Thursday, January 31, 2008

The things a girl can do with stamps, paper, scissors, and some bling!


This week has been a busy one. I worked like crazy the first two days of it and created like crazy the second two days. And guess what...I still have one day left. I wish I could sleep to find some energy. I should be resting now but I can't contain my excitement from the cards I made burning the midnight oil with my friend Kim last night. I haven't gotten much sleep so stop me if I start to ramble. I have to say that crafting with friends is the absolute best and I am fortunate enough to have a very talented and creative group of friends. I am so glad I met them. Kim is new to the blogging world and has the talent of card making, scrapbooking, quilting, sewing, and she finds time to be a super mom to her four adorable children. Please check out her blog and leave her a comment! http://www.sewstampscrapbook.blogspot.com/ I know it would really make her day. Sometimes people don't leave comments on blogs but I think it is a nice way to show someone that you have looked at their work and you like what you see. I try and comment as much as possible. It strokes the ego. Lets face it, making cards is a lot of hard work and you want someone to notice. Well enough about that...


The cards I made last night are using the valentines paper and stamps from last year. Well, with the exception of the turtle from Inky Antics who is so darn cute when he's flipped on his shell. The inside of the card reads hope you are back on your feet again soon. I made this card for a friend that just had foot surgery. I hope she likes it!!! By the way...does anyone want to sell me their love matters set from the mini last year? I really would like to have a set of my own. I borrowed to create these cards.


I made all these cards from scratch. That is my big accomplishment. The design is all my own. I think they turned out pretty well. I can see that I am getting better the more I practice but I still have a lot I can learn. There are so many beautiful cards out there in blog land.

Well Good night everyone~!

Oh yeah! One more thing...I bought Riley the moose today from Hanna Stamps and the Hey there cupcake set from Eclectic Paperie. You must go check them out. I know that Riley the Moose is going to sell out fast...he is adorable.

Monday, January 28, 2008

Friends+Stamps=Happy Heart



Hello! I had such a great day today. I had stamp camp with my friends. I love going b/c I get to make new things, have sweet treats, and hang out with people who love to do what I do. What could be better. Tonight our demostrator put together some beautiful projects. I especially love the idea of stamping the elephant on paper and cutting him out from the happy heart day set. If you haven't gotten this bundle you will want to. It is a great deal with the two sets of ribbon the treat bags and the stamp set. You can't go wrong. Hope you like these creations as much as I do. I see a lot more of Ellie in all different prints in my future. I will update you later this week! Hope you are having a wonderful week. Make sure you take a minute to create. It is a great release from the hustle bustle of every day life!

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Love is in the air




This weekend I got the chance to hang out with my friend Paula Bloom (http://prbloom.typepad.com/). You should really check out her blog she makes fantastic cards. We got together and had decided to create the post it note holder we saw at the inky antics booth a week or so ago. As you can see we had a lot of fun with the happy heart stamps. They are so cute. We used the gray paper from stampin up and the green dot is from the spring fling. We added some wild wasabi and some regal rose to set it off. We found the heart ribbon from her ribbon stash and boy does she have ribbon. We finished it off with some certainly celery ribbon. We put a pink post it note pack inside.


Next I got the idea to make the coaster photo holder. She has made these before but I hadn't played around with the coasters. I love the way this turned out!!! I used the kitchen sink stamps for the front to spell out love. The paper is a scrap that we found. It was fresh and funky. Inside we used an old collection from stampin up some cute hearts and then we stamped the always and forever. We added the dewdrops from Kitchen sink stamps to give it dimension and the heart with a small piece of twine. The picture on the right is secured by a heart paper clip which makes it perfect and the photo corner punch. I love the way this turned out. I gave it to my husband and he really liked it.


I visited Scrapping bunnies in McKinney this weekend. She has a lot of new valentines and Easter stuff in. I purchased some really cute papers and some card stock stickers. I am going to make a heart album. Hopefully I will get to it in the next week or so.


Have you seen the new Riley Moose stamps from Hannah Stamps? http://www.kreationsbykrissy.typepad.com/



These stamps will be coming at us on February 1st. I have a feeling they are going to sell out quick so I plan on getting online as soon as they are available like I am sure most of you are.


Well not much else going on here...I have some work to do tonight so I won't get to play. (wish I could stamp instead of work but I guess I'll have to wait for retirement)


Hope you have a great week!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

I'd Rather be Stamping

I have just been sitting here looking at blogs for the past 15 minutes instead of studying like i should be. I just made the decision to study for the CPA again. I have to pass it by the end of the year to be grandfathered under the old requirements. If I don't pass by the end of the year I have to get my Masters degree to be eligible to take the exam. I figure I just need to bite the bullet and get it done. That does mean I will have a lot less time for the things I enjoy doing. But I will try and get a creative release each week to keep me sane. I have been noticing that there are a lot of new stamps out there. Take a look at Hannah Stamps for their "hey there cupcake" set. It is so cute. I love it. Unfortunately, everyone else does too! It is sold out till Feb. 1st. I also noticed that the friendship collection came out at elzybells stamps. You have to take a look at it!!! I am so tempted to order something but I probably better hold off!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Fresh and Funky for Valentines day!

It has been a long week and it is only Tuesday (go figure). I did have a nice surprise waiting for me when I got home today...my Stampin up order had arrived. I had forgotten some of the cool things I bought to try out so I can't wait to play. I bought the Happy Heart bundle, the Berry Bliss paper (2 packs) brown and pink is one of my favorite color combos, the 6X6 pad from the hostess sets, the neutral markers (which I have really been needing), the boho blossoms punch, a roll of the new striped ribbon, and the Lovely Labels which I have had my eye on since the new catalog came out.


I wish I could play today but I am exhausted. I am back on the workout plan and did the advanced Tae bo workout. I couldn't do everything in the hour long workout but did the majority. It is a start. Hopefully I am not in too much pain tomorrow. Tomorrow night I am going to my friend Kim's house so we can make some sample cards. I can't wait to get some creative time in!


I made these cards on Sunday night but was pretty impressed with the way they turned out! I have been trying to find an excuse to use these paper flowers and thought this was the perfect way. I spent quite a bit of time trying to create a good layout without having to copy and idea. Sometimes that is just easier but I think I made it work. Let me know what you think! For the second card I used a heart doily a cut out some of the designs and then placed a jewel sticker in the center. I used the baroque motif background stamp. This stamp is awesome and can be used to add something to your card when you don't know what else to do. The ribbon I bought this past weekend when shopping at my LSS. I really like the color and the print on the ribbon. I should have bought more. Oh well!


Well hope everyone is having a great week so far! Let me know what you have planned for your next creative project. I love to hear peoples ideas...it always gets me inspired!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

2nd post for today...I am on a roll...


I just finished making a card with my new inky antics stamps that I purchased yesterday! Yeah me! I bought something and actually used it! Anyway, I tried the gamasol technique from Inky Antics and really liked it. The coloring looks like watercolor paint once you are done. With this card, I looked for some scraps of paper for the background so I can't remember who made the plaid. I really like the way this turned out. I used some small buttons b/c I couldn't find a ribbon that would work with this....Let me know what you think!

More cool things to play with




Well this weekend has been very eventful! Yesterday I went to the Mesquite Scrap and Stamp show. Paula Bloom and I went with our husbands. I think we had a pretty good time. Our husbands ate nachos and let us shop. Thats the way it should be. We ran into Jen Del Muro (http://www.iheart2stamp.com/) and Susan (www.susiestampalot.blogspot.com). It was really neat to meet these ladies as I read their blogs all the time! They are so creative. While we were there we hung out at the Inky Antics stand and bought a few things. I bought a cute cowgirl stamp and a "howdy" stamp. I thought it would be cute for a set of notecards. Wish I had some of the western style paper from Stampin up... I also bought the gamasol liquid and pencils that you use to color in your inked images. See Inky Antics for more on this. I will tell you how I like it. I am about to try it out. The images looked fantastic when there rep colored them in so we will see if I can do it half as good. Oh yeah and I bought the dewdrops that you may have seen on kitchensinkstamps.com. I am really looking forward to trying these out. After the stamp show yesterday, I went to Michaels to look for the heart scalloped punch by Martha Stewart. I have pretty much gone to every Michael's in the local vicinity looking for it. I finally found it~! However once I tried it out, I found it is very difficult to get your image to punch all the way through. I will have to try and get it to work better. Maybe with cutting some tin foil it will sharpen.




Today, I went to recollections! They are down to their last 13 days and they have officially shut down the crop room. It is just so depressing to go into one after another scrap book store and see them shut down. I really wish I had the funds to open a replica. It would be so busy. I think all the scrapbookers in the local area are in full fledged depression. I did buy a few things while I was at Recollections but mostly everything was picked through. I got some fantastic ribbon at .30-.50 cents a yard. (see picture). I also went to Target and got their valentine paper pack and matching envelopes. I am going to make something very cute with it. Tune in to see.....




Well I am off to play....




I'll try and post some cards tonight!




Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday!

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Smitten


Hello! Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday. The Cowboys/Giants playoff game is on so I have a little free time. My husband is glued to the TV. I went to Michaels this morning to look for the K and Company line for Valentines Day called “smitten”. Coincidentally they have a Valentines line by Bo Bunny called the same thing but I don’t like it as much. The K&Company line is at Michaels but only some of it. I think they are still unloading boxes. Anyway, I got the small box of cardstock cut outs. They give you 200 various shaped hearts and scalloped tags in all different colors. The cut outs are embellished with glitter or colored foil and some are just plain printed paper. They are gorgeous. I can’t wait to make some cards with them. They are only $3.99 and if you use your coupon, they are a steal! I put a picture in here for you to see them. I called my friend Paula Bloom to tell her about them and the lady is about to move on to the next holiday for card making. I wonder why…I looked at her blog and she has been making Valentines Day cards since December 7th. I am pretty sure I was still designing my Christmas cards at that point oh and figuring out when to put up my Christmas tree. Creating comes naturally for her and her cards are simply stunning! Please check her blog: http://www.prbloom.typepad.com/ you will have to look back a page or two by clicking the arrow all the way at the bottom of the page. That will show her previous posts. She has made some great cards with the Happy Heart day set from Stampin up that everyone is buying. Well…I am off to make my thumbprint heart cookies. I just took all my Christmas stuff down today. These holidays sure do come and go quickly. Got try and keep up! Have a wonderful Evening. By the way, I am going to try and make my husband the Thai Lettuce Wraps from Cheesecake factory tonight. If they turn out good, I will post the recipe. By the way, if you get the Kraft kitchens recipe book I made the shrimp pasta in there and it is delicious if you like cream based pasta sauces. It is really easy too!

Friday, January 11, 2008

New Years Resolutions! No more procrastinating....


Well it has been a long time since I signed in. If you still visit my blog hoping I will update my post thanks for saving my blog on your links. I really hate when I visit a blog and they haven't updated in a few weeks much less a full month. So on to bigger and better things. Going into a new year and I have already started working on my valentines day cards. I am so proud of myself for these creations. I didn't scraplift a thing. I mainly used my cricuit and my basic grey pads from last year. I used the 6X6 pad called "blush" which I love and the "Stella Ruby" pad from Basic Grey. Not to much stamping on these cards. Let me know what you think! I plan to post at least once or twice a week in the upcoming year. But like all new years resolutions that I will probably fall off the horse by mid-February if I am lucky. So stay tuned and see how long I can keep it up! This weekend I am going to try and make these cute heart thumbprint cookies. Its the traditional cookie but you take your thumb print and do it twice to shape it like a heart. I will post a picture and the recipe once I am done. Hope everyone is having a wonderful new year thus far!