GETTING PUNCHY.........

I love my punches. No if's, and's or but's. Well, there is one small "but"...... But I do not have the imagination to come up with the cool punch art that a lot of the talented ladies out in the blogsphere have (and will) come up with. This card is a case of one of those very cool ideas. I found it here. I used the retired Ski Slope DSP. I made this for a friend for her birthday and I hope she enjoyed it. I love the retro look the linen thread on the lampshade and the "wallpaper" in the background gives it. I could be walking into a parlor of yesteryear. I did try to stamp the sentiment (from Stem Sayings) directly onto the DSP, but it did not show up very well at all. So, I stamped it on the Whisper White cardstock and cut it out, placing it over the failed sentiment and raising it with Stampin' Dimensionals. I really need to practice my whiskers --- I did terrible trying it freehand.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!!!

RUBBER BABY BUGGY BUMPERS......

Or something like that. This card was made for a cousin of my DH who was expecting her first baby. I was unsure of whether it was to be a boy or girl, so I played it safe by using the soft subtle colors from the retired Delicate Dots DSP. The only stamping is the sentiment from the retired Whimsical Words set. I ran the So Saffron cardstock through with my Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder to make my baby buggy. I trimmed it with some white cardstock punched with the Scallop Edge Border punch. The finishing touches are a couple of Certainly Celery buttons for the wheels and a trio of gold brads up the side for a little extra flair.

Since it took me so long to get this post together, she has had the baby --- a little girl. Congrats to the mom and dad on their new little miracle.

MERRY CHRISTMAS --- CARDS...........

Finally, I finished the few cards that I send out for Christmas. I did a couple (or really 3) different versions of the card for several reasons. The ones we would be hand delivering have the bow tied to the front where the ones to be mailed do not (it makes the envelope too bumpy). So thats versions one and two. The third version came to life when I ran out of the Crumb Cake cardstock that I was using for the base. Out of Crumb Cake??? You must be kidding me!!!!! I will have to place an order very soon. Anyway, when this tragedy happened, I switched the base to Soft Suede cardstock.

I love this image from the Merry Crittermas stamp set out of the mini catalog. The sentiment is from the same set. I cased this card from one on Splitcoast Stampers here. I changed up the color combo to Old Olive, Bravo Burgandy and Crumb Cake/Soft Suede. I colored it using my ink pads with one of the blender pens. Now, those that know me know that normally I would have watercolored this, but some of the spots to color were really tight. One of my stamping sisters (Hey, Cindy!!! --- check out her blog here) swears by these pens, so I figured I would give them a try. Oh my goodness!!!!! I love these things!!!! I don't know if I will ever go back to the aquapainter. Okay, that is a bit extreme, but these pens are just wonderful, especially when you are working with the smaller spaces. And especially if you are coloring on the Whisper White cardstock. If I had colored this with the aquapainter, the paper would have bubbled up from all of the moisture.

I also used the Northern Flurry embossing folder and added one of the shiny, sparkly rhinestones to the center of the big snowflake. To get the border on the Decoative Label Punch, I followed the instructions here. Super simple. Here is one with the bow on the Crumb Cake base:

And one without the bow and on the Soft Suede base:

So, from my family to all of yours

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

ALL WRAPPED UP.........

I, again, was stalking --- oops, I mean, following Mary Fish's blog and ran across this card. I fell in love with it and had to try it for myself. I used the Jolly Holiday DSP again. I am loving that paper. I really do not see it as a Christmas paper, but this card could be used for a Christmas gift. I wrapped the Old Olive satin ribbon around my package. The three buttons were threaded with the Linen Thread and mini glue dotted in place. The sentiment is from the Best Yet stamp set (retired) and is raised on dimensionals. I included this card in with my shoebox swap gift from my last post.

Thanks for looking and have a Great Day!!!!!

SHOEBOX SWAP.....

If you have never been involved in a shoebox swap, you are missing out on one of the most fun times a papercrafter could have. A shoebox swap is where you cut and place everything you need for a project into a shoebox and meet with your talented friends to complete each others projects. My Stampin' Up group does this twice a year. So, since we had 10 in attendance, I came home with 9 cards that I stamped and put together myself that my fellow demos designed. And don't even get me started on the food!!! This group of ladies is just so talented, at crafts & in the kitchen.

I cased my card from --- yes, you guessed it --- Mary Fish. See her card here. I used the Cheep Talk stamp set and the Jolly Holiday DSP. The sentiment is from the Just Believe set. The card is finished off with some Old Olive satin ribbon and a trio of gold brads. The colors are from the DSP --- Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler and Very Vanilla. The birdie squares are raised on dimensionals and are placed on a Very Vanilla panel that is also raised on dimensionals. Easy as pie..............

We also did a gift exchange. I found these photo coasters at Peebles and did a little altering. I added rub-ons to the holder and stamped some simple Christmas inserts for the coasters. My friend Heather chose my gift. I hope she enjoys using these. I think I am going to do the same for some of my kid's teachers. Again, easy as pie............

The gift I received was from my upline, Debbie Naylor. Check out her blog here, she will be posting all of the projects over the next week or so. Now, anyone that knows me knows my addiction to totes --- any shape, any size. The ones with bunches of pockets are my favorite. And not only did I get a small tote with bunces of pockets as part of my gift, it was purple --- my favorite color. It has the two small pockets in front(the ones you can see in the picture below), two large openings (one on either side of the handle), and a large flap pocket on the other side. Visions of organization are dancing in my head........

In addition to the tote, she made this cool treat holder. She used the Petal Cone Bigz L Die with her Big Shot. She ran it through the Big Shot again using the Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder. Notice the shiny flower centers? Debbie glittered up every center of every flower on it. She even blinged up the label she attached using the cool basic rhinestones. She added little white dots all over it, too. I am not sure what treat she put inside, I don't want to mess it up to figure that out.

Thanks so much, Debbie, for the gift and for getting the meeting together in the first place. Thanks to all of the ladies there for sharing your talent with little ol' me. I can't wait until the summer meeting!!!

Thank you for stopping by and have a great day!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!!!

This card is one I made for my mother's birthday. As you can see, I have once again used the Because I Care stamp set. I just really love that flower. The DSP is from the Lap of Luxury pack. The colors are so elegant --- Pretty in Pink, Basic Gray, Very Vanilla and Concord Crush. I wanted to make another Double Display Card (see my first attempt here) and started with the Pretty in Pink base. After cutting and adhering all of the little and big DSP rectangles, I cut out the butterflies using the Beautiful Wings embosslit die. Although you can barely tell it, the little pink butterfly on the left is mounted on top of a Basic Gray butterfly. Both butterflies are embellished with the basic pearl jewels. I also used the pearls on either side of my sentiment, which is from the retired Watercolor Trio stamp set and was punched out with the Oval punch and placed on top of the Modern Label punched piece of Concord Crush. This was then placed onto the card with Stampin' Dimensionals. I think it turned out pretty nice --- better than my dark, dreary picture shows it. And like all good mothers, my mom loves stuff her kids make for her (even if the kid is as old and decrepit as me).

Happy Birthday, Mom!!! We love ya!!!!!!

ZOEY'S FIRST HAIRCUT........

While we had not planned on trimming Zoey, she is a "cow dog" after all, plans can change. The hair around her ears had started to matte up and we don't even want to discuss the issues with the hair on her backend. So, I made an appointment with the groomers my SIL uses for her pup. Keep in mind now --- Zoey is a wimp of a dog. She can bark a good game when she has back-up, but leaving her with people she doesn't know with instruments that make loud noises (she hates when I vacuum and hides in the closet long after I am done) would be a very traumatic experience for her. If I knew what to do, and how to do it, I might would do it all myself, but I am not comfortable with that. I tried clipping her nails on my own, but I am so scared I am going to hurt her. Same with the trimming.

Anyway, here is the before shot:

and here is the after:

Check out the bandana --- that lasted to just after this picture was taken.

Ain't she purty????