Layers & Love

This is the card I made for my hubby for our anniversary; that pig reminds me of someone...hmmm...who would eat "most" of the chocolate and save 1 piece for their significant other? Hmmm...not me - no I would NOT do that.

Fine, fine - if it was chocolate and peanut butter or chocolate and caramel - it would be GONE!!!

As you can tell; I added lots of layers to this card...7 layers on top of the main card! WHOA...but hey, it fit in the envelope, so it was good to go!

The pig is from High Hopes; my first order from them. The inside of the card says "Hogs & Kisses"; kinda cute. I ordered the stamps mounted; next time I'll order unmounted - much cheaper and easier to store. I'm really digging unmounted stamps!

The base card is Cameo Coral layered with Chocolate Chip, Real Red and Cameo Coral again. The main image is stamped on Whisper White and colored with copics, spica glitter pens and SU markers. The main image is layered onto Cameo Coral, Real Red and Chocolate Chip and all are distressed greatly around the edges (click on the image to see the card up close). The Spica glitter pens add lots of glitter, but you can't really see it in the photo. Pretty sparkly IRL!! Added some hugs & kisses ribbon, 3 brads in the corner and it's good to go. Oh yeah, added lots of sponging around my little piggy. Our oldest was watching me and she said "that's so cool; do you want it to look dirty, cause it sure does" - LOL! Kids always speak the truth...until they become teenagers - HA!!


On a personal note, our little man has been sick since Monday morning; he's running 101-102 temp., today is the first day I've been able to get it to "normal" for any length of time. I only accomplished that by alternating Motrin and Tylenol. My DH is self-employed, so fortunately he can usually take the kids with him; but today, our little man's eyes were all swollen and he was M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E!!! He asked me to stay home with him...sometimes being a working mom really is rotten! BUT, I made the right choice and stayed home with him - I'm glad I did!

Hope none of you have caught the nasty flu, viral infections, congestion or other 'gunk' running around!

Have a great week; thanks for peeking in! ~M.

16 Years of Blessings

Friday, my DH & I celebrated 16 years of a blessed marriage! These are the gorgeous flowers he sent me - he always requests "exotic" when he orders them...but he also told them they had made flowers for me on Valentine's Day, so do something a bit different. These are stunning!

Here's some peeks at my flowers.

If you look really close; those leaves and things on the right side are my Valentine's Day Flowers. And if you look even closer in the lower right-hand corner; that's a picture of us the day before we married. It was the first time we saw each other in our wedding attire. What fabulous memories!!!

You have to look really close at the 'unique' pieces of this arrangement - on the left-hand side they bent two leaves over towards the right and secured them with purple pins - so beautiful.

Also at the bottom, they bent a leaf over and added these gorgeous baby roses - the baby roses were all closed up tight when I received the arrangement. These pix were taken at 11 p.m. and you can see the baby roses have opened a bit. But there's one raised up higher than the others that's just a tight bud - isn't that adorable? Those roses are all placed directly on the leaf that is bent over.

We also got to have a date night - which doesn't happen often at all. We have basketball practice 4 nights per week so Friday is a 'free' night that we usually reserve for family. But this Friday, it was reserved for just the two of us! We saw the movie "The Bucket List" - loved it; and we had dinner at Sumo's - oh so scrumptious!!! Sumo's uses a Smokeless Habachi Grill - you end up eating with other people you don't know; but it was still intimate and great fun!

Our chef was amazing; they twirl their utensils, they play lots of jokes on you and on and on. At the end, when we had all been served our meal, our chef kinda flattened some shrimp and then would toss them in the air for each guest to catch in their mouth - let me say - the girls beat the boys!!! WOO HOO!

I hope your weekend was splendid, mine sure was! Take care; hope to see you again soon! ~M.

Birthday Rocket Pockets

Two of our babes had birthday parties to attend Sunday. I needed something really quick that would work as a b-day card AND a gift card holder - hence, the ROCKET POCKETS!! These were CASE'd from Julie @ Paper Pleasing Ideas.

Both parties were for boys; so green was the main color. Nothing fancy - but it worked for quick!

Thanks for looking; hope you're having a great week. Hugs, ~M.

Tagged - Middle Name Game

Oh gosh; I've been tagged by a few people lately and haven't taken the time to participate. That could be because I have bronchitis AND a sinus infection and just tolerating each day is about all I can do! :( NO FUN!!! Sorry for being a poor tag teammate!

This tag is called the "middle name game" which makes me shudder since I have such a unique middle name. I {heart} my middle name, it's just different.

OK, here we go:

My bloggin sistah - Heather (blog link under the SBS 10 list) has tagged me to play the middle name game.

These are the rules: You must post the rules before you give your answers. You must list one fact about yourself for each letter of your middle name. Each fact must begin with that letter. If you don't have a middle name, just use your maiden name. After you've been tagged, you need to up-date your blog with your middle name and answers. At the end of your post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name (be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and need to read your blog for details).

T = time to buy more stamps - LOL
A = addicted to all things rubber stamp related (bad for the pocket book....don't let husband know - ha)
N = never get tired of seeing new rubber stamp creations - cards, scrapbook pages, 3D items, etc.
D = daughter to the most wonderful mom on earth!!
R = ready to stamp when I can sneak a few minutes alone!
E = eager to get to bed and get some extra rest to get over this gunk
E = extra rest {grin}

Anyone reading this is tagged to participate if you'd like. Thanks for the tag Heather!

Hugs, ~M.

Valentine Notebooks

These are the last of the altered notebooks I made for Valentine's Day; I may have been sicker than a dog, but I sure enjoyed making them! I used the instructions from Emily Giovanni; I love her work!!

I love all these papers; I got them all from Hobby Lobby on sale (*sale*...brings a big grin to the pocket book - ha)!!

The one in the middle; the chocolate with the crown? That bottom prima flower was white to begin with! I used a Copic marker to make it brown; isn't that cool? And aren't those big pink pearl-like brads awesome? I love those things - so much that I only have 1 left; I used 5 of them making valentine notebooks! :D

Here's some close-up pictures:


The pink notebook with the "princess 3D stickers" is for a co-workers 5-year old granddaughter; isn't that adorable? I hope all the girls like their notebooks, I had a great time making them.

I hope you've had a great weekend; thanks for peeking in! See you again soon!

Hugs, ~M.

Altered Jr. Legal Notepads

I have been so busy this week filling Valentine orders and I've enjoyed it so much...well until Tuesday night when I got sick! :( BLAH!!

These are two altered Jr. Legal Notepads I made for my best friend; she's giving them to her daughters. I sooooo enjoyed making these; I had matching card stock, ribbon and cut out shapes.

The first uses an image by Inky Antics called "Styled To Go"; this is for her older daughter.

I colored the girl to match the colors in the paper - aren't those colors dee-lish? I love them! I also punched a scalloped circle to place the "beautiful girl" circle on. I added Peony Dew Drops from Ellen Hutson's store to the right of the girl and to the center of the flower.

The inside of these notebooks contain a small pocket; they're just such fun to make. Here's a look at the inside of the notepad:


Those two hearts also came with the stuff I bought, I just overlapped them a bit and mounted on dimensionals in the notebook. I also added a strip of DP to the top of the notepad to give it a finished look.

The other notebook includes an image from Penny Black called "City Divine"; I love this girl too!

For this young lady I added dew drops to 3 of the corners I punched using SU's ticket corner punch; then added two flowers and a green brad.

I colored both girls using a combination of Aquacolors and OMS as well as some Copics. I have 24 copics...but I need more! Our anniversary is next week so I'm hoping I'm blessed with another set!

Here's a close up of the City Divine chic and the inside of the notebook:


I hope you've had a special Valentine's Day; thanks for peeking in at some of my new creations. I have several more things to upload, but it'll be later this week. I have GOT to get some rest and get better! I have the day off tomorrow, but strictly for LOTS of doctor's appointments, haircuts and then a M&M birthday bash tomorrow night (manicure & a movie); then Saturday, we have 4 basketball games. No time for mom to be sick!!!

Take care; hope to see you again soon. ~M.

Valentine Heart Block

The Cuttlebug Heart Block embossing folder has been on backorder - 4ever!!! I finally got it last week and whipped out two really, really quick cards.

The idea came from Sharon of No Time to Stamp? - love her stuff! The ivory card stock is only inserted about 2.5" inches into the Heart Block embossing folder; after embossing the hearts, I placed the cardstock reverse side up on my Scor-Pal and created the two embossed lines. So simple and quick - yet elegant. I layered the ivory cardstock onto Purely Pomegranate and tied on some matching double-stitch ribbon. I love the Purely Pomegranate color!!

Thanks for looking; hope you've had a great weekend! ~M.

Valentine Gift Set

I made this gift set for a friend who is *in love*! I'm in love too and we're celebrating 16 years this month - but this is *new* love - you know how that's different right? LOL!!! Trust me, I wouldn't go back to my dating years for all the money in the world; I love my man!!!

My friend's love likes to hunt; so we did a gift tin with Mallard Ducks on the front filled with Dove Milk Chocolate. Yum!! I had some Dove Chocolates leftover, so I made a little valentine sack and filled it up. Last I made the valentine card; I must say I love how the card turned out!

I once again followed Sketch Challenge #161 at SCS. (<---- click here to check out the weekly sketch challenge).

I love, love, love the patterned paper; I got it from Hobby Lobby on sale; I think I bought one sheet (12 x 12) and I've used every inch of it! That's when you know you really love the paper. LOL!

See that stripe of DP right across the middle? Guess what? I didn't have enough paper to cover the whole strip; so I cut it; then just covered up that small "space" with the scalloped circles. Pretty cool huh?


Here's a close-up of the large heart stamp and the I {heart} U stamp; I used my new clear Spica Glitter pen from eP to add the glitter to the heart and the words - I love how that turned out!

I seem to be addicted to Chocolate Chip paper; I've used it several times for Valentine items. I added the white polka dots on the largest scalloped circle and two dew drops from Ellen Hutson's store in the upper left-hand corner. They're actually covering up a little boo-boo too - but you sure can't see there is a problem huh?

Here's a couple close up pix of the tin - open and closed. Don't those chocolate hearts look scrumptious?

The "I luv u" heart and the "XOXO" in the tin are brand new chipboard shapes I just purchased - they're such fun and I love the colors. Matched perfectly with the DP I used.

Thanks for looking; I hope you're having a great weekend. Hope to see you again soon! Hugs, ~M.

KU Thanks

I sure get a lot of request for KU cards; I've now visited 4 LSS and NONE have had any more KU paper...they say they're getting more soon and I hope they're right - I'm almost out!

This card was made upon request and also tied to Splitcoaststampers Sketch Challenge #161.

I really like the final result. Rock Chalk Jayhawk!!!

Card Details:
Cardstock: SU Real Red, SU Yoyo Yello, SU Brilliant Blue, SU Whisper White, Misc. DP
Punches: Circle Jumbo, Circle Mega, Scalloped Circle Giga
Stamps: SU & Misc.
Ink: SU Brilliant Blue; Markers: SU Yoyo Yello, SU Real Red,

My Name's Hidden Meaning

Boy, did I find this interesting...and I thought it was rather accurate; what do you think?

What Michele Means

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Spiderman!!

Ah, there's more to this post than Spiderman, but I bet it got your attention huh?

A co-worker asked for decorated notebooks and pens for her son and daughter. The 'girly-girly' one was so fun and easy to do. The Spiderman one was easy too - but I had to find some "webbed" paper...you can see I did!

See that ric rac ribbon on the side and across the lower portion of the notebook? It was LIGHT PINK, really light...but I colored it chocolate with my new copic markers. YUMMY!! The ribbon lightened a bit when I applied mod podge to glue it down; but I love the variation in color. And while I was coloring...see that very bottom chocolate flower? Yep, colored that one too - it was stark white! And see the tiny flower on top? It was light pink...I made it hot pink. Such fun and they dry so quickly!

I used Emily Giovanni's tutorial for the beaded pen; I've made these before, but this time I ordered micro beads and I like them SO MUCH MORE!! The other beads I've used in the past are a larger size and just don't adhere quite as well.

Next is the Spiderman notebook and pen; I didn't add beads to this pen...I'm confident the young man will be glad I didn't! HA!

I love the Spiderman - he's so 3D!! All the Spiderman images are 3D stickers I picked up at Target.

I'll have some more Valentine gifts to post soon; hope you stop back by. Have a great week; hugs, ~M.

Hanna's Perfect Package

Greetings - it's Super Bowl Sunday...anyone watching the game? We are and I'm hollerin' here and there; if they would just LISTEN TO ME! LOL!!

Are you happy with the team that won? As I type this, it's halftime and I'm listening to Tom Petty - man, that dude has been around forever eh?

Our oldest attended a b-day party today; she just received the invitation Friday at school so we were scrambling to get a card done this morning. I let our daughter pick the colors, the image and all that good stuff.

A girl after her momma's own heart; isn't anything chocolate and pink scrumptious?

The base card is SU's Ivory layered with SU's DP; then some pink misc. DP I've had forever; I wish you could see more of the words on the pink paper - that top portion really says "it's a girl thing"...just can't see it all.

I stamped Hanna on Ivory paper and used SU's ticket punch for each corner. The package she is wrapping is paper pieced with the same pink paper. The box in the lower left-hand corner is all paper pieced with the brown polka dot paper and the pink paper as the ribbon. I added Crystal Effects to her shirt...can't see it in the photo; but it's a nice 3D effect. I used my new copics to color Hanna - how did I do?

See the two flowers? Yeah, that bottom flower used to be pure white!!! L@@K - it's chocolate now; isn't that cool? The copics made it a nice chocolate color which matched perfectly. Added the pink polka dot flower and a chocolate brad. We finished it off with some peony dew drops from Ellen Hutson's store.

My daughter liked it, so hopefully the b-day girl did to!

I hope you've had a great weekend; thanks for peeking in. Leave a comment to say hello; I always love hearing from you!

Have a great week; hugs, ~M.