Stamping Tink

Camptown Girls . . .

2010-04-11T00:00:00.002-04:00

Won't You Come Out tonight? The Rosebuds made it through to the next round with The Greeting Farm Royal Battle and it's my turn up and I'm scared! My battle challenge was to make a scrapbook page and I don't scrap! HELP! I need you to go and vote and you if follow this link, it will get you there. Please help me by voting for my page at the above link. Everyone has worked so hard and I'd hate to let my talented team members down.

I love this picture and found it while I was at home in Ohio last weekend. Look at these saucy girls! This is a picture from my navy days when a couple of my friends and I went to an amusement park. We decided we'd put a bit of fun into our outing and instead of sitting around in jeans and tank tops having our Jack and coke, we decided to add a bit of fantasy to our adventure. We could have really stepped back in time and fit right in with any camptown going ons! Yes, we could hold our own!
I love the vintage look of the papers and this Cheeky Shooter is one of my favorite stamps from The Greeting Farm. She just screams sass and I love to stamp me some sass!

Isn't this Cheeky Shooter just the best? I simply adore her and her sisters from The Greeting Farm. I've got so many ideas for these babes and can't wait to play some more with them.

I hope you enjoyed one of my first scrapbook pages. It's a scary thing but I had so much more fun that I thought I would! I'm going to be making me another page!

Please go over and vote for us Rosebuds over at The Greeting Farm blog. I need all the help I can get! Thanks a bunch!

Page Ingredients:

Cheeky Shooter from The Greeting Farm, MS fancy lace edger punch, copics, ribbon, K&Company paper, Making Memory brass hardware, Jelly Roller clear pen, Distressed inks.

Camptown Girls . . .

2010-04-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

Is coming tomorrow! I get to show off my scrabpooking abilities or lack of, for our team, The Rosebuds, for The Greeting Farm's Royal Battle. We've made it through to Week 3 and I sur4e don't want to let my sisters down. So stop back tomorrow and find out where to go to vote for us.

In the mean time, I thought I'd show you a couple of pictures of my family from
Easter. We had the greatest time and I love spending time with them. So enjoy and I'll be back tomorrow with a different side of me!

Here's our Allie eating breakfast. She grows so fast!

Ella, Heidi and Allie., Aren't they all just gorgeous?

With Daddy going through the Easter Egg Hunt bag.

This is all of us. Gosh, it was wonderful!

Stampin With Those New Clear Stamps

2010-04-08T04:00:00.002-04:00

I thought I'd share a tutorial for those of you who are a bit leary of the new clear stamps. This is my way of stamping and hopefully it will put a different spin on the clear stamps for you.

Ingredients:

1 Belles N' Whistles stamp (the most important thing and I just love Wishes!)
Ink of your choice (I chose Memento Tuxedo Black)
Paper of your choice
Acrylic block to fit your stamp
1 9 x 12 sheet of craft foam (Yes, it's like the kind you can get at Joann's for like 10 for $1.00 when they're on sale!)

First I place my paper on top of the sheet of foam. This gives your stamp a great cushion in helping the ink cover the paper.

Then I peel off the protective covering from my acrylic block. I always cover my blocks with Tac N' Peel and love it!

Next I ink up my stamp. I like to pat my block on top of the ink pad but do it however works for you.

Then I place my block on the paper wherever I want to stamp. And then press down! Don't rock too much and try and place even pressure over the entire stamp.

Then just lift the stamp up and you've got a great, clear, crisp and clean image! I have been stamping like this for like a year and a half and I always get a great impression but these clear stamps are great to stamp with.

Some of you were worried about how detailed Elisabeth Bell's images would turn out and I picked Wishes from our new Spring and Summer Release because of the great detail and small lines used and it came out perfectly! I've stamps up all of the new clear Belles N' Whistles stamps and didn't get a bad image out of any of them.

So go get some cheap foam sheets, a great acrylic block and stamp away! I hope this clears up some of your misgivings about the quality of the image you'll get by using these clear stamps. I've got to tell you that not only was I not disappointed with them, but I loved how much space I saved with them! Quick, easy, clean stamping, Belles N' Whistles stamps! Enjoy!

Li'l Cowboy by Elizabeth Bell

2010-04-03T21:00:00.002-04:00

She's gone and done it again! The oh so talented and inspiring Elisabeth Bell has taken me back to my childhood where things were so innocent and pleasures were simple. She's brought us some us some of the sweetest digi stamps and I couldn't be happier to be presenting and sharing them with you on my favorite holiday of the year, Easter weekend!

This sweetie pop is Li'l Cowboy and he takes me back to times with my brother and my nephews. There's nothing as timeless as a little horsey head on a stick! I can still feel the soft, cool plastic with the bright white impressions on it from when my little brother, Rick, used to get one of these. He would ride it around and I so wanted to have my own horse. I remember one time telling Mommy I had changed my name and demanded that everyone start calling me Dale Evans! And I remember getting mad at my brother one time for something stupid and I took his horse and stuck the head in some water and mopped the floor with his horse's mane! Yep, I was a little something with attitude back then!

I just adore the feel of this sweetie with his little long johns on. Can't you just see him growing up to become a real bull rider or ranch hand? Oh, those earthy men just make me weak in the knees!

And his sweet boots! I remember buying one of these same horsey's for my nephews and the boots. Oh how they thought they were all grown up in those boots! Little did I realize how fast their little feet grew!

I love this saying 'Free your mind from worries". I adore these block sayings and thought this one was so carefree and perfectly suited for the easy feel of this card.

So go off and free your mind from worries and let it create something wonderful and warming from your childhood. Head on over to Elisabeth's blog and pick up these sweet things and show us what you created. I love hearing about other's childhoods and memories. Happy Easter on this blessed weekend.

Card Ingredients:

Li'l Cowboy digi by Elisabeth Bell, My Mind's Eye paperpack, Kaisercraft flowers, Scrapper's Floss, buttons, star charms from Blue Moon, MS leaf punch.

The Greeting Farm, The Rosebuds and The Royal Battle!

2010-03-29T20:41:00.004-04:00

A few of my good stamping buddies got together and joined the Battle going on over at The Greeting Farm! It's kind of like the American Idol of stamping and we'd love for you to come over and vote for our team. We're The Rosebuds and Jodi has our first card up and she did a fabulous job! Go Jodi! Go Jodi! You're a Rosebud! You're a Rosebud! It was retro week and the picture above was the inspiration for the card.

So if you would like to place a vote (well - you actuall got 3) - then this is how you do it:

"You must be registered to vote.
Go to http://thegreetingfarm.com/galleria/
Click on Register and fill out the form.
You will be sent confirmation info to your email and you must click the link to officially be activated. If for some reason you do not recieve it, just email me and I will manually activate your registry.
Once you are activated, go back to http://thegreetingfarm.com/galleria/ and login.
Once you are logged in, go to Contest/Challenges > TGF ROYAL BATTLE > Week 1
Vote for your top 3 choices. When you comment, that counts as your vote. So Comment on your top 3 choices.
ANYONE and EVERYONE can vote. "

So if you love the card from The Rosebuds this week - please make sure that you vote before Tuesday!

Summer Time, Summer Time...

2010-03-26T04:00:00.001-04:00

It's my day to host our blog post for the day and I thought I'd being a bit of sunshine and fun into your day! Don't you just love our new release? I simply am enchanted by them and thought I'd share one of my favorite activities with you - hanging out by the pool!

If you know anything about me, you know I love the sun and fun and these two cuties from Splashing Good Time take me back to some of my favorite times. Can you remember the days when that little wading pool just felt so cool and refreshing on a hot day? I'm not a bit ashamed to say that I used to lay out in the sun smack in the middle of one of those wading pools! One of my good friends thought I was buying the pool for my nephews who used to come over all the time, but I certainly set her straight that it was MY pool, thank you very much! Oh, to be young and have the time to laze around out in the sun.

This cutie is colored with copics and I added some bright yellow Prima Flowers and spacers and pearls at the bottom because yellow flowers just mean hot weather to me. I love the waterfall Stickles and think it gives this water the perfect sparkles.

And here they are close up! Wouldn't you love to just jump in that pool with them?

Hope you enjoy this cute summery creation. It was so fun to put together and I hope it brings a bit of sunshine into your day! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Card Ingredients:

Splashing Good Times from Belles N' Whistles, copics, June Bug paper pack from BasicGrey, BasicGrey Bling, EK Success wave punch, MS leaf punch, spacers, Stickles, Diamond Glaze, Prima flowers.

Roses on Paper Challenge - Punches!

2010-03-22T04:00:00.000-04:00

I finally have a few minutes to participate in our Roses on Paper Design Team Challenge. It feels like I've been gone forever, but I've been so busy with work and family and my dog and major computer problems and my new activities here in Florida that it's been hard to concentrate and get a card done!

This week our oh, so talented Rosette, challenged us to use punches on our cards and what fun it was! I really had to pull out my box of punches from the back of my stamping things and I had a ball with them! The image I used was Belle Dusting Cuckoo from the new Belles N' Whistles release that we had the great pleasure of showing off on Friday. Hope you enjoy her because there's a story that goes with her.

When were were stationed in Sicily, my ex-husband went on a trip to Germany with his squadron and brought me back the most beautiful cuckoo clock and I absolutely loved it! The pinecones and tether that went back and forth keeping time always fascinated me. Well, when I moved and got my cat, Porthos, he would sit and just look at it with amazement. I think it was the constant motion that did it for him. After he got a bit older and bigger, he'd wait for the pinecones to get to where he could reach them and he'd bat them back and forth and try to get them off the chain and that poor clock almost lost it's life more times than I care to remember! Now my girls are fighting over who gets it when I'm too old to worry about it. Little do they know, I don't think I'll ever be that old!

Belle is colored with copics and I added just a bit of Stickles to her sweet apron. I used some half moon pearls on her and made a lacy doily type bank instead of ribbon. Hope you enjoy her because she sure was fun to play with and take a trip down memory lane with.

Make sure to stop by and join in on our challenge. We'd love to see how you use your punches!

Card Ingredients:

Belle Dusting Cuckoo by Belles N' Whistles, copics, Stickles, Cherry Pie paper pack by Cosmo Cricket, BasicGrey Bling, Scrapper's Floss, SU ticket punch, EK Success swirl punch, MS lace edger, MS branch punch, buttons, Jelly Roller clear glaze pen

Belles N' Whistles Blog Hop - Bronzing Beauty

2010-03-19T04:00:00.008-04:00

Hot fun in the summertime! I love that song because it's about my favorite time of the year. So I want to welcome you to the new "Spring & Cleaning & Summertime" blog hop release! If you've come to my blog from the ever talented Lynda, then you're on the right track. If not, make sure you go to our Belles N' Whistles blog and start from the beginning. These images are just to stinkin cute and you'll not want to miss out on seeing a single one of them! Now, on to the cuteness!

Isn't she just too cute for words? I'm just head over heels in love with Bronzing Beauty! When I looked at her, well, it was true love! I love every single thing about her, especially her towel! She's exactly how I see myself in my mind - slim, gorgeous and having some great time in the sun'! Well, I'm not slim or gorgeous but I sure do love the sun!

She's colored with copics and I added some Diamond Glaze to the pool to give it that vinyl look. Isn't the sun and pool just too much fun? They're new digis that are also available with this fun release. I added some stickles to the water and a bit around Belle and on the Prima Flower for a bit of sparkle because you know how much I love that!

And have you heard that Belles `n Whistles stamps are now sparkling clear! Designed by artist Elisabeth Bell, they are the finest of sparkling clear, genuine photopolymer stamps around, made in the U.S.! Ready to use with an acrylic block, stamping couldn't be any simpler! These sparkling clear stamps allow for effortless placement on craft projects, easy clean up and compact storage too! Stamping clearly has never been so sweet! You are sure to love your new sparkling clear Belles `n Whistles stamps!

OK, so now head on over to our fearless leader, Summer's blog for the next round of gooey sweetness coming your way! Thanks for stopping by! Remember that pre-orders for stamps start on Saturday, March 20 with stamps beginning to ship March 27. Happy hopping!

Card Ingredients:

Bronzing Beauty from Belles N' Whistles, Portebello Road paper from K&Company, Rhinestones from K&Company, MS daisy border punch, copics, SU topnote die cut, Prima Flowers, Stickles, ribbon, Blue Moon charm.

Where does Belle live? New Belles N' Whistles Release Blog Hop ComingTomorrow!

2010-03-18T06:03:00.006-04:00

There's a new Belles N' Whistles release coming and we're celebratring this fun release with a big blog hop tomorrow so get ready! You're going totally love it! I can't wait to share them with you! To mark this great release, we're wanting to see where Belle lives so make sure to hop over to our Belles N' Whistles Design Team Blog to see where all of our Belle's live and to see where some of your fellow stampers are. What fun this has been. Here's Belle's new home with me here in Florida.

This is out Belle's front door. Gorgeous tree, isn't it? Gives me shade all the time!

And this is where Belle hangs out when the temperature allows. Oh, I do love the sun!

And we can't forget Hagrid! Bell even walks over to the dog park with him and keeps me company while he plays. Well, he sniffs more than he plays!

Don't forget to join us for our blog hop tomorrow because these are too cute to pass up! See you then!

There He Goes, Off To The Wild Blue Yonder!

2010-03-13T18:16:00.005-05:00

We've finally reached the time when my son-in-law Branden has left for basic training for the Air Force. It seems like it was only yesterday when he and Nichole told me they were getting married and he was going into the Air Force. So much has happened since that time in our family. The babies celebrated their first birthday, Tiff and Allie were up with us for a month before the wedding. And then there was the gorgeous, fabulous wedding. Oh, what a grand day that was for us! Then came my move to Florida and a new career and then last week Branden left for bootcamp and it's like we came full circle. Gotta love that in a family.

This is the card I made for Branden in celebration of his new journey. This cutie is a digi from The Greeting Farm called Chibi Business. I love his watch and while his hat isn't an Air Force cover but I tried to get his suit to stand out more! The paper is from my stash and I just think he's great!

Good luck to my fabulous son-in-law and my daughter, who is doing just great! I love you all so very much.

Card Ingredients:

Chibi Business from The Greeting Farm, copics, gold spica pen, paper from my stash.

Aurora with Tulips

2010-03-12T04:00:00.003-05:00

I know, I know, two days in a row is a bit scary! But I love this sweet little sprite Aurora from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. She's such a cutie pie and always looks so stinkin happy! Just love her sweet face!

She's all done up in copics with stickles and some great BasicGrey papers. I embossed the plaid paper with my cuttlebug folder for a bit more texture and added some Stickles to these sweet tulips. Gosh, I want to be sitting with her, don't you? It's raining like crazy here in Florida and it reminds me that before long the tulips and spring bulbs will be popping out of the ground and I can't wait for all the beautiful color. My mom has the greatest tulips in her yard every spring and it's one of the things she looks forward to the most - all that gorgeous color!

Susana is having a great release tomorrow for her new line of sweet stamps from Victoria Case! Make sure to stop by and join in on the blog hop! There some of the most talented stampers around and I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

Here's hoping that Miss Aurora visits Nola's tulips this year!

Card Ingredients:

Aurora with Tulips from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, BasicGrey paper, cuttlebug embossing folder, nestabilities, Stickles, copics, Bella Baubles, ribbon, Petaloo flower.

Love me some Tilda!

2010-03-10T20:10:00.002-05:00

I don't know how I posted this cutie without writing something! This is one of the sweeties I made while my computer was down and have just had a chance to post here. This is my sweet Tilda from Magnolia and I made her for our last challenge over at Roses on Paper. I do love these sweeties and haven't given them as much attention as I should have lately. This is Tilda with Birdcage and I just think she's so precious.

She's colored with copics and the paper is from BasicGrey and the flowers are Prima Flowers and I had to put some stickles on her! You know I just can't keep them off my Magnolias!

Hope you enjoy my sweet Tilda. I sure do love them!

Card Ingredients:
Tilda with Birdcage, BasicGrey Bittersweet paper, ribbon, Stickles, copics, Prima Flowers, BasicGrey Bling, spacers, cuttlegbug embossing folder

I'm back and a new digi release from Elisabeth Bell!

2010-03-03T04:00:00.002-05:00

For those of you who came back to visit, thank you so much for hanging in there with me! It's been a very trying couple of weeks without a computer but it's been a good, revealing couple of weeks for me. I've got my computer back and it's better than ever! Nice new monitor and a keyboard that I think I can finally type with! And I'm having some work done on my blog, so look back in a few days and it should be fabulous! And I've got a few cards to share with you this week and I've been playing around with some of digis and here's an absolutely enchanting one from the oh so talented Elisabeth Bell that I'd love to share with you.

The ever so talented Elisabeth Bell has released another fabulous digi and this sweetie is called "Pat-A-Cake"! Isn't it just too sweet and cute? The Belles N' Whistles team was asked to help show her off so make sure to stop over at all my sisters blogs and see what they've come up with for you!

I remember sitting for hours on end playing Pat-A-Cake with my best friend growing up, Debbie, and then with all my nephews and of course with my girls. And I'm sad to say that no matter how many time I baked that cake, you still wouldn't eat it very much of it! Baking is not my forte but spending hours on end with the little ones that I love sure was! I love this sweet image because it so reminds me of spending wonderful, happy times with loved ones and oh, how I wish I looked this sweet and fresh playing!

She's colored with copics and I used the great papers from The Basic Origins collection from BasicGrey. Love their papers and the colors from this collection are just beautiful.

Make sure to stop by over at Elisabeth's blog and pick this sweet experience up for your collection. So go have some fun and tell me all about your favorite childhood game. I' love to hear about it!

Card Ingredients:

Pat-A-Cake by Elisabeth Bell, Basic Origins paper pack from BasicGrey, Prima Flowers, copics, Cuttlebug folder, nestabilities, Diamond Glaze, BasicGrey Bling, ribbon, MS branch punch.

No Monitor!

2010-02-13T21:40:00.004-05:00

Well, my monitor has gone out on me and I can't see a graphic or touch up a photo or see it the picture is clear. I should be getting a new computer or monitor on Tuesday and should be back up shortly after that. Wish me luck and know that I've missed you all! Susana at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design has some great new products in the store so make sure you stop over and take a peek!

Sorry for my absence!

2010-02-06T13:11:00.002-05:00

I'm so sorry that I haven't been around to post this week but my daughter, Tiffany, and her husband, Chris, and my Allie have come to visit! I need all the Nana time I can get! Chris has been doing some housekeeping on my computer so I've been a bit out of commission. I promise to be back tomorrow with something cute and maybe something a bit sassy.

But while I'm here, head on over to Susana's Custom Art and Card Design and check out all the great new products she's brought into the shop! Tons of sun stuff!

Yak at you all tomorrow!

Try It Out Tuesday 52 - Aurora Takes a Break

2010-01-26T04:00:00.000-05:00

One of life's greatest pleasures for me has always been reading. Sitting in a chair in my home and going to all different countries around the world or even into an imagined world has saved me from losing my mind at times! Give me a good story that I just can't put down and well, that's my piece of heaven on earth.

Suzanne challenged us to create a book mark this week for our challenge over at Follow Your Heart, the blog for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design and I decided on another of our sweet Aurora stamps, Aurora Takes a Break, designed by our ever talented Victoria Case. I just adore this collection!

I colored her with copics and added just a bit of stickles. I colored her like my little strawberry sprite! I love her little green boots! I added a bit of my new K&Company paper and tried to keep her a bit light and inviting. What do you think?

You know me, I had to show off her sweet face! Make sure to stop over at Follow Your Heart and see what my Design Team partners have come up with for you! I'd love to see what you would create for a bookmark! Let's go take a break and read!

Card Ingredients:

Aurora Taking a Break by Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, copics, Stickles, Kaisercraft Pearls, ribbon, EK Success corner punch, nestabilities

Roses on Paper Design Team Sketch -

2010-01-25T04:00:00.003-05:00

Today over at Roses on Paper's Design Team Challenge blog, we have a sketch challenge created by our inspiring and talented Iris and I just loved putting this cutie together. Here's the sketch:

I pulled out one of my favorite Magnolias, Tila with Hearts, and colored her up with my copics and used some of my favorite Infuse paper from BasicGrey. Summer carries lots of different BasicGrey papers and Magnolias stamps and you can pick them up at Roses on Paper. Here's what I came up with:

I found these cute heart sticker type brads from K&Company and I thought they were perfect to touch up the ribbon and I simply adore the sentiment from Sentiment Salon! What is better than printing off sentiments and putting them on a card? That is so easy for me!

So head on over to the Roses on Paper Challenge Blog and see what my DT sisters have come up with to inspire you. Join in on our fun because we love seeing what you do!

Card Ingredients:

Tilda with Hearts by Magnolia, Sentiment by Sentiment Salon, Infuse paper by BasicGrey, , Stickles, heart brads by K&Company, Stickles, ribbon, nestabilities, Textured folder by cuttlebug, rhinestone flourish by Made Simple, copics, Distressed Inks, Prima Flowers.

Baby It's Cold Outside from Sentiment Salon and January Birthday Calendar Page

2010-01-22T18:39:00.013-05:00

I've got a great project to share with you today, or tonight! Our every talented and thoughtfully sweet Iris at Belles N' Whistles Design Team came up with this great birthday calendar! I am forever forgetting birthdays and this year I want to try and be better about them. So Happy Birthday to my adopted baby girl, Kelly! Try and stay out of trouble!

I love this template because you can use it for birthdays, anniversaries, those special days, paydays, you name it and you can do it. Since it's January, I thought I'd use The Christmas Door from Belles N' Whistles, and color it in winter colors rather than Christmas ones. I think this baby doll is just so stinkin cute going to deliver her package. I made the balls on the trees and the wreath into fruit, oranges but you can call them pomegranates if you chose! I added Stickles and some Prima Flowers with spacers and pearls in the corner. Oh, and some the the Christmas stamps from our Belles N' Whistles Christmas Collection are now on sale! That's always as great thing this time of the year.

And don't you just love this sweet sentiment? My good friend, Deb, started a blog called Sentiment Salon and asked me to be on her design team and I was so excited! I can't wait to bring you some gorgeous and fun cards with sentiments on them! They're digis and so much fun! I love the idea of printing something out and sizing it how I want. Go over and take a look at the fabulous sayings she's got going on over there!

This was a good start for me because I'm wanting to get into scrap booking and I thought using all of a 6 x 6 piece of paper was a huge leap for me! I thought the Eskimo Kisses background was perfect for my winter scene! I had a blast on this one and I can't wait to put together my February calendar page.

I'll be back over the weekend but I just needed to take a couple of days off this past week but I hope you enjoy what I came back with. Have a great weekend everyone!

Card Ingredients:

The Christmas Door from Belles N' Whistles, Baby It's Cold Outside sentiment from Sentiment Salon, copics, Eskimo Kisses paper and brads from BasicGrey, Bling from BasicGrey, Prima flowers, Spacers, Stickles, nestabilities, Distress Inks from Tim Holtz,

Try It Out Tuesday 51 - Aurora All Altered Up!

2010-01-19T04:00:00.008-05:00

It's Try It Out Tuesday here for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design over at Follow Your Heart. Our leader and new Dirty Girl over at SCS, Suzanne, challenged us to use the new cutie pie sprite, Aurora, from Victoria Case for Susana's shop, and alter something. Well, let me tell you about my newest venture. It's a diet. Yep, I need to lose some weight and I think I found a plan I can live with. I'm just starting it, but after I commit to it, I'll let you know all about it. Anywho, I have to keep a food journal so I've altered a notebook. I wanted to do something practical and this 6 x 6 book I picked up at Joann's was just the right size and since it has a lot to do with protein and nuts, I thought Aurora with Bird, would be perfect because of the nuts she's feeding this cutie little bird.

Aurora is colored with copics and she's got that Stickle-dew all over her again! I added some Prima Flowers in one corner and some Bella Baubles in another. And the ribbon along the spiral is from my stash. I love using all the little pieces up!

Something about this image that I just love is this sweet little bird and the nuts. Aren't they just too adorable?

Make sure to stop over at the store blog and see the fabulous projects my Designing buddies have come up with for you. So now what are you going to alter? Tell me all about it!

Card Ingredients:

Aurora with Bird from the Aurora Collection by Victoria Case from Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, copics, nestabilities, ribbon, stickles, Prima Flowers, MS branch and leaf punch, notebook, Bella Baubles.

It's Showtime!

2010-01-18T04:00:00.000-05:00

I love the circus. When I was little one of the things I wanted to do was be a trapeze artist. I wanted to fly through the air from one bar, do flips and gracefully grab hold of the handsome man that is hanging upside down on the other side of the tent! It's been a while since I've played with some of The Greeting Farms and I had to take some time to spend with Anya and Showtime today! I get all of my The Greeting Farm Stamps from Summer at Roses on Paper. I just adore these sweeties!

This cutie is colored with copics and I used Stickles to highlight her band, the elephant's pants and the popcorn. I think it was just enough! And I've been dying to make one of the Stair Step Fold Cards. I thought it kind of set the stage for Anya and her traveling show!

So what was your favorite part of the circus? I'd love to know!

Card Ingredients:

Showtime by The Greeting Farm, copics, nestabilities, Stickles, buttons, Scrapper's Floss, ribbon, charms

Aurora at Home - My New Address!

2010-01-17T12:48:00.008-05:00

I can't resist this sweet Aurora, the newest collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. I have a good friend what I wanted to send my new address to and I thought Aurora at Home was perfect for that! These sweetie cute sprites are how available at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. Head on over to Susana's shop and pick thise baby up!

This baby is colored with copics and I added some stickles to her because I think she looks like she's been out walking around in the morning dew! I added a bit of Smooch to her flowers and some Flower Soft for the grass. I love this sketch from The Sweetest Thing blog. I think I'll use this one again! I love the subtle colors of the Origins paper pad from BasicGrey. It's perfect for a little woodland sprite!

You know how I love to show off these sweet, innocent looking faces! Can you resist them? I sure can't! And I love this bow! I made it with using my Bow Easy! It makes it easy peasy to have gorgeous bows!

So head on over to Susana's Custom Art and Card Design and go pick up these sweet little sprites! They need to come and live at your house!

Card Ingredients:

Aurora at Home by Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, copics, Origins paper pad from BasicGrey, Stickles, Smooch, Flower Soft, Diamond Glaze, Prima Flowers, Kaisercraft Rhinestones, ribbon, Bow Easy, MS branch punch.

Aurora with Cake - I'm Enchanted!

2010-01-15T04:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to our Blog Hop to celebrate the release of our sweet new Aurora collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design! I just know you're going to go gaga over this sweet little sprite as much as we all have! If you've come to my blog from Carolyn's blog, then you're on the right track! If not, our hop starts at Jen's blog so go start with her! I'd hate for any of you to miss out on the absolutely fabulous creations my designing buddies have come up with for you! And now, I just can't wait for you to meet Aurora! Have you ever seen or hoped for something that was the essence of pure joy, love and happiness? Well, lay eyes on this sweet face and I dare you not to be enchanted!

I'd like to introduce you to our newest, most adorable living, breathing, sweetest sprite, Aurora, who is now living at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design and designed by the ever so talented illustrator, Victoria Case! Doesn't she just have the happiest look on her face? I saw her and fell in love! When I saw her all dressed up in her little petals, a poppy and sunflower came to mind! I was exploring around my new apartment complex and the puppy park has a huge poppy bush in front of it. Oh the colors were just brilliant and vibrant and I knew I wanted to do some type of card using those colors! When I got close, I noticed they had just a bit of yellow and a tint of brown around it so I decided that my first Aurora was going to be my poppy sprite!

She's colored with copics and a little bit of Smooch here and stickles there and a gold pearl on her collar and a butterfly in her hair! I love this sketch from Papertake Weekly and think I'll be using it a lot!

Now head on over to Suzanne's blog and see what gorgeous inspiration she has in store for you! Like I said earlier, I dare you to be enchanted!

Card Ingredients:

Aurora with Cake by Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, copics, Sugar Rush paper from BasicGrey, ribbon, brushed rhinestones, Smooch, Stickles, Divine Swirls Cuttlebug folder, Dress Up Button, MS fancy lace punch

Beary Big Hugs by Belles N' Whistles

2010-01-13T04:00:00.002-05:00

Who can resist a teddy bear? Not I nor any little girl that I know! Beary Big Hugs is one of the new releases from the Sweet Things Collection from Belles N' Whistles illustrated by the talented Elisabeth Bell. I think they're such an adorable and versatile collection!

I colored her with copics and used some Diamond Glaze on her headband and ribbon. I fell in love with the gorgeous colors from the Honey Pie collection from Cosmo Cricket and thought they went perfectly with this sweet, soft image. I added a bit of dimension to the paper by using my textured cuttlebug folder. I tried to keep her simple and just added a hatpin, some ribbon, and Prima Flowers to the corner.

These faces are just pure joy and loved, don't you think? I know this is a bit of a change for me but I did hold back on the Stickles for this sweetie. Just a little on her top and the bear's sweet feet!

My favorite stuffed animal when I was growing up was my yellow tiger striped cat named Jenny. I still have her and she's here in Florida with me in my hope chest. I'd love to hear about what your favorite stuffed animal was while you were growing up! Let's revisit our childhood for just a bit. I hope it gives you the warm feeling that I have. If not, please take some of mine. We had a lot of love to go around.

Card Ingredients:

Beary Big Hugs by Belles N' Whistles, Honey Pie Paper Stack by Cosmo Cricket, Bling by BasicGrey, Stickles, Prima Flowers, ribbon, hatpin, Cuttlebug textured folder, corner rounder

Try It Out Tuesday #50 - Aqua, Peach and Cream

2010-01-12T04:00:00.001-05:00

Aqua, peach and cream, my absolute all time favorite color combination! That's what our so challenging and inspirational leader, Suzanne, over at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, challenged us members on for our Try It out Tuesday at Follow Your Heart! Since we've got a new Victoria Case release coming out on Friday so I thought I'd pull out one of my favorites - Milla! Don't you think she's fabulous?

She's all colored up in her celebration best in copics and a tad bit of Stickles. I added some Kaisercraft pearls in the corners and I'm totally over the moon with these gorgeous Prima Flowers that look like they're sprinkled with sugar. Just too precious!

This adorable face just calls you to celebrate, don't you think? I highlighted her bow and package with my favorite thing - Stickles! For some reason, I've been trying to pull it in and let my stamps stand out more than all of their surroundings. I'm trying to find some balance in my life and I want to apply that to my stamping as well.

So stop on over to Follow Your Heart and see what the other fabulous Design Team members have in store for you! And don't forget about our new release we have coming out on Friday! She's going to be fabulously delightful!

Card Ingredients:

Milla from The Hearts and Hugs Collection Series 2 from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, copics, Kaisercraft Pearls, ribbon, Prima Flowers, Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss folder, Stickles, Liquid Pearls, nestabilities.

Roses on Paper Design Team Challenge - Winter Wonderland!

2010-01-11T04:00:00.001-05:00

It really feels like winter down here in Florida and believe me, as a Maine transplant, I know winter! The oh so talented Jodi, our sweetie pie over at Roses on Paper Design Team, challenged us this week to create a winter card. I had to pull out Snoowie with Snowflake from Magnolia for this one! I just love getting these sweeties from Summer at Roses on Paper!

He's so stinkin cute! I colored him with copics and used some Stickles and Liquid Pearls on him. I added a bit of Diamond Glaze to his eyes and cut out some snowflakes with my Shapeabilities. I love that snowflake set! I gave him some rhinestones and ribbon and I love this sketch from The Card Positioning System. I'll use it again and again!

I think his little face is so sweet! How you you resist those rosy red cheeks? Everyone knows how much I hate the snow and even I can't resist him!

Make sure you stop over at Roses on Paper's Design Team Challenge blog and see the great creations my Designing Sisters have to inspire you! Hopefully, you'll find something there to get you crafting while you're staying warm!

Card Ingredients:

Snoowie With Snowflake by Magnolia, Stickles, copics, ribbon, shapeabilities, Liquid Pearls, Bling by BasicGrey, SU paper distreser

Sentament Salon Now Open and I'm Feeling Yucky!

2010-01-10T18:05:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to say that I've been down all weekend with the flu and I am trying to kick it out of me before I go into work tomorrow. I've been trying to just rest and relax and get rid of all of this congestion I have. But I will share that I've been taken in with the Twilight series and I've been trying to read some this weekend.

But I wanted to share some good news with you. The Sentament Salon, a great source for digi sentiments, is now up and running! My good friend, Deb, asked me to be on her Design Team and I gladly said yes! We're going to have some great sayings to go along with all of those gorgeous, fun, sassy and sweet stamps that you have and need something to say with them. And they're also a great way to show off some of that gorgeous paper you have laying around! I'll be back this week with some great sentiments for you!

Reading is one of my passions and my daughters have been trying forever to get me to read the Twilight Series but I always would have something else to do. I promised Nichole that I would read Twilight and New Moon before I went to go see the movie. Well, I'[m trying to get through Eclipse now and have asked the library to put me on the4 list for Breaking Dawn. I know they're not that expensive, but there's something about having a library book that keeps me reading and on task. I think it's that due date they give you! But I have a feeling that I'm going to have to go out and buy it before my name comes up on the list! But I must say, it's one of the books that have held my interest since my beloved Harry Potter.

Well, I'm off to bed again but I just wanted to share a bit with you before the weekend ended.

I've got a great creative week coming up though! We have Roses on Paper's Design Team Challenge tomorrow, Try It Out Tuesday for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, a new Belles N' Whistles card to share and then, oh my, something special coming from Susana's Custom Art and Card Design that will surely blow your socks off! So make sure to stop back by tomorrow and let the fun week begin!

Missing My Baby Boy!

2010-01-07T20:32:00.003-05:00

I know this post has nothing to do about stamping, but I'm fighting a cold or the crud or something awful so I don't trust myself to create anything tonight! Since I'm trying to post on a more regular basis, I thought I'd share my Hagrid with all of you. How could you not love this sweet little face?

He's been staying with my daughter, Tiffany, while I was getting settled in. He always comes and lays by my feet or right next to me when I'm on the couch and when you're not feeling well, that's such a comforting and loving feeling. And when I stamp, he's right there, usually trying to lay on my papers on the bed!

While I miss him like crazy, I know he's having a great time and being well cared for and loved., So if you have a little fur baby that follows you around and keeps your feet warm, pick them up and hug them for me! Now I'm off to bed to get some rest.

Great Style!

2010-01-06T20:35:00.005-05:00

My dear friend Sonya turned 50 today and to help celebrate the occasion, I got out one of my sassiest Rubber Romance girls and fixed her up! Vivian reminds me so much of Sonya because she loves shoes and loves to shop. Don't you love it when the right stamp just fits the situation like, well, a glass slipper? And you can pick her up at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. You know me, I love the sass!

This shopping babe is colored with copics, has a touch of stickles and some bling in the corners. She's so fabulous that she doesn't need much to draw attention to her!

I hope everyone is able to be this stylish and fabulous at 50!

Card Ingredients:

Vivian by Rubber Romance, copics, stickles, La Creme paper pack from DCWV, Stickles, Bling by BasicGrey, ribbon

Welcome Back Try It Out Tuesday!

2010-01-05T04:00:00.005-05:00

Welcome Back to Try It Out Tuesday from our Design Team over at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design! So glad you came to visit! We're off to a new year and Suzanne, our fearless and oh so talented leader, challenged us to make a Welcome Back project and with the help of my Nichole, Branden, and Trooper, I put together a Welcome Back project for my Hagrid! I just couldn't resist Winter from the Winter Wonderland Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. She's just too sweet there with her little dog in the snow! I'd prefer her to be in a swimsuit hanging out at the beach with her little pup, but I know it's January and some of you love the snow!

Winter is colored with copics and then highlighted with Stickles and Liquid Pearls and glitter. What's snow without some glimmer? I added some Polar White Flower Soft for the Snow and thought she was just the sweetest thing!

My Hagrid has some of his favorite tgrats, bacon flavored chews, and a few new toys to play with and Mommna has a new basket from Pier 1 Imports (absolutely love that store!) He'll be back with me before I know it and I just can't wait!

Make sure to stop over at our blog, Follow Your Heart, to see how my Design Team buddies have decided to welcome things into their lives! We're all super charged and ready to share with you after our holiday break so stop on over and tell them all hi! I know you won't be disappointed!

Project Ingerdients:

Winter from the Winter Wonderland Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom
Art and Card Design, copics, stickles, Polar White Flower Soft, Kaisercraft Pearls, Diamond Glaze, nestabilities, ribbon

Kitty Love

2010-01-02T22:05:00.006-05:00

While I've been getting settled, my baby Hagrid has been staying with Tiffany and I miss him so very much! When I saw this sweet Kitty Love, one of the new images from the Sweet Things Collection from Belles N'Whistles, it so reminded me of my sweet Porthos who got mad at me when we moved and took off over 3 years ago.

I used to just cuddle and rub him behind his ears and he used to just curl up around my arm and just purr away. Oh, how much I miss him! I colored this cutie with copics and added just a touch of Stickles and a bit of Diamond Glaze. I added some cotton lace and pearls and buttons to keep it simple and not to overdone. I love this paper from Graphic 45 and these Kaisercraft flowers just match is perfectly.

The precious innocence and pure love for her new found friend are priceless to me, just like my little fur babies are to me. If you've got one, go give them a big hug and a smooch! They bring such joy to our lives and all they want from us is love and a bit of our time. Go give it to them!

Card Ingredients:

Kitty Love by Belles N' Whistles, Stickles, copics, Graphic 45 paper, Kaisercraft flowers, Scrapper's floss, cotton lace, buttons, BasicGrey Bling half moon pearls, SU distresser tool, MS fancy lattice edger.

Susana's Custom Art and Card Designing Opening Back Up After The Holidays!

2010-01-02T09:36:00.003-05:00

Just a quick note to let you know that Susana's Custom Art and Card Design will be opening back up after the holidays at noon today! She's got some great things planned for the new year and I can't wait to show them to you! Also, for some after the holidays shopping fun, Susana's added a few new things:

- New Karen Lockhart Release all about Hearts, Love and food :o)
- Prima Mini Roses 1/2 inch roses 24 to a pack that come in 3 color hues.
- American Craft glitter gel pens
- Basic Grey the new Origins and Sugar Rush
- Kasiercraft 6 x 6 DP that includes some foil, flocked and other speciality papers
- SJD Copic Bundle - gold set

Go send her some love!

Happy New Year and Smiles from Belles N' Whistles!

2010-01-01T03:00:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year! I'm so glad that you stopped by and I've got one of the new sweetie pies from the new Sweet Things Collection from Belles N' Whistles! Elisabeth Bell has really gone over the top with these cute things and I so hope you enjoy them! I'm going to share Smile with you and share a memory I have of a precious friend of mine, Marybeth, who passed away this week. She was an incredibly giving, sweet, warm, encouraging and talented woman. She and her husband and their kids camped next to us during the summers and we would go play Bingo every Saturday, have coffee every morning and share meals and time together. When I saw this sweet girl hanging on a tree branch, I instantly thought of Marybeth and my girls.

One weekend we were up closing up camp and it was cool and chilly by the lake so in the evening we built a campfire. We went through all of the wood we had on the site and the girls were sent over to Marybeth's site to gather some wood. Being funny, they came back with a small tree and thinking they were going to be hauling it back, thelook on their face was priceless when their dad put the entire tree on the fire! Nichole looked at her dad and said "Dad, we've gone too far and crossed over Mr. McCormack's line!" We all laughed so hard and it was one of those moments that you had to be at to really appreciate but Marybeth laughed so hard when she heard that story. It's times and people like that that make memories precious. Yes, Marybeth was precious to me and I shall miss her more than ever. She encouraged me to write and I think I may pick it back up. Yes, I'll miss her sweet spirit.

Look at this sweet face. I look in it and see my Allie when she lowers her head and her eyes look so big and sweet (or devilish!), I see my Tiffany's sweet cheeks that you could just eat up and I see the shy way our Jennifer has about her, my Nichole all dressed in pink, her favorite color, and my independent Emma. All of my girls and one of the best parts of my life all wrapped up in one image. Now that's a keeper!

I hope you'll take some time to check out the rest of my DT sister's fabulous cards and projects for you! They're all fabulous and you'll be running over to Belles N' Whistles to scoop up these Sweet Things! Here they are:

Anki, Iris, Jacque, Jodi,
Kathrin, Lillian, Rosette, & Lynda!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and I hope you all have a very Happy New Year full of health, happiness, and lots of creating! I'm going to try and spend more time with the people who are important to me and let them encourage and inspire me. I hope you find something wonderful waiting for you in this upcoming year.

Card Ingredients:

Smile from Belles N' Whistles, Lemonade Paper Pack from BasicGrey, copics, Stickles, Kaisercraft Flowers, Spacers, pearls, ribbon, MS branch punch, SU ticket punch and distressor tool.

Roses on Paper Design Team Challenge - Our Favorite Coloring Medium!

2009-12-28T04:00:00.000-05:00

Our Roses on Paper Design Team has a new challenge for you. Our every talented and sweet as can be Rosette, challenged us to use our favorite coloring medium and I decided on copics, but if you've been to my blog very often, you know it should be Stickles! Oh, how I do love the sparkle!

Tilda as Christmas Angel is from Magnolias and you can pick them up from Summer at Roses on Paper. This So Jolly collection is too sweet for words and I love that so many of the stamps can take you all the way through winter, not just the holidays! Oh, I do love these little babies so! I just am crazy over this paper from Magenta and have waited for just the right stamp to use it with and I think my Angel is perfect. And what I love about this angel is that you can use her anytime of the year! You just can't beat a versatile stamp!

I used some Diamond Glaze on her dress and on the ribbon in her hair. I love how the light sparkles off the Stickles though! And who can resist this sweet, adorable, angelic face? Nope, not me!

So come on over to our Roses on Paper Design Team Blog and show us your favorite coloring medium! We love to see what you have to create and you'll find some stamping inspiration for sure over there from my Design Team family!
Card Ingredients:

Tilda as Christmas Angel by Magnolia, Sultry Paper pack from BasicGrey, Christmas Collection Paper from Magenta, copics, Stickles, Bling by BasicGrey, orgnaza ribbon, nestabilities, Diamond Glaze.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T16:47:00.007-05:00

I just wanted to take a couple of minutes and wish everyone a very Merry
Christmas! I'm getting ready to go have dinner with my good friend and thought I'd share my favorite Tilda stamp for this season. She's called Santa's Little Helper and you can pick up Magnolia stamps from Summer at Roses on Paper.

I just adore this daisy and colored it red so it could be a poinsettia if you really stretch your imagination!

And her little face is so sweet! My girls got to play Santa's helper this year and I'm so proud of them. I do so miss those days when they were little and we did everything, but now it's their time. I love and miss them all so very much, but know that they're having great times and are surrounded by family.

I wish you and yours the merriest of Christmas's this year!

Day 17 of the Advent - Gingerbread Love

2009-12-17T03:00:00.002-05:00

I'm so excited to be bringing you another day to celebrate the Advent with us here at Belles N' Whistles! When I saw these sweet babies called Gingerbread Love, it so reminded me of the time I tried to make a gingerbread house with my nephew, Stevie. They didn't have the kits like they do now and I tried to make one from scratch and, well, let's just say that the trash can was a lot heavier because the icing ended up like cement! I much prefer these sweeties!

I thought I'd make a candy gift for a friend of mine and this is what I came up with. And I didn't bake this time! I used an old SU container and I love those Hershey's Nuggets and I wrapped them in coordinating paper around the nuggets and colored these cuties up and made a wide bank for the package. What do you think?

Can you resist their sweet faces? I sure can't! You could just eat them alive, just like the gingerbread!

Now my girls bake cookies and make peanut butter balls and have a love for baking and cooking like I never had. I so hope my granddaughters will love to bake and cook. Perhaps some of that will rub off on Nana! So tell me what's your favorite candy or snack to make for others for the holidays?

And don't forget to stop by again tomorrow for the 18th day of the Advent. I love seeing what my ever so talented design team sisters come up with! Happy Holidays from me and mine to you and yours!

Card Ingredients:

Gingerbread Love by Belles N' Whistles, Eskimo Kisses paper from BasicGrey, K&Company Christmas stack paper, Stickles, copics, Soufflet gel pen, SU empty packaging

Try It Out Tuesda #48 - Bling It Out with Dance!

2009-12-15T04:00:00.000-05:00

Today is Try It Out Tuesday for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design and our inspirational leader, Suzanne, challenged us to bling it up! If there's anyone who loves Stickles as much as me, it's got to be Suzanne! But I've got to admit that I did hold back just a bit and tried to let Belle, this gorgeous stamp from Victoria Case from Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, shine on her own.

This time of the year always brings thoughts of the Nutcracker Suite and I thought I'd do Belle up in a soft colors and make her pop with this gorgeous paper from DCWV. She's colored with copics and I added some silver rhinestones to the corner of her frame and just let her sweet self stand out.

Don't they have the most gorgeous faces? You could just color them over and over.

So make sure you head on over to Follow Your Heart and see what my of so talented designing friends have come up with for your viewing pleasure! And remember, blinging it up always makes things better!

Card Ingredients:

Belle from the Hearts and Hugs Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Stickles, copics, Dress It Up paper pack from DCWV, ribbon, hatpin, silver rhinestones, Diamond Glaze.

Roses on Paper Design Team Challenge - Deep Red, Green and Gold!

2009-12-14T09:00:00.001-05:00

It is my time to host the Roses on Paper Design Team Challenge so I came up with the color combination of deep red, green, and gold for the holidays. I chose this gorgeously sweet Bildmalarna from their Christmas and Winter Collection that you can pick up from Summer at Roses on Paper. These little sweeties just pull at my heartstrings!

I love the deep, elegant colors of Christmas as much as I love the bright red, green and white. I used some great specialty paper from the Paper Company and made some poinsettias with my Shapeabilities by Spellbinders. This is one of my favorite sets! And I love adding the leaves and branches with my Martha Stewart punches and I think the large Bling is just the right size for the centers, don't you?

Don't they just have the sweetest faces on them? There's something about the sweetness of their smiles that just draws me. I'm just taken with them!

So make sure to stop over at Roses on Paper's Design Team Blog and see what my design team sisters have come up with to share with you. They'll inspire you beyond belief! And join in our challenge. We'd love to see your fabulous creations done in these rich, lucious colors!

Card Ingredients:

Christmas Angel Mimosa by Bildmalarnas, copics, nestabilities, shapeabilities, Stickles, Diamond Glaze, Bling by Basicgrey, Specialty paper from The Paper Company, MS branch and leaf punch.

Try It Out Tuesday #47 - Fun Folds!

2009-12-08T04:00:00.000-05:00

Is there anything cuter than a little girl at Christmas time with some books? I absolutely adore Daisy from the Sampler 2 from Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design and have been waiting for the perfect time to color her up. Suzanne, our oh so talented Design Team leader challenged us to create a card with folds and I decided to do a gate card. It's simple, but I love how you can decorate the sides and use ribbon and flowers. And the way it opens is fabulous!

Make sure to stop over to Susana's Custom Art and Card Design as she's got some great new products and deals going on. A selected few of her Shapeabilities are on sale so go on over and get a deal on some of them.

You know how I love these sweet faces! I just couldn't resist putting this one on a cute Christmas top with some green bows in her hair. Nothing makes me as happy as coloring up an Elisabeth Bell creation!

I love the look of the gate card and you can do anything with them that you want!

Make sure to stop by Follow Your Heart and see what my other Design Team commrades have come up with for you. They never let you down!

Card Ingredients:

Daisy from Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Peppermint Forest paper stack from DCWV, Stickles, Smooch, cuttlebug embossing folders, Prima Flowers,
Rhinestones, nestabilities, Diamond Glaze

Day 2 of the Advent - Belle's Carol

2009-12-02T04:00:00.000-05:00

I am so excited and glad that you've come to celebrate the Advent with us at Belles N' Whistles! Summer has some wonderful surprises for you so make sure to come back and visit every day. My Design Team sisters have the most wonderful traditions and memories of this precious and wonderful holiday to share with all of you.

One of my favorite things about Christmas is the music. I love the older, traditional songs as well as the newer, contemporary tunes. When I saw "Belle's Carols", my mind started filling up with the wonderful sounds of the holidays. I remember being a little girl and right after Thanksgiving, Mommy and Daddy would pull out the Christmas decorations and and packed away would be the cutest little paper Hymn books from our church that would have Silent Night, Oh Come All Ye Faithful, Joy to the World, and all of those hymns we grew up on. I would take that book and just look over it again and again and would day dream about seeing myself up on a stage singing to all the world in the most angelic voice anyone had ever heard. Well, if you've ever heard my voice, you'd tell me it's a good thing I can color! I would just sit and practice my stage act on my dolls and sing to the top of my lungs - in my head! I could lip sync like no one's business and I always knew my dolls thought I was the most dazzling of entertainers!

I would love to hear what your favorite holiday carol is so, please share that with us. Oh, Happy Holidays and let the fun begin!

Much love,

Susan

Card Ingredients:

Belle's Carols from Belles N' Whistles, Eskimo Kisses Paper from BasicGrey, Stickles, copics, Prima Flowers, BasicGrey Bling half moon pearls, Peppermint Forest paper from DCWV.

Try It Out Tuesday #46 - Box It Up!

2009-12-01T04:00:00.000-05:00

It's Tuesday and the always inspiring Suzanne has challenged us to box it up! When I saw Cherry Blossom, I knew I wanted to do her up in some special way and I found this great purse from Jodi and thought it was perfect for her! It was so simple and you can find it here. I got to meet Jodi earlier this year at Stamp New England and was so excited to give her project a try!

She's colored with copics, has some stickles added on to her top and I really tried to keep her elegant looking. I just love this beauty's face. She looks so exotic! Don't you just adore her chopsticks?

This is what this great purse looks like from the side. I just love how easy it was to put together!

Now go on over to Follow Your Heart and see what other great containers my Design Team buddies have in store for you. It's that time of the year when you need something cute and fabulous for wrapping!

Card Ingredients:

Cherry Blossom by Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, copics, Stickles, Holiday Paper Pack from DCWV, ribbon, Prima Flowers, Silver Rhinestones.

Roses on Paper Design Team Challenge - Christmas Morning Tilda Candle

2009-11-29T23:39:00.009-05:00

Sure hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! Mine was nice and relaxing and I even got the chance to read a book! Well, it's back to work and creating and today, our ever lovely and talented Peta challenged all of us over at Roses on Paper's Design Team to make an altered Christmas project and I made a candle band using one of the new Magnolias from the So Jolly Collection. Hope you enjoy it!

These new Magnolias are just too adorable and I had to color up Christmas Morning Tilda. I like to think of her as going out in the middle of the night with her candle to look for the reindeer on the candle band! I made the band out of some of that gorgeous and fun Eskimo Kisses paper from BasisGrey. I just adore this paper and love the blues and burgandies in it.

I decorated the top of the candle by using my Poinsettia Shapeabilities and I added some Prima Flowers to the top. I love my flowers!

Here is another view of the top. Love these nestabilities!

So head on over to our Roses on Paper Design Team blog and check out the great projects by my design team sisters! And show us your Christmas projects! We love to look!

Card Ingredients:

Christmas Morning Tilda by Magnolias, Eskimo Kisses by BasicGrey, Prima Flowers, copics, stickles, Diamond Glaze, Stickles, BasicGrey Bling, spacers, nestabilities, shapeabilities, candle

Jingle Bells and Reindeer Feed for Belles N' Whistles!

2009-11-28T01:04:00.009-05:00

There's a quick and sweet project that I used to make with my girls for the holidays. It's called Reindeer Feed and you put it down on Christmas Eve to lure the reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh to your house.

I adore Jingle Bells by Belles N' Whistles. I just love Elisabeth Bell's illustrations and these Christmas Collections are just adorable and magical to me. I could just color and color all day long!

It's so easy to make. All you need is one cup of oats, one cup of sugar and mix in some glitter or some colored sugar or crystals. Some birds don't digest the glitter very well!

I just love this reindeer's sweet face and look at this sweet elf. Have you seen anything cuter?

So I hope you enjoy this quick project for the kids. It only takes a few minutes and gives you lots of sweet memories in return. I know it did for us!

Card Ingredients:

Jingle Bells by Belles N' Whistles, Eskimo Kisses by BasicGrey, stickles, copics, fine glitter by MS, nestabilities, SU topnote die, oatmeal, sugar, glitter

Try It Out Tuesday #45 - Button Up!

2009-11-24T04:00:00.001-05:00

Since I've been in Florida, I've gotten a new respect for shopping! My dear friend Sonya has it down to a science, just like our very own, fearless and ever talented leader, Suzanne! She challenged us here at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design to use buttons on our projects this week and I decided to go with something bright and fun, just like Sonya and Suzanne!

This beauty is colored with copics and I added some Stickles to her top and some Diamong Glaze to her boots. I framed her with my nestabilities and threaded some Scrapper's Floss through the buttons and ran one of my favorite BasicGrey paper stacks, Junebug, through my cuttlebug. I really love the embossed buttons on the side.

I love this set of images because you can do just about anything with them! Make sure to stop over at Susana's store blog and see what my design team buddies came up with for you. You'll be guaranteed to be inspired! So go and button up and shop till you drop!

Card Ingredients:

Suzanne from the Everyday Gal Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Junebug paper from BasicGrey, Scrapper's Floss, cuttlebug embossing folders, Stickles, Diamond Glaze, buttons from stash

Christmas Hearth for Belles N' Whistles Blog Hop!

2009-11-23T03:00:00.003-05:00

First off, Happy Birthday to my gorgeous daughter, Nichole! I sure do love and am so proud of you! Now, on to the blog hop for our second Christmas Release from Belles N' Whistles! This blog hop is really important to me since I was moving and not able to participate in the first Christmas blog hop from Belles N' Whistles. I love Christmas and my favorite stamps are Christmas stamps and to have them designed by Elisabeth Bell, well, that makes them all the more special! If you've come to my blog from Kathy's, (who is one of our fabulously talented Guest Designers!) then you're on the right track. If not, go to the ever so talented and sweet Kathrin's and start at the beginning! I'd hate for you to miss out on seeing any of the creations from my so talented Design Team Sisters!

I remember waiting up as late as I could with my sister and just dying to hear those sleigh bells or the sound of hoofs on the roof. My girls went through the same thing and to lay in bed and hear them scurring around the house and hearing them whisper in excitement brought back such sweet, warm memories for me. Now I've got two granddaughters to pass the magic of Christmas on to and get excited for all the wonderful memories that my girls will start making with their own families. I know deep down that they all still believe. I know I do!

Our theme for this blog hop was to create a bag, container, wrapping paper, something that a gift could go into so I decided to alter a lunch box type tin and thought this could be a great gift for my daughter Nichole to hold all of her pens, tapes, and gift tags. I've never seen anyone who loves to wrap presents and goes all out on a package like Nichole! Branden has banned her from bringing anymore wrapping paper into the house, but I think she might be able to talk him into a new roll or two! He's very good to her like that and after all, the presentation is as much fun as picking out the present!

I thought this would give you a view of the scene so you could see how great both of these Christmas Collections from Belles N' Whistles can go together. There's nothing better, especially with the economy the way it is now, than to have stamps that are inter changeable!

The top has some great poinsettia's from Prima Flowers. I topped them with some gold Dew Drops.

I love the 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and The Christmas Tree and thought they would be so cute in the corner of the room! I tell you, I'm just in love with these Christmas images! I just can't get enough of them!

This is what I did the the inside. Who can resist a picture of Santa on the rooftop? Not a believer like me!

Now hop on over to our Belles N' Whistles Blog and leave us some love! There's a fabulous gift that awaits someone! To be eligible, make sure you comment on each design member's blog along the blog hop and someone will be awfully happy on Thanksgiving when Summer posts the winner! Make sure to spread the word on these gorgeous stamps! Remember, you can start preordering them today, November 23rd and they'll be shipped out the first week in December. Now go on and hop!

Card Ingredients:

Christmas Hearth by Belles N' Whistles, The Christmas Tree from Belles N' Whistles, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas from Belles N' Whistles, copics, Stickles, Prima Flowers. Dew Drops, K&Company rhinestones, ribbon, Holoiday Collection Paper from DCWV, Provo Craft box.

Roses on Paper Design Team Challenge - It's All About the Romance!

2009-11-18T04:00:00.005-05:00

It's time for another challenge for our Roses on Paper Design Team and this time our ever talented and sweetest thing around, Anki, challenged us to create a romantic card based on the movie, Sweet November. A little bit of romance is always needed in our daily life and shouldn't be held up for just special occasions. Some of the most romantic moments in my life have happened in my normal, every day life. Here is what I came up with.

I simply adore Dinner Tilda and you can shop all over Summer's store for these sweet babies! I wanted this card to have a soft, feminine feel to it and nothing says romance to me like lace, pearls and a little glitz!

Tilda is colored with copics and AI love this paper from the Baby and Bridal Collection from Graphic 45 (I simply adore their papers!). I enhanced it a bit with my texturized cuttlebug folder and used my new pendant nestabilities as the background. The flowers are Prima flowers and I finished it off with my two favorite things - pearls and Stickles! And I think the cotton lace added just the right amount of softness. I hope you enjoy her!

Doesn't she have the sweetest face? I could just look at them forever.

Oh, how I've missed my Magnolias! I've got to not let myself neglect them so much! I hope all of you find a little bit of time for some type of romance in your life. We all need that magic!

Make sure to stop by my talented and inspirational Design Team sister's blogs to see their creations. They're all so fabulous you don't want to miss them and you can find their links on my sidebar! And then go over and enter your card on our Design Team Blog! We love to see what you come up with!

Card Ingredients:

Dinner Tilda by Magnolia, Stickles, Prima flowers, Bling by BasicGrey, Liquid pearls, cotton lace, nestabilities, cuttlebug embossing folder

I've Got the Blues - Boho Chic Style!

2009-11-17T04:00:00.001-05:00

I've got the blues and there's not much except some coloring that will help it! So our challenge this week for Follow Your Heart, thrown down by our favorite Design Team Leader, Suzanne, was to create something with lots of blue and a neutral color. I chose gold because it shimmers and shines!

Boho Chic is one of the fabulous creations from the Sampler #2 Collection from Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and card design and I though she totally fit my mood this evening. A bit bohemian and relaxed, just looking like she's loving life.

I colored her with copics and believe it or not, about the only thing I used on her was some Smooch! I love the red on her toe nails! The paper is from My Mind's Eye and I added just a bit of gold cord and a bow and star charm. I love the Prima flower in the corner and the gold pearls in the corner. Pretty tame for me!

Make sure to stop by our store blog and see the inspiring collections that my desig team buddies have come up with. They never dissappoint you when you stop by for a cup of inspiration! So go around and get the blues!

Card Ingredients

Boho Chic from Sampler #2 from Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, copics, My Mind's Eye paper, Blue Moon Charms, Prima Flowers, gold cord, SU ticket punch, gold pearls, Smooch

Make Mine A Latte!

2009-11-15T23:38:00.006-05:00

Me, I love me some coffee! Strong, weak, with cream and sugar, with nothing at all, you name it and I love it! There's nothing like the smell of freshly brewed coffee on a cool autumn day and that's exactly what I thought of when I saw Latte, a new stamp from the Sampler #2 Edition from Elisabelth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design.

She's colored with copics and I love the colors in this paper by My Mind's eye. I love the retro mod look she has to her so I tried to stay in the browns and oranges for her. To keep the mood going, I pulled out my retro flower punch and used it instead or some regular flowers. I love these brown pearl rhinestones and thought they added just enough to keep the card from looking too overdone.

I am absolutely crazy about this new side of Elisabeth Bell! I love the slightly older look to these ladies and cant' wait to bring more of them to you. You can see the entire collection at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. Don't miss them!

Sorry this is so short but I've been having some major problems with my internet connection and computer and while I think I've got it worked out, I don't want to take too much of a chance just yet.

Card Ingredients:

Latte from the Sampler #2 Edition of Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Diamond Glaze, Baby Girl Polka Dot paper from My Mind's Eye, brown pearl rhinestones, ribbon, corner rounder, EK Success Retro Flower Punch, copics

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree by Belles N' Whistles

2009-11-13T04:00:00.000-05:00

Like I promised, I'm back with my Rockin' Around from Belles N' Whistles and my
Christmas Tree to show you how she can be used for the upcoming holidays. What a cutie patootie she is!

She's colored with copics and I used some Stickles on her and the horse and the tree. I really love this week's sketch by Sketch Saturday. It's just fabulous and so easy to put together. Isn't this Eskimo Kisses paper from BasicGrey the greatest? I love all the patterns in it.

Isn't she just so precious? I totally adore these two stamps!

I really hope I showed how versatile these stamps can be. Come back around Valentines Day to see her in pinks and reds and Easter in gorgeous pastels, Summer in some bright reds, whites and blues, well, you get the idea! Enjoy your day!

Card Ingredients:

Rockin Around by Belles N' Whistles, Christmas Tree by Belles N' Whistles, Eskimo Kisses paper by BasicGrey, Prima Flowers, spacers, Stickles, ribbon, Cuttlebug embossing folders, Bling by BasicGrey, nestabilities, MS branch punches, hatpin.

Atlantia by Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design!

2009-11-12T04:00:00.005-05:00

It's so exciting to get to participate in blog hops, but when you get to present a brand new Elisabeth Bell stamp, well, for a stamper and for me, it doesn't get much better than that! If you came to me from our inspiring and talented Carolyn, then you're on the right track. If not, make sure you head back over to our dear Jennifer's blog to start off!

This is the new collection from Susana's Custom Art and Card Design and Oh, they absolutely take my breath away! And in honor of my move to Florida and my love of the water, I want to introduce you to Atlantia. Isn't she just absolutely stunning? Her and all the others in this new collection will be available for purchase today at 6am California time.

She's colored with copics and has so many different types of Stickles all over her to show her off! I think she looks like she's glittering under water, don't you? I added some tiny Kaisercraft pearls to her and added the sheer blue ribbon and a hatpin that has some underwater colors to them. I wanted to keep her simple and elegant. What do you think?

I used my divine swirls cuttlebug embossing folder and my EK Success wave punch for the edges and called it elegant. You know me and I just have to show off her ethereal face. Isn't she just stunning?

Now make sure you hop on over to our sweet, talented Anki's blog for our next showing! I hope you're enjoying this as much as we are!

Card Ingredients:

Atlantia by Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Stickles, copics, nestabilities, Fall Collection Pack paper from My Mind's Eye, ribbon, hatpin, Kaisercraft Pearls.

Rockin' Around the Autumn Trees with Belles N' Whistles!

2009-11-11T02:00:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite things as a little girl was sitting on a hobby horse that my brother had and riding it like I was born on a ranch. When I saw this cutie baby, Rockin' Around from Belles N' Whistles, it brought back some wonderful childhood memories.

I wanted to show the versatility of this stamp and the tree so I thought since New England was so beautiful during the fall, I would pull from the autumn colors and this is what I came up with. The sketch is from this weeks Sketch Saturday day and she's colored with copics. I used some yellow Stickles everywhere to give it a warm glow and cut here and her horsey out and popped them up. Don't you just love the teddy bear hanging on for dear life? I think this Indian Summer paper from BasicGrey is perfect for this card and I used a couple of cuttlebug folders to give it some dimension.

Here's a close up of her sweet face and that precious rocking horse.

I added some Prima flowers and some branches from my Martha Stewart punches and some brown pearls in the corners. I love how she came out! Can't you just see her done up in spring and then summer colors? Oh, the things you can do with her and that tree! Think about Easter, the fourth of July, all kinds of things. Check back tomorrow to see her in a bit more of a holiday setting!

Make sure to stop over at Belles N' Whistles and look at the entire collection and stop over at our Design Team blog and see what the project of the day is. You'll be inspired and challenged, I promise!

And don't forget to look at Follow Your Heart and see the great Elisabeth Bell candy that's going on! Sugarless but sweet as can be!

Card Ingredients:

Rockin' Around by Belles N' Whistles, Stickles, Prima Flowers, Indian Summer paper pack from BasicGrey, MS branch punch, ribbon, SU scallop edger, brown pearls

I'm Back with Try It Out Tuesday - Make A Scene!

2009-11-10T04:00:00.000-05:00

I've finally made it to Florida and am just about unpacked and can find everything! I'm loving life and sorry I've been away for over a week. I've been settling in and getting comfortable in learning a new job and am loving every second of it! Warm weather, a cute new apartment and new adventures to look forward to. It just doesn't' get much better than this!

After missing a couple of Tuesdays, I'm back with our challenge from the ever talented, Suzanne, challenged us to make a scene and here's my take on it. I used Snow Fun, one of the new releases from the Winter Wonderland Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. This one so reminds me of my gorgeous baby, Nichole, who would be out building a big snowman every day if she could! I've never seen anyone who loves the snow and outdoors like my baby girl! Honey, I miss you terribly and hope that you gets lots of snow this year to keep you busy and occupied!

She's colored with copics and I added some Polar White Flower Soft for the snow and some stickles to add lots of sparkle. I added some dimension to my scene by adding some different shaped snowflakes falling around the cutie pop and her snowman. And I love the Eskimo Kisses paper pack from BasicGrey.

Make sure to stop over at our Follow Your Heart blog and see what my always creative and inspiring Design Team buddies have in store for you. You'll never be disappointed by stopping over there! Girls, I've missed the heck out of all of you and thanks for your patience with me while I've been on the move. Love you all!

And make sure to check out the snippets of our new Elisabeth Bell Release that's going to be available on November 12th! It's like no Elisabeth Bell you've ever seen and I'd hate for you to miss out on the opportunity for some sweet candy!

Card Ingredients:

Snow Fun from the Winter Wonderland Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Polar White Flower Soft, Stickles, MS Snow flake punches, nestabilities snowflakes, Crystal Rhinestones, Ribbon, Cuttlebug snowflakes folder, SU ticket punch

Belles N' Whistles - Lil Miss Poppy Gift Card Holder

2009-10-29T02:05:00.007-04:00

I have a quick and easy project to share with you today and Lil Miss Poppy from Belles N' Whistles is here to help me! I love these gift card holders and you can see the tutorial here. I thought that with the upcoming holidays right around the corner, these would make great, quick containers for you.

She's colored with copics and I used some Diamond Glaze on her ribbon and a tiny bit of stickles on her blouse and skirt. I added a bit of decoration by using my flourish punch from EK Success.

Here's a copy of the inside.

And Lil Miss Poppy has the sweetest looking face. I love showing her off!

I'd love to see some of your examples! Show em off, girls!

And don't forget to join in on our blog hop tomorrow! We just can't wait to show off our new release from Belles N' Whistles! Get ready!

Card Ingredients:

Lil Miss Poppy from Belles N' Whistles, Indian Summer Paper from BasicGrey, Flourish punch from EK Success, ribbon, BasicGrey Bling, ribbon

Try It Out Tuesday #41 - Metal Musings!

2009-10-27T04:00:00.001-04:00

Did you ever feel just a little sassy? Well, that's how I was feeling today and I decided to add a little bit of pizazz to my day. Our oh so talented Design Team Leader, Suzanne, over at Follow Your Heart, for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, challenged us to use meal musings on our cards so while packing up my stuff to move this week, I found some metal photo corners and decided to use them and this is what I came up with:

Oh, I love me some Rubber Romance! I've always loved Melanie and her shopping bags and thought I'd send her out shopping for some Halloween. I colored her with copics and added some Smooch, Stickles and Diamond Glaze to her and I love this Eerie paper from BasicGrey. I thought it was perfect for her and her holiday shopping spree!

Doesn't she just look fabulous? I added some Prima Flowers with spacers and stickles and let her be on her way home. I'd say she's got some pretty good candy and a great Halloween costume in one of those bags, what about you?

Now head on over to Follow Your Heart and look at what my fabulously talented Design Team buddies have to share with you. You're never disappointed when you go over there!

Card Ingredients:

Melanie by Rubber Romance, Eerie Paper by BasicGrey, copics, Smooch, Stickles, Metal photo corners, ribbon, MS Goop edger, spacers, rhinestones,Diamond Glaze

Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential - Treats!

2009-10-24T03:30:00.002-04:00

What gorgeous creations everyone came up with that participated in our Scene It Challenge last week over at Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential! Talk about being blown away! Head over and take a look at our spotlight cards.

This week we're all about options for treat containers and our sponsor is Firecracker Designs by Pamela. What great designs she has! Our ever talented leader, Vicki, presented us with the challenge of coming up with our favorite containers and I chose to try the tutorial she has for a cello-wrap. You can find it on our blog. Here's what I came up with:

This gorgeous image is one of Pamela's digi images she's trying out called Harvest Bowl from Firecracker Designs Digital. Don't you just love it? I know I do and it will see a lot of action this holiday season! I colored it with copics and added a bit of stickles to the pumpkin and some Atyou Spica Glitter pen to the leaves and wheat. This gorgeous paper is from the fall collections from My Mind's Eye and the ribbon is some brown and white gingham and some multicolored ribbon from American Crafts. The yummy fudge is from my good friend, Brandy!

This container was so easy and went together so quickly! I just love this Labels Eight set from Nestabilities. It fits so many looks!

So come on and show us your favorite treat containers! With the holidays coming up and all the baking that will be going on, I think we all could use some ideas on how to present our yummy gifts! And go take a look at my oh so talented designing team sister divas have to share with you. I'd sit back with a cup of coffee and take some notes!

Card ingredients:

Harvest Bowl from Firecracker Designs Digitals, copics, nestabilities, Stickles, Atyou Spica Glitter Pen, Cello Wrap bags, ribbon

Lockhart Blog Hop! It's Della Robia Time!

2009-10-22T04:00:00.002-04:00

Welcome to our Lockhart Blog Hop for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design! If you came to me from my ever talented design team buddy, Aud, then you're on the right track! If not, then go to our super talented leader, Suzanne's blog and start from the start!

There's something just so elegant about the Lockhart Art Stamps. I love their windows and Itty Bitty stamps but I just love their trees! Isn't this Della Robia just stunning? I colored it with copics and touched it up with some Diamond Glaze and Smooch.

The gorgeous paper is from Graphic 45 and gosh, I just adore their papers! I added some pearls in the corner and an organza ribbon and tried to keep it elegant looking. Just to show how much I tried to keep this card clean and elegant, I didn't use any stickles! I think this image stands on it's own, don't you?

Doesn't the Smooch and Diamond Glaze just make the fruit and nuts just pop? I just love it!

So now continue on to my dear, talented buddy, Danni! Can't wait to see what great project she has to share with you!

Card Ingredients:

Della Robia Tree from Lockhart Art Stamps, Stickles, White Polar Flower Soft, Diamond Glaze, ribbon, Bella Baubles, Smooch,

Waste Not Wednesday at Belles N' Whistles

2009-10-21T03:00:00.001-04:00

Today is my turn at our Belles N' Whistles Design Team Blog to share my take on Wednesday with you. I've decided to call it Waste Not Wednesday and this is what I created with scraps sitting on my craft table:

Lately I've been making a lot of 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" cards and that leaves me with a 3" strip that is just big enough to put together a card using my scraps! I colored Tania Baking by Belles N' Whistles with copics and then cut her out with my nestabilities. I added a bit of distressed inks around the edges of the image and put a few pearls on the side. I added some stickles and some charms along the side. The paper is all scraps from my Indian Summer paper from BasicGrey that was left over from some other cards. I used some string instead of ribbon so it wouldn't overpower the card. Some pearls in the corner and a Prima flower and a hatpin finish it off. And these were all things that I had just laying around that were too big to throw away but not big enough to use on a full size card. Well, this 3" x 5 1/2" is a perfect way to use them up. And it didn't take hardly any time to put together. Wouldn't these make a cute set?

I keep saying this, but I just love her cutie little face! She looks so intense in her concentration of baking. I wish pies were my specialty! You can do so much with these images! I thought she looked so fallish and I can just imagine her baking up an apple pie from scratch. Yummy!

Make sure you go over and check out Jacque's sweet blog candy and give her a big welcome to our Belles N' Whistles family.

I hope you enjoy using up some of those scraps you have laying around. Remember, Waste not, want not! I'd love to see your 3" card! Show 'em to me!

Card Ingredients:

Tania Baking by Belles N' Whistles, Indian Summer Paper by BasicGrey, Distressed Inks, Stickles, Diamond Glaze, Pearls, Prima Flowers, Spacers, Hemp cord, hatpin, copics, nestabilities

New Belles N' Whistles Design Team Member's Debut!

2009-10-20T16:00:00.001-04:00

I'm so excited to present our new Belles N' Whistle Design Team Member - Jacque! She does such fabulous work and she's so funny she makes your sides hurt from laughing! There's some fabulous blog candy with Jacque's first post over at our Belles N' Whistles Design Team blog and I'd hate for you to miss out on it! While you're at it, make sure to stop by her blog and see her inspiring, gorgeous creations. Welcome to the family, our dear, new sis!

Try It Out Tuesday #39 - Table Tops!

2009-10-20T04:00:00.000-04:00

I love to look at a gorgeous set table. There's something to be said for elegance. For our Try It Out Tuesday over at Follow Your Heart, our Design Team blog for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, our super talented leader, Suzanne, challenged us to create something for our table tops. Here's what I came up with:

Now I'm not one for formal, so I had to kind of feel my way through this challenge. I wanted something smaller so I pulled out my Fairy Friends from Pink Cat Studios and went to town.

I colored this cutie penguine brown and turned it into my fall version of a partridge and added Stickles to his little wings. I added a Dress Up Petal to the end of his wand and ran my SU topnote cutout through my cuttlebug to give it a bit of texture. The background paper is from the Indian Summer pack from BasicGrey and I added some buttons to the corners and ran Scrapper's Floss through the middles. I am pretty pleased with how it came out.

And here's a close up of my penguin turned partridge! I love this little cutie!

Now go on over to our store blog, Follow Your Heart, and take a look at the great creations my Design Team buddies have come up with to grace your table. I can't wait to share them with you! So tell me, what's your favorite table top accessory? I'd love to hear what you do.

Card Ingredients:

Fairy Friends by Pink Cat Studios, copics, Stickles, Diamond Glaze, buttons, Scrapper's Floss, MS Fancy Lattice Edger and branch and leaf punch, cuttlebug folders, Indian Summer Paper pack from BasicGrey, Dress Up Petals

Roses on Paper Design Team Challenge - Halloween!

2009-10-19T04:00:00.001-04:00

Is there nothing that says Halloween more than a cutie little witch riding on her broom? Our challenge for you over at Roses on Paper's Design Team Challenge blog is thrown down by our ever so talented and sweet Iris, and it's to create a card for Halloween or a treat bag or invitation. Since I was away all weekend, I went with a card and here she is:

I love little witches stamps and collect them as much as I can and I think this cutie is about as adorable as they come! She's Witch Tilda from Magnolia and go over and take a look at what Halloween stamps Summer has left in the store. I colored her with copics and added Diamond Glaze and Stickles all over her! The gorgeous, fun, spooky paper is from the Eerie pack from BasicGrey and I absolutely love it! The moon is from the Glitter Stack from DCWV and I embossed it and my Eerie paper with my cuttlebug folders. I added some Eerie brads to my Prima flowers and finished it off with a touch of ribbon and some MS spider webs in the corners.

Here are a couple of side views so you can see the dimensions.

I love these spider webs for the corners! So much fun! I may pull this out and use it for a card I make for spring cleaning!

And Tilda's face is just the sweetest little thing! I simply love her fat little cheeks and sweet eyes! Reminds me of my Allie!

So make sure you stop by all my fantastically talented Design Team Sisters blogs and see the gorgeous creations they've come up with. You can find the link to their blogs on my side bar and believe me, you'll never be disappointed! And then go over to our Roses on Paper Design Team blog and post your Halloween project for us! We love seeing what you come up with!

Card Ingredients:

Witch Tilda by Magnolia, Eerie paper pack and brads from BasicGrey, Prima Flowers, Stickles, Diamond Glaze, copics, nestabilities, ribbon, MS spider web corner punch, cuttlebug embossing folders.

Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential - Scene It!

2009-10-17T03:00:00.003-04:00

We love all the participation we've been getting over at the Saturday Spotlight With Hidden Potential Challenge Blog! What great entries you've given us to all look at and inspire us! This week we challenge you to Scene It! Our sponsor this week si Squigglyfly so stop on over and leave them some love!

Mixing and matching stamps has always been a challenge for me. This week, I took two stamps from a brand new collection, Winter Wonderland from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design and think it came out pretty well! Have a look:

This is my version of "Ice Time"! I like to think of it as a big sister taking her little sister out to skate and having a bit of hot cocoa while she watches her younger sister glide on the ice. This is a frequent happening up here in Maine and it seems like that just might happen a bit sooner than normal this year. It may snow this weekend!

I colored Coco Puff with her hot chocolate and Skater with copics and highlighted them with Stickles, Smooch, Diamond Glaze and Shimmerz. The papers are from the Eskimo Kisses pack from BasicGrey and I added some Kaisercraft pearls to the corners. I think they both came out pretty great!

Now run on over to the Saturday Spotlight With Hidden Potential Challenge Blog and take a look at the great scene cards my Sister Spotlight Diva's have come up with! I promise you you'll not be disappointed! You can see all their blogs on my sidebar so go give them some love. We'd love to see how you Scene It! So pull out some of those stamps that you know will go together and show your stuff off! I don't want you to miss out on the Squigglyfly prize when all you have to do is make a card! Have a great weekend!

Card Ingredients:

Coco Puff and Skater from the Winter Wonderland Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Diamond Glaze, Distressed stickles, Kaisercraft Pearls, Stickles, Shimmerz, Smooch, Eskimo Kisses paper pack from BasicGrey

Walking in a Winter Wonderland!

2009-10-16T04:00:00.000-04:00

Did you ever have a collection that you just can't quit playing with? That's how I feel about this sweet, new Winter Wonderland Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design! They're all available for purchase now so make sure you head on over and pick up your set so you can come and play with us!

When I first saw this sweet Santa, "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" just popped into my head! I kept humming it while I was working on this card! Talk about inspiration! I just couldn't stop working on him and thinking snow and everyone knows how much I hate snow!

This cutie is colored with copics and I added some stickles to his suit and used Liquid Pearls on his hair and beard. White Polar Flower Soft just is just everywhere and I think is just perfect for this card! I added some Diamond Glaze to Santa's boots and all their eyes and used my MS snowflake punches and added some Bella Baubles to the corners. Smooch is perfect for his buttons and buckle and the ribbon on the packages. Love the shimmer it gives!

All the extras on this stamp just make it so endearing. Isn't the sweet bird sitting on Santa's shoulder too sweet? And if you can resist this sweet little pixie squirrel, then there's no hope for you!

And isn't this sweet little deer just adorable? I love so much about this stamp and this collection.

I hope you head right over to Susana's Custom Art and Card Design and pick this set up! It's way too cute to pass up!

Card Ingredients:

Santa from the Winter Wonderland Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Liquid Pearls, Stickles, Polar White Flower Soft, Diamond Glaze, copics, nestabilities,

Nobody Puts Kringlet in the Corner!

2009-10-15T04:00:00.000-04:00

This is one of the most exciting blog posts for me since I've been back stamping. I get to start off our blog hop for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design's new Winter Wonderland Collection from Victoria Case! I'm so excited to be part of this great, fun and exciting event! So let's get started and I hope you're ready for some absolutely fabulous projects and images!

My favorite time of the year is the Christmas holiday season. I love getting a jump start and one of my favorite things about the season is holiday candy. We have it everywhere - on tables, kitchen counters, on the dash in my car, you name it and you'll find Christmas candy around. and it's always front and center stage, never hidden in a corner. That's why when I got the opportunity to present this little cutie, I knew she would never be made to be put in a corner! Meet Kringlet! She's one of the new stamps from the Winter Wonderland Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design and I think she's fabulous! My Kringlet and all the other fabulous stamps will be available for purchase from Susana tomorrow, Friday, October 16th! I don't want you to miss a single one!

This sweetie has so much that I love about the season. She's a sweetie pop that gives her all, she's giving her heart. She reminds me so much of both of my girls and their generosity during the holiday season. I stamped her with Staz-On and colored her with distressed inks. I cut her out and mounted her on the new Poinsettia nestabilities and used some velvet red paper and embossed paper and gold linen paper. I love the rich colors!

I tied a wide red tulle ribbon around a clear glass bowl and filled her with some peppermints. I finished her off by adding some Stickles to her dress and hat and Diamond Glaze to her heart and a bit of Smooch to her hat and sleeves. How cute is she? It's that exciting time for me when I get to bring a gorgeous image to life and present it to the world. Hang on to your hats because this little cutie, Kringlet, is going to have your running for your Christmas elf hats!

Doesn't she have the greatest, sweetest face? I love that you can color her eyes and I added a tiny bit of Diamond Glaze to her eyes. I could color her all day long!

Before you go, tell me what's you're favorite holiday treat? I love peppermints, like you can't tell! Now head on over to see Danni and see what great stamp she gets to present to you!

Card Ingredients:

Kringlet from Winter Wonderland Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Stickles, Smooch, Kaisercraft Pearls, nestabilities, Distressed Inks, Diamond Glaze

Blog Candy for our new Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design Release later this week and a Problem

2009-10-13T08:39:00.001-04:00

I'll have a card up later today, but I would hate for you to miss out on the opportunity over at Follow Your Heart for the great Victoria Case blog candy that Susana at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design is offering in celebration of our new Winter Wonderland release! Your sweets come int he way of a sheet of the new stamps being released and two gorgeous and fun BasicGrey paper pads - Indian Summer and Eerie! I am so anxious and excited about showing off this release to you all! Such great images and I've had the best time bringing them to life for you! So head on over to the store blog and get in the running!

And I'm having a problem with losing some of my pictures in some of my blog entries. Can anyone help me with this? I don't think I've done anything differently. I'd so appreciate it!

Time for Some Cocoa!

2009-10-12T14:02:00.007-04:00

Happy Columbus Day to Americans and Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian friends! Sorry I'm a bit late with getting this up on the blog, but it's been a pretty hectic couple of days for me. I've been fighting a horrible headache after falling, but I'm fine.

When I woke up this morning, the fall air has truly hit New England and the first thing I thought was "Hot Cocoa!"

When I saw this tutorial for a hot cocoa packet holder on Suzanne Dean's blog, Scrap Bitz, I knew I wanted to make it. Today seems like the perfect day and I think the Hearty Thanksgiving stamp from Belles N' Whistles is perfect for this project! You can see the instructions here. I'd love to see you give this a try! You can use it for all kinds of things! So tell me, what's your favorite Hot Cocoa? Me, I'm a Swiss Miss Instant with tiny marshmallows!

I colored these cuties with copics and added some Stickles and Diamond Glaze to the pumpkins and flowers. I also added some raffia along the bottom with a button with Scrapper's Floss through it. The Prima flowers on the top are set upon some silk leaves.

Aren't their faces just the sweetest things? I could color them up all day!

Here's a side view of the holder.

This is the top. I added a BasicGrey magnet to keep the container closed.

Hope you enjoy making this and remember to post your project in our new Gallery!

Card Ingredients:

Hearty Thanksgiving by Belles N' Whistles, Prima Flowers, Stickles, Diamond Glaze, Scrapper's Floss, BasicGrey magnets, raffia, button

Ms MyTime! And We All Need It!

2009-10-11T18:34:00.006-04:00

Don't you love it when you make time for yourself? We all need to do that and what makes us better for ourselves always makes what we give others so much more worthwhile. If there's something I'd love to pass on to others, it's that we need to find MyTime. Susana's Custom Art and Card Design make it easy to have some me time! And here's one way:

Ms. MyTime is from the Every Day Gal Collection by Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design and these gals are fabulous! She has some of my favorite things embodied in her - a great bath tub, pretty bottles with lotions and fragrances to make you feel special, candles, a great fuzzy robe and sassy shoes!

I colored her with copics and added some Sparkley Fluff and Polar White Flower Soft. After I cut her out with my nestabilities, I added some Bella Baubles to the corners and to the middle of the flowers. I used some of my favorite paper, Euphoria by BasicGrey and added a bit of design to it with my SD Fancy Lace edger. I added some Shimmerz to the tub and to the wall. I thought the Susanament sentiment that comes with this set was perfect!

Isn't she just fabulous?

So go and take some Me Time! You not only need it but you deserve it! But before you get your Me Time, get ready to be amazed because we're going to be having a great release of the Winter Wonderland Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design! Sneak peeks begin on Thursday!

Card Ingredients:

Ms. MyTime from the Every Day Gal Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Polar White Flower Soft, Sparkly Fluff, Stickles, Shimmerz, Diamond Glaze, Euphoria Paper from BasicGrey, Bella Baubles, EK Success Retro Flower Punch, nestabilities,

Saturday Spotlight With Hidden Potential - Time for Trees!!!

2009-10-10T03:00:00.005-04:00

I just have to thank all of you who participated in our first ever Saturday Spotlight With Hidden Potential Challenge! All of the entries were just fabulous and we can't wait to see what this week brings! This week were are challenging you to make time for trees! DRS Designs is our sponsor and they have some absolutely fabulous designs! This time of the year trees start to go through a great transformation and how exciting to share that beauty with them. Here's my take on Time for Trees:

This gorgeous tree stamp is from DRS Stamps and it's called Summer's End and I have just been taken with it. I changed it for all the seasons. Since it's fall, here's my view on fall:

I used Autumn Flower Soft and some yellow stickles to pick up the sun that reflects off the falling leaves. And now for winter:

I've used White Polar Flower Soft and Frosted Lace stickles to give it a glistening look that comes from snow and ice. While snow is gorgeous to look at, I'm glad I'm heading away from this season! And then comes spring:

Spring brings renewed life to the trees as well as us all. I love that time of the year. And now summer, that I can stand 365!

How gorgeous is all of the green and the bright colors. Yes, I know most trees this large don't have pink and deep green flowers in them, but hey, with stamping you can make them whatever you want!

All of the papers are from the Indian Summer stack from DCWV and the crystals and some of the embellishments came from a very sweet, dear friend. I had the best time working with this tree and believe it or not, these cards went together in less than two hours - all four of them!

Make sure you stop over at our Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential Blog and see what my other Design Team buddies have come up with. I know you won't be disappointed! So pull out those stamps and make some Time for Trees! We love seeing what you come up with!

Card Ingredients:

Summer's End by DRS Designs, Indian Summer paper stack from DCWV, Flower Soft, Stickles, ribbon from stash, Rhinestones and Pearls from Michael's, hatpins, various cuttlebug folders, nestabilities

Little Witch with Broom

2009-10-09T09:15:00.002-04:00

I love this time of the year and I love little witches! I think this sweet Little Witch with Broom from Belles N' Whistles is too stinkin cute for herself! And while we're at it, hope over to our Roses on Paper & Belles N' Whistles Challenge Blog for some information about a Guest Design Team spot!

My mom always made Halloween so much fun for us. We'd all get dressed up with whatever we had around the house and would grab a pillow case and off we'd go trick-or-treating all around the neighborhood. She'd greet all the kids around and act so scared when she saw someone who was supposed to be scary. It was a day we always looked forward to. To this day, she still makes her individual candy bags to pass out and she gets a ton of kids who come back because she has the best candy! Now they bring their children and she passes out two bags - one for the kids and one for the parents! Now that's putting spirit into the holiday.

This sweetie is colored with distressed inks and has a ton of stickles all over her! I just absolutely adore the Eerie Paper pack from BasicGrey and the glittery moon is from DCWV. I added a bit of glossy accents to the spider and used my skulls Halloween and spider web cuttlebug folders to give her texture. I used the MS spider web corner punch and the goop edger to add a bit of fun. Add a bit of ribbon and some half pearls and I think she's too cute to be scary!

This is a glimpse of the side and the inside. I love the bats and the striped paper on the inside together.

And her sweet face, well, I can't resist her!

Hope everyone has a great weekend and I'd love to hear some of your memories of Halloween!

Card Ingredients:

Little Witch with Broom by Belles N' Whistles, Eerie paper from BasisGrey, Stickles, Glossy Accents, Skulls and Spider Web cuttlebug folders, DCWV glitter paper, distressed inks, ribbon, half moon pearls.

Scrappy Frog's Challenge Blog - Trees

2009-10-07T21:02:00.001-04:00

Scrappy Frog's Challenge Blog challenge that is going on right now is to create something with trees. Here's what I came up with:

This tree stamp is so fabulous and is by DRS Designs. It is stamped with Memento Cocoa Brown and I highlighted the sky and ground with blue and green Dew Drops from Versachalk. I added some Autumn Flower Soft and cut it out with nestabilities. The paper is from the Indian Summer paper stack from DCWV and the ribbon is from Offray. I added some rhinestones on the edges and think it looks great!

Here's one side of the card that shows a bit of the inside.

I hope you stop over at Scrappy Frog's Challenge Blog and see all the great design team creations and join in our challenge. I'd love to see you all participate and show off those trees!

Card Ingredients:

Summer's End tree by DRS Designs, Flower Soft in Autumn, Indian Summer Paper Stack from DCWV, Rhinestones, Ribbon, nestabilities

Try It Out Tuesday #38 - Surprise!

2009-10-06T04:00:00.002-04:00

I love Tuesdays! I get to work up cards with the greatest group of stampers and our uber-talented leader, Suzanne, always comes up with the greatest things for us to work on and create. This week we were asked to create something other than an ornament with one of the new Special Edition Ornament Collection by Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. I chose to be surprised!

There's nothing like receiving the gift of a pet. They can bring so much love into your life and the look on a child's face when they see this unexpected bundle of joy is priceless. I have my own little thing, my Hagrid, who I wouldn't trade for the world. He loves me to distraction and only wants my time and attention. Oh, how good it feels to be loved and wanted!

This beauty is colored with copics and I used my nestabilities to cut her out and frame her. Don't you just love this Indian Summer paper? I could use it forever! Her dress has, yep, Stickles, and I addede some Glossy Accents to her bow and the ribbon on the package and on the pup's package and ribbon. The edge is cut out using my MS fancy lattice and added some gorgeous Prima Flowers and spacers and colored half moons on the corners and the middle of the flowers. So the card wasn't too Christmasy, the sentiment is from a Hero Arts set.

Oh, I just love her gorgeous face, don't you? Now head on over to the store blog and see the gorgeous creations that my fellow DT buddies came up with. I know for a fact you won't be disappointed!

Card Ingredients:

Surprise for the Special Edition Ornament Collection from Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Indian Summer paper pack from BasicGrey, Prima Flowers, Stickles, spacers, half moon rhinestones, ribbon, MS fancy Lattice Edger, MS branch punch

Color Challenge from Roses on Paper Design Team!

2009-10-05T12:20:00.000-04:00

It is Challenge Time over at Roses on Paper today! There were so many beautiful cards from our last challenge and I can't wait to see what you come up with this week. Our very own multi-talented Jodi has given us a color challenge to use Brown, Orange, and Green on our cards and then follow a sketch of our choice. I love the colors and have a blast trying out different sketches. For this card, I chose one of my favorite The Greeting Farm Sets, Never Ever, because of Peter and Tink, and followed the sketech from I (heart) to Stamp. I love Jen's sketches she comes up with!

My boy Pete and gal Tink are stamped with Staz-On Jet Black and colored with Distressed Inks. I love coloring with them! They've got some stickles from all the pixie dust and his boots and Tink's dress is highlighted with Glossy accents. This gorgeous paper is from Que Sera Fera from K&Company and I added a ribbon and an autumn Prima Flower to the corner along with some Rhinestone beads.

I love his sassy "Never, ever gonna grow up" impish look he has and well, everyone knows how I feel about that magical Tink! Yep, she's my favorite!

We would love to see what all you create using these colors and the stamps from Roses on Paper. Head on over to our Design Team Challenge Blog and see what stunning creations my Designing Sisters have come up with. They never cease to amaze me with the beauty they put on paper! Make sure to stop by their blogs, their addresses are on my side bar, and leave them some love and appreciation! Now go put those colors to good use!

Card Ingredients:

Never Ever by The Greeting Farm, Que Sera Fera Paper from K&Company, Stickles, Glossy Accents, Distressed Inks, rhinestones, Prima Flowers, ribbon from stash.

Our Very First Saturday Spotlight With Hidden Potential Challenge - Halloween-NOT!

2009-10-03T03:00:00.001-04:00

How exciting it is to be part of a brand new Design Team of extremely talented and fun stamping and to present some avenues to challenge you to find your hidden potential as a stamper and crafter! Vicki from Saturday Spotlight With Hidden Potential's Challenge Blog, thanks so much for having faith and belief in me as a card artist in that I can help inspire people to dig deep and find something in them they didn't realize was there and to my other Spotlight Divas, I'm having so much fun with all of you! I'm just thrilled and cant' wait to get get started so let's go!

Our first challenge for you is to create a Halloween-NOT card. Yep, that's right, we'd love to you create a Halloween card and not use something scary or obvious on it. The image I chose is one half of a stamp that had the cutest little wizard on it. If you know anything about me, you'll realize how had it was for me to take my little wizard off of Scarecrow & Little Wizard from Belles and Whistles. Here this cutie is:

Nothing says fall to me like a cutie scarecrow out in a garden. My mom always had a garden and had a scarecrow in it. She would dress him up and from the road, you would swear that there was a grown man sitting out in her garden! What made me dig a little deep was thinking about what I could do to make this crow chaser a bit different and I thought about using raffia where some of the hay would be. So he has a bit of raffia at the bottom of his pants and coming out of his side. I love how it looks on him!

Now I want you to go take a peek at what our blog looks like! And while you're doing a bit of travelling, make sure you stop by all of my Diva gal pals and see what they've unearthed for their hidden potential this week. So what's going to be your hidden potential this week? I'd love to see and hear all about it!

Card Ingredients:

Scarecrow & Little Wizard by Belles N' Whistles, Indian Summer Paper Stack from DCWV, Rhinestones, Raffia, Stickles, Petaloo Daisies, Scrapper's Floss, button, copics, nestabilities, Spiderweb cuttlebug folder, MS edger

Falling Leaves

2009-10-02T04:00:00.001-04:00

We have another Try It Out Tuesday going on only it's on a Friday! Thank God for Fridays! Suzanne, our ever talented Design Team Leader over at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, challenged us to create a Fall or Halloween project using one of the stamps from our new release.

One of my favorite seasons is fall and one of my favorite illustrators is Elisabeth Bell. My favorite holiday is Christmas so when I say this adorable ornament from the Special Edition Ornament Collection for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design designed by Elisabeth, all sorts of ideas popped into my mind. The first was that I just adored this collection. The second was how versitile they can be. I wanted to show you one idea I had for Two Turtle Doves.

I was out walking the dogs and an idea came to mind. I could see this little darling sitting with leaves falling around her! I love the Indian Summer paper pack from BasicGrey and decided to use it along with Two Turtle Doves and a few leaf stamps I had from a Debbie Mumm Harvest stamp set. I colored her with copics and cut her out.and popped her up on a circle done with my nestabilities. I added some Glossy Accents to the leaves and the ribbon in her hair and some stickles to her skirt. The flower is from Petaloo and I placed a button in the middle of the ribbon and some rhinestones on the corners. My cuttlebug provided the texture for the card and I drew the leaf free hand. I just love the deep pinks and soft brown in this card.

Here she is close up and you can see the Glossy Accents on the leaves. I think she came out pretty good!

Make sure to go over to Follow Your Heart and check out my designing buddies creations. They all will have something special for you to see!

Card Ingredients:

Two French Hens from the Special Edition Ornament Collection from Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Indian Summer Paper from BasicGrey, Stickles, Glossy Accents, Rhinestones, ribbon, button, Scrapper's Floss, nestabilities

Warm Apple Pie

2009-10-01T01:31:00.004-04:00

I've wanted to play along with the Tuesday Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge. So when I colored up Warm Apple Pie from Belles N' Whistles, I thought this sketch would be perfect for this sweet little baker! I just adore the new Belles N' Whistles release illustrated by Elisabeth Bell. They're just so much fun! Here's the sketch for this week:

And this is my take on it:

My daughter, Tiffany, loves to make apple pie. All of my girls love to cook and bake and they got that from their father, not me! I'll do all the clean up you can throw at me, but to do the cooking, well, it's not my talent.

This little baker is colored with Prismacolor pencils and OMS and I highlighted her dress with Stickles and her ribbon and shoes with Glossy Accents. I love this gorgeous paper from My Mind's Eye and thought the colors were perfect for her. Don't you love the little toile on her dress? I added a few pearls in the corners and thought they were perfect for her.

And how can you resist this sweet little face? Elisabeth illustrates the sweetest little babies! Just adore all of her work! Thanks, Elisabeth, for giving us images that give us so much joy. It's such a pleasure to work this these cuties!

Make sure to stop over at the store blog and see what's going on over there. It changes from day to day so you never know what you might see. Don't miss a thing!

Card Ingredients:

Warm Apple Pie by Belles N' Whistles, Prismacolor Pencils, OMS, Stickles, Glossy Accents, My Mind's Eye paper, ribbon, hatpin

Three French Hens

2009-09-30T04:00:00.001-04:00

I absolutely love Christmas! I love decorating, shopping, getting into the mood and enjoy every single minute of the holidays. These sweet ornaments from the Special Edition Ornament Collection from Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design are just so delightful and fun to work with! I think everyone should have them! They're now available so go get your Special Collection before they're all gone!

3 French Hens from the Special Edition Ornament Collection from Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design just called to me! This sweet face so reminds me of the girls when they were young and they would get all dressed up for the Christmas festivities. There's nothing as sweet as a little girl in her Christmas best!

She's colored with distressed inks and I made her using a tutorial I found here for this recessed window card. This Bo Bunny paper was great to work with because the colors were so soft. Her hair ribbons and the band at the bottom of her dress is touched with some luscious Smooch and I added some Stickles and Glossy Accents to her dress and to the holly branches and berries and touched up the bottom with a bit of this gorgeous Polar White Flower Soft. I absolutely love this! I'll get to have the effect of snow and not have to shovel it this year!

Here is a side view of the card. I am having a great time finishing off the inside of my cards lately. I'm not quite ready to show the entire thing, but give me a couple of days and I'll be all set!

I hope you enjoy my first glimpse of the holidays! Can't wait for them to get here!

Card Ingredients:

3 French Hens from the Special Edition Ornament Collection by Elisabeth Bell for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Polar White Flower Soft, Smooch, Bo Bunny Paper, Stickles, Glossy Accents, distressed inks, ribbon, holly branches,

"It's Friday Night..." New Release from Susana's Custom Art and Card Design!!!!

2009-09-29T04:00:00.002-04:00

I am so stinkin excited to share one of the new images from the new Victoria Case Everyday Gals for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design with you! These sassy, grown up every lady babes are part of the new double release Susana is doing that also includes some goregous Special Release for the Holidays from Elisabeth Bell. These will be available for order on today, September 29th, at 9 am (EST) or 6 am (PST)!! All my Design Team Gal Pals have projects up on their blogs so make sure to go to their links that are at the bottom of my message and see what kind of action they have going on!

"I just got paid... It's Friday Night..." I can't tell you how many times I danced to this song years and years ago! It seems I've always had some kind of cash coming in on Fridays and there's nothing like getting all dressed up and going out and relaxing with your gal pals. When I took one look at this sassy Miss Chardonnay, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with her! And this is one of the new Susanaments that's available with this set. Aren't they great? Just wait till you see them all!

She's colored with Prismacolor pencils and OMS and I covered her dress with stickles to give it that flassy look to it. I wanted her to be flashy and classy so I added some gorgeous Petaloo Dazzlers in gold and put some bronze Rhinestones in the corner. The DCWV paper is actually from their Once Upon a Time stack and I thought the rich colors were perfect for this beauty. I added a touch of Glossy Accents to her wine glass, stool and eyes and used an Atyou Spica Glitter pen on the chrome on the stool. The sketch is from last weeks Sketch Saturday and I love the different layers they had. Yep, about the only thing I love as much as Stickles is layers on a card! The ribbon is from my stash and I love how she came out!

I love this side view because it shows a little bit of the inside of the card. I've been inspired to create and decorate the inside of my cards and this shows just a bit of the corner.

So make sure that you stop by all my fabulous Design Team buddies and see their fabulous creations! I as excited to see them as you are! Here are their links:

Suzanne
Anki
Aud
Carolyn
Dianne
Danni
Jami
Jennifer

So go out and get ready for not only the end of the work week, but start getting geared up for the holidays!

Card Ingredients:

Miss Chardonnay by Victoria Case Everyday Gals for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Susanaments by Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Stickles, Once Upon A Time paper by DCWV, Petaloo Dazzlers, Atyou Spica Glitter Pen,

A little bit of sweetness and some very sweet Blog Candy from Susana's Custom Art and Card Design

2009-09-27T22:27:00.002-04:00

Head on over to Susana's store blog, Follow Your Heart, and check out the amazing blog candy!!! There is also a sneak peek of a few of the new release designs up! You have a chance to win both awesome mini releases from Elisabeth Bell for SCACD and Victoria Case for SCACD!!!
You can enter until September 28th at 11 pm (EST)!! The winner will be announced at midnight (EST) on the 28th so you can purchase the new mini collections at 6 am (PST) on the 29th!
Hurry! Go enter!! There's a question to answer but it's easy!!

Not a lot intimidates me, but after seeing some of the gorgeous cards made with Hanglar stamps, I was afraid to color some of these images up! Silly, I know, but this weekend I got over myself and took the plunge! While I worked on a lot of new and exciting things to show you this upcoming week, I thought I'd put together this sweet little flower bee as I like to think of her as.

I colored her with copics and added some stickles and distressed the edges with some of my distressed inks. Isn't her faces just the sweetest thing?

You know how much I love my stickles and I just wanted to show off how sweet this little one is. I wanted her to have a soft look and used some Gypsy paper by BasicGrey. I hope you enjoy her!

So make sure to stop by Susana's Custom Art and Card Design's store blog and sign up for that yummy blog candy she's got going on! I just can't wait to share my part of the release with you! I'm so, so excited about what I get to do for you!

Card Ingredients:

by Hanglar Stamps, Gypsy paper by BasicGrey, Stickles, Distressed Inks, Kaisercraft Pearls, ribbon, MS fancy lattice punch.

Scrappy Frog's Challenge Blog - Frogs!

2009-09-25T12:30:00.004-04:00

I am late in getting this up but maybe it will be a good thing that you see it while you still have a week to get your entry in for Scrappy Frog's Challenge Blog. We were challenged to put a frog somewhere on our card in honor of our own Froggy!

I used a Pink Cat Studio set, this one is from one of the Billy sets, and you can get your Pink Cat Studio stamps from Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. I love all of their sets so look out because I'm going to be using a few more of them!

Billy is colored with copics and I used some Stickles and Glossy Accents on that cute little frog! The paper is from the Pets DCWV stack and the dots in the corner are from Colorbok and the ribbon from American Crafts.

Pretty simple but I can't resist a little boy and his frog! Reminds me so much of my nephews out catching tadpoles and little frogs in the back yard. Oh, gotta love those memories!

Make sure you stop by the blog and get your frog entry in! This is such a fun challenge to participate in!

Autumn Flower Soft!

2009-09-22T04:00:00.002-04:00

Get ready, stampers, because Susana's Custom Art and Card Design is having a release coming up and it's going to be such a treat for us to all play with! Find all the details at Follow Your Heart!

Today Suzanne challenged us design team members for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design to create a card using an autumn theme and to try and add a bit of Flower Soft or Polar Soft to our cards. I went with the autumn theme and Autumn Flower Soft. I've loved this Sweetie, Autumn from the Hearts and Hugs 2 Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design since I've seen it! I think she's just so adorable and I know she would be perfect for this challenge.

She's done with Prismacolor pencils and OMS and I cut her out with my nestabilities and used some gorgeous paper from My Mind's Eye. I added some rhinestones and Stickles and Glaze Pen to the flowers and her adorable scarf and hat. I love my Petaloo flowers and thought the button with Scrapper's floss would add a great touch.

Victoria Case illustrates some of the cutest faces! I love their eyes. They look so life like when you add a bit of color and some Glossy Accents. Just love them!

Thought I'd show you what the leaves look like up front with the Autumn Flower Soft around it. I love this mix and think it's just gorgeous!

I love corner punches and thought I'd let you see what the inside corner of this care looks like.

Make sure to stop by Susana's store blog to check out my other Design Team buddies creations. I am proud every Tuesday to present work for you with this wonderful and extremely talented group of ladies!

Card Ingredients:

Autumn from Hearts & Hugs 2 Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Prismacolor Pencils, Paper from My Mind's Eye, nestabilities, ribbon, Stickles, Glossy Accents, Glaze pen, Shimmerz Spritz, Flower Soft, EK Success Corner punch

Roses on Paper Design Team Challenge - Stitches!

2009-09-21T09:46:00.004-04:00

Over at Roses on Paper and Belles N' Whistles Challenge Blog, our ever talented Design Team Sister, Rosette, challenged us all to create a card from Roses on Paper using stitches of any kind! I started coming down with a flu bug yesterday so I went with the faux stitches on my sweet little Mimosa with Cupcakes, one the the new, totally sweet Bildmalarnas that Summer is now carrying. I think she's just too stinkin sweet and cute for words!

Here is a picture of this beauty before I added my faux stitching around the border. I colored her with copics and used some paper from my stash (I'm slowly getting rid of my scraps so I don't have to buy so much paper right now before I move!) and the card stock is Coredinations. I added some Glossy Accents and Stickles to her and highlighted her with my white opaque pen. I thought my MS lacy edger would be so pretty with her and give the card a girly feel. Some Prima Flowers, MS branches and spacers and pearls along with a few Dew Drops complete her.

Isn't this face just too adorable? You could just eat her up!

I hope you all will stop by our Roses on Paper/Belles N' Whistle Challenge Blog to see what my ever so talented sisters have worked up and participate in our stitching challenge. And look closely because there's some information about becoming a Guest Designer for Belles N' Whistles there so I'd hate for you to miss out on that opportunity! Great things could happen! We'd love to have you join us for a stint!

Card Ingredients:

Mimosa with Cupcakes by Bildmalarnas, Dew Drops, Stickles, Prima Flowers, Glossy Accents, Jelly Roller White Opaque pen, MS lacy edger and branch punch, spacers, BasicGrey Bling, ribbon

I'm a Diva - Saturday Spotlight Diva, that is!

2009-09-19T10:00:00.000-04:00

The more I stamp, the more I love it. The more I do, the more I want to do. I can hardly believe it, but I’ve actually been able to put in time and work a bit ahead with my stamping so I’ve been able to try some different things. Heck, last week I made a card and was able to make a batch of home-made caramels to go along with it! So I’ve felt ready to take on another challenge. That challenge is in the form of being on the design team of Vicki Parson’s Saturday Spotlight With Hidden Potential! Yep, I’m a Saturday Spotlight Diva! I am so excited to have another challenge to bring to you and to participate in. I’m just thrilled to work with Vicki because I just love her work and there is a group of super talented group of ladies that I really admire that I get to work with and learn from and I’m so excited about that! So get ready because we’re going to be doing some challenging things on Saturdays! All the fun starts on October 3rd so be on the lookout!

You can see my talented Design Team cohorts on my sidebar. I hope you'll stop over and see their amazing work! Vicki and the others, thanks for taking a chance on me and I'll try not to disappoint!

Let's Blog Hop! The New Yummy New Belles N' Whistles Are Here!

2009-09-18T06:00:00.000-04:00

Woo Hoo! It's Blog Hop Time over at Belles N' Whistles and if you've come here from Iris's blog then you are on the right track. If not, make sure that you start the blog hop at our Belles N' Whistles blog and make sure you follow Anki's directions there. There's some sweet and yummy candy that is up for grabs and I'd so hate for you to miss out on it.

So on to the cards! The time is here to show off some new Belles N' Whistles stamps that will be available to order tomorrow, Saturday, September 19th and to be shipped next week! If you've read much of my blog, you know what a huge Harry Potter fan I am and I was so excited when I found out I got to present The Scarecrow and Wizard for you! Isn't this just the absolutely cutest thing? I took one look at it and fell in love!

This cutie is colored with Prismacolor pencils and OMS and highlighted with Glossy Accents, Stickles, my clear Jelly Roller gel pen and my Glaze pen.

Don't you just love this close up of him handing the scarecrow a piece of candy? As you blog hop, you'll notice a theme with this release. They all have something to do with baking or food of some type. So we've got some recipes for you! When I saw this baby, I thought of the home made Caramels that we used to make so I want to share my recipe with you.

Caramels:

Ingredients: 2 cups of Sugar, 1/2 cup of light corn syrup, 1/2 cup of milk; 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 4 teaspoons of butter, 1 cup of heavy cream

Cook to stiff ball at 246 degrees. Add vanilla, pour into a buttered pan. When it cools, take it out and cut it into squares and wrap in wax paper. That's it!

I hope you give this recipe a try. I'd love to hear how it comes out for you! Before you leave here, make sure you leave a comment to be eligible for the blog hop prize. I'd hate for you to miss out. Now to continue on with the blog hop, make sure you go next to visit Rosette. I'm sure she's got something very yummy for you! Make sure you take your fork with you to visit!

Belles N' Whistles New Release and Blog Hop Announcement and Details!!!

2009-09-17T09:06:00.000-04:00

I know this sweet cutie card, Sisters, was just up over the weekend, but my Design Team Sisters at Belles N' Whistles just want to make sure that you know about our new Belles N' Whistles release and blog hop we're having tomorrow! Yes, we've got six gorgeous and yummy stamps designed by the ever so talented one and only Elisabeth Bell That we are just so excited to present! You can order them on Saturday, September 19 for purchase and will begin shipping the following week. And there's going to be a little bit something else along the way so you won't want to miss it! The blog hop will start at our Belles N' Whistles Design Team blog and proceed from there. Can't wait to see you so make a note because we don't want you missing a single thing!

Ta Da! Basket for School with Belles N' Whistles!

2009-09-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

I love baskets! I have such fun making these and they're just as easy as can be. And adding some of these cutie doll Belles N' Whistles makes it all the more adorable!

Here is a couple of different views of them. Would you believe that these are beer coasters covered with card stock? I punched the holes with an ice pick (can't find my crop-i-dile) and threaded some gingham ribbon through the sides. I love the paper here and filled this sweetie with push pins, paper clips and Post-Its.

I colored my images with Prismacolor pencils and OMS and added some Glossy Accents and Stickles to them and cut them out and framed them with my nestabilities.

I added a couple of buttons and cut out flourishes and waves from my EK Success punch.

Here is Belle Sitting With Teddy. I just adore her big bows in her hair!

And my Sweet Teddy Bear Picnic is a perfect way end this post, having a cookie! I hope you enjoy making one of these cute baskets and fill it with whatever you like! So tell me, what's your favorite back to school item?

Try It Out Tuesday #36 - Triangular Trifold Card!

2009-09-15T08:23:00.000-04:00

I had a great time making this tri-fold card for our Try It Out Tuesday Challenge over at Follow Your Heart, our Design Team blog for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. You can find the instructions here. Super Easy and goes together really quick.

This Adirondack Chair stamp is a scene that you could find in just about any card up here in the Maine area. There's something very New Englander about this chair and is just cries to be looking out over a beach or bay, water of any kind. It is from the Lockhart Stamp Company and I colored it with my Prismacolor Pencils and OMS and added a bit of Autumn Flower Soft and a touch of Glossy Accents to the chair. It will be time to have the mums out for the fall and I thought they would be a nice touch to the pot of flowers. This ribbon reminded me of the colors of the sunset and it just made me think of an early autumn evening. Hope you enjoy it!

Sorry the picture doesn't show the beautiful aqua and rust colors of the papers. I need some new batteries for my camera I think. Make sure to stop by all my design team sister's blogs and see their great and inspiring take on this tutorial. I just know you'll be off making one of these of your own!

Card Ingredients:

Adirondack Chair by Lockhart Stamp Company, Autumn Flower Soft, Glossy Accents, Prismacolor Pencils, OMS, brads by Colorbok, BasicGrey ribbon.

Sketch Saturday, Sisters and a Fairy

2009-09-13T19:00:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite sketch challenges to participate in is Sketch Saturday. I went looking for a sketch for one of my images and imagine my surprise when I saw they were looking for some new design team members! They hold a very near and dear place in my heart because I was so honored to be their first Guest Designer! How exciting it would be be back there on a regular basis! Here's the sketch they put out:

Here's my sweet Bildmalarnas, that Summer at Roses on Paper is now carrying:

I love these new sweeties and can't quit coloring them up! This is Tosse Flower and I think this sweetie came out so adorable! I colored this cutie with Prismacolor pencils and OMS, added a bit of Stickles, Glossy Accents and some Kaisercraft Rhinestones and think this baby came out adorable! The paper is from the Lemonade collection from BasicGrey and the ribbon is from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look at my card. I'd love the opportunity to work with the ever talented stampers at Sketch Saturday again!

"Sisters, sisters, there were never more devoted sisters..." Isn't this sweet stamp, Sister by Belles N' Whistles, just adorable? Me and my sister are so close, but back in the day we were more into picking on each other than the sweetness of this loving pair! This would be us now though! It's just amazing what you learn with time!

I colored these sweetie girls with copics and used GinaK Luxury paper. I had to use some stickles on their sweet tops and on the big sister's cap. I used some ribbon around the card and added some Prima Flowers with spacers and pearls and some Dew Drops in the corner.

I love Glossy Accents and added some to the ribbons in their gorgeous hair and around their cut tops. Aren't they just precious? And now for a bit from the fairy world!

These fairies from Mo's Digital Pencil are just too vivacious for words! I love the maturity and fullness of these these cuties! She is colored with copics and I added a lot of stickles to her and to the gorgeous Wisteria paper from BasicGrey.

Doesn't she just look like the happiest, most serene pixie? I just love the versitality of Mo's images and have a lot more to share with you!

It feels good to be back to posting on a more regular basis. I've missed sharing with all of you and thanks so much for hanging in there with me during this past summer. It means the world to me!

Card Ingredients:

Sisters by Belles N' Whistles, Stickles, Dew Drops, Prima flowers, spacers, BasicGrey Bling, MS branch punch, ribbon and paper from my stash, copics, nestabilities.

Fairy from Mo's Digital Pencil, Stickles, copics, Wisteria paper from BasicGrey, BasicGrey Bling, ribbon from stash

Window Shopping with Kristy

2009-09-11T09:47:00.000-04:00

I'm having a bittersweet day today. I worked Monday on the holiday because it was the first day of school so I'm taking today off which is great! But my dear friends, Lynn and Molly, are off to Stamp Vermont today and I so wish I was going with them. :( With moving to Florida next month, I made the adult decision to save my money but I'm there with them in spirit. But then they're going to stop by a new stamping and scrapping store so I'm so sorry to be missing that with them. So I went shopping on my own!

Me, I love me some Rubber Romance and I have had Kristy in my mind for the longest time. I get all my Rubber Romance stamps from my sweet and patient friend, Susana, at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. She's been so great with me this summer in not being able to make commitments or being late because of Nichole's wedding and then getting ready for the opening of school and then next month with my move to Florida. I think about you all the time and promise to be better with calling and keeping in touch. I love you lots, my dear friend! This Rubber Romance babe is for you!

It's been a while since I've done a semi-sassy card so I wanted to work with her. I have had her done several ways but the Glossy Accents kept running when I tried to cover the windows so I decided to highlight a few of the items instead. I colored her with copics and highlighted the windows with my Spica Glitter pen. I used my new nestabilities on her and colored the ribbon with my copics (something I learned at Stamp New England in March with Lynn, Molly and I went! :)) I used my new MS edge punch to give it just a touch of elegance and added a couple of Bella Baubles in the corner. I was pretty pleased with her!

And just because I didn't used any stickles, I sprayed some Baby's Breath Shimmerz Spritz on her. Since I don't get to shop with Lynn and Molly, I felt like I should do a bit of window shopping for myself! Lynn and Molly, have a blast and come back and tell me everything you learn and do!

Card Ingredients:

Kristy by Rubber Romance, Bella Baubles, Shimmerz Spritz, Atyou Spica Glitter Pen, nestabilities, copics, ribbon, MS arch lattice punch.

Lemonade, Anyone?

2009-09-09T13:14:00.002-04:00

Don't you just want to eat "Lemonade, Anyone?" right up? I know I did when I first laid eyes on her. And this paper from the Lemonade BasicGrey pack just fits for her. I am going to be making recipe boxes and cards for my girls for Christmas and I'd love to add in some recipes from someone other than just myself. So what is the best lemonade or sweet tea or hot tottie recipe you've had or use?

Two of my favorites is to make a pitcher of pure lemonade using just lots of sliced lemons, water, ice and sugar (yes, I know it's bad for you, but it's so good in lemonade!) and then I've boiled tea and let it cool. Then I've mixed them half lemondade and half tea, put it over ice and drank it down! Yummy!

And just look at this sweet face on her? You just know she wants to offer the best refreshments to her guests that she possibly can. Most of my supplies came from Summer at Roses on Paper and the sweet stamp is from Belles N' Whistles. Make sure you stop by our Belles N' Whistles Design Team Blog and see some of the gorgeous creations that my Design Team Sisters are doing. They're asking questions, and getting ideas, you never know what you'll find there from day to day!

So tell me your recipes for some great beverages. I'd love to share them with my family! So sit back on the last few days of summer, relax and ask, "Lemonade, anyone?"

Card Ingredients:

Lemonade Anyone by Belles N' Whistles, Stickles, Glossy Accents, Lemonade BasicGrey paper, BasicGrey Bling Pearls, buttons, Scrapper's Floss, cuttlebug, nestabilities, ribbon, copics

Try it Out Tuesday #35 - Sketch!

2009-09-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

I love working with sketches and Suzanne has given our Design Team for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design a great one to work with. It's so much fun to see what Suzanne is going to come up with next for us! This is what she gave us to play with:

And this is my Enchanted Lily and interpretation of it.

I have always adored Pink Cat Studios and was so excited when Susana started to carry them. I thought she would work out perfectly for this sketch. I stamped her with Tuxedo Memento Black and pulled out my Prismacolor pencils and OMS. I do love my copics but am still building my collection so when I want a large range of color, I pull out my pencils and have some fun! I used some Smooch on the flowers and the band on her sweet dress and added stickles on her wings and a bit on Lily's dress and the flowers. I cut her out with my nestabilities and used my fun Junebug paper by BasicGrey and added some Dew Drops in the corner and Prima flowers. I used my distressed wood cuttlebug embossing folder to give her a bit of texture and MS's branch punch for some leaves. I am pretty happy with how she came out.

I love her beautiful face! What a sweet smile she has!

Make sure to stop by the store blog, Follow Your Heart, and see all the gorgeous ways my Design Team buddies have used this sketch and I'd love to see what you do with it!

Card Ingredients:

Enchanted Lily Set by Pink Cat Studio, Prismacolor pencils and OMS, Stickles, nestabilities, Junebug Paper by BasicGrey, Smooch, MS branch punch, Prima Flowers, spacers, Kaisercraft Pearls, Dew Drops.

Roses on Paper Design Team Color Challenge Hosted by Me!

2009-09-07T08:22:00.000-04:00

It's my time to host the Roses on Paper Design Team Challenge and I chose to do a color challenge. I just love putting colors together and when I found this paper in my stash, the colors of soft blue, lavender and cream just seemed so soothing. It's getting to be the end of the summer and the bright, earthy colors of fall will be upon us so I wanted to pay homage to the last peaceful days of summer.

I love Fairy Eva from The Greeting Farm that you can get from Summer at Roses on Paper. She looks so serene and accepting of watching over the end of the summer season. She knows there's change coming and is ready for whatever comes her way. At least that's what I see in her! I stamped her with Memento Tuxedo Black (I always use that ink. I just love it!) and colored her with copics. I used my nestabilities to cut her out and frame her. The Prima flowers are touched with Stickles, as are her wings, and I placed silver spacers with pearls on the Prima flowers to give them a bit of class. I added some Dew Drops in the corner and then finished her off with a touch of Shimmerz Spritz.

Doesn't she have just the sweetest and most angelic face on her? Love this little sprite!

Here's a close up of the shimmery sheen she has. Wish I looked this sweet!

Don't forget to stop over at our Roses on Paper Design Team blog to see what great creations my designing sisters came up with. They're fabulous as always and make sure you visit their blogs and tell them how much you love their work! As a note for the store, Summer is going to be carrying the just scrumptous Bildmalarna's! They're just as cute as they can be so make sure you stop over and get your pre-order in! You won't want to miss them!

Card Ingredients:

Fairy Eva by The Greeting Farm, copics, Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, Stickles, Prima Flowers, BasicGrey Bling, spacers, paper from stash, Shimmerz Spritz, Dew Drops

Just for fun - Because I Need It!

2009-09-02T10:11:00.000-04:00

This is going to be a quick post, but I had a couple of cards I wanted to share. I had them completed but just had to add a couple of finishing touches to them. My dear friend, Sheri sent me this Gorgeous Girls image (Thank you my dear! You rock!) and I just love her and how she came out!

And aren't these nuns just the happiest and cutest things ever? My sweet design team sister over at Belles N' Whistles, Rosette, has such a beautiful, serving and joyful heart on her and gives so much to others that I thought about her when I saw this image and you can just feel the joy that comes from the gorgeous cards she does. So my dear Rosette, this Mo's Digital Pencil design is for you!

And Belles N' Whistles blog is offering a free stamp a day from one of the design team members. We're highlighting different techniques, sketches, embellishments, stamps, ideas, recipes, you name it, and it will come up! Make sure you stop over and take a look!

Susana at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design is having a great sale on Shimmerz and has some great new products in! Stop by and do some shopping there!
Now I'm back off to my job at school. Gotta get those kids ready for their classes so I'll see everyone soon!

Try It Out Tuesday #34 - No DP!

2009-09-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

Well, Suzanne did it to us again! She threw down the challenge to our design team for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design to use no design paper on our card that we didn't create ourselves! I didn't think I'd enjoy this challenge but I had a great time just letting sweet Milla take front and center! I loved this cutie and I was in the mood to color her up with lavenders. Milla is one of the sweet images from the new Hearts and Hugs Collection 2 from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design. I love how she came out!

I stamped her with Memento Tuxedo Black and colored her with copics. I used some Glossy Accents on her hair ribbon and dress ribbon and added just a touch to her eyes. My camera is acting up a bit and she's much prettier in person than on print. My paper is from Coredination and the ribbon is from my stash. I touched up her dress and ruffle just a bit with Stickles and then sprayed the entire card with Shimmerz Spritz. I added a Blue Moon Heart charm to the ribbon and finished her with a Bella Bauble in each corner.

Don't these cuties have the sweetest faces on them? I could color them forever! Make sure to visit my other Design Team sister's Blog to see all of their great creations! I know you won't be disappointed! So Happy Tuesday and try creating a card from just card stock. I'd love to see what you come up with!

Card Ingredients:

Milla from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Shimmerz Spritz, Bella Baubles, Stickles, Glossy Accents, Kaisercraft Pearls, copics, SU ticket punchy, nestabilities, ribbon

Sorry for not being here

2009-08-28T08:37:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm doing it! I'm making my move to Florida at the end of October of this year! With Nichole being married and going to be leaving Maine after Branden joins the Air Force, I have the greatest opportunity to start a brand new phase in my life and I'm taking it! I'm going to be working with my old navy roommate, Sonya, and we're going to have a large time! Most people have old college roommates, but not me. I've got the best old navy roommate ever! Great fun to be had!

I've been going through some of my things this week which is why I haven't had much in the way of stamping to share this week, but I promise to be back over the weekend. I've got some cute Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Belles N' Whistles, and a few others to put together so I'm still stamping, just not as prolific. But as I was gathering some of my pictures, I found a picture of Nichole and two girls who are daughters of my soul, Kelly and Nicole. I shutter to think about the things these girls have done in the past and what's to come of them in the future! Aren't they just beautiful? They have ran through my house to die on the couch after running to get ready for field hockey season, have taken hostage the bottom floor of my apartment for sleepovers and movie nights and dances and well, you name it and they've done it. They've invaded and ate every morsel of food in my house and brought me pizza when I've had to work three jobs. You just have to love them and thank God for placing them in my life. Nichole, Kelly and Cole, I love everything you've brought to my life and I wouldn't have been able to make it through your high school years without you. You're daughters of my heart and I'll love you and be there for you all forever. Love you, Momma Pearl

Try it Out Tuesday #33 - Notebook Cover

2009-08-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite things to shop for used to be back to school supplies for the girls. Don;t let me walk into Staples because it's way too hard for me to get out! I love the smell of new crayons and freshly sharpened pencils. Makes me think about all the things out there to learn and I get so excited about learning!

Our ever so talented Design Team Leader at Susana's Custom Art and Card Design, Suzanne Dean, challenged us to make a notepad or post-it cover to go along with the back to school season so I chose Susy, one of the brand new images from the Hearts and Hugs Series 2 Collection from Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design! I think she's just adorable!

I love the red and white paper and thought it looked fresh for back to school. I used the ribbon to add some black accents. Susy is colored with copics and I added some Stickles to her dress and pants. Some Glossy Accents gives a realistic look to her gorgeous eyes and I added some glaze to her sweet teddy bear. I love the patterned Prisma flowers and thought they'd give just a bit dimension. I can't wait to use this cutie!

This is a side view. You can see the cute pale pink pages of the notebook.

I just adore these sweet babies faces! Aren't they just precious?

Now make sure that you stop by Follow Your Heart, the store's blog and check out all the other goregous projects that my ultra-talented Design Team Buddies have created for you all!

So go enjoy getting ready for back to school! School and desk supply shopping is as much fun for me as clothes shopping! Enjoy!

Card Ingredients:

Susy by Victoria Case for Susana's Custom Art and Card Design,Zip Dry Adhesive, Prima Flowers, Glossy Accents, Stickles, copics, nestabilities, Paper is Love In Bloom from Scrapworks, Coredinations paper, black brads from Colorbok, ribbon,

Roses On Paper Design Team Challenge - Sketch and Punches

2009-08-24T09:11:00.000-04:00

It's Design Team Challenge Day over at Roses on Paper Challenge Blog and I've so missed doing challenges with my sweet DT sisters! It feels so good to be back with you guys! Our sweet and terribly talented and always challenging us sister, Peta, threw down the challenge to do a sketch and incorporate punches! I love the sketches but punches are something I don't pull out any where near as much as I'd like to but I did my best today for you, Peta! Make sure you stop by our blog and take the challenge! Also visit my ever so talented Design Team sisters and see their fabulous creations. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Sketch Saturday is one of my favorite sketch challenges to follow so I chose their new sketch. I thought this image was perfect, Teddy Bear's Picnic, from the new Belles N' Whistles Stamps created by the ubber talented Elisabeth Bell. There's just something so enchanting and magical about sitting on a blanket with your favorite things and enjoying the day. I can't remember how many times I did that with my stuffed animals and dolls. My imagination ran rampid with what I was feeding them. Grapes, peanut butter sandwiches and there was always Cherry Kool-Ade. Nothing refreshes me or takes me back to my sweet childhood like a good swig of Cherry Kool-ade!

This sweetie is colored with copics and highlighted with Stickles and a glitter pen. The Prima flowers are highlighted with, well, Stickles, and I used the small brads from the Junebug line from BasicGrey. Love this line so much that I used the papers for it as well! The sentiment is from the Showtime set from The Greeting Farm. I added a bit or rick-rack and a couple of pearls in the corners and just love her.

I wanted to show off my Cherry Kool-ade! I colored the liquid in R29 and added some Glossy Accents to it. Love the glassy look it gives the glasses!

Is there nothing more precious than a little girl feeding her animals? And don't they just look so hungry? Takes me back to so many picnics I used to have with my stuffed animals and dolls. I just love the innocence and purity of this image!

I hope all of you get the chance to spend a little bit of time with your favorite things. Just remember what it was like to have that wonder and innocence of a child in you and revisit that place and time. It's wonderful to honor those special times. So after you visit our blog and enter our challenge, go have a picnic!

Card Ingredients:

Teddy Bear Picnic by Belles N' Whistles, Sentiment by The Greeting Farm, Prima flowers, Junebug paper and brads by BasicGrey, Stickles, atYou Spica Glitter Pen, Glossy Accents, copics, EK Success corner punch, SU border punch, SU Scallop Punch, Paper Maker circular punch, ribbon from stash