Comments......on your Comments!!!

Okay, it's almost midnight here on Thursday night, but I'm posting now because I won't have time in the morning! I am leaving bright and early to travel to Chatham to meet my Mommy!!! Her birthday was yesterday (the 30th) and Friday is my first day off and first chance to see her!! We will be having lunch together at HER choice of restaurant (although I hope she picks the one I like....bahahahaaaaa!) and then we are going shoppin' at the local scrapbook store!! Woohoo!!!!! TONS of stamps in there!! Anyhooooooo......I just made her this really cute card with a new stamp set I got and here it is..........PSYCH!! I'm totally NOT gonna post it!!! MOM, I know you are looking!!! Silly wabbit!! Hahaha!! I'll post it later...after she oohs and aahs over it!!

I also just had to respond to some of the comments on the last post!! Thanks so much for all the sweet things ya said about my new picture!! *blush* You're too kind!! Hehe! My honey took some great photos when we were out for a nature walk last weekend. But I will tell you that I originally had the black and white version up instead of the colour one and my Mom was killin' herself laughing, because in the b&w photo she couldn't tell those were leaves by the side of my head......she said it looked like I had rollers in my hair!!!!!! Because all you could see was the outline of my dark hair and it looked all lumpy!!! SO I changed it to the colour one in like, seconds!!! Couldn't have you all thinkin' I go out with my curlers in!!! Baahahahahaaaaaa!! *snort*

The other comment that had me chuckling was from Colleen!! She asked 'By the way...what are Wellies? And what are they doing in a puddle?' I totally laughed out loud!! In England they call rubber boots Wellington boots, or Wellies! It is a stamp of a pair of little rubber boots sitting in a puddle of water!! Heehee! Sorry, guess it's my English background coming out!!! I SO love reading your comments, so keep 'em comin'!!! Have a wonderful Friday!!!!!!!!

Rainy Thursday!!


This is a perfect card for a rainy day in Southwestern Ontario!!! I used my new Sunshine Designs Spring Cube which has some adorable images on it. In addition to the little raincoat there is also an umbrella, a kite and a pair of wellies in a puddle!! So cute!

I stamped the raincoat in black Stazon on Watercolour paper and used my aquapainter and SU markers to watercolour it. Obviously I'm not the best at it yet.....but like everything else, it takes practice. I would LOVE to take a class on watercolouring with markers and ink and I think the designer of these particular stamps does classes in London. I might just have to sign up for one!! I used Summer Sun for the main part of the coat and then shaded in some areas using Pumpkin Pie. The flower is Certainly Celery with Real Red in the centre. Then I used my Big Blossom and stamped it on the back of some Basic Grey Oh So Silly patterned paper and cut it out. Then I sponged around the edges of the flower with Real Red to help it stand out. The card base is Summer Sun and the background piece is a solid BG colour from the Oh So Silly collection also. I added some satin polka dotted ribbon and pop dotted the little raincoat image. Then I added a circle of Summer Sun and a Real Red SU button tied with linen thread to finish it off!!

Have a wonderful Thursday!! I have to work this afternoon and this evening, but then I'm off Friday and Saturday........yaaaaaaaay!!! AND it's payday!! Whoop, whoop!!

Cool Garden Flowers!!


Here is another card I created using the CPS sketch challenge layout and today's Colour Combo Challenge, CC116!! I used one of the new stamps that I got for Mother's Day. This one is by The Artful Stamper and the word 'autumn' is a stamp by Purple Onion Designs!

I started with the main image and used a Tombow Marker in the Cool Caribbean colour. Unfortunately Stampin' Up doesn't make the markers in the 'In Colours', which is a total bummer but I found this Tombow Marker that is very close. I scribbled it inside the flowers and used my Aquapainter to pull the colour to the outside. The centres of the flowers are in Chocolate Chip and the stems are Garden Green. The main part of the bucket is Creamy Caramel with Chocolate Chip accents and the shadow is done with the Sahara Sand colour. I stamped the word 'autumn' along the side of the main image with an unmounted stamp by Purple Onion Designs. It was on a sheet of stamps that my pal Julee gave me!! Thanks again Julee!!

Using the small flower from Delight in Life, I stamped all over the Cool Caribbean using Tempting Turquoise, inked off once. I rounded all the corners, added some cool ribbon (I think it came from a big box from Costco), knotted it and added three Prima flowers and brads!! I really like this one and I'll be sending it in to the contest too!!!

Campfire Pals!!



By chance this morning when I was 'blurfing' (otherwise known as blog surfing...hehe), I came upon this site called CPS, or Card Positioning Sketches. Not only do they have some great sketches for your cardmaking inspiration, but they have a contest on right now and the Grand Prize winners will get their card published in Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine!! This is super cool....especially because it is a Canadian magazine!!

So the challenge is to use the provided sketch and make a creation with Fall in mind....fall colours, thanksgiving, hallowe'en, back to school etc. So I decided to whip up this card this morning before work!

Again, I had a ball playing with some new High Hopes Stamps!! This stamp is called Roasting Marshmallows and I think it is SO cute!! The little beaver, moose and bear are leaning away from their little skunk friend.....poor skunk!! *heehee* At our old house out in the country we used to love having bonfires and sitting around it roasting marshmallows and hot dogs on our coathangers.....THAT feels like Fall to me!!

I stamped the image on Whisper White cardstock in black Stazon ink and coloured all the little critters and their surroundings using my Stampin' Up markers!! Then I rounded the corners off and sponged around the image using So Saffron ink and a makeup sponge. The patterned papers I used are Cosmo Cricket Halfway Cafe. The image is fairly large so I made the card itself bigger to accomodate the provided sketch for the challenge. The card base is 5 1/2 X 8 1/2 in Ruby Red. The strip across the top is So Saffron and the sentiment, which says "There's a warmth and joy that never ends between the hearts of special friends!!" is stamped on Whisper White again. I added some matching Prima flowers with coordinating Making Memories brads and then doodled around the whole card using my Chocolate Chip marker, framing the card with little dots!

You can enter the challenge 3 times but the deadline is May 31st, so if you want to join in, you'd better get stampin'!! I'll maybe try again....if I can find the time!!

Snorkel Girl!!


Her real name is Beach Girl Patti, but I like Snorkel Girl too!! Don'tcha love her floaty thing and mask?? For this card I used ALL High Hopes Stamps....I'm having such fun with them!!!

I took Beate's Sketch Challenge and this image was perfect with the square card layout! I'm really likin' the square ones lately. I started out stamping the beach girl image on Whisper White in black Stazon ink and then also stamping the Fillable Beach Scene on a separate piece of cardstock. (I have great plans for fooling around with the beach scene and other stamps too!!) Then I coloured in the images using my SU markers in Blush Blossom, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Bordering Blue and Bashful Blue. Then I used my Crystal Effects on the waves, Patti's snorkeling mask and her flippers...not sure if you can make it out in the photo. Also I added some sparklies to the sand,sandcastle and her bathing suit with my Clear Sakura Stardust gel pen. I layered it on Chocolate Chip, then cut out Patti and pop dotted her onto the scene! The So Saffron piece is stamped with the Flip Flops in So Saffron. Then I used Mellow Moss for the card base which is 5 1/2 x 5 1/2. The patterned paper is from the Shangri La Palette by DMD which I got at Target. I just love the colour combinations in that pack. Then I took this verse stamp and just inked up the 'summer days' part with my Chocolate Chip marker and stamped it right on the patterned paper. I used the ticket corner punch and added some blue eyelets. At a crop once I heard a woman say "Eyelets are so 'old school'!"..... and yes, she knew I was using them and I could hear her. How rude, right? Personally I think that people who say stuff like that are Snooty McSnobbypants!! *snort* I love my eyelets, especially my SU ones because they fold like buttah, especially with my Crop-a-dile and they match everything!!! I don't care what people say.........I THINK EYELETS ARE COOL!!! *giggle*

Little Sand Architect .... in YoYo Yellow!!


My shipment of Design Team rubbah arrived this week from High Hopes Stamps!! I was so excited to open the box and my family felt my joy, as they gathered round the kitchen table!!! They oohed and aahed as I pulled out each new stamp! (I think they are starting to really 'get it'!) And when I had yesterday off from work, those stamps were callin' my name!!! Heehee!!

Then for yesterday's Ways to Use It Challenge on Splitcoast, the challenge was to use YoYo Yellow in your card!! Well, it certainly WAS a challenge because I don't use that colour very often at all.....do you??

So I pulled out a really cute High Hopes stamp called Little Sand Architect and got busy. I stamped it in black Stazon on Whisper White and then grabbed some awesome new patterned paper by We R Memorykeepers and pulled my colours from there. I used Blush Blossom, YoYo Yellow, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Morning Marigold, Ruby Red and Creamy Caramel. I used YY and PP to mat it and then doodled a bunch with my Stardust gel pen on the sand to make it all sparkly!! I also stamped the sunblock bottle separately and trimmed it out to add onto the main panel later. The card base is 5 1/2 X 5 1/2 in Old Olive and I used my ticket corner punch on the pp and added some eyelets in the corners. The sentiment is also High Hopes and I backed it with Ruby Red. I used some bright yellow grosgrain ribbon on the top and then added some of my Prima flowers with brads and it all went together perfectly!! A nice summer card!!

Watercoloured Waterlily!


I had a little fun playin' with my aquapainter yesterday. Usually I don't like to use techniques that take a lot of time. I wanna get creatin', but I want it to be quick.....do ya hear what I'm sayin'?? I also hate to get out all the tools and products it takes for one little technique.....am I awful?? Or just lazy....don't answer that Mom!! *snort*

Anyhoo, I didn't have to work until late yesterday, so I decided to fool around with my aquapainter and do a little watercolouring. I picked up a couple of these cute little cube stamps on the weekend....ya know the ones with four different stamps, one on each of four sides?? Well these ones are by Sunshine Designs and they are called Nuggetz! And the images are simply darling!!! I just wish I could watercolour like she does!!

So I stamped the waterlily image on watercolour paper and tried out a couple of my new Tombow markers. I used black Stazon ink and then coloured in a bit directly on the image with the markers. Then I used my aquapainter to spread the colours around the rest of the image. I really wanna take a watercolouring class....but for now, I'm teachin' myself. My teacher sucks.....baaaaahahahaaaaaa!! Just kidding. So I matted the image on Pink Passion and then Basic Black. The card base is Taken with Teal which I sponged around the edges and stamped some doodley swirls by Autumn Leaves in black ink and added the $ Michael's sentiment at the bottom. I threw on some black organdy and white narrow organdy ribbon and pop dotted the main image (what would my cards be without the 3-d effect....I ask you)!!

And today I have the WHOLE day off work.....I'm so excited!! And it's supposed to be beautiful sunny weather, so I'm going to enjoy part of it outside.....in between the laundry and dishes and of course,......... I gotta stamp!!!

Crabby Patty!!


Around our house, if someone is not a happy camper, we call them a 'Crabby Patty'!! Heehee! So when the stamp set Crab & Company came out in the Spring Mini, I just loved it! HOWEVER, I'm trying to be a little more frugal with my stamping purchases these days and I have NOT purchased it yet......can you believe that?? I mean, it's a totally adorable set and I can see some great cards and scrapbook pages using it, especially with those awesome sentiments that come with it, like 'snappy birthday' and 'sandy claws' but I wasn't sure that I would use it a whole lot. So what I did, was wish for some images in the Wish-RAK forum on Splitcoast and some awesome people sent me some of the images. This way I can play with a few of the images first and try it out before I decide to purchase it! And this was my first chance to play with good ol' 'Crabby Patty'!

This morning's Sketch Challenge on Splitcoast was to use a very small panel in the middle of the card and not much else. The panel itself is only 3 1/2 X 1 1/4, so pretty small! I used my fave stamp from Itty Bitty Backgrounds and stamped it along the bottom of the panel in Creamy Caramel to look like sand and then sponged over top in the same. I matted the panel on Only Orange and then Pink Passion. I took one of the Crab images and coloured it in using my Prismacolor pencils and my odorless mineral spirits. I'm not very experienced in using that technique yet and I guess it takes practice, but I do think I'm getting better. I used three different pencils to get the shading right. I used Canary Yellow along the bottom, Orange in the middle and Crimson Red along the top. Then I used my Karen Foster Snap Stamps (thank you Cindy, for being my Enabler....*snort*) to do the sentiment, which says 'Shore do miss you!'. The card base is Pink Passion and the patterned paper is from the DCWV Pockets Full of Posies stack (I just realized that I think I put something else on my SCS gallery....whoops!). I used linen thread to tie around the main panel and added some brads in the corner. It's quite simple, but that's what the challenge called for!!

I'm really thinkin' I may NEED this set.....so I'd better get it before it's gone!! The Spring Mini is only good for another month or so...yipes!!

I was also tagged by Cindy and Julee to fill out this questionnaire about things you might not know about me. I'm really not that interesting, but I'll give it a go!!


A) Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. Ice Cream Shop Girlie
2. Tourism Coordinator
3. Bank Teller
4. Church Secretary

B) Four movies I would watch over and over

1. The Notebook
2. Pretty in Pink
3. Notting Hill
4. First Knight.........I'm an 80's girl and a hopeless romantic....can ya tell??

C) Four places I have lived:

1. Wallaceburg, ON
2. Waterloo, ON
3. Chatham, ON
4. St. Thomas, ON ..... those are the ONLY four places I have lived!!

D) Four TV Shows that I watch:

1. Survivor....Yau Man should totally have won!!
2. The Amazing Race...the Beauty Queens should have won!!
3. Dancing wit da Stars...I'm glad Apollo won and Joey came in second!!!
4. Big Brother......can't WAIT for it to start!!!

E) Four places I have been on vacation:

1. Orlando, FL
2. Dominican Republic
3. Las Vegas
4. Niagara Falls

F) Four People who e-mail me (regularly)

1. My Mommy.....hi...*wave*
2. My Honey...he emails me from his computer two floors down....*giggle*
3. My BFF....Leigh
4. Cindy Lou ..... my pal and fellow DT member!!

G) Four of my favorite foods:

1. Laura Secord French Mint chocolate bars!! ....chocolate IS a food group!!
2. McDonald's....I know, yuck, right??
3. My Mommy's Cherry Cheesecake
4. Corn on the Cob!!!

H) Four places I would rather be right now:

1. back in Florida, on the beach with my family!
2. maybe on a cruise.....I've never been on one!
3. Hangin' out in the pool with Em and my Mom!
4. Can I say Florida twice???

NOW, it's YOUR turn..........yes, YOU!! Please comment here and fill me in on YOU!! You can answer All of these questions or just one!! It's up to you, but I would LOVE to hear some little tidbits of info about you!!

Beach Babes.........and Kimmie's Kandy Winners!!!


Aren't we just a couple of the cutest 'Beach Babes' you've ever seen?? *giggle* Nothin' like tootin' yer own horn, huh?? Heehee! I would never say that if I wasn't sittin' beside my gorgeous daughter.........or if I was actually wearing a bathing suit!!! Baahahahahaaaa!

This is probably my favourite layout from National Scrapbooking Weekend. Like I mentioned before, I went to a wonderful all day crop at my local scrapbooking store and had a great day of fun and scrappin'!! Sometimes I have a hard time at those things just because I'm not in my own little craft room and I'm so used to knowing where everything is and being able to reach right out and grab it, rather than diggin' to the bottom of one of my mammoth totes and saying 'I know I brought it...it's in here somewhere!!!' That's totally frustrating and funny at the same time!!

Anyhoo, this page just really fell together just right and I was super pleased with it. I used these six pictures, which, believe it or not, Emileigh took all but one of them, including the ones she is in!! The colours in them are so yummy and matched the Blush Basic Grey papers so well, I just ran with it!! I used the solid blue/green sheets as the background pages and then took the coordinating floral page and used pieces all over the layout as embellishments. First I cut a quarter circle out of it and used that as a title background piece on the upper left hand side. Then I cut out some of the large flowers, small flowers and leafy designed pieces, dtp'd the edges of them and used them all over the layout. I also used a wide strip down the right hand side of the right page.

I did the title using a chipboard letter 'b' which I painted with brown paint and then roughed it up with sandpaper after it dried. I tied on some pink grosgrain ribbons and the rest of the title is done using my Cuttlebug Hippie Chick alphabet. Then I had some of this great white ric rac and some delicious Prima Flowers that just happend to match perfectly!! It is a very 'beachy' layout for a very 'beachy' day in Florida!!

AND, the randomly drawn winners for the sketch challenge are: Michelle, Paula and Donna!! Please email me your snail mail address and I will get your prizes out to ya!! That was a lot of fun and maybe we can do it again soon.....are ya game???

Sketch Challenge Entries!!!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.......enjoying the sunshine and great weather(at least it's pretty nice here in SW Ontario!). And I just wanna tell ya that I am so absotively, posilutely thrilled with all the entries for the sketch challenge!!! I can't believe that 11 of you created a card using the challenge that I posted and they are all so different and so unique!! I can't thank you enough for playing along!! This is such fun!

You can see the slides of the challenge entries at the side of my blog. For some strange reason I can't post them in my actual post. I told ya I'm totally not computer savvy....and on the Photobucket site, where I make my scrolling slideshows, you can only put on 10 images in a single slideshow, so I broke it up and made two slideshows!! And since I am not so computer smart as to put your names on each of the slides I will just tell you whose they are: Lori, Mary, Michelle, Jodene, Paula, Julee, Allison, Melanie, Donna, Pat and Melissa!! Thanks again SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!! I will randomly pick the three winners on Tuesday!!

In the Doghouse!!!


I'm not really in the doghouse, but this card is!! Again, this is an awesome image sent to me by Linda Palmer........doesn't she have the BEST stamps??? Thanks Linda!

This card actually took me a couple of days to finish. Do you ever have days like that?? I just had too much else going on and was only able to do a little bit at a time. But the end result is what matters I guess.

So the image was already stamped when I got it.....I'm pretty sure it's a Whipper Snapper stamp in black permanent ink. I coloured it in using my trusty SU markers, added some doodles in the corners and added some red Stickles on the hearts and used my Sakura Stardust gel pen around the edges of the flowers and the ladybug (I LOVE ladybugs, don't you?). It's layered on Real Red and Chocolate Chip and the patterned paper is by Scrapbook Walls on a 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 card. I added the polka dot American Crafts ribbon along with some Hodgepodge Hardware and some Prima Flowers. This cute little doggie just makes me go 'Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!'. Hope he makes you do that too!!

This weekend is Virtual Stamping Night on Splitcoaststampers, so if you would like to play along, it runs Friday night and Saturday. Unfortunately, I have to work but maybe I will try some of the challenges on Sunday, unless my husband offers to take me shopping....hehehe! Is there really a decision to make there?? *snort* Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

OH!! And if you haven't done my sketch challenge yet, you have until Sunday night!! I've already had some great entries and I'd LOVE to see yours

Gone Fishin'!!


Well, I'm workin' my little butt off this week!! I have a stamp camp with 12 ladies out of town on Friday night and I have had to work extra time at the library, unexpectedly, so I'm desigining and preparing and packing in my 'spare time'. Hahaha!

So here is a scrapbook layout that I created for Virtual Scrapbook Weekend. It is a two page 12x12 layout using Basic Grey Oh Baby Boy patterned papers which were perfect for these pictures of my nephew. At this age he had a ball hangin' out and watching the fishies in Nana's aquarium, so I created the underwater scene at the bottom of the pages using some awesome new stamps by Pink Cat Studio. I stamped the images on Whisper White cardstock using black Stazon ink and coloured them in using my SU markers that match the colours in the patterned paper. Then I made a scalloped edge for the top of the scene using my slit punch. I made the title using both my Big Deal Alphabet and my Whimsical Alphabet, using both sizes of tag punches and popping the second half of the title up on pop dots. The journaling reads: Matthew is fascinated by Nana's fish!! He sits on Nana's lap and watches them swim. There are Angel Fish, Silver Dollars and Clown Loaches. He points to them and talks to them. Matthew loves fishin'!



I also have some super-exciting news!!!!! I have recently found an awesome stamp company called Rubber Stamping Fun and a couple of weeks ago they put out a call for people with stamping blogs and galleries to apply to be a Reviewer for their company. Well, I jumped right on that, didn't I???? I guess a TON of people applied and they chose only 145 people all over Canada, the US, England, Australia and more.....and guess what????? They picked little ole me!!! So the plan is that they will be sending us each a set of their brand new, unreleased stamps just to play around with them and review them on our blogs!! How great is that?? They want honest feedback about what we like or don't like about their stamps! I'm really thrilled to be in on this process with them and I'm honestly impressed that a company would do this and realizes how important it is to hear opinions about their products. So I have already chosen my set....it's so adorable and I don't have anything like this set in my arsenal yet...so I can't wait to get it!!! If you haven't seen their website before, go and check them out! They have some fantastic images in both wood-mounted and clear acrylic stamps!! And be sure to let them know Kimmie sent ya!!

An Honourable Mention!!!


This card uses a great new SU stamp set that I just got on my last order, Big Blooms. I've seen so many gorgeous designs with it, so I knew I had to use it for the sketch challenge on Julee's blog!!

I grabbed my Basic Grey Phoebe paper and grabbed the colours from those two pieces of pp. Cool Caribbean is just such a pretty colour and I will miss it when it is gone!! *sniff, sniff* So I used it as the base of the card and put the two pieces of Phoebe paper according to her sketch. Then I kissed the two big blooms!! The big one was inked up with Chocolate Chip ink and then kissed on the Soft Swirls bg stamp and the middle bloom was stamped onto an inked up Floral bg stamp. The middle one is inked with Cool C and then I stamped the thank you in Chocolate Chip using a Taggers Dozen stamp and then I went over it with my Sakura Stardust pen. I layered them on each other and pop dotted the blooms, added some ribbon, the three green brads and doodled around the edge!

Julee just posted that she had a TON of entries and I received an honourable mention.....I'm SO honoured.....giggle!

NOW, don't forget to play around with the sketch I posted yesterday for a challenge!! I have already received two great entries and I hope you will join in too!!!

My First Sketch Challenge......for YOU!!!

Yay!! I'm so 'cited!! As you can see I am nearing the 15,000 visitor mark and that's totally cool in itself!! I can't believe that I started a blog......much less that people come and visit me here!! Heehee! I can't tell you how much I really appreciate your comments and love!!

So when I posed the challenge question to my fellow stampers (that's you), the general consensus was that you would like to join in a sketch challenge, followed closely by a themed challenge! So maybe we'll do a themed challenge for 20,000 hits....sound good??

Okay, so I'm not exactly computer savvy....although I think I'm doin' pretty good just to hang with the big dogs in this whole bloggin' thing!! I didn't know A THING about this stuff before my sweet pal Cindy talked me into starting one!! Anyhoo, my point is that I don't have the capabilities of creating my own sketch with a computer program. So I just designed and made my own card and you'll just have to use the actual picture as inspiration!! So here it is................TA DA!!!!!



I was pretty thrilled with it, so I hope you like it too!! I used an adorable image that I received from Linda Palmer and it is a Whipper Snapper stamp, I do believe. I used my Stampin' Up markers to colour this cute little turtle girl (isn't she a doll??) and did some shading around her and then doodled the frame. The main image is matted on Bashful Blue and Close to Cocoa then pop dotted. The base of the card is CtoC and the patterned paper is Shangri La by DMD and I used the ticket corner punch with SU brads in the corner. I used the new Round Tab Punch by SU and the sentiment is from Cute Converse. I also added some moss gingham ribbon and some Prima Flowers. The middle of the flowers were created by putting some Tombow liquid glue in the centers and adding some clear glass beads that I got from the dollar store!! I think it just adds that extra sparkle that my turtle girl deserves!!

And there is some Kimmie's Kandy for 3 lucky winners!! I was able to get my hands on some of the clear acrylic Studio G stamps and blocks which are SO hard to find around here!! Each winner will receive a set of the stamps and a block to go with them, along with some yummy deelish-us ribbon and an assortment of dee-lightful Prima flowers!!!!




So go to it!! Create a card using ANY stamps, ANY paper, ANY products at all!! I can't wait to see what you come up with.....I'm REALLY excited for you to join in!! I will leave this challenge open until next Sunday evening, May 20th and I will post a slideshow of all the entries right here so everyone can share their lovely artwork!! Then I will announce the three, totally random winners the next day!! How's that?? So all you have to do to join in the fun is to create a card using the sketch from my turtle girl card above as inspiration and email it to me!! Also feel free to post it on your blog or in your gallery and tell your friends, so they can play too!!

Now GO!! Stamp!! Create!! I'm so excited......did I say that already?? *snort*

Beate's Challenge!!


Well, I hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day!! I certainly did! Emileigh made me a beautiful Mother's Day card using purples AND patterned paper(I've taught you well, young grasshopper!!) and she and my husband took me shopping to the stamp store!! I got two packages of Dew Drops, which I haven't tried before so that should be fun AND two new lovely stamps that I can't wait to play with and share!! Then we spent the afternoon at my Mom and Dad's house and had a wonderful barbecue with steak and potato salad and coleslaw and yummy cheesecake for dessert!!

The card I am posting today is one using a Wish-RAK image from my pal, Linda Palmer on SCS. She has sent me some wonderful Whipper Snapper images and you will be seeing several over the next few days!! I'm pretty sure this stamp is a Whipper Snapper too, but I'll have to check with Linda to be sure. Linda is da bomb-diggity...heehee! She knows I can't find these stamps ANYWHERE around here and she keeps sending them to me! Thanks bunches Linda!!! I just love these dogs and animals. Isn't that always the way though? You want to purchase the stamps and products that you can't get your hands on!! It's all about the hunt sometimes, isn't it!!?

AND this card was created using a sketch on Beate's blog! She is giving away some yummy blog candy to celebrate her hits and so she posted a sketch challenge! In order to be in the running for her candy, you had to create a card using her sketch and post a link on her blog. This is my entry and I hope you all like it!!

I think the image was stamped in black Stazon or some type of permanent ink because it didn't bleed or anything and I'm not sure what paper she used, but it has more of a matte finish to it. I coloured it in using my SU markers and shaded around the edges and grounded the image using Sahara Sand. Then I doodled around the frame and matted it on Barely Banana and Bordering Blue. The layer under that is Chocolate Chip and the card base is BB and it is a 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 card. The patterned paper is some pretty Wild Asparagus paper backed on Close to Cocoa with some white dots made with my white gel pen. The ribbon is American Crafts polka dot and the tag was made with the Word Window Punch using the 'woof' from Pink Cat Studio. I pop dotted the main image and added some Prima flowers with white brads. I'm thrilled with the way it turned out and I just LOVE this panting, slobbering little doggie!! I just wanna give him a big hug!!

Just the 2 of Us!!!


For some reason I thought I had posted this page to my blog already but I can't seem to find it!! Hmph! Did I ever mention that my memory sucks?? Well, I wouldn't remember if I HAD mentioned it anyway!! Bahahahaaaaaa!! I think I just posted it in my SCS gallery but not on here......so here it is!! Ta daaaaaa!

Anyhaway.....I did this page combining two challenges!! The first challenge was a Virtual Scrapbooking Challenge to use buttons on your page and the other challenge was from my local scrapbooking store, The Cat's Kaboose!! They have a monthly challenge to create an sb page using the papers and embellishments that they give you. You must use a little bit of everything that they provide but you can add anything you want to it from your own stash.

So I took a 5x7 pic and made it black and white (that way it goes with ANY papers you choose to use.....plus I LOVE b&w pics) and used it as the focal point of my 12x12 page. It's a pic that Emileigh took of the two of us on St. Pete Beach in Florida! The patterned papers are by Lil Davis Designs and some of the cardstock was provided, so I'm not sure what it is. The SU cardstock I used was Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and Real Red. I would never have combined those colours myself, but they look cool on the pp, so what do I know??

I made the left hand border using a strip of the cardstock for the base, stamping Polka Dots and Petals on in in CC and then adding all those lovely flowers which are Cuttlebug diecuts plus a BUNCH of my SU buttons!! I don't normally use that many buttons or spendy embellishments on my page (it's actually painful for me to use that much 'stuff'....I'm so thrifty!!!) but i really wanted this page to be special!

The title is a combination of chipboard and Cuttlebugged letters and numbers. The photo panel has some yummy velvet ric rac that was included with the kit as well as those delish-us (don'tcha love that spelling....I made it up...keeheehee) Prima hydrangeas. Then I just added the red corners to finish it off!!

I didn't win for the VSBN challenge but my page is currently hanging in teh local scrapbook store with 7 others being voted on!! Eek!! SO if you happen to live in St. Thomas and you stop by The Cat's Kaboose, PLEASE vote for #8!! It's mine!! Heehee! I could win a gift certificate to the store........and I LOVE that store!!!

Bugs & Kisses!!


Hidee ho fellow stampers and crafty people!!! I had a ton of fun playing with the Sketch Challenge on SCS yesterday. Sometimes I just don't feel the stampin' mojo, ya know what I mean?? But yesterday was a good day and this is the card I made!!

I got this stamp set, Bugs and Kisses, a couple of weeks ago for the Consistency Counts promotion for Stampin' Up demos. I had mounted it but the rubbah had never touched ink.....so of course, this was the perfect opportunity!! It was also nice to makemore of a little boy card which is totally outside of the box for moi!!

Anyhoo, I started off with the sketch as my inspiration. I knew the cards had to have greens on it to use with those cute little bugs!! The patterened paper by Simple Memories was perfect so I took the ink and cardstock colours from there. The card base is Tempting Turquoise and the patterned paper, which I ran through the Cuttlebug using the Bloom Dots embossing folder, is matted on Night of Navy. I ticket corner punched the pp and added silver brads. I cut the larger squares out of Night of Navy and Old Olive cardstock and the smaller squares out of coordinating patterned paper. Each of the bugs was stamped on Whisper White cardstock and then cut out and pop dotted on the squares. I did the little snail using my SU markers so that I could use two different colours on the stamp. Then I made the little tag myself using the tag corner punch and added some yummy navy polka dot ribbon by American Crafts. I'm SO happy with it and I think any of the little guys in my life would love it!!!

So the main consensus from yesterday's comments from you ladies is that you would enjoy a sketch challenge! Sounds fun to me!! I LOVE sketch challenges!! So I will either look for a sketch online or try to design something myself for our little challenge!! When I hit 15,000 visitors, I will post the challenge and away we go!!! Heehee! I'm gettin' excited!!!

Tub Piggies!!!

Hello stampin' friends!!! You ARE my friends you know.....my invisible friends!! Heehee! Thanks for stoppin' in!! I have a cute little card to show you and a question for you!!!

Firstly, a super-nice lady I know loaned me some of her High Hopes Rubber Stamps to play with until I get some of my own as a Design Team member. So this is a card made using the stamp called 'Good Clean Fun', or as I like to call it, Tub Piggies!! Isn't it just the cutest image??



I stamped the image with black Stazon ink on Whisper White SU cardstock and coloured it in using my SU markers. Then I added some highlighted spots on the bubbles with my white Signo gel pen and some sparklies with my Stardust Sakura gel pen. I added the sentiment, 'What are friends for?' with my Karen Foster Snap Stamps and doodled around the frame. It looked great, but it needed something more.....so I went over all the bubbles and water with my Versamark marker and embossed it all with clear embossing powder. Not sure if you can see it much in the photo, but it's all shiny and wet looking in real life!! I used some pink unknown cardstock which was 12x12 (this is a 6x6 card) and then Bliss Blue cardstock which is retired. The patterned paper is from the DCWV Spring Stack and the main image is matted on Pale Plum and popdotted. The ribbon is polka dotted organdy ribbon which I picked up out of a bin somewhere with a cute little rhinestone flower on top!!

Now for the question!!! As you can see by my counter, I am approaching the 15,000 visitor mark and you KNOW there will be some Kimmie's Kandy involved in celebrating!! I would like to make it a sort of stamping and cardmaking challenge, so my question to YOU is: would you like it to be a themed challenge, a sketch challenge, a colour comination challenge.......what?? Let me know what type of challenge appeals to you and I'll see what I can come up with!!! When I hit the 15,000 mark, I will post the challenge and then everyone can create a card and email me a pic and I will post them on my blog!! Then someone will win some Kimmie's Kandy!! Sound like fun??!! Of course it does!! So leave me a comment and share your thoughts.

An Altered 'E'!!


The letter 'E' is my most favourite letter in the whole alphabet!! Why, you may ask? Well it is the first letter in several of my favourite words....English, which is my favourite subject (being the bookworm that I am).....England, which is where my parents are from......Evening, which is my favourite time of day.....Ecstatic which is how I feel when I make a really awesome card or scrapbook page....Eggs, which are my favourite breakfast food....but mostly it is my favourite letter because it begins the name of my effervescent and enchanting daughter's name: Emileigh Elizabeth!!! Heehee! Like you couldn't guess!!

So today's Technique Lover's Challenge on SCS was to make an altered item for a teacher as an end of the year gift. Well, Emileigh is in high school now and has several teachers, so we don't do that ritual anymore. So instead I decided to make Emileigh a little gift since she had a great midterm report card recently.

I got this wooden 'E' at Target recently in the clearance section for 49 cents!! Can you believe that?? I chose some super funky paper by My Mind's Eye (I think that's who makes it...the back of the paper doesn't say....don'tcha hate that??!) and found some paint and mod podge that I had forgotten about and went to town! I painted the back and sides of the wood with ivory craft paint and then mod podged the whole thing. Then I cut out the 'E' template in the patterned paper and sponged the edges with close to cocoa craft ink. I adhered it with mod podge again and coated the cover of it too. After it dried, I sanded the edges and added some yummy ribbons, Prima flowers and a rhinestone brad!! I really like the way it turned out.

When Emmy came home from school, she came into my craft room, saw the 'E' on my table, looked at me kinda sideways and said oh so sweetly, 'Is that for meeeeee?'. Makes it all worthwhile, ya know???

You're a Treasure!!!


This is the first card I've made using the cute little Cat's Pajamas pirate stamps that Vivian (Vivlyn on SCS) sent to me last week!! It was a quick one but I love it just the same as if I'd spent an hour on it!

I stamped 'Simon Sees' with basic black SU ink on shimmery paper and coloured him in using my SU markers and I used my Stardust gel pen to shine up the telescope and the bones on his hat. I punched the image out with my Marvy Mega Circle Punch and then doodled around the edge of the circle using my Chocolate Chip marker (the journaling end). I punched a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock using the Giga Scalloped Circle Punch and then did the dots with the same gel pen. I used CC for the base and then the patterned paper is supposed to look like old-time parchment from the Once Upon a Time line by DCWV. I used the ticket corner punch on the corners and stamped the sentiment 'You're a Treasure' and the skull and crossbones in chocolate chip too. I wrapped some dark brown suede stuff around it and pop dotted the whole piece on the base. I dotted the corners with the gel pen...again (I love that thing)!! I think it's a cutie card!!

AND yesterday was National Scrapbooking Day and as you might have read, I went to an all day crop....and I do mean ALL DAY!! I spent 9-5pm at the local sb store doing challenges and eating and I won some door prizes and met some new people ...... and oh yeah, I did some scrappin' too!! I was also glad to find out that I didn't bring the most stuff....not even close!! I got three 2-page layouts done there and when it was over, I went home for supper. Well, my honey had worked all night, gotten home late in the morning, stayed up to cut the grass, weedwhack, clean up the yard etc. and so he was still sleeping when I got home. And Emileigh had slept over at her girlfriend's house and the family had taken them out of town to a nice park where they did some fishing and stuff...and SHE wasn't home yet either.

Anyway, after I ate (all alone) I went over to my friend Donna's house for a croppin' party!! There were originally supposed to be 6 of us but a couple of the long distance people had to cancel. That was okay though because the four of us had a great time chatting and sharing ideas and tips! We gabbed and ate some yummy snacks and stuff! It was so nice and I really enjoyed myself! Oh and I did get ONE layout done..hehe! It was so wonderful to spend a whole day scrappin'! I haven't done too much other than cards over the last few months, so this was really nice.



Here is one of the layouts I finished. All the pictures I worked this with weekend were from our trip to Florida in February. This one features some pics from the Tennessee Aquarium where we stopped on the way to Florida. We spent the night there in Chattanooga and had a super fun evening at the aquarium (well, I did....Al and Emmy, not so much) seeing all the cool underwater creatures!

The patterned papers I used were by Polar Bear Press and the cardstock is Handsome Hunter and Certainly Celery. I used Alphabet Fun Upper and my Karen Foster Snap Stamps to do the title and stamped a little froggy from Very Punny on the corner. Then I added some buttons and linen thread and some grosgrain ribbon. I kept our tickets from the aquarium, so that's them on the left and I used a rubon on the bottom of the right page. The journaling reads: We arrived in Chattanooga, Tennessee around 4pm on Saturday, February 24th, 2007. Our original plan was to go to Ruby Falls and Rock City but it was closed, so we decided to go downtown! It was a really pretty area with cute little storefronts and we found the Tennessee Aquarium! Since we wouldn't be going to Sea World in Florida, Al and Emileigh agreed to go!

I will have some more pages to share later on! Hope your week starts out great!!

Oh and remember the scrappin' challenge that I set out for anyone who wanted to give it a try??? Well the winner is Erika (splrunning on SCS)!! So email me your mailing address Erika and I will pop your Kandy in the mail!!!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!!!!


I'm so excited, I'm so excited!!! Today is National Scrapbooking Day and I'm doing something I haven't done in a long time!!! No, not dust the furniture....bwahahahaa!! I am going to an All Day Crop at the new local scrapbooking store called The Cat's Kaboose!!

The reason I haven't done it in so long is because ..... well, I just have too much stuff!! It's easier to just hang out in my craft room where all my 'stuff' is at arm's length and I can be as creative as I want, because it's all there!! Do you know what I mean?? But this day sounded like so much fun, I thought to myself, 'Self ..... you can do it!! You just need to pack efficiently!' So that's what I've tried to do!!

I've gotta tell ya, it has probably taken me longer to pack for this crop, than the amount of time I will spend actually cropping today!! What a chore!! I had to pack most of my alphabet stamps, all my Stampin' Spots, a container FULL of embellishments (brads, buttons, eyelets etc.), rubons, scissors, adhesive...blah, blah, blah!! The list just goes on! And then just when I figured I was doing okay, I realized I hadn't even packed my pictures OR ANY PAPER!! Yipes!!!

Well, I am about ready to go to this super fun day, but I will post a picture of my bags later!! Just to give you a hint, there are four!!! Aahahahaa!! And last night when I was carrying them downstairs ready to go, I turned around and looked in my craft room, and you couldn't even tell that anything was missing!!! Think I have too much stuff??? Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

So here is the title page for the album I will be working on today!! I have decided to focus on our Florida vacation today and this is the cover page.....Our Florida Vacation '07!! Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Geisha Kitty!!!


On Julee's blog this morning she asked if you had ever made a card that you were really excited about......well this is that card for me!!! I wasn't sure what I was going to do when I started but the finished product makes me happy!!!

I started out using one of my new Pink Cat Studio stamps, Geisha Kitty from Plate #2. Then I thought I would stay with the Asian theme and I grabbed my Far East stack by DCWV. I used that as my starting point and chose my SU markers from there. I also chose a fabulous sketch from SCS, SC105. I get so much inspiration from the sketch challenges.

I stamped the kitty in black Stazon ink on shimmery white paper and coloured in the kitty and her beautiful outfit using Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Baroque Burgundy (retired), Mellow Moss and So Saffron. Then I used my black Sakura Glaze pen to do the dots around the edge, matted it in Baroque Burgundy and Basic Black. Then I cut my Far East paper using my cutting system by Creative Memories. I also cut the Basic Black and So Saffron to mat the original circle. I used Baroque Burgundy for the card base and ran it through my Cuttlebug using the Stylized Flower folder. Then I sponged over the embossed flowers with BB ink. I used my square punch to cut a square out of So Saffron and cut it in half, then did three dots on each and placed them in the corners. I added some yummy Prima flowers and an antique copper brad, pop dotted the main image and THAT is my favourite card EVER!!! Well, at least until I make another cool one!! Heehee!! Hope you like her!!

A Card and some RAKs!!!


Here is a card I whipped up this morning before work. The colour challenge was posted early so I was able to play since I had a brand spankin' new stamp set just mounted, sittin' on my desk!!

The challenge was to use any pink or pinks on your card, so I grabbed my Pixie Pink ink and my new Phoebe 6x6 pad and went to town!! I used Big Blooms from the Spring Mini and stamped the bloom part in Pixie Pink and the stem in Certainly Celery, I used the ticket corner punch and matted it in Chocolate Chip, then added dots with my white Signo gel pen. Did the same around the matting of the BG paper and added some polka dot grosgrain ribbon and a little tag that says 'so grateful', pop dotted the image and it's done! So simple.....'cause that's all I had time for or I woulda been late for work!!!

I have had two WONDERFUL secret pals in the last little while and I just want to give them each a SHOUT-OUT!!! Firstly, my Secret Bunny Julee sent me a fab reveal gift back at Easter but she was unable to find some of the stuff she had originally gotten for me (we all know what that's like....especially if your craft room looks like mine)!! So I got another package from her afterwards with all these goodies in it!!



She sent me some yummy alphabet pebbles by Making Memories, some pretty American Crafts ribbon, a whole BUNCH of sentiment stamps from Purple Onion and the BEST part was the altered clothespin that she MADE me!! It's very special and has my name on it and everything!! It is in a special place in my stamp room for ALL to see!! Thanks so much Julee!! You da bomb-diggity!!!

Then today was reveal day for the Secret Friend switcheroo and I opened the most wonderful envelope from my pal Vivian (Vivlyn on SCS)!!



She totally went overboard and I'm so glad she did...heehee!! I got TWO 6x6 pads of Basic Grey paper in Phoebe and Gypsy......I got a whole ziploc bag of HUGE prima flowers like I have never seen before....a WHOLE SET of Rhonna Farrer stamps....and the best part was those little stamps you see in the pic. Viv is so sneaky...she had seen somewhere on SCS that I have a nephew who LOVES all things pirate and I wanted to make him a special 'piratey' birthday card but I didn't have any pirate stamps......so she specially ordered them from Cat's Pajamas for ME!!!! They are so wonderful!! Thanks Vivian!!! Mwah!!!

Now don't forget to enter my scrappin' challenge!! Ya still have until Friday night to get in your entry and you could be a weiner.....I mean WINNER!!! *snort*
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