Happy Halloween!

BOO!!



I hope you all are having a fantasticly frightful Friday!! I know a lot of you are Trick or Treating tonight, so stay safe & have fun!!

Since our Trick or Treat was Sunday, & our school parties were yesterday, I've moved on to Thanksgiving :) I used an Inky Antics stamp that had never seen ink ~ I think these turkeys are adorable!! I know, not many people send out Thanksgiving cards, but the Mr. & Mrs. were just too cute to pass up!


I used my Prismas & gamsol to color the image, & my Nesties for the scalloped mat. That's Cranberry Crisp, my favorite In Color from last year. I added some shine to the hat, shoes & apples with my Sakura clear glaze pen. I had some of this GREAT paper in my stash from Reminisce, they go pretty well together, don't ya think? Added some frayed ribbon & a button, & some Dew Drops in the corners (even though I realize now you can't really see them). I faux stitched all around with a black marker. I swear, I really am practicing my REAL sewing, but until it's perfect, I just can't do it on a card!


Here's the inside ~~ again, it took me about 20 shots to get one picture that wasn't too blurry. I just used my Martha Stewart branch punch to punch 2 Cranberry Crisp leaves, & added some Stickles. Nothing too fancy :)


What are your plans for the weekend?? It's actually pretty balmy here ~~ about 50 ~~ so we ARE going to fnish putting our stuff away in the shed. We have a table to dismantle & store, & lots of bikes & scooters to find room for! There's just never enough storage space, is there??

Halloween bowling

OK, I just want to say I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS!!! But it's so addicting. I saw this posted on SCS & now I can't stop playing. So far my high game is 154 ~~ I do much better on the computer than IRL!! Must be because I don't have to wear the stupid shoes.

Halloween bowling

A new Riley!

Ok, well, he's not NEW new, but he's new to me. Ok, well, he's not NEW to me, I've had him sitting on my table, uninked, for quite a while now. I've been so lost in all the High Hopes goodness lately that I've neglected my other stamps. There have even been MORE Rileys released since *this* one was released~ how cute is the one with the pj's?? I must have him!! Anyway, on to the one I *DO* have!


Riley is of course colored with Prismas & gamsol, & I popped up the tree & his boots for a little dimension. There are Stickles on the tree, the ground, & on the snowflakes. The paper is Riding Hood Red & Basic Grey's Figgy. I did buy the Wassail pack the other day, but I'm making myself use some more of the Figgy first. Not hard to do, I *heart* this pack! The RHR piece was embossed with the Cuttlebug snowflake folder, & I finished it off with a photo corner & 4 red pearls. I'm not sure Riley would appreciate being surrounded by pearls, but those corners needed something & the red pearls were calling to me!



Here's a picture of the inside. I added a scrap strip of the BG paper & stamped an Imaginisce Xmas tree in the corner. I covered the garland in Stickles, so it's nice & sparkly!!



Today was Halloween party day at the school, & I helped out with Michael's class. They got to put on their costumes & parade around the whole school, going into just about every classroom. I must be a GEEK because I had just as much fun as the kids!! For the party, Michael chose to be a fireman. Here he is, standing all happy & proud :)


After the party I helped with the last day of the Scholastic Book Fair, so I'm pretty beat. I'm going to veg with my kids tonight ~~ play some games & watch something Halloween-y on TV. Have a great night!!

High Hopes challenge #5

Ugh!! I hate being late!! I should have put that in my "things I don't love" list a few posts back. Well, I AM late with this challenge card, but at least I got it done!! This is for the High Hopes challenge from this past Sunday. It's a sketch challenge created by Katharina.



Ok, I'm not very good at tall cards. In fact, this probably should have been a bit shorter & a bit wider, but I wanted it to fit into a business size envelope, so it's 4" x 9". I used another of High Hopes new releases, Callie Christmas Kitty. Isn't she adorable?? We have 2 cats, & luckily I've never found them in this situation, not even as kittens. She's colored with my good ole trusty Prismas & gamsol, with a wee bit of Stickles on the ornaments, & clear glaze on the candy canes. The ovals were cut with my Nesties. All the paper is Basic Grey Blitzen, a fun Xmas collection from a few years ago. The ribbon was from my stash, & the Dew Drops down the side are actually the fake ones from Michael's. I know I've mentioned it before, but when I want some accents to perfectly match my card, I use these clear accents found in the floral department of M's. I use my 1/4" hole punch & punch some cardstock ( in this case, Real Red) then attach the punched pieces to the bottom with Crystal Effects. Glue them on & VOILA ~~~ matching Dew Drops :)


I hope you all have a fantastic Tuesday. It's still FREEZING here but a reprieve is in our future ~~ Thursday is supposed to be 60 degrees!! So those of us who have procrastinated & haven't gotten all of their outside work done, it's Thursday or never!!! Have a great day!!

The weather outside is frightful!

Happy Monday!! My thermometer reads 35 degrees right now. At least the sun is shining! My boys had to wear their.......*shiver*......winter jackets to school today. I'm just not ready for cold weather!!

Well, in the spirit of the colder weather, I made a card using my new Tilda from my wonderfully generous friend Dawn. I LOVE this stamp & am so grateful to her for sending it to me.

I stamped Tilda onto Shimmery White paper, colored her with Prisma pencils & cut her out. The circle is also shimmery white, embossed using the Cuttlebug snowflake folder. The papers are from Provocraft's Holiday pack from last year, along with SU's Real Red. The two corner pieces are Cuttlebug's Vintage Corner dies, & I used my clear Spica glitter pen to give it some shimmer. I also added Stickles Frosted Lace to Tilda's "fur". It was shimmery enough from the paper, however I made a boo-boo & needed to cover it up so she's extra sparkly :)


As usual, I had a hard time getting a good picture of the inside, but I really wanted to show you how I used my new Martha Stewart snowflake border punch, also from Dawn. It cuts AND embosses, although I think I flattened out the embossed snowflakes when I smoothed it out after gluing, lol. See how blurry it is? Now how come my camera worked fine for the front of the card, but my insides are always blurry?? Is it all the white space? I even tried taking a picture of just that bottom part with the punch ~~ blurry!! I welcome any suggestions!!


Finally, here's a picture of my kiddos yesterday before they went Trick or Treating. Doesn't my 10 year old look thrilled? I'm sure he's thinking "I can't BELIEVE I still have to go Trick or Treating with my little brother & my MOM!!". And don't you love Darth Vader's snowflake sweatshirt? I had just a black long sleeve shirt for him to wear under his cape thing, but it was wayyyyy too cold. Ya gotta be flexible in Wisconsin!!


Well I'm off to help out in the school library for a few hours. When I come back I'm hoping to finish my High Hopes challenge card that should have been posted......ahem.....yesterday!! Have a great Monday!!

EDIT: I wanted to let you know I have a few stamps for sale on Ebay. Thinking about it now, I should have offered them up here first, but I'm just so used to just selling on Ebay, so that's where they are. I don't have many, although I hope to get more listed, but there are some fun winter & Christmas ones, if you want to check it out. HERE IS THE LINK.

ANOTHER EDIT: Well I retook my pictures & they came out better. However, I have to use the .3 setting on my camera, instead of the 2 which is what I usually use for blog pictures. Using the 2 is suppose to mean clearer pictures, but I guess in the case of the color red, that rule doesn't apply. Unfortunately, it means you won't get a larger image if you click on the picture, but I'd rather have a clear, non-enlargeable picture than a blurry enlargeable one. LOL ~ did that make sense??

Playing tag..

I was recently tagged by Ila ~~ I'm sure you all know who Ila is, but just in case you've been living in a cave, click on her name to visit her FABULOUS blog! This tag includes answering 5 sets of 5. Tag 5 people in the last section by listing their names/blogs, & leaving a comment on their blog to let them know they've been tagged. So here goes:

THINGS I LOVE

1) My family, of course
2) My friends, cyber & real-life
3) My fur-babies, Jake & Elwood
4) Quiet time
5) Stamping!!!

THINGS I DON'T LOVE

1) Red meat
2) Most veggies. Gasp! I know!! I like corn, potatoes, & raw carrots. That about covers it.
3) Heights
4) Flying
5) Centipedes & earwigs. There aren't many bugs I can say I like, but these are the WORST!

SONGS ON YOUR IPOD

1) Carrie Underwood ~ Before He Cheats
2) One Republic ~ Apologize
3) KT Tunstall ~ Black Horse & the Cherry Tree
4) Kid Rock ~ All Summer Long
5) Daughtry ~ Only You

FAVORITE FOODS/DRINKS

1) Vanilla Iced Coffee
2) Lasagna
3) Pizza
4) Chocolate
5) Banana milk shake

BLOGGERS I'M TAGGING

1) Cheryl ~~ check out her BRAND NEW blog ~~ she's amazing!!!
2) Niki ~~ she just joined the High Hopes design team!!! I couldn't be happier!!
3) Tori ~~ we became friends through our fear of sewing machines!
4) Amy ~~ fellow HH Diva
5) Lacey ~ guest HH Diva


In other news......Trick or Treat was FREEZING!!! Wind gusts of 45 MPH & it even started lightly sleeting a couple of times. But it was still fun, although not a lot of kids were out....wimps....so we have LOTS of extra candy!! Good thing I bought only candy that *I* like!!!

Season of giving....

Good morning!! It's Sunday again & you know what that means ~~ another challenge on the High Hopes Challenge Blog!! Today's challenge is a sketch challenge from Katharina, & what a great sketch it is!! I was so eager to play.......but I never got around to it. It's still on my list, so hopefully sometime this week I will get to play along.

Nope, today I have a card for Wednesday's sketch challenge on SCS, lol. I started this card ON WEDNESDAY, & just finished it last night. That pretty much sums up how things are moving along for me this week ~~ at a snail's pace. And with Christmas just two months away, well I'm going to have to speed it up a bit!!

So yes, I'm a few days late but here it is!! I used one of High Hopes' new releases, Christmas Treat. It's colored with Prismas & Gamsol, & of course I had to glitterize Santa's "fur" with Dazzling Diamonds glitter! I used Riding Hood Red ~~ my very favorite of all the new In Colors ~~ & Basic Grey Figgy Pudding. I had bought this 6x6 pad late last year & I think I only got to use it once. So I will be using it on lots of cards ~~ that will justify buying the new Wassail! I added some RHR taffeta ribbon & 3 dew drops, plus some Primas & my new favorite thing ~~ a jewelry spacer for the center.


Here's the inside. I broke down & bought the Martha Stewart doily lace punch yesterday with my coupon. At first I had trouble using it on SU cardstock, which I had heard about (the SU is just too thick). But when I used it with the RHR it worked just fine. Love this punch ~ I'm sure I'll use it a lot!!

So what are your plans for today?? This is our Trick or Treat day, from 2-4, & it's nice & windy & cold! I believe they have predicted snow for today. That's a treat right there! LOL!! I will share pictures later of my kids dressed up ~~ Matthew is going to be a Packer fan (he was going to be a Packer *player* but I wouldn't spring for a helmet) & Michael is going to be either a fireman or Darth Vader. What a decision!! Have a great day!!

More hopping....

No card from me today, this has been a crazy busy week. I'm also under the weather YET AGAIN today, I went back to bed after my kids got on the bus. I'm not sure if it's the dreary, rainy Wisconsin weather (I have very sensitive sinuses!) or the fact that I've been working with kids every day. I think I'd better get that flu shot this year! I have never gotten one but if I'm getting sick every few days ~~ & winter isn't even here yet ~~ I think I'd better get it!!

My post today is just to let you know about yet another DIVA offering blog candy!! You'll have to hop hop hop to find who has it, though it should be getting easier to figure it out as we move along!! When is it my turn?? Well, my counter just turned 10,000 this week, so it will be soon!!!

I hope you all have a great weekend, & hopefully I'll have something pretty for you to look at in the next day or two :)

I am so blessed!!

Well, talk about a happy mail day!! You could have knocked me over with a feather when I opened my mailbox yesterday & found a HUGE envelope from my good friend Dawn Burnworth ~ flowergal36 on SCS. We met on SCS a few months ago & became instant friends. My only regret is that we didn't start chatting sooner, because just as were getting to know each other, she moved from IL to NC for her husband's job. Aw, MAN!!!!! Had she stayed in IL, we could have met IRL!! NC is a little out of my driving range (not that I wouldn't LOVE to visit one day). But we email each other just about every day & she's become very important to me.

On to the goodies:


She sent me: a Martha Stewart snowflake border punch, a Magnolia stamp, a container of red & pink Primas, some bling, AND an *adorable* High Hopes card!!! Could you all hear the gasp I let out when I opened it? LOL!! Thank you sooooooo much, Dawn! This is all so incredible, but I'm most thankful for your friendship!!

Today's been a busy day so no stamping time for me. I went to school to help Michael's teacher, & I ended up instead subbing for an aide that had to go home sick. That's the third time that's happened, where I go to school thinking I'm going to help the teacher & I end up working, lol!! I don't mind at all, I usually end up working in the special needs room, where they definitely can't afford to lose an aide for a day. Some days I feel like I'm not much help but I think they just appreciate the extra hands. I have a feeling that's where I'm going to be tomorrow too ~~ the sickness seems to be running rampant in that wing of the school, & there are a few aides who haven't gotten it yet so I'm sure their turn is coming. LOL!

Have a great Tuesday!!

Challenge Sunday

It's Sunday again & you know what that means ~~ another High Hopes challenge!! This week's challenge come to us from Nikki, & we are to make anything BUT a card! I chose to make a gift bag ~~ I'll be needing lots of these soon enough!!


I used one of the new releases, Woodland Santa. I stamped him onto Whisper White using my new Memento ink (love this stuff) & colored him with Prisma pencils & Gamsol. I then added glitter to his hat & made his axe shiny with my Sakura clear glaze pen. I used my Nesties to cut just the scalloped rectangle & the "button" is a Sizzix die. The papers are from a DCWV glitter stack that I bought on clearance after Xmas last year. The bag is actually a white lunch bag that I cut down a bit, & added the tissue & ribbon. I will be making lots of these gift bags this year for teachers so it's nice to get a head start!


Make sure you check out what all the other divas did on the High Hopes blog & also on their individual blogs. Please join us by making something other than a card & posting it in the comments of the challenge blog!!

Hope you all have a great Sunday! I'm having lunch with a friend that I haven't seen in a while so I'm looking forward to that. My kindergartener is off tomorrow because of conferences, so it's a "Michael & Mommy day". Haircut, lunch & a trip to Toys R Us!! I'm pretty sure our day will not include stamping, lol, but I have started several projects that I hope to complete soon!! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

Kristin's blog candy...

To celebrate 15,000 hits, Kristin is offering a brand new Rachelle Anne Miller stamp from Stampavie. It is sooooooo cute ~~ go check it out & congratulate her on reaching that milestone!! Her blog is Kreativ Kristin & HERE is the link.

Ahhh...the weekend

Happy Saturday everyone!! I had an UBER busy week & am so glad the weekend is here!! I haven't had time to create anything that I can show you today, but please tune in tomorrow for the next challenge on the High Hopes Challenge Blog!! The Divas all made some great stuff that you won't want to miss!!

The purpose of my post today is to direct you to Jeanne Streiff's blog HERE. She has done a wonderful write up of High Hopes, telling Tina's story & interviewing the fabulously talented Crissy Armstrong. I love the story of Tina & never tire of reading it ~ what an inspiration!! And every word Crissy said about her is true, she is the most compassionate, giving, big-hearted person I have ever known. I've been fortunate enough to talk to her on the phone a few times, & oh how I wish we could meet in person. I have known Tina now for 2 years & feel so blessed to have her in my life.

In addition to the wonderful post about High Hopes, Jeanne is also offering some blog candy, PLUS she has a couple of adorable cards posted. You won't want to miss it so head on over to Inky Paws right now!! ALSO, there is another ANOTHER Diva who has blog candy on HER blog right now ~~ so get hopping to find out who!!

I'll be back tomorrow with my creation for this week's High Hopes challenge!! See you then!!

Just under the wire

I *love* all the challenge blogs out there. Sometimes my mojo needs a little push & those blogs are just the right thing to get my creativity going. Kind of like a good cup of coffee in the morning. But I never seem to do the challenges the week they are posted. Which is okay, they are always there to refer back to. But sometimes it's fun to get in on the action at the time they are posted. Friday Sketchers is one I always check out, but never seem to participate in. They post a new sketch each Friday & this week I did it!! I finished a card based on the sketch they posted last week Friday.


I can't get enough of the adorable High Hopes dragons from the recent batch of new releases. This is Gavin the Givin' Dragon ~ how cute is he?? I had him all colored & was stuck on a layout, when I remembered the sketch this week on Friday Sketchers. Perfect! So I colored Gavin with my Prisma pencils & gamsol, stamping & coloring the 2 gifts twice & popping them on dimensionals (I only did this because I goofed when coloring one of the presents....shhhhhhh....). He has Dazzling Diamonds glitter on his wings & I just had to doodle around him a bit. The plaid paper is from my new DCWV Sweet Stack. This comes in 6"x6" pads ~ just the right size for those of us who like to make 5"-6" square cards (this particular one is 5.5" x 5.5"). This paper pack is so adorable ~~ full of glittery pieces of yummy cupcake & candy paper. I got mine at Michael's but I'm sure it's also available at Joann & many online stores. The brown layers are Bazzill Bling & the aqua colored paper is Basic Grey Two Scoops. I cut a circle out with my Nesties then cut it in half. Added some ribbon, & the sentiment which is from the PaperTrey Ink Limitless Labels set. The little ovals were also cut out with Nesties. My picture isn't the greatest & I'm starting to think it's the Bazzill Bling. I think for some reason my camera is not liking that beautiful shimmery paper.

So I'm off to post this on the Friday Sketchers blog. If you are stuck creatively, check out this blog or one of the other fun challenge blogs on my sidebar. Sometimes they are just the right boost you need!!

Today is my lunch date with Matthew. He's so excited & so am I. I love that he still wants to hang out with me. He just turned 10 so he's getting to that age where it's no longer cool to want to be with your parents!! But I think I scored some points with that birthday party last week :)

My final Halloween card

Well, for this year anyway!! It's time to move on to Christmas cards. Apparently I'm way behind ~ the Christmas displays have been in the stores for a while now! Can't they at least wait until after Halloween??


I got this Penny Black stamp at a rummage sale at my LSS this past spring. They always have this rummage sale twice a year & I'm always thrilled when I find Penny Black!! I stamped the image onto watercolor paper using Colorbox pigment ink, then embossed it with clear EP. I colored it with my SU markers & a waterbrush, one of my favorite ways to color. I think this was my first method of coloring when I started stamping because it was all I had! It took me a while to discover the joy of Prismas & gamsol, lol. Anyway, I matted the image with black Bazzill Bling paper, using my rectangular Nesties on both. I had this one little scrap of designer paper left & it was the ONLY paper in my stash that would work for this card. I kid you not!! I have lots of Halloween paper but nothing worked but this. Which is why I chose to FAUX SEW. Yes, I am supposed to be practicing my REAL sewing, & using that on my cards. But when you only have one little scrap of paper left, Murphy's Law says you absolutely will screw it up, rendering it completely unusable. So safe FAUX SEWING was the way to go. I finished it off with my pseudo Dew Drops (clear accents from Michael's, with black Bling paper underneath) & some ribbon.



I'm not sure I like how the inside turned out. I stamped that square with the spider web crooked & had to do something to cover it up, lol. So I just took a scrap of the paper that was left & used my Martha Stewart Cornice border punch ~~ kinda makes it look like a window?? I don't know ~~ all I know is I already had the paper glued together so I couldn't flip it over & I had to fix it somehow, lol!!

It is dark & dreary here today (which is why my pictures look like doody). It's supposed to rain. Oh wait, now it IS raining. But that's ok. I don't have to go anywhere until after dinner when I take my son to school for his Lego League meeting. I'm am getting lots done today if it kills me, no more procrastinating for me!! Working 3 full days straight last week taught me not only to get things done when I have the time, but also to savor every single "free" moment!! Have a good one!!

Another Hop, & more new releases!!

Good Monday morning, everyone!! Just a quick post to let you all know that there is another High Hopes Hop going on right now!! Another Diva has posted some blog candy, so you need to HOP through all the blogs until you find the correct one!! And more exciting news in the High Hopes world ~~ more than 30 new images were just released over the weekend & added to the website so you can order them NOW!!!! Just type in "hotp" into the search box, & check out pages 6-10. There are more Xmas images, some birdies, some.......well, heck ~ why should I tell you?? You need to check them out yourself!! Click HERE to view some more amazing images created by our very own Crissy Armstrong!

I'm off to school for a lunch date with my son. It's Parent Lunch week so every day each grade gets to invite their parents to have lunch with them. Today I get to have lunch with Michael, & on Thursday I get to have lunch with Matthew. I'm definitley looking forward to the company more than the food, lol. Although, I can honestly say that school cafeteria food has come a LONG way since I was in school!!

Have a great day!! Another 80 degree day here today so when I get home I'll be working outside!!!

High Hopes challenge #3

Wow, I canNOT believe I haven't posted since Tuesday! I'm so sorry!! This week really got away from me. Monday morning I thought I had all week to get stuff done, & by Friday I had worked so many hours my head was spinning!! I sub for the school district, so I never know when I'm going to be called to work. This is my first year doing this, & I *have* to get used to getting things done when I have time, not thinking "oh I can do that tomorrow" because I may just be working 8 hours tomorrow!! Today is my son's 10th birthday ~~~ another thing I canNOT believe ~~ & yesterday we had his birthday party. He chose to do Laser Tag this year, so that's another thing I was busy with. It was a huge success ~~ he & his friends had tons of fun. He even went so far as to say it was the BEST party he's ever had!

So anyway, I didn't have much time this week to make cards OR post on my blog. I did make this card a couple of weeks ago, when I had some spare time & I guess it's a good thing I did or I wouldn't have been able to join in the High Hopes challenge for this week!! Our challenge today comes from Inge, & the challenge is to sew on your card.


OK, well, in my defense, I made this card BEFORE I had my friend's sewing machine in my possession!!! So I had to faux sew. And besides, it's much straighter than I am able to do with a machine at this point. Plus I didn't have the right color thread....yeah....that's it. The image is colored with Prismas & gamsol, & I used clear EP on both the pumpkin & the wagon. The paper is SU's Pumpkin Pie & Basic Grey's Ambrosia. Lots of Primas flowers & leaves punched with Martha Stewart's branch punch, my punch-du-jour. I love that thing!! The card is, of course, finished off with my very perfect sewing ~ my 8th grade home ec teacher would be proud **wink**

You will definitely want to check out what the other divas created this week. You can view them all HERE on the High Hopes challenge blog, & you can also check out their individual blogs for more details. Such creative minds, this group ~~ & I am so honored to be a part of it!!

Happy Sunday everyone!! It is GORGEOUS here today ~~ sunny & it's supposed to hit 80 ~~ so we are spending the day outside. Matthew got a new football for his birthday so guess what we are playing?!?!?!?

GASP!!!! I did it!!

Oh my gosh ~~~~ I sewed!!! For real!!! Not faux!!! It's not only amazing that I actually SEWED on a card, but that I was able to take off the spool of thread that was on the machine, & put another spool on ALL BY MYSELF!!! As I said, my friend bought this machine at a rummage sale ~~ so no instructions. I did take a picture with my digital camera, just in case. I'd hate to have to call my friend to come over & put a new spool of thread on for me, lol. But I didn't even need the picture. Probably because I very speedily whipped the old spool off, & put the new one on before I forgot how it went on, lol.


So here is another of the Magnolias I purchased. She's mine ~~ all mine!!! I actually bought this paper about a month ago at my LSS, knowing full well I would eventually break down & get Cherry Tilda. I may have sewn on this card, but I didn't say it was perfect so please don't look too closely, lol!! In fact, I should probably have made this photo un-clickable. I need to work on the corners. And what do you do with the very last corner, when you're done? The colored thread ends up on top. I threaded it through another needle & pulled it through, then tied it off. Is there another, more obvious & easy way?? Anyway, back to the card. So the paper is from Graphic 45. I used Riding Hood Red, used my Nesties to cut the circles, cut Tilda out & sat her on some Riding Hood Red ribbon. Easy peasy. Except for the sewing. LOL. This card will, of course, go to my wonderful friend Laura who not only loaned me her machine but sat patiently with me showing me how to use it until I felt comfortable. I've known her for 20 years ~~ wow! I've gotten so obsessed with selling my cards on Ebay & making money, that I've forgotten how fun it is just to make a card to send to a good friend.

Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday!!

My very own Magnolia!!

You knew I'd crack, didn't you??? You know I could live only so long on the Magnolia images my friends had sent me. I tell ya, I tried to resist. And I don't spend money easily. But I just had to have this cutie, & since I wanted her for Halloween I had to order NOW. And as long as I was getting this one, I had to get a couple others.....

I totally missed World Cardmaking Day on Saturday ~~ I was gone ALL day. SCS had quite the shindig, with challenges galore! One of them was a sketch challenge, & that's what I used for this card. I had another layout in mind, but when I saw the sketch I knew I had to use it instead. You can see all the SCS challenges for WCD HERE.


The orange pattern paper in the background is from Karen Foster. I bought it about a month ago ~~ just one sheet, for some reason ~~ & I have one itty bitty scrap left. The striped paper is from American Crafts, & that is almost gone too!! I did really well using up my fall papers!! I used Old Olive for the base, which is odd for me. I usually use my trusty Naturals White, but I'm almost out so I need to ration it. I also used Chocolate Chip paper, some Primas, that *wonderful* Martha Stewart branch punch which I've used on almost every card since I bought it, & 3 Dew Drops. The pumpkin is stamped twice, colored, embossed with clear glaze, cut out & popped on dimensional. At first I had used Michael's version of Crystal Effects on it, but I don't know if I have an old bottle or what ~~ it just hasn't been drying right. It takes longer to emboss, but I like that I don't have to worry about it drying!


I woke up to a fun surprise this morning. I won Diane Zechman's blog candy!!! In case you didn't know, Diane (aka Cookiestamper) just had her first stamp set released by CC Designs!! Diane is soooo talented, & I have been a fan of hers for a long time. In celebration of her first release, she was giving away her new stamp set to one lucky winner & somehow, I WAS THE LUCKY WINNER!!!! Click HERE to see her announcement, new stamp set, & her creations with that set. Congratulations, Diane, & thank you so much for my candy!!!!

In other news......I got my loaner sewing machine Friday night. It's an old Kenmore & it has no instructions. Luckily my friend who loaned it to me is a pro (she has *4* machines!!) & gave me a few lessons. I brought a spool of clear thread for the bobbin, so she filled that up for me (I'm pretty sure I'll have to have her come over when I run out ~ I'll never remember how to do it) & she proceeded to show me all the stitches & such. Yeah ~~~ I'm still going to be pseudo-sewing on my cards for a while!! I've been practicing, & I'm not doing too badly, but I know I'll choke when it comes time to do it on a real card. Scrap cardstock is one thing, a card is quite another. In fact, I'm going to have to have a plan of action. I think that if I'm sewing around an image, I'd better do that first and THEN color, because if I spend an hour coloring an image, only to sew around it crooked, I'll be very sad!! Thank you, Laura, for the loaner & the lessons.....hopefully I'll get my very own sewing machine soon (to go with my very own Magnolias!!)

High Hopes blog hop

Good Monday morning to ya!! Actually, it's almost afternoon here ~~ I move slowly on Mondays :) We, the High Hopes Divas, have a blog hop going on!! I forgot to post about it last time (the blog "hoppee" was Anna) but I'm on the ball this time!! One of the Divas is offering some blog candy, & you have to find it!! I have all the Diva's blogs listed over on my sidebar under "My Bloggin' Friends". If you don't know who all the Divas are, look at the list of SCS galleries under "High Hopes Divas". Hmm...guess I should really make a separate list of their blogs. Nah ~~ this will make you work a little harder :) Have fun!!

It's Sunday again....

& that means it's time for another High Hopes blog challenge! This week's challenge is brought to us by Jeanne, & it's a color challenge!! The challenge is to use light brown, light blue, green & any neutral. I *think* I got it covered! When I saw the challenge, I thought right away of my K&Company Bailey paper pack. It's loaded with beautiful papers in those exact colors!! Now, this card ended up being NOTHING like what was in my head. I was going to go with a sketch challenge I saw on another blog. No need to post a link, because this card is the polar opposite of that sketch. I changed papers 3 times, the layout twice, & the size of the card twice. The only thing that stayed the same was the image!!

I used Albert, one of the brand spankin' new releases which you can find HERE. Just type "hotp" into that little search box & you will find all the fun new images!! I stamped Albert onto watercolor paper with Versafine Onyx Black ink, then colored him with the Peerless Watercolors that I am growing so fond of. I cut him out, because I knew I wanted to make a cute little background for him. Using papers from that K&Company stack, I made a "sky" & some little "hills" for Albert to stand on. I used my Nesties to make the ovals, I ran the olive background layer through my Cuttlebug using the Textile folder & added a Dew Drop to each of the 4 corners. I do like how it turned out, even though it wasn't my original idea!! Don't forget to visit the High Hopes blog & check out what all the other Divas created! They always floor me with their talent!! And if you'd like to join in the fun, post a link to your card in the comments section!! We all want to see your work, too!


I hope you all have a fabulous Sunday! We got lots going on today ~~ football, wreath selling, & homework, oh my!!

Merry Christmas!!!

What? You mean it's NOT Christmas yet? But the garden center near my house has had their Christmas trees displayed for a month now!! Surely that means it's almost Christmas!!

I did this card for yesterday's SCS sketch challenge. I had gotten up early yesterday & colored the image, knowing I wanted to use that SC for the layout. But then a wave of yuck hit me, & I ended up just resting for most of the day yesterday. I still feel a bit icky, but I really wanted to finish this card.


I used another brand new image from High Hopes. This one is called Reindeer Games & you can find it here. Remember, when you order stamps from High Hopes, you have the option of wood mounted, unmounted with cling foam, or completely bare rubber. How awesome is that?!?! I stamped the image with Stazon & colored it with my trusty Prismas & Gamsol. I added Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the snow, & Liquid Applique to Santa's fur. Of course, some of the glitter got into the LA, so Santa is a bit sparkly himself :) All the pattern paper is from the Rob & Bob Holiday Slab I picked up last year on clearance. The olive piece is embossed with the Cuttlebug Snow Dots folder ~~ yes, I used a new folder!!!! I added 3 snowflakes (I think I got those at a rummage sale) & used my Martha Stewart branch punch to punch some leaves. Added some Primas & a brad, along with some Stickles & called it done!!

Remember to check out the High Hopes blog ~ not only are we posting challenges every Sunday, but we will also be posting the Project of the Month info. This month's project was done by Kimmie, & what a fab job she did!!! Go check out the projects she did, & all the stamps included in the special! They are 25% off when you buy the whole set ~ what a deal!!

I'm off to do some grocery shopping today, which is the last thing I feel like doing. But we gotta eat ~~~ & the grocery fairy isn't around today so I have to do it myself. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!!!

It's mating season

Hi all! October 1st ~~already! Sheesh, time flies when you're old!! I have no new card to show you today ~~ I finished one yesterday but it's a secret :) However, I had to share this picture with you because it just makes me laugh. Remember a few days ago I showed you my FABULOUS mum plant, which has taken over much of my garden? Well, that same mum plant is on the bottom of this picture below. The plant on the top is my asters ~~ another plant that I put in about 4 or 5 years ago & it grew & grew & grew. Look how huge it is!! The funny part is, look at the flowers in between the purple asters & the lavendar mums, where the arrow is (you can click on the picture for a close up view). They are asters. I did not plant asters that color. Don't they look suspiciously like the mums?? I think my asters & my mums have been gettin' busy ~~ & they produced some progeny asters. I'm going to have to keep an eye on them from now on!!!!


Yes, that is my exciting post for today, lol. I am not feeling well so there will be no action in the stamp room today. I got up long enough to check my mail & write this post, & now I'm going to lie down again. Ugh......it's THAT time of year......when I get sick every other week!!!!

Have a great Wednesday!!!