Mojo Monday #48

Good morning everyone! We are on our way to Boston to enjoying some good hockey!

Before I left I made this card for Julee's Mojo Monday challenge #48. This was my second attempt for this challenge, I wasn't thrilled with the first one I did, but I was happy with the results of this one! I will share the first one with you later, it's ok but I still like this one better.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Dreams du Jour, Stitched.

Paper~ So Saffron, Basic Black, Whisper, White.

Ink~ Basic Black, So Saffron, Barely Banana, Kiwi Kiss, White craft.

Accessories~ SU! Scallop punch & Circle punch, black brads, paper piercer, Stickles, Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder, black organdy polka dot ribbon, nestibilities scallop circle.

To Know Life....

Hello everyone! It's the middle of the week already only two more days until the weekend!
I've been busy stamping the last two days making samples using some of the new stamp sets that will be available in the new catalog.
Today's card, I used the 'Dreams du Jour' stamp set. I am really liking this stamp set! I also used two of the new 'In-colors' Kiwi Kiss & Baja Breeze. I wasn't so sure about the new colors at first, but I am growing to love them!

In the morning Megan, my cousin Janet & I are leaving for Boston for a hockey tournament. She is feeling MUCH better after her bout with mono.

I will be posting cards while we are gone so please make sure you stop by to check them out. I may even throw in some hockey pictures as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Dreams du Jour.
Paper~ Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White.
Ink~ Basic Black, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss.
Accessories~ Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, SU Scallop punch, silver cording, silver brads, paper piercer, cuttlebug folder.

Serene Spring

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

Today's card is another swap I did for the 'Great Swap Girls2' July swap. The theme for this swap was to use a 'Hostess Set' that will be in the new catalog. 'Serene Spring' set will be a level 2 hostess set in the new 2008-09 fall catalog.

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Serene Spring, Sanded, Circle of Friendship.

Paper~ Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Blue Bayou, watercolor paper.

Ink~ Basic Black, Blue Bayou, the following were used for watercoloring: Really Rust, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun.

Accessories~ Jumbo eyelets, Crop-a-dile, SU circle punches, Olive grosgrain ribbon, sponge

We grow great by dreams

Yeah, the weekend is here! I hope you are able to have some fun in the sun this weekend. The weather is suppose to be beautiful here in Minnesota (at least in my area). Well enough chit chat and on to today's card.

This card is similar to my cards I made for two different swaps. One of the swaps was for this months 'Great swap Girls 2' swap. The other was for the 'Inking of You' card exchange. The theme for both swaps was to use one of the 'new stamp sets' that will be released in the new catalog. As a demonstrator we have the privilage to order some of the new sets before they are availalbe to the public.

Remember I said that this card was similar to my swap cards. The difference from this card and the swap cards is that I used the 'Dots' background stamp for the two swap cards and this one was made using the 'Swiss Dots' cuttlebug folder. Otherwise they are the same.

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Dreams du Jour.

Paper~ Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Basic Black, Whisper White, Bella Rose DP (will be in new catalog).

Ink~ Basic Black.

Accessories~ Olive 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon, 1/4" circle punch, coluzzle circle cutter, black brads, 'swiss dots' cuttlebug folder, stickles.

Thanks for stopping by!

More 'Inking of You' cards

More cards from the 'Inking of You' meeting. This first card has a different fold from the tradition fold. The bird panel folds over the top of the DSP panel, I'm not sure what you would call it but if you know the correct term, please let me know.

Every time I see this stamp set I tell myself you should think about getting this set before it retires. Well I am running out of time, this set will be gone in a few weeks. I really need to make up my mind before it's gone forever!







This buckle card is super simple to create. Just a few punches were used, no stamping was done on this card.











This card was created by Shelly Gruber, it was one of the cards from the card exchange. Shelly used the new hostess set called 'Happiness Always' along with the new In-Colors, Pink Pirouette and Kiwi Kiss.




Well, off to a hockey game this morning! Hopefully I will get some serious stamping time in this afternoon!

Thanks for stopping by!

More stamp share ideas

Hi everyone! As promised here are some more cards from Tuesday's meeting.

Embrace Life is one of my favorite stamp sets from the current catalog. This card was super easy to make but look how elegant it looks! Two of the current In-Colors, Groovy Guava and River Rock were used on this card. If you don't have these colors yet they will be retiring soon, and the new In-colors will be arriving in the new catalog!

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Embrace Life.

Paper~ Very Vanilla, Groovy Guava, Ruby Red, River Rock, Ginger Blossom DSP.

Ink~ Ruby Red.

Accessories~ Gold brad, Guava stitched ribbon, white gel pen, dauber.

This card exchange card was created by Kim Martini. I like how Kim dyed the white ribbon with Pacific Point re-inker to match with the rest of the In-Colors she used on this card.

Thanks for stopping by! My daughter & I are on our way for a college visit.

I've been tagged

It's been a while since I've been tagged, but in the last week or so I've been tagged by three very talented stampers. Kim over at 'Kim's Creative Stamping' , Joan over at 'Stampin, cooking, knitting...my life' and Carol from 'Stamp like Crazy'. Thanks for the tag ladies! Here are seven things you might not know about me.

1. I like to have alone time, I LOVE spending time with family and friends but every once and awhile I need my alone time.

2. I LOVE Dove milk chocolates, especially cold. I have to hide them from my husband or he will eat them all, so I hide them in the veggie drawer of the refridgerator. Shhhhh don't tell him! LOL!

3. I like my house to be clean but I HATE to clean it, I wish I had a cleaning lady!

4. I am the oldest of eight kids, I have SEVEN younger brothers (yes, seven brothers)! No, we are not Catholic. I can't tell you how many times I've been asked that question. LOL

5. I use to be an avid cross-stitcher, until I found rubber stamping. I haven't touched a cross stitch project in years.

6. My favorite color is green, any shade of green.

7. I like to stay up late (stamping), am not a morning person but feel guilty when I sleep past 8:00 am.

Now I am suppose to tag seven others. Well, with so many talented stampers out there I decided to tag anyone that would like to play and tell us seven random facts about yourself. Consider yourself tagged!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamp Share

Hi everyone, can you believe it's already Wednesday! The summer is just flying by! Last night I went to a meeting hosted by my upline Terri. I don't always get to go to Terri's meetings as most of the time I have more than one thing on the calendar for that day. I was sooooo happy to be able to go last night. Terri always has so many great ideas and last night was no exception! Over the next day or so I will share all of the cards we made. Not only do we get to make samples but we can also participate in a card swap with others in her downline.



After I leave one of Terri's meetings I feel so rejuvenated. It's like the same feeling you get when you come back from convention, but on a smaller level. I have all of these great ideas floating around in my head, now all I need to do is pull them out and create. All of cards we made are great for workshops or stamp~a~stacks. They are quick & easy and cute too! I love the bright colors of this card!

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Absolutely Fabulous, Sanded.
Paper~ Whisper White, Purely Pomegranate, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie.
Ink~ Purely Pomegrante.
Accessories~ Scallop punch, Flower Fushion, Gold brad, paper piercer.











This card beautiful card was created by Lisa Schultz, it is one of the cards from the card exchange.



I will share more with you tomorrow, Thanks for stopping by!

An award from Wanda!

I received this award from Wanda ~ 'My Creative Corner!' Thank you Wanda!!!!

The rules for this award are as follows: 1) The winner can post the logo on her blog. 2) Link the person you received your award from. 3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs. 4) Put links of those blogs on yours. 5) Leave a message on the blogs you've nominated. So the 7 I am going to nominate are:

Jennifer - The Buck Stamps here

Jennifer - Jennifer's sweet designs

Cheryl - God & I on the RR tracks

Lynda - Stamp Act

Nancy - I Stamp

Amy - Pickled Paper Designs

Dawn - Treasure Oiler

OCC Guest Host - Who me!

WOW! I was blown away the other day when my friend Jennifer Meyer from 'Our Creative Corner' asked me to be the guest host this week! Can you believe it, she asked little ol' me to be the guest host. Well, it didn't take me too long to think that one over, YES, I would be honored to be the guest host this week! All the gals are so talented over there, click here to check out just how talented they are!

This week's challenge is 'Dry Embossing'. I used my 'Cuttlebug' embossing folders 'perfect paisley' and 'distressed stripes'. I had so much fun with this challenge I made two cards! I hope you play along, if you upload your photo to SCS use the keyword 'OCCC'.

Supplies Used for Simply Said card: Stamps~ Simply Said, Think Happy Thoughts.

Paper~ Blue Bayou, River Rock, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Western Sky DP.

Ink~ Basic Black, Riding hood red, river rock.

Accessories~ Blue Bayou Stitched ribbon, SU punches, silver brads, blender pen, linen thread, red buttons, cuttlebug 'Perfect Paisley' folder.

Supplies Used for Bronc Buster card:

Stamps~ Bronc Buster.

Paper~ Riding Hood Red, Blue Bayou, Whisper White, Western Sky DP

Ink~ Blue Bayou.

Accessories~ Cuttlebug embossing folders 'Perfect Paisley and Distressed Stripes, SU punches-ticket, small oval, 1" circle & designer label. Silver brads, sponge. I created the 'Howdy!' on my computer and printed on cs.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Another GSG2 swap card

I received this beautiful card the other day from fellow 'Great Swap Girl2' Amy Caraluzzi. I love the color combination she chose for this card. Check out Amy's blog for more great creative ideas.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Mail

Look at this adorable card I received today from Amy Shaffer aka pickled paper designs. I just LOVE Amy's work and I was soooooo excited when I received this beauty. If you haven't been to Amy's blog yet (where in the heck have you been! JK) go on over there to check out her AWESOME work.

Thanks for stopping by!

OCC Inspiration Challenge

Hi everyone! Hope you had a fantastic weekend!

I was able to get a little stamping done this weekend but the weather was so nice (minus the wind) it was hard to stay inside.


Last night I sat down and made this card for one of my favorite blog challenges. Have you checked out the 'Our Creative Corner' blog yet? If not head on over there and check out the great challenges these very talented ladies have each Saturday. This week's challenge is an inspiration challenge by Jennifer Meyer.


The first things that came to mind when I saw this piece were~ tulips, yellows, cream, silver & scallops. Well, I think I was able to incorporate all of them into this card. What do you think?




Do you want to play along? Head on over to the 'OCC and check out the challenge. Make sure to stop by this coming Saturday for a new challenge by Jennifer Meyer, I know I'll be there!



Thanks for stopping by!



Supplies Used: Stamps~ Never Ending Joy, All Holidays.
Paper~ So Saffron cs & dp, Very Vanilla.
Ink~ Summer Sun, Mellow Moss, basic black.
Accessories~ paper piercer, Silver hph, Oval scallop Nesties, Organdy ribbon from Ellen Hudson.

OCC Challenge

I thought I would have all kinds of time to stamp in the comfort of my air conditioned house today, but my kids had other ideas for me. Run me here, run me there, and one of them has her driver's license AND a car. Oh well, I'll probably complain when I won't have anyone to run here or there anymore, LOL!

I decided to get my inspiration from my new blog banner. The sketch is from this week's OCC challenge, (nothing like doing it the day before the new challenge comes out). I really like the way these colors came together.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Live your Dream (I hope this set is in the new catalog), All Holidays.

Paper~ Basic Black, Certainly Celery, Rose Red, Whisper White.

Ink~ Rose Red, Certainly Celery.

Accessories~ Small tag, corner rounder, black brads, swiss dots cuttlebug folder, black polka dot organdy ribbon, dimentionals.

Notice anything DIFFERENT?

I was up way to late last night creating my new blog banner. What do you think? Thanks to my sweet blogging friend Jennifer Buck (who gave me some great tips), I was able to create my new image. I had so much fun creating my banner that I lost track of time!

Since I spent so much time last night on my banner I wasn't able to make a card for today's post. It's suppose to be very hot and sticky out today so I think I will stay in my air condition and stamp. Hope to post a card for you later today!

Thanks for stopping by!

GSG - Challenge card

As promised here is my card for this week's 'Great Swap Girls' challenge. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge. As I told you yesterday I haven't done a sketch challenge for awhile and I felt like I was going though withdrawls.

This sketch was super easy and fun. I pulled out my scrap trash to complete this card. The flower has been sitting in my stash for awhile and was just screaming out for me to use! I really like the color combination that came together for this card, bright & cheery!

The next two sketch challenges on the list are the 'Our Creative Corner' and 'A sketch for you to try' Hope to have a sample done for tomorrow's post.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Pick a Petal, Hi & Hello, Sanded bg

Paper~ Bliss Blue, Ballet Blue textured, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, whisper White.

Ink~ Groovy Guava, Certainly Celery.

Accessories~ Scallop Circle punch Key tag punch, Lg Oval punch, Large circle punch, White gel pen, silver brads, celery grosgrain ribbon, swiss dote cuttle bug folder.

Mojo Monday #45

It's Wednesday already! Hope your day is going well! Yesterday I was blog surfing when I came across a bunch of sketch challenges that I like to do, now you know it's been awhile since I've done a sketch challenge and I felt that I was going though withdrawals. I decided to print out the sketches so I could do a few of them, well I got two of them done last night, wooohooo!

I made this card using Julee's Mojo Monday #45 Sketch. I did make a slight change to the sketch, I moved my sentiment down and added ribbon where the sentiment was suppose to be.

Thanks for stopping by! I will share my 'Great Swap Girls' sketch challenge tomorrow.

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Close As a Memory, Floral BG, All Holidays.

Paper~ Bordering Blue, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Le Jardin DP.

Ink~ Bordering Blue, Versa Mark

Accessories~ Markers-(Bordering Blue, Night of Navy, Old Olive), Aged Copper HPH, Earth Elements & Soft Subtles brads, Corner Rounder, paper piercer, Bashful Blue Taffeta ribbon.

GSG2 Swaps

Happy Tuesday to everyone! I hope your day is going good!

These three cards are the last of 14 cards I received in the first 'Great Swap Girls2' swap.

This first card was designed by Monique Van Keuren. I love the color combination she used to create this fun card.

Trudi Adams-Shaffer created this flowery card. I love all the texture Trudi used in this card.

This beauty was created by Sarah Green. The photo doesn't show that the butterfly is 3d, actually I didn't realize it was 3d until just now, I wish I did before I took the picture! I love the soft look of this color combination and the layout.

Remember to check out everyone's blog for more creative ideas!

Thanks for stopping by!

More GSG2 swaps to share

Hey everyone, hope your Monday is going good! Here are some more cards from the first GSG2 swap. The theme was 'See what you can do'. The talent in this group is so amazing, sit back and ENJOY.

This first card is by Mary Jo Price-Williams. Very pretty color combination!

The next card is by Joanne Basile. I would have never thought to use Blush Blossom with River Rock, very pretty Joanne!

Summer Sketches is one of my very favorite stamp sets! This card was made by fellow Minnesotan (and she lives close to me too!) Kay Kalthoff. Very Sweet card Kay, I love the layers!

Last but not least, this cute card was made by Jenn Muraoka. I love how Jenn combined the Artfully Asian branch with the Owl from Just Celebrate! Check out the blogs of these ladies for more great creative ideas! I have three more cards to share with you tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Fourth of July!

Today is a lazy day at our house, not much planned except a BBQ for dinner. Tomorrow we are headed for the lake for some fun in the sun!

Here are a couple more samples from the 'Great Swap Girls 2' June Swap. ENJOY!!!



This first card is from Cindy Lawrence, I LOVE the color combination on this card!


















This cutie is from Jamie Sears.

















And this colorful card was created by Britiney Slaughter.





Check out their blogs for more creative ideas!

Thanks for stopping by today! Happy 4th of July!

Color Inspiration #14 Challenge

Have you been over to Kwerner designs yet? If not you need to check out Kristina's blog, she is super talented. I have admired her work for a while now, but this is the first time I participated in her color inspiration challenge.

The challenge was to use~Basic Black, Basic Gray, Whisper White, River Rock & Ruby Red. This is what I came up with.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used: Stamps~ Artfully Asian, Sanded.

Paper~ Basic Black, Basic Gray, River Rock, Ruby Red, Shimmery White, Whisper White.

DP~ Ginger Blossom.

Ink~ Basic Black, Mellow Moss, Ruby Red, Pretty in Pink, Bliss Blue.

Accessories~ Key Tag punch, Large Oval punch, Dew Drops.

GSG2 Swaps

After I posted my GSG2 swap yesterday I went out to the mail box to find the swaps from the other gals in the GSG2 group. Wow, what a bunch of talented ladies in this group! Here are a couple of the cards that were in the envelope, I

will share a couple of them each day with you.

Alex Maldonado

Jennifer Buck

Becky Carafa

Check out their blogs for more creative ideas.

Thanks for stopping by!

GSG Swap card

The first swap for the 'Great Swap Girls 2' group was held in June.The theme for this swap was 'Show us what you can do'. My favorite technique is watercoloring, so I had to do it for this swap. I haven't received my swaps from the other girls yet, but I will be sure to share when I do. I can't wait to see what everyone has done!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used~ Stamps~ Thoughts of Father, Sanded, Flannel, Warm Words.

Paper~ Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, watercolor paper.

Ink~ Basic Black, various colors for watercoloring.

Accessories~ Vintage Brads, Blender Pen, Key tag punch, Large Oval punch, sponge.

Back from New York

Our trip to Lake Placid New York was cut short due to my daughter coming down with Mono. What a bummer! We had three great days in New York City but Megan started feeling sick on Sunday night with a sore throat. We decided to take her in to get it checked out before we had to leave the city and head towards Lake Placid. After FINALLY finding a doctor on Monday that would see her (being from out of state we got lucky to find one), her tonsils were HUGE. The doctor wanted her to get tested for Mono after the strep test came back negative so off we went to find the lab. That night Megan didn't get any sleep because her tonsils were so swollen she had a hard time breathing. We went back to the clinic on Tuesday morning to get a shot to help the swelling go down so she could breathe, then headed for Lake Placid. Tuesday afternoon we arrived in Lake Placid and did a little sight seeing, by this time she was feeling better and could breathe again (we thought things were looking up). Wednesday we checked her into the camp and after a day and a half at camp we got the dreaded call that she had MONO. My heart sank, I knew she would be sooo disappointed that she couldn't skate the rest of the camp. All her hard work to get there and it was gone like that!!! I just couldn't believe it! Thursday evening we checked her out of the Olympic Training Center and headed out of town the next morning.

I guess I can say the trip was not a total loss, we did have fun in New York City. Megan was happy she got the opportunity to skate on the 1980 Olympic Ice Rink. And on the way home we stopped by Niagara Falls!

Megan is feeling better, I took her to our doctor after we got home, and the doctor gave her the ok to start skating again after a week of rest. Next trip, Boston, let's hope this one goes better then the last one did for her!