I've got a watermark :-)

This isn't a new card but I finally have a watermark thanks to Cindy Keery. If you're looking for a custom watermark, pop on over to her blog. She's really quick and does great work. You may want to hurry because I think her prices are going up Feb 1st which is just right around the corner.

Polka Dots and Paisley

I really like the Polka Dots & Posies set that Stampin' Up sent to all demonstrators. This card uses the free set and the Rebecca Designer Series paper. I got this paper recently and I love, love, love it! I really don't use Sahara Sand that often but love it paired with the paper. For this card, I stamped the outline of the flower with Rose Red all over the top of the card. I then adhered the Rebecca paper to the bottom of the card. I used my Sahara Sand stamp pad and Rose Red marker to ink up the flower and then stamped it on Very Vanilla cardstock. I made a small oopsie so I sponged some Sahara Sand ink on the image to try to make it blend it. I stamped the sentiment with Rose Red. I then matted this image on Sahara Sand and Rose Red. All layers have the corners punched with the tag corner punch. I popped this layer up on dimensionals and then ran some organdy ribbon and copper cord under it and tied it off in a knot. Then I decided it needed a little more so I used some Copper Stickles on the flowers. I really like how this one turned out.

I also got the Cuttlebug Flowers die and made my first giant clippie. This was super easy and I like how it turned out. Since I've started Cuttlebugging, I'm finding that I'm actually using my Xyron more. I use it to adhere patterned paper to light weight cardstock before running it through the bug. I'm saving coffee boxes, cereal boxes, graham cracker boxes, etc like crazy!

For those of you who use Stickles, do you have to cut the tip of the bottle off? I'm still relatively new to the world of Stickles and find that when I try to use it, it comes out really slow and it's just glue and no glitter. I've cut the tips off and it comes out REALLY quickly now! Is it supposed to be like this or do I have to be more patient with it at first?

Oh, and you need to go check out Cindy Keery's blog. She's got blog candy!!!! and it's a pretty cool give away. Also, if you're looking for a super cool watermark, she makes them for a reasonable fee.

Thanks for visiting.

I had some time to stamp last night and got my other samples for my workshop Sunday done. I love when ideas in my head actually work!!! I also don't know how long it's been since I've been able to stamp 4 whole cards that are different in one sitting. I was in the zone, baby!

Isn't the Chicken adorable? I love the Best of Cluck set and used Cool Caribbean for the card base. I stamped this with the Dotted Background in Cool Caribbean as well. I prefer using the same color ink rather than Versamark to do tone on tone. I stamped the chicken in Basic Black and used Real Red and Tempting Turquoise markers to color him in. I matted him on a couple pieces of Real Red and Tempting Turquoise cardstock and punched a hole in the corner of the Real Red piece for a snippet of ribbon. I popped that piece up on dimensionals.

The Happy Harmony card uses the Happy Harmony Sell-A-Bration set. The more I play with it, the more I love it. I love how easy it is to use and how just a touch of glitter really makes it gorgeous. I used Bashful Blue as the card base and then stamped my image on Whisper White. I matted this on Basic Black and punched the corners with the ticket punch for the spots for the brads.



Next is my first Big Blossom card. I stamped the Blossom with Rose Red on Whisper White cardstock. I then stamped So Very and cute with Chocolate Chip craft ink and clear embossed them. I rarely emboss but when I did this card, I really thought I should emboss some more. It's so easy and still wow's me :-) I originally was going to use Rose Red cardstock for my card base but I didn't like that the cardstock and ink were so different so I used Chocolate Chip instead. So, here's my clean and simple offering. I almost broke out the ribbon or some brads but decided I liked how clean and uncluttered this one looked.

Finally, my Sweet card. I love, love, love the Loves me Designer Paper and the Flirty Ribbon! I used Regal Rose for my card base and stamped the flower from Sweet on You in White Craft randomly on the top. I adhered the Loves Me paper along the bottom and then put a piece of the lucious Teal velvet ribbon along the middle when the paper ended. I stamped Sweet on a piece of Whisper White and punched it out with the 1 1/4 inch circle punch and matted that with a piece of Close to Cocoa that I'd punched out with the 1 3/8 inch circle punch and then attached this piece with dimensionals.

So, which one is your favorite? Thanks for visiting!

Housecleaning Update

The Rubi and Coils are gone but I've still got the Sizzix and Dies. . .

Cleaning house

See all these pics? These are things that I bought impulsively and have rarely ever used. I'm trying to sell them so let me know if you're interested.

1. Sizzix machine with the Sizzix system converter and 3 cutting pads (1 virtually brand new and 2 brand new in the package)--this can be yours for the bargain price of $60 including s&h

2. Sizzix Lollipop Uppercase Alphabet. All dies are in the box and little bags still. I've only used a couple of letters once or twice to cut cardstock. I'm asking $70 plus s&h for this one.

3. Rubicoil machine and a ton of assorted 8mm and 10mm coils (clear, black, off-white, dark brown, light brown, pastel pink, pastel blue, baby blue, ruby red, yellow, orange, fluorescent green, purple, teal, pastel green, leaf green). I admit, I jumped on the Rubi bandwagon at SCS but sadly, have neglected my poor little Rubi and want to send it to a new and loving home. I'm asking $150 plus s&h for this.

Happy Shopping! Feel free to send others my way if you think they may be interested.

I was tagged!

Cindy Lou tagged me. Here are my answers:

A-Available or Taken: Definitely Taken

B-Best Friend: Delvin

C-Cake or Pie: Cake--White cake with strawberries and whip cream topping

D-Drink of Choice: Diet Coke with Lime

E-Essential Item You Use Everyday: my computer and cell phone

F-Favorite Color: I really like yellow and orange because they're happy and warm colors

G-Gummy Bears or Worms: Bears all the way; I went to elementary school in Germany and love the authentic ones (Haribo)

H-Hometown: I was a military brat so I have no official hometown :-)

I-Indulgence: a nice massage

J-January or February: February--gotta love Valentine's Day and Black History Month

K-Kids and Names: Mason 7, Miles 4, and Maya 2

L-Life is Incomplete Without: my wonderful family

M-Marriage Date: we're not officially married but we've been together since July 2000

N-Number of Siblings: one younger brother

O-Oranges or Apples: Oranges, and these freezing temps we've had recently are bumming me out since they're hurting our citrus crops :-(

P-Phobias or Fears: bugs, geese, mice and other rodents

Q-Favorite Quote: Do or do not, there is no try--Yoda. This kinda sums up my attitude in life

R-Reason to Smile: I have a great family--wonderful kids and a man who loves me and supports me unconditionally

S-Season: it used to be summer but I really love Fall in the Bay Area

T-Tag 3 or 4 people: ack--everyone I read has been tagged. . .how about Laura, Mynee, and Karen
U-Unknown fact about me: I was on the crew team in college

V-Vegetable you don't like: Lima Beans

W-Worst Habit: I pick at the skin on my fingers/around my nails

X-Xrays: Teeth, and lots of ultrasounds

Y-Your fave food: I'm making this a meal--med rare filet mignon, caesar salad, potatoes, and a nice glass of red wine

Z-Zodiac: I'm a scorpio

This was fun!

The Flu--ugh!

We've all been hit by the stomach flu this week so it hasn't been much fun around my house :-( I was supposed to go to a demonstrator swap/event on Sunday and right now, it looks like that isn't happening. I was really, really looking forward to going and having a day of stamping and fun but fortunately 2 of my friends (downline and upline) are going and will take my swaps and stamp an extra one for me.

Wanna see what I made? I'm pretty proud of them. The ATC's use the Happy Harmony SAB set. I honestly didn't think I'd really like it when I first saw it but after seeing samples at SCS, I fell in love. This is a great set! It's fool proof and I found it really hard to make a mistake when using it. I used markers on the flowers in Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie, and Certainly Celery and then stamped the sentiment in Basic Black on Whisper White. A tiny bit of glitter and some paper piercing in the corners finished it off for me. Mount that on Apricot Appeal and voila! Can you believe that Apricot Appeal is one of those colors that I have a hard time using? I think this ATC has gotten me to admit that I actually might like the color :-)

The card is actually kind of a stretch for me since it's not girly. I actually made it because dh asked me to make a birthday card for his friend's dad and I'm really, really happy with the way it turned out as well. I used the Cranberry Crisp as the card base. The onlyl ink used is Cranberry Crisp. I stamped the Dotted background on a piece of Kraft cardstock and then distressed the edges. I mounted that piece on a piece of Chocolate Chip and then pierced a row of holes above and below the dotted piece. I stamped Happy Birthday from Happy Everything on Very Vanilla and then sponged it liberally. I used my Tag Corner punch on the corners and some hole punches to make a hole reinforcer. A small snippet of chocolate grosgrain ribbon completes the tag. I mounted the tag to the card front with dimensionals and tah-dah! A masculine birthday card made by yours truly!

Thanks for visiting

Blog Candy!

No, silly, I'm not giving away blog candy! Cindy Brockes aka Stampalicious in the SCS world is giving away some blog candy. If you haven't checked out her blog, you definitely should--she's super creative and her blog is pretty entertaining. Here's the link: My Inky Fingers

Pocket Notes

I admit, I'm a sucker for these little notecards and envelopes that Stampin' Up! puts out. I get them in every Mini Catalog and generally hoard them all. Then again, since I'm stingy about using them, I also have extra little cards on hand when I need to whip out a quick card to attach to a gift or for whatever. These cards all use the Big Pieces and Amazing to Zany stamp sets. I totally CASE'd one of the cards (the chocolate chip one) from the Stampin' Up! site and then used it as a layout/idea for the other ones. I love these! I think they turned out really cute and I resolve to start using these more instead of just saving them.

Thanks for looking!

My favorite things

No stamping today. I got an order from Stampin' Up! yesterday and checked it to make sure all was well, then I cut and mounted my stamps. It was all pretty late so there was no time to play with my new toys. I'm planning on getting out of work relatively early today so that the kids can play and so can I :-)

Anyway, here are a few of my favorite things. . .I'm loving these little chicks. You've got to check out Bless this Chick. You can create these really cute little avators and add them to your email, places you post to on the web, etc. Very, very cute!Some of my other favorite things include these three cuties--my kids are wonderful and even though I'm tearing my hair out at times, I couldn't imagine life without them.

I love shimmer

Here's something I whipped out tonight. I'm sending it off to my Secret Sister as part of her reveal package. I used the Color Challenge at SCS

I stamped the both the Paisley background and focal image on shimmery white and it makes this card ever so special. I love the shimmery white and would use it for everything if I could. Everything else was pretty simple. All layers are popped up on pop dots. This is one of my typical cards--quick and simple. One day, I'll have time to do a little more but with 3 little ones, my stamping time is limited.

I envy those of you who can get some stamping done with your kids around. I find myself getting so distracted and it's not enjoyable or productive for me. Any tips you might have to offer me?

UHU Review

UHU Review--I like the way that rhymes :-) I happened to find Maria Filosa's UHU Project Blog while looking at other stamper's blogs and sent her a message that I wanted to be in on the fun. To make a long story short, you can try some UHU samples for free if you are a craft blogger. I got the chance to try out the UHU Glue Stick and UHU twist & glue. After trying them out, I can safely say that I definitely like both products and I'm very happy with the ease of use and how they've held up so far. I used the UHU twist & glue to adhere the Designer Paper to the chipboard covers. I've usually used Mod Podge but so far, I'm really happy with how easy it was to use the UHU twist & glue--no brushes to clean afterwards! I used the UHU Glue Stick to attach the focal piece as well as to attach everything else inside. Now, I love glue sticks in general and it was so nice that this one went on colored and then dried clear! You can see where the coverage is and make sure that you're not missing any spots that need to be secured. Thanks so much for the UHU samples! I looooooooove them!

I've been bitten by the Bug!

The Cuttlebug, that is! I've had my old trusty Sizzix for about as long as I started stamping and card making but I'm embarrassed to say that it hasn't gotten much use and is pretty dusty. I just got a Cuttlebug for Christmas and I can safely say that this little green bug won't get dusty! I absolutely love it and love how easy it is to use. I cranked out this card rather quickly and I love how the dry embossing makes it look so gorgeous and like I put a lot of effort into this. If you know me, you know that I am a fast stamper--with 3 kids and not a lot of free time, if it's not fast, it's not happening in this household.