Happy Valentine's Day!

I used to think that Valentine's Day was all about me and the man I loved. Well, didn't I have Valentine's Day before I found him? And because he happens to not be with me, does that mean that Valentine's Day isn't a day for me to celebrate any longer or has to wait until I find another man to share my life with? Well, I say I can valentine whoever I chose! Some friends and I were talking on how we were celebrating Valentine's Day. Some are watching movies, some going out to dinner. Some are spending time with their loved one and some of us are crafting and hanging out with our four legged fur babies. The latter would be me!

Yep, it's me and Hagrid on Valentine's Day! My girls are always so wonderful and my two oldest now have babies as well as husband's for valentines. I did get some candy (Reece's hearts and Lindt's milk chocolate truffles, the absolutely best!), socks and my favorite shoes - Adidas sandals. I ordered a pepperoni calzone (my Valentine's dinner), a whoppie pie (my Valentine's Day chocolate), and slipped some crust to Hagrid, my stuffed animal. My bouquet was my Prima flowers that I put stickles on and my jewelry is the pearls on the corners and flower centers. The man, well, that's going to be Daniel Craig in "Her Majesty's Secret Service", which I fell asleep on last week when I wasn't feeling well.

This Tilda is from the Magnolia Valentine's Day collection. Summer at Roses on Paper has a fabulous selection of Magnolias as well as Sarah Kays and some new The Greeting Farm stamps. I used the Sketch Saturday plunge and followed their sketch. I loved it! The paper is from Basic Grey and I love the heart circle stamp from Alota Rubber Stamps. I havr such fun with my Magnolias and I hope you enjoy her.

While you're enjoying Tilda, enjoy the loved ones around you, in whatever form they may take. Appreciate them, love them, and cherish them for all they bring to your life.

Anki's Sweethearts for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design!

It's not everyday that you get to launch one of your fellow Design Team Member's artwork and show it off for them. Well, let me introduce you to Anki's Sweethearts for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design! Anki Bargmen is one of the talented ladies that I get to design with not o only one design team, but two! I feel like I'm presenting my niece and in a way, I am! These cuties are part of my family because that's how I feel about all my fellow design team members.

I'm introducing Alicia and I think she's fabulous! When I found out she was going to be in the collection, I snatched her up to introduce. When I found out that I was going to be designing with Anki, I went to her blog and saw the cutest little girl with a cape and I looked all over the web to find her. I had to have her! I loved her innocence and freshness. Well, wishes come true and not only do I now have the stamp, but I get to be the first to present this sweetie to all of you! Anki, I'm just so excited for you! I just know your line is going to do so well.

Alicia was colored with distressed inks and I used Velvet Flock from Doodlebug for her collar and the band of her cap. The Bella Baubles are covered with Icicle stickles and the little heart on Alicia's skirt is Worn Lipstick Distressed Stickles. I love the soft look she has and she was so much fun to color up.

Anki's Sweethearts are available exclusively at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design and will be available after 8 AM PST. Please make sure you stop by the other Design Team members blogs and see the other adorable stamps in the Anki's Sweethearts collection. It's been such an honor to present her to all of you. So now go and buy them and create some fun, fresh, and new cards with these adorable stamps!

Card Ingredients: Alicia from Anki's Sweethearts, White Velvet Flock by Doodlebug, Worn Lipstick Distressed Stickles, Gold Atyou Spica Glitter Pen, Bella Baubles in Oyster, nestabilities, beads, ribbon

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

They're here! These adorable stamps from The Greeting Farm are finally in at Summer's store, Roses on Paper! I absolutely adore every one of them and can't wait to play and create with them. I couldn't resist getting some of the digital stamps and this Geisha Anya is too adorable. Doesn't she look so quiet, yet confident? I sure wish I was like that sometimes! The Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge over at PCP offered up this movie to watch for inspiration for a card. The heroine in the movie, played by the beautiful Michelle Yeoh, inspired this card. I can just see her pushing this kimono off her shoulders and kicking some serious butt!

She fits into a couple of different challenges I was working on. The layout is from the sketch from the Jacksonbelle Sketch Challenge blog, and for the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge group. I colored her with copics and highlighted her with my gold Spica glitter pen and white opaque pen. I also used some Center Kisses on the corners and on the flower in her hair. The gold is pale and the ruby in the corners are very dark so they don't show up as well in my picture, but they're just beautiful to work with.

I hope you enjoy these cuties. I know I am! Don't forget to participate in our Design Team Challenge on our blog. Our extremely talented, Peta, but out a great challenge. I'd hate for you to miss out on the opportunity to win a little bit of shopping dollars. And you need to stop by Summer's PCP Store group to read her exciting news!

And I just want to remind everyone that we launching a new illustrator and stamp line over at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design! You can get the opportunity to win a great little shopping dollars and wait until you see the images! They're very fresh, and exciting! Stop over and take a peek! Lots going on everywhere!

Try It Out Tuesday #5, Mermaid Lisa

Who doesn't love a mermaid? No matter how many times Nichole played "The Little Mermaid", I never got tired of seeing that beautiful creature floating around in the water with her long hair swirling around her and the sparkle of the light on the shells and items below the surface.

This sketch is by the wonderful, Suzanne Dean, of Scrapbitz and the Design Team Leader at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. I love this sketch and plan on using it over and over! My stamp is Mermaid Lisa by Rubber Romance and I absolutely adore her! I colored her with distresed inks and then with mint shimmerz and highlighted her with crystal stickles and used Glossy Accents on the bubbles. I love the pearls by Keiser and I added the ribbon and hatpin because it had pearls on it! Love all those jewels from under the water! I used my threading water punch for the scalloped edge and highlighted the bottom with some shells. Oh, I want to be where she is!

You can get all the highlighted items from Susana's store. She's got some great, new items in there so stop over and take a look around. Also, don't forget about the new illustrator and line of stamps that she's going to be revealing! Take a look over at the store blog and the PCP group for all the details! Great fun to be had and who doesn't want some extra dollars to spend with the way the economy is? Every little bit helps so go over and participate!

Whiff of Joy's new "Medieval Times" Collection Contest

Isn't he just too cute? This is a picture of a card on Katharina's blog showing off her new line. Katharina at Whiff of Joy is releasing a new 10 stamp set called "Medieval Times" and you can enter to get the opportunity to win the entire collection. Just go here and check out the details!