Hello From Arkansas!!

Well, I made it halfway home today, but just couldn't do another 6hrs, so here I sit in my hotel room watching Idol!! Wouldn't you know it is supposed to get ugly here tomorrow night, so I plan on going to bed early and leaving as soon as I can drag myself out of bed. I don't know about you all, but I have had enough of the crazy weather! I am so sad to have to be heading home, due to work issues(darn that military), I really didn't get to see my brother as much as I would like. We did eat at some of the coolest places and we saw Ironman(awesome). I again apologize for the rough picture, but I am trying to take photos in a hotel room, and the light, well, it sucks!! This is another My Favorite Things teaser, but it is from the set Gone to the Dogs. It is definitely a MUST HAVE for any dog lover!! MFT will be releasing 3 new stamp sets at the release party in the SCS member forum on Wednesday from 9est to 11est. We hope you will join us for more fun, chatting and a new guest designer challenge!! Anyway, back to my card!! Isn't this poodle super cute!! I automatically thought of pink and black polka dots when I saw it. The paper is from one of my DCWV stacks(but I don't remember which one, I will add it when I get home!!) and is layered with Basic Black, Pretty in Pink, and Whisper White. This is a pretty basic card, but it is so super cute(in my opinion). I put liquid applique on the poodle to make her puffy!! The setiment is from the Friends Furever set that will be released on Wednesday too. That's all for me now!! Thanks for looking and have a great day!!

stamps- Gone to the Dogs and Friends Furever

paper-Pretty in Pink, Basic Black, Whisper White and DCWV

ink-Black Stazon

tools-liquid applique, markers, circle punches, cuttlebug, swiss dots, pink organdy, word window punch, pink brads

It's Time For a Teaser!!

It is time for another My Favorite Things release, and I am so honored to be their guest designer for this month. There will by three new sets released by My Favorite Things on Wednesday night (right after the release party on Splitcoast Stampers from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m). Join us for fun, contests, MFTeasers and your chance to be the next My Favorite Guest Designer). This card was made using the new mini set, Friends Furever- isn't it the cutest!! I also made this using this weeks Inspiration challenge over on the Great Swaps Girls blog. This weeks challenge was posted by Kristin and it is this awesome bedding! Honestly, it just worked out kinda fabulous for this because I actually made this card BEFORE seeing the inspiration challenge, but it fits perfectly( at least I think it does). The paper on this is from the DCWV Nana's Nursery Baby Boy stack and is so yummy. I apologize for the picture-it was the best I could do, but seriously, my brother has no light(or clean towels) in his apartment!! I was gonna take the photo outside, but of course it was raining!.

Well, that is it for now! I am waiting for my brother to come home from work and take me to lunch somewhere fabulous! We ate at a place called Rudy's BBQ(near Sea World) and the food was AWESOME!! I am enjoying relaxing AND using his super fast Internet, although I do have fears that when I get home I am gonna have to do some upgrading!! Thanks for looking and have a great day!!

stamps-MFT Friends Furever

paper-Ballet Blue, Sage Shadow, Barely Banana,Whisper White and DCWV

ink-Black Stazon

tools- white brads, markers, thread, gray marker

My Trip To Arlington

I want to start this out by saying that my trip to Arlington was fabulous, and NO MATTER WHAT, I don't regret going! First of all, I met some of the most amazing people and got to make some pretty awesome cards. My trip down was rather eventful so I will give you a few of the highlights! First of all, I was so frantically busy this week trying to get everything done for the trip that I almost had a melt down. On top of my swap, and my door prize, I had to work on cards for the My Favorite Things release since I am the guest designer for this month. I didn't want to drag all of my stamp stuff with me(and boy am I glad I didn't), so I had to have all of my stuff done ahead of time. Then my sister calls and wants to send out her invites for her baby shower BEFORE I left so I had to make 70 of those in two days(and of course I had to pick the most involved card ever) plus I had all my design team stuff for Paper Pretties, which I am ashamed to say may never be posted because it is just that bad!!LOL

Anyways, I was checking the weather the night before I left, something I never do, but was so proud of myself for doing, and saw that my whole entire path to Texas was in the red!! Severe thunderstorm warnings with the threat of tornadoes, YIKES! Something you need to know about me is that I hate storms, and I am the kind of person that when they hear about the storm warnings goes back inside and stays where it is relatively safe(definitely not the type to go out and drive in it). So I debated back and forth with myself and my husband and decided that I would just go and everything would be okay. I started driving at 6am and it was dreary, but I never saw any rain or anything. In fact, I got all the way to Memphis without that first raindrop and thought to myself-everything is gonna be alright. WWWWWRRRRROOONNNGGG!!! The closer I got to Little Rock, the worse the weather got. I found a radio station out of LR and started listening to their storm coverage. As they are announcing where the TORNADOES are at, I am starting to panic because I have no idea what county I am in. I am trying to drive in blinding rain, listen to the radio, and not cry. I kept thinking, I should pull over but I pushed on. As they announced that the T was by 167, I was still on I40. As I went on to 167, they said it was by I40.......I think I may have driven between two tornadoes!YIKES!! Thankfully, I wasn't hurt, and I made it to this big beautiful state of Texas, where surprisingly, the sky is bigger. I always thought people were full of it, but the sky is huge here! I did however arrive at Dallas at rush hour on a Friday night. Luckily for me, people were bumper to bumper, so it probably made it easier for me to drive through. The rest of the trip was awesome though! My roommates rocked, and the swap was AWESOME!! I even made a some new friends and actually got to meet someof my favorite stampers! I will be sharing pictures from the swap for awhile so bare with me!

While at the swap I met Becky(tggrfriend). She is super sweet and we got to stamp together a lot! She brought the most UNBELIEVABLE door prize, and guess who won it...ME!!! I had to guard it with my life, but we both made it out okay. All the little tins attached to the flowers are full of ribbon, buttons and primas! Am I not a lucky girl!!! When they went to hand it to me, Carolyn King(cammie) said that for all I went through to get there, I deserved it!! I don't know about all of that, but I certainly do appreciate it! Thanks again Becky!!

So to wrap things up, a few lessons I have learned since leaving Illinois. I am definitely tougher than I thought! When the weather is bad, stay home! SCS ROCKS( I already knew that, but I am just amazed by the people I met!!)! And last but not least, when staying with your little brother always remember to photograph any cards you want good pictures of BEFORE leaving home(what is it with men and dark rooms) and bring your own towels-enough said!!

Color Wheel Challenge Swap

My very first swap with the Great Swaps girls was to do a card using a combo found on the color wheel. I randomly spun my wheel(as well as it will spin) and landed on Close to Cocoa. I paired it with Barely Banana and Sage Shadow. I love this little monkey from Zoofari, so I stamped him and colored him in with markers. I used the SU Close To Cocoa DSP and color blocked the back and put brads in all the corners. I then popped them up and the monkeys. The sentiment is from Circle of Friendship and I used my SU punches to punch them out and layer them. I think it turned out super cute!! I forgot to take a picture of it before I left home, and my brother(who I am staying with in San Antonio) has the WORST lighting, so everything I brought with me to post will have to wait until morning(I took this off the GSG group album-thanks for posting it Becky)!! Thanks for stopping by and being super patient during my absence!! Have a great day and thanks for looking!!
stamps-Zoofari and Circle of Friendship
paper-Close to Cocoa CS and DSP, Barely Banana, Sage Shadow, and Whisper White
ink-Close to Cocoa and Black Stazon
tools-circle punches, brads, markers

Hello From Texas

Hello all my loyal blog readers. I am so sorry for the long absence but as I had posted before I had decided to travel to Arlington Texas for the 3rd annual Shoe Box Swap through the SCS Get It Together forum. I have been so busy getting ready for it and then being here that I am just now getting the chance to post anything!! I have had the most awesome time and met some of the coolest people ever! I am now in San Antonio visiting my brother so I will be back later after I hang out with him to show you some stuff!! Thanks for visiting and being patient during my absence!! This is me with my super fabulous roommates Melanie M.(melmel) and Vanessa. They were so sweet to let me stay with them and we had a great time together!! Hey girls!!!

Prettie Wednesday

Two weeks ago Joni, our fabulous illustrator for Paper Pretties, challenged us to do a card using paper piecing, which I love and really don't do often enough(although this week I have been on a roll). I decided I would pick some paper first so that is why I settled on this paper from DCWV Nana's Nursery Baby Girl stack. I picked my colors to match from the paper. I started out by stamping Sophie from the Paper Pretties stamp set Cuddle Me, both on Whisper White and on the DP. I then cut out just the dress(kinda hard, but I did it) and the hair bow(also hard, but I did it!!). Then I colored the rest in with my SU markers. I am not too sure about the brads at the bottom, but I had already punched the holes, so something had to go there!! This card is on it's way(or hopefully already) to Danielle, so I hope you liked it!! Be sure to check out the other Prettie Girls blogs to see what they have done for this challenge, and if you would like to play along leave me a link to your card, we would love to have you join us!! This week it is Christie's turn to challenge us, and she has challenged us to use acetate, yikes( I guess that means I need to get to work on Danielle's challenge from last week to do a masculine card!!)!! Don't forget to stop by the Paper Pretties website and check out Christies contest, its a good one!!
stamps-Cuddle Me by Paper Pretties
paper-Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, and DCWV
ink-Black Stazon
tools-brads, pink organdy, chocolate satin, SU markers

Another Long Card

Today's sketch challenge was guest hosted by Bonnie(raduse) and it is a wonderful sketch. For the sketch the base of the card measures 8x9 1/4, and it is to be scored at 3/4 and 4. Also, for the sketch your oval has to be an oval(so no altering, hehe) and it must hang over the fold line. I colored my tree from Lovely As A Tree with my SU markers and then highlighted some of the branches with my white gel pen. I then used my Cuttlebug and Oval Nestabilities to cut out the image and layers. I wanted to dress up the fold over panel so I put 4 decorative brads from Making Memories. The sentiment is from All Holidays and was punched out with my oval punches. If you can't tell, I sponged every inch of this card practically. It is really late here, and I need to go to bed, so that is all for me tonight. I will have more to post tomorrow!! Thanks for looking and have a great day!!
stamps-All Holidays and Lovely As A Tree
ink-Chocolate Chip
paper- Close to Cocoa, Old Olive, Confetti Cream and Close to Cocoa DSP
tools-decorative brads, olive grosgrain, cream taffeta, oval nestabilities, Cuttlebug, pewter brads, oval punches

Basic Pomegranate Sky-yum

I wonder how we never had this color combo before, it is fabulous!!!! Emily is swamped getting ready for our big shoebox swap in Arlington Texas(yes I know I live in Illinois, but I am still going!) and forgot to do the color challenge-the horror!! Tobi(jazzytobi) stepped up to help out and came up with this FANTASTIC color challenge(if I do say so myself!!). I started with my Flutter By stamp set from Paper Pretties and stamped her twice, once on Whisper White and once on Soft Sky DSP with Black Stazon. I then cut out just her dress and placed it on the white image. The rest was colored with markers and I added glitter to all her jewelry, because lets face it, she NEEDED some sparkle!! The sentiment is from the SU set All Holidays, and has to be one of my favorite sentiment stamps! I love the way it is written and the fact that you can use it for anything!! The rest is pretty simple, but if you have a question, please be sure to ask!!
ENABLER ALERT!!!! Christie over at Paper Pretties is having a contest to kick off our big news on May 1st. For more details go check out her blog and the Paper Pretties site, this is one giveaway you do not want to miss!!
stamps-Flutter By and SU All Holidays
paper- Soft Sky CS and DSP, Purely Pomegranate, Basic Black
ink- Black Stazon and Purely Pomegranate
tools-Blender pen, black organdy and brad, glitter pen, pomegranate satin ribbon, white get pen, gray marker, Cuttlebug and Oval Nesties

Namaste`

I am gonna be honest with you, I have no idea what that word means, but it sounds super peaceful to me. Say it out loud a few times, don't you feel better now??LOL!! Anyway, I made this card last night for the My Favorite Things sketch challenge over on SCS but once I was done I was too tired to post it!! Cindy Haffner hosts this challenge, and always comes up with the most fabulous sketches!! I altered mine a little, because I made my main panel too wide, so I made it a semi-tent card, we'll call it a pup tent(you know, one of those one man ones). LOL!! I stamped the main image from Serenity Now in Black Stazon three times, one on each side of that super cute Cutie Pie paper from SU and once on Whisper White. I paper pieced her outfit and the wallpaper and colored the rest with markers. I paper pierced around the whole main image panel and then added some brads on either side on the main card. I am sure I am gonna get some comments about what Namaste` means, and that would be great, that way I don't have to wonder all day what it means!! Thanks for looking and have a great day!!
stamps-Serenity Now by MFT
ink- Black Stazon
paper-Not Quite Navy, Rose Red, Whisper White, and Cutie Pie DSP
tools-white taffeta, oval punches, silver brads, SU markers, crafters tool kit

WOW!!

You should see this bundle of goodies I got in the mail from my pal Linsey(scraperlinsey)!! She sent me all this amazing stuff and one of the cutest cards EVER!!! I love all of it Linsey and I really appreciate your thoughtfulness!! Isn't she the best!! If you can't see it, there are scrapbook stickers, epoxy stickers, these super cute flower brads, ribbon, matching stickers, a zig painty to write inside my cards, and a Fiskars stamp set!! And would you look at all the bling on that card!!! That cow is really styling in her big sunglasses!! You are too good Linsey!! Thanks again for being such a super sweetie!!!

I received this GORGEOUS card from Laura(scrapnextras) yesterday too!! She wrote inside it that she dares me to be fabulous, and I just want her to know that I accept!!! Laura makes some of the most gorgeous creations and I am so happy for all the recognition she is getting here lately! On top of her Verve Visual designer spot, and getting chosed for the Dirty Dozen, I even saw one of her fabulous creations on Stampin Up's Stamper Showcase the other day!! I am a lucky girl to have her as a friend. Thanks Laura, I love it!! I really need to break down and buy the pretties kit from SU, because those flowers are awesome. If only I had known a long time ago that you could color them with your markers!! Thanks again Laura for making my day with this fabulous card!!

My last RAK came from Charmaine(charmwarm). This is her card to me from one of the Prettie Girl Wednesday challenges. Thanks Charmaine, it is even cuter in person!!!

I have two different cards of my own to post, so be sure to come back by!!