Merry (Late) Christmas! :)

So since I've been the world's worst slacker, I didn't get these cards posted BEFORE Christmas like I had hoped. I can't even believe how quickly the days have been passing lately! With the holidays and my daughter's coming arrival (more on that in a bit), I feel like there is not enough time to do what I want, like STAMP! :)

So as for these cards, they are cute, but late and I apologize for that! The first card uses the cute Penny Black snowman stamp and I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! The second one is using an older GinaK set that was designed by Teresa Momber. It is one of my absolute favorite Christmas sets and I definitely got some use out of it this year! The last card is using a watered technique that was featured on Splitcoast forever ago! I am not a huge fan of this card but it turned out o.k. The stamps I used are from the retired SU! set called Scandinavian Season. I really do like this stamp set, just not the card! :)

So as for my pregnancy, I am 38 weeks and 1 day pregnant today AND our daughter is breech. :( My doctor believes she is completely wedged and won't be able to turn so we have scheduled a c-section for January 17th! CRAZY! I never imagined having a c-section but I've heard enough about them to know not to freak out. Anyway, I think we have everything we need for her and we are SO ready to hold her in our arms! I will definitely post pictures when she arrives! :)

Anyway, I hope you all had a fantastic holiday! I have more cards to share with you so hopefully I will have the time to post them tomorrow! I have been in the card making mood lately so there are plenty of new cards to share as well! SO EXCITED! :)

Give Thanks!

Can you believe October is almost over? Time seems to be flying lately and it's starting to freak me out a little! My baby girl is going to be here in about 14 weeks! Woah! It's super exciting yet kind of scary at the same time!

So one thing I AM loving about time flying is the fact that this hot weather seems to have run out! I am quickly learning how NOT fun it is to be pregnant in warm weather! These fall temperatures have me feeling SO wonderful! I have always loved fall but I seem to love it even more now! I have really enjoyed watching the leaves change colors and snow has already started to cover the mountain tops! Beautiful!

I am also really looking forward to Thanksgiving because that will be the last trip Nick and I will be able to take to Iowa for quite a while! I have really missed my family and it's going to be so neat to see their reactions to my growing belly! Thanksgiving is such a joyous time for our family and to top it off, I will be having baby showers while I'm visiting! Woohoo!

Ok, enough rambling, on to today's card! In the spirit of fall, I decided to post a Thanksgiving card that I made for the GinaK sketch challenge last week! I used Theresa Momber's fall set! I just love her designs because of how realistic they look! I used the wheelbarrow and instead of leaving it empty, I cut out some pumpkins and stuck them in there! I also stamped the little vine in the corner and stamped some leaves and the sentiment for my circle piece. As a finishing touch I added a little bit of twine that reminded me of fall in Iowa (hay bales)!

Well, I hope you are all enjoying your Friday! I am SO excited for Saturday because that means spending time with my sweet husband!

Jacksonbelle Tuesday: Inspirational Dresses

Weird title huh? Well this week's Jacksonbelle challenge is to be inspired by a little girl dress on this fantastic website called Hanna Andersson! I wanted to go with a Christmas theme so I chose this sweet little dress here. For my card I decided to use this sweet Gina K image and pair it with some AMAZING My Mind's Eye paper called "Merry Days of Christmas". I also pulled out some fun Basic Grey ribbon and tied it around the top of the card! The image was colored with my Copic markers and the edges were sponged with some Antique Linen distress ink!

Well, that's it for today's project! Make sure to check out this week's challenge details on the Jacksonbelle blog as well as the other Jacksonbelle girls!

Tobi Crawford ~ Tobi’s Place

Jimmi Mayo ~ Stamping & Shopping

Bethany Paull ~ It’s Not All Black & White

Michelle Philippi ~ Inside My Own Private Idaho

Carly Robertson ~ Paper in Bloom

Shemaine Smith ~ Scraptastic

Lynda Benden: Stamp Act

Jill Dunn: Ink Genious

Heather Lee-Reppen: Ink on my Ear

Lindsey Botkin: Embellished

Trudee Sauer: Follow Your Bliss...

Keri Lee Sereika: Pink Lemonade

Silver...er...Blue Bells! :)

Good afternoon! It's a cloudy, dreary day here in Westcliffe which pretty much matches how I am feeling perfectly. I am obviously not recovered from my illness yet, in fact, I'm feeling quite a bit worse. Yesterday was a pretty good day and I woke up feeling much better with the hopes that it was just a short lived virus. Well, I guess I was wrong because I woke up to discover that it was attacking me with full steam ahead! :( Anyway, I took some Advil and seem to be doing a little bit better now. Let's just hope it stays this way!

Ok, so about today's card. Isn't that image just fantastic? I just adore this Gina K set which was designed by Theresa Momber (she's so talented)! I decided to pair it with this fantastic My Mind's Eye paper called "Merry Days of Christmas". It's a fantastic collection of papers and you can find it on the Jacksonbelle Embellishments site! The ribbon I used is from Basic Grey and I adorned the card with some fun pearls too!

Well, I hope you enjoyed today's card! I certainly love how it turned out! Take care and enjoy your Friday!

Give Thanks

Happy Wednesday! :) Only two more sleeps until my sweet husband is home and I can't wait! Anyway, I made this card a little while back for Gina K's World Card Making Day challenge! I have always been a huge fan of Gina K stamps. In fact, they were my very first non-Stampin' Up! company to try out and I haven't been disappointed yet! For this card I used Theresa Momber's Autumn Beauty set and paired it with some old Stampin' Up! paper and Wal-Mart ribbon! :) For the vanilla strip I decided to stamp some leaves and color them in with my Copics so that I could give the card a little bit more of an autumn feel. I just didn't feel that the patterned paper was doing it. I also felt it was a little too orange! I also colored the sunflower (and yes I know sunflowers are orange) with my Copics as well! The challenge was a color challenge to use orange, green, and brown and that is why I decided to go with an orange sunflower! Haha!

Well, that's it for today's card! Can you believe how much I have been posting lately? My week is finally slowing down and I feel like I can breathe! Hopefully I can continue to consistently post! Oh, and for those of you who are patiently waiting for that blog candy...sorry but you have to keep waiting. I am just not ready to post it yet! :) Ok, well I hope you have a fantastic day! Take care!

How Egg-Citing!

Here's another card for you to look at while I am away! I hope you are having a fantastic week! :D

You're Amazing!

And I mean it! Your sweet words have meant so much to me. It has been one long week and we are finally starting to feel like our lives are back to normal...if you can call it that! I apologize for being gone so long! I can't believe it has been over a week since I have posted anything!

For those of you who are interested, the trip to Iowa and the funeral went well but we have received some more horrible news since. While we were there, Nick's aunt (who has been suffering from breast cancer) started having trouble breaking so they took her to the ER. They did some tests and found out that the cancer has taken over her bones, lungs, and stomach. She has 2 kids and a loving husband. I know that this is a really tough time for them so if you could say a little prayer or two for their family, I know they would appreciate it. Also, Nick's grandpa (the husband to his grandma who died) was having pains in his side and so the family decided to take him in to the hospital as well. After lots of testing and CAT scans they discovered that he too has cancer and it has spread throughout his body. He has it all over and does not want to receive treatment due to the fact that he knows he has Alzheimers and he misses his wife dearly. We know that he will be in pain as he waits out this long process but this is what he wants. If you could say a prayer for him as well, I know it would help. What this family needs the most right now is God's comfort and love. They are all hurting so much and I just hate seeing them struggle, my husband especially.

Anyway, this is a card I made forever ago but I wanted to share it with you. I used one of Jen del Muro's old Sketch For You To Try challenges. I also pulled out the adorable "Whatever Floats Your Boat" set from Gina K. I stamped the turtle, colored him in with my SU! markers, cut him out, and added some crystal effects for added dimension. I then popped him up on an oval cut with my nesties. I popped the entire oval up over the rest of the card and added my sentiment!

Well, again, I am not sure how often I will be able to post this next week because we are headed to the Dominican Republic on a missions trip. We are excited, yet very stressed about it. We are already feeling very behind and this trip is definitely not helping us much! :) I will try to schedule some posts but I am not sure how much I will be able to get finished! Either way, I hope you have a great week and I will post again when I get back!

Owl Always Be Here!

Ok, so I must admit that I absolutely love how this card turned out! :) It is so bright and cheery! I actually don't even know why I put this color combination together, it just sort of happened! Haha! Anyway, I used my very favorite Gina K stamp set called "Owl Always Love You" and colored in the image with my SU! Markers! Once I was finished coloring I added some stickles to the eggs and the flower centers too! I have been on kind of a bling kick lately! Have you noticed? :) The sketch that I used is one that Kurtis challenged the StampTV group with last week Thursday. I love Kurtis' cards because they are always so simple and beautiful. I wanted to keep that look with my card so I left off the dp. Can you believe it??? I know! Me neither! Haha! Anyway, I did add some ribbon for an added touch as well as some yummy crystals from Zva Creative! If you are curious to know what my card stock colors are I will tell you. They are Regal Rose, Tempting Turqouise, and Old Olive.

Well, I really hope you enjoyed today's card! I am enjoying my evening at home with my husband. I plan on getting some cards made while he works on other things so I am excited! Take care!

Hello Friend

Good morning everyone! I hope you are all having a fantastic day so far! It is absolutely gorgeous here! It is currently 70!!! Can you believe it??? It's March 1st! Haha! Anyway, Nick and I plan on playing some tennis later this afternoon and we are looking forward to it! He is also looking forward to getting this sermon over with! :D He loves to preach but it is definitely stressful for him!

Today's card is long overdue! I made it last week for the VSN as well as Amy R.'s Friday Sketch Challenge. I used my Gina K set called "Whatever Floats Your Boat". It was the first chance I had to ink it up and I was just thrilled with the final creation! I colored the turtle and skateboard with my reinkers and blender pens. I then covered the turtle with crystal effects. The paper is the retired Hawaii Papaya dsp.

Well, that's it for this card. I will be back later with another card! Have a great day!

Hope It's a Hoot!

Good morning everyone! I meant to get this posted much earlier this morning but I accidentally fell back asleep before I had to tutor and that only left me 30 min. to get ready! Yikes! Hehe. I was up really early with my husband and was trying to get some things done but then I couldn't stay awake and I made the mistake of laying down! It's a good thing I woke up! Anyway, Angie Juda posted a question on her blog that got me thinking. Would you, as readers, honestly like it better if I posted earlier in the morning or does it matter at all? You can be brutally honest with me! :D I think it's funny because I would prefer to read other people's blogs early in the morning and then I don't end up posting on mine until later in the day! Silly, I know! So...let me know...it could change the way things work! :)

Ok...now onto the card! I love this image! It is so cute! Gina K was a genius when she created it (in my opinion)! The sentiments that go with it are great too! Anyway, Joanne posted a challenge on the Gina K forum to create a birthday card so this is what I came up with! I didn't win the drawing but that's ok! I still really like the card! :) I also used one of the Anni-Verve-sary sketches for this card! I doubt I will get to all 12 since I got so far behind when my family is here but I am sure I will at least get half of them done. I have 4 completed so far but they are due today! Hehe! Anyway, I hope you enjoy today's card! I have been in a SU! mood lately so look forward to seeing some SU! stamps for a change (and the new In Colors)! I hate the fact that they get neglected so much because they are amazing! Sorry for all the ramblings this morning but I do need to ask one more question! How many of you placed a SU! order yesterday? I did!!!! :D I can't wait to get my new stuff! Isn't the new catalog just fabulous? I seriously don't know how I am going to use self-control for the rest of this month! I took advantage of the Never Before Seen Special and I still need more! Too bad we aren't made of money! Anyone with me there? Haha! Ok...that's enough Stephanie...you are driving these poor women crazy! I'll be back later with today's Color Challenge card! Until then, have fun!

Recipe:
Stamps: Gina K
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Sage Shadow, Certainly Celery, Watercolor, My Mind's Eye dp
Ink: Black StazOn, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: SU! Markers, Blender Pens, Ribbon, Scallop Edge Punch, Dimensionals

Finally...A Card!

Sorry for such a delay! I hate it when I can't post every day but it just wasn't possible with all of the company we have had. Nick's sister has literally been on this computer every minute she's been in the house. It has been getting old but I am patient. Haha. At least I try to be! I can tell you that I was able to find some time alone today and got a few cards made so I have some creations to share now! I got to use my new stamps too so I was in heaven! Anyway, I have to keep this short because it is late and Nick is wanting to go to bed. All of his family is leaving early tomorrow morning and we need to be up to see them off. For this card I used my new "Owl Always Love You" set by Gina K. Designs. I just love this set so much! The sentiments are great and I love coloring the owls in! This card was definitely one that my nephew loved. He just thought the owls were so cool! Anyway, I used my own sketch for this card. I just started creating and I love how it turned out. I cut up the sentiment so that it would fit on the scallop and I even stamped on the inside! I also used my brand new Taylor's Tots and chocolate satin ribbon that I got from Taylor's store! Taylor's Tots are fantastic and look great! They are so cheap too! Thanks so much Taylor! That's all I have for you tonight! I will be back in the morning with another fun card that I created! Sleep well everyone!

Recipe:
Stamps: Gina K. Designs (Owl Always Love You)
Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, More Mustard, KI Memories dp
Ink: Black StazOn
Accessories: SU! Markers, Punches, Gel Pen, Ribbon, Taylor's Tots, Dimensionals