All kinds of Fun Stuff...

I am so excited about my post today because I have so much to tell you that by the end of it, your head will be spinning {probably as much as mine is}! Hang in there to the end because there is fun & yummy stuff {hint, hint} all the way from beginning to end!

First of all ~ my fun post for the day. The girls over on the design team for i{heart}papers (IHP), challenged each other to make a project related to Thanksgiving. I immediately thought of all the things I'm thankful for & the mini album idea came about.

I used the 8x8 paper stack by SEI called Poppy ~ it comes with 16 pieces of pattern paper, 16 pieces of foil pattern paper and 16 pieces of coordinating cardstock (which were all used for this project).

I typed out the wording on my computer for the title on the cover and the journaling blocks on each page. I then used my Nestabilities to cut them out (classic ovals, scallop ovals, and Labels one).

The pages are all very simple, but they highlight the most important element which is the photo.

Yes, I'm so thankful to have my furry companions!

I have the most amazing friends. I realize that not all my friends are pictured on this page (that would be impossible). However, those of you not in the picture (you know who you are) ~ I love you with all my heart!

And, last but certainly not least ~ a very, very important page.

Supplies from IHP: SEI Poppy 8x8 paper stack; Nestabilities ~ ovals, scallop ovals, labels one; Bling on the cover!

So now ~ go check out all the other DT blogs and see what wonderful creations they have made for this season of Thankfulness! ALSO ~ Kate (the owner of IHP), has a coupon code on her blog today for the store. So make sure you visit her blog for that!

OK ~ I am not done!!! I saved a yummy treat for the last thing! It's my turn for blog candy this week for IHP ~ woohooo! AND... HERE IT IS!!!!

I told you it was YUMMY!!!! My blog candy will run until Friday, November 21st at midnight (eastern time). You can add comments to any of my posts and post as much as you like. The candy will be sent directly from IHP after I've selected a winner. ONE RULE ~ you need to include an email or blog address with your post so I can get in touch with you. I'll post the winner on Saturday, November 22nd. Thanks for playing! Now go visit Loretta and Deb for their blog candy this week too ~ WOW! That's a lot of goodies ~ don't get a tummy ache!

OK ~ I'm finally done for today! Are you dizzy?

Our Craft Lounge ~ A few more sets...

I thought today rather than show you cards from one set, I would mix things up and show you samples from three different sets from Our Craft Lounge.

The first set is called Life is Sweet ~ the images are on Crafty Cling Rubber & wait until you see all the fabulous sentiments that come with the set! By the way, when you click on one of the sets on the website, if you go down to the bottom of the screen, there is a button that says "Image Gallery" ~ don't forget to click on that to see some fabulous samples.

On the this next sample, I used the set called For the Love of Birds, which is also on Crafty Cling Rubber.
And the final sample for today is called Anna Mae. This set is a Crafty Clear set because of all the interchangable parts on Anna ~ you can even change her shoes and socks!

Enjoy ~ and don't forget when you order this weekend, you will get a drawing ticket for each set you order. All the details are on their website (or my Wednesday & Thursday posts).

Bubs the Beaver...

This set totally cracks me up because I just love the little froggie! The name of this new set from Our Craft Lounge is called Bubs the Beaver & it comes in Crafty Cling Rubber. The images come on this great 3-ring storage card and secure nicely to an acrylic block for easy placement!
I should make about three dozen of these cards today because I've missed sending out birthday cards to all my friends over the last three months ~ ACK! HELLO...I'm in the cardmaking business! I really have no excuse for not getting cards in the mail!

Head on over and check out all the wonderful sets and samples at Our Craft Lounge this weekend & don't forget about their drawing.

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Our Craft Lounge (Bubs the Beaver); Cardstock ~ SU; Pattern Paper (top card) Doodlebug; Ink ~ Palette & Copics; Ribbon ~ May Arts; Embossing Plates ~ Cuttlebug; Nestabilities.

Inchie Friday ~ Fall is in the Air!

Yes, it's still Inchie Friday! I'm just a little later than normal today. But here we are smack dab in the middle of fall and I couldn't wait to scrapbook these pictures I took last month when Tim & I were in Wisconsin. The colors on these shots are so vibrant and crisp ~ they give me chills!

The sun decided to peek out yesterday off and on, so I ran outside and took a picture of my page. Not the greatest shot (because I didn't really want to lay down in the wet grass), but at least it's brighter!

I really wanted to not only highlight the great photos on this page, but also the journaling ~ much like I did on my WICKED page a few weeks ago. If you notice, I used my Inchie squares to anchor the page with a triangle design trick, which I often do. It pulls your eye from the top of the page down through all the elements of the page. The Inchies are in a set of three, as are the brads and groups of circles. In design, odd numbers work well to bring balance to the subject.

The Itty Bitty stamp I used on this page is actually called Lavender (by Lockhart Stamp Company); however, I thought it looked like a perfect fall image because it looked like wheat! Sometimes you just need to look beyond an image to see what other options you have!

Below is a photo of the page before I added the brads and pops of color that this page needed. It's amazing what just a few little things can do to a page to make it stand out.

Thanks for stopping by! Next week I'll have a cool photo cube place card, just in time to decorate your Thanksgiving Table!

Supplies: White Inchie Squares ~ Inchie Arts; Cardstock ~ Bazzill; Ink ~ Palette & Copics; Stamps ~ Lockhart Stamp Company; Brads ~ Stampin' Up!; Lettering ~ Cricut.

Opening Day for Our Craft Lounge...

Today is the day . . . the brand new stamp company called Our Craft Lounge will be open for business. I'm not sure what time, but today IS the day! The website is beautiful, so make sure you go check it out. Oh ~ and while you're there, check out the Image Galleries for each stamp set. There are some amazing cards there.


These cards are from a pretty set called Spring Garden ~ it's perfect for both cards and scrapbook pages (which I have yet to complete, but I will!).

There are more fun samples on the following sites:

Cami Turnbow
Kisa Peters
Nancy Morgan
Heather McNally
Carol Halvorson
Lila Holgate
Lisa Zappa
Pam Hooten
Lana Lepinski

And don't forget the grand opening prize drawings!! If you make a purchase the grand opening weekend of Our Craft Lounge (Friday, Saturday and Sunday ~ November 14, 15 & 16th), you will get one pink ticket included in your order for each stamp set you purchase! Hold on to these tickets because OCL will start choosing winners the following weekend (November 21st to 23rd), and every weekend until December 1st. You never know when a new ticket number winner will show up on the front page of our site so check in to see what the prizes are, but trust me, you won't be disappointed!

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Our Craft Lounge (Spring Garden); Cardstock ~ SU; Pattern Paper ~ My Minds Eye; Ink ~ Palette & Copics.

Happy Doggies...

I have more Happy, Happy Doggies to show you today from Our Craft Lounge. These sweet puppies are from the set called Pat the Dog (the other set is called Pat the GOOD Dog). This set is on clear acrylic and is sooooooooooo easy to stamp & it has fabulous accessories!


Once again, there are sneak peeks all over the place ~~ check out the following blogs that will be posting at some point today: Cambria ~ Bevie ~ Heather ~ Pam ~ HB ~ Kisa ~ Lisa ~ Lana ~ Lila

And don't forget the grand opening prize drawings!! If you make a purchase the grand opening weekend of Our Craft Lounge (Friday, Saturday and Sunday ~ November 14, 15 & 16th), you will get one pink ticket included in your order for each stamp set you purchase! Hold on to these tickets because OCL will start choosing winners the following weekend (November 21st to 23rd), and every weekend until December 1st. You never know when a new ticket number winner will show up on the front page of our site so check in to see what the prizes are, but trust me, you won't be disappointed!

BIG NEWS!!!!!

HUGE...GIGANTIC...SUPER FANTASTIC NEWS!!!!!

OK ~ I'm calm now. I can finally let the cat out of the bag and tell you about a new stamp company called OUR CRAFT LOUNGE. The launch of their first 14 stamp sets will be this Friday, November 14th! Woohooo!

Sooooooooo...wanna have a sneak peek of a few sets? {Like I didn't know that answer would be yes}...

This first set is called Pat the Good Dog ~ isn't he totally adorable (actually she in this case)? There are ton's of great supporting images and sentiments in this sweet set!

Here is another larger image from the same set ~ the dog bone is empty so you can put whatever sentiment you want inside. HOW COOL IS THAT!!!!

The next set is called Pat the Dog ~ it totally matches Pat the Good Dog and all the pieces and sentiments work together.

So there are my first three sneak peeks ~ totally FUN! If you want to see more cards from this great new company, check out the following blogs that will be posting at some point today:
Cambria ~ Bevie ~ Heather ~ Pam ~ HB ~ Kisa ~ Lisa ~ Lana ~ Lila ~ Joanne ~ Joy ~~ and I'll have a few more blogs to add as the day goes on...

OH WAIT ~ THERE'S MORE! ~ Don't miss out on the grand opening prize drawings!! If you make a purchase the grand opening weekend of Our Craft Lounge (Friday, Saturday and Sunday ~ November 14, 15 & 16th), you will get one pink ticket included in your order for each stamp set you purchase! Hold on to these tickets because OCL will start choosing winners the following weekend (November 21st to 23rd), and every weekend until December 1st. You never know when a new ticket number winner will show up on the front page of our site so check in to see what the prizes are, but trust me, you won't be disappointed!

Blog Candy Alert...

Don't forget to check the following Design Team blogs for some delicious candy! Merry, Sarah, and Cathleen all have candy going on this week from Kate over at i{heart}papers! I'll have candy next week...shhhhhhhhh, but you didn't hear that from me! LOL!

Christmas Cheer...

AAAAACCCCCCKKKKK...I can't tell you how much I don't like this time of year! It's freezing cold here & it's dark and gloomy. Because of that, my pictures are not turning out very well these past few days ~ sorry about that! If anyone can recommend a good light box for photography, please leave me a comment ~ I would really appreciate it.

OK ~ on to the post. My cards for today were actually make and take projects last summer at CHA. I was thrilled to be able to sit there with Jennifer McGuire of Hero Arts ~ one of my stamping heroes! We made both of these cards and then she had leftover supplies so today I decided to make this cute little nugget tin to match.

The stamp set is by Hero Arts and is called Jolly Christmas. The Nugget tin uses snowflakes from the Winter's Butterfly set also by Hero Arts. These items are all available from i{heart}papers!

Excuse the cross-eyed penquin please! The eyes got all messed up and I just couldn't get him to look right. He's kind of silly isn't he?

Supplies from i{heart}papers ~

Ink ~ Palette Noir and New Canvas

Stamps ~ Hero Arts Jolly Christmas & Winter's Butterfly

Nugget Tins

10 Easy Steps ...

...to making great personalized Christmas gifts! Isn't that what we all need right now? Easy and inexpensive gifts for the upcoming gife giving season. Well, I whipped up these super easy (and pretty) monogram cards in about 30 minutes yesterday.

These fabulous monogram stamps are by Just Rite Stamps from i{heart}papers. The boxed set is called the Elegant Font and comes with 3 borders, 2 sizes of the font and a wood stamp holder ~ all for only $19.95! These stamps are so easy to use and would make the perfect wedding set, thank you note, or some pretty note cards. Just click on the link above and you can see the entire set!

The beautiful paper is by Daisy D's (Snowflakes & Holly 8x8 pad) from i{heart}papers. The pad of paper comes with 12 different designs & a total of 24 sheets (2 of each design). The papers are so soft and pretty; just perfect for those who love vintage.

So I'll bet you are just dying to know those 10 easy steps ~ well here you go:
1. Cut a standard card base in blue cardstock and score at 4 1/4".
2. Trim a white piece of cardstock 5 1/4" x 4".
3. Trim pattern paper just a bit smaller than the white cardstock & attach it to the white cardstock.
4. Tie a white ribbon around the pattern paper and tie a nice knot on the front of the card.
5. Attach to the card base.
6. Stamp the Just Rite monogram image on white cardstock with pigment ink & emboss with clear embossing powder.
7. Cut out the stamped image with a 2" circle Nestabilities & Cut scallop circle with Nestabilities & attach to stamped image.
8. Attach image to card with foam dots.
9. Stamp matching monogram on to envelope.
10. Make 6 to 8 cards total & box them up in a clear card box.

There you have it ~ 10 easy steps to making a personalized Christmas present.

Supplies are from i{heart}papers!

Clear Card Boxes
Stamps: Just Rite Elegant Monogram set
Paper: Daisy D's Snowflakes & Holly 8x8 paper pad
Nestabilities: Classic Circles Small & Scallop Circles Large

So are ya interested in a little CANDY???? Hop on over to Cathleen's blog for an assortment of gorgeous ribbon from i{heart}papers!

Family Calendar...part 2

And here is part 2 of my family calendar post...

April had to be an Easter page!

May's page uses the beautiful new Bella Rose paper.

And a fun June page to commerate Matt's favorite thing ~ ride the coasters as Cedar Point!

Tomorrow ~ another post using some great products from i {heart} papers!

Family Calendar...part 1

It's that time of year again when I begin working on our family calendars for this year's Christmas presents. Well this time around, I had an added bonus. I incorporated my family calendar with my stamp club project. Woohooo!

Last night I had 8 ladies over to work on their own calendars. They all enjoyed the class and left with 12 completed scrapbook pages (minus the photos) and a preprinted 2009 calendar to put them on. I kept the stamping to a minimum so they could finish all 12 pages (and they did). I have a great group of ladies who come to stamp ~ thanks ladies, I had a blast!

This first page (for January) uses the new Baja Breeze textured cardstock and the Designer series Ski Slope paper from Stampin' Up! I also added a felt snowflake and rhinestone brad.

February's sweet page includes just a few pieces of the Bella Rose pattern paper on the new Pink textured cardstock and highlights the large wide oval and small oval punch. As a nice touch, I used 2 stacked flowers from the new Flower Fusion felt flowers set & attached them with a pink brad.

The page for March was super simple too. I used the new In Color Kiwi Kiss with the Hawaii Papaya Designer Series paper. Then using the 5-petal flower punch I punched out two flowers, stacked them and added a stamped flower to the center. Easy Peasy...

A note about my calendars ~ I always make scrapbook pages and add them on the calendar pages later. Why? 1) They are easier to work with; 2) I like using textured cardstock; and 3) when the year is over, the pages can be taken off the calendar and put inside a scrapbook. I give my calendars as gifts each year and every few years I give the recipiant a new scrapbook so they can add the pages to it. It's a great way to save the work & it will be enjoyed for years to come.

Tune in tomorrow for the next three calendar pages...

Inchie Friday ~ It's an Inchie Book for Fall!

Welcome back to Inchie Friday! Today's Inchie Arts project is a mini fall photo album. Well "album" is probably a stretch, but it does have some fun photos inside! I used the Mini Accordion Book Kit from Inchie Arts (product information is below).

This cute little photo book was super fast and easy to put together. I found four photos that I took during the month of October & actually printed them all on one 4"x6" sheet. Then added them to every other page of the little accordian book. On the opposite sides, are four fall images on Inchie squares.

This first page is a photo I took of some mums in my front yard on a bright sunny day. For the Inchie square, I used the leaf border stamp and the Itty Bitty acorn.


Next we have a photo of some of the apple sauce and apple~tomato relish we canned this fall. For the Inchie, I used a full size stamp and stamped just a portion onto the Inchie square.

Well I had to use this picture of the "Pumpkin Guts" for 2008! On the Inchie square, I again used the leaf borner and the Itty Bitty pumpkin.

And on the last page of the accordian book, I used a picture from last week's Halloween festivities. On the Inchie square, I used the cute little Itty Bitty scarecrow.

This is how the book looks when it's opened up. I used the Mini Accordion Book Kit from Inchie Arts. Included in this book kit: the supplies to create 3 pre-folded accordion books. 2 in khaki; each with 16 panels and 1 in black with 32 panels. Each panel measures 1 5/8” wide X 2” tall. There are also 6 pre-cut covers included. Create your own inchie alphabet or use images to tell a story or create a visual narrative. Decorate the cover boards with papers, beads, ribbons and other mini embellishments. Note: The photo and description of the Mini Accordion Book Kit were taken directly from the Inchie Arts Product discription.

Supplies Used: Inchie squares ~ Inchie Arts; Mini Accordion Book ~ Inchie Arts; Cardstock ~ Bazzill; Ink ~ Palette & Copics; Stamps ~ Hero Arts (alphabet) & Lockhart Stamp Company; Ribbon ~ Michael's; Scallop Square Punch ~ SU.

New Riley Stamps...

Wooohoooo... two new Riley Moose stamps will be released tomorrow along with 4 new Hanna sets. First off, Riley is totally overdosing on Chocolate ~ I think that was all of us last week with Halloween.


And then on the second card, Riley is sooooooo not happy about doing the ironing. Yes that would be me! I DON'T iron. In fact, about only time I get my iron out is if a craft project is involved. Now don't get me wrong, I don't like wrinkled clothes. I practically pounce on my dryer when the buzzer goes off so I can get the clothes out and hung up and neatly folded. You won't find piles of clean, unfolded clothes in my house or in my dryer. Yes, all because I hate to iron!

Don't forget tomorrow is Inchie Friday!

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Hanna Stamps (Riley Collection, Things Riley Would Say); Card #1: Cardstock ~ SU; Pattern Paper ~ The Paper Studio; Nesties; Palette Ink & Copics; Ribbon/Flower/Brad ~ SU. Card #2: Cardstock ~ SU; Pattern Paper & Buttons ~ SEI; Nesties; Ribbon ~ SU.