Inspiration and a Winner!!

I wanted to start this out by saying congrats to my fellow GSGer Dawn McVey! She is the featured stamper on SCS today(technically tomorrow)!! Woohoo, you go girl!! On that note, I hope this card fits into the Inspiration challenge for today. I looked at it last night and then today when I got home from the baby shower, I decided to relax myself I would stamp a little. I never thought to look at the challenge again, but I think this will work. If not, it is nothing abnormal for me since I always tend to stretch the inspirational boundaries anyway!!LOL !! My card was made using the Garden Silhouettes set, which I stamped once in navy Blue and then kept stamping until the ink no longer showed up. The rest is pretty easy, and I am super tired from all the baby shower stuff today, so that is all for me!! Thanks for looking and have a great day!!

By the way, the winner of my Baby Shower Blog Candy is Deena(moonrise) with her guess of 68, which is amazingly RIGHT!! No one at the shower even got it right, but the girl that won guessed 67!! Thanks for playing and for all the well wishes, and I will let you know the progress of the baby! I would really like to do a card shower for my sister when she has him, so anyone who wants her address can send me an email or leave a comment with an email address so I can send you hers.

Thanks again!!

stamps-Garden Silhouettes and Sanded

paper- Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, and Whisper White

ink- Night of Navy

tools-ticket corner punch, silver brads, navy and blue organdy, silver cord

Thanks Jen and a Contest

I had decided a couple of days ago that I wanted to do some sort of a book for my sister's shower that could be passed around for addresses, but also used to write down the gifts that she received at the shower. While I was at Target, I picked up a plain, spiral bound, eco-friendly notebook, but really had no idea what to do with it. You have probably noticed by now that I don't really alter things very often. I love seeing other people do it, but I just never think to do it for myself. Well, I have a feeling I have dove off the deep end and there is no end in sight- I am having so much fun!! So why the title? Well, today's Limited Supplies challenge over on SCS was to make a card(of hopefully a project) using alphabet stamps as the main focus on the card. I was stumped about what to do when I realized that I had the Monogram J stamp from SU and I realized how perfect it would be on the front of that notebook. YAYYY!! The rest of his name is done with stamps too, and I have to say, it is the only full alphabet set that I own besides the Headline Alphabet from SU. I picked it up at Hobby Lobby when I was working on my cousin's wedding decorations and I love the way the letters are made to connect together. Cool huh!! It is a clear set by The Paper Studio. I stamped the Mono. J in Tempting Turquoise and the rest of his name in Only Orange. I punched out a bunch of stars using the same paper I used for my diaper cake and popped them up all over. I added a TON of ribbon to the coil. I forgot to say that I removed both the front and back cover and added DP to those then put them back on the coil. Thanks again Jen for the inspiration!!

Wanna see some more goodies, and maybe win some of your own? I thought so!! Here is a picture of the buckets that I got from Target. I covered the handles with a bunch of different ribbons and then attached some stars to the front of the pail. At the party, bundles of three balloons will be tied to each bucket and set all over the room. I made 12, I just hope it is enough!!LOL

These next projects are the favors that everyone will get to take home with them. I took a Mason Jar-jelly sized, and filled them 3/4 full with M&M's(do yourself a favor and buy the bulk bag-cheaper and resealable). I taped a piece of paper to the top and then wrapped the lid with wide grosgrain ribbon from SU. I then folded the extra part of the ribbon over the top of the lid to hide the edges of the paper. Next, I tied a ribbon around that-just in case you wonder, the ribbon came from Offray and I bought all of it at Wal-mart, except the solid color grosgrain on all the projects which is from SU. I then put a band around the jar. The animals are from the SU set Wild About You, and I stamped them, punched them out, layered them, and attached them to a scallop cirle of DP. I can't begin to tell you how much red line tape I have used on all of these projects, but it is shameful. I really want this to be special for my sister, I just hope she likes it all.

My last project is this super cute jar I got at Wal-mart in the home goods aisle. I filled it full of cotton balls for one of the games at the shower. I decorated it the same way I have everything else and even added little punched out stars to the bow at the top like I did on the cake. The idea of the game is to guess how many cotton balls are in the jar. How many do you think are in there? Just so you know, the person with the closest guess will get a super cute assortment of ribbon, some paper(the same patterns that are on my projects), and some other random goodies. If more than one person actually gets it right, I will pick between the correct entries. So, what's your guess? I will pick a winner after the shower tomorrow!! But now, I need to get back to work, 24 more favors to do!!YIKES!!

Inchies, Inchies Everywhere!!

Inchies are apparently a hot new thing in Stamping, but up until today, I had never done a card using one. Since I don’t technically own inchies(or for that matter know what they are), I improvised for today’s ways to use it challenge, and made my own 1x1in squares. I stamped my image from Oh, So Lovely in Black Stazon and used my aqua painter to add some Soft Sky to the flowers and Wild Wasabi to the stems. I then mounted them on black and popped them up on a panel of Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi and Black. The base of the card uses the same colors and the DP is from the DCWV All Dressed Up stack. I swear I am addicted to DCWV(probably because around here that is about the only thing I can get my hands on). The brads at the bottom are pewter, and the rub on at the top is from the Love and Happiness rubons that SU had as a Sellabration set. That’s all for now, I have more baby stuff to show, but I will take a picture later when it is all done. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!
Stamps-Oh, So Lovely
Paper-Soft Sky, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Basic Black, and DCWV
Ink- Black Stazon, Wild Wasabi, and Soft Sky
Tools-pewter brads, black organdy, aqua painter, silver cord, and rub ons

Cuteness Alert!!

Okay, I am warning you ahead of time, that I am SUPER PROUD of what I am about to share with you!! I usually don't gush over my own work, but seriously, this may be the cutest thing I ever made in my life!! As you all know, my sister is having a miracle baby due in July, and this weekend is her shower. For those of you not familiar with the story, my older sister Mary was told she would not be able to get pregnant because her tubes were 100% blocked. To make a long story short, she lost a bunch of weight, got pregnant on her own, and didn't know it until she felt him move!!(if you wanna read the whole story, go to this post). Well, while blurfing the other day, I stumbled upon this super cute creation by my pal Susan aka susiestampalot(who just won the My Favorite Things guest designer spot-btw)and I had to make one for my sister's shower. It is a diaper cake, how stinkin cute is that!! Susan quickly emailed me and gave me some pointers, but is working on getting a tutorial together to share on her blog. She knew I needed it soon, so she talked me through how she put hers together and boy was she a HUGE help!! Since I got the idea from her, and I wasn't smart enough to take pictures while making it, I am not going to go into detail, but if you have any questions before she gets her tutorial done, I will be happy to answer any questions you may have, just send me an email or leave a comment!! So after the "cake" was assembled, I wrapped bands of DP(by Imagine That) around the middle of each layer. I got my DP for this project at Wal-mart in the scrapbooking section(if you can call it that). It was a whole pack of paper in different size pads, some buttons, brads and some ribbon. The colors were perfect for a boy, and I loved the fun prints. I punched a TON of stars out of it and some coordinating SU card stock and placed them all over. Some of the stars have brads through the center with some ribbon attached, some just the brad, and some just the stars, just whatever you like. I also attached buttons with glue dots all around the paper strips. The letters are some die cuts I picked up a long time ago by EK Success, and are held together by silver brads with some ribbon tails at the top and bottom. I attached some of the small stars to each letter to give it some personality. The ruffle around the bottom is actually the stuff you buy on a spool to finish quilts, so it is already sewn together and ready to go(cool huh). The top is two different curly ribbons you buy at Wal-mart(or where ever you get yours at) twisted together. I thought they needed a little something, so I attached some stars with brads to the ribbon curls(something I need to remember in the future because it is super cute). I really tried to make mine as different from Susan's as possible, but I loved hers so much, that there are a lot of similarities. I loved how she had the name trailing down the side of hers, the paper bands, and the buttons, so I kept them. I want to thanks Susan so much for helping me out with this and allowing me to CASE her totally cute creation for my sister's special day. What do you think?? I WARNED you didn't I!! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

Prettie Wednesday and a Sale!!

Well, here I am with my second(technically third) post for today! Two weeks ago our Prettie Mama, Christie, challengedall the Prettie Girls to use acetate on a card. Unfortunately for me, I am a terrible procrastinator, so this card is on it’s way Jillian, but if you come here first, SURPRISE!!(By the way, my watermark and I got into a fight, obviously it won, and is GINORMOUS!! Since I already sent out the card, there really isn't anything I can do, so here it is in all it GINORMOUS glory!!LOL) I decided to make a acetate card(because acetate gives me a mental block and that is all I could think of). This is only the second time that I have made one of these, and I still don’t think I know what I am doing, but hey, I tried!! I stamped Rainy Day Sophia twice, once on Whisper White and once on my DCWV Nana’s Nursery Baby Girl stack. I cut out the dress and paper pieced it and then colored the rest of Sophia with my SU markers and aqua painter. I added some ribbon, tons of brads, some more yummy dp and it was done! This week Charmainehas challenged us to make a book mark(what they don’t know is that I still haven’t made my inspiration card for Jules’ challengefrom last week-shhhh!!). Be sure to blurf around to the other Prettie Girls blogs(in my sidebar) to see what they have come up with for this challenge, and if you played along, leave us a link so we can check our your work!! Also, as if she didn’t already have enough to do, Jules’ posted our first ever product review over on the PP site. Each month she will do a review of different things sold in the Pretties store and for a few days after the review whatever item she reviewed is on SALE!! That’s right, I said SALE(so what are you still doing here???)!! So be sure to pop on over to the Paper Pretties website, get registered if you aren’t already, and check out what Jules has in the spotlight this month. Here’s a hint, I showed it earlier this week in this post!!!
Stamps-Rainy Day Friend
Paper-Pretty in Pink, Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery, Whisper White and DCWV
Ink- Black Stazon
Tools-brads, Flirty ribbon, taffeta, markers, aquapainter

One Kind Sketch

Well, we had our first prenatal class last night! We were the only girl/girl team, which was a little awkward, but fine. The beginning of the class started with a game where they had different things used in childbirth laid out on the table and you had to write down what you thought they were. Well, we all stunk at it, but Mary and I knew more than everyone else. Unfortunately, due to the fact that our mom is a nurse, Mary works for the hospital, and I spent a ton of time on the OB ward with my old boss(the one I was a nanny for was an OB), we were disqualified!! I tried not to throw too big a stink, but really, how unfair!! LOL!! Anyway, on the way home I got to drive through another storm, nothing compared to the one in Arkansas, but a storm none the less. Trust me when I say I am seriously thinking about not driving anymore! As I saw the lightning crash around me all I could think to myself was- man, you’re an idiot!! LOL
Enough blabber, on to my card!! This card is for the sketch challengeover on SCS. It was guest hosted this week by Amy, and she came up with a terrific sketch. Since I saw it last night before I went to be, I got to dream about it all night long , and still had nothing! My One Of A Kind set that I just had to have, has been terribly neglected since I got it, so I decide to give it a go! I stamped the flower three times and cut it out in layers after water coloring it with my markers and aqua painter. I then punched out a piece of Berry Bliss DSP and made my build a brad and stuck it through the whole thing. I heavily sponged the edges on this card, and then in a last ditch effort to make this the heaviest card ever made, I threw a ton of hardware on it!! You know how I love to embellish!! This is just a warning, but hold on tight, I have at least two more posts today!! YAYY!! Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a great day!!
Stamps- One of Kind
Paper-Pretty in pink, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, and Berry Bliss DSP
Ink- Black Stazon and Close to Cocoa
Tools- build a brads, pewter hardware, markers, aqua painter, pink taffeta, cocoa grosgrain

Great Swaps Girls Featured Swapper

This weeks featured swapper for the Great Swaps Girls blog is Lori Tecler. Our featured swapper works almost exactly the same as the SCS featured stamper, except that we chose only people that are members of the group to shine the spotlight on. I chose Lori this week not only for her fabulous gallery, but also for her fabulous blog. I chose this card of hers to CASE. I changed the colors, added layers, and changed the images. I can't wait to share some of the other stuff I have been working on with you all!! Be prepared, there could be a FEW posts tomorrow(after I get some sleep)!! Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to stop by the GSG blog!! Our challenges are open to anyone who wants to play!!

stamps- Garden Whimsy

ink- Purely Pomegranate

tools-baubbles, ribbon, nestabilities

paper-Purely Pomegranate, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White and Prints Pack

Rainy Tuesday

Today has been super dreary around here, but good news, I got dsl today!!! YAYYY! What the heck was I waiting for?? Anyway, this is my card for today's color challenge! The challenge was to use Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie, and Soft Sky. This is an awesome color combo, and I was happy because I finally got to use my Rainy Day Sophia stamp set from Paper Pretties. Be sure to check out the Paper Pretties website to join our Stamp Of The Month club, it is super fabulous!! I paper pieced her dress using some of the Bali Breeze paper and then colored the rest of her in with my SU markers and aquapainter. I am in a hurry(got terribly distracted with my sister's decorations for her shower), so I will let you figure the rest out(not that it is hard)!! Thanks for stopping by, and wish me luck! Tonight is my first prenatal class with my sister. Her husband is too squeamish to be in the delivery room, so guess who gets to be there....ME!!! Have a great day!!
stamps-Rainy Day Friends
paper-Ruby Red, Soft Sky, Pumpkin Pie, and Whisper White, and Bali Breeze DP
ink-Soft Sky and Black Stazon
tools-brads, pumpkin pie ribbon, swiss dots folder, SU markers, aquapainter,

Trust Me, She's Worth It!!

I really do try NOT to do three posts in one day, but if I don't post this soon, I will completely forget again, and she is too good to forget!! Have you been to the Great Swaps Girls blog yet, if not, you totally should!! We host a challenge and a featured swapper each week that we invite ANYONE to play along in , and will occasionally post pictures from our group swaps that we do! This past weeks featured swapper was Denise Hinton, aka geekgirl415, she is a SUPER talented stamper, and creates some of the most gorgeous blog banners I have ever seen. Right now, I have put a bug in her ear that I NEED one, and I am just waiting for her reply(hint, hint). I love her clean style and appealing layouts as well as her amazing use of color. While looking for DP for another project, I stumbled upon this gorgeous piece from the DCWV All Dressed Up stack. When I saw this card by Denise, I knew it would be the perfect card to showcase this yummy pattern. The only stamping on this is the sentiment at the bottom and it is from the Papertrey Ink Birthday Basics set. It is one of the best birthday sets I have ever owned with tons of sentiments and different style of happy birthday stamps. Other than that, this card is pretty straight forward!! Thanks for stopping by yet again, and I hope you have a fabulous day!!

stamps-Papertrey Ink- Birthday Basics

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

ink-White Stazon

tools-Martha Stewart edge punch, black prima, white Heidi Grace glitter flower, and pink Imaginese glitter flower, white brad by American Crafts

MOJO Monday

It has been forever since I participated in a Mojo Monday sketch. I always love the sketches, but forget to play. Honestly though, with the number of challenges that are out there, it is hard to remember them all! I needed a birthday card(about a week ago, but who's counting) so I decided to use Julee's challenge as well as the technique lover's challenge which was to first emboss an image and then watercolor it in. I chose to use the rhinoceros from the SU set Zoofari. I embossed it with black ep and then colored it in with my SU markers. I then sponged around the edges to create the sky and grass. I love Pretty in Pink and Wasabi together and quite frankly, I am going to be super sad to see it go. I have a plan this year though, every order I place from now until the end of the current SU catalog will have a package of each of the in colors included. Some of the people that went on the cruise for SU have posted the new colors and I have to be honest when I say that I hope they are better in person because if they are taking away my Wasabi, they better have a FANTASTIC alternative or I just don't see how it could be worth it. Am I alone here?? Anyway, the rest of the card is pretty easy to figure out-lots of ribbon, lots of brads, some punched flowers and piercing and Viola', it's a card!! I am still feeling crappy, but I have so much to do that every time I lay down my mind starts racing. I have a meeting in 45minutes and then I plan on resting(ya right). Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day!!
stamps-Zoofari, Birthday Banter
paper-Wild Wasabi, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, and Pretty in Pink DSP
ink-Black Stazon, Wild Wasabi, Bashful Blue, and Versamark
tools-silver brads, flower punch, wasabi ribbon, white taffeta, pink gingham, SU markers, black ep, sponge, paper piercer, white gel pen