Celiac disease!!!!

I haven't posted in awhile. :( I hadn't been feeling well at all and things have been slipping. But I have good news! We finally know what's wrong! Woo hoo! I have Celiac disease. This means I have an allergy to gluten. No more wheat anything for me. I haven't had any wheat in several weeks and I just keep feeling better and better. :D Jason and I went out tonight and got 3 gluten free cookbooks and I can honestly say that I am so excited to start cooking again! I love to cook but it had become such a chore. Everything I cooked made me feel ill just looking at it. Don't get me wrong, I'm a good cook but the sight of food was making me sick to my stomach. I am so glad to finally know what's been going on and that by making a simple diet change, I can feel so much better.

Oh the nerdiness!

This past week was BlueHat at Microsoft. This is a huge hacking conference for Jason and he was very busy. He also has a week of dinners and parties after work to schmooze with other nerds. A couple of these are 'plus one' events and I got to go along. This year we went to a little restaurant off of Post Alley near the Market. Honestly, it was a little dull- And that's saying a lot since Barry and I can entertain ourselves at the expensive of others quite easily. But there were only a few people there and it was really dark. Barry and I went around and harassed some upper level management and this guy who wears Utility Kilts all the time. *I am buying Jason one- just so I can see his legs 24/7. And maybe to torment Dan and Andy...* Adam has promised to let me straighten his hair is I raise money for his alma mater and he gave me a lap dance. I got to hug and squeeze Gorgeous Steve which did something for me but nothing for Barry. So we gave up and went and got ice cream after a little while and waited it out outside.

Then we were led to an after party in the Alibi Room. This is a very tiny restaurant near the famous Gum Wall. Except that once we got into the restaurant (which is already below street level), we were led down two more sets of stairs into a small room. BUT before we could go into the room we had to fill out a bizarre quiz and put on a name tag. Here's a little tip for whoever organized this event-
1. Hackers tend to be suspicious people. Very suspicious. Asking them to fill out a quiz with their full name and favorite things is an exercise in futility, even when the request is made from a woman in a low cut, black, latex outfit and 99% of the hackers at this party are men (true story). This soon became a contest to see who could write the funniest bit of BS.

**We found out that this quiz was for a murder/mystery game. And this brings me to the second point.**

2. Hackers don't think like normal people. They think all around a problem to find the each and every weak point in any situation. Our host 'Scully' told us that every 30 minutes, we would need to stop our conversations, eating and drinking to listen for new clues to figure out who the murderer was. Well, about 5 minutes after her first set of clues, Jason and I had figured out who the murderer would be and went back to chatting with our drunken friends. Everyone else in the room had figured it out too. So they scrapped the game and turned the music up to a deafening level. At that point we decided to call it a night and head home.

I say this with all the love in my heart but no matter how you slice it, nerds and parties don't mix. I'd hang out with Barry any time and I may need to make Mike my new BFF (he has a lovely accent and makes anything sound heavenly) but I can do that stuff anytime. I love you Jason but no more parties with the promise of some hard partying if only nerdiness is going to happen!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN

Lauren is 8!!! I can't believe it! She is getting baptized today too and is super excited.



This is a pic of her and Herbie. :) She is a great daughter and I love her very much! I hope you have a great birthday Lauren!

My mind is always in the gutter

The name of this street has brought me so much joy in the past few months. We were just driving along and there it was. This was the best part of the trip for me. :D
Childish? Maybe
Frickin' hilarious? Oh yeah...

World Card Making DAY!

What did you do to celebrate today?

I went to A Muse and took 2 classes from HRR Julie!!! It was super fun. Sparkle came with me for the first class where we made 4 cards with awesome folds. VERY FUN! I have some fresh, new ideas now for all the birthdays cards I will need for family. :)

The second class was Halloween cards. Julie has a super sense of humor and these cards just cracked me up. There is a MS spider punch that I just have to have because of this class. :D

THEN, as if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, A Muse was having their anniversary sale! Linda had a whole room of clearance product! AND A TABLE FULL OF $2 STAMPS! Of course I went hog wild and got a lot of older, retired stamps that I have always loved but couldn't find. I also drew a card for 25% of my order which was a super happy for me. I added the new fiskars upper crest border punch to my order after I drew that. I've been wanting it since I saw a prototype in a survey on Fiskateers! I've already been punching away and will have some cards showing it's coolness soon.

Oh! And congrats to Joy who won The Cat's Pajama stamps giveaway from my Splitcoast entry. Those went out in the mail a few days ago and should be at their new home soon. Enjoy!

Cake Wrecks!

Jason and I went to the Cake Wrecks book signing last night. It was so much fun! A friend of ours made one of the fun cakes there. It was really yummy. :D

Jen is a very funny and nice person INL. It was fun to meet her.

If you haven't checked out her blog before, you really should. She said there are more than 9,000 pics of cakes that she hasn't uploaded yet so there's lots more fun to come!

How do you like Survivor so far?

I'm hating it. :( There's just so much garbage going on and it seems like they found some seriously nasty people for this season. I'm so disappointed.

On the other hand, Glee and Modern Family are absolutely hilarious. You should watch them if you haven't already.

What are you watching?

TCPTUES77 Color challenge

*** I'm doing a little giveaway here and on Splitcoast. I bought some acrylic sets from the Cat's Pajamas and now I have duplicates in rubber. I have pirates and a chicken soup stamp to give away. If you'd like to win them, just post here or on my Splitcoast post with the pink, black and orange card. I'll draw in a couple of days and send them to you. :)***

The TCP challenge this week was to use melon pink, pumpkin orange and black. I thought it would be tough but it was actually a lot of fun!


And this is a card I made for last week's challenge but didn't get around to uploading it on time. Grrr...
The challenge for last week was to use 3 circles, emboss (either heat or dry) and to add some bling. I added a little silver smooches to the grommets on the port holes for my bling.

DoodleFactory Trick or Treat!

I am so pleased with how this card came out! :) These are a couple of the newest Halloween stamps from the latest DoodleFactory release. There are several different characters in the new set, perfect for trick or treating cards. Can you imagine how cute this guy would be stamped onto a trick or treating bag? And he's a great size for treats for the classroom.

The haunted house is from last year (I think). I love coloring it. There's lots of detail and the little ghost in the sky just makes me smile. I believe the sentiment is from last year too. I stamped my own B&T paper using a candy stamp from last year and a candy bar from this year. I love making my own paper.

So proud

Jason got promoted! Yeah!
I wanted to make him a nerd card to slip into his backpack. This computer and saying from A Muse were perfect. This is a great acrylic set if you need to make guy cards. I use it quite a bit. :)



It was a freaking pain in the butt to make the Microsoft thing for the background but I think it turned out okay. Definitely not my normal color scheme but I think it works well for the card.

Dino

This dino and the sentiment is from Doodle Factory. Isn't he cute?! I touched up his scales and eyes with a white Glaze pen and Crystal Effects. I also traced the letters with Crystal Effects. I love this product because it doesn't distort the color of the ink or warp the paper.

The most recent Doodle Factory release is also terrific. It's a Halloween. :) I LOVE Halloween. I'm going to stamp with them tonight and I'll post later this week. Check them out for yourself at Starving Artistamps because they are must haves in my opinion.

Check the side effects!!!

So I went to a new doctor about two weeks ago and she mentioned that taking birth control might help my migraines. It is a progesterone birth control so I can take it and not have to worry about blood clots from my factor 5 leiden. Great!
Well, I started taking it on a Thursday. By Saturday I was exhausted. We went out to lunch on Saturday and I couldn't even stay awake at the table. I thought I might be coming down with something and thought I would just try to sleep it off.
On Monday, I was still very tired and my stomach started to really hurt but the pain was very low. So on Tuesday, we called the Microsoft nurse line and they sent a doctor to our house. I was kind of freaking out at this point. He said if I got any worse, I needed to call back.
On Wednesday, things definitely started to get worse and I was throwing up. So I called and we went into the ER. I had a bunch of test that I would love to forget ever happened and nothing showed up. I wasn't getting better either.
The ER doctor called on Friday and said that some other tests had also come back normal and I should come back to the ER because they would run more tests and could get the results immediately. *Throughout all this, I wasn't given any antibiotics or stuff like that because they said that if I had something in my intestines, that type of medication could make it considerably worse. :(
I really hate the ER so I decided to try to figure out what was going on. I thought about what I'd eaten in the last week, was I near anyone sick and what else could be going on. The medicine came to mind so I thought I would look it up.
Well sure enough, there is a rare side effect of abdominal pain and unusual tiredness. S.O.B.!
Lesson learned. Read up on any new medication you get, as much as you can BEFORE you start taking it. I have had a miserable last week and this stupid medicine wasn't worth all this. I have stopped taking it and hopefully it will get out of my system soon. I am 99.9% sure this is what was giving me problems and that I should be feeling great again soon.

TCPTUES74- Halloween!

This week's challenge was to use Halloween stamps. I've had this card on my mind for a long time but it didn't turn out quite like I expected. :(
I love this Halloween set though. It has a lot of fun images and great sentiments. :)

Time for a change

I just love how that pic of Mad Eye Moody came out! He's so sneaky. :)

Mad Eye is a veiled chameleon. They can move each eye independently hence the name Mad Eye Moody. If you still don't get it, you've got to read Harry Potter!

Now for a gift card holder. If you open it up, the gift card sticks out from a fold in the center. I should have taken a pic of the inside or done a tutorial. :( Sorry!
Some friends of ours got married last Saturday. They are a great couple and I'm so happy for them. The 'happily ever after' just seemed to fit them perfectly. The stamp came from Green Grass stamps and they are one of my favorite companies. They have some very nice, original art that is fun and easy to work with. Not much has been happening on their site lately and I'm not sure if they are out of business or not. They were going to come out with some new images in March but it never happened. I'm pretty bummed. :( I think they still have some older stamps available (for 50% off) on their site. Get em' while you can! :)


The paper is from Stella Ruby from Basic Grey. I added some TAC flowers that I just had to have but haven't used too much. I like them so much that I keep "saving" them but I've got to get over that. :)

Enjoy and have a good weekend! I've to my TCP challenge card to upload tomorrow and then something special that I made from Jason. :)

Shopping birthday

One of my old students recently had a birthday. She loves shopping so I made her this card. :) Hope she likes it.



The paper is Basic Grey and the stamps are from Kim Hughes. This is a CTMH sketch. There are new card books available from CTMH. They are amazing. If you need some inspiration every now and then, I would highly recommend them.

What a fun cupcake! I love it's swirly frosting. Both the cupcake and sentiment are from The DoodleFactory. If you have never seen their stamps, you really should check them out at www.starvingartistamps.com. They are wonderfully wacky.

I don't often play along with Taylored Expressions challenges (no reason, I just get busy) but this one caught my eye. I needed an adult birthday card and this sketch seemed perfect. You can't really tell from the pic but the bottom of the cupcake has a little glitter on the stripes and the outline of the cupcake was traced in Crystal Lacquer.

Cookies for Santa

I saw this sketch from Hero Arts quite a while ago. It was sweet and simple. I like sketches that allow the main image to really stand out without a lot of other stuff cluttering it up. I also liked the idea of a little tag sticking out of the side for the sentiment. :)

The image and the sentiment are from acrylic sets from The Cat's Pajamas. It's hard to see but the right hand side of the brown and blue spotted paper is punched using a tiny scallop punch that is new from EK Success. It is one of the new punches that lock to be super flat. Love it!

The paper is Basic Grey. Hope you're not getting tired of that paper. I really want to use it up to make room for Eskimo Kisses and Indian Summer that were released at CHA.

Sweetie Pie

This is my favorite stamp from My Cute Stamps' Sweet Kawaii set. Isn't it sweet looking? It's such a cute little slice of pie. When I first saw this, I immediately thought of pumpkin pie and Thanksgiving. I have a couple of relatives that I wish I could see on Thanksgiving but it just doesn't work out. So I think I'll make a few of these and send them out.

The paper is Basic Grey's Stella. I haven't used this in a long time but it is one of my favorites. Most of the paper has a pattern (like a dress pattern) print on it. It's just a neat little detail that I really like.

How can you not love lizards?

Mad Eye Moody comes to the door of his cage when he wants out. This mood doesn't strike him very often so when he wants out, I try to make the most of it. I brought him outside for some sun and put him in a little pear tree we have so he could catch some rays.

He kept turning to hide his body but kept an eye on me the whole time. He is so cute. :)

Snowman Christmas card

Another one of my Christmas cards for what was supposed to be my weekly card making project. I like doing Christmas cards in untraditional colors. This DP came from Basic Grey's Porceline. The snowman and saying are from a Christmas Kim Hughes set. The heart on his chest is paper pieced and then I put on a little Crystal Effects for some shine.

Dropping you a line

My finally visiting teaching card. :) My bigger fishes are on pop dots. I colored their fins or bodies with my copics. I stamped them on JuneBug patterned paper.

The smaller fish are DTP and colored with my copics. I added 2 scalloped boarders for fun. There's a little liquid glass on the bobber. :)

Not much stampin'

I love the new JuneBug paper but it is a little busy for my taste. I was looking at this paper and wondering how I could make it work. So I used my Crystal Effects to highlight swirls and petals on the flowers. There are only a couple of places where you can see it but quite a lot of the card has this decoration.

I stamped 'dropping you a line' on the red dot paper and added some scallops on the end. This is another card for my visiting teachers. :)

Gnome friend

I am a BAD visiting teacher. I used to be better but when we moved to WA, things just got rougher. I decided to make my visiting teachers some cards and send them in the mail. Hopefully the good mail will make up for at least some of the missed visits. :P

All these cards use Junebug paper from Basic Grey and stamps from Kim Hughes line at Cornish Heritage Farms. :)

TCPTUES71- a sketch challenge

This week's challenge came from Carole and was a fairly simple sketch. I love that part of the challenge was to round the corners of the card and the parts within it. I have bought several corner rounders but don't use them super often. They were one of those things that EVERYONE was using so I HAD to have one. ;) But I am grateful for the chance to get them out and dust them off.

Here's my card-

The little caldron is from last year's Halloween set but the sentiment is an older stamp (maybe retired?) from The Cat's Pajamas.

The paper and ribbon are from Close To My Heart. I colored the fire with my copics and embossed the caldron.

Getting a jump on Christmas

My friend Sparkle told me about and idea she had back in January. Every week she has made 2 Christmas cards so that by December she has all her cards done. And she doesn't get bored with making the same thing over and over. I thought this was a GREAT idea and decided to try it.

Guess how many cards I've made? Maybe 5. :P

But I have renewed my commitment to get this done and get caught up. :)

Leigh O'Brien made a card identical to this (I just change the paper) last year and I loved it. I put it in my file of things to copy and here's my version.

I used Basic Grey's Wisteria. This isn't my favorite paper packet but I want to challenge myself. I think it works well for a Christmas card.

I shaded the gingerbread man (stamp and sentiment from the DoodleFactory) with a copic and made his frosting face and buttons white with a gel pen. He's popped up on pop dots for dimension (I love those things. I think I use them on every project.) Super simple but I love how it turned out.

My Cute Stamps- a half dozen

How stinkin' cute is this donut? I love the little grin and eyelashes. :)

This is from My Cute Stamps and the set is called Sweet Kawaii. It is only $7.99 and has 7 images. The other images are a slice of pie (my favorite image in the whole set), the donut, a popsicle, a piece of candy, a soft serve cone, cherries and the sentiment 'You're Sweet'. And this is an acrylic set, which I prefer.

I stamped the donut six times on a standard A2 card and colored them with my copics. But wanted to jazz it up a bit. So I stamped the donut two more times on some scrap card stock, colored them and ran them through my Xyron upside down so the sticky was covering my image. Then I added some clear microbeads. However, they picked up a bit of the color from my stamp pad ink and turned a few of the beads rainbow colored. Totally unintentionally but a nice touch. :) I love it when that happens.

I wanted this to look like a box of donuts so I made a simple frame with some Blush textured card stock and added some transparent film. That is mounted to the card stock with pop dots for dimension.

Very easy but also very fun.

For Ruby

My friend Nona has adopted a BEAUTIFUL baby girl named Ruby. She is such a cutie and the story of her adoption is truly an inspiration. They have amazing faith and the Lord has blessed them because of it. I can't wait to meet Ruby. :)

Supplies-

paper- Wisteria (Basic Grey)

stamps- Baby Love, A Welcome Hug and an alphabet by Kim Hughes (can't find the name) (all stamps are by Kim Hughes from Cornish Heritage Farms)

Ribbon- Close to My Heart (Desert Sand)

3D Crystal Lacquer

I colored her with my Copics.

Happy Birthday Greeting Farm

Today is the 1 year anniversary of the Greeting Farm. I LOVE their stamps. They are so fun and whimsical. They are fun to paper piece and color, which makes them easy to use IMO. I signed up a long time ago to make a card for the anniversary blog hop so here it is-

There is a darling dress up Anya in the Dress Me stamp set. You get tons of super cute outfits in the Wardrobe 1# set (she has other clothes but I am partial to this one). I used the new Lemonade paper from Basic Grey and colored her with my Copics.

Don't forget to check out the other blogs in the hop! It should be fun and full of inspiration! And don't forget to pick up your own Anya or Ian stamps and play along with their fun challenges. There is a FREE birthday Ian digi stamp on the Club Anya blog today. Try it out and let me know if you make something. :)

My CTMH anniversary!

Today is my 4th anniversary with Close To My Heart! It has really flown by. I can't believe it. I got into it so that I could make cards "at a discount" and look at what it has turned into?! :D

Here's to more conventions, catalogs and to my CTMH sisters- THANK YOU!

Because you asked-

Here are the rules - post this list on your profile (in Notes) replacing my answers with yours. Tag as many friends as you wish to do the same thing. If I tagged YOU, it's because I want to know more about YOU!
1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Rachel in the Bible.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Not sure. I get choked up but don't cry very often.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Yup.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Chicken, sliced thin.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Four. Three girls and one boy; yes the boy is the youngest and no, we didn't keep trying until we had a boy.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
I think so.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
Yes. Probably more than I should.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Yeah, I'd totally try it.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Cereal is just not my thing. I will buy something on occasion if it catches my eye but for the most part, I don't even buy it.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
I am a flip flop kind of gal. In the winter and in the summer, you will always find me in my croc flip flops.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road by Ben and Jerrys. Hoping it makes it as a permanent flavor. I also love my own homemade ice cream. I usually make different flavors depending on what's fresh in the yard.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Their smiles, their eyes, whether they look happy or grumpy.

15. RED OR PINK?
Both. Depends on the day.

16.YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
I wish I was in better shape. I have some extra Rachel going on because of the migraine meds and I'd love to get it off.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
I miss lots of people. It depends on what I am doing.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?
Sure. If you read this on my blog or off my Facebook, I'd love for you cut and paste it. It is fun getting to know stuff about others.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Barefoot, black pants.

20. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Telemarketer. :P

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Washer and dryer.

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
One of the colors with a wacky name like Mac and Cheese. :D

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
The ocean, Jason, my kids, the outdoors in general.

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
Of course I do.

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Football. I also like the Olympics.

27. HAIR COLOR?
Dark brown with white. Bummer...

28. EYE COLOR?
Blue.

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
Yes. Or else I can't see a darn thing.

30. FAVORITE FOOD
I love all food. I'll try anything.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Depends on what you define as a happy ending. I hate chick flicks but don't mind movies with a general happy ending.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Don't remember.

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Purple.

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer here. It is just right. Much cooler than any summer day in CO. Plus, I love to put my lizards on leases and bring them outside with me.

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
depends on who

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
I hope a few will.

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
??

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
Shack and a book on sea glass.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
I don't have one (laptop).

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
I survived a Japanese game show and Warehouse 13.

42. FAVORITE SOUND(S).
Ocean waves running over tiny rocks. My kids.

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Depends on my mood.

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Florida.

5. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
CA.

46. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
Anyone. I love learning new things about people.

47. WEEKEND PLANS?
PNWHS meeting and a neighborhood picnic.

48. DOGS OR CATS?
Depends on the cat or the dog.

Win $1,000 at TheCuttlebugSpot.com

I have just discovered that The Cuttlebug Spot is having a contest - "The Journey to 1,000"! They are trying to reach 1,000 followers by the end of July and need your help. To enter all you have to do is go to their site, sign up as follower and complete a few easy steps and you could win a $1,000 gift certificate to Custom Crops (www.CustomCrops.com)! GO NOW and check it out atwww.TheCuttlebugSpot.com

Sounds like fun, doesn't it? :)

Finally

The camera and the camera cord have been located. Finally.

Here's my sea glass marble-

Isn't it cool? It frosted perfectly and it is such a cool shade of green. I couldn't believe it when I found it.

I will post some cards tomorrow. I have been playing along with a ton of challenges and have lots to share. :)

Sea glass marble

I was out the other day beachcombing for sea glass and found a perfect, green marble! Woo hoo! It is perfectly frosted with no chips. I love collecting sea glass and this is a true, once in a lifetime find. :)

I am off to beat Madisen so that she will find the camera so I can take a pic for you.

On a card/scrapbooking/paper craft note, Michaels seems to be clearing out a lot of good stuff to get some great stuff in the store. No complaints on my part. I got 3 paper packets there yesterday and can't wait to start cutting. One of the paper packets in a Sassafrass kit I saw at a show a few months ago. I loved it then but had shot my wad at Basic Grey. Glad I waited now because I got the $25 paper packet for only $15.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Jas! I love you honey.

They have these awesome origami books at Amuse and I am having fun making stuff other than cootie catchers. ;)

Cosmo Cricket paper with Kim Hughes stamps!!!

I reached another level at Cornish Heritage Farms recently and got some free stamps. They have a cool customer appreciation points thing and occasionally offer double points. I just happened to hit both at the same time and got $45 worth of stamps for free. Woo hoo! Of course, I bought up a ton of Kim Hughes stamps that I have had my eye on.

I also went to Ben Franklin and found these Cosmo Cricket paper pads that have two collections in one. I love that! I needed a mom break the other day so I made a few cards with my new stuff. A couple of birthday cards and one just because. :D

This paper is Snorkel and Lil' Man from Cosmo Cricket.  I used some old (and I think retired) Quick Cutz dies to make the gears.  The stamp set is Little Guy from Kim Hughes.  The robot has crystal effects on him so he has a little dimension and shine.  The gears also have a thin coat of crystal effects.  If I put too much on, they tend to curl slightly and won't stick down.  Maybe it is the humid air here, but this is a problem I have always had with any product like crystal effects or liquid glass.  :P





I used Girl Friday paper from Cosmo Cricket for this card.  I added some Close To My Heart bling on the sentiments (the bling is actually a frame that I cut in half to make brackets).

I used Kim Hughes stamps from her Birthday Bash, Little Gal and one other set (for the life of me, I can't figure out what set I got the word 'girl' from...).

The purse is fancied up with crystal effects and sakura pens.





I used Snorkel paper from Cosmo Cricket for this little card.  The bear, sign and sentiment are from Kim Hughes Bear Hugs set.  Colored with my copics.  :)  The bear is popped up with some 3D tape.  I love the shadow that this gives my images.  










***There is a Judkins Rubber stamp trunk show going on at Ben Franklin in Redmond, WA right now. I picked up a couple of new things that I hadn't seen before. I am going to try them out and will post pics on Monday. I am also taking an Amuse copic class tomorrow with Sparkle and my friend Saille. I will share my new knowledge and some of the new Amuse designs with you next week.***

Did you know I have a thing for owls?

Of course you did!  :D  I am owl crazy.  I saw this owl online and had to try to make my own.  It is done with punches.

I love making images with my punches.  I love it when I find new ways to use product.  

Tonight I am going out for sushi and then we are heading to a funky circus.  I can't wait.  I'll post more about it tomorrow but it promises to be weird and fun- right up my alley.  ;)

Tons to share!

This tricycle was one of the new Amuse images released in spring.  Isn't it cute?  I just love the simplicity of the design and I thought it was the perfect image for the 'life's simple pleasures' sentiment.

This paper, Lil' Man, is new from Cosmo Cricket (this is a very cool collection, a must have in my opinion).  The buttons are from The Angel Company.  And the little paper with the sentiment on it is from Martha Stewart.  

I added some Liquid Glass on the tricycle to give it shine and dimension.  The spokes are traced with a Sakura stardust pen.  I colored the image with my copics.  As if copics weren't great already, they are one of the only markers I can use with Liquid Glass.  Nearly all other markers change color with Liquid Glass but the copics keep their true, bright color.  Awesome!

It has been so nice outside!

I've been super busy getting my garden in and enjoying the warm sun with my babies outside.  Everything is blooming and the backyard smells amazing!  Baby ducklings are swimming in the pond and it has just been awesome to be outside.

I have been stamping though and will start posting some long overdue projects tomorrow including a super cute lion I cased.  :D

This is an apple blossom from our tree.  These will turn into the most amazing apples I have ever eaten in my life!  I can't wait!

Happy Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a beautiful Mother's Day.  

Happy Anniversary A Muse!

You can find me at A Muse every Wednesday with Alex.  We LOVE to do the make and take and do a little shopping.  Amanda always gives Alex a balloon and it is the highlight of his week.  Did you know that he asked to go to A Muse for his birthday?  *sniff*  That's my baby...

A Muse is having a terrific sale to celebrate their 8th anniversary.  There are also contests on the blog so check it out.

I missed the 1st contest (grrrr...) but the second one was to post what your first A Muse stamp was.  Mine was this dragon.  I fell in love with him because he was so quirky and cute.

This is not my best pic.  Sorry.  It is pouring rain today so I had to take the pic in my dark basement...

Have you seen the new releases from A Muse?  There is a rubber fortune cookie stamp and this acrylic sentiment stamp that goes with it.  Want to know the best part???  Maybe you've heard of the game where everyone reads their fortune but adds "in bed" at the end?  It is a riot.  Anyway, the fortune cookie sentiment set comes with those two little words.  :D  Isn't that hilarious?!

This little card is for Jason.  I'll stick it in his bag tomorrow.  And yes, inside the card it says, "in bed".  *snicker*

Remember Super Parents?

I blogged about Doodle Factory's newest release several days ago and finally got a chance to use these great new sets.

This is Super Mom with her sentiment.  How awesome is she?!  Doesn't she look great?  I wish I could be her- perfect make-up, perfect hair, a snappy outfit and a kick butt attitude!  ;)

The paper is Marracheck from Basic Grey.  I also used one of the new EK Success punches- scallop photo corner.  These punches are great because they take up a lot less room and have great designs!

TCPTUES55- Pirate birthday

Lauren needed a birthday card for a classmate's party.  I thought he might enjoy a pirate card.  :)

The sketch was simple and fun.  It called for an embellishment on the bottom left part of the card.  I had some bigger brads that matched nicely but they needed something.  I cut up Yo Ho Ho and stamped each word onto each brad with Jet Black Stazon.  It was a little messy but I think it turned out alright.

Tired of death

Man, this last month has been so hard.

I lost my third friend in a month today.  I am feeling overwhelmed and unable to grieve.  

I may take a couple of days off to just process things.

Hope your 2009 is going better than mine.

2 Sketches 4 You-Kazan's sketch 24

My TCP card and this card look very similar.  I just loved this sketch and used it for my other challenge.  It was fun and easy.

Stella Ruby paper and Saltbox Designs stamps.  The brown behind the stripe paper is actually ribbon!  :D

TCPTUES54- Cactus card

This week's challenge was to use stamps from the Havin' A Pow Wow stamp set from the Cat's Pajamas.

Guess what?

I don't have that set!!!

Wow.  I seriously heard everyone's gasp of shock and horror from here!  I like the set but didn't buy it because I'm just not a cowboy kind of gal.

I still wanted to play along though.  I love TCP tuesday and look forward to it every week.  Hmmmm... what do I have that will work...  I have this little cactus (old TCP stamp), maybe some flowers, what saying will I use though...

This is what I came up with-

I lived in Tucson for years and remember the beauty of the cactus flowers.  They are amazing colors!  Very bright and so pretty.

Hope you liked it.  :D

Make a card in 20 mins or less challenge

I am not at the point in my card making skills where I can throw away a crappy card.  I will peel off the layers, cut more paper, cut more ribbon, stamp another image, etc. until I am happy with it.  Sometimes it takes me way more than 20 minutes to make just one card.  :P  So when I saw Glenda's challenge on the A Muse Lounge, I decided to give it a try.  Can I really make a card in less than 20 minutes?!

I discovered that no, I can't.  But it's not what you think...

3:30 Sit down to make card

3:34 Kids friend comments that my house is messy but theirs is clean.  Wallow is self pity and wonder if I should be cleaning instead of card making...  Put away some paper and then decide to get back on track and make the card.  Cleaning can wait.  

3:39 6 year old comes and says, 'Look at the menu I wrote for dinner!'  Admire said menu with pictures and sounded out words until 6 year old happily skips away to recruit siblings to make the dinner and play restaurant tonight.

3:42  7 year old comes and says, 'Can I dance ballet upstairs?'  Yes, go dance ballet.

3:45 3 children come through the living room on the way to the office to print copies of the menu for the family.  I must stop and tell them that their 3 year old brother took all the paper out of the printer to make pictures of all the pets he wants to get for his birthday (April 20th)  and they need to go find the paper, stack it neatly and put it back into the printer.

3:47 Mom calls and had a bad day at school.  Little stinkers at school are stealing.   Talk to my dad too and tell him thank you for sending the 3 year olds train table for his upcoming birthday.  Hand the phone off to the kids to talk with grandma.

 While talking on the phone with my mom, holding the phone with my shoulder and trying to make my card-

The 13 year old says, 'Mom, move your eyebrows!'  My eyebrows are not moving very well since I had Botox yesterday (for migraines) and the 13 year old laughs in an EVIL way.

The 6 year old has returned with a penny.  She says, "Give it to me when I am done."  Done with WHAT? I wonder...

*Now I am holding one penny, the phone and various card making supplies all at once.

Everyone seems to be running in and out of the basement.  No one is remembering to shut the door and chilly air is creeping inside!  Brrrrrrr!

4:14 Hang up with Mom.  Tell 13 year old that she may not charge family members for their meals at the restaurant tonight.  Listen to her argue that it will only be $3 a person.  Anyone in need of a teenager?

4:21 Have a wrestling match with my Koyoto adhesive thing because it is at the end of the roll and gummed up.  I think that happened when I was trying to stick my card together, hold a penny and phone at the same time.  Make a mental note to buy more adhesive at A Muse tomorrow.  Take a second to do the happy dance!

This card took 20 minutes or less.  I am sure of it.  Minus all the distractions, I probably had that puppy whipped up in 20 SECONDS!  

Yeah, right...

A Muse lounge challenge #4- think simple, think A Muse

I love A Muse images. They are simple but they also have a ton of character and are really fun. I just bought my first Saltbox Co. image from the on saturday and thought I would ink it up for this challenge.

It doesn't get more simple than that.  :)  I just cut out the rectangle and stamped the image inside it.  I colored it with my copics and added some new ribbon I recently bought.  I really like this card even though it is very different from my normal style.

Double points at CHF until midnight tonite (mst)

Who doesn't love Kim Hughes designs?!  She is an AMAZING artist, scrapbooker and card maker.  If you haven't seen her blog, what are you waiting for?  I am inspired by each and every one of her creations!  I make a lot of my cards with her designs and they can be found at www.cornishheritagefarms.com.

Cornish heritage farms has the coolest points system.  For every purchase, you earn points that can be added up to $ off your order!  How cool is that!  Every now and then, they have a double points offer and it is totally worth taking advantage of.  They are having one until midnight tonight (mst).  It is a great time to build up a super coupon if you are already signed up for the program or a great time to earn your first points if you are a new customer.

I bought many of Kim's sets that I have been dying to have and will post some art with them later in the week.  I just got some emails that they have shipped so I will be stalking the mailman until they come!  LOL 

Did you have a happy Easter?

Spring is coming to Washington.  Everything is turning green, budding and blooming.  I am reminded of the resurrection and the renewal of life.  I am so grateful for my family and friends.  :)

AMYRS64- Song of my heart

Amy had a fun sketch up this week. I bought this set a long time ago but haven't inked it up. I like the sketchy look of it. :)
The paper is from Cosmo Cricket. It is a little fancier that I usually like but I thought the colors were very pretty.

TCPTUES53- searching for jelly beans

Susiestampalot was the hostess with the mostess this week.  The challenge was to use-

Raspberry Pink

Pumpkin Orange 

Sunny Yellow

I just got this new paper from a company called Orange Milk Lab.  It is from the morning milk collection and was just the right.  :)

I also just got a new set of Nestabilities- Labels Two.  

The super cute rabbit totally caught my eye in this set.  :)  I love that he is digging out of the bottom of the jar for the very last of the jelly beans.  :)  The sentiment says- 'There's no such thing as too much candy'.  And guess what???  It's a Halloween stamp!  I guess my Halloween bug wasn't out yet.

Wanna win some Starving Artistamps?!

If you read my blog on a regular basis, you will know what a SUPER FAN I am of Starving Artistamps Doodle Factory line.  They have some insanely cute characters, great sentiments and they recently added background stamps for your images.  And these background stamps are SO COOL!  There is a jungle scene and a city scene, just to name a few.

Hop on over to Starving Artistamps or click on these links to see the NEW stuff-

DoodleFactory Oh Baby!

Sentiments Baby!

DoodleFactory Super Parents

DoodleFactory Neighborhood

Don't you love it?!  Wanna win your VERY OWN SET?  Click here for the details.

Personally, I have the patience of a gnat and already ordered my set.  I can't wait to ink it up.

Enjoy!

My poor Mel

Today has been a tough day.  We took Mel to the park and had a great time.  Then I ran to the ATM to deposit a check.  While I was there (maybe 5 mins), Mel began to thrash and threw up on the drivers seat.  Then he was dead.  I am just sick about it.  I don't know what could have happened.  I KNOW he was healthy and getting stronger everyday.  He died within seconds.

I loved Mel.  He was sweet and gentle.  He was loving to the kids and a great pet.  I miss him terribly and would do anything to have him back.

Casing Tobi's Place

I saw a super cute card layout on the Tobi's Place blog. This is another blog I stalk but I don't do the challenges. :P

I bought the Urban Prairie rub-ons but haven't used them yet. I love the Urban Prairie paper though. It is almost time for me to buy another 6x6 paper packet. ;)

I have a Cuttlebug die that makes different postage stamp shapes. It is fun to use and a gives everything a cute frame.

The scalloped edge is made using a Martha Stewart punch. These are about $14.99 at Michaels but you can use a 40% coupon on them. Woo hoo! This makes them very affordable IMO.

If you live in Seattle,

I hope you will come to the Spring Fling at the Pacific Science Center tomorrow and see me.  :)

I will be in the touch area with reptiles.  Mel (pictured in my blog header) and I will be there teaching people about bearded dragons.  It is going to be a lot of fun and we'd love it if you can come by.

2 Sketches 4 You-Kazan's sketch 23

Sparkle plays along with the challenges on this site so I thought I would give it a try.  :D

Both sketches were really fun.

I needed a pet sympathy card :( and thought that the circle sketch was elegant and simple.  The paper is from Papertrey, the flowers, paw print stamp and buttons are from TAC and I make the sentiment with my snap stamps.  

The happy day card is made using Papertrey paper, A Muse stamps and TAC flowers and buttons.

TCPTUES52- Froggy grills

Man!  This was a HARD challenge for me this week!  I think I cut up paper for 3 different cards...

I was at Ben Franklin today and saw this new Cosmo Cricket paper.  I had to have it!  In order to justify my purchase ;) I used my new paper on the card.

I am not sure what got into me either...  maybe  it was starting over so many times and then all my ideas crashed together...

Ideas-

1.  I love this BBQ stamp and have had it for a long but I don't think I've inked it before.  Isn't that tragic?!

2.  My Halloween stamp set was screaming to be used.  Why?  I don't know.  IRL, the frog had a wizard hat.  I chopped that off and gave him the chefs hat.  The smoke coming off the grill is also from that set.  It looks a little like heavy smoke.  I guess that's what happens when frogs cook.

3.  I wanted to make a masculine card.  The butterfly isn't exactly masculine though.  

I still like the card and the layout.  It is just wicked busy.  Here's a card tip- Decide on one idea and stick with it.  Otherwise you will have a Halloween birthday card made with girly paper.

Please come again.  The cards will get better.  I promise.

AMYRS63- Blooming

Amy Rysavy had another super cute sketch that I wanted to try.  :)

I got this paper from Papertrey Ink last year.  I haven't used much of it but I love it.  It is a warm green but so fresh and springy too.

How often do we have patterned paper and don't even think about stamping on?  It is a great look and can really compliment your stamped images.  

I stamped the flower 3 times on different patterned papers.  Then I cut up the different layers and layered the flower.  It gives it great dimension and I think it makes a fun focal point.

No tricks here! Origami book give away!

I love reading the zakka life crafts blog.  

I get tons of great, crafty ideas.  And I love the variety of projects found here.  

There is a great give away going on right now for a terrific origami book!  Here's the link-

http://zakkalife.blogspot.com/2009/04/book-giveaway-origami-card-craft.html

There was a post on the 30th that shows you some of the projects in the book.  One of my favorites is the Secret Slipcase.  I would love to make this project.  Wouldn't it be a perfect way to give some gift cards?!

I am also hoping that the project on the cover is included in the book.  :)

Something fun and springy

We have had a couple of nice days here in Washington.  We have been busy getting the garden ready for this years plants and doing a little landscaping.  Jon got us some jicama to use as a border for around the garden.  I can't wait for it to grow so I can eat some fresh.  :)  Jon is also picking up some hibiscus and kiwi.  Did you know that kiwi grows really well here?  I can't wait to come out to my yard and pick my very own kiwi...

Man!  I got totally off track!  Sorry about that!  :)

I haven't used this Basic Grey paper in forever.  I think it might be retired now.  I love it because it is very bright and flowery.

The stamp is from the new Cat's Pajamas release.  I just can't get enough of these!  I got some new Doodle Factory stamps last week and have plans to pick up some stamps from A Muse on Wednesday so keep an eye out for those projects!!!

I finally set up my sewing machine to sew on my cards.  I am a good seamstress so I think it is a little humorous that I am sewing on paper.  Normally this would be a big no no because it dulls my needles.  LOL

She is paper pieced and her wings have a little Sakura stardust sparkle.  I extended the stem a bit so it came out of the frame.  I think this adds a little visual interest and fun.  The little tag is from Martha Stewart.  This little package was very inexpensive and had a ton of tags in it.  I use them a lot and they were a great buy.

World Record Blog Hop- I'm late!!!!

I am so sorry for being late! I thought I scheduled this to be posted on time and I'm not sure what happened. Ugh!
I made two cards for blog hop.
This first one uses US-505A Shine!

I love this quote.  I used some inchies to highlight the artwork found in the quote.

This one uses one of my favorite stamps from Unity.  For the life of me, I can't remember the name.  I love it because you can personalize the carvings on the trees.  :)  I used my Koh-I-Noor pencils and gamsol to try to make this look as realistic as possible.  Simple and clean.



Please visit
http://simplescrapandstamp.blogspot.com/
next. There is some seriously cute stuff here! Have fun!