Welcome Spring!

Happy Spring! Is everyone else extremely glad to see Spring arrive? Even though I live in the mountains and see snow on the ground when I look outside my window, I'm still relieved to know that we are almost done with the cold weather! For some reason, this winter seemed to drag on forever. I was a little worried we would never make it to March 20th!

Anyway, I'm back to share this pretty card with you. I made it for a dear friend of mine who has been a huge blessing in my life lately. I had completely forgotten that I owned these stamp sets until digging through my supplies the other day and I am SO glad I found them! Both sets are from Rubbernecker and I had picked them up at a local craft a few years ago. The sentiment is from the set called Floral Silhouettes and the flower image is from the set called Wild Flower. Isn't it a gorgeous stamp?

To make my card I used this past week's Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge. I fell in love with this sketch the minute I saw it and so I was excited to get to play! I also stumbled across the Splitcoast challenge from yesterday which was to use only part of an image on your card. Since my stamp was so big, this challenge was perfect for my card! I colored my flowers with Copics and added glitter to the flower centers. The background was embossed using the Sizzix Damask #3 folder. The dp is some old Stampin' Up! paper I had in my stash and the buttons are old Stampin' Up! Baja Breeze corduroy buttons.

Here is a detailed shot of the flowers.

 

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope some of you are blessed with warmer weather than we are today. It is currently only 30 degrees here and it's almost 2:00! Yuck!

A Halloween Pumpkin

Woah! Two posts in two days! It's a miracle! :) Ok, so I have a card that I have been DYING to share with you! I must say that I am really pleased with how it turned out! I have been itching to play with some yummy Unity so I pulled out this old Kit of the Month from Sept. 2009 and found this adorable pumpkin that had yet to see ink! I stamped it on some SU! watercolor paper and then colored it with my markers and blender pen. I just love this coloring technique and hadn't used it in awhile.  Anyway, I paired it with some fun Cosmo Cricket Nutmeg paper and found the sentiment from the SU! set called All Holidays. The sketch is an old Splitcoast sketch challenge that I thought would be perfect for today's card. I guess I love that it's fairly simple yet detailed at the same time. Does that make any sense? Haha!

I made a video showing the process of creating this card as well. If you are interested, I would love for you to watch it! :) You can either find the video at the end of this post or click on this link to watch it directly on YouTube.

Here is a detailed look at the image.

And since it's been awhile since I've shared a picture of my sweet little Addison with you, here are a few pictures of us from our trip to the pumpkin patch this weekend! :)

Here is the video for today's card:

Cutie Patootie!

Well I was originally planning on sharing another Valentine's Day card with you but then I decided to get crafty today and came up with this card instead! :) I have had this stamp from Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps for over a year and it has never seen ink! GASP! I know, I know, I'm a bad stamper. Anyway, I bought it just after Kimmie had her very first release and then I ended up taking a stamping hiatus. I knew when I saw her I had to get her though. I find her absolutely adorable but for some reason she creeps my husband out a little! Haha! It's a good thing he doesn't get a say! ;) Her name is Charlotte and I must say that she was so much fun to color! I paired her with some of my older Paper Studio dp from the Serendipity line. She was then colored with my Copics (which I'm still attempting to learn how to use). Since I was using her I decided to go ahead and participate in this past week's Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps challenge which called for no ribbon or fibers! YIKES! I hope my flowers don't count as fibers but I thought they looked so cute with the image! Since I find her to be so cute, I am also entering this card into today's Paper Play challenge which is called "Cutie Patootie". The sketch started out as this week's SCS sketch challenge but I quickly discovered that my image didn't fit so I had to flip it instead. I really like the layout still though! As a final touch, I embossed some buttons across the bottom and distressed the edges with some Tim Holtz Antique Linen distress ink. 

Well, I think that is about it! Stop by tomorrow for the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday blog hop! I'm SO excited to share my card with you! :)

P.S. For those of you who are wondering, my blog candy will be posted on a VERY SPECIAL DAY. That is my hint for you, if you've been following my blog lately, you will know exactly what day I'm talking about! :)

Sweet Love Birds!

So I must warn you. Since Christmas is over, I've been on a HUGE Valentine's kick. I just can't stop making Valentine's Day cards! They are so much fun to make. Maybe it's the colors, I'm not sure but either way, I have lots of them to show you!

For today's card, I used this past week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge. The sketch was a lot of fun to work with and I knew these cute birds from the Birds and the Bees set by Kim Hughes would be perfect! By the way, this just happens to be my favorite Valentine's set so you may see quite a few cards using it! :) Anyway, I also decided to use the color challenge from Flourishes on it and I ended up throwing in a little brown as well. Hope that's ok! The papers used for this card are retired papers from SU! I sponged the edges with Tim Holtz distress ink and then sewed around the outside and on the little pink strip. The images were colored with my Prismacolor pencils and I added a little twine so that I could qualify for the SCS Ways to Use it Challenge.

Well I hope you enjoyed today's card! Not much to update you on as far as this baby is concerned. I've had quite a few contractions but they haven't led anywhere yet. As for other news, we are getting snow today! I am absolutely LOVING it! When I sit at my stamping desk I am directly facing the windows and it has been just gorgeous today!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Be sure to take a peek at tomorrow's card (which surprisingly isn't for Valentine's Day). Until then, have a great Sunday evening!

Peaches Anyone?

Doesn't a peach just sound amazing right now? Ok, so maybe that is my pregnant belly talking but seriously, I could go for some yummy peaches right now! Peaches in January are a little hard to come by so I decided to share this pretty card with you instead! It reminds me so much of summer and even though I'm not ready for summer yet, I'm sure some of you are! Here in Colorado we have had hardly any snow at all. Surprising, huh? However, back in Iowa where I grew up, they are SICK of it!

So about this card. I used one of my absolute favorite Flourishes set called Peaches and Cherries. I paired it with some super old dp that I had stashed away. In fact, I think this dp was the very first set that I had ever purchased when I started stamping! Crazy! :) I also used some fun plaid ribbon and pretty pink pearls to embellish this card. The peaches were colored with my Copics and I added the sentiment as a tag!

Well I hope you are enjoying your Saturday! I was able to spend some time with my good friend Leanne this morning and it was some much needed girl time! Other than that, it's been a very relaxing day and I must say I needed that relaxation! :)

My First Spotlight!

One of the VSN challenges over on Splitcoast last night was to use the spotlight technique! I can honestly say that I've never even thought to try this technique so it was quite a fun challenge for me! It is definitely much faster when you don't have to color an entire image though! :)

I also wanted to make this card for the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge which was to ink and distress the edges of your card! This part of the challenge was a piece of cake for me since I do that to many of my cards already! I decided to pull out my Flourishes set called Peaches and Cherries! I just LOVE this set and don't use it near enough! To keep with the distressed look I added some twine and vintage pearls! I still kind of feel like the card is a little plain because of the uncolored image but overall I'm pretty pleased with it! :D

For those of you who are interested, here is a picture of me at 26 weeks pregnant! I can't believe how big I'm getting! :)

That is about it for today! Enjoy your Saturday! Nick and I are headed to town so that we can get some groceries and get started on our measly Christmas shopping. I really hope our family isn't expecting much because we can't afford a whole lot this year. :( Take care and thanks for stopping by!

Patterned Pines Joy!

So does anyone else agree that my sporadic posting needs to come to an end? This pregnancy has just stolen all of my mojo from me! I'm 26 weeks pregnant and finally feel as if my creativity is coming back! I made 5 cards this week! Woohoo! I went downstairs and showed them to my husband and he said "Look! You've still got it!" Haha! That definitely made my day!

Anyway, this is a card that I made for Tuesday's SCS color challenge and Julee's Mojo Monday sketch challenge! The color challenge was to use Pink Pirouette, Real Red, and Pear Pizazz. Well I don't have Pear Pizazz so I went with Old Olive instead and I really like the finished look! I used the Patterned Pines set (for the first time) that I got out of last year's SU! Holiday Mini catalog! I couldn't believe it had never seen ink and then I remembered that my stamping kind of died off right after I had received it. :( I plan on using it A LOT more this winter though!

My friend Christine sent me the newest SU! catalog a couple of weeks ago (Thanks so much Christine!) and I have LOVED looking at all of the new stuff they have out! Sadly, we are VERY short on cash this winter since I lost my job and my husband doesn't have much work lined up until spring so I will have to be patient with my wish list. I suppose I have plenty to use here anyway!

Well, I think that's all I have for you today! Thanks so much for stopping by and to all of you subscribers that have stuck with me so far, YOU ROCK! I appreciate you all SO much!

A Clean and Simple Picnic!

Isn't this Sarah Kay image from Stampavie just the sweetest? I decided to pull her out for this week's Clean and Simple challenge over on Splitcoast. This week's challenge was a fun sketch so I pulled out my Cosmo Cricket paper to use as the background strips. I colored the image with my Copic markers and sponged all of the edges with some Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink. After I popped the image up on dimensionals I then added some fun brads to the corners for a final look. Quick and easy! :)

Well, I had better keep this post short today. I am feeling kind of ill (dang morning sickness) and need to grab a bite to eat before it gets too bad! :D I hope everyone enjoys their Wednesday! I am officially 10 weeks along today and I couldn't be more thrilled about it!

Technique Lover's Challenge: Magic Marquee Card!

Today's card was a BIG challenge for me but I was determined to finish it! Yesterday's Splitcoast challenge was to make a Magic Marquee Card. They are crazy fun but difficult to make if you decide you want to try to adjust the size of the opening like I did! I knew before I started that I wanted to use this adorable SU! set called Lots of Bots and of course my mind couldn't be changed! Haha!

Here is the card when it is shut. Don't you just love that sentiment? It definitely cracked my husband up! Haha! (Edited to add: I just realized it's hard to read. It says "Happy Birthday Human!")
And here is the card when it is opened. The magical part of the card is that little window opens up and the "yellow curtains" separate to reveal the little robot! SO FUN! If you want to make your own, you can follow Jan Tink's instructions here.

As for the rest of this card, the paper is from the Cosmo Cricket Snorkel line. I think this paper is PERFECT for a little boy so I knew it would look wonderful on this card! The rest of the card is pretty self-explanatory but if you do have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! :D

I hope that you are all enjoying your Tuesday! It's a cloudy, cool day here and I am really hoping that it rains. We haven't had rain in weeks and numerous forest fires have started around us. We live only a short while from the National Sand Dunes and the smoke is really billowing from that fire! There is also a large fire just north of us by the Royal Gorge. SCARY! Let's do a rain dance shall we? :) Have a good one!

Thinking of You Flowers

Here's another card for you! This card was made for Saturday's SCS Inspiration Challenge. I can't remember the last time I participated in the inspiration challenges over there and, let me tell you, it was so much fun! I pulled my inspiration from this wall hanging.

I used the Embrace Life stamp set from SU! and colored the flowers in with my Copic markers. I then cut them out and popped them up on dimensionals. The sentiment is from the Watercolor Flowers stamp set. I then used a variety of patterns with my background (all from the same Crate Paper collection) and added a few brads! It's quite busy, but I think I like it! :D

That's it for today, I plan on getting a few more made this morning and I am SUPER excited! :D Enjoy your Monday!

Prepare to be amazed...

I am posting a card today! WHAT??? I know, I know! It's a miracle! :D Anyway, here it is!This is the very first card I have made since...well...November! I can't believe it took me this long to get back into the swing of things. I had some things come up...some BIG things...and I am just super excited about them!

Want a hint???

This card was sort of inspired by these recent events.

Ok....

I'M PREGNANT! :D

Woah! Crazy huh? I lose my job and end up getting pregnant! Haha! Talk about timing? We are so thrilled though. This has been a long awaited moment, that's for sure. With this new development, we are also seriously considering moving...again! This time, we will probably move back to our home state of Iowa so that we can be near our family. I would obviously miss Colorado but our hearts are just not here anymore.

Anyway, back to the card! I made this card tonight using the Splitcoast Sketch Challenge from Wednesday. I decided to finally ink up this adorable Penny Black set that I bought way back in September! These cute little frogs just look so adorable together and I knew they would be perfect for the sketch! The paper is some retired SU! paper as is the ribbon. I colored the frogs with my Copics (I am so glad I decided not to sell them!) and then popped them up on dimensionals! All in all, I think it turned out pretty stinkin' cute considering I have been a little rusty at this card making business! :D What do you think?

Ok, that's enough for tonight! Guess what...I made TWO cards tonight which means I will have another one to show you very soon! Yippee! Until then, have a great night!

It's Cuppies Birthday!

I will never forget that day a year ago when Taylor released her very first stamps from Taylored Expressions! I was so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful opportunity and I guarantee that I will never forget the experience! Well, one year later, Taylor has released LOTS of other sets but those first few will always hold a special spot in our hearts! This set is one of those sets. It is called "Frightful Night" and it is still one of my very favorite sets! This set along with "Trick or Sweet" and "Sweet Celebration" are 40% off this week so make sure you snag them! For my card I pulled it out along with the very first Key Ingredients kit! :) I was surprised that I still had some left but decided that I might as well use it for old time's sake! The sketch is this week's SCS Sketch Challenge and the ribbon is SU! retired Tangerine Tango.

Now if you haven't stopped by Taylor's blog, make sure to do so! There are lots of cool things happening over there that I am sure you won't want to miss! Enjoy your Saturday!

The Very Last Hip Hop! :(

I am sad to say that this is my very last Hip Hop for a couple of reasons. First of all, my guest position ends next week and second of all, things are changing with Unity. You will have to stay tuned to find out more but I guarantee you it will be a great change! :)

Anyway, you should be hopping from the fabulous Natalie's blog! If not, make sure you start at the Unity blog! :D This week's hop is showcasing the seriously amazing September KOTM! Ok, when I say amazing, I mean it! This is probably my favorite kit EVER!

So for my card I used the gorgeous wedding image and coordinating sentiment that can be found in the kit. I paper pieced the dress so that it would match my card and added some pretty pearls to it. The paper I used is Stampin' Up!'s Nouveau Chic. The sketch is from yesterday's SCS Sketch Challenge. I'll spare you the boring details for today but if you do have any questions, feel free to let me know! :D

So now that you've seen my card, hop on over to the crazy talented Heather's blog! She is sure to blow you away!

Before you go, I did want to share these two pictures with you! :D On Saturday I met up with some friends at the Scrapbooking Expo in Colorado Springs. Hillary (and her baby Ruby) and Leanne (and her baby Mason) met me down there and I was then able to FINALLY meet my dear friend Maria! :D I knew she was sweet but I didn't even know the half of how sweet she REALLY was!

Here is a picture of Leanne with sweet baby Mason, Maria, and myself! Besides the fact that I look like a sweaty mess, I really love this picture!

After we left the Expo, my husband and I met up with some of our other good friends for supper! Here is a picture of me with my very favorite little boy (their 3 yr old son)! He's my joy on a cloudy day! :D Can you tell we like each other a lot! ;) He calls me "his Stephanie" and I call him "my little sir".

Hip Hop Thursday: Back to School Style!

Welcome to another fabulous Hip Hop! You should be arriving here from Wendy's blog. If not, start here at the Unity blog! :)

For my card I used this fun school house from the August KOTM in celebration of school starting back up. It means I have to go back to work but I can't tell you how excited about that I actually am! I look forward to teaching some youngsters! :D I used yesterday's SCS sketch challenge for my card and pulled out some of my retired SU! paper. I felt like the colors in this paper were perfect for a school theme! I stamped my school house, colored it, and cut it out so I could pop it up on dimensionals. I then added some So Saffron ribbon as well as 3 brads and a fun clip! Other than that, I think you can pretty much figure out the rest of my card.

So now that you have seen mine, hop on over to Renee's blog so that you can check out her fabulous creations!

Clifford!

Good morning! I wanted to take the time and share this card with you. I made it for one of my good friend's little boy! He is 3 and he is OBSESSED with Clifford! Haha! I have had this My Favorite Things set for quite some time now and every time I see it I think "Someday I am going to color him red." Well, that day came and after a lot of chuckling I did it! I used last week's SCS sketch challenge as well as the My Favorite Things challenge which was to create a kid card. Yup, this is definately a kid card! ;) I colored the image in with my colored pencils and OMS and combined it with this fun paper from My Mind's Eye. Other than that, I think everything on this card is pretty self-explanatory!

I have a workshop tomorrow that I need to finish getting ready for so I suppose I should get back to work now! I am going to have a super busy week because Nick and I are leaving for vacation on Thursday and I have a ton of upcoming projects! Ok, I guess that means I had REALLY better get going or else I am going to get overwhelmed! Have a great day!

I'm Pullin' For You!

Good afternoon! It has been one hectic day for me! First of all, I woke up at 6:30 (I am not sure why) and after that I just couldn't get back to sleep. That wouldn't be so bad but I didn't fall asleep until after 2! I have had these issues of not being able to fall asleep until 3 or 4 and the days that I do fall asleep at a decent time, I wake up SUPER early (well, early for me). So, since I have apparently become an insomniac who can't sleep (even though I'm tired), I find other ways to keep myself busy. For example, this morning when I woke up I did the dishes AND took some pictures of the recent cards I've made. Haha! Once my husband woke up I was occupied though because we had a funeral this morning. A sweet lady in our church had a stroke a couple of months ago and just didn't pull through. It was sad but it was her time and her husband is at peace with that. After the funeral we came home and as I was preparing lunch, Nick's stucco crew called and asked us if they could come eat at our house over their break. This is not unusual but I had just swept and mopped the floor and Nick has told them not to worry about removing their shoes, so they don't! Well, you can probably imagine what a floor looks like after a bunch of guys covered in stucco tromp all over it. Let's just say I had to sweep again. Great.

Ok, so now that I have rambled on and on, I am going to quickly tell you about today's card! :) On Monday, Leanne and I got together to stamp and she pulled out an adorable image of Flopsy from My Favorite Things. I have loved Flopsy since he was first introduced and had almost forgotten about him so once I saw Leanne's version, I knew it was time to pull him back out! I decided to check out the MFT sketch challenge for the week and discovered that he fit perfectly (almost) so I got to work! I colored him in with my colored pencils and OMS. He was paired up with some Cosmo Cricket "Mr. Campy" paper and sheer gold ribbon. I sewed the center panel and sponged all of the paper edges with some Antique Linen distress ink. I added some final touches by popping up the sentiment and applying the sweet pearls!

Ok, sorry for the unusually long post! I guess I was just feeling chatty! Hehe! Have a great day and I will be back tomorrow! :)

Friend to Friend

I just love the brightness of this card! It makes me smile! :D The colors are actually almost all new In Colors. The only extra color that is thrown in there is the Pumpkin Pie. Besides that you have your Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, and Crushed Curry. I used the flower image from the Unity June KOTM. I think this image might just be my favorite in the set! It's so pretty! Anyway, the designer paper that is used is the new Stampin' Up! Razzleberry Lemonade dsp and it has been paired with some Melon Mambo ribbon and yellow dew drops. I paper pierced the corners of the image panel and colored the flowers with my Stampin' Write Markers. I actually created this card over a week ago for the Featured Stamper challenge on Splitcoast but I am just now getting around to posting it! :) I guess that's really all there is to say about this card but if you have any questions let me know!

On a side note, my handsome hubby gets home today! I am so excited to see him and I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am that I don't have to sleep alone again tonight! :) I have spent today making sure the house is cleaned and picked up as well as baking up a storm! He will not be a hungry man when he's home, that's for sure! Well, that's it for my ramblings this afternoon! Take care and stop back tomorrow for yet another card!

Sweet Unity

I wanted to share this card that I created for Wednesday's SCS sketch challenge. I used my new Unity Kit of the Month and Cosmo Cricket Early Bird paper. I colored the ice cream cone with my Stampin' Write markers and then added crystal effects for a glossier look. I then popped it up with dimensionals. The ribbon is real red and the brads are not quite navy.

Well, that's it for today's post. It's been a pretty good week but I have definitely been missing my husband. Sleeping has not been the easiest thing. I have finally picked up some tricks that have helped. However, I am SO ready for him to be home that it's not even funny. I don't know how women whose husbands are in the military do it. They are amazing women, to say the least! :)

Bella Birthday Blog Skip, Hop & Dance!

Welcome to the Birthday Blog Skip, Hop & Dance sponsored by Stamping Bella! If you've just happened upon my blog, you can CLICK HERE to start from the beginning at Bloggabella.

For my card I used Partygirlabella! Isn't she fabulous? This is the image that got me hooked on Bella stamps in the first place. I saw her on Splitcoast and decided I needed her! :D Anyway, since she was a little too big for my image panel I cut off the top and restamped the balloons so that I could pop them up. I think it creates a neat look! To even out the image I also popped up the cupcake. I colored her with my Stampin' Write Markers and used this My Mind's Eye paper for my color pallett. For the finishing touches I used some Certainly Celery ribbon and blue rhinestones. The sentiment is actually a sticker that I recieved in the mail from some magazine company but it fits perfectly! The sketch I used is this past week's SCS Bella sketch.

Well, that's all I have for this post! I get to spend some time with my friend Leanne today! :D Thanks so much for stopping by! Now it's time to hop on over to Colleen Wold. She's your last stop! Have a great day!

How about a prize? In addition to the fabulous eye candy, we have decided to hide a prize somewhere along the hop! One pre-selected blogger will draw a random winner from the comments on her post, and the winner will receive a $40 Gift Voucher to Stamping Bella!!! The fun part is...we're not telling you who it is! So as you hop, make sure you leave comments on every post so you have a chance to win!! We will announce the winner on Monday in the Splitcoast forum.

Here For You

Well, I will be husband-less for a week which means I have LOTS of time to stamp and clean! :D I am really going to miss him but at the same time I know it will be some much need "me" time. I have already made a few cards using some of my new SU! products and I can't wait to share them with you!

Now on to today's card! I made this card a little while back and completely forgot to show it on here. This is one I made for an older SCS sketch challenge. I decided to pull out some Stampin' Up! paper that will be retiring this month and pair it with my flower dies and Friends 24-7 set. I really do love this set and finally got around to purchasing it. You can expect to see it featured on more of my cards in the near future!

Well, that's really about it for this card. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I am off to dust (yuck)! Take care!