A Little More Inspiration!

Well I must say that it has been a very productive weekend stamping-wise. Nick has to preach on Sunday and so he has spent a lot of time working on his sermon. I spent the morning cleaning too, so that was nice! We actually did spend quite a bit of time together yesterday afternoon though. He took work off so we went out for lunch together, had some cuddle time on the couch (we wanted to take advantage of the warm sunshine), and then went on a LONG walk together! It was so wonderful! Both of us are feeling almost 100% better from our illness so that's great! Anyway, after our afternoon break, he got back to work on his sermon and I stamped! It's so nice that we share the office as my stamp room because we can still chat while we work!

Anyway, before we went to bed I decided to check to see if the SCS Inspiration challenge was posted and it was so I decided to make one last card! This week Stef picked this amazing website called "Room Service Home". This site is seriously amazing! They have the most beautiful stuff! It's too bad that it is even more expensive than Pottery Barn! Haha! :D Anyway, I requested their catalogs so I can still be inspired to create my own look! ALRIGHT! Back to the card! I am sorry for my morning randomness! After browsing their site I decided to be inspired by this adorable Easter Village. I paired the picture with the Stamps and Smiles Sketch Challenge #1. I have been in a springy mood and wanted to make an Easter card using my much missed "A Good Egg" set. I decided to use the large egg and stripe stamps since I had yet to ink them up. I stamped the egg on a piece of dp from Nana's Nursery. I then stamped the stripe on a different piece of dp and added some stickles. I then cut out the images and glued them together. After layering some So Saffron, Baja Breeze, and the green polka dot dp, I then tied on some Baja Breeze ribbon, stamped "happy easter", attatched the egg with dimensionals, and stuck on some dew drops. This card was really quick and easy and I truly love the end results!

P.S. Stamps and Smiles is a new line of stamps by the adorable Jennifer Meyer. Her dad designed the stamps and did such a wonderful job! Make sure you stop by the Stamps and Smiles blog or Jennifer's blog to congratulate her! :D

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #57

If you are looking for my There She Goes sneek peek card, scroll down!

Good morning everyone! I know that my card is a little late this morning but I didn't have a chance to make it due to being sick. I ended up waking up way too early this morning to make it and then struggled with it the entire time! :) I actually really love the end results though. Anyway, I decided to use my never-been-inked Matilda Muffinbread stamp today! I have had her for a couple of months now and just kept forgetting about her! I colored her with my SU! Markers and added Crystal Stickles to her wings. I then layered her on some Pretty in Pink card stock. The card base is made of Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, and Pink Paislee Pop Fashion Collection dp. I stamped "birthday wishes" from the Wow Flowers stamp set and then added my ribbon and brads.

Well, that's it for today! I hope that you enjoy today's sketch. Make sure you stop by Taylor's blog to see her card. You also will want to check out this week's Featured Sampler. :D This week's sampler is Dana White!

Want to see more? Sure you do! Make sure you check out the rest of the fabulous Cupcake Samplers! They're sure to be great!

Jami Sibley: More is More
Jackie Pedro: The Scalloped Edge
Donna Baker: Serenity in Stamping
Sherrie Siemens: Card Creme
Ana Wohlfahrt: Ink a Stamp
Vicki Chrisman: This Art That Makes Me Happy
Lynn Mercurio: Stamperosity (We are so happy to have her back!)
Monika Davis: M.A.D. Stamper

TSG Sneak Peek: Nature of Friendship & Holidays Galore

Well, as much as I really love this new There She Goes stamp set called "Nature of Friendship" (it's actually my favorite), I actually do not like my card at all! Anyway, I tried and am giving up. Both Nick and I are sick tonight and we need some serious together time so I am just posting it as is. I hope you all feel differently about it than me! Haha! As far as the Happy Birthday portion of my card, that sentiment is also from a soon to be releases mini set called "Holidays Galore!" The sketch that I used is from the new Stamps and Smiles blog. I used my gorgeous BasicGrey Porcelein dp as the background and some Kaiser Craft pearls. Anyway, if you want some amazing inspiration (which I am sorry I can't really provide) check out the rest of the dt blogs because I know they have showcased this gorgeous set better than I have! :) Make sure you leave a comment on all of their blogs again today for a chance to win a free stamp set! Once you have done that, stop by Jessica's blog and leave your name on Mr. Linky!

Jessica (owner) http://jessica-thereshegoes.blogspot.com/
Angela http://aninkandasmile.blogspot.com/
Becky http://www.lakeshorestamper.com/
Bev http://bevithia.blogspot.com/
Christi http://cici510.blogspot.com/
Denise http://thepaperlandscaper.blogspot.com/
Faith http://stampinwithmarkiesmom.blogspot.com/
Holly http://toyzhaven.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Jessie http://canyousayaddictedtostamps.blogspot.com/
Joanne http://inkyoceangazer.blogspot.com/
Jodi http://stampingalatte.blogspot.com/
Julie http://stampsandtaxes.blogspot.com/
Maki http://makinkstudio.blogspot.com/
Silke http://silkeledlow.blogspot.com/
Wendy http://wickedlywonderfulcreations.blogspot.com/

TSG Sneak Peek: Slow and Steady

Ok...I must admit that I absolutely LOVE this little dragonfly from the new There She Goes set called "Slow and Steady"! Now, I must say that the entire set is really cute but for some reason this dragonfly just stole my heart! Haha! I don't know what it is about it, it's just so adorable and innocent looking! :) Anyway, when I saw today's sketch challenge on SCS I knew right away what I was going to do...I was going to use this little guy (or gal)! Now, I did struggle a bit with the color scheme that I wanted to pull off because of the fact that I wanted to keep the card really simple. I wanted the focus to be on these adorable little dragonflies and not on anything else so I went with these bright and earthy colors that were included in Tuesday's color challenge! I used this piece of dp from the BasicGrey Urban Prairie pack (yes I am obsessed with BG) as the main panel. I then layered it on Whisper White and Pumpkin Pie. The next thing I did was to use a piece of dp from the retired Hawaii Papaya set and layere it on some Pumpkin Pie for my horizontal strip. I stamped my dragonflies, colored them in using my SU! Markers (Pumkin Pie & Summer Sun) and Kiwi Kiss ink pad with my blender pen. I then added some crystal stickles over their wings so that this card would be eligable for the "Bling It Out" challenge that There She Goes has going on this week. Anyway, the images were then punched with my 1" square punch and layered on some more Pumpkin Pie pieces that were punched with my bigger square punch. I popped all three squares up on dimensionals, tied some ribbon, stamped the sentiment, and added the crystals for the final look! It was an easy card that shouldn't have took me very long but did because of my little case of OCD! Haha!

Well, I hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to stop by all the fabulous DT blogs and leave them some love! I know their creations will stun you! :) Take care and have a fabulous night (or morning, depending on where you live)!


Jessica (owner) http://jessica-thereshegoes.blogspot.com/
Angela http://aninkandasmile.blogspot.com/
Becky http://www.lakeshorestamper.com/
Bev http://bevithia.blogspot.com/
Christi http://cici510.blogspot.com/
Denise http://thepaperlandscaper.blogspot.com/
Faith http://stampinwithmarkiesmom.blogspot.com/
Holly http://toyzhaven.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Jessie http://canyousayaddictedtostamps.blogspot.com/
Joanne http://inkyoceangazer.blogspot.com/
Jodi http://stampingalatte.blogspot.com/
Julie http://stampsandtaxes.blogspot.com/
Maki http://makinkstudio.blogspot.com/
Silke http://silkeledlow.blogspot.com/
Wendy http://wickedlywonderfulcreations.blogspot.com/

TSG Sneak Peek: Blessings!

Isn't that cross just gorgeous? It is my very favorite stamp in this new There She Goes set called "Blessings". I just think it looks so ornate! Anyway, I am pretty sure this is an Irish set so I know that the symbol in the middle must mean something, I am just not sure what. I actually think it is some version of a Celtic knot! Anyway, if you do know, fill me in because I am curious! :D Well, since it was Irish I decided I needed to pull out some of my green paper! Hehe! I used my fabulous (and much loved) Basic Grey paper called "Archaic". I thought it went very well with this stamp set. For the sketch I used Mary Jo's Monday Lunchtime Sketch. I was so thankful that I was finally able to participate in her challenge again! I have really missed them! :) Anyway, for the cross, I embossed the image with clear embossing powder, cut it out, and then popped it up on dimensionals. To add a little more dimension I also stamped the cross with my Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress Ink (which I didn't realize I could emboss with until this weekend) and embossed it as well. I then cut out the center symbol and popped it up on top! The sentiment was embossed with my Walnut Stain ink, punched out, and popped up. I sponged all of the edges with my ink as well and I then added some ribbon for a final touch!

I hope you enjoy today's card! Make sure you visit Jessica's blog as well as the rest of the dt blogs to see their gorgeous creations and more sneak peeks! There is a challenge for you called the Blog Hop Challenge too! Over the next three days, you'll have a chance to win the stamp set featured each day. All you have to do is hop around to all the blogs of the DT, leave a comment on EACH sneak peek post, then go back to Jessica's blog and enter your name in the Mr. Linky box. You have until 12 a.m. Saturday to enter.

Jessica (owner) http://jessica-thereshegoes.blogspot.com/
Angela http://aninkandasmile.blogspot.com/
Becky http://www.lakeshorestamper.com/
Bev http://bevithia.blogspot.com/
Christi http://cici510.blogspot.com/
Denise http://thepaperlandscaper.blogspot.com/
Faith http://stampinwithmarkiesmom.blogspot.com/
Holly http://toyzhaven.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Jessie http://canyousayaddictedtostamps.blogspot.com/
Joanne http://inkyoceangazer.blogspot.com/
Jodi http://stampingalatte.blogspot.com/
Julie http://stampsandtaxes.blogspot.com/
Maki http://makinkstudio.blogspot.com/
Silke http://silkeledlow.blogspot.com/
Wendy http://wickedlywonderfulcreations.blogspot.com/

TSG Announcements

So remember when I asked for all of those questions about the There She Goes design Team? Well, the dt gals all picked their favorite questions and we are each taking the time to answer them!

1. What do you typically start a project with? What's picked first: stamps, embellishments, DP, colors.....?

I typically start my project with the stamp set that I want to use. I will then reach for a piece of designer paper that I feel fits that image well and pull my colors from it!

2. Do you give away your cards, sell them, send them or hoard them? Or all of the above??

Ok! I admit it...I am a horder! Haha! I am actually doing much better about giving them out though. Since I have this card ministry starting I am giving them out much more often! :)

3. If you could design your own stamp or stamp set, what would it be?"

Definately a God based set! I love whimsical images (solid especially) that have Bible verses to accompany them.

4. Where do you get your inspiration?

My biggest inspiration originally came from other bloggers/stampers but I am finally discovering what my own style is and am creating from that! I also love to use sketch challenges (which I am sure you have noticed) to get me started.

5. How do you balance your stamping time with your personal time/work/kids/etc.?

I devote a lot of my Friday's to stamping (since we don't have school on Fridays). I don't actually find a lot of time to stamp after work because of commitments to our youth group and I want to spend my evenings with my wonderful hubby!

6. What is your favorite embellishment?

RIBBON! :D I am also a huge fan of pearls, brads, and dew drops as well!

7. What is something that not a lot of people know about you?

Hmm...this one is tough. I guess for those of you who may have never met me or do not know me personally, you may not realize is that I tend to be EXTREMELY shy! :)

8. On average how long does it take to create one of these fabulous cards we see each week??

Actually, I have a little OCD problem and want my cards to always look perfect so it usually takes me 30 min-2 hours! It depends a lot on how complicated the image is and if I am submitting the card for a contest.

9. What is your favorite coloring medium?

Well, I go back and forth between two. I really love watercoloring with my blender pens but I also enjoy using my Prismacolor/Crayola colored pencils!

10. What time of day do you prefer to do your creating?

If it's Friday then I usually love to make a card in the afternoon, if it's a weekday then obviously I love to create at night...usually late!

Well, I hope you learned a lot about me through this fun survey!

Before I go I want you to make sure you check out the rest of the girls' answers so that you can get to know them as well! I also want to let you know that this will be my last month with There She Goes. It has been one terrific experience and I have absolutely loved working with these fabulous women! Jessica has so much talent and I will continue to use her stamps! I would love to welcome the new faces to the dt though! Check out Jessica's blog to see her announcement as well as the details on this month's challenge which is called "Bling It Out!" You also won't want to miss the sneak peeks for this month! They start tomorrow!

Check out these girls!
Angela http://aninkandasmile.blogspot.com/
Becky http://www.lakeshorestamper.com/
Bev http://bevithia.blogspot.com/
Christi http://cici510.blogspot.com/
Denise http://thepaperlandscaper.blogspot.com/
Faith http://stampinwithmarkiesmom.blogspot.com/
Holly http://toyzhaven.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/
Jessica (owner) http://jessica-thereshegoes.blogspot.com/
Jessie http://canyousayaddictedtostamps.blogspot.com/
Joanne http://inkyoceangazer.blogspot.com/
Jodi http://stampingalatte.blogspot.com/
Julie http://stampsandtaxes.blogspot.com/
Maki http://makinkstudio.blogspot.com/
Silke http://silkeledlow.blogspot.com/
Wendy http://wickedlywonderfulcreations.blogspot.com/

A Quick and Easy Card!

Ok, so I combined three challenges on this card but it was still really easy to make! :D The first challenge I used was Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. I just love how simple or complicated you could make this sketch. I had been wanting to play in last week's SCS Limited Supplies challenge so I went with a simple look. The Limited Supplies Challenge said that you had to use green on your card with only 2 embellishments and 3 layers. I think I did it right! :D Anyway, I also used the VSN challenge called "New Love" which required us to use all new items (besides the ink and card stock). Well, I definately used a lot of new stuff with this challenge. I pulled out my new Urban Oasis dsp, my new Central Park stamp set, my new clips and ribbon, as well as my new Chit Chat Rub Ons! Boy did it feel good to use up some of my new stuff! I just hate it when I get new stuff and then forget to use it! Haha!

Ok, that's it for tonight! I am off to lead our girls bible study!

Mawage.

"Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday." Hehe! Ok, if you have seen The Princess Bride then you know exactly what I am talking about and you are probably laughing along with me! :D I just LOVE that movie and have seen it so many times! Anyway, one of the challenges from VSN this weekend was to create a card based on a quote from that movie! I was in heaven when I read the challenge! Now remember, we only have 45 minutes to do the challenge but I wanted to watch it one more time before I got started so I worked on another challenge and then began this card! I absolutely love how it turned out though! The quote I used was based off the wedding scene when Prince Humperdink says "Man and wife. Say man and wife!" and then the Impressive Clergyman says "man an' wife." Hehe! Now obviously I don't have anything that says "man an' wife" so I used my Mr. & Mrs. rub on instead!

So...do you want the entire scene recap? Ok...here it is:

The Impressive Clergyman: Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam...
[cut to Westley, Inigo, and Fezzik]
The Impressive Clergyman: And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva...
[cut to the trio again]
The Impressive Clergyman: So tweasure your wuv.
Prince Humperdinck: Skip to the end.
The Impressive Clergyman: Have you the wing?
[cut to the trio once more]
The Impressive Clergyman: ...and do you, Pwincess Buwwercup...
Prince Humperdinck: Man and wife. Say man and wife.
The Impressive Clergyman: Man an' wife.

:D I love it! It's actually my mom's favorite scene too! We will say it together over and over and never get tired of it! Hehe! I love you mom!

Ok...back to the card. I used Julee's fantastic Mojo Monday sketch from this week and pulled out my To the Nines Specialty dsp again. I just can't get over this fantastic paper! It's just heavenly. Ok, anyway, I obviously had to use a wedding stamp so I pulled out this wedding cake stamp from my SU! Fun & Fast Notes set. I colored it with my SU! Markers and then added some dazzling diamonds to the part that I left white. after applying my Chit Chat rub ons and punching out my circles I then tied a piece of ribbon to the front panel!

Well, that's it for today. I plan on participating in the Featured Stamper challenge over on Splitcoast later so I might possibly post it but we will have to see how much I get done. I have a work party this evening and that may take up a lot of my night. I honestly hope not but we all know how that goes!

Alright, have a wonderful afternoon!

A Little Inspiration

Yippee! I was able to participate in today's SCS Inspiration challenge! I have actually really missed doing them. They are such a challenge for me and I love being able to stretch my creativity! Anyway, this week Steph (the hostess) found this wonderful (and very expensive) website and she asked us to pick something that inspired us. After searching through all of the pictures I finally decided that I wanted to use this pillow. I love the colors of it and had been hoping that I could combine this challenge with one of the VSN challenges. I chose to use the "One True Love" challenge which required us to make a monochromatic card. I also used last week's OCC sketch challenge! I used my Urban Oasis dp for the background and paired it with my Embrace Life flower. I then layered the cut flower on a large flower from my Pretties Kit. I watercolored the smaller flower and attatched it as well!

Well, that's it for me today! I hope you are all enjoying your day. It is absolutely beautiful here! We are going to go play tennis for an hour or two and I am so excited! :D After that I plan on participating in the rest of the VSN over on Splitcoast!

A Question!

Good morning everyone! I have a quick question for you.

"If you could ask the There She Goes design team ONE question, what
would it be?"

I will be picking my favorite questions and we will then compile them together. If you could help me out with this that would be fantastic! :D Thanks!

Happy Friday!!!

I can not tell you how much I have longed for this Friday to come! Haha! After all of the trips and in service days that we have had on Fridays, I was really starting to look forward to having today off! Yippee! :) However, the bad part about today is that I have bladder infection and it could possibly be kidney infection as well. I am not sure if it is kidney infection because I have never had it before but I am positive that it is at least bladder infection! It really stinks! Anyway, I am thankful that I have Taylor's Cupcake Challenge to cheer me up this week!

Today's sketch was super fun and easy for me! I knew what I wanted to do right away! I have had this single stamp from Stampin' Up! since we demonstrators were allowed to pre-order from the catalog but I had yet to use it! When I saw today's sketch I knew it was time! :D I used my nestabilities to cut out the ovals and I then embossed "Thank You" on the Baja Breeze oval. I also decided to use more of this beautiful Stampin' Up! Parisian Breeze Specialty paper. I was originally going to use three different strips but decided that I wanted to keep it looking simple so I kept the outside pieces the same! I really love the elegance that this paper can bring to a card and I added to that elegance by using the new white ribbon that you can find in the Dress Up Ribbon Originals set. I also added some pretty pearls from the Pretties Kit to the corner so that I could have some more white on my card. Well, I guess that pretty much sums up my card!

Well, that's it for today! I hope that you enjoy today's sketch. Make sure you stop by Taylor's blog to see her card. You also will want to check out this week's Featured Sampler. :D This week's sampler is Pam Varnell! I have adored Pam's beautiful cards since I first started stamping so I was excited to see that her cards was picked! Congratulations girl!

Want to see more? Sure you do! Make sure you check out the rest of the fabulous Cupcake Samplers! They're sure to be great!

Jami Sibley: More is More
Jackie Pedro: The Scalloped Edge
Donna Baker: Serenity in Stamping
Sherrie Siemens: Card Creme
Ana Wohlfahrt: Ink a Stamp
Vicki Chrisman: This Art That Makes Me Happy
Lynn Mercurio: Stamperosity (We are so happy to have her back!)
Monika Davis: M.A.D. Stamper

ETA: Ok...just ignore my horrible picture quality today. I have found that I take much better pictures when I am using my photo tent at night. I am not really sure how to solve this issue either. Any suggestions?

You Have Reached The End! :D

The end of the There She Goes blog hop that is! :D Congratulations for making it this far! If this was your first stop, make sure you start at Jessica's blog so that you don't miss out on all of the fabulous creations from the rest of the talented design team!

If you haven't heard about the hop yet, I will fill you in! Holly had this great idea that we should hold our very first There She Goes blog hop but of course she threw in a challenge! The challenge for this hop was to pick a famous quote that went along with the set we were assigned to. That meant that we had to use our printers to print out the quote! Yikes! :D Well, Holly assigned me to the beautiful Tea for Two set and so of course I had to use this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt! It is so true!!!! ;) Don't you agree? Haha! To create the card I used my new BasicGrey Porcelain dp and I can't tell you how fabulous it is! :D I picked it up at Archiver's on Valentine's Day and finally got a chance to use it! It is so unique and beautiful! Anyway, I used it to paper piece the teapot and tea bags. I also added some new SU! cordoruy brads and ribbon for extra embellishment! I think, other than that, this card is pretty self-explanatory!

I hope you enjoyed today's hop! Thanks so much for stopping by! I will be back tomorrow with another sketch challenge card!

Together Forever

I just love how this card turned out! In my opinion, what makes this card so beautiful is the paper! I just can't get enough of Stampin' Up!'s newest Specialty papers! This paper is from the To the Nines Specialty pack and I think it is absolutely gorgeous. Sage Shadow has always been one of my favorite colors but I have never known what colors to pair it with...until now! I just love how wonderful it looks with Close to Cocoa, Sahara Sand, and Always Artichoke! Now I didn't include the Always Artichoke in this card but I plan to use it soon! The sketch that I used for this card was from today's Splitcoast Sketch challenge. The sketch is one that I find to be very odd, but it's kind of fun! :) First I cut the back circles with my nestabilities and layered them on the Sahara Sand piece. I then added the bottom strip and used my scallop edge punch to add more detail to the bottom. Next I pulled out my much neglected and much adored Embrace Life set for the image and stamped the long stemmed rose three times. I then used my Sage Shadow ink pad and blender pens to color in the flowers and I pulled some Close to Cocoa along the stemps. I also wanted to use a little dimension so I stamped the flowers again, colored them, cut them out, and popped them up on dimensionals. That entire panel was then popped up with dimensionals over the rest of the card. The final touch came with the ribbon and the rub-on!

Again, I can't tell you how joyous it was to make this card! I made it for some friends of ours who will be getting married soon! I hope they like it! :D

Enjoy the rest of your night and make sure you stop by tomorrow for a fun blog hop that will be taking place at 8:00 a.m. EST here on my blog! Holly challenged us TSG girls to a fun challenge and I can't wait to show you my card. I happen to be very proud of it! Hehe!

Good night!

Delight yourself in the Lord!

Ok...first of all, I have to give my supportive readers a ((big cyber hug)) and say "Thank you!" You have all been amazing! Last night was the lowest I had felt in a long time but I am happy to report that God has renewed my spirit and I am feeling 100% better! I have come to realize that I care too much about creating cards that are appeasing to others more than they are to me! Anyway, I have decided from now on, I am going to create a card without (hopefully) worrying about what someone else may think about it. Now, obviously I still want you all to like my cards, but I think it is more important that I be myself! Hehe! So...you may see some changes or you may not! Most of my cards have my style put into them but, from now on, I have decided that all of them will! I hope that makes sense.

Anyway, today's card was a refreshing one for me. I decided to make it using some of my favorite things! If you notice, there is a ton of pink. Did you know that pink is my favorite color? Well it is! :D Also, I used bling. I LOVE bling. I think it's fabulous! Now, I don't think that bling would look great on every card but it definately does on a pink one! Hehe! The third thing, and most important thing, I used on this card is one of my favorite Bible verses! The stamps I used were both Verve. The verse is a Plane Jane and the flower is from the Meditations set. The paper I used was BasicGrey Bittersweet and the ribbon is from Stampin' Up! Also, this sketch is from last Friday's Viva la Verve sketch challenge with a twist. This week's twist was to create a monochromatic card!

I have been talking with Nick and we both agree that I could really use my talents to minister to others so we are going to try and start a card ministry at our church! I am so thrilled that the Lord will be able to use my stamping abilities for His glory! It is just such a wonderful feeling! :D

So...again, thank you. You have helped me out considerably! I feel like a brand new girl! Hehe!

((BIG HUGS))

My Deepest Sympathy

I apologize for not posting these past few days. I have actually not had much time to stamp. We have been continuing (finally) the work on my desk and spent a lot of time doing that yesterday. Anyway, I was able to make a card today but I won't share it with you until tomorrow. However, I do have this card that I posted on SCS and forgot to post on here! Yikes!

I made this card for last week's SCS sketch challenge. I just love this set from There She Goes. It is definitely one of my all-time favorites! :D I paired it with my BasicGrey paper and created a beautiful monochromatic color scheme. I heat embossed both the image and the sentiment. I then added a touch of red by punching out a butterfly, tying on some red ribbon, and adding three small red brads to the corner. I am actually surprised at how much I like this card. I was afraid it would be one that I would dislike after it was finished but I guess I was wrong because I actually kind of like it.

Well, thanks so much for stopping by! I love the fact that you wonderful ladies take the time to visit my blog and listen to my ramblings. It really means a lot to me.

P.S. (I'm going to get a little mopy on ya...sorry.)

Ok...honesty time. Amy Westerman is someone who I absolutely adore! She is not only a fabulous stamper but a genuinly sincere and wonderful woman. I just love her heart. Anyway, I bring her up because she is someone who can't cover her feelings. She wears her heart on her sleeve, like me. Amy has inspired me to post this. Now, my heartaches are nothing when compared to what she has been going through (bless her heart) but I feel that I need to express them anyway. I have really been struggling with something and am kind of tired of just dealing with it. I hope you don't mind that I share it with you. Ok...here goes. I guess what has been bothering me lately is that I have been struggling with my abilities as a stamper. I have had a few let-downs occur recently and it's just starting to take a toll on my attitude. I have definately been feeling quite inadequate as a stamper. I am not sure why I let these things get to me, but I tend to take them very personally. I have promised myself over and over that I will just let it roll off the shoulders but my heart just does not work that way. Have any of you ever dealt with these kinds of feelings? I mean, how can something I enjoy so much, tear me down at the same time? Do you know what I mean? If you have experienced this, what did you do to pull yourself back up? I guess I just need some stamping advice here. So...any thoughts from my fabulous readers? My husband tries to help, but he honestly does not understand what I am fully feeling (and how could he). Ok...I am sorry to be such a downer tonight but I had to get it off my chest. I just can't stop the tears tonight (stinkin' PMS)!

ETA: I just found this post from Cammie and it has actually helped quite a bit. I am not necessarily dealing with rejection but it definately feels similar.

Thoughts and Prayers Daisy

Ok...I must admit that I am completely in love with this card and I wish I could get a better picture of it! It was so simple to make too! There is absolutely no stamping on this card! Anyway, I used Jen's Sketch For You To Try for the layout and paired it with a bunch of my new Sizzix dies for my Big Shot! I used the new Stampin' Up! Little Leaves sizzlet and the Sizzix Daisies #2 bigz die! To make the flower I just ran a couple of pieces of card stock through with the bigz die and then layered them up! I bent the top layers of petals up to give it a little more dimension and then added a new Stampin' Up! cordorouy brad. The paper I used is from the new Stampin' Up! Parisian Breeze Specialty dsp pack. I just love the texture that this paper has! It's fabulous and the colors are so yummy! To finish up this card I used some of my Stampin' Up! Chit Chat rub-ons and punched them out with my circle punches! Easy peasy! :D

Well, that's all for today! Sorry I do not have a Valentine's card to share with you. I am actually getting kind of tired of making them! Hehe! I am so thankful that after today this holiday will be over. Does that sound bad? I am not against the holiday, I just think it is overdone. It's all a matter of opinion though and that is only mine! :) Now, I am not saying that I don't like to be pampered, I just want it more than one day a year! Hehe. However, after saying that, I do want to tell you that my hubby is spoiling me this weekend. I know, I sound like a walking contradiction! :D Anyway, he knows that I have always wanted to go to the Butterfly Pavilion in Denver so we are headed up there for the weekend. It should be a good time! He also spent most of yesterday SCRUBBING the house while I was at my in-service (which definately didn't get over at noon like I had hoped)! It's been a pretty great weekend so far! I hope that the rest of you have a great weekend as well! I am looking forward to coming back home and stamping! Enjoy

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #55

It's Friday! Yippee! :D Well...I would be a little happier if I didn't have to work today but thankfully I will be able to come home around noon. Anyway, welcome to another Cupcake Sketch Challenge! This week Taylor really had me stumped! She came up with a very difficult (in my opinion) sketch but I actually had a ton of fun with this card! I actually felt myself grow as a stamper! Hehe! The part I was the most stumped on was the little part in between the two strips. I decided that instead of a new strip, I was just going to add some ribbon there! I really love the look that it created! For the image I decided to use this adorable stamp from the SASI set called "Love is Sweet". I had not used little Cupid yet and figured it was time! :D I paired him up with my BasicGrey Bittersweet dp too! The circles were cut with my nestabilities and I stamped Cupid in black StazOn. I then colored him in with my SU! markers. I wanted to add a little bling so I dabbed on some stickles to his cherry and hearts. I also used my new Coffee Shimmerz to cover the bottom of him. The final touch was to add the row of crystals under the sentiment! The colors of card stock used were Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip, and Very Vanilla.

Well, that's it for me today! I might possibly have another card to share later but I am not sure. I hope that you enjoy today's sketch. Make sure you stop by Taylor's blog to see her card. You also will want to check out this week's Featured Sampler. :D Taylor has chosen the fabulous Jodi Collins! I absolutely adore her AND her personality! She is truly amazing!

Want to see more? Sure you do! Make sure you check out the rest of the fabulous Cupcake Samplers! They're sure to be great!

Jami Sibley: More is More
Monika Davis: M.A.D. Stamper
Jackie Pedro: The Scalloped Edge
Donna Baker: Serenity in Stamping
Vicki Chrisman: This Art That Makes Me Happy

Have a dino of a day!!!

Good evening everyone! Can you believe that it is already Thursday? It feels like this week just flew by! I suppose that could be due to the fact that I had so much going on! We have parent/teacher conferences next week so I have been rushing around trying to finish up my grading and doing report cards. I am close to finishing though so that's a relief. The only problem is that we have another teach in-service tomorrow. Yuck!

Anyway, I made this card and absolutely love how it turned out! I saw Julee's Mojo Monday sketch challenge and wanted to play so I decided to pull out my new H&M stamp set called "A Dino Day". I have long adored this set and finally broke down and bought it! :) Anyway, since it paired so well with the BasicGrey Archaic paper, of course I had to use it! I did some layering with Chocolate Chip and Always Artichoke card stock as well. The ribbon is SU! Chocolate Chip and the brad is from BasicGrey.

Well, that pretty much sums up this card! It's cute, but it was easy! I hope that you enjoy your evening and make sure you stop by tomorrow for the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Sketch!

A Card and A Winner!

Before I get to my card, I want to announce my blog candy winner. Thank you so, so much for all of your sweet comments! I enjoyed reading every single one of them! :D I seriously can't believe the response I got either! It was overwhelming (in a good way of course)! I truly value each and every one of you, as my readers. I never would have imagined that my blog could come this far this fast! Ok...enough blabbering...random.org picked #72 and after careful counting (like 4 times) the winner is.....

Mandy Sutton! Congratulations Mandy! You are a sweetie! Thanks for the kind words you left on your blog! Shoot me an email with your address and I will send out this big box of goodies! :D

Here is what Mandy said: Congrats on your blogiversary! I love stopping by everyday to check out what you have been up too. Thanks for always sharing such awesome things!
- Mandy

Well, sorry to all of you who didn't win. Hopefully you will be luckier next time! :)

Now on to the card, I made this card for last Friday's Viva la Verve Sketch With a Twist! This week's twist was to create a card without designer paper. I almost slipped into panic mode when I saw the twist...WHAT??? NO DP??? Haha! Anyway, I thankfully have some fantastic Cuttlebug folders that fit in my Big Shot so I decided it was ok and that I could do it. Well, I guess I was right because Nick's response was "That's really pretty Stephanie! I like it a lot!" :D I just love having a husband who doesn't mind rating my cards for me! Hehe! Anyway, I put together an old favorite color combo of mine: Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, and Baja Breeze. I ran my background layer of Baja Breeze through my swirly (can't remember the real name) embossing folder with my Big Shot, and layered on some Chocolate Chip circles and ovals that I cut with my Nestabilities. I then layered on the Pink Pirouette strip with some Baja Breeze ribbon, added some fantastic Kaisercraft chocolate pearls that you can get through Taylored Expressions, and punched out a white oval on which I attatched my layered butterfly. The stamp set that I used is my Verve set called "Fluttering By". It was my very first Verve set and I still love it! :D

Well, this has been a long and windy post so I apologize if you are completely bored! I hope that you are enjoying your Wednesday night! I will be back tomorrow!

I Finally Stamped!!!

Sorry for my absence these past few days but can you believe that I hadn't stamped in a week??? It felt so great to be able to sit down at my craft table and create some cards! I actually got three finished this evening but I am only going to share this one with you! :)

My new Stampin' Up! goodies came on Monday and I couldn't wait to play with them! I didn't put in a huge order so I didn't get all of the new stamp sets that I wanted. I decided to get the paper I wanted first, and then see what money I had left! Lucky for me, I will be putting another order in shortly. Anyway, I used my new "Central Park" set on this card. I absolutely love this set! It is so elegant, yet funky! I decided to pair it with my new Urban Oasis dsp. I decided to go with a Basic Black and Kraft color scheme with some Baha Breeze and Whisper White accents. I embossed the flowery stem with black embossing powder on a piece of Kraft card stock. I also added some Baja Breeze ribbon and punched out a sentiment from the retired hostess set called "Best Yet".

For this card I decided to play in the Great Swap Girls challenge that was posted yesterday. It was going great until I realized that I used too many neutrals. Bummer! Anyway, I guess I still attempted it so that counts...right??? Haha! I also wanted to use Mercy's Tuesday Sketch challenge from last week since it was still posted on my bulletin board. The sketch was amazing! I moved the circle around a little but decided it was not going to hurt me! :D

Well, that's it for tonight! We got quite a bit of snow this evening so I am hoping for a snow day tomrrow...fingers crossed! I highly doubt we will but a girl can always hope! Haha! Make sure you stop by tomorrow evening to find out who won my blog candy!

No Card Today!

Good evening everyone! I just wanted to pop in and say that I won't be posting a card this evening because it's my sweet husband's birthday and we are spending all of our time together! We had a fantastic get together this afternoon with some friends and are going to spend the rest of our night relaxing! I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was busy, but good. I got back from my trip to Denver late last night and am enjoying the comfort of my own bed! :) Take care!

DON'T FORGET ABOUT MY BLOG CANDY! :)

Mojo Monday: You Light Up My Life

Make sure you enter to win my blog candy!


Happy Saturday! Wowza was this week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge difficult! I can't believe how much I struggled with it! It took me forever to get it to a point where I could actually say that I liked it! Anyway, I used my Verve set called "Polka Stars" for this sketch and paired it with some BasicGrey Archaic paper. I just love this paper! It is so neat! I also used some Offray ribbon that I picked up at Wal-Mart this weekend! I have to admit that I used up a ton of dimensionals on this card! I think I have 3 layers of them! That's a lot for me! :)

Well, that's it for today's post! I promise that my posts will be longer once I am home! Take care and enjoy your weekend!

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #54

Don't forget to enter my give-a-way drawing! Scroll down to find it!


Good Friday morning! It's time for another one of Taylor's fantastic Cupcake Challenges! Today's sketch was actually fairly easy for me to work with! I was quite surprised because I was a little nervous when I first saw it! Anyway, I used my ODBD set called "Flourished Christian Symbols" and paired it with my retired SU! set called Best Yet! I also used some more of my BasicGrey Granola paper. I paper pierced the corners too!

Make sure you stop by Taylor's blog to see the sketch as well as this week's featured sampler!

Want to see more? Sure you do! Check out the rest of the Cupcake Design Girls!

Jami Sibley: More is More
Monika Davis: M.A.D. Stamper
Jackie Pedro: The Scalloped Edge
Donna Baker: Serenity in Stamping
Sherrie Siemens: Card Creme
Ana Wohlfahrt: Ink a Stamp
Vicki Chrisman: This Art That Makes Me Happy

Again, sorry for a short post but I am currently running around in Denver at my conference! I will be back tomorrow though!

An Oldie But a Goodie!

Make sure you scroll down to see my huge give-a-way!!!


I made this card almost a month ago for the Verve "Lookin' For Love" challenge week! I am not even sure why I waited this long to post it because I really do like how it turned out! Julee challenged us to use these colors together and I was shocked at how gorgeous they looked! I used my Verve set called "Serenity" again and paired it with my Bella Rose (I believe) dsp. I scuffed up the edges of the image panel, heat embossed the sentiment in the lower corner, added some brads to the upper corner, and tied on a piece of ribbon. It was a quick and easy card! Well, thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your Thursday!

Candy Time: It's My Blogiversary Today! :)

I honestly cannot believe that I have had this blog for a year now! This year has just flown by! I wasn't even a SU! demo when I started it! Haha! I had only been stamping for about 2 months too so it is amazing how far I have come. Yes, I amaze myself! JUST KIDDING! :) I am also quickly approaching 100,000 hits! Who would have thunk it??? :)

Well, I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I organized and purged my stamp room. Well, I found some stuff that I had duplicates of and some stuff that I thought might be better used by someone else. Anyway, a lot of that stuff is included in this candy give-a-way (most of which is not even included in the picture) but I also threw in some other cool stuff that I picked up this past weekend! :) Included in this blog candy is a TON of paper! I have lots of 12x12 textured card stock, K&I dp, My Mind's Eye dp, SU! dsp, etc. I didn't even bother to put most of it in the picture! Hehe! I also am giving away a SU! current catalog, some Heidi Swapp ghost shapes, ribbon, a SU! decor element piece, some embellishments, chipboard pieces, 2 cool little bottles, a bottle of Stickles, 3 Fiscars texture plates plus a stylus (for those of you who do not have a die cut machine), and a cute card that I made! :)

So...do you want to win it??? You know you do! :) All you have to do is leave me a comment before midnight on Wed. February 11th. It's as easy as that! If you want to link me up on your blog, feel free! If you do, leave me a second comment for another chance to win!! :D

Moosing You!

Wow this post is late tonight! Sorry about that! :) I have been working like crazy to get everything done before we leave for our conference in Denver tomorrow! I can't even begin to tell you how much I have to do still! I guess it will be another late night!

Anyway, I made this card for Amy's Friday Sketch! This was my first time participating in one of her sketches and I had so much fun! :D I used my H&M Stamps set called "Nature's Style". I actually got this set when during their big sale and haven't had the chance to use it yet! This particular image is what sold me on the set! Nick and I just love moose and this one was no exception! :D Anyway, I paired it with some BasicGrey Granola paper and BasicGrey brads. I also used some of my Wal-Mart ribbon! Woohoo!

Sorry to keep this post short, I am off to finish my work! I will continue to post throughout the week while I am gone but I guarantee that the posts will be quick! :)

P.S. BLOG CANDY TOMORROW!