on Coredatnations card stock. After trimming them out, I sanded them, to let the lighter shade come through, and colored in the top of the acorn.

Then I cut out the spider image from the cartridge, also on Coredanations card stock, and sanded again.

Then I cut out the pumpkin image and, again after sanding, I added green stickles for the stem and a little stitching with my sewing machine.

I used score pal tape to adhere the squares to the ribbon and voila! A nice little festive garland.

The squares were cut at 2" and the images cut at 1 3/4".

Hope you have a fantastic evening!

Welcome Baby O !!

2009-09-16T18:45:00.002-05:00

Hey there gals !! Wednesday is here !! You know what I look forwar to on Wednesdays....the grocery ads !! lol I love looking and planning out our meals for the next week : )

Ok, there's another precious baby in our family !! Our cousin had baby number 2 and from what I hear, he's adorable ! I'm so excited to meet him in a few days. I decided I wanted my gift to be a little different. Seriously---how many onsies does a baby need !! (trust me---I've had 3) I know one thing we can always use is a fresh supply of bath toys. I found this cute jar at Hobby Lobby. I filled it with different bath toys and secured a rubber duck to the lid. I wrapped cs around, added 2 scalloped squares with the letter "B" in the center. Finished off with yellow and white polka dot ribbon. Card to match----whatcha think ? I hope he and big brother have lots of fun with their new toys !!

Sweet little birthday card!

2009-09-15T16:22:00.003-05:00

Hello all, it's Becky with you today. Stacy and I were busy checking the Papertrey Sneak Peeks last week and I fell in love with this card from Dawn McVey. It inspired me to try and make a plaid background. I never even thought of using ribbon stamps to get that look. Duh! :) I started out with a plain piece of white card stock that I stamped with a piece of "ribbon" from CTMHs Ritzy Ribbon set using a melon colored ink. After that dried a bit, I took the lined image from PTIs Let Freedom Ring set and stamped it the other direction with lime green ink. I used my circle Nestabilities to cut out a piece of the plaid and mounted it on some Melon Berry card stock which I had trimmed out with my scallop circle Nestablities. I took my white pen and placed a dot inside each scallop.

For my main image, I stamped a flower from Stampin' Up!s spots and dots (I think that's the name) on Spring Moss card stock and heat embossed it with white powder. I popped the image up with a pop dot and slid my sentiment underneath it. I then mounted the whole thing to a 3 1/4 x 3 1/4 piece of Spring Moss card stock. Finally, at the bottom, I added a small piece of Melon Berry card stock which I punched with on of my EK Success punches. Wow, that's a lot of steps for such a little card! I hope you have a great night!

Just around the corner..................

2009-09-14T19:55:00.003-05:00

is Christmas !! Can you believe it ???? I decided to switch gears and start on a few gift card holders for Christmas. I started with a dark brown cardstock measuring 6x12. I scored it at 4, 6 and 8 inches. I folded it so that the two smaller sections formed a peak. You can see this better in the next pic. I added a teal swirl stamp with clear stickles on the dots to give it some sparkle. The sentiment is from SU........

You can see the peak a little better in this photo. I folded the peak over to the left to form a pocket to hold the gift card. Behind that I added teal cardstock that I ran through the cuttlebug with the swiss dots folder. Again, I added a teal swirly with stickles for sparkle:

I'm gonna call it an early night !! Have a great day and I'll see ya Wednesday : )

St. Louis...finally!

2009-09-12T19:12:00.003-05:00

Good evening dears, it's Becky with you tonight! Do you ever have one of those projects that you know you need to complete but you're totally not excited about it? That's how I've been with our St. Louis scrapbook. I've had the supplied for awhile now but it was just sitting down and doing it, ya know? The way I like to do these types of books, themed albums that is, is to buy a paper pack and go to town! That way everything goes with everything. I also try to keep the layouts super simple, with one or two patterned papers cut to the same size and just mix and match them throughout the book.

This first picture is of the cover of my book. I purchased a Pioneer fabric album in black, 8x8 size and trimmed a picture of The Arch to fit in the window on the front.

The first page you see is the title page. I bought a DCWV Citrus Stack card stock pack in 8x8 size and used this sort of metallic red as a base. Then I cut out a U from my All Mixed Up Cricut cartridge in grey and flipped it upside down to simulate The Arch, genius I tell ya! :) Then I just cut out letters from a bright blue card stock from the same pack, I believe it was my Learning Curve cartridge, and popped them up with pop dots. Pretty simple but it gets the point across!

On to the inside. I purchased the DCWV Citrus Stack patterned paper and trimmed pieces to 3 1/2 x7 and 2 1/2x5. Then I just played around with them and the pictures. I finished my pages off with little bullet journaling statements. Overall I'd say this album took me several hours to complete. Not too bad and the best part is, it's done!
Well, I'm outta here for tonight. Mike took the kids out to play and I'm right behind them!

Frank N. Stein

2009-09-11T17:36:00.002-05:00

Do you ever get one of those headaches on the back of your head that just won't go away? Do you have 3 kids that NEED something right now? Welcome to my Friday lol

Tonight I wanted to share some Frankenstein tins I made for the kiddo's and my nephew for Halloween. I bought these cute little tins at Target $1 for two. I've had them for a year and they've just been sitting there staring at me lol So, I decided to turn them into Frank N. Steins !!

Do they look familiar? Yep, they're from SU. Becky and I had the pleasure of making several different Halloween themed items last year at a class we attended. We had a blast and I thought they would translate well on these buckets.

I'm sorry to leave, but I need to take something for my head (and get another round of drinks for the kiddos)......Have a great weekend !!

Good Luck!

2009-09-10T16:04:00.002-05:00

Happy Thursday afternoon to ya! It's Becky here today and I have a card to share which I made for a co-worker who's moving on to greener pastures! This is a guy who started work just three months before I did and we've been at the same office for over ten years. I'm going to kinda miss him!

This card has three different elements which I've been wanting to try out. #1 stamping a patterned background. I did this on the Pure Poppy with pumpkin colored ink and the single leaf from Out on a Limb. #2 rolling my edges. I did this on my Dark Chocolate paper. Finally, #3 stamping on patterned paper. I did this with my sentiment on some Summer Sunrise Bitty Dots Basics paper. Somehow, I don't think all this meshed so well together! Lol! Poor Stacy is tired of me texting her, I'm sure, about my inadequacies in the stamp world!

One thing is for sure, I do love how the sentiment turned out and I'm sure to be stamping on patterned paper a lot more! I hope you all have a nice evening. Today is Mike's (my husband) birthday and we're having tacos for dinner and brownie sundaes for dessert. Yum!

Simply No Name

2009-09-09T18:49:00.002-05:00

Are there times that you are just baffled as to what to put as a sentiment on a card? Why do we have to say anything on the front ? Well, I was playing around with my fav tree stamp and white flowersoft to make this stark, cold winter tree. Once I finished, I decided that it didn't need anything else. I wanted it to be the focus. The card was run through the cuttlebug with my snowflakes folder and then I inked the edges in white. Simple brown and silver ribbon. Done. Simple, clean and now I can write whatever suits me when I go to send it on !!

Have a great night gals !!

Teacher's Helper

2009-09-08T16:09:00.003-05:00

Hello there, it's Becky with you this afternoon. Teacher's Helper, that's what I was yesterday! My sister, Jennie, teaches second grade. She is one of the most creative and crafty people I know. So when she called me, asking for help, Thursday night I was shocked! She was working on her lesson plan book and I guess the kind you buy at the teacher's store are pretty ugly. Jennie decided to make her own but needed a bit of help with the cover. The inside pages, which are her actual lesson plans, measured 8 1/2 by 14" long. We trimmed the black patterned paper to 8 1/2 inches wide and then tacked on a piece of cream patterned paper at the end to make up the rest of the 14". To help hide the seam, we trimmed a piece of red card stock to 1" by 8 1/2" and punched one edge with the Upper Crest Punch.

Across the end, we added cream colored numbers, matted on black card stock, which were cut out from the Storybook Cricut Cartridge. Jennie placed the numbers, using a ruler, so they'd be nice and straight.

She's going to take the front and back cover we made and have the laminated and bound at Kinko's with the lesson plan insert pages. Pretty cool, huh? Hope you have a great night.

Just for Dad

2009-09-07T18:08:00.002-05:00

Hola gals ! I can't believe that the weekend is finally over !! Tomorrow back to work and back to the routine : ( I've enjoyed these last three days off !!

Tonight I'd like to share a card that I made for my father's upcoming retirement. I can't believe that it's actually come !! He's so young (55 !!) and the countdown is on. Just a few more weeks and he'll be a free man lol. When I think of retirement, I think of relaxing and spending lots of time with family. As for my dad, well, I don't think he could sit still if he tried !! He'll be off to new adventures with mom and the RV and I'm sure she's finally gonna learn how to send pics through email !! (sorry mom, ya gotta learn sometime hee hee)

I tried to keep it manly but fun at the same time. I decided to use Everyday Button Bits and make a bird carrying a bunch of balloons. A simple "Happy Retirement" and some striped paper.

Dad if you by chance read this......Congrats !! I love you and am happy for you and mom !!

Have a great night ladies !! See ya Wednesday : )

Raspberry Suite Challenge #16, Part II

2009-09-05T12:22:00.003-05:00

Hello all, and happy Saturday to you. It's Becky with you this afternoon with my entry for Dawn's challenge. It's a pretty simple card, but I did get all the colors in! I started with a Kraft base that measures 3 1/2 by 6. I layered on a Cream piece that I stamped with my Branchin' Out stamp from Stampin' Up! and my Mega Mixed Messages sentiment. I punched the top edge with my Upper Crest punch and inked up the edges. I finished it off with a bit of Rustic Button Twine and a Summer Sunrise button. Have a great weekend, especially if you have Monday off! I'm off to make some dip, Mike's having some friends over to watch the MU game this afternoon. GO MU!!!

Raspberry Suite 16

2009-09-04T20:20:00.005-05:00

Friday's here and it's been pretty rainy here today. The weather is cool and I'd love nothing more than a cup of hot chocolate, sit out on the deck with a warm blanket and just listen to the quiet.
Time again for another Raspberry Suite challenge. I love the colors for this challenge, just perfect for the weather we're having here in Missouri.

I started with a kraft card (I bought a package of 50 plus envelopes for 6 bucks !!) I cut two different leaves using my cricut from a PTI paper pack. The sentiment is from the adorable mailbox set. I used hand cut corners in the orange-gold color and finished it off with twine and a rustic wood button.

Thanks for stopping by !! Have a great weekend !!

Autumn

2009-09-03T08:04:00.004-05:00

Good morning! It's Becky with you today and I have a fun autumn card to share in honor of this fabulous autumn weather we're having here!

This card measures 4 1/2 x 4 1/2. The base is Enchanted Evening, which I've found to be a very versatile blue. It seems to be juuuust right! I layered on Summer Sunrise Bitty Dots Basics (that's a mouthful) and some dark brown DCWV card stock which I punched with my Upper Crest punch. I then did a little zig zag stitch between the two. For my main focal point, I popped up the leaf bouquet from Autumn Abundance on a Labels One die (from Spellbinders) on Kraft card stock, which I had colored in with my Bic Mark It's. I finished the bottom off with an Enchanted Evening button, some Rustic Button Twine, a flag with my sentiment and finally a tiny little rhinestone!

Here's a close up pic of my stitching and embellishment!

Have a great day ladies and I'll chat at ya Saturday!

SPCC #13

2009-09-02T17:00:00.003-05:00

What's happening gals !! Stacy here with another SPCC color challenge !! Check out the colors:

After debating for eternity on what I was going to make, well........let's just say my idea wasn't so hot !! So, along comes the hubby and makes a suggestion that I hadn't even thought of....bumblebees !! So, if by some miracle I win, I owe him 40 bucks lol

So here we go-----I started with a dark brown cs base that I ran through the cuttlebug (not sure of the name, but it's flowery ) On top of that is a white piece of card stock that measures 4x5 1/2. I used my flower stamp from Everyday Button Bits and rose colored buttons for the flower tops. The bees were stamped on yellow cs and are from Kim Hughes. The sentiment is also from the bee collection. I finished it off with olive and white ribbon that I looped around several times and tied off with a knot. Not too shabby for my hubby I would say !!

Matt's off to class and I have to round up the kiddos....have a great night and good luck to everyone !!

More Backpack Tags

2009-09-01T13:44:00.003-05:00

Hello all, it's Becky with you today and I'm sharing some more backpack tags. You can read more about them here in my first post.

This tag is for Landry, her old one was looking a bit rough. I used Lime green card stock and some black polka dot paper. I just finished it off with coordinating ribbon.

Now Abie's was a different story. Since she's 7 1/2 with a mind of her own, she wanted to pick out the colors for her tag. I'm sure you're looking at the tag and thinking it's not to bad. The problem is, her new messenger bag is pink and purple! Yech! Abie loves it though so I guess that's what counts! Her base is lime green and I embossed just the end with a zig zag folder for my Cuttlebug. I layered on a piece of BRIGHT sky blue which I stamped with polka dots and heat embossed with clear powder. To finish this layer, I punched the end with my Stampin' Up! Spiral Tab Punch. I added her initial, cut from my Alphalicious Cartridge for my Cricut, and a couple of felt flowers topped with True Black Vintage Buttons from PTI. I tied all the ribbons along the top and it was finished!

Here's a little shot of both tags together. One thing is for sure, I can always spot their bags!

Have a great night!

TESC # 80

2009-08-31T18:52:00.003-05:00

Hey gals !! Hope everyone had a great weekend !! Things were pretty slow here...Hubby had to work and the kiddo's kept me pretty busy. At least the weather has cooled off !! Little crazy for this time of year.

Yes.......I've entered another challenge !! Let me tell ya, these can get addictive ! lol This challenge is Taylored Expressions. I was checking out the site and really liked the sketch and thought I'd give it my Show-Me try:

And here is my card.......I'm so ready for Halloween !! My hubby and I were shopping the other day and we both decided it's one of our favs !! For me, I think it's the colors and the cooler weather. There's a sense of settling in that's calming (even though this is actually the most hectic time of year ha ha !)

I started with a brown card base that measures 5x4. My green cardstock was run through the bug with my crazy circles folder and then scalloped. Next was a piece of striped pp. The circle is cream and I used my nestabilities to cut it to size. The broom is a real stick compliments of my backyard lol. The bottom of the broom is dark brown ribbon that I "shredded" with scissors and tied with twine. The hat and sentiment are from Halloween Tags.

Thanks for stopping by !! : )

Manly Birthday

2009-08-29T10:55:00.002-05:00

Don't you just love Saturday mornings? I think it might be my most favorite time of the week. The whole weekend is spread out before you just waiting. It's Becky with you today with a fun manly card I made for my brother-in-law, Chris. His birthday was last Tuesday. Chris is a hunter. Over the last 20 plus years that I've known him, he has "hunted" most everything that is "huntable"! From the obvious deer to the not so obvious, ground hogs! I made a card similar to this one back in July, for my grandad's birthday, but the pictures I took just didn't come out very good so I never posted it.

I first stamped the tree and squirrel from Kim Hughes' Spring Trees set which I picked up from Cornish Heritage Farms. I stamped them in Versamagic black ink and immediately heat embossed the images with clear embossing powder. This way, when I went to color my images in, I wouldn't smear the ink. After they set for a bit, I colored them in with my Bic Mark It's. I'm a little intimidated by Copics and have found the Bic Mark It's work well for me, especially on that ultra thick PTI card stock! After coloring in my images, I trimmed around them and then got to work on my base. I layered a piece of New Leaf card stock, which I had stamped with the awesome Text Background stamp from PTI ,with my Colorbox Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan. Then I used the same ink to distress my edges. On top of the New Leaf, I trimmed out a piece of wood grain patterned paper from the DCWV Green Stack. To add a little somthin' I punched the edge with my Spiral Tab Punch from Stampin' Up! Before adhering those pieces to the card base, I wrapped them with some Rustic Jute Button Twine from PTI and a little Rustic Wood Button. Then I simply popped up my colored images added my sentiment, from Autumn Abundance. I hope you all have an awesome weekend! It's supposed to be in the 40's here tonight, unheard of for this time of year, and I can't wait! I'll see ya on Tuesday.

SPCC Color Challenge 12

2009-08-28T05:23:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday girlies !! This has to be one of my favorite days of the week......last working day of the week and I get to post !! It's time again for another awesome SPCC color challenge !! Check out the colors:

I have to admit that the first time I saw these I thought I was going to need sunglasses ! These are definitely outta my range !! That's one thing that is so cool about participating in these challenges---you get to think out of the box and get lots of great ideas from all of the projects submitted !! I wish I had time to post a comment on everyone's project, I love little apects of everyone's !!

So, on to my card........summer summer summer !! What's better in summer that ice cream !! These colors remind me of sherbet and that's my fav !! So I decided to make a yummy ice cream card for this challenge. I started with a 5x4 white card base. Layered on next is that fab bermuda cs. Top layer is a fun piece that has all kinds of yummy ice cream treats. I cut out an orange popsicle and pink polka dotted ice cream cone and adhered those on top with foam dots. I then cut out 2 top note pieces in melon and orange. The sentiment is actually 2 pieces that I used from PTI. I finished it off with some fun polka dot ribbon tied with twine.

Thanks to the gals at SPCC for another great color combo challenge !! Good luck to everyone and have a great weekend !! : )

Yes, another anniversary!

2009-08-27T16:14:00.003-05:00

Good afternoon to you all, it's Becky with you. Apparently August is THE month for anniversary's! This is my third one this month! This one goes to our own Stacy (and Matt). Their anniversary was yesterday, 9 years! Isn't that awesome! So here's a picture of the card I made for them.

I started with a white base that measured 4 1/4 x 5 1/2. Then I layered on a piece of dark chocolate which I had stamped with a Hiedi Swapp foam polka dot stamp and heat embossed with clear powder. Then on the right side I layered a piece of Enchanted Evening which I had stamped with my new Text Background stamp from PTI. I added my sentiment and a punch of color with that Raspberry Fizz flag, which was embellished with a piece of American Crafts ribbon, an Enchanted Evening button, some Rustic Cream Twine and a stick pin from Making Memories.

Here's a close up picture of the embellishments.
I wish them many more happy years together!

Raspberry Suite Part 2

2009-08-26T17:24:00.002-05:00

Happy Hump Day gals !! Stacy here tonight with my card for the Raspberry Suite Challenge. Don't you just love this color combo ? Very yummy !! lol

I started with a vanilla card base measuring 5x4. I trimmed a piece of melon cardstock and used the embossed curve punch on the bottom. The inside of the card was decorated with DCWV carstock with vanilla flowers. The stamp I used was one that I had bought years ago from Hobby Lobby. I thought it would fit well with the "button bits" theme. I chose random buttons in this week's colors for my flower tops. Finished off with green and white ribbon that I chose to tie with twine (I'm waiting on bow tying lessons for anyone watching ! lol ) The sentiment is part of Everyday Button Bits.

Thanks for stopping by and good luck to all you gals !! : )

Raspberry Suite #15

2009-08-25T16:49:00.005-05:00

Greetings friends! It's Becky with you tonight with my submission for the Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #15! These colors really threw me for a loop! That Hibiscus Burst is a bright one isn't it?

Here's a close up of my card. I started with a 5x5 base in Spring Moss and layered a piece of the ultra bright Hibiscus Burst on top which I ran through my Cuttlebug and punched the edge with my scallop punch. Then on top of that, I placed a cream colored bow with a Melon Berry button tied with some Rustic Cream Twine. Then I stamped the mum image from Autumn Abundance, but for this post I'm pretending they're hydrangeas! I colored in them image with melon, pink and green Bic Mark Its. Then, to finish it off, I stamped my sentiment in melon on cream card stock, trimmed and adhered!

I'm pretty happy with how this turned out! Have a great night!

Halloween Tags

2009-08-24T18:45:00.005-05:00

Hey gals !! Monday again....and I'm feelin' a little under the weather. It has been so nice here the last 4 days that I've slept with the windows open and now I'm paying for it lol

I want to start out by tellin ya that I scored in the top 10 on my very first SPCC color challenge !! woo hoo !! I'm really excited for this week's challenge, definitely colors that are a little out of my league !!

On to tonight's pic.....Becky and I got our PTI package and I couldn't wait to play with the new Halloween Tags !! I've got a million ideas to put to use for these so get ready heehee !!

The cards are 5x4 brown cs that I layered a piece of pp on the bottom half of (sorry, no clue where I got the paper !!) I cut out a half circle to nestle my halloween tags sentiment in and finished off with ribbon. Simple Stacy....that's me !! The treat holders I made to go with the cards are 9x3. I scored at 4 inches on each end (no math lol). I used my SU scallop punch on the top end of the holder and secured it all together with matching ribbon. The treat inside the holder is a individual size twizzlers. Enjoy and have a great night !!

Anniversary for my sister

2009-08-22T11:56:00.008-05:00

Ooohhh, I love the weather we're having here! It's crazy that it's August and we've got our air off and the windows open! It's Becky with you on this fine Saturday and I have an anniversary card to share that I made for my sister and brother in law. Their 17 year anniversary was a couple of weeks ago so I whipped up this card for them.

I started out with a dark grey card base measuring 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 and I used one of the large images from Damask Designs which I heat embossed with clear powder. Then I trimmed a piece of Raspberry Fizz paper and used my scallop punch across the bottom and stamped my sentiment from Mega Mixed Messages. I used some black grosgrain ribbon to tie and bow and finished it off with a Raspberry Fizz button and some Rustic Cream Twine. I love this color combo and the way the whole card turned out!

For my cousin..........

2009-08-21T20:54:00.004-05:00

I'm so happy it's Friday !! The time went so slow today at work lol But----we got our new PTI buttons and I got my Halloween Tags stamp set !! Let me tell ya that set is so awesome !! I can't wait to play !!

On to my project---this should be the last of my baby shower posts lol My cousin's shower is Sunday and I've finished all of my decorating for the party. This is a set of Thank You cards that I made as a little side gift. The colors coordinate with the colors of the shower and I thought this would be a nice ending to her shower. The box of cards was a pre-purchased set of blank cards that I added the ribbon and scalloped circles to. The sentiment is from SU and says "thank you so much". I decided to cover the existing box with brown cardstock around the edges. I used a scalloped edge punch on pink and adhered it to the underside of the carstock. Simple and clean jsut like I like it !!

Have a great weekend and I'll see ya Monday !!

Damask Designs

2009-08-20T06:52:00.004-05:00

Hello friends! It's Becky with you this morning. Did you check out Stacy's card yesterday??? How 'bout them apples! Lol! Seriously I love the glossy accents on them makes them look good enough to eat! My card today is using the "new to me" Damask Designs. Ever since Dawn McVey released this set over at PTI, I liked it. Every month when Stacy and I would put an order in, I would talk myself out of buying saying "you'll get it next month". Well, I finally did it! I purchased it a few weeks ago, when we got our button haul, and I absolutely love it!

The card I made for today started out with a charcoal grey base, cut to 4 1/4 x 5 1/2. I used my Versamark pad to stamp row after row of the small Damask pattern. Then I heat embossed it with clear powder. I added a Raspberry Fizz scalloped strip along the right side and layered a piece of Spring Moss cardstock over that, which I stamped my sentiment on. Then I placed some thin, 1/4", black grosgrain ribbon. To finish this card, I stamped the large Damask piece on Raspberry Fizz with my Versamagic pad and again heat embossed with clear powder. I then trimmed the piece out and popped it up with some pop dots.

I hope you guys have a good day and I'll see you on Saturday!

SPCC Color Combo Challenge

2009-08-19T18:21:00.002-05:00

Hey there gals !! Stacy here tonight with my first color combo challenge ever !!! I'm so excited to see all of the fun designs that come out of this.....and what a great place to start......someone gives you color combos and they ideas just seem to flow !! The challenge is taking place at SPCC....go check it out and wish me luck !!

The colors for this challenge are some of my favorite. I started with a 5x4 white card and adhered my green cardstock to the top and brown and white polka dotted DCWV pp on the bottom. I used a mini scallop punch on the bottom of the pp. The picnic basket is from PTI and I watercolored in two shades of brown. The apples were stamped and colored green. For a little extra I used glossy accents on the apples (yummy !!). The sentiment was stamped on white cardstock with my labels punch from SU. To finish it off I added 3 buttons tied with brown twine. Voila !! My cutie card is ready to go !! Thanks for stoppin by and have a great night !!

Meet the teacher!

2009-08-18T08:10:00.002-05:00

Hello there! It's Becky with you today and as I write this, my girlies are finishing up breakfast before we take Abie to her first day of second grade. I can hardly believe school is already starting! Friday night was "meet the teacher" night. We never did this but I think it's great because it gives the kids a chance to calm their first day jitters a bit by finding their room and dropping off their supplies. I whipped up this little gift for Abie's teacher, which we took on Friday night.
It's a simple jar with a circle of patterned school paper layered on a scalloped circle.

Here's a close up picture. I wrapped Spring Moss ribbon around the jar and tied on a little tag with some Rustic Cream twine. On the tag I used some Spring Moss paper and stamped the apple leaf and stem from Everyday Button Bits and adhered a Scarlet Jewel button. I finished it off with a little tag using one of the sentiments from Everyday Button Bits. We filled the jar with mini candy bars. I think her teacher was really excited about the chocolate!

I hope you have a great day!

Thinking of You........

2009-08-17T18:29:00.002-05:00

It's Monday again and we've gotten so much rain here today !! Missouri weather is so strange sometimes.........oh well !! I guess the best thing to do is be in the studio...hee hee

This card I have for ya tonight is a little out of my element. Ya know what ? No matter how much I try to add to my cards to give them some dimension, the more they look kinda bare !! I've always been a minimalist---from my house to my cards apparently !! I guess I should just embrace my style and learn to love it !! lol

I started with a 5x7 Kraft notecard that I inked up the edges. Next I took a piece of DCWV PP and used my SU scallop punch on one side. Next is a plain old piece of green CS that I also inked around the edges. The flower was cut using the Jasmine cartidge for my cricut. The sentiment is extra large and I can't remember where I got it !! I finished it off with rustic wood buttons from PTI.

have a great night and stay dry !!

Little perks part deux!

2009-08-15T07:27:00.003-05:00

It's a beautiful Saturday morning here, and I know this because I've been up since 6:30 AM and outside! Yes Stacy, I got up that early on a Saturday! Lol! Today is our summer/fall neighborhood garage sale. So I'm writing to you from the driveway as I watch the lookie loos drive by and check out our stuff to see if they should stop and look! Today I have part two of the little perks cards.
This first one I used Core'dinations card stock and I roughed it up with some sandpaper to let the lighter blue show through. Then I stamped the balloon strings from Everyday Button Bits and added three Spring Rain buttons. I stamped my sentiment in the corner and added some twine to finish it off!

On this last card, I decided to add some felt trim I picked up at Michael's for just $1! Then I stamped the hot air balloons from Everyday Button Bits and added a Summer Sunrise, Lemon Tart and Melon Berry button.
On a more exciting note, I placed our latest PTI order this morning!!!! Stacy and I each ordered a new stamp set they released this month along with the four new button colors they released!!! I can't wait to get my hands on those Pure Poppy buttons! Have a great weekend and I'll see ya on Monday!

Wishing You Well

2009-08-14T19:43:00.002-05:00

Happy Friday Gals !!

Please excuse our mess.....we are under construction !!

Tonight I have a cute little card I made using my favorite PTI picnic basket. The flower images are from SU, paper by MMM and buttons are also PTI. Card measures 5x7. Short post----have a great weekend !!

Little perks

2009-08-13T15:41:00.002-05:00

I'm so happy it's Thursday! This week seems like it's lasted FOREVER! It's Becky with you today and I am sharing the first of two related posts. Abie starts school on Tuesday and I thought it would be nice to have a few little cards on hand that I can throw in her bag or lunch. Just to perk up her week. I rummaged through my stash and found little scraps here and there and threw these cards together pretty quickly. On this first card, I used purple DCWV card stock and some old Karen Foster patterned paper. Then I stamped the cherry stems from Everyday Button Bits and glued on two Raspberry Fizz buttons. To finish it off, I curved my sentiment on my acrylic block and stamped it on the circle with my cherries.

For my second card, I used a brown card stock base and layered on Spring Rain Bitty Dots Basics patterned paper which I had trimmed with my Stampin' Up! spiral tab punch. Then I stamped my bicycle in Midnight Blue Momento Ink and attached two Spring Rain buttons. I finished it off by stamping my sentiment down in the corner.

Have a great night and I'll see ya'll on Saturday!

Back to Work !!

2009-08-12T20:14:00.006-05:00

Reality check........vacation is over and time for me to get back to my kiddo's and job and paper !!! Hubby and I just got back this afternoon from an awesome little getaway in Hermann, Mo. If you've never been---I highly recommend it !! Below is the view as you come into the city....how gorgeous is that ????

This is the house we stayed in.......we had the whole house to ourselves !! It was so beautiful, a nice relaxing place that we both really needed !! This is the Captain's House of the Captain Wohlt Bed and Breakfast:

This is the common room of the house. It had a huge dining room table, nice TV (that's my hubby goin' to check some baseball scores......men !! lol ) To his credit, when we arrived there was chocolates, flowers, champagne and a gift certificate to the Stone Hill Winery in our room.....what a sweet man I have !!

Hermann has a lot of wineries in town. This is the sign for the Stone Hill Vintage Restaurant that we ate some of the best German food we've ever tasted !!

This is my favorite pic of the bunch !!! I know you're probably wondering what in the world are they doin' with a stuffed monkey ?????? Well, my oldest daughter has dubbed this the vacation monkey and anytime we go out of town the monkey goes too (I'm still laughing at this pic !!) My hubby takes the best monkey pictures......he is absolutely hilarious !! So, our friend is relaxing on the jacuzzi in our room:

That's gonna be all for me tonight.......time to get back to mommy/supervisor mode !! Have a great week and I'll be back on Friday : )

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #14

2009-08-11T16:50:00.004-05:00

Hello friends, it's Becky with you tonight with a card for the Raspberry Suite Color Challenge. I was pretty apprehensive about this one with the purple and all. But I think I got something that works!

I started with a cream colored base and layered a piece of Scarlet Jewel on top, which I had punched the edge with my Threading Water punch. Then I trimmed a piece of Raspberry Fizz and used my Heidi Swapp distress tool to scrape the edges and wrapped some cream twine around it and added a Scarlet Jewel button. I took one of the flower images from the Life set and stamped it on the Plum Pudding and heat embossed it with clear powder, then punched it out and popped it up! To finish off my card, I stamped my sentiment, from Mega Mixed Messages, with Versamagic Ink. Have a great night!