Stampin' Diva's Challenge # 4!

Joanne from, My Adventures in Cardmaking, decided this month's challenge. She wanted us to use a SU! set, and 3 embellishments. One of those had to be ribbon. (No biggie for me.....I LOVE ribbon!) I blew the dust off this old set, the very first SU! set I ever bought. I colored it in with my Copics. (Yes, Joanne, my Copics! : ) I used my other favorite tool, my Nestibilities to cut the circles. The DP is by KI Memories. Remember these alphabet beads? How big they were many a year ago in scrapbooking? Yep, pulled those babies out too! (This card would be perfect for Scrap Your Crap! I'll have to talk to Simone and Greta about this.....)

Check out the other girls' cards too!
Lynda
Joanne
Sharon
Kim

A Just Rite Christmas!

After meeting Denise Bryant a couple weeks ago at the grand opening of Crafty Fancy, I knew I had to get me some Just Rite Stamps! When it comes to new stamping or scrapping stuff, I have NO control!!! My mom always tells me that I have several trips to Hawaii in my scrap room! She's a pretty funny mom, isn't she? But I digress.....after buying 3 sets, plus the tiny letters (2 sets, in case I lose any of those teeny letters!), I started playing. Once you have everything in place it is super easy to stamp, cut out the circles and scallops with the Nestibilities (Just wait to all of those come out....I WILL be in the poor house! LOL!) , layer everything, and you have a very personalized Christmas card. In the top card I placed an image where the monogram would normally go. In the bottom image I used the monogram. (Obviously!) I colored them in with my Stampin Up markers to get the two different colors.

I have officially fallen in love with these VERY COOL stamps!!! Expect to see more very soon!

Some Exciting News!!

Before I announce my exciting news, I thought I would share pics of my two from the 4th. Like Kyle's "ccol" pose? Ya know he is 11 going on 16!
Cort had a great time in Michigan boat riding, tubing, and watching the fireworks! Her cheeks were a little red from too much sun! (Bad mommy!)

Ok, now for my exciting news.....I am the newest member of Erika Martin's DT for her on-line journaling class. You may have noticed the button in the top right hand corner? I have been really trying to get back to why I started scrapping 13 years ago.....to tell my story and pass down a legacy to my children. Journaling is such a big part of that! Here is what the on-line course is all about in Erika's words:

"One of the things that I hear most often about my scrapbook layouts is that people connect with the journaling. They feel that, even if they don't know me, they can connect with me and feel like they know me simply by reading the journaling that I've included on my layouts. They feel like they understand the story I'm trying to tell by reading my journaling.
The next thing that I hear most often is that journaling is really hard for most people to include on their layouts. There are many reasons that people don't include journaling on their layouts.

They feel like they don't have anything to say.
They don't know where to start.
They feel like they're not a writer.
They hate their own handwriting.Do any of these sound familiar to you? Do you feel this way?The truth is, there's a writer in all of us. Our photos have stories to tell. Some people just need a little help to bring that writer out to tell the story.
"The Stampin' Mama Journaling 101 Online Scrapbook Course" is tailored for people just like you!
"A picture is worth a thousand words." We all know the saying......but do we put the words with our pictures? If you're putting your pictures in scrapbook albums but aren't telling the stories that go with them, you're missing the other half of the photos.....the words that tell the story!
If you're looking to create artistic and creative albums and want to tell the stories but need some help to get started, then I know you'll enjoy the upcoming 12 week course that I've created."

If you are interested in learning to tell YOUR story, sign up for this amazing class! IT is filling quickly!

Have a great Thursday!!!

Queen of the Crap & a Brainwave Challenge!

I have been selected over at Scrap Your Crap, by Simone and Greta, to be queen for 2 weeks! My first challenge as queen was to use paint. I used paint in two different ways here. The first was to use a butterfly mask by Heidi Swapp. I used a Suede spray paint for that. Super easy and quick! For the flowers I used a mixture of texture paste and acrylic paint. It gives it lots of dimension! When it was dry I cut each of the petals out and glued a button to the centers. All the paper is from Noel Mignon's store. It was part of her Treehouse kit from awhile back. I did my journaling on a tag and hid it behind the butterflies. I added some pretty vintage lace and a button to the tag.
See how lumpy the flowers are? Pretty cool 'eh?
Once again, WHY is this so dang SMALL? Can anyone tell me???? This week's challenge over at Treehouse was THIS sketch.
I used the heart from the Home Grown set. I stamped it using inks from Papertrey in Blush and Moonlight. The one heart with the star was crystal effected (see how I made that a verb?) and glitter was sprinkled over it. While still wet, I put the rhinestone star to the side. ( I am all about the BLING!) To finish it off, I added ribbon (another must on all of my cards!) and a homemade stick pin.
Check out the other girls' takes on this challenge!

Ashley
Kristin
Karen
Ann
Vicky
Faith
Jodi
Amber

Hope everyone has a great day!!!

Lil' Sunshine

This week's Bitten by the Bug challenge was to use the star cut from the George cartridge. I bought this wooden star ages ago with the intention of altering it. Since it was a star, it seemed an obvious choice for this challenge! I painted the back of it white and modge podged this fun paper from Noel's Picnic Basket Add-On kit, and decided to do something summery! The paper is Chatterbox and October Afternoon. All the embellishments with the exception of the sparkly Thickers and the sticker that says, sunshine, all come in the kit. I had this super cute picture of my niece and wanted to showcase it behind the Melissa Frances frame. (Also in the kit!) I threaded the rope through the star and added some pretty ribbons at the top.
Isn't she a cutie?

Go check out what the other gals did over at Bitten by the Bug!

Moo-chas Gracias!

Hello! Just got back from a weekend in Michigan with my family. Both of my sisters were up there with their kids, ages 6, 3, 1, 1 , plus my two children. It was chaotic to say the least, but lots of fun! Kyle learned how to water ski this weekend! He went around the lake twice! He was so proud of himself. I am super tired because I decided it had been far too long since I waterskied. So I did! Let me just say.....I am getting dang old! Every part of my body is sore!

Anyway, I got this TAC image from Kim when we get together with our stamping group once a month. I colored it in with my Copics and used my new paper from KI Memories. I messed up the sentiment that I had stamped, so I stamped it out again using my Karen Foster's Snap Stamps. I mounted the image on some felt and added some stitching. I stuck on a couple of the felt flowers and voila!