HAPPY NEW YEAR / 2S4Y #42...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Gosh, it's so hard to believe we are about to start 2010...

I played along with Laura's sketch #42 from 2 Sketches 4 You... and they also suggested the colors, too - red, black & silver!

The houndstooth paper (Night & Day Specialty DSP) & cardstock is from Stampin' Up! I can tell I'm going to have to stock up on that Night & Day paper before it retires! The buttons are from the Playground Deisnger set and I also used the Daisies Flower #2 Bigz Die for the red 'burst' behind the stamped image. The stamp is from Lizzie Anne's December Mix Stamp set, which I stamped in Silver Encore onto black cardstock & embossed with Iridescent Ice Stampin' Emboss powder.

Anyone have any resolutions? I'm hoping to get back into some semblance of reasonable shape after I have the baby... I'd also like to keep my stamping stuff better organzied (if you're reading this Jeff (and stop rolling your eyes), I PROMISE I'll clean up the dining room this weekend!). My third resolution is to spend more time outside in the yard & garden, so my mom doesn't have to come & clean up my flowerbeds in the spring & fall - mom, you can stop rolling your eyes, too!

A last note... as of today I am officially 2 weeks away from delivering Maisie Grace. Please pray for our family, that she will be very patient & not come out until I tell her to. My parents are leaving for a week-long cruise tomorrow (yeah, I know, it was my dad's brilliant idea... he's such a MAN) and they won't get back until the evening of the 9th. I am scheduled to have Maisie via c-section on the 14th. I am trying very hard not to panick & be stressed out. So again, please remember us in your prayers.

Bye for now!

I CARE / ACT10 & SSSC #50...

Here's that cutie-patootie little girl again...

Well, after a probably much needed hiatus, Stacey is back with Act 10 of her Curtain Call Color Challenges - YAY! I've really been missing her! I paired her super fab colors with Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch to make this little card. Both these super talented ladies post their challenges on Sundays... so there's still time for you to play along!

I was bad today (well, not TOO bad) and I downloaded a bunch of digi stamps from Heather Ellis' website, of her Pure Innocence line. You 've seen me use a couple of her stamps recently & probably observed me just gushing over them... I can't help it!!! They are SO SWEET! I colored this in with Prisma Pencils & blended them a little bit with mineral spirits. I used a Copic to add a 'shadow', as well.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

EVERYTHING NICE / CQC13 & PPA #22...

Here's some bright, fun colors that have nothing to do with Christmas, although it was hard not to reach for the greens, pinks & reds...

This card is based on 2 challenges, the latest colourQ #13 and a super cool sketch at Pals Paper Arts!

The set used is from Stampin' Up! called Everything Nice. I also used 2 dies for this card, the Scribbles, Swirls Sizzlets Die & the Flower Layers Originals Die. I used a scrap of retired Tempting Turquoise designer paper I had laying around. I also did a LOT of paper piercing & faux stitching on this card... I really love that technique!

Bye for now!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! (Are you pulling your hair out yet?)

I want to wish all of you super fab stamping friends of mine a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Jeff is finisheing up the last of the gift wrapping & then we'll be off to church & then dinner & spending the night at my parents house!


As you can see, I have a LOT of help in the "hair pulling out" department~ How can my son be so sweet & mean at the same time? Well, it's finally here... I love Christmas!!! As many of you, I have not had much stamp time the last week... but that's okay, we've been making nice memories around here!

Here's Alex with Santa... he actually ran up to him when he saw him! Of course, I know Alex doesn't have a clue yet who Santa is... he's just a friendly kid! He's been battling a stuffy nose for a few days, so his cheeks are extra rosy here.

A while back I got this super award from Andrea , she's so sweet and her blog is just lovely! If you get a chance, go by & visit her!

Well, I did the best I could with this, but honestly some of the questioned seemed to require more than one word answers!

Here are the rules:

Answer the following questions using single word answers. Then pass the award to 5 other people and let them know.

Your cell phone? razr
Your hair? shortish
Your mother? awesome
Your father? amazing
Your favorite food? sushi
Your dream last night? strange
Your favorite drink? coffee
Your dream/goal? awesomeness
What room are you in? office
Your hobby? stamping
Your fear? loss (of loved ones)
Where do you want to be in 6 years? as happy as I am now
Where were you last night? choir practice
Something that you aren't? prissy
Muffins? chocolate chip
Wish list item? atg gun
Where did you grow up? sweet home alabama
Last thing you did? feed Alex
What are you wearing? anything that still fits!
Your TV? on - Handy Manny
Your Pets? Chance, Kiwi & Mr. Peep
Friends? treasured
Your life? wonderful
Your mood? happy
Missing someone? always
Vehicle? toyota
Something you're not wearing? bikini - lol!
Your favorite store? Hobby Lobby
Your favorite color? (just one?) yellow
When was the last time you laughed? last night
Last time you cried? everyday (hormones!)
Your best friend? Jeff
One place that you go to over and over? work - hah!
Facebook? yup!
Favorite place to eat? Top Thai

The 5 super duper bloggers I would like to pass this award to are:

Tanja - awesome stamper, mom 2 her boys & friend!!! Love ya!
Sarita - her blog is FAB! She has such an elegant style ~ I love it!
LeAnne - one of the nicest, most talented bloggers you'll EVER meet!
Krystal - maker of beautiful things... she awesome!
Beverly - crafty lady - she loves a good stamp challenge & really 'piles' them on!

So ladies, this is just a recognition of your talent and what super swell gals you are! So if you're not 'into' these award thingies, that's okay... I won't be offended if you just overlook it (is that a nice way of saying ignore?) But since I've been feeling guilty for not passing it on after getting it over a month ago, I figured it was time! Plus I didn't want to break any blogging laws...

We went to a bowling birthday party last Sunday... 35 weeks pregnant & I managed to beat everyone - lol - shouldn't they be ashamed! So this is the rest of my crew, Jeff & son, Alex. These 2 guys love to pick on each other (as well as others) so I'm very pleased to have a little girl in my corner soon!

Again, I hope you all have a terrific Christmas filled with lots of family, friends & food!!!

See you soon!

SNOW DAY / CQC#12 & USSIS #36...

Ahhh, I took the weekend off from stamping, but I hope to get a lot of playtime this weekend after Christmas!

This card is a combo of the new colourQ challenge #12 & this week's Unscripted Sketch, well, my loose interpretation of it anyway! If you have some time, you should play along!

I finally got my package in with this cute little stamp, Snow Day, from the Pure Innocence line by Heather Ellis... I am so in love with this itty bitty girly! I used some chunky MS glitter for the snow, and the image is watercolored. Wow, I think this is the first card in a while that doesn't have any patterned paper on it~ what was I thinking?!?

Bye for now~

TEXTURED TREE / Mojo #117 & DCBD #158...

I've been thinking about making a Christmas tree with the Daisies Flower #2 Bigz die, so when I saw the Diva colors this week, I decided to go ahead and try!



The Mojo sketch was simple & sweet this week, then again I always love the Mojo sketches! And the colors from the Diva Coffee Break challenge were awesome, as usual! And their samples are just gorgeous!!! Make sure you go see them!

To make the tree, I cut 3 papers with the Daisies Flower #2 Bigz die, one Old Olive cardstock, and 2 of 2 different Old Olive Patterns dsp. I then cut 2 or 3 sets of 6 petals & 5 petals... here's a diagram of the shapes to cut...

Once I had them cut out, I curled the petals & then started layering & gluing them down! I added some rhinestones, used the star punch to make the top star & TA-DAAA ~ a Christmas tree!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

LILY HOT COCOA / PTW #30 & CTD #73...

Here's a new Lily, she's got a marshmellow~y cup of cocoa..... yummmmmy....

I was up late last night when the new challenge was posted at the Color Throwdown... I was SO tempted to stay up even later to play! But I was a good girl & went to bed - it was after 1am! So after thinking about this challenge most of the day, I settled down to stamp after Jeff left for work this evening! I cheated & swapped the Cool Caribbean for Baja Breeze, which is just a little more muted. I wanted to paper-piece this & I had paper in mind for it which necessitated the switch!

I paired these colors with the sketch challenge from Papertake Weekly, which I loved & really wanted to follow to the letter, but my sentiment was too long to put it at the top & I had to tilt it... trust me - I made 2 sentiments & the first was TOTALLY wrong, so by the time I made this one, I just had to make it work!

This stamp is Lily Hot Cocoa from Pink Cat Studio, of which I'm a huge fan! The paper is retired Stampin' Up! Most everything is paper-pieced, very time consuming, but worth it! I also used stickles on the "Baja" fur parts of her coat.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

SCANDINAVIAN SEASON / 2S4Y Bonus & RSCC #20...

This is part of my non-traditional Christmas colors series ~ lol...





The 2 Sketches 4 You bonus sketch is cute this week, who doesn't love tags? And Dawn's colors were certainly super swell, so once again I was determined to make a Christmas card!

This is a retired set from Stampin' Up! called Scandinavian Season from last year's Winter Mini Catalog... some of these sets don't make it into the regular catty - so if you want 'em you gotta grab 'em!

Bye for now...

MERRY kissMAS / PDCC08 & CPS #146...

Here's another one of of the digistampcharacters (Heather Ellis) stamps called Merry KISSmas... gosh~ I fell in love with the stamp when I saw it on someone else's blog! Isn't she sweeeeet....

This card is for a few challenges, a color challenge (love it!) at the Play Date Cafe & also a super cool sketch from Card Positioning Systems. It also works for the snow themed card for Crazy4Challenges & the Stamp Something winter themed challenge AND the Pink Elephant's winter themed challenge. Yes, that's five. Aren't challenges the BOMB! I may have to look for some kind of support group...

I was so eager to have this stamp that I bought the digi version to play with while I wait for the actual rubba' to arrive! In order to do the paper-piecing, I had to print this onto the different Lemonade (Basic Grey) papers I was using. I added stickles for the snow!

Nighty-night!

PEACE & JOY / CQC #11 & 2S4Y #41...

I just realized there was no stamping involved on this card...

Laura has a really fun sketch this week over at 2 Sketches 4 You! I flipped it over on its side and paired it with this week's colourQ challenge.

I used the Join In The Cheer Stampin' Up! Decorative Strip Die to cut the wording, in both Basic Grey and Bella Blue designer paper. The piece I cut from the patterned paper I ran through the Zyron & then ran it through to coat the top, as well, so I could stick chunky glitter to it! The ribbon is both Very Vanilla (sorta looks yellow, doesn't it?) and Bashful Blue. I finished it off with a giant blue rhinestone!

Have a great day!