Target Notebooks

I got these little notebooks at Target, they come in sets of 2. There is a larger size I like a bit better, but they were out of those, so I decided these would work just fine! Our youngest daughter has a b-day party to attend this weekend and another one next weekend, so these are for the b-day girls.

The one friend is a K-State fan so we had to make hers purple and grey!! I covered both the front and back of the notebook with the grid purple paper - just some extra I had. The grey and white rectangles were made with the Nestability Dies. The white rectangle is also embossed; which I love. It took me awhile to figure out how to use the Nestability Dies with my Big Shot, but now that I have it figured out; I L-O-V-E using them!! I didn't purchase my dies from Ellen Hutson's store; but she is carrying them and I love working with her; so if you're interested in all the different shapes and sizes, check out THIS link!

The next little girl loves orange, so this one is pretty self explanatory huh? :) The base paper is from my Junkitz Salsa Paper Pad - I love that paper; so many great papers in the pad; always something fun to play with!

I know the girls will love their little notepads; always fun to get personalized things too.

I hope you've had a great week; thanks for peeking in!!! ~M.

With Sympathy

A former co-worker's younger brother passed away Sunday; a sad day, but a happy day knowing he is no longer in pain and discomfort and instead is walking the streets of gold!!!

Kirk was diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) in April 2007. If you'd like to read Kirk's story - it's amazing, go HERE. I wanted to make a simple, yet elegant Sympathy card so this is what I came up with tonight.

The "With Sympathy" and inside stamp is from SU's Hope for Comfort set.

The base card is SU's Going Gray, layered with SU's Black, layered with Basic Grey's Scarlet's Letter. Nothing fancy, but it will be sent with loads of prayers and love.

I hope you are having a great week. Cherish those you love! ~M.

Mom's Butt?

HA! - How do you like THAT title? LOL

More brand new stamps from Inky Antics, these are by artist Ronnie Walter's. He's got some great stamps; check them out!!

These are basically the same; one has SU's new rhinestone brads; the other has turquoise jewels. I also did paper-piecing on one. She was a fun image to color - she's a 'natural chick'; not air-brushed you know? LOL

The best part? The inside stamp says "How did my mom's butt get back there?" I think that's hysterical, do you?

Hope you have a great week; thanks for peeking in; leave a comment and let me know you stopped by!! ~M.

And the winner is....

UPDATED: 11/28/07 - I have yet to hear from the winner; if I do not hear from "Reality Show Reject" by Sunday, December 2, I will draw another number using random. org!!!

The winner was chosen via random.org (that's a cool website to use); and the winner is:

#15
Reality Show Reject said...

Like a bunch of others, I too want a Cricut. But...I'd also like clothes, and a bunch of random scrapbooking / stamping stuff! Thanks for the chance to win!

I visited your blog - you've won several blog candy giveaways lately - if Christmas goes as well as your blog winnings, you'll be doing great!!!

Send me your snail mail information and I'll get your treasures out to you right away. Have a great week.

Thanks for playing everyone!! ~M.

Pink & Chocolate Flourishes

I've had quite a bit of time this week to create - more than I've had in quite some time! I had one night where I couldn't seem to make anything I liked! I wouldn't go to bed until I made something I liked, so here's the card:

The note card is "Cotton Candy" from Ellen Hutson's store. The designer paper is by Treehouse Designs - I love those flowers; there are also yellow flowers on that chocolate paper - don't think you can see one in this picture, but the DP is yummy!!

The flourishes are clear stamps from Rhonna Farrer called "Swirls V: I; they're really fun!

The small pink flowers are from SU's Roses in Winter set; what you can't see from the photo is they are stamped in two colors, Moonlight Path and Twilight by Brilliance. I only used the pink portion of Twilight - their ink is so sparkly; I love the shimmer it added to the card; tied off with Chocolate Chip and white ribbon and scalloped the bottom of the designer paper.

Hope you like this card! Thanks for stopping by!! ~M.

Hanna Went Shopping on Black Friday

Hanna went shopping yesterday - Black Friday...did you? I didn't!!! Many people love black Friday, but I've never gotten into it, besides I had to work. Guess it keeps me from spending money - LOL!!

Hanna and her twin went shopping though; look at those sacks!




Here Hanna is decked in a purple little dress and a bit of paper-piecing on the bags; isn't she the cutest thing? I think everyone owns this stamp set but me! I also added some Stickles to her dress and the large Amuse oval to 'ground' her as she walks.


Now here's her twin:



This young lady went to the store and loved it so much, she bought a dress and wore it out of the store! LOL Look at all that paper-piecing! Just wanted to see how much I could do - and actually the original card had even more paper-piecing...but um....bad things happened to that image. :( I edged her dress (bottom, sleeves and neckline) in Chocolate Chip and added Stickles also.

Isn't that what all of you said when you were shopping Friday, "But I need it...". :D

Hanna Stamps new website is up - make sure you check it out; Kristi has done a marvelous job with all the new stamp sets; I really like them! This is the only one I've played with so far, but give me some time!!

AND, look what I found when I woke up this morning..........SNOW:

This is a picture I just took this morning by stepping out our front door - isn't it pretty? It won't last long, the sun is shining and the ground is pretty warm.

I hope you have a superb weekend; thanks for stopping by! ~M.

**NEW** Blog Candy Winner!!

Well, I never heard from the winner I drew last week with random.org; so I've drawn again.

The NEW winner is:

NormaJ said...

Let's see what do I want? - Well,
I have made and received lots of
ATC cards lately, so a book with
card holders would be nice. But I
haven't found one yet.

11/24/2007 2:06 AM

NormaJ - contact me with your snail mail addy and I'll get your treats sent your way. Thanks everyone for playing; I hope you had a great weekend!!!

Yum!

Can you say Y-U-M-M-Y???

I tried a new recipe called Turtle Pumpkin Pie - oh so easy to make and oh so delicious!. That's all that was eaten when I left today, I meant to bring it home and take it to work tomorrow, but I forgot. I also made a new recipe of pumpkin bars and they were great too! I left those with my mom and dad - mom can take it all to work tomorrow. Better they eat it than me. :D

The shell is a Honey Maid Pie Crust drizzled with carmel topping and pecan pieces. Then you mix:

1 C cold milk
2 - 4 oz. servings instant vanilla pudding
1 C canned pumpkin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmet

Whish until blended, then add 1 1/2 C whipped topping and pour into pie shell. Top with remaining cool whip. Before serving drizzle with caramel topping and pecans.

YUM, YUM. I hope you had a splendid day! Thanks for stopping by! ~M.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy, happy Thanksgiving to each and every one of you!!!

It's the night before Thanksgiving, our two youngest are staying with my parents as they don't have school the rest of the week, so we have the oldest home with us. Tomorrow she and her daddy will leave for Texas to go hunting. But for tonight...

Let me just tell you all you can accomplish without 3 kids underfoot - LOL! I got home about 5:15 p.m., we have:

baked chocolate chip cookies - not from scratch - but they're yummy (it was the big tub that you just scoop out and put on the pan to bake)

1 Turtle Pumpkin Pie

1 Pumpkin Bars

1 Nut Clusters (butterscotch and milk chocolate morsels melted, then you added lightly salted peanuts, drop by spoonful on wax paper to harden - then stick in the fridge)

Unload the dishwasher, load the disherwasher and wash dishes.

WOW, we're roaring along here huh? I should take pictures of the turtle pumpkin pie as Alyssa helped with that one...then she disappeared. :D

That's okay, it's been a marvelous evening. I hope you get to spend some time with family and friends and cherish every moment!!!

Thanks for stopping by; hugs,

~M.

More Fall Flowers

Hmmm...the weather has turned mighty cold here in Toto-land...should I turn to winter flowers?

Nah; I'm sticking with this trio of flowers for now:

Instead of using a white background, I used an apricot background; can you see the card? Click on the image, it'll make it bigger so you can see it up close! It's yummy!

The base card is Apricot Appeal layered with So Saffron. I used the swirls embossing folder on the So Saffron and also on the black layer you see behind the designer paper. I highlighted the swirls with Pumpkin Pie and also edged the entire card in Pumpkin Pie. The flowers were from the stamp you see in the picture, I just punched out and colored the portion I wanted for the card. The Trio of Flowers is by Gina K - did I mention she R-O-C-K-S? :)

There is a pearl at the center of each flower - I love those little pearls! Added the orange ribbon to tie it all together (tie, get it, tie)...ok, bad humor. LOL The floral stamp is colored with aquacolor cryons & odorless mineral spirits.

Here's another picture - but I'll admit, it was getting late so there is quite a shadow on the picture, sorry about that.

Hope you're having a great week and may you each have a splendid and blessed Thanksgiving.

Thanks for stopping by!! ~M.

Wagon of Fall Flowers

Happy Monday - how's everyone doing? Today was a wild, wild day at work...but then again, the last few weeks have all been like this!

I love this card layout; it's so neat - the message can be hidden and revealed when the ribbon is pulled. Both the wagon and the sentiment are from Gina K Designs (she R-O-C-K-S!!!).

This picture shows the card closed - to see the message, you have to pull the ribbon and slide the inside card (with the green background) out. The outer portion of the card is chocolate layered with some beautiful striped DP paper - I love that paper! Yummy!

The wagon was stamped and then masked and the flowers added. I colored the flowers with SU Classic Inks and a blending pen - nothing fancy. While I had the wagon masked, I also added the oval to ground it. I distressed the edges of the ivory cardstock on top; it's then layered on burgundy. The sentiment "my mother, my friend" is one of my favorites from Gina K. Here's the inside message:

Isn't that sentiment just incredible? I love the flowers and the pearl brad too; it ties everything together and gives it that elegant touch...or so I think!

We have had incredible weather today - almost 80 degrees, unheard of in November in Toto-land. Tomorrow is supposed to be very nice too - then the REAL November arrives.

Thanks for stopping by; have a fabulous week! ~M.

Special Card for DH

Happy Saturday morning - the weekend is here!!! AND I had a date last night with my DH - what a great start to the weekend!

I've read on other blogs where people choose to keep their personal life just that...personal; others share it all. I've never really asked my readers which they prefer, I've always given bits of our personal life; after all, I work full-time outside the home and we have 3 little babes, so stamping doesn't happen near as much as I'd like! But life with the family is always happening!

Yesterday, 11/16/07, was one year ago that we lost DH's dad. He was much too young, just 66. I wanted to make a special card for DH; I also asked the children to write something they remember about Grandpa so I could tuck those into the card also.

Thursday night at 9:30 p.m. I headed downstairs to work on the card - really not knowing exactly what I was going to do. I've owned the Nestability Dies for about 2 mos. and had never been able to get them to work with my Big Shot. So, I first decided I wanted to see if I could get them to work and I knew I wanted to put DH's dad's initials on the card.

So...here's my finished card:
The base card is SU's Brocade Blue, layered with some designer paper I've had forever - I got it on sale and just haven't used it yet. Kind of hard to see in the picture, but I added Chocolate Chip ribbon where the paper meets the card base and then tied on some matching blue ribbon on the left-hand side. And yes, I figured out the Nestability Dies - WOO HOO; each letter is stamped on a small rectangle that I cut and then embossed. It's actually very easy to do - just gotta figure out how to do it! I also edged each rectangle in Brocade Blue and then Chocolate Chip.

I didn't get the "g" stamped all the way, but that's okay; it was the meaning behind it all that made the card special.

I wrote a loving note inside, added the notes from our children and left it for Jim to find Friday morning b4 he headed to work. For some odd reason, he went into the kitchen and found it Thursday night; which was okay; except it made winding down the night rather emotional as the memories come flooding back.

Here's a close-up of the card; if you click on the image you can see the embossing of each rectangle:

I won't continue on and on, but I do want to say, Jerry (f-i-l) and DH were the BEST FRIENDS! They talked 2 to 3 times per week. The day of the funeral, the 3 boys (DH and his 2 brothers) did the funeral service as their dad had asked. DH stood up and said (through a shaky voice and a few tears); we haven't just lost our dad. I have lost my best friend, my counselor, my confidante...and beyond that I have no idea what he said as the impact of the loss for DH really hit home for me!

As I always say...hug those you love and tell them you love them; life is always much too short!!!

Thanks for peeking in; hope you don't mind the glimpse into my personal life! Have a joyful weekend. Hugs, ~M.

Altered Clipboard

L@@K!! I haven't done many altered items, but I really like how this one turned out! It's a small clipboard I got at our LSS. The paper is from DCWV 12" x 12" Nana's Kids paper stack - it has some fabulous papers in it!!

I adhered the paper with mod podge both front and back - yep, the paper looks just like that, didn't add a thing (except for the initials). I then sanded the sides so it's smooth and 'finished'.

After it was dry, I applied a layer of glitter mod podge; love that bling and sparkle! :)

I then wanted to keep the initials very simple and not overwhelm the paper as I think the paper alone is very pretty; so I cut them from some lime decorative paper I had. Adhered them with mod podge also.

This is for a co-worker that is going back to college to finish her teaching degree. We gave her some fun, gag items and then some more serious items.

Hope she likes the clipboard. Thanks for stopping by; hope you're having a fabulous week!

~M.

Nothing new...yet!

I'm very anxious to post an altered item I made; however, it's a gift for someone so I've got to hold out a bit longer! :) I'm hoping to post it tomorrow night...check back and see what's new!!

Have a great hump day and thanks for stopping by! ~M.

Girlfriends

Happy Monday!

How many of you have that "one girlfriend" who will do anything for you? A co-worker's daughter was recently injured and her best friend since 1st grade has done so many things for her - carry her backpack, help her out at school - you name it, she's done it. My co-worker asked me to make a special card for her, but I couldn't stop at just a card, so I made this gift set:

I love the paper by Heidi Grace; it's two sided with orange polka dots on the other side. I made a greeting card; a post-it note holder and then this nifty little notebook I got at Target. The little notebooks come in sets of 2; such fun to decorate.

The base card is pixie pink; I'm stuck on that color. Layered with the Heidi Grace paper. I then stamped the "Girlfriends" on SU's whisper white paper and colored with markers, aquacolor crayons and OMS. I added the oval stamp in orange to 'ground' the girls. Such fun to color - they look rather retro don't you think? The tag in the lower right-hand corner was found in my 'stash'. I'm trying so hard not to 'stash' - to actually USE what I buy. How many of you do that?

I made another post-it note holder cuz they're just so fun and easy to make and so very cute!

And last, is the Target Notebook I covered and added ribbon to - I love this paper...have I mentioned that?

I love notebooks that are spiral bound; always easy to use both sides of the paper! I left it plain as far as decorations so the young lady can use it how she pleases.

Last but not least, I have one more Presentahbella to show you. This one is much like the others I did; however, I added 'stickles' (glitter glue) to several of the circles on the present - I love how that adds to the bling and matches the background paper even more.


Here's a close-up of Presentahbella also - I think you'll really be able to see the stickles on the circles.

Thanks for peeking in; I hope you have a marvelous week! Thanksgiving is quickly approaching; as I always like to say - life is much too short; be sure to give your loved ones an extra squeeze and let them know how much they mean to you.

Friday will be one year ago that we lost Jim's dad to cancer; for those of you that have walked the path with us - thank you for your love and support. I have a special gift planned for Jim; memories of his father directly from our little children's mouths - children are so honest and remember the "bestest" things. I know, I know, "bestest" isn't a word; but it works when talking about our children and memories.

May you find many blessings; the evident and the hidden ones that God has chosen just for you!

Hugs, ~M.

Post-It Note Holder

Good morning! As I mentioned yesterday; both of our girls had b-day parties to attend this weekend. I wanted the girls to have something handy, yet personalized so I used Emily Giovanni's marvelous tutorial to make these post-it note holders.

What do you think? They are so easy to make; yet they're cute and personalized!!

What girl doesn't want a personalized gift? The post-it note with the "M' shows the opposite side of the polka dot paper - it's striped. Can you see it in the large Giga Scalloped Circle? Both initials are raised with pop dots for some dimension. The "M" pad has chocolate chip dots added to the mega scalloped circle and more doodling in chocolate chip added to the giga scalloped punch.

Here's an inside view of the post-it note holder...how's my nail looking there? LOL!!

Hope you're having a great weekend; the weather was unusually warm this weekend. Last night we attended Senior Night for Wichita State's Volleyball team - we so enjoy going to their games. It was the seniors last home game before they graduate - they have a fabulous ceremony; very sweet and the girls (seniors) always end up crying. A great send off as they graduate from college and enter the world pursuing their dreams.

Take care; thanks for peeking in!! ~M.

More Bellas and bright colors!

Happy, happy weekend everyone! How's everyone doing? I have been very busy - took a road trip to Ft. Worth, TX last weekend to attend the Busch and NASCAR races. WOO HOO; love doing that! It's the 3rd year we have attended and we always have so much fun. I'm a huge NASCAR fan; my BFF is a "fanatic"; she's worse than me. :)

I have had such fun with these cards; I loved the way the first one turned out - so I made 4 more, but only have 3 to show right now! The first two have the bright paper pieced onto Emmybella's shirt. I made two identical - just different colored hair for a couple of co-workers.

The card has so many layers - but I still love it. I added pink jewels to one and clear jewels to the other - such fun!

Both our girls have b-day parties to attend this weekend; so I made each of their cards like these two; however, I used Presentahbella - isn't she cute too?

She was fun to color with all those circles. I added a Blingz from the Junkitz Salsa Celebration collection. I added several around the base of the card so you could get a feel for the colors and the "bling" going on. These Blingz come in pink, green, a soft yellow and a bright turquoise, but I couldn't find any turquoise ones to add to the picture. I got my Salsa Celebration collection from eP - love that store!! Go check out all the great items they have!


Here's a close-up of Presentahbella. Ya gotta admit she's pretty cute sitting on her present!!

I have a few more things to upload this weekend; finally getting an opportunity to stamp - ah....what relaxation that is for me!!

Thanks for peeking in; I hope you have a great weekend! Hugs, ~M.