Thanks So Much!

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Good Morning!

I have to give a BIG *mwah* to everyone who entered into the blog candy! I loved hearing about what stamps you'd love to see more of. You'll see much of what you asked for over this next month. (I can't believe it's September already!?!) Ok, I won't keep you all in suspense any longer!Without further ado, here's your winner:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:

30
Timestamp: 2009-08-31 19:35:00 UTC

Cassie said...
she's just fabulous!!!
wouldn't it be great if when i got preggo again, i could look just like that bella girl??? hahahahaha!!!

August 30, 2009 12:29 PM

Congrats Cassie! Email me your snail mail address and I'll get the candy out to you! Thanks again to those who entered. You have no idea how gobsmacked I am that you all visit my little corner of the world. Never in a million years did I think my blog would have this many hits within the first year! I still scratch my head at it all. :)

This looks like a well put together card on the surface, but apparently I wasn't 'all there' the other night when I made this card. I decided I was going to play along with this week's Sugar Bowl challenge. I picked out this beautiful My Mind's Eye paper and then a cute Sugar Nellie image that a friend had given me. The coloring of the image was a disaster so I decided to start again with this Magnolia image. Only after piecing the whole card together did I then realise that what I had done. Sugar Nellie doesn't sell Magnolia!! What a numbnut! LOL Oh well. It's still a cute card. :)

This cute Hilda is colored with SU reinkers on her dress (a combination of Soft Sky and Certain Celery) and Distress Inks for her hair (Antique Linen, Tea Dye and Vintage Photo). The panels were not sponged this time but just machine stitched. I've been on a bit of a roll with the sewing machine lately. Love the finished look it gives a card. Then I just added some buttons from a Foof-Fa-La and some more yummy ribbon and Martha Stewart's tag punch for the sentiment (from PTI).

I can't believe I don't own any Magnolia's of my own. I seriously need to add some to my collection, but I'm afraid that if I buy some, I won't be able to stop!

Having been in the US for almost 9 years now, I feel like I've been quite Americanized, but I still spell and say certain words with an Australian accent. Australia has a lot of slang in their everyday language that I don't use all that often, but when I do, it tends to confuse people. The term 'flat out like a lizard drinking' means working/playing at a fast pace. 'Gobsmacked' is another term I tend to use and it means surprised or astounded. Want to learn a few more? Check out this list of slang! My favorite term - "Budgie Smugglers"! LMBO!

Have an great day!

Supplies
Stamps: Magnolia '#284 With Sunflower', PaperTrey Ink 'Mixed Messages'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pretty In Pink, Sofy Sky, Certain Celery, So Saffron, More Mustard, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Distress Inks 'Frayed Burlap, Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain'
Papers: Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - My Mind's Eye 'Bloom & Grow Collection - "Grow" Checking Out and Baijou Birdy'
Access: Ribbon, Machine Stitching, Buttons, PTI Rustic Button Twine, Jump Ring, Eyelet, Martha Stewart Tag Punch, Dimensionals

Christmas traditions

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Do you have any Christmas traditions in your family?

When I was growing up we did the usual Christmas traditions like leaving a plate of biscuits (cookies) and a glass of milk out for Santa and those infamous Christmas crackers would come out at dinner. When I moved to the US, I introduced the crackers to my husband's family who had never heard of them! Now they're on the table every year. Christmas Eve is usually spent at either our place or at a BIL's house. A couple of years ago we discovered that the kids could 'track Santa' on Christmas Eve too! Here's the LINK.

Another tradition we started last year with our daughter was the 'Elf on a Shelf'. Have you heard of this? I heard about it last year and snapped up a copy of the book and the elf! You introduce the book to the kids after Thanksgiving time and the story goes that Santa sends an elf to every boy and girl to watch over them. Then at night, while they sleep, the Elf flies home to the North Pole to report to Santa on whether the child has been naughty or nice. And when he returns the next morning, he sits in a different location around the house and the kids have to find him. My three year old adores him and really gets a kick out telling the elf what she wants for Christmas!


Here's a card I made for a dear friend of mine. She generously sent me some more wonderful Magnolia images which I could not wait to color up!! I wanted to make her a Christmas card with one of the images but not have it appear too 'Christmassy', know what I mean?

I used some double sided SEI paper that had the polka dots on one side and the tulips on the other. I just layered it on some Bazzil cardstock and popped the image on some pop dots for a 3D effect. Then I went looking for a Christmas sentiment and couldn't find anything that fit the space beside the Magnolia image. So I made up one with the Studio G mini alphabet stamps I have from Michaels. It works doesn't it? hahahhaa I used SU's Real Red and Cranberry Crisp on her dress to give it some depth. I faux stitched the edges because my sewing machine is packed away.

Hope my friend likes it! Only 9 days until Christmas now - holy cow! Where the heck did this year go?? See you all tomorrow!


Supplies:
Stamps: Magnolia, Studio G Mini Alphabet set
Inks: Staz On 'Jet Black', Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Cranberry Crisp, Certain Celery
Paper: Bazzil cs, PP - SEI 'Winnies Walls' - "Playful Pansies"
Access: Ribbon, dimensionals, Martha Stewart edge punch, paper piercer, Zig pen, White Signo pen

Inspired by good friends

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

By the time some of you read this, me and my family will be in New York City for the day. Hopefully. We left at 4am just so we could miss the morning traffic in Hartford, CT and New Haven, CT. Please pray that this is a successful trip for us.

My funny and dear friend Mary sent me this Magnolia image and a pack of paper as motivation on her Mmmm Skinny Bop swap. Hostess with the mostest I tell ya!! Her only request was that we make a card using the paper she sent us. Easy peesy Mary!! :D

The paper she sent me matched perfectly with some left over Basic Grey paper I had. I sponged each of the pieces of patterned paper with matching Distress Ink, then matted them with the Bazzil cs that is available at Michaels.

Monday's card with the same image was my second attempt at coloring up this image. This one was my first attempt, and I think I did well coloring her up until I got to the background. I'm not happy with how that turned out. If you enlarge the photo you'll see that the Vintage Violet didn't blend very well on the Whisper White. I kept trying to correct it and made a mess of it instead. Next time, I'd keep the background glow to a minimum when watercoloring on Whisper White.

Notice how I left off any sentiment?? Yeah, well I sat there for about an hour thinking about where to put it and couldn't come up with a solution so I just left it off.....if any of you smart ladies want to suggest a place - please do!! :D

Take care and hope your plans for Thanksgiving are going well. I did my Thanksgiving shopping on Monday so I didn't have to cram it in today. I sure am thankful of that this morning!! hahaha


Supplies:
Stamps: Magnolia '#300 with hood'
Inks: StazOn, Creamy Caramel, Pretty In Pink, Real Red, Certain Celery, True Thyme, Morning Marigold, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Vintage Violet, Distress Inks 'Weathered Wood & Vintage Photo'
Paper: Whisper White, Kraft, Bazzil cs, PP - Basic Grey "Aged & Confused Sublime Collection - Cinnamon Stipe" and My Mind's Eye '29th Street' and K&Company Brenda Walton 'Designer Mat Pad'
Access: Ribbon, paper piercer, dimensionals, sponges, zig pen

Oh so sweet!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Yesterday's Featured Stamper Challenge (FS94) on SCS highlighted the wonderful creations of Elizabeth Neumann (aka Ebethneu). She has these amazing 'shabby chic' style cards that I've always admired but have been afraid to do because even though I'm still not sure what my style is, I know it's definitely NOT shabby chic! Yet, I can't stop oohing and aahing over cards with this feel to them.


So this is my CASE of Elizabeth's card 'Tea With Lily'. I borrowed the card's overall shabby chic look and the embellishments. I will freely admit that I'm embellie-impaired! After I get past the color selection and layout, my biggest hangup are the embellishments and sentiment. It will sometimes take me two hours to finish the card once the coloring is done. So sad!

Now, I don't own this Magnolia stamp (boo hoo). I was given two stamped images of her by my dear and funny friend Mary. I used one on a card I have to show you later in the week, and this is what I did with the other one. They are all the rage on SCS at the moment, and I can see why. They're so stinking cute and fun to color! I kept the colors on this card soft to match the yummy paper from Crate Paper. I used buttons instead of flowers to adorn my card and finished it off with some wide sheer ribbon with a heart charm. I really like how this card turned out! I think the paper and Magnolia stamp helped me out a bit though!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. We stuck close to home this weekend and it was a nice change.



Supplies:
Stamps: Magnolia Stamps '#300 with hood'
Inks: StazOn, Creamy Caramel, Soft Sky, Cool Caribbean, Certain Celery, Pretty in Pink, Morning Marigold, Close to Cocoa, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen'
Paper: Whisper White, Bazzil cs, PP - Crate Paper Blue Hill Collection - 'Rain'
Access: Buttons, ribbon, charm, jump ring, decorative scissors, Martha Stewart edge punch, Tim Holtz edge distresser, dimensionals, sponges