I am guilty...

...of blog neglect. This has turned into such a busy few weeks and being sick did not help. I spent my Thanksgiving on the couch with zero energy. Then the frenzy began: shopping, helping at school, laundry, etc. The only thing I have managed to complete in the last two weeks was the guest DT challenge from MFT and even that was at the very last minute. The theme this month was sewing...ugh! I am NOT a seamstress. I had to borrow a sewing needle from my MIL to complete this. I used the new Hearts A Plenty Die-namics and felt to make little puffy hearts.

That's all I have to share right now. Hopefully I will get some time soon to play again, but it is not looking good for this week. I have rehearsals for the Living Christmas Tree every night this week and three performances this weekend. Plus tomorrow is our 19th wedding anniversary.

Happy Holidays!

More Christmas Cards

I have been busy making Christmas cards and even one Hanukkah card. I really need to make a Christmas card list so I know how many cards to make this year. Well instead of babbling on about it, here they are.

Challenge: MFTWSC11172010
Sketch: SC307
Stamp: Peppermint Cats (MFT)
Die: Snowflake Die-namics

Sketch: SC307
Stamp: Snow Angel (MFT)
Paper: MFT, Basic Grey
Die: Snowflake Die-namics

Sketch: MTSC100
Stamp: A Gift for You (MFT)
Paper: MFT, Basic Grey

Sketch: Mojo165
Stamp: Hanukkah Riley
Paper: MFT, CTMH, Basic Grey
Die: Snowflake Die-namics, Small Open Scallop Die-namics

Sketch: CPS193
Stamp: Snowman Riley
Paper: MFT
Die: Decorative Doily Die-namics

This Week's Sketch Cards

No time to fill in all the details of the cards tonight as my battery is about to die, but here are the cards I finished this week.

Below: Mojo 164


Splitocoast Sketch Challenge 305

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge 133

Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge 99

Enjoy!

Falling for Fall

My boys had last week off from school so I took advantage of the last beautiful fall day and forced them to let me take their pictures outside. This picture was taken behind our house on the railroad tracks. It was a good thing I took it then because we got a storm the next day and now all of the beautiful leaves are gone.


One nice thing about the boys being off was that I got a chance to stamp while they played the Wii. The beautiful fall colors inspired this card for Wednesday Stamp Club 11032010. This week's challenge was a sketch challenge. I used MFT's Lil Pumpkin stamp set. The paper is from Close To My Heart. I used the reverse side to paper piece the pumpkin.

The second card is the Taylored Expressions sketch from two weeks ago. My boys have a bunch of birthday parties coming up and I needed to make some more boy cards. I used MFT's Super Boy along with some scraps of Basic Grey paper.

If there is some sun here tomorrow I will photograph the four cards I made this afternoon and post them here.

Wednesday Stamp Club 10/20/10

This week's Wednesday Stamp Club is called "In the Bag." I created a bag using MFT's Loveasaurus. I did not have a template for the bag so I decided to improvise. I used a snack bag inside to hold some paper grass and a gift card. I used some reverse image scraps of the Die-namics grass die and the scalloped scallop die.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

More Christmas, Plus One

Finally got some uninterrupted time in my stamp room and came out with three cards. There have been two sketches sitting on my table, but the mojo had departed for a bit. Today I just went downstairs and set to work anyway. The first card is finally not a Christmas card, but beware the next two are. I used the MFT set called Tea Party along with the Mojo161 sketch. The bits of design paper are scraps of Basic Grey that I had in my scrap box.


Now for the Christmas cards. I used the last two sketch challenges on Splitcoast for them. The first uses MFT''s Snow Angel. I have a thing for snowmen so this was a must have set for me. The ribbon is pleated ribbon from MFT's October VIP Kit. I embossed the base with my Cuttlebug snowflake plate and matted the images with glitter paper.

Next up is MFT's set Don't Open Until. This is a really cute set that can be used for birthdays or Christmas depending how you color the present. Again I used the pleated ribbon from MFT. I used two Die-namics sets on this card. The large snowflake from the snowflake die set and the rolled rose die. The design paper is a scrap of Basic Grey paper from my bin.

Well that's all for now. I will add the Wednesday Stamp Club project I finished in just a bit.

Christmas Cards

Be prepared! This is a long post. I have been in the Christmas card rut lately. It is fun pulling out stamps I don't get to play with the rest of the year. Up first is a new stamp from My Favorite Things called "Snow Bear." Isn't he cute? I used sketch 160 from Mojo Monday. The design paper is Basic Grey. The open scallops and bracket edge are both MFT's Die-namics.


Next is my card for Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge. I used another new stamp set from MFT called "Sending You a Little Christmas." The design paper is also from Basic Grey. The snowflakes are made with MFT's Die-namics Snowflakes.

Next up is Polar Love. I got this stamp at the end of the winter season last year and did not have much of a chance to play with it. The layout is last week's sketch challenge on SCS. I pulled out some more Basic Grey paper and used some old pine tree buttons as an accent. The ribbon is twill ribbon from MFT and the snowflake is made with the Die-namics Snowflake die cut from felt.

Last is "Merry Kissmas" from MFT. This card uses last weeks sketch from Taylored Expressions. Again I used the Die-namics Snowflakes. The paper is a mix of Close to my Heart cardstock and MFT cardstock.

Enough Christmas cards for one day. Happy Tuesday!

Wednesday Stamp Club 10/6/10

Being the first Wednesday of the month, that means sketch time at the Wednesday Stamp Club. I used this week's sketch to make a Christmas card. Although my plan this year was to make a Christmas card a week to get ready for this holidays, that totally did not happen. I have made quite a few, but not nearly as many as I will need, so I am trying to catch up a bit.

This card uses two Pure Innocence stamps called "Snow Adorable" and "Presents for You." I decided to use the squares in the sketch for presents. The cardstock is all from MFT and the design paper is from Basic Grey.

Getting into the spirit of Christmas a bit early...hope you are too!

MFT October Guest Designer Challenge

Well it's that time of month again. It is time for this month's Guest Designer Challenge in the MFT Forum. This month the theme was a color challenge. The colors of the challenge were Lime Green, Aqua, Raspberry, and Yellow (optional). I got inspired by all of the unused flower Die-namics dies hanging on my wall so I pulled them down and got to work.

The sentiment is from the Clearly Sentimental about Gardens set and it was placed inside the frame from the Framed Greetings set. I used a bunch of Die-namics on this card including the Flower Trio, Leaf Trio, Ric Rac, and Rolled Flower.

The little box is a new template from MFT called the Circle Box template. I used MFT's Sour Apple cardstock to make the box then used the matching Basic Grey papers as accents. The ribbon is also from MFT. The white pleated ribbon on the card was from the MFT VIP kit this month and the blue ribbon on the box was from the Summer Ribbon Collection.

So that's it for now. Hopefully the sun will return again soon. It is cold and wet here today. Hope the sun is shining where you are.

World Card Making Day

Yesterday was World Card Making Day and these are a couple of the cards I managed to find time to complete. I used MFT's Puttin' on the Glitz to make a card for this week's Wednesday Stamp Club. This is a set that I bought when it was released ages ago and never inked up, but the challenge of "All Dressed Up" was the perfect excuse to use this set. The paper is drink Making Memories and it is perfect MFT colors. I also used SC300 from Splitcoast as my template.


The second card uses the sketch from this week's Taylored Expressions sketch challenge. I used Jolinne for the main image and added some rhinestones to the cupcake for sprinkles.

Well, that's it for now. Tune in soon for this month's MFT Guest DT challenge project.

Rainy Day A La Modes

Well it is a rainy Tuesday here. It has been raining since Sunday. As I logged on here today I realized that it has been 27 days since I last posted here. Back to school has really kicked my butt this year. I am busier now than during the summer when both boys were home. So much for enjoying the peace and quiet in my stamp room. I have managed to make several cards over the last few weeks, but have neglected to post them here before I deleted them from my camera and hard drive. Oh well.

Two cards did manage to survive my card purge on the computer. This one is Candy Cane Kisses a la mode from MFT. I have been inspired to make Christmas cards lately and this is one of them. I used some Basic Grey paper from my stash, as well as one of the Nestabilities label sets. The candy cane is covered in Glossy Effects. For this card, I followed the sketch on Card Positioning Systems blog.


Next up is another a la mode stamp called Miss You a Latte. For this card, I used Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #93. I pulled out some old CTMH papers that I had scraps of and then accented the card with flowers and a MS leaf punch.

That's it for now. If you want to see the other cards from the last few weeks, you can see them HERE (provided SCS gets that gallery fixed).

Wednesday Stamp Club 9/1/10

Well it's Wednesday again and you know what that means...Wednesday Stamp Club from MFT! This week's challenge was a sketch challenge! I just love sketches! The sketch is below so give it a try and post your card in the MFT Forum on Splitcoast Stampers website.

Today I got the chance to play with a new stamp for MFT being released tonight called "Well Read Who's That Girl." This stamp was released a few weeks ago for one day only as part of the MFT VIP Package along with the Notebook Die-namics die that I used for the edge of the notebook paper. Both the Well Read stamp set and the Notebook edge Die-namics die will be released tonight at 10pm. All of the design paper is from Basic Grey.


Well that's it for today! See you tonight in the MFT Forum at 8pm for all the fun surrounding the September release from MFT!

MFT Challenges and Cake Boss

Today was my day to catch up on challenges after a busy weeks of fun. Friday we spent our last official day at the beach for the summer. The weather was perfect and the water was wonderful. The kids loved boogie boarding and digging in the sand. We did not leave the beach until almost 6pm. Saturday we had a swim party. Sunday we got to relax a bit. Yesterday we got up early and took a drive up to Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey. Yep that's right, the home of Cake Boss. The pastries were totally yummy and we even got to see Buddy. This is a picture I took of him across the counter from me. He even shook my son's hand, which Jaymes thought was totally cool.

Today I got to complete the Wednesday Stamp Club challenge from last Wednesday, as well as the September Guest Designer Challenge from MFT.

First up is the Wednesday Stamp Club challenge. This week's theme was Floral Fantasy. I broke out a bunch of my Die-namics and got to work. I used the Die-namics tree, flowers, and sun. The stamp is from the "Clearly Sentimental about Birthdays" set.

Next up is this month's MFT Guest Designer Challenge. This month's challenge was to "Get Sentimental." I used one of the sentiments from the "Framed Greetings" set and a ton of buttons. The flowers and leaves are from Prima.

Well that's it for today. See you again soon!

Wednesday Stamp Club 8/18/10

Finally got a chance to stamp today so I decided to do the Wednesday Stamp Club challenge. This week's challenge was "Hit the Books." Being the mom of boys, this was a tough one since most of the back to school stamps I have are girls, which would not go over well here. My little alpha males do not like "girl stuff." I searched through my MFT stamps and came up with Ben Paper Dolls and paired it with the suitcase from "Are We There Yet?" since it looked the most like a rolling backpack. I also got a chance to use some of the goodies from the September VIP kit like the yet to be released Die-namics Notebook die and the Basic Grey Neutrals paper.

The new Wednesday Stamp Club challenge will be posted tomorrow, so stay tuned. Hopefully I will get it done before the last minute.

MFT August Guest Designer Challenge

Below is a journal I made for this month's guest designer challenge on SCS. Each month MFT hosts a guest designer challenge where the winner receives all of the following month's stamp release along with the opportunity to participate in all of the Sneak Peeks during the release. It is quite a huge prize worth over $100.00.

This month's Guest Designer challenge from MFT has the theme of Floral Frenzy. I just love flowers and nothing says flower to me more than the cute Pure Innocence stamps from MFT. I used three sets to complete my journal. The main image is "Are We There Yet?" I used the bare tree stamp from the "Grow Love, Plant a Tree" set to make the twigs behind the large flower. Finally I used "Make the Date" to added the tag which says My Journal.


Below is a close-up of the flower and image. The design paper is from Basic Grey.

Well that's it for today. Wish me luck!

Bellarific Friday 7/30/10

It's time for another Bellarific Friday! This week's theme was "Christmas in July." I don't have a lot of Christmas theme stamps from Stamping Bella, so I had to go a bit nontraditional. I used Miranda the Teacup Girl for my card. I was inspired by the book "A Cup of Christmas Tea" that my mom puts out every Christmas. The design paper is all from Close to My Heart.

Have a great weekend!

Sketch Card

Here is my card for last Friday's Taylored Expressions sketch challenge. I used Framed Greetings from MFT as my main image. The design paper is from Basic Grey's Olivia paper pack. The sketch had several butterflies as decorations, but I only had this one which was left over from a project done for my Mom's Time Out group. I really need to get a Martha Stewart butterfly punch.

Hope you enjoy the card. Back tomorrow with a Bellarific Friday card.

Wednesday Stamp Club 7/28/10

Here is my card for this week's MFT Wednesday Stamp Club. The theme for this week is Ruffles, Ruffles, and more Ruffles so I broke out my MFT ruffled ribbon and set to work. I used the Who's that Harvest Girl? from this month's VIP kit. The design paper is Cosmo Cricket. I used a pen to make the basket weave on the basket, as well as paper piecing with some kraft cardstock. My son Dylan loves this card because he is all about strawberries lately, especially with sugar on them.

Have a great night!

Happy Birthday Aunt Deb!

I made this card for my husband's aunt whose birthday is July 31st. She will be up here from Maryland and my boys just love when Aunt Deb comes to visit since she always brings something fun for them to do.

For my card, I used one of the new a la modes rubber stamps from My Favorite Things called Picture Perfect. ove when Aunt Deb comes to visit since she always brings something fun for them to do. The yummy pink ribbon is from MFT's Bakery Blend ribbon collection. The design paper is from DCWV's Glitter Stack. This was my first use of the MFT scalloped cards that I got a while ago in one the VIP kits. I just love this stamp's retro style so I gave her patten leather boots by adding some Crystal Effects to her boots.

Stay tuned for more. I am heading downstairs to work on this week's Wednesday Stamp Club featuring RUFFLES!

A Few Things

We have been busy enjoying summer here and hope you have too. It has been HOT!

Below is my card for this week's Wednesday Stamp Club. This week's theme was called It's a Banner Day. The challenge was to use the new banner die Die-namics to create a banner on your card. I pulled out my stamp set called The Poppies for this one. The paper is retired CTMH paper and I added some MFT polka dot ribbon. Each banner is accented with Taylor's Tiny Twinkles in pink.


Below is another card I whipped up as a get well card for my sister's nephew. He was diagnosed with Leukemia last week. The good news is that he is responding well to treatment and will b able to come home from the hospital and get the rest of his chemo as an outpatient. I used some MFT digi paper for the background and Monstah Bash for my main image. Each monster is paper pieced with scraps from my scrap box. The grass was cut from felt using the Die-namics grass die. The sentiments are from Taylored Expressions Doctor's Orders set.

Well that's it for today. Keep Cool!

Wednesday Stamp Club 7/7/10

I managed to find a little time to complete the Wednesday Stamp Club sketch from last week. Procrastinating does have its advantages however. My order came in from the release, so I got to play with new stamps. I went right for the new Fred Bear stamp as Fred hits the beach. The design paper is from a beach stack of paper from Making Memories. I used several Die-namics on this card as well as the Martha Stewart fence punch. Of course I made this card after a day at the beach, so I made the fence to match the ones on the dunes at the Jersey shore. And what dune is with out grass? Any good beach day would not be complete without sun.

Here are all the details:

Stamp: Fred Bear Hits the Beach (MFT)
Paper: MFT and CTMH Cardstock, Beach Papers from Making Memories
Diecuts: Sun, Open Scallop, Grass Die-namics and Marthat Stewart Fence Punch
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Embellishments: Felt (MFT), Clear Button (CTMH), Sunflower Ribbon (CTMH)

Wishing you sunny skies and calm waves!

MFT July Guest Designer Challenge

Happy 4th of July! I hope your holiday weekend is a blast! A change of plans gave me a chance to play all day in my stamp room. This month's guest designer challenge from MFT was to use any neutral along with red and/or blue. I pulled out all the stops along with a ton of stamps and got to work. I used a total of six stamp sets for this project plus three sets of Die-namics. My biggest problem with 4th of July projects is that I don't have a lot of matching stamps, so I broke out my sticker folder from my scrapbooking days and found some that would work. I used stickers for the fireworks, the hat, the barrette, and the firecrackers. All of the design paper is from Gina K's Stars and Stripes digital paper pack.


Here is a closer shot of just the card.

This is a picture of just the treat bag.

Here are all the details:

Stamps: Beach Bum, Lollipop Girl, Wagon Full of Friends, Bling Bers, Make the Date
Paper: Gina K Stars and Stripes
Embellishments: Ribbon, Twine, Buttons, Stickers, Stickles, Felt
Diecuts: Die-namics Scallops, Scalloped Scallops, Grass

Well that's it for tonight. Enjoy your weekend!

Kim's Birthday Blog Hop

Kim from My Favorite Things is celebrating a birthday this weekend and the girls have decided to throw a blog hop to celebrate. All the details and the list of participants is on Kim's Blog which you can fine HERE.

For my card I used "Who's that Birthday Girl?" Since the MFT colors are pink and black, I pulled out my Making Memories Sabrina paper pack. The panel at the back is MFT's digital paper pack called Take Note. Since the birthday girl is off to party, her dress is covered with Black Diamond Stickles.

Here is a close-up of the card. I also decided to make this card to go along with this week's Wednesday Stamp Club challenge. I used three different ribbons. The first is the large black polka dot ribbon from MFT's Chick Flick collection. Once I had the card assembled, the dots did not quite line up on either side of the image, so I added pearl dots to each of the polka dots and then just added two more on the other side of the image to balance it out. The center ribbon is also from MFT. It is from the Royal Ribbons collection. It is a yummy collection of satin ribbons. The last ribbon is some Carnation Organdy ribbon from Close to my Heart. Unfortunately this color was retired years ago, but I still had an unopened roll that I broke open for this card.

Below is a list of the other participants on the Blog Hop.

• Alex Maldonado
  
• Alma de la Rosa
  
• Amy Sheffer
  
• Barbara Anders
  
• Beate Johns
  
• Bonnie Ratzloff
  
• Carole Burrage
  
• Carolyn King
  
• Cassie Trask
  
• Chris Veneruso
  
• Christina Fischer
  
• Cindy Haffner
  
• Dawn Barghorn
  
• Dawn Easton
  
• Erin Smetak
  
• Frances Byrne
  
• Gabrielle Howey
  
• Gretchen Belknap
  
• Jen Davis
  
• Jen del Muro
  
• Jenn Balcer
  
• Jessie Rone
  
• Joanne Basile
  
• Jodi Collins
  
• Jody Morrow
  
• Joy Stagg
  
• Julie Dinn
  
• Karen Motz
  
• Kelli Hull
  
• Kerry Johnson
  
• Leigh O'Brien
  
• Leslie Rodriguez
  
• Lisa Henke
  
• Lori Craig
  
• Megan Lock
  
• Melody Rupple
  
• Michele Boyer
  
• Michelle Lanning
  
• Sherrie Siemens
  
• Susan Liles
  
• Tammy Hershberger
  
• Wendy Bond

Happy Hopping! Don't forget to stop by Kim's Blog and leave her some birthday love!

An Early Bellarific Friday

This is an early post for tomorrow's Bellarific Friday because I have another post already scheduled for tomorrow. I used last Friday's Taylored Expression sketch for this week's card. The stamp I chose is from the June release from Stamping Bella called Bakahbella. Yesterday was my friend, Sandy's, birthday and I made this card for her party on Saturday.

Here are the details:

Stamp: Bakahbella by Stamping Bella
Paper: Doodlebug Designs
Diecuts: Scallop Die-namics by MFT, Leaf punch by Martha Stewart
Embellishments: Ribbon, Silk Flowers

Stay tuned for another post tomorrow!