Bunny Slippers Sophia

Isn’t she just the cutest??? She is so me!!! I LOATHE mornings. When I wake up, I need about an hour before I am ready to talk and be talked to, before that, you might as well leave me alone because I’m not to friendly and I’m not very talkative. Unfortunately, my DH wakes up talking so mornings can get a little rough around here. I didn’t use to be like that, but for some reason, I wake up grouchy, and take my word(and my dh’s) the worst thing you can say to me is “Is someone grouchy today?”. It’s libel to get you hurt or at least screamed at!! LOL!! I colored my Bunny Slippers Sophia with my SU markers and aqua painter. The paper is from DCWV Nana’s Nursery Baby Girl stack(man that’s a mouth full). I added some white and pink taffeta as well as some celery. I really hope that Stampin’ Up comes out with more colors of this, I swear it is my favorite ribbon and since they have introduced it, I have used 4 rolls of the white taffeta!!! I tried to follow Julee Tilman’s Mojo Monday sketch, but Sophia was a little too tall, I just hope they don’t call the challenge police on me!! LOL!! For all you layer lovers out there, would you get a load of all these??? 16-that may be a new record!! LOL!! Plus, it wouldn’t be a card by me if it didn’t have some white brads on it, now would it!!
SOOOO, do you wanna know how you can get this stamp BEFORE it is released to the public?? I thought you would. Just go to the Paper Pretties home page and click the Stamp of The Month Club at the top. If you sign up before tonight at 11:59pm you will be able to get this stamp before it gets released next month!! How cool is that!!! Just be sure to tell them that Jessie sent you(or if you wanna put my blog name, I get credit for that too!! LOL!!). Since I have seen the next couple months worth of stamps, I can tell you honestly, that you TOTALLY wanna get in now because they just keep getting better from here, and seriously, can you get any cuter than Bunny Slippers Sophia???
Also, today is the last day to enter the Cutie Pie contest, so get those entries emailed to Christie@paperpretties.net by 8pmCST tonight!! Finally, don’t forget about the Paper Pretties release party on Tuesday night in the Paper Pretties forum. We hope to see you there!!
Stamps-Bunny Slippers Sophia
Paper- Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, and Nana’s Nursery
Ink- Black Stazon
Tools-white and pink taffeta, celery grosgrain, white brads, corner punch, Su markers, aqua painter, circle punches.

FINALLY!!!!!

I couldn’t wait for this day to get here to FINALLY get to introduce you to the new Guest Designers for Paper Pretties. Christie and I are so proud of this group of girls and can’t wait to spend the next three months getting to know them and seeing what they can do. Wanna know who they are? I thought you would!! Starting today, our new Guest Designers are Carolina Buchting, Kirsten Dubosque, and Donna Baker. We also would like to welcome back Jackie Rakoski for another term as guest designer. Be sure to go check out there blogs to see what they have cooked up for Tuesday nights release and to congratulate them!! Also, on the Paper Pretties homepage you can find them in our guest room, so be sure to go read all about them!! Don’t forget: Paper Pretties is having a release party on Tuesday night in the Paper Pretties forum at 7pm CST. Charmaine will be posting a challenge every hour and you could win some great prizes. Also, we know you have bought them, why not use them to win free stamps?? That’s right I am talking about our Cutie Pie contest. You have until Monday night at 8pmCST to enter the contest. Just email a picture of your entries to Christie@paperpretties.net. The winner will receive all of this months releases for free, which includes this super cute stamp I used today. This stamp is called Off to School Sophia and it was the first of the Stamp of the Month club stamps. Be sure to sign up for the SOTMC at Paper Pretties too. You get your stamp a MONTH before it releases to the public. The July release is Bunny Slippers Sophia and she is TOO CUTE!! You have until 11:59 Monday night to sign up to get this super cute stamp before it releases(which won’t be until August so you better RUN NOW!!). Be sure to tell them that I sent you by either putting my blog or my name in the “where did you hear about us” line!!
Anyway, back to the card. I used my Off to School Sophia and stamped her with Black Stazon on watercolor paper. I colored her with my aqua painter and SU markers. I made this card as part of the Featured Stamper challenge over on SCS. This weeks featured stamper is Michele(chelemom) and she has a fantastic galleryand blog. I chose this cardof hers to CASE and only added a couple of brads to the bottom, I am so proud of myself!!LOL!! Be sure to stay tuned for more Prettie Peaks, and be sure to check out all the other Pretties blogs and our new designers!! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!
Stamps-Off to School
Paper-Real Red, Old Olive, Whisper White, Summer Picnic DSP and watercolor
Ink-Black Stazon
Tools-SU markers, aqua painter, silver brads, olive grosgrain, red gingham, swiss dots, Cuttlebug

Southern Illinois Card Frenzy

Okay, so I have a ton to tell you about today's swap. First of all, I finally got to meet Shirley(wannabcre8tive) and Jenn(jenn1203). It was awesome getting to meet the other two people that have kept our thread going on SCS. We were the ONLY three chatting everyday, and got to know each other really well!! Secondly, I WON the nametag contest, WOOOOHOOO!!! Go me!! I got this awesome gift package from Starlit Studio as my prize. Here is a picture of it all inside it's pretty tin. GORGEOUS!! Here is a picture of the loot inside!! It had scrabble pieces, Basic Grey magnetic snaps, 9 memory frames and a package of Memory Glass, heart and key charms, brads, red star Sakura glitter pen, white Inkssentials pen, key charms and a chest. Starlit Studios was one of the fabulous businesses that answered the call to donate to our swap and we couldn't be more thankful!!

Waiting at our station when we got into the room to set up our stations was a FULL SET of Rubbernecker stamps!! Do you see how stinkin cute my set is!! WOW!! I had no idea I was gonna get all this free loot, but seriously, it rocked!! Also at our station was a free stamp from Alotta Rubber Stamps and from Clear Dollar Stamps, which totally rocked!! And you see those cute little Peppermint patties, well, you won't find them here anymore, but they were awesome too!!LOL!! Also, one of the ladies(actually two for me) took the time to print out a coupon for a local scrapbook store that I had NEVER HEARD OF!!! How could they hide such a thing from me. To think, I was driving right past this little jewel on my way to Joanns and Hobby Lobby! I can't wait to go see what they have for me to spend too much money on!!LOL!! Thanks Trudy and Thala!! I totally need help being enabled!!

Next, between the entrie fees and all the donated stuff(Rubbernecker, My Favorite Things, I Brake For Stamps, Clear Dollar Stamps, Rubber Stamp Avenue, Alota Rubber Stamps, Starlit Studios, Carol Payne(SU demo), Christy Sullivan(The Angel Co. demo), and Thela Chestosky(SU)), everyone got a door prize, and some people got two. My friend that was supposed to go with me, had to back out at the last minute and the ladies that hosted the swap insisted on making sure she got her door prize, free set, and a card from everyone. I spent the last couple of hours working on cards for her because I got done early. Some of the ladies even went ahead and made theirs for her, and I couldn't thank them enough, it will mean so much to her!!

Lastly, here is a full picture of my card, I don't know what happened to the one from the last post, but it disappeared, so here it is. That's it for me now, thanks for stopping by!!

Show Off!!

Okay, so maybe I am starting to sound like a broken record, but I love Paper Pretties!! This is my second time using Wade E. Bug, and I gotta say, he gets cuter everytime!! I stamped him with Black Stazon on Whisper White and colored him in using my SU markers and aquapainter. I cut him and his layers out with my circle nestabilities. My layout follows Danielles sketch challenge from the Paper Pretties forum...yep we have challenges too!! Danielle hosts a challenge everyweek and there are prizes and everything, you really should check it out!! Anyway, the paper is from Imagine That and the colors are Only Orange and Green Galore. I added some white brads to every corner and some ribbon around the middle.

How would you like to own the super cute stamp from this post BEFORE it is even available to the public? I thought you would!! This is our July Stamp of The Month Club stamp over at Paper Pretties and you have until 11:59pm on the 30th to sign up for it!! She will not be released to the public until August 1st, so you better act now!! Be sure when filling out the subscription form that you tell them I sent you(either my name or my blog's name-whichever!!)!!!
And don't forget, Paper Pretties is having a "Stampin In Your Jammies" release party on July 1st in the Paper Pretties forum starting at 7pmCST. Our hostess with the mostest Charmaine will be issuing a challenge every hour and a winner will be picked from the entries!! Please join us for a fun night of conversation, stamping, and all around FUN!!
One more thing-be sure to enter our Cutie Pie contest. The winner will recieve all of this releases stamps for free!! Send your entries using your Paper Pretties stamps to Christie at christie@paperpretties.net by 8pmCST on the 30th. A winner will be chosen from the entries!!

Shoebox Swap

Tomorrow(Saturday) is my first ever Southern Illinois shoebox swap. I am so excited!! It is only 25mins. from my house which is way better than the last one I went to in Texas!!LOL!! I have to tell you, I had the hardest time designing a card for this swap. I don't know why, but the 10-15min. time limit really throws me. After being at the swap in Arlington, I learned by stamping with lots of other people, that everyone works at a different pace, and some things that I think are easy are really hard for others. I wanted to make my card as easy as possible, but it still be cute and worthy, ya know what I mean. So a few hours later, a VERY sore hand, and this is what I came up with. Did I mention they are having a name tag contest too? What do you think? I tried to make it look like a strawberry so it would match my card. I used my oval nesties to make it and can you believe I put 23brads on that sucker!! I swear I am hopeless!! For the card, I did everything but stamp the two strawberries and cut out the top of the green one. All they really have to do is put it all together and punch a lot of holes. Oh ya, they have to stamp the sentiment too. I am pleased with my card, but I don't know. I really wanted to put some crystal effects on the strawberry, but it would never have dried in the time limit!!

So, have you entered the Cutie Pie contest? You have until 8pmCST on Monday night, so you better get to it!! Did you sign up for the Stamp Of The Month Club? What you waiting for!! Go to the post below this for all the details and be sure to tell them I sent ya!!! Have a Prettie Day!!

A Quick Reminder!!!

How would you like to own this super cute stamp before it is even available to the public? I thought you would!! This is our July Stamp of The Month Club stamp over at Paper Pretties and you have until 11:59pm on the 30th to sign up for it!! She will not be released to the public until August 1st, so you better act now!! Be sure when filling out the subscription form that you tell them I sent you(either my name or my blog's name-whichever!!)!!!

And don't forget, Paper Pretties is having a "Stampin In Your Jammies" release party on July 1st in the Paper Pretties forum starting at 7pmCST. Our hostess with the mostest Charmaine will be issuing a challenge every hour and a winner will be picked from the entries!! Please join us for a fun night of conversation, stamping, and all around FUN!!

One more thing-be sure to enter our Cutie Pie contest. The winner will recieve all of this releases stamps for free!! Send your entries using your Paper Pretties stamps to Christie at christie@paperpretties.net by 8pmCST on the 30th. A winner will be chosen from the entries!!

Women Of Life

I just love this Women of Live set from Papertrey ink, and it doesn't see near enough action in my stamp room. Recently, one of my stamping buddies, Marissa*, helped me to see the error of my ways. Up until yesterday, I was keeping all my clear stamps in their original plastic bags. I had plenty of room to store them, but I didn't use them enough because they were such a pain to work with. She convinced me to put my clear sets into empty cd cases(got them at Kmart-10 for 2.99) and they are now all proudly hanging in my cd racks(Kmart again-9.99 hold 45, they connect together and can be hung on the wall). While I was getting them organized, I ran across this set and thought to myself, I need to use this soon. While trolling around SCS, I happened upon the limited supplies challenge for today, and since I was still up, I decided to do a little stamping. The challenge was to use brads as your only embellishment, but not just sticking them on the card, they had to be part of your main image. Bells went off and the angels were singing, it was fate I tell you!!LOL!! I stamped the stems in Always Artichoke, the flowers in Rose Red, and the centers in So Saffron. I then put white American Crafts brads through the centers and it was done. I really should be in bed, I have a ton to do tomorrow, and it won't get done if I don't get some sleep!! Thanks for looking and have a great day!!

stamps-Women Of Life by Papertrey

paper- Always Artichoke, Rose Red, Whisper White and AA DSP

ink-Always Artichoke, Rose Red, and So Saffron

tools-white brads

On another note, Paper Pretties will be having a “Stampin In Your Jammies” party on July 1st at 8pmEST. Not only will we be releasing the new stamps, but we will also be having challenges with PRIZES(come on, you know you love to win free stuff). We will also be announcing our next round of Guest Designers on Sunday June 29th , so be sure to check that out!!

And last but not least, we are having a Cutie Pie contest!!

Here are the details!! Cutie Pie Contest!!How would you like to be Paper Pretties Cutie Pie? I thought you would!! All you have to do is make a card using your Paper Pretties stamps and send it to Christie at christie@paperpretties.net , and she will chose a winner from the entries. Besides getting to call yourself a Cutie Pie, you will also get all the stamps from this release for free!! You have until June 30th at 8pmCST to get your entries in!! Good luck!!

New Prettie Girl, Release Party Details, and a Cutie Pie Contest- oh my!!

Have you seen the Paper Pretties home page?? We have a new Prettie Girl!!!YAYY!!! Jodi Collins aka Kharmagirl, has agreed to join our Jr. Design Team and we are THRILLED to have her!! Now, I know it is no secret to those of you that pay any attention to my blog, but Jodi has got to be my stamping BFF. Before I took the DTcoordinator position, Christie(Prettie Mama) had asked for suggestions for guest designers and I immediately nominated Jodi not because she is my friend, but I love her work, and I knew her style of stamping would work well with the Paper Pretties images. Boy was I right!! She ordered her first stamps not to long ago, and as soon as she got them, she cranked out this GORGEOUS card. She has done two more since then and let me tell you, it didn’t take long for her to go from guest designer to WE HAVE TO HAVE HER!!! So I wanted to take this opportunity to welcome Jodi to our happy family. Be sure to go by her blog and show her some love!!!

On another note, Paper Pretties will be having a “Stampin In Your Jammies” party on July 1st at 8pmEST. Not only will we be releasing the new stamps, but we will also be having challenges with PRIZES(come on, you know you love to win free stuff). We will also be announcing our next round of Guest Designers on Sunday June 29th , so be sure to check that out!!

And last but not least, we are having a Cutie Pie contest!! Here are the details!!

Cutie Pie Contest!!
How would you like to be Paper Pretties Cutie Pie? I thought you would!! All you have to do is make a card using your Paper Pretties stamps and send it to Christie at christie@paperpretties.net , and she will chose a winner from the entries. Besides getting to call yourself a Cutie Pie, you will also get all the stamps from this release for free!! You have until June 30th at 8pmCST to get your entries in!! Good luck!!

So, what you waiting for?? We know you own them, now use them to get some FREE STUFF!!YAYYYY!!!

That is it for me now, hope you join us for what is sure to be a rockin’ party!! Sneak peeks start Sunday, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled!!

Lean On Me

Hello everyone!! If you didn't already know, I was chosen by Melanie Muenchinger to be her guest designer for this past release. Her new set Cuddles and Hugs is by far one of my favorite sets of hers. The sentiments and images are so perfect and fun to work with. Not only does she design them, but she makes up a tip sheet for each set so that you can SEE all the possibilities with them. She has them linked on her blog in the sidebar if you wanna go check it out AFTER you read my post of course!! This was one of the samples that I made for her to choose from for the release. I love this super cute image of these two lions cuddling. I stamped it twice and colored them both first with my SU markers and cut out just the top lion on the second one. I then glued it back down to the main panel just to give it a tiny bit of dimension. The ribbon is from a share that I did with the super FABULOUS Jody Morrow(texasjodylynn) and matched my Really Rust card stock and this super pretty dp from the Fall Flowers pack by SU. The brads are So Saffron from the Rich Regals brads by SU. I loved the sentiment on this one, made me wanna sing and dance-trust me when I say you are happy you missed it!! To highlight the sentiment, I added a row of piercing just below it and also in the corners of the main image. Of course I had to have a spiral clip with some white taffeta on it, what can I say, it's a sickness!! The scallops were made with my corner rounder. This card is 3x6, an awesome size for this long image. So in closing, if you haven't bought this set, what you waiting for!! Trust me, you will LOVE IT!! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!
stamps-Cuddles and Hugs
paper-So Saffron, Realy Rust, Whisper White, and Fall Flowers DSP
ink-Black Stazon
tools-SU markers, aqua painter, spiral clip, white taffeta, rust satin ribbon, paper piercer, corner rounder

For Billy

Man, I LOVE this sketch!!LOL!! I saw today's sketch challenge last night before I went to bed, and this card is what was swimming around in my head when I woke up this morning. I need a card to send to my BIL, I missed his birthday, sorry Billy!! I stamped the main image in Chocolate Chip and sponged and distressed the edges. The squares were made with my 1 1/4 and 1 3/8 punches from SU and they use the SU Outlaw paper. I added a ton of hardware and some hemp tied up like a lasso. The sentiment is from All Holidays and it was sponged too. For some reason my house got really messy yesterday when I was gone, so I have a TON to do today!! Thanks for stopping by again and have a great day!!

stamps-Bronc Buster and All Holidays

paper-Sage Shadow, Chocolate Chip, Confetti Cream and Outlaw DSP

ink- Chocolate Chip

tools- square punces, distresser, hemp, hardware, oval punch

Prettie Wednesday

Hello everyone, it is Prettie Wednesday again!! Two weeks ago our fabulous illustrator for Paper Pretties, Joni, challenged us to write it out-which was to use your own drawing or writing on your card. Well, I hate my handwriting, and I can't draw to save my life, so I decided to doodle a border around my main image panel. Maybe a little bit of cheating going on here, but hey, I tried. I used my Rainy Day Friends set and colored Sophia in with my SU markers. The base is Bordering Blue and Always Artichoke with Whisper White layered too. I added a piece of AA DSP and pierced a border around it. I then added some white button brads to each side and a big white satin bow. This card is on it's way to Joni. I sure hope she likes it. Next weeks challenge was hosted by Danielle and it was to use circles on your card, so be sure to come back and check out what all the Prettie Girls have done with it( and this weeks challenge for that matter). This weeks hostess with the mostest is none other than our Prettie Mama herself, Christie, and she has challenged us to make a green and white card!! We would love it if you would play along, just be sure to leave us a link so we can check out your work. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!!
stamps-Rainy Day Friends
paper- Bordering Blue, Always Artichoke, Whisper White, and watercolor
ink-Black Stazon
tools-SU markers, aquapainter, button brads, white satin ribbon, paper piercer

Yaoow With Teal!!

Okay, I am about to admit how pathetic I am, but here goes nothing. I have a personal favorite Hannah Montana episode, I mean how on earth can you have three young nieces, and cousin in law and not right? Well anyway, there is an episode where Miley's grandma and godmother take her shopping for an outfit for an awards show and one of her GM's buys her a hat that when you clap lights turn on. Miley's sidekick Lily says yaoooow!! when she sees the hat alone, then when she sees the lights it becomes "yaoow with lights". Okay, so it doesn't sound very funny, but trust me, it is hysterical. Why am I blabbering on about this, well that was exactly what I said when I saw the SCS color challenge this morning-"Yaooow-with Teal"!!! Okay so in short, I don't like it, but hey, to each his own. I do however love my card with it, so I digress. I really tried to use a couple different images for this one, but I just love this little girl! My pal Jodi(Kharmagirl) was totally enabled by me and got her order with this stamp in it, and her first card with it is GORGEOUS!! The main image is called Cuddle Me and it comes from Paper Pretties. I stamped her in Black Stazon on watercolor paper and colored her in with my SU markers. The paper is from the retired SU pack Loves Me. I tried to use Jen del Muro's sketch for you to try as closely as possible because I LOVE her sketches. I added some Wasabi stitched ribbon to each corner, did some piercing, and added a spiral clip with some white taffeta-you all know how I love me some spiral clips!! The circles were punched out with my 3/4in and 1/2in circle punches, and I added some American Crafts white brads that I got from the Prettie store. Haven't been, well, what you waiting for!!! It looked a little bare, so I added some white dots with my gel pen. That is all for me now, I need to get to my sisters ASAP to see my nephew, I think he misses me.......LOL!!

stamps-Cuddle Me by Paper Pretties

ink-Black Stazon

paper-Taken With Teal(yaoow), Wild Wasabi(double yaooow), Water color, Whisper White, and Loves me DSP

tools-wasabi ribbon, white taffeta, spiral clip, circle punches, white brads, SU markers, paper piercer, white gel pen, prismacolor cool grey marker

MFT Monday

Hello everyone, hope you are having a happy Monday!! I went to see my nephew yesterday, so I have some new pictures of him at the end of the post. I was there for five hours and I think I held him the entire time, so when I finally let him go, I snapped a few!! But first, my card for the My Favorite Things sketch challenge and the Technique Lovers Challenge. Today's TLC was to watercolor using re-inkers. I personally am too lazy to do this normally, but I have to say that I love the way it turned out. I used my new What's Up Cupcake set from MFT and stamped all the cupcakes and tray with Black Stazon on watercolor paper. I used my Barely Banana and Ruby Red reinkers to color the cupcakes and then stamped the sprinkles in Ruby Red. The paper is from the Basic Grey Cupcake line. All the embellishments are from SU except for the flowers that are by Daisy D. This card is already packaged up and on it's way to one of my favorite stampers, hope she likes it!!

stamps-What's Up Cupcake?

paper-Ruby Red, Barely Banana, watercolor and Basic Grey Cupcake DP

ink-Black Stazon, Ruby Red pad and refill, and Barely Banana refill

tools-silver flowers, daisy d flowers, silver brads, cream grosgrain, Cuttlebug, oval punches, Oval Nestabilities

Okay, and now the fun stuff. Here is Jared in his bassinet when I finally decided to lay him down. You can't tell from the photo, but he is gaining weight like a champ!! Since he came home from the hospital, he has gained a pound!!woohoo!! I love how he sleeps like a person with his little arm kicked out. The other picture is of my DH holding him. I have to tell you, it brings tears to my eyes just to see Jared in his arms. He stares at him in amazement the whole time he holds him. We are both struggling right now with the whole emotional aspect of this, and up until recently, I wasn't sure he felt the same way I did. I love my sister, and I am so happy for her, but it is still hard for me. I will not give up my fight for a child until the day comes that I have one to hold of my own, and it was nice to realize that I wasn't alone. Travis and I even talked about adoption, so it is nice to know that the option is open for him to. Sorry to dump all that on you all, didn't mean to get all deep and emotional on ya!! Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!!

Featured Stamper- Lost in the 60's

Today's featured stamper on SCS is Diane(Lost in the 60's). She has a fantastic gallery. I chose this card of hers to CASE. I changed the colors, images, and embossing folder. I also added some brads to the top corner. The stamp set I used is the Fall/Winter preview set Fresh Cuts from SU. I stamped it in Black Stazon twice, and punched out just the flower on the punched out piece. I colored the flower in with my red glitter pen just to give it a pop of color. The rest is pretty easy, and I am exhausted!! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

stamps-Fresh Cuts

paper-Black, Basic Grey, Whisper White

ink- Black Stazon and Basic Grey

tools-Cuttlebug, textile folder, red pen, black organdy, ticket corner punch, silver brads, silver cord, circle punches

A Flower Card

This weeks limited supplies challenge was to make a card that was not a normal shape. No squares, rectangles, circles, ya know. So I decided to make a flower shaped card. To make my stencil, I punched out 6 circles with my 1 3/8in circle punch and glued them down on my paper in the shape of a flower. I then drew around them with a black marker and cut it out. Easy Peasy. The base is Purely Pomegranate, and to make the layers, I punched out Blue Bayou with my 1 1/4in punch and some BB DSP with my 1" punch and layered them on. The main image is from the SU set She's All That, and I cut it as well as it's layers out with my Cuttlebug and Nestabilities. I added a spiral clip with PP and BB double stitched ribbon on it. The flowers are the shimmery brides confetti from Michaels which I added some silver dew drops to. I am off to try to do some more challenges, I LOVE em!!

stamps-She's All That

paper-Purely Pomegranate, Blue Bayou CS and DSP and Whisper White

ink-Purely Pomegranate

tools-stitched ribbon, silver clip, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, flowers, dew drops

Tag, I'm It!!

So I got tagged by two different people, Chat and Cindy, and since I love a good game of tag, I am gonna play along. The"rules" of the game: Each player answers questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

Here goes:Ten Years Ago: I was in my second year of college and and working full time at a restaurant as a Pantry Chef. Most awesome job I ever had, totally challenging and demanding- loved it!!

Five thing in today’s ‘to do’ list:
1. Go to Work-blech
2. Vacumn and dust-blech
3. pull weeds-blech
4. catch up my google reader-only 800 posts, no biggie
5. STAMPPPPPPP-yayyyyy!!(truth be told, I skipped number three, but I did write it on the list just so that I appear to care)

Snacks I enjoy: all of them in no particular order, hehe

Things I would do if I was a millionaire: Pay off all my bills as well as my siblings and parents and buy a tank of gas- I believe I may be broke by then!!jk I would totally travel around and meet all my stampin friends, after that, build a house and have the most awesome stamp room known to man!

Places I have lived: okay, brace yourselves-Germany, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida, Okinawa, Illinois-phewwww
Okay, so now I am supposed to nominate 5 people, so I nominate the Prettie Girls
Christie Ortman
Julie Masse
Charmaine Ikach
Jillian Winters
Jana Weaver
Danielle Lounds
Joni Stingfield

WOOHOO!!! Look at them HUG!!

Okay, I have to apologize to all of you that came here at midnight looking for a sample. I tried to use the blogger in draft, but alas, it didn't work, so here is the post that was supposed to post at midnight!!

I am so excited to be Melanie Muenchinger's guest designer this month. I am a huge fan of her work, and when I got her new set Cuddles and Hugs, I was floored with how super duper cute it was!! I have to tell you that I tried when making my samples to use as many of the different images from the set that I could, but I only succeeded in using 9, and there are WAY more than that!!! I had a hard time deciding which sample to use, so I decided to go with the one that I thought no one would feature. Aren't they adorable!!(and would you look at my fancified picture that I almost forgot to use, I swear I have baby brain and I didn't even have a baby!!) I mean seriously, in real life, snakes totally gross me out, but how can you not love these two?? I love all the wonderful sentiments that she has with this set too, trust me when I say, you will not be disapointed!! So you want details, here they are. Image was stamped in Black Stazon on Whisper White, colored with my SU markers and layered with Garden Green and Real Red. The DP is from the SU prints pack as well as most of the accessories. The wide satin ribbon is from a swap I did with Jody, but the rest is all SU. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to blurf around and see all the wonderful samples made for this set. You can find a link to them on the Gina K. website!! Also, don't forget the release party tonight 7 PM CST! (Last chance, you have until 1 PM CST TODAY (Friday, June 20th) to get your name thrown in the hat for a chance to win Melanies new set!) Gina is also giving one away on her blog, go leave a comment there!

stamps-Cuddles and Hugs

ink-Black Stazon

paper-Real Red, Garden Green, Whisper white

tools-ribbon, su markers, aqua painter, spiral clips, corner rounder, paper piercer

Can You Believe It!!

Okay, picture this. My nieces are all here(4 under the age of 7) and I am desperately trying to get caught up from whatever mayhem my life was in that week. It was a Monday night, and it was stormy. The girls are all FINALLY asleep in my bed, and I realize I hadn't entered Melanie Muenchinger's guest designer contest and it ended the next day!! So, I sucked up all my mojo, stayed up til midnight(which I paid for DEARLY the next day) and cranked out two WILDLY cute cards-in my humble opinion(or in the words of Jan Tink-yes, I love myself!!) I sent them to Melanie without any hope of hearing back. Imagine my surprise when in my inbox appears a simple note from Melanie---"What are you doing on the 20th?". COULD IT BE????? Yep you guessed it-I WON!!!WOOHOOO!!


I have to tell you that I am a huge Melanie fan(not just as an artist, but as a person). She has created some of the CUTEST animal sets I have ever seen and I love what her stamps allow me to do. On top of all that, she is so helpful to us all with her tip sheets and super duper cool projects. I am honored to be her guest designer and I can't wait to be featured during the Gina K. release festivities this week. Thank you Melanie and Gina for this wonderful opportunity. I can't wait for the party. Do you wanna come to? Well then, meet us at the member forum on SCS tomorrow night at 7pmCST. There will be awesome games, challenges, prizes, conversation, EYE CANDY, and then the stamps get released and it is like a feeding frenzy to get to the Gina K site fast enough. I have already spotted some MUST HAVES in the releases. And trust me when I tell you, YOU WANT Melanies new set, it ROCKSSSS!!! If you already own some of her stamp sets then you need to check out her contest she is having on her blog. She is giving away one of her newly released stamp sets as the prize(again, trust me, you WANT IT!!). Visit her blog for more details, and I hope to see you at the Par-TAY!!!

Bloomin' Ric Rak

Today's Ways to Use it challenge is to use ric rak on your card. I am not a huge fan of ric rak, but I did happen to have some here so that I could play!! The ric rak I used was part of the Beachfront Ribbon Originals from SU. The main image was stamped on watercolor paper with Black Stazon and water colored using my SU markers and ink pads. After coloring it, I cut the whole image out and cut the base off of the flowers. I glued the whole base to the paper and then popped up the flowers just a bit. I then covered the whole image with crystal effects. I cut out the layers with my square nestabilities dies and pierced holes around the edges. The card base is 5 1/4sq. and it is Chocolate Chip then Soft Sky. The DP is from the Afternoon Tea DSP. I wrapped around a piece of Chocolate wide grosgrain and then layered the ric rak on top of it. I then added a spiral clip with some Soft Sky ribbon and Chocolate taffeta. The sentiment is also from the Bloomin' Beautiful set and it was stamped in CC, then pierced along the paper at the top and bottom. I thought it looked kinda bare, so I put some tiny flowers with pearl brads through them at the bottom. I am not sure if that is the direction I should have gone, but what's done is done!!

stamps-Bloomin Beautiful

paper-Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, watercolor and Afternoon Tea DSP

ink-Black Stazon, Soft Sky and Chocolate Chip

tools-aqua painter, white pen, SU markers, spiral clip, ribbon, pearl brads, flowers, crystal effects

Absolutely Fabulous

So, last night I spent the night at my sister's and helped her out with the baby, so FUN!! I am thoroughly exhausted, but I loved every minute of it. He really is a good baby, and only fussed one time in the night and that was about 1:30. Other than that, I had to wake him up to feed him because the dr. wants him feed every three hours. It was nice getting a little bonding time with him. What was even nicer is seeing my sister get some sleep and a shower(a long one that is)!! She is still adjusting but is doing absolutely fabulous!! This card is for her!! I used the sketch challenge on SCS today for the layout. I added tons of hardware from the pewter hardware kit and some primas, cream organdy and kraft taffeta. The paper is from K&Co. I had a hard time finding a card stock color to match until it dawned on me, duh, other side!!Don't you hate it when that happens. The main image is from Artfully Asian and the sentiment is from Absolutely Fabulous. I colored it in with markers and my aqua painter. That is all for me now, thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!
BTW-here are a couple of pictures of Jared. The first one is him in his carseat on the way to his first drs. appointment, the second one is my sister holding him. Ain't he CUTE!!!

stamps-Absolutely Fabulous and Artfully Asian

paper-Confetti Cream, Kraft, K&Co.

ink- Black Stazon

tools-hardware, cream organdy, kraft taffeta, aqua painter, SU markers, primas

Prettie Wednesday

Hello everyone!! Two weeks ago I challenged the other Prettie Girls(you can find their links in my sidebar) to make a card using BRIGHT colors including orange. This is what I came up with. I used some retired Dots and Dashes DP from SU and colored my Cooper-Look Out World image to match. I used my SU markers to color him in and layered it with Green Galore and Only Orange. You know me, so I had to put some brads, gingham ribbon, and spiral clips on to embellish it. The sentiment is from the SU She's All That stamp set and I just markered the sentiment only and stamped it on white. I used my circle punches to make the layers punched little holes in the scallops. This weeks challenger is Danielle, and I can't wait to see what she has in store for us!! Feel free to play along in any of our challenges just leave us a link to your work!! We would love to have you join us!!

stamps- Look Out World and She's All That

paper- Only Orange, Green Galore, Dots and dashes and Whisper White

ink- Black Stazon

tools-silver brads and clips, gingham ribbon from American Crafts, SU markers, circle punches

Special Friend

I have to say that this is one of my favorite images( Simply Special)from Paper Pretties. I love my Sophia's, I love my Cooper, and I love Luke and Lexi, but this watering can is so serene and pretty. I feel, and you don't have to agree, that it can be used for any occasion really. From a thinking of you card to a birthday card, I think it really goes with any occasion. This card is for this weeks SCS color challenge to use Soft Sky, Basic Black and Kraft. I stamped my image with Black Stazon on watercolor paper and used my markers, ink pad, and aqua painter to color it in. I even added some white gel pen to the flower to make it look brighter(and to correct my mistakes). The sentiment at the bottom is from the SU Sellabration Love and Happiness rub ons. I put a bunch of black brads, some kraft taffeta and black gingham and it was done. Thanks for looking and have a great day!! I have a lot of catching up to do!!

stamps-Simply Special

paper- Kraft, Basic Black, Soft Sky CS and DSP, watercolor

ink-Black Stazon and Soft Sky

tools- black brads, kraft taffeta, black gingham, white gel pen, SU markers, rub ons