Heartfelt Thanks in Groovy Guava

The New Year is upon us - are you making New Year's resolutions? Anyone going to a party for New Year's Eve or staying home and celebrating?? Tell me, spill all!!

If you read my last post, you know we've had a rough weekend. Our poor little girl is still very anxious each time she coughs - can't blame her, and I'm trying so hard to reassure her that she'll be fine, but she continues to be anxious. She panicked in a store Saturday afternoon, came running and grabbed my hand. I reassured her to go ahead and cough; it was okay. Poor, poor thing, it breaks my heart!!

I haven't been able to find my mojo for stamping lately so I perused several blogs and galleries today and decided to do last week's sketch challenge from Splitcoaststampers. So...here's what I made:

I need to replenish my stash of birthday cards, so I made two of these. See the ribbon on the left-hand side? The card is actually glued together under the ribbon and opens just in front of the ribbon. Hard to explain, but it's different than any I've done before. The ribbon was actually white with polka dots; I ran it through the stamp pad to change the color. Cool, eh?

The base card is actually blush blossom (a really, really pale pink) but stamped using the linen stamp in groovy guava. Groovy guava is the main color throughout the card. I started out with a totally different idea in my head, but that didn't work out at all. LOL That's okay; I like this card!

The center circle (ivory) is actually distressed and edged in the groovy guava. The flower is from the Heartfelt Thanks stamp set.

Thanks for peeking in; I hope you have a marvelous 2008. Celebrate safely please! Hugs, ~M.

Police, Paramedics...Are We Having Fun Yet?

It's 12:30 a.m. and I'm just winding down the day. After a really rotten day at work but a fun evening, we came home to quite the nightmare. Our youngest daughter has been sick with a sinus infection; she's off her antibiotics but has a very productive cough. She got choked and 1.5 hours later, the police and paramedics have left; I'm a wreck - but trying to appear calm and both girls are now in bed.

DH and DS are in Texas hunting, so it's just 'us girls'. That's more stress than I need in one night, let me tell you.

If you'd be so kind as to offer up a prayer for my little tyke, I would appreciate it. Thank goodness for kind, professional workers that don't think "mom's gone off the deep end"; but truly listen and work with your child to help them through the situation. We have a ways to go; but for now, shes sleeping peacefully and I'm right behind her...I hope. Sometimes sleep eludes you under this much stress.

I try not to share too much 'personal' information - well, I should say I share the "fun" a/k/a "good" side, but not the rotten times we sometimes have but tonight...I needed to write.

Thanks friends; hope you had a great week! Hugs, M.

Final Christmas Cards

Merry Christmas friends! I hope you each find yourself blessed when remembering the REASON for the SEASON!!!

These are the last 2 Christmas cards I made; they were hard to get good pictures of due to the embossing.

I LOVE these new ornaments, they're so elegant looking! I used the stem of a flower to make them appear as if they are hanging; kinda cool I thought! For the first card, I embossed the ornaments and "string" with iridescent embossing powder; they're very glittery!

The 2nd card, I embossed the ornaments and "string" with clear embossing powder - these are really hard to get a good picture of; but I love how the clear embossing powder feels so smooth when you run your finger over it!

The first card is done on classic red card stock; the 2nd card is done on a Memory Box cranberry note card. I love these note cards as the color is so rich, but the card is white inside. I purchased these from All That Scraps - love that store!!


I hope you are each having a very merry day! Thanks for peeking in; hugs, ~M.

More Cuttlebugged Christmas

My new word - cuttlebugged! Do you like it? Sounds warm and snuggly, doesn't it? LOL

These are the cards I made as teacher's gifts this year; several colors - turquoise, pomegranate and brocade blue. I cuttlebugged on either white or ivory paper and love how they turned out. I also embossed white/ivory envelopes to match. I gave the teachers mixed colors so they had some variety; I hope they liked them!!

Here's a close-up picture, this one is Ivory and Pomegranate. The one I posted last night was White and Pomegranate.

You can also see the different fancy corner dies I used in the group picture; I love both of these dies!!

DH and I are taking a little trip this weekend while my amazing parents watch our 3 little ones. We are so blessed. My parents live 2 hours away - it'll be a quick trip; but it'll be so much fun!!!

I hope you have a marvelous weekend; and in case I don't get to post before Tuesday...I hope you each have a blessed Christmas!

Hugs, ~M.

Cuttlebug does Christmas

This is the Christmas card I made for my boss; it is TOTALLY CASE'd from "No Time to Stamp". I also made several of these for our children's teachers in several different colors - I'll get those posted soon.

The first picture shows the card and the envelope - the envelope is on the left side of the card; it's embossed to match the card. I used the Cuttlebug Fancy Corners (you can purchase these embossing folders from All that Scraps, or many other local or online stores) and embossed the middle of the card; then embossed again on either side. Then I added the Scor-Pal embossed line to the right of the embossed images. I also embossed the same image on white cardstock, cut out and mounted on Purely Pomegranate cardstock. The entire card is also mounted on Purely Pomegranate, added the PP double-stitched ribbon and ta-da - all done. I think they are so elegant!!

On the cards I made for the teachers, I used 2 different Fancy Corner embossing folders. I'll hopefully get those loaded tomorrow.

Hope you're having a great week and winding up your shopping! Thanks for peeking in; take care!! ~M.

City Divine Does Orange!

Happy holidays friends - how are you?

We're doing great! Nope, not ready for Christmas...I'm kind of ignoring that it's just around the corner - LOL. Think that will work?

I got this stamp a couple of weeks ago and used it for a birthday party our youngest daughter attended. The birthday girl loves orange so I tried to use a bit of orange. :D

The base card is Apricot Appeal; layered with one of SU's blues (anyone know WHICH blue this is? - LOL); layered with more DP from my Nana's Kids 12 x 12 paper pad by DCWV. The girl stamp is "City Divine" by Penny Black. I stamped her on SU's Whisper White; doodled around the edges and mounted on Apricot Appeal. I also doodled around the envelope to match the card.

Finished it off with a couple flowers and a large brad. She is SUCH fun to color. I used Aquacolor Crayons, OMS and SU markers. I also added the orange flower to her hair. My daughter said the card was a hit...I hope so; sure tried to get some orange in there. LOL

Here's a close-up picture of the girl:

I've been busy with a few more Christmas orders; stop back by later this week; I hope to have some new postings.

Take care; have a great week and from our family to yours H-A-P-P-Y
H-O-L-I-D-A-Y-S!!!

~M.

Blue & Silver Snowflakes

I had a request for 18 Christmas cards using blue and silver. Here's the finished product.

These are called tent cards; I got the idea from Michelle Wooderson's blog - she ALWAYS has such wonderful gift ideas!

The cards are very basic and easy; nothing fancy - which is the best way to do it when you have multiple cards to make. I tied silver organza ribbon where the designer snowflake paper meets the blue base card; then I used silver cording to tie on the snowflake shrinky dink (the white circular item in the very front). I love doing shrinky dinks - I need to use them more!!

The circle at the top is a snowflake stamped on a Super Jumbo Circle punch, layered on silver punched from a Mega Circle punch layered on a blue Giga Scalloped Circle punch. I added silver dots to each scallop.

Here's a close-up picture:

I hope she likes them!! I have a few more Christmas projects to get wrapped up; should have those done early this week.

Thanks for peeking in; hope you have a great week!

~M.

Our newest family member!

If you've followed my blog; you've read the story of Patches and Snowball! Well, it wasn't going to be long before we had another addition to our family..."it" arrived yesterday! We don't know yet if its a girl or a boy; but we'll find out this weekend. DH has a friend that used to raise snakes - eeeeekkkkkk - he helped us get Snowball and now he's helped us get STRIPES!!

Here's our newest member!

What do you think??? He's a Leopard Gecko; he's very - um - different looking. He's a pale yellow in color with stripes and his eyelids are blue. Strangest looking thing - LOL!!

Now here's a picture of Stripes and his proud owner!

Yeah, that gecko's cool; but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that little boy holding him!!! Doesn't he have killer eyes - they are a gorgeous blue color (click on the image to see a larger version).

So our fun of a new family member has begun. After church tonight we're headed to the pet store to get a few more things we need for him.

And in case you're curious...no, I don't hold Patches, Snowball OR Stripes! I allow them to have them, but they know the rules. :D

Hope you're having a great Saturday; we have had 2-3 inches of snow today. Thanks for peeking in; take care! ~M.

Oh Santa...I've been good!

L@@K how good I've been? I had a secret elf and she has blessed my socks off!!!

Look at all the cool stuff I got...when you get THAT much stuff; it's hard to get it all in the picture - LOL! AND THERE IS CHOCOLATE!

Cindy is my secret elf and boy what a great elf she is! I'll list everything I got starting from the left bottom corner and working around (also called clockwise - lol):

This fabulous blue card with snow...which it is doing outside our home right now! See that big canister? It's laying on its side and its filled with chocolate covered pretzels individually wrapped - can you say YUM? Isn't that the cutest tag; it's Sandy Claws by Gina K. Designs. A Book in a Box, chipboard sheet, beautiful 6x6 K~ology Hannah Paper Pad, a nugget tin with L-O-T-S of chocolate nuggets - ooooo yeah baby, Mary Engelbreit Dimensional Stickers, epoxy stickers; 3 rolls of ribbon, 3 stamps (tis the season, Merry Christmas and candy cane) and numerous bella images.

Can you believe it? I cannot wait to play with all my goodies!!

And, I was fortunate enough to win some blog candy from Amy Rysavy - look at these treasures too!
A fantastic card by Amy; two stamps by Amuse (lingerie and glasses); an Amuse sucker and lots of bella images!!

I should have a great weekend of stamping and playing; however, I have several holiday orders to finish first.

Hope you have a great weekend! Hope to see you again soon. Hugs, ~M.

Ready for Christmas?

If not, see if THIS puts you in the mood! How do they DO THAT???

Hope you've had a fabulous week! ~M.

I've been tagged - again!

But it was such fun and who wants to be a party pooper at Christmastime? So, I'm participating again. Check out my tagger - Debi; isn't her blog header the CUTEST thing??

Here are the simple rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Here are my random facts:
1. My middle name is Tandree (pronounced Tahn-drae (long a))
2. I love NASCAR
3. I can flip and roll my tongue both ways. :D That's a weird one!!
4. I'm VERY short....under 5' tall!
5. My favorite ice cream is Baskin Robbins Chocolate - good old fashioned chocolate - LOVE THAT STUFF!!!
6. I love to eat ice cream and plain potato chips mixed together
7. I had a benign tumor the size of a football that weighed more than a pound - ACK!!!


:D

Fun, fun; hope you learned something new about me...and maybe you learned something you didn't really want to know - LOL!!

Have a great week! ~M.

Styled to Go, Girls and Guinea Pigs

My BFF had a b-day in November; I posted earlier this week the purse and cards I made for her - this was her b-day card. I love this girl, she's called "Styled to Go" from Inky Antics' Monica Lee Collection; she's fun to color!!

The inside is also from Inky Antics, but from the Ronnie Walter's Collection - I love both of these collections. It says "The fact that you are getting older reminds me that I am getting older and that makes me slightly uncomfortable... So cut that crap out!" Kinda funny huh? (Don't forget, you can click on any of the pictures to see a larger image)

The base card is SU's Tempting Turquoise; layered with some pink Bazzil, layered with SU's Soft Sky and then some DP I had been hoarding. :D

The embossed flower is a cut and emboss template I recently purchased from Sizzix when they had their 70% off sale. I LOVE the flower. Layered it with a couple primas and a brad. I colored the girl in with Aquacolor Crayons and OMS; also used some SU Markers.

Now for some fun family pix - today it was just the girls and me; our son went to work with his dad (remember the one that was in the trash can LAST weekend?). Anyway, the girls had their guinea pigs out today and wanted their pictures taken. Patches (brown, black and white) has gotten soooooooo BIG. He was just a baby when we brought him home, but he has really grown. He was snuggled up with our oldest on the couch today - too cute.

Snowball (white & black) was full grown when we got her; she used to be HUGE compared to Patches, but he's quickly catching up to her.

Our youngest daughter attended a b-day party this afternoon so I took our oldest and 2 friends to see Fred Clause. It's been a great Saturday - but all that means the laundry didn't get done. LOL

Thanks for stopping by; hope you're having a great weekend too. ~M.

Bella Jr. Legal Pads

ETA: Several people have asked how to make these notebooks; here are some instructions taken from Mish Mash.

Cut card stock 8" x 10" for cover of notebook. Score the short end at 1" (this section will be adhered to the back of the notebook with sticky tape, I typically don't cover the entire backside of the notebook). Continue to wrap and score the card stock around the book. I typically score at 1" and then score at 1.25". You will then have a "spine" for the notebook. The front panel should be 5" wide from your 2nd score mark (approximately 1.25"). The remaining card stock will end up as a pocket on the inside of the notebook.

Cut the inside portion at an angle to make the pocket. The bottom of the pocket will be adhered with sticky tape. I also adhere a piece of cardstock to the top of the notebook (jr. legal notepad) to make it look finished.

I find that sticky tape (redline tape) works best and holds FOREVER! However, when you use this tape, the notebooks will not be refillable. Happy Stamping!

I made one of these not too long ago for a friend; they're so easy yet so cute and handy! They are jr. legal notepads covered with cardstock and decorated but they also have a small pocket on the inside.

The inspiration came from Mish Mash; she has suuuu-pah ideas!

Two are identical and say "sisters"; the middle one with the flower is for my friend's mom. I need to make one more for her sister-in-law and then we're set. I believe she might be giving these for Christmas gifts.


The "sisters" notepad has huggybellas from Stamping Bella - I so love her images! They're just flat out cute to begin with but also fun to color. The floral stamp is also by Stamping Bella - Em is just multi-talented!! She's having her one-year "Da Bella Ball" over at Splitcoaststampers tonight - she's releasing 3 new bellas AND she's offering free shipping all weekend long (enter code 12531d to receive free shipping). Guess that means I'll be forced to put a dent in the bank account. :D
Here's some close up pix for you to look at.


Hope you've had a great week and I'm thrilled you stopped by to peek in! Enjoy the weekend - have some fun, get some rest and stay warm...it's very cold here in Toto-land!

~M.

One Sheet Wonder & Purse

FINALLY - I've spent an hour looking for the inspiration behind my most recent creation!!! It's by akstampmama of SCS.

My best friend's b-day was in November, but we just got the chance to celebrate this week and this purse and card set was a portion of her b-day gift.

Her favorite color is blue and even though she likes bright blue; I thought she'd be happy with these. All the cards are made by using the One Sheet Wonder pattern. The instructions for the purse and each card is fabulous - you should give it a try! I was happy with my first go-round; can't wait to try it again with some bright paper and more embellishments.


This is a little bit closer picture of the purse & a few of the cards.

Hope you like the set; and I really hope my BFF liked it!!!

Thanks for stopping by; I hope you've had a great week! Take care, M.

Verve Visual

L@@K what I won from Jen @ i{heart}2stamp!!!


She has such great creations! I'm so excited, I don't own a single Verve Visual stamp set...but now I do! I can't wait to play and see what I come up with - I have some specific card designs in mind, so we'll see what happens!

Did you notice the new Christmas tree on my sidebar? I can't seem to get the whole image on my sidebar, but it sure is cute huh? I got to choose what color ornaments I wanted, what color lights I wanted, what topping I wanted, etc., etc., it was such fun to do!!

Thanks for peeking in; I'll have some new images to show you very soon. ~M.

Trash?

THIS is what happens when your son goes to work with his dad! The owner of the company works downstairs; DH rents shop space from them up above; but our youngest loves talking to the owner and playing with him. Not sure the owner is thrilled with this arrangement, but he is soooo good with our kids!!

Our son, age 7, was all dressed in camoflauge. He's hunting over Christmas break with his dad and can not wait - he talks almost nightly about it. LOL

Thanks for peeking in; have a great week! ~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!!!

Elf Name?

Your Elf Name Is...

Sassy Stocking Stuffer

What's Your Elf Name?