Technical difficulties...

It can really screw up your day whenever your computer won't go online! I work from home and I can't work without the Internet. I got absolutely no work done today!

I made this card while I was running one of many scans on my computer today. I thought the sentiment was appropriate for the occasion.

I used CTMH Blue Jeans, CTMH Library Cards and CTMH From Me To You stamps for this card. I also used CTMH ink.

I used a really simple technique for the background of this card. I just rubbed the card base with my ink pad. It gives it a nice stone washed denim effect.

Do Nothing

I went on a cruise to the Bahamas for Spring Break my senior year of college. It was on The Big Red Boat, although we jokingly called it The Big Tug Boat. We had such a great time once we got over the motion sickness. That little boat really took a beating out in the waves.

Water/ocean themed borders always turn out so well. I think the colors of sand and the ocean are so beautiful together. It's fun placing shades of blue paper together in order to create the water. Here I tried to give the water motion by using wavy strips of blue. I used my Creative Memories wavy trimmer for these.

I also used Jolee's dimensional stickers, self-adhesive rhinestones and matching blue ribbon. The Spanish Proverb, "How Beautiful it is to Do Nothing and then Rest Afterward" was stamped using a stamp from CTMH Do Nothing.

Oh, and that little crab.. I found that paper punch at Dollar Tree on the craft aisle! It's made by Miss Elizabeth's.

Playful Petals Card

Scrapbooking and card making definitely go hand-in-hand. I always seem to have enough paper left over for one or two cards after I make my borders. I still had these papers out on my table, so I put this card together.

One great thing about making a card right after you have made a scrapbook page is that you already have the paper combination picked out. Another great thing is that it keeps your ever-growing scrap paper pile down.

I used Close to My Heart Playful Petals stamps and CTMH inks in Breeze, Garden Green, Heavenly Blue, Sweet Leaf and Baby Pink.

I also used a sponge dauber to fill in some of the white spaces inside some of the stamped petals and on the edges of the sentiments.

I think this is such a fun stamp set and I love all of these colors together.

Gardening, anyone?

I have had this Paper Bliss gardening set for a couple months just collecting dust on my shelf. I just couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with it.

I kept trying different solid colors of paper and I just wasn't happy with how they matched up so I decided to use these pretty patterned papers and I'm thrilled with the results.

I added ribbon, brads and paper flowers to liven it all up.

I listed this on ebay here and I'm curious to see how it does. If it doesn't sell right away I think I'll keep it!

Gruffies Wheelbarrow Ride

I couldn't let my new Gruffies sit on the shelf for long! Here is a card that I put together last night with the first image that I stamped with my Gruffies Wheelbarrow Ride stamp.

I haven't used my sewing machine in a while and I had to adjust my tension before making this card, but I think the stitching (however crooked it is) goes well with these fuzzy little stamps.

Premade Borders With My Inkadinkado Stamp

I've been so involved with making cards that I haven't had a chance to make any premade borders for my eBay auctions. I try to use eBay to help fund my stamping & scrapbooking habit.

I made this premade border set today. I picked up this nest stamp by Inkadinkado at Hobby Lobby today. They are having a 50% off sale on all of their wood mounted stamps.

I also bought two Gruffies by Jareckie Designs and Stampendous. Wheelbarrow Ride and Finding Friendship. I love these stamps. The style of theses are very much like House Mouse so they're right up my alley!

I also found a Pledge of Allegiance stamp by Stampabilities that will go perfectly with my patriotic House Mouse stamp. I hope to work with all of these soon.

Baskets of Blessings

I love basket stamps. This one comes from a set made by Clear Dollar Stamps called Baskets of Blessings. This set comes with two different baskets and bunches of strawberries, snowflakes, yarn, apples and leaves. It also has cute sayings like the one stamped on this card, Missing you Snow Much, and Thank You Beary Much.

CDS has lots of cute stamps. There is a new set that they came out with this month that has a classic VW Beatle on it. It's called Sometimes You're the Bug and it is absolutely adorable.

Flower Fairies

I have had this set of CTMH Flower Fairies in my collection for a while. My daughter has played with them, but I hadn't made anything with these until tonight.

I used my Marvy Uchida Giga Punch for the scalloped square. The scalloped circle was made using my 1 7/16" maker by The Paper Studio. These come in four different sizes, but I have yet to find the largest size on the shelf at Hobby Lobby. They sell out quickly! Same for the Marvys.

I used a few different markers to color in the image. I started with Zig photo twins for the skin tone and dress color. I also used Zigs for the wings. I used my copics to color in the flowers.
I also spoke with someone that I know with The Angel Company TAC today and she told me about a neat shading technique. I took the fine tip of a Marvy LePlume II in Oyster Grey and outlined the entire image. It really gives the image more depth. Thank you fot the tip Margo!

House Mouse Stamps

I don't own many stamps with wooden handles, but every time I go to the craft store, I check out the House Mouse stamps. I'm always on the lookout for cute HM stamps online as well. I stumbled across an auction that had these two stamps listed together.

The background stamp is Stampa Rosa L 25-2107 and I do believe that it is a HM stamp. It is an older stamp dated 1999. It was much larger, but I trimmed it down a bit. I was thrilled to win it. I've never seen it before, so it's a gem in my stamp collection. The mouse is Monica and is also an older stamp dated 1998 manufactured by Stampa Rosa.

All of my other HM stamps are manufactured by Stampabilities and I don't know much about the manufacturer name change.

I colored some of the background in with copic markers and used Zig Photo Twins to color in the mouse and floors. I like the watercolor effect of the Zigs. I'm still trying to get used to the Copics, but I really do like them.

On my most recent venture to Wal*Mart, I bought a big bag of assorted buttons for $1.50, which I used to embellish this card. I also stamped the word Celebrate in CTMH White Daisy ink with my CTMH From Me To You stamp set. As a final enhancement, I decided to draw stitches around the perimeter of the card with my ever-so-loved Uniball Signo white pen... best pen ever!

Inspiration on the Floral Aisle at Wal*Mart

It's always a big deal when Wal*Mart comes to town and for our neighboring town, Granite Falls, it's no different! I recently took a little drive and paid the New WM a visit.

Granite Falls is a small town, so there were much fewer people running crazy in there, which is a very good thing. I actually had time to stroll around up and down the aisles without worrying about blocking someone's view or bumping into someone.

On my stroll, I happened upon the floral aisle that was filled with silk flowers, baskets and Mini Gems by the 2 lb bag. I used one to embelish the center of the large flower. They come in a few different assortments. I picked up the Romance bag, which has reds, pinks and whites --hundreds of them!

For this card I also used Close To My Heart CTMH Rustic Flowers stamps along with CTMH ink in Bamboo, Pink Carnation and Bubblegum.

What's the word, bird?

Inkadinkado Bird Assortment stamps are so cute. I picked up this set at A.C. Moore and it comes with 18 stamps. Out of these 18 stamps you get 11 birds and these cute phrases: "What's The Word, Bird," "Friendship (That means you chick)," "Party at the Nest," "Thanks" and "Happy Birthday You Old Bird."

I love the versatility of this set. Here is a card that I put together real quick.

Quick & Easy!

I had some scrap pieces left over from another project and decided to make this card. I find that making cards is the perfect way to put your scraps of paper to good use.

For the the heart, I used a CTMH In My Heart stamp. I also used my CTMH sanding kit to distress the edges of the paper.

Scrapbook Pages for My Gift Basket

After hours of deliberation, paper cutting, stamping and taping, my two-page spread is complete for the Silent Auction gift basket.

Here is the finished product! For this set I used CTMH Coffee Shop and Cup of Friendship stamps, MME Wild Asparagus paper, ribbon & brads by The Paper Studio. The background and solid blue papers came from my CTMH serendipity collection. I also used a Martha Stewart border punch to give the top and right side borders that pretty scalloped edge.

Coffee-Themed Cards

These cards will be part of the coffee-themed gift basket that I'm putting together for the silent auction. For all of these I used MME Wild Asparagus paper and various other materials.

For this card, I used CTMH Coffee Shop Stamps and CTMH ink Lilac Mist and Crystal Blue ink. For the swirl of steam and background, I used CTMH Bamboo ink.

The "Thank You" is a CTMH From Me To You stamp done in Lilac Mist ink.

The mini coffee stamp is from my Inque Boutique by See D's. I stamped this in CTMH Desert Sand.

Here is another Thanks A Latte, which was stamped using CTMH Doodle Alphabet stamps & Desert Sand ink. The coffee to-go is Inque Boutique by See D's.

Makin' Coasters!

For our church's silent auction, I have decided to put together a basket with a coffee theme. I'm slowly piecing it together. Here is a set of coasters that I made with my Inque Boutique by See D's Chai Latte stamps and StazOn Timber Brown ink. I also backed these heavy-duty tiles with large felt dots so they don't scratch anything.

Sometimes the Paper Says it All

I have a huge pad of My Mind's Eye Wild Asparagus paper. The color combinations that come with this stack make it simple to mix & match. I made this two page spread using only paper, ribbon and a few rhinestones. I love how this turned out.

Slow Ride... Take it Easy

Every time I look at this page spread, that song pops into my head. That's the only part of the song that I know. I think I heard it on That 70's Show.

The Classic Car is a Jolee's By You sticker. I added lots of paper flowers, ribbon and brads for detail. I just love this set.

A Beautiful Day for a Picnic

The day before Easter, we went to a beautiful park off the Blue Ridge Parkway for their "egg scramble." The view was gorgeous. On the way there we picked up some food from Chick-fil-A and had ourselves a picnic. We had a wonderful time and I have some great pictures to scrapbook on this two-page layout.

I used Martha Stewart vellum and stamps for this layout.

All Boy!

This card brings to mind a couple sweet little guys that I know. I used Close To My Heart CTMH Little Builder stamps and the CTMH From Me To You "Happy Birthday" stamp for this card. I also used a little bit of hemp string as an accent.

It's Blooming Time!

I was sitting outside with my kids yesterday just enjoying the afternoon. There were huge bumblebees all around, baby dragonflies and even a few ants. My two-year-old was amazed by all the bugs. He had a few close encounters with low-flying bumblebees that really freaked him out, but he kept going back for more. It was so neat to watch him take it all in.

Our grass is full of pretty purple and yellow wildflowers, which my husband keeps promising to mow, but I think they're very pretty and hope they stay just a couple more days.

For this card, I used Simple Beauty, the March Stamp of the Month by Close To My Heart (CTMH). I used my new square scalloped giga punch by Marvy. I'm sure I'll get lots of use out of that one. I used a few different types of markers on the flowers, including my new Copic marker. I only have one for now, but I can sense that my collection will grow very soon. I also used a couple Sakura Gelly Roll pens, which are so much fun to use. For the dot in the middle of the flower, I added a dot of Ranger Glossy Accents.

Glitter!

I have had three jars of Martha Stewart glitter just gleaming at me from my shelf for the past week. I LOVE the Martha Stewart aisle at Michaels. I attempted to make something with some glitter last night, but that just ended up in the trash.

Tonight I decided to make a birthday card for my Grandma and pulled out my new inkadinkado stamps and punched out the dragonfly with my Whale of a Punch. I then used two different glitters (Blue Sapphire & Green Agate) to ad sparkle to the D-fly.

You Are Loved

I recently came across this cute stamp set by Studio G at AC Moore. These little sets are only $1 and have such cute little designs. I was in a bird stamp buying mood when I saw this one and when I saw that it included the phrase, "You are loved," I knew I had to swoop on it!

I also used CTMH swirls from the Doodle Alphabet set. I think they coordinate nicely with the background paper that I used, which I had left over from my Creative Memories days.

Dreaming of the Beach

Oh, how I long to go back to the beach! I made this two page spread in preparation for our next trip... whenever that may be!!

Thanks a Latte

I love making thank you cards... and I love coffee. Today at the grocery store a nice boy helped me reach my coffee off the top shelf. Too bad I didn't have this card in my purse to hand to him!



For this card I used Daisy D's Chai Latte Stamps (Love, love, LOVE these!).

Kid in a Candy Store

I took the kids to AC Moore today. They had a Thomas & Friends Make and take where they each decorated their own wooden train. They loved it and I'm glad to get a few free wooden cars for the youngest one's collection. Lord knows we've spent enough on his trains to earn a few for free!

I didn't buy much, but I got great deals on the things I did buy! I was pleasantly surprised when this new set of Inkadinkado Patterned Bugs stamps rang up for only $5.99! They were half price and I didn't even know it.

The Pebbles, Inc. chalks were also on sale. I picked up the pastel set for only $7.49!

My coupon made my Tombow refill half off so I bought it for $1.99.

My First Post!

I'm so excited to get started... but first I must go to the craft store. I will be posting photos of some of my work and will also share information about my favorite things. Off I go with my 50% off coupon in the back pocket of my jeans!! Craft store first... grocery store whenever!