Pixie Doodle

Here is another simple layout just like the one I posted last week. I just used a different stamp from the same set: Doodle That. And I used a different color pallet. I started with Pixie Pink for the base and added Lavender Lace and Elegant Eggplant with focal images on white. I colored the flowers with marker and used the same flower stamped repeatedly in pixie pink for the background. Honestly, I hate pixie pink. It's a tie with Orchid Opulence as to which one I dislike more. Sometimes I like to challenge myself to use those unloved colors though. So, here is it. It's not quite so obnoxious in the photo as it is in real life!

Apricot Roses

I only recently acquired the Roses in Winter set. I have to say I'm finding it a bit harder to work with than I had imagined. So here is what I did for this card. I stamped the rose in Apricot Appeal for the bottom layer, stamping off once. The second layer is Apricot full strength and the top layer is Pumpkin Pie. I used Rose Red for the little flowers and Always Artichoke for the leaves. Each time I stamped a portion, I used my aqua painter to smear some of the ink for a water colored effect. To finish off the focal point I added speckles from Itty Bitty Backgrounds in Pumpkin Pie and Always Artichoke. I layered the focal point onto Rose Red and used the ticket corner punch on both of those layers. Then I added them to a Pumpkin Pie layer and put rose brads each corner. The whole piece is on dimensionals over a strip of artichoke. There is pumpkin strip at the bottom of the card that I scalloped using the slit punch. I didn't like the stark difference between and the strip and the apricot card base so I added a piece of rose grosgrain ribbon across the seam. Lastly, I added the sentiment in artichoke toward the bottom of the card.

Today, Beth's room is finally done!! The carpet guy just left after laying her carpet. I will take some pictures and post later. She is so excited!

More of the new papers...

This card showcases two of the patterns in the new SU! paper pack. They are actually back to back. This is also my first 5x5 card. I love this size!! I'm definitely going to be making more of these! Wanna hear the weird reason I hadn't made one before? I didn't have envelopes in that size. That's it. So I finally remembered to order some and so I made a square card. The card base is Whisper White and the patterned paper is layered on Chocolate Chip with a narrow border showing. The strip across the middle is layered first on white and then on Chocolate Chip. The focal point features the flower from Looks Like Spring. I inked the stamp with Rose Red and then used my Aqua Painter to wet the ink and move it around a bit. Then I stamped and it looks a little watery. I liked the effect. So for the sentiment I used markers to ink the words in Garden Green, Brilliant Blue, Rose Red and Chocolate Chip. The focal image is also layered on Chocolate Chip.

Have you noticed I've been using a lot of Chocolate Chip lately? I can't keep away from it! Every time I put it away, I'm pulling it right back out. It seems to go with everything. I remember as a child in the 70's brown was a very prominent color in decorating. I never liked it then and was so happy when the 80's brought about pinks and blues. I didn't think I would ever like brown for decorating of any kind. Well, as you know, all things come around new and improved and now I have brown tiles throughout my house, a brown couch, and many brown accessories. Not to mention all the brown I'm using on cards! Just another lesson in "never say never"!

I've been tagged by Wanda

So, Wanda at My Creative Corner, has tagged me with the newest blogging game. I get to share 7 pieces of information about myself with you. Hmmm, what should I tell you about my boring old self? I'll try not to bore you to tears. *wink*

1. I got married two weeks after my 19th birthday. And I didn't *have* to.

2. My first job was at Taco Bell. I worked there for two years.

3. I lived in twelve houses before I got married and only five since I've been married. BTW, I've been married more than half my life.

4. I have been a Stampin' Up! demonstrator for almost 8 years.

5. My favorite color is purple and it has been since I was 11.

6. My favorite piece of clothing is a gray Stampin' Up! sweatshirt I got from Great Rewards the first year I was a demonstrator. In fact, I'm wearing it right now.

7. I was born in Mississippi and have lived in four states. All before I turned five.

So there you have it. I hope you have been entertained and I guess now I'm supposed to tag some other bloggers. I'll have to see who hasn't already been tagged!

Pallet O Prints have arrived

Stampin' Up! is offering a preview of some of the patterned paper that will be available in the new catalog (available in July). The 6x6 pad of samples can be ordered as soon as May 1st. See SU! website after May 1st for all the details. So anyway, my pre-ordered pack arrived today and I just had to play right away. This card showcases all four colors and four of the patterns. The card base is Regal Rose and there is a half-inch strip of each of the patterned papers. The focal image is the paisley stamp from Polka Dot and Paisley. I inked the stamp in Chocolate Chip and colored in with markers coordinating with the patterned papers. That layer has ribbon attached with staples and is layered onto Rose Red and Chocolate Chip. I also stamped the "happy" sentiment in Chocolate Chip.

I will show you some more of these great papers in the days to come. I really like them!

Circles Abound

Here is another circle card. I used my coluzzle for the big circles. The background in stamped with Canvas and then Seeing Spots in So Saffron. I used the slit punch to anchor the base and attached silver eyelets. Through the eyelets I ran celery grosgrain and silver cord. On the ribbon I added an embellishment made with the Designer Label Punch, and various circle punches. On that embellishment I used the set: Riveting. The designer paper is from the Sarah collection.

Happy Monday to you all. It's time here to finish up dd's bedroom that we're adding and to take another dd to the orthodontist. Tomorrow will be another painting day in the new bedroom and Wednesday the carpet will be laid. Yeah! I'll post pictures later in the week of how the room turned out.

And the Winner is...

Wow!! I am so excited that I got so many comments on my little blog. Thank you all for commenting and all the nice things that you said! I feel all misty!

So without further ado, the winner is:

mjbcoffee

Her comment is:
"You draw us in with your net filledwitth blog candy. That's very nice of you to do for us."

So mjbcoffee, please send me an email with your info so I can get these goodies on their way to you!

On A Doodle Roll

Yet another sample of Doodle This. I stamped the swirly pieces on whisper white with basic black and colored in with Markers. I also stamped two of the flowers and colored and cut them out. They are mounted with dimensionals on a piece of so saffron with a file tab attached. The sentiment is from All Year Cheer I. I mount the focal piece on so saffron and wrapped with a piece of celery ribbon. Then I mounted the whole piece on a base of certainly celery. I also added some stickles to the flower centers but it doesn't really show up on the picture.

I want to say thank you for all the great posts I've received so far on my blog candy. You are all so sweet! I'm having a blast with this blog.

Tonight I get to scrapbook with a bunch of friends/downline/customers. Ten ladies are coming over to scrap and stamp till midnight. Yeah! I rarely make the time for scrapbooking, so tonight I'm hoping to get several layouts completed. I'll post my favorites over the next week.

WhooHoo...5000 hits!!!

I'm so totally excited to be at 5,000 hits on my blog!! So to thank you all for visiting I'm offering up some goodies (Blog Candy). I'm giving away the items in the basket...but not the basket. hehe Okay, what's in the basket you ask? I'll tell you:
3 spools of adorable ribbon
2 wooden stamps
1 set of acrylic stamps and a block
1 box of Jumbo Paper Clips
12 clear Luggage Tags
1 gift card tin
1 4x6 bragbook
1 retired set of Stampin' Up! stamps: Noteworthy


So here are closeups of some of the goodies!

All you have to do to be eligible for this Blog Candy is to leave one comment before Sunday, April 22, 2007 at 9:00 pm PST. I will post the winner on Monday morning. Good luck, stampers!

Really, I like you!

Hello, hello. It's a beautiful day here in the desert. I spent about 90 minutes outside pulling weeds with my ds. He did more playing than pulling though! I live on the corner so I have to do the whole side of the property plus the front. But we haven't put in a backyard yet so no weeding there. It's just dirt and concrete. Yuck. We'll be putting up our patio and planting a lawn and such in the next few weeks.

So for my blog fodder today we have a card with a Brocade Blue base stamped in brocade with the Crosshatch background stamp. I used the heart from Doodle That on white. First I stamped in black, then colored with marker and then used my Aqua Painter to smear the red into the center of the heart. Then I used my 1 1/4" circle punch and adhered the circles onto a large square punched with my 1 3/8" square punch from Old Olive card stock. I also stamped the sentiment from Quick Thinking in black on the olive and punched with the Word Window Punch. I attached the three squares onto a strip of real red and attached the word window strip at the bottom right of the card. There it is. Easy, peasy, lemon squeazy! This is a super simple card but my kids all loved it the best when I made them choose a favorite out of 6-8 cards. Yes, I made them! I love feedback!

So leave me some feedback! I love comments and keep coming back because it's almost time for some more Blog Candy offerings!

I've been tagged by Paris!

Today I was tagged by Paris Otremba over at Inky Art. She likes me, she really likes me! I feel so special. I love to visit her blog. She does awesome work. So I guess now I get to tag 5 of my favorite blogs to visit. What a fun thing! I know I would have picked Paris, but she got me first, so I'll have to come up with 5 others. It shouldn't be too hard. I love to stalk blogs daily!

1. Charmaine at Oodabug Alley is one of my faves! She does such great work and always does the challenges at Splitcoast. I love to see her take on sketch and color challenges. And she sent me a beautiful RAK!

2. Wanda at My Creative Corner is awesome. She has sent me my first RAK! I totally love her Weekend Projects. Now, if I could just find the time to make one. I keep meaning to.

3. Jana at Jana's Creative Pursuits in Stamping is a favorite to visit. She is currently living in Germany and taking lots of weekend trips to amazing places like Paris and Holland and I know Rome is coming up. I'm living vicariously through her journeys. I'm so jealous. And her stamping is fantastic! She is doing adorable things with the Bellas!

4. Michelle at Twisted Chick Creations always has something fabulous to share. I love her post today. She created a card inspired by a knitted scarf. It looks so cool!

5. Jen at I{heart}2stamp has a great blog! Right now she's away from home and her hubby is filling in. Isn't that the coolest? She does such lovely work and offers a Blogger's Challenge on Saturdays. Too fun.

So there are five of my favorite blogs to visit. Thanks to Paris for tagging me! Check out these blogs and enjoy the inspiration!

Bella Loves Shopping

Here is another card with Emmybella. I used retired Designer Paper from Stampin' Up! for the background and also for Bella's shirt and shopping bag. The sentiment is also from StampingBella. I just got these beautiful primas in an order from Eclectic Paperie. They had great prices, selection and fast shipping! I made 12 of these for a Bella swap that is being hosted by a nice gal on the Bellaholics Yahoo Group. I'm so looking forward to getting the swaps back and seeing every one's amazing Bellas.

Tuesday there were two new bellas available, too. I think I'm going to have to get Bubble Bella on my next order.

I kept my kids busy on Tuesday with a trip to the bowling alley, games of Scrabble and Checkers, and letting them have friends over. Wish me luck in finding more activities for today! I'm beginning to feel like Julie McCoy on The Love Boat. I hope you understand that reference...otherwise it will make me feel old. And I don't want that! LOL

Thanks in a Round About Way

Here is a card inspired by the Sarah Designer Paper. This pattern has lots of circles on it so I ran with the circle theme. The card base is Certainly Celery. Next I cut some circles with my coluzzle. On the saffron circle I stamped with the Seeing Spots set and drew in some dash marks with my white gel pen to mimic the paper. On the brocade blue circle strip I added brads in yellow and green. I also used the Riveting stamp set for the accent. I used three circle punches and some grosgrain ribbon. I love these colors together. They are so soothing.

On the homefront, this is week three out of four of my kids being out of school. They are bored! I am crazy! At least I'm not running around in the car several times all day. The wind has been blowing so hard here that it's not fun to be outside even though the temperature is nice. So I'm going to have to come up with some activities for today. Wish me luck!

Doodle-rific

I had some time for stamping Sunday evening so I got out my Doodle This and Doodle That sets to play. For this card I started with a card base of Regal Rose. The focal images are all stamped on Whisper White with Basic Black and colored in with markers of Regal Rose, Rose Red, Old Olive, Brocade Blue and So Saffron. The large flower is cut out and mounted on dimensionals. I then distressed the edges of the white piece with my new Cutter Kit and sponged Regal Rose on the edges. Next I added two pieces of ribbon to the upper left side. Then I layered that onto a piece of Old Olive which I had also distressed. I love the colorful look of this card.
So make something fun and colorful today! Happy Monday!

Bella With a Bun in the Oven

Here Bella has just come from her Baby Shower. Isn't she just glowing?

Card base is Barely Banana with a background layer white stamped with Paisley in Banana. Bella is stamped with StazOn on Whisper White and layered onto Banana. There is an Only Orange strip behind Bella with "baby" in Orange from the All Year Cheer II set. (Which is retiring in June, btw) Bella is colored with re-inkers and Aqua Painters. I free handed the oval under Bella to ground her. I also did a little paper piercing in the corners of the top layer and on the orange layer.

I'm having tons of fun with my Bellas. I finally got my EZ Mount and mounted them properly. They stamp so much better that way! I just finished 12 cards for a Bella Swap. I'll post that card another day. Coming up I am also participating in a Bella Circle Journal. I think that will be so much fun!

I noticed that I'm approaching 5,000 hits on my blog and I will be offering Blog Candy when I get there. So send your friends over for a look!

Michelle Needs...

Okay, I saw this idea on Jana's blog and thought it was pretty funny so I gave it a try. I typed "Michelle needs" into Google and these are ten of the most interesting responses:

Michelle needs...
1...a family that will be patient, consistent, kind, loving (Sounds like the perfect family-where do I get one?)
2...to move on with someone else since Tony's no longer around (maybe my DH can help me get over Tony)
3...to come to terms with the fact that her only talent is being angry (Ouch!)
4...to come out and be out studio manager (thank you, but I'm swamped at home)
5...a home that can accept her limitations (I think they're referring to cooking and cleaning)
6...money so she can travel to Canada and US to meet bloggers (sounds like fun but I'll have to limit my travel to Denver for the SU! convention)
7...more friends (who doesn't?)
8...to learn by example (amen)
9...the Viking hat protection (I am of Norse descendants, but what is it?)
10...to realize her capabilities (I can drink through a straw and tie my shoes!)

I thought these were hilarious. Give it a try with your own name!

That's Nice

Hello, hello! I have spent most of the day cleaning the house. Yuck! I have my group meeting tonight and a couple of my downline haven't been here since I moved in last May, so I wanted to put in that extra effort. Now I'm pooped! LOL

This card features the set: That's Nice from the Spring Mini Catalog and the spiral punch and the Au Chocolate Designer Paper . These items were not on my original order. I had to buy them later because I decided I had to have them. I know you know what I'm talking about! *grin* Anyway, I also used the Office Accoutrement set. The card base is Chocolate Chip stamped with the small flower in the same color. Everything here is pretty self explanatory, but it is the first time I have used the Word Window Punch to make the strips on the side. It was easy and adds a nice balance of color to the card. It was the last thing I added to the card as I was making it. The area was just too blah and lacking before I put them there. So there ya go. I made 12 of these for the group swap my upline hosts in Florida. I hope they like them!

Happy Mail Day!

I had a happy mail day!! I got a Blogger RAK from Nancy! Check out her fantastic blog. She sent me this totally cute card. I love the color combo and the simplicity. The touch of stitched ribbon is perfect. Thanks so much, Nancy!!

Yesterday I spent several hours painting my daughter's new room. We are making her a room out of a portion of the garage. It's almost ready and she is so excited. She has a very bright and cheerful personality and the paint colors reflect that. Once we have the walls all done, I'll post a pic. Hopefully next Monday we'll be having the carpet laid and then she can move in. Oh, I'd better go buy her a bed soon! She's been sleeping on the bottom bunk of her brother's bed. She's ready for a change!

Happy Easter

Good Morning and Happy Easter! What a beautiful day! Today, I will take abreak from Bellas and show you a lovely spring card. I used the Petals Wheel in Pretty in Pink and the Doodle This set stamped with Basic Brown on Sahara Sand and Whisper White. The flower is colored in with Watercolor Wonder Crayons and an Aqua painter. Layers are Rose Red and Regal Rose and the ribbon is SU!'s Rose Grosgrain. Such a simple and easy card! Enjoy this day the Lord hath made.

Bella Magic!

I'm having a ball with my bellas! Here is Tinkerbella. I just had to have her. I love all things Disney and so Tinkerbella was a natural fit. I love her wings the best. They look especially good with the glitter. I rarely get out the glitter but I knew that these wings couldn't go without it. There is also glitter on the wand and the "magic" that is radiating from the wand. So anyway, the card base is Lovely Lilac and the hot pink paper is from a Mat Stack. The pink paper is patterned with a swirl that you can't really see in the photo so I chose some of the swirls to add glitter to as well. Tink is colored with markers and the sentiment is also from Stampingbella.

I hope you like this bella offering. I'm working with Teddybella next.

It is Bella time!

Okay, I've always been been pretty loyal to SU! I love their products and I've been a demo for almost 8 years. But these Bellas were just begging me to buy them. I placed my first Bella order a couple of weeks ago and yesterday they finally arrived! My first Bella card is here stamped with Emmybella. I used markers, blender pens, re-inkers and aqua painters to color her. The pattern on the shopping bag and the striped background paper is from a Mat Stack. I added a little bling to Bella's purse with a rhinestone intended for fingernails. That is all I could find and she needed some bling somewhere! The solid card stocks here are SU!'s Brocade Blue and Old Olive.

I bought 5 Bella's all together with my first order and I can't wait to ink them all! So you'll be seeing some more Bella's in the days to come. I have even joined a yahoo group for Bellaholics and will be doing a swap and a circle journal with the darling bellas. It's just too much fun!

So check out the Stampingbellas and see if you can resist them. Resistance was futile for me!

Blogger's Challenge

Jen over at I{heart}2stamp.com posted a Blogger's Challenge last weekend. I totally forgot that I had whipped up a card right away. So here is my card for that challenge. I had to use posted a Blogger'scosmo cricket paper and the stamp set: Heartfelt Thanks. I just happened to have some cosmo cricket paper from last fall so that is the patterned paper that you see here. The solid papers are SU!'s Bravo Burgundy, Basic Black and Whisper White. Inks used are Bravo Burgundy and So Saffron. I also used Itty Bitty Backgrounds for the splatters. The ticket corner punch was used on the white and burgundy layers with gold brads added to each corner. Lastly, I used SU!'s gold ribbon around the focal image of the card.

It was fun to play along with Jen's challenge. Hopefully she'll use products I have on hand again next week! Make sure you check out her site. She does awesome work! And her husband gets in on the blog occasionally too!

Baskets of Bunnies

Hello stampers!! I have had such a hectic few days that I haven't gotten to stamp or even spend more than a few minutes a day on the computer! The culmination of the many activities was DD's birthday party. I had a dozen teenagers here helping her celebrate her special day. She had a great day but I was exhausted when the last guest left at 9:00pm.

Today I finally had a chance to stamp. I wheeled two sheets of 12 x 12 bashful blue cardstock with the Petals Jumbo Wheel. Then I assembled eight of these adorable baskets. You can check out Beate's great tutorial for more information on how these go together. For the little bunnies, I used a stamp I found at Michael's. I attached the bunny head to one end of a Nugget and a small white pom pom on the other end. The middle of the nugget is wrapped with a sticky address label that was first wheeled with the same Jumbo Wheel. I think this is an adorable project and the kids in the Sunday School class I teach will be getting these on Easter.

I have plenty of swaps to stamp for so look for more fun cards coming up. Have a fabulous day!