Wanna win some awesome blog candy?

Check this out: Techno Takeout

You've gotta check out the chance to win this awesome blog candy--plus, the stamping is top notch as well. I discovered this on another site and I'm so happy I stumbled upon it. There are regular card sketches for me to follow which totally helps since I seem to get stuck in the same layout time and time again.

The more comments she gets, the more goodies there are so be sure to spread the love QUICKLY!

Beautiful Blooms

My 5 yo is sick today so I'm working from home with him. Here's a little something that I whipped up while he was coloring and playing with Legos. The card base is Stampin' Up Purely Pomegranate textured cardstock, the patterned paper is from the BasicGrey Infuse collection, and the ribbon is Chocolate Taffeta by Stampin' Up. I stamped the flowers and leaves from PapertreyINK's Beautiful Blooms set in a variety of Versamagic chalk ink colors (Perfect Plumeria, Malted Mauve, Gingerbread, Aloe Vera, and Spanish Olive) on Very Vanilla. The sentiment is from PapertreyINK's Faux Ribbon and is stamped with Versamagic Jumbo Java chalk ink. The focal piece is also edged with the Jumbo Java ink and then popped up on dimensionals.

I really like these colors and how this card turned out. It's going out to one of the SCS Secret Sisters that is going through a hard time right now. It's hard for me to make sympathy cards--I just don't like doing it but this seemed like it would let someone know that someone else is thinking about them and will hopefully brighten her day a little.

I have to clean the bathrooms. . .I dread it. 2 little boys make a mess--ugh! At least my princess doesn't miss the seat and overspray at times. Wish me luck!

Thanks for visiting.

William Tell Overture for Moms

This is hilarious! It totally hits home since the boys were asking me why I was talking so fast and rushing them this morning :-)

Enjoy!

Featured Stamper

I know, I know. . .no posts in forever and then 2 in one day! I had some time today and popped over to Splitcoaststampers and saw that today's featured stamper was none other than Kristina Werner aka starofmay. I absolutely {heart} her work and really aspire to be able to come up with clean and impressive designs like she does. I copied her card here: Thank You for inspiration and changed up a few things.

The card base is Basic Grey Textured Cardstock and the fold is at the top. The main image is Shimmery White paper and I stamped the flowers from Stem Silhouettes in Purely Pomegranate and Groovy Guava on is. The sentiment is from So Many Sayings and is stamped in Basic Grey--I've seen wonderful hints from others about cutting it up so I got it in a trade and put my scissors to work--now I have a gazillion little sayings on EZ-Mount ready to use and I don't have to worry about markering up just the one saying that I want from the bunch. I adhered this to Purely Pomegranate Textured cardstock and then tied some Groovy Guava double stitched ribbon around it. I mounted this on dimensionals and voila! I'm done. It makes it so easy when you've got a great design to CASE.

Ok, now that I've put up 2 cards in one day, I can feel my mojo coming back and the itch to stamp is strong!

Thanks for visiting.

Dino-Mite Birthday

My nephew just turned 2 and here's a card that I made for him. I love, love, love the Dino-Mite set by My Favorite Things. Since I've got 2 boys and they have friends, it's the perfect set for the plethora of birthday cards that I have to make for them. I stamped the dino in Versafine Black Onyx on Georgia Pacific White and then colored him in with Copic Markers and Copic Spica Glitter pens. Love the glitter pens--very sparkly and easy to use. I'm still playing and learning but think I'm getting a little better with my shading with the Copics. I really wanna play some more and will attempt to do it later since my new stamping room is slowly but surely coming into shape. I matted the dino on Tempting Turquoise and then put it on a Real Red tag. I punched a hole and used one of my Pewter Jumbo eyelets on it tied with a little snippet of Black Gingham ribbon. This is on the Old Olive cardbase on dimensionals. I stamped the Happy Birthday with Versamagic Lightning Black so it also has a little hint of sparkle. Tah-Dah! All done!!!!! Popped the card in the bag with his present and we were ready to go to his party. The kids all had a great time at the party so we had a nice Saturday all around.

Dh is at the park with the kids right now so I'm popping on real quick in the midst of my Sunday cleaning. There just aren't enough days in the week--I hate how work gets in the way of life! But then again, work allows me the ability to have the quality of life that I want so it's all a trade-off.

Speaking of trades, I got rid of my money pit of a car and I'm now the proud owner of a brand new 2008 Lexus RX350!!!! Woooohoooooo!!!!! I'm loving this new car :-) and all the bells and whistles put a smile on my face. See why I can't quit working? First of all, I wouldn't have the money to spend on my stamping stuff and secondly, I'm spoiled and like nice things :-)

Thanks for visiting and I'm hoping to get back to regular stamping soon.

I stamped, believe it or not!

Ok, I'm still sort of on hiatus until my parents leave this week and I can get my stuff unpacked and sorted out. I miss stamping so bad!!!!! But, dh and I have spent some quality time together in the evenings playing Guitar Hero :-)

Here's a card I made for my DDSS to go in my reveal package. I love this set and these colors!!!!!! I stamped the Sanded Background stamp in River Rock on the River Rock card base. I then adhered a piece of Apple Cider Designer Series paper along the bottom. I stamped the medallion in Groovy Guava on Very Vanilla cardstock and lightly sponged it with River Rock ink. I then matted this on Wild Wasabi card stock clipped on a small library clip to the side of it. I stamped the sentiment in Wild Wasabi on River Rock and then punched it out with my Key Tag punch. The sentiment and focal piece are both mounted on dimensionals.

I love that all the sets in the Holiday mini are die cut :-) Now if we only got the option to just get the bare rubber, I'd be in heaven! I'm seriously loving my decision to go unmounted and wish I had taken the plunge much earlier.

Thanks for visiting and I'm hoping to be a more active blogger again soon.

This and That

I'm still a little swamped around here. Work for me is always extremely hectic the beginning of the school year. However, our district has had a relatively smooth and successful beginning of the school year and I can breathe a tiny bit right now.

My 5 yo started kindergarten last week. He's got the same teacher as my oldest had for kindergarten and she just smiled and told me that they couldn't be any more different. Here's a little recap:

Day 1--Miles loses the ice pack in his lunch box
Day 2--Miles loses the whole lunch box
Day 3--Miles gets his arm stuck in a rail and has to be "rescued" by a custodian who sprayed it with cooking spray so it can slide out. . . .

I love my baby but he does lack concentration and focus at times.

Friday night we had a huge power outage. Dh and I almost bought a generator since we were really worried that we'd miss the UCLA season opener but luckily our power came back on during the middle of the night.

We spent most of Saturday putting together Maya's big girl bed. Now we've just got to convince her to stay in it all night long. Because I had to move my stamping stuff out of her room, it's all in the hallway and needless to say, I have gotten no stamping done in awhile. I'm really feeling some withdrawals and think I might have to get some stamping done.

I bought the CUTEST shoes!!!!! Dh thinks that I need more variety and that all of my shoes look alike but I just had to get these. Aren't they cute? I love Zappos.com and had to get some shoes after reading this customer review:
Gorgeous Mary Jane Inspired Pump - Say you are a thirty something working girl who was a grunge/punk in college and used to wear Fluevog's fun and funky angel shoes. Or maybe you we even more hardcore and used to wear 6 hole Docs with a baby doll dress. Now that you're all grown up you need a real pair of shoes that you can wear with nice slacks or a skirt to work. But you don't want totally give up on that inner riot grrr. Enter Fluevog. Shoes with flair and retro attitude that are also comfortable and sturdy. They are expensive but like the Vogs you bought in college, you expect them to last forever, wear like iron and clean up with a lick of polish. (If you can find polish in lizard green!). These shoes are so beautiful you will probably not be able to stop gazing at your feet while you sit on the bus to work, listening to Babes in Toyland on your Ipod thinking you could imagine Kat Bjelland wearing these shoes and that like the Ipod, anything that takes your mind off your depressing commute is worth the money. If you are familiar with Fluevogs you are probably already aware of the quirks/potential problems with this shoe. If not, I'll fill you in. The fit is a half-size small, I think and if you have long toes they may not work for you even then. I have short toes, so I guess they work for me. I ordered a half size up from my normal size and they are a tad bit loose in the heel, but wratcheting down the strap does take care of that. The leather is firm, more similar to the leather in a sturdy oxford like Dr. Martens than a comfort dress shoe like "Softspots" and "Ecco". It takes a bit of breaking in time, but it’s worth it.

I definitely think I'll be buying more Fluevogs in the near future. I ordered 3 pairs to check them out and ended up returning 2--gotta love free shipping both ways!

We had gorgeous weather this weekend and our neighbors put out their waterslide. The kids had a great time and the grownups barbequed, enjoyed the sun, and had a couple cocktails :-)





Dh and I have a date night Saturday night and I'm sooooooooooooo looking forward to a grown up dinner, just the 2 of us. We're going to check out The Slanted Door in San Francisco and I can't wait :-) Since my parents are moving to Thailand September 18, we have to get one last night of babysitting out of them.

Thanks for visiting and listening to my ramblings. I do want to stamp something soon before I've forgotten how to do it!