Hats off to you...

WOW!  What a weekend and now it's Monday already!  It was a crazy morning too ~ up and out early and the roads were icy.  Anyway, I thought I'd share a card today using the new Diners Club set from Gourmet Rubber Stamps called Abracadabra.

Supplies:
Stamps ~ Gourmet Rubber Stamps (Abracadabra)
Cardstock ~ Bazzill
Pattern Paper ~ Echo Park
Ribbon/Trim/Twine ~ May Arts
Ink ~ Palette

OCL Challenge #102... Heart"felt" Creations

TOTALLY T.G.I.F.  !!!

Do you have a fun weekend planned?  Hmmm...mine is going to be BIZZYYYY!!!  My son has district Science Fair {so NOT my favorite thing}, both kids have the Indiana State Music Association Solo & Ensemble competition, and then we have a high school basketball game tomorrow night ~ Megan is in the pep band.  Should make for an action packed day... oh and poor hubby will be on a plane to China so he'll miss all the fun.  Oh, that reminds me, I'd better get my camera ready to go so he doesn't miss anything.

So yesterday I mentioned that I would either have a project for the weekly challenge or something else I've been working on.  Well I'm not ready to show my other project so I quickly whipped up something for the really fun challenge.

For this challenge, I decided to use some pre-made hearts I bought last year from the Martha Stewart Crafts collection at Michael's.  I added a background XOXO stamp from the retiring Hearts & Hugs set & the sentiments are from I Lava You and Bug Hugs.

YIPEEE!  Now I have the kids Valentine tags done!  OK ~ your turn to play along!

Well that's it for me this week.  I have to say, now that I've decided to make some changes on my blog and on my designing, I'm having a lot more fun!  I can't wait to share the scrapbook that I've been working on ~ too fun!

ETA:  This is your last chance as we bid farewell to some of our great old sets.  All of the sets in the RETIRING SETS section of our website are being pulled from our site as of February 1st.   The Retiring sets have already been marked down 40% off & now through Tuesday, January 31st you can get another 10% off these sets ~ along with everything else you purchase from our website.

* Required Coupon Code: RETIRE10

*  we will not be able to give refunds if coupon code is not used.
* Sale Dates: Friday, January 27 to Tuesday, January 31, 2012

* Only applies to merchandise that is in stock - no backorders. If items sell out before we are able to pull them from the website, we will contact you to substitute another item.
* Does not apply to wholesale orders.
Get them while supplies last!

Time for a class...

A Thursday Morning Hello to you!

I trust your week is moving along well.  I can't believe how quickly it's going ~ Thursday already!  Well earlier this week I mentioned that I was teaching a stamp class at the local scrapbook store.  I had my class Tuesday night and we had so much fun.  A big shout out to my sweet girls at More Memories in New Paris ~ I love spending time with all of you.  Candy...we missed you ~ I hope your week slows down.  So anyway... here are the projects we made at this month's class.

First up ~ I used the Spilling Over single from Our Craft Lounge with the sentiment from Notes of Love.  Actually, I put a bunch of sentiments in the work bucket so they could choose.  We added a little bit of Very Cherry Sparkly Fluff on the big heart.

Next up we used the Every Heartbeat set to make the perfect guy card.  The sentiment is from the Say it Big set.  This card was fun because they could turn it the other direction and add a bigger sentiment.

And finally, we used the Love in the Air stamp set to make this adorable Valentine tag for the treat bag.  I wasn't sure if they would want to do this project, but I think it was the hit of the night!  We colored in the clouds with white Smooch and the chevron pattern on the balloon with red Smooch.  Note: the cute heart jelly bean candies are called Cherry Lovers by Gimbal's Fine Candies & they are so pretty, but they taste kind of nasty {IMO}.

The final card we did is one I've shown on my blog before using the Every Heartbeat set.  The girls loved learning new ways to use this great set.

I'll be back tomorrow with either the OCL Challenge card for this week, or maybe a fun project I've been working on ...I haven't decided just yet ~ LOL!

Whatever you do with your day...enjoy it.

Diners Club Preview ...let's take a peek!

Hey there peeps ~ having a good week?  I'm getting lots of fun things crossed off my To Do list this week and have even managed to clean out a few drawers in my craft area.  Hubby says that in February he'll go buy and put together my new furniture.  It's not originally what I would have pictured for my area, but it's got a clean, sleek look to it.  I'm eager to get going.   Anyway... on with my project for today. 

I just love preview days for Gourmet Rubber Stamps and today we get to show you the new Diners Club set for February.  The set is called Abracadabra and it's really cool because it has a little something for everyone.  Half of the set has a very vintage feel and the other half is super cute!  Today I have two very vintage looking cards to share. 

My first card uses a chess piece and the sentiment from the set.  I stamped the sentiment on the My Minds Eye pattern paper in the journaling window ~ cool huh?  Then I stamped the chess piece on there as well and then popped one up for a bit of texture.  

My second card  uses the vintage poster image and I stamped it directly on the pattern paper (Echo Park For the Record).  Then I also stamped some tickets from the set and added them as an embellishment.  Super quick and fun card.

Now I know you'll want to check out what the other girls have come up with for the preview.  You can start on the Gourmet Rubber Stamps blog and then hop along...

• GRS Blog
• Deb Felts
• Jeni Allen
• Joy Stagg
• Kelli Palmer
• Pam Hornschu
• Rose Ann Reynolds
• Taylor Usry

Thanks for stopping by today ~ enjoy your week!

Happy Monday to you...

Hello Peeps!  I hope your weekend was terrific! 

Well I took the weekend off ~ can you believe it?  I've been doing a lot of thinking about my crafting goals, and I've decided to make some changes. 

• First off, after 5+ years of blogging every single day, I've decided it's ok to let that go a bit.  No worries, I'm still going to blog; however, I'm just not going to worry about getting a post up each and every day.  Who knows, maybe I'll just have more interesting things to say and show you now...
• I also left one of my design teams ~ the online store i{heart}papers .  I enjoyed being on the team, but felt like it was time to move on to new things.
• I'm going to concentrate a little bit more on my scrapbooks too!  It's my first true crafty-love & I miss not spending time with my pictures and memories.  I have TONS of pictures and vacation albums that are just dying for attention!
• And... another project I'm working on is that I'm cleaning out my craft area A LOT and I'm going to get some new furniture and storage units. I feel like the enormous amount of STUFF I've accumulated is distracting me & I'm ready to downsize.  I'm really excited about this!

So that's what going on in my little corner of the world!  I hope you'll enjoy the new and fun things I'm planning.

Well this weekend, in between cleaning out pattern paper and old stamp sets, I spent some time finishing up a project for my local hair salon.  At Christmas time, I made a cute little tag for my daughters stocking to go get a pedicure.  When we went to the salon, I had the tag with me & showed the salon owner.  She loved it and asked me if I would make some gift card envelopes for her.  So this is what we decided on and I even decorated a little storage box for her so she would have a place to keep them....

The name of the salon is called Absolutely Fabulous ~ so I asked Debbie Corbari to make a custom sentiment just for them!  Isn't it PERFECT?

I used the stamp set from Our Craft Lounge called Pretty & Pampered for the champagne colored bubbles in the corners of the envelope (and also on the envelope flap ~ not pictured).

So that's one paying job I had this week.  WOOHOOO!  Now to get ready for the next paying gig ~ teaching a class at the local scrapbook store Tuesday night.  I'll share my projects with you for that later this week. 

Thanks for buzzing by today & enjoy your Monday!

OCL Challenge #101 ... Loving Chevron!

It's CHALLENGE DAY!!!!  I love OCL Challenge Fridays ~ so fun!  Today I am especially happy because we are having fun zigging and zagging all over the place with Chevron patterns. Maybe you have the fun new set called from OCL called Every Heartbeat, some pattern paper with that pattern or even some Ric Rac laying around that you can use ~ lots of fun options today.  So here's the fun inspiration photo that we found on Google Images...

And here's my super fun card using the Every Heartbeat set along with Notes of Love for the sentiment.  Can you see the cool XOXO pattern the borders make when you line them up just right ~ PRETTY SWEET HUH?

So now it's your turn to play along ~ I can't wait to see what you come up with!

What to post today?????

I really had no idea what I was going to post today and then I found this card in my "unblogged" folder on my computer.  It's cute, so why not AND...it's in the OCL Colors!!  I used the stamp set Live, Laugh, Lounge from Our Craft Lounge.

Have a great day & thanks for stopping by!

Love you ...

Want to make some fun 5 minute cards?  Well grab one of the Echo Park 12x12 kits, some coordinating cardstock, ribbon, twine and brads & sit down and have some fun!  Here's one card I made in no time at all using the Yours Truly kit.

Thanks for buzzing by...

Bingo ... win a kiss...

{MWAH}... big kisses to you.  My project today features one of the super cute bingo cards from Jenni Bowlin paired up with my favorite swirly heart by Gourmet Rubber Stamps from the Sealed with a Kiss set.  This is also the weekly challenge sketch on the GRS blog ~ take a LOOK HERE.

I think I may just give this card to my sweetie for Valentine's Day...

Gift Card Pocket

Happy Monday!  What a great weekend we had and it's still going because the kids are off school today.  We had great dinner time laughs, watched football games, and saw a movie together.  It's nice to have one more day to sleep in before we start another busy week.

My project today is a fun gift card holder I made for a magazine submission.  Unfortunately, it didn't get picked up, but at least now I have another blog post.  I used the December Diners Club set called Let's Celebrate from Gourmet Rubber Stamps and paired it up with some great October Afternoon pattern paper and accessories from the sidewalk collection.

And here is the little pocket pullout that I can attach a gift card to or just add a little note.

Thanks for buzzing by and have a great Monday!

Gourmet Rubber Stamps DT Challenge ...Hugs and Kisses

Hello Lovely Peeps ~ Yes it's Sunday and I have an actual project to show you today!  Well that's because today is the Design Team Challenge for the Gourmet Rubber Stamps girls.  Today's challenge was to make some fun Valentine Tags ~ yipeee!  I love Valentine's projects!!!  I used the new Diners Club set called Sealed with a Kiss and made two different tags with it.

Now I know you'll want to see what the other designers have been up to for this fun challenge so take a look, so start on the GRS Blog and then continue on with the rest of the girls ~


Deb Felts
Jeni Allen
Joy Stagg
Kelli Palmer
Kendra Wietstock
Pam Hornschu
Rose Ann Reynolds
Taylor Usry

Supplies:
Stamps ~ Gourmet Rubber Stamps (Sealed with a Kiss, Heart to Heart)
Ribbon ~ Basic Grey
Ink ~ Palette
Pattern Paper ~ Martha Stewart Valentine Collection
Stick Pins ~ Fancy Pants

Happy Saturday...

just a quick clean and simple card today...have a great weekend!

Every Heartbeat stamp set by Our Craft Lounge

OCL Challenge #100!!!! They are adding up!

TGIF & Happy Friday the 13th too!!!  Today is a happy day because it is the 100th weekly challenge on the OCL Blog.  WOOHOOO!

So I did a few little projects for my numbers project.  I did decoration on my fun little decorative bottle and I did a mini card.  For the decorative bottle, I used the Love Potion stamp set and added my number on the tag ~ Love Potion #9!  For the mini gift card, I used the Love in the Air stamp set and used a portion of the Cloud 9 sentiment.  The sentiment actually reads, "I'm on Cloud 9 when I'm with you"; however, it was too large for the card.  Therefore, I covered the portion of the words I didn't want to use with tape, inked it, removed the tape and then stamped the sentiment.  Now it's the perfect size!

Now it's your turn to play along!  Head on over to the OCL Blog to add your link once you have your project done and you may win a gift certificate to OCL ~ Friday the 13th could be your lucky day!

Supplies:
Stamps ~ Our Craft Lounge (Love Potion, Love in the Air)
Sparkly Fluff ~ Rockstar Red
Cardstock ~ Bazzill
Ink ~ Palette, Copics
Pattern Paper ~ Echo Park (Yours Truly)
Nestabilities

Some cards for the guys...

I have a few guys in my family with birthdays coming up.  Soooo....it was time to get out the fun Times & Seasons paper pack from Echo Park ~ perfect for the men!

Here's a card for Grandpa ~ or G-Pa as we all call him... {outside view & inside view} 

Next up a card for my brother-in-law...

All of the stickers and papers are in the kit.  The Happy Birthday sentiment is from the set called Vintage Birthday  ~ Gourmet Rubber Stamps.

Valentine for a Friend...

Valentine cards aren't just for your sweetie or for your kids.  Why not make some special cards for your cherished friends this year?  I made this sweet card using the Gourmet Rubber Stamps single called A Friend Accepts and the heart is from the newest Diners Club Set called Sealed with a Kiss.

Supplies:
Stamps ~ Gourmet Rubber Stamps ~ A Friend Accepts , Sealed with a Kiss
Cardstock ~ Bazzill
Ink ~ Palette
Pattern Paper ~ My Minds Eye (Love Me)
Gems ~ Zva
Seam Binding ~ SU
Trim ~ Hobby Lobby
Nestabilities by Spellbinders

Chevron & Hearts...

I'm totally in LOVE with the new Valentine sets by Our Craft Lounge called Love in the Air & the new Single called Spilling Over ~ they are just so fun!!!   I love the balloons & I love the sentiments too ~ so fun!  I used some of the pretty Very Cherry Red Sparkly Fluff on the balloon.

Supplies:
Stamps ~ Our Craft Lounge (Love in the Air, Spilling Over)
Sparkly Fluff ~ Our Craft Lounge (Very Cherry Red)
Ink ~ Palette
Copic Markers (R81, R83, R85, R89)
Twine ~ The Twinery
Nestabilities ~ Large Scallop Oval
Embossing Folder ~ Lifestyle Crafts

Let's Go For A Ride...

Happy Monday!  We've had a wonderful two weeks of family fun, but today the kids went back to school and the early mornings and crazy schedules resume.  However, I also get my nice quiet days back ~ which are so much more productive! 

My project for today uses a fun image from the new Gourmet Rubber Stamps Diners Club set called Sealed with a Kiss ~ it is such a fun set!  I also used the fun Valentine paper from My Minds Eye called Love Me ~ one of my favorites this year!

OK ~ off to get my To Do list done while the house is quiet!  Enjoy your Monday!

Supplies:
Stamps ~ Gourmet Rubber Stamps (Sealed with a Kiss)
Pattern Paper ~ My Minds Eye (Love Me)
Ink ~ Palette
Cardstock ~ Bazzill
Edge Punch ~ EK Success

just because {24}...

great is thy faithfulness...

this is what greeted me one morning this week...

Chevron Patterns

Here's a quick and simple card that's perfect for any birthday you might have coming up.  I used the Every Heartbeat stamps set for the chevron pattern and stamped the same image in both green and teal ink to make this cool pattern.  Then I used the Say It Big stamp set for the sentiment.  EASY PEASY!!!

Have a great weekend!

OCL Challenge #99 & Lily Pad Cards!

Welcome to FRIDAY!  It's a new year and time for another OCL Challenge!  Today OCL is teaming up with Lily Pad Cards for the color challenge.  

Super fun huh?  And you'll have two chances to win too!  Once on the OCL Blog for our normal monthly challenge drawing and once on the Lily Pad Cards Blog ~ so make sure you link up in both spots!

Here's my challenge card this week using the new OCL sets called Love in the Air and Every Heartbeat.  I also added some pretty Nearly Navy Sparkly Fluff to the balloon for the perfect POP!

GUESS WHAT?  All of the new Valentine sets are now available on the OCL website ~ check out the Valentine Release tab & purchase the sets directly from OCL!

OK ~ it's your turn...go create & add your link to BOTH blogs.

Skipping A Beat...

My hearts just going pitter patter for this new Chevron stamp set by Our Craft Lounge called Every Heartbeat!  I LOVE IT! 

Have you seen the list of trends for this year ~ well Chevron is HOT, HOT, HOT!  I think this set is a MUST HAVE!!!

Supplies:
Stamps ~ Our Craft Lounge (Every Heart Beat)
Cardstock ~ Bazzill
Ink ~ Palette
Misc ~ Cardboard

Cuckoo for YOU!

I'm so cuckoo today....OVER YOU!  Aren't these images a total HOOT?  They are part of the new Diners Club set by Gourmet Rubber Stamps called Sealed with a Kiss.

I'm not sure why, but I immediately thought of this paper from Crate Paper called Farm House for this cuckoo clock image ~ the colors are just so yummy and the detail of the clock just works with it!

Supplies:
Stamps ~ Gourmet Rubber Stamps (Sealed with a Kiss)
Cardstock ~ Bazzill
Pattern Paper ~ Crate Paper (Farm House)
Ink ~ Palette
Copic Markers ~ BG34, BG49, Y21, YR18, R39, E25, E27, E35
Nestabilities

Joy in a Heart

Happy Tuesday Peeps ~ Today I have a pretty card to share with you to give to the one you LOVE!   I used a new single from Gourmet Rubber Stamps called Joy in Heart and the new Coveralls background stamp called Garland Demask.  They match up beautifully!

The new Coveralls background stamps are lots of fun and they are HUGE ~ a 5 3/4" square.   I love it because they cover an entire card front, but it can be hard to stamp something that large.  Well I've got an easy tip for you... use your acrylic plates from your die cutting machine (Cuttlebug, Big Shot, etc).  They work GREAT (thanks Taylor).  Also, ink your large image by laying your stamp on a flat surface and then holding your ink pad.  You'll be able to see the image better and get full coverage. 

I stamped my image on printed paper & I love how it turned out. 

Thanks for buzzing by today...

Lots of Love...

Happy New Year everyone!  I'm back this week with some new projects.  First up for the week, I'm featuring one of the new singles from Our Craft Lounge called Spilling Over & it's perfect for paper piecing.  I added some Very Cherry Red Sparkly Fluff to the big heart on the balloon for a little extra punch.

See you tomorrow!

Supplies:
Stamps ~ Our Craft Lounge (Spilling Over)
Ink ~ Palette
Copic Markers
Pattern Paper ~ My Minds Eye (Love Me)
Sparkly Fluff ~ Our Craft Lounge
Ribbon ~ May Arts
Cardstock ~ Bazzill

happy new year

i hope 2012 brings many new adventures 

and happiness to you

happy new year!