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!

The Joy of The Lord is My Strength!

Wow is this true! Nick and I really had to face some tough issues this weekend and we wouldn't have been able to deal with them without the Lord's gentle guidance. He is so good!

Anyway, I hope you are all having an enjoyable Monday evening. I am quite exhausted even though I got plenty of sleep last night! After getting home from our small little Superbowl Party, I took the time to make this card for Julee's Mojo Monday sketch challenge from last week. I had been looking at it on my bulletin board all week and finally decided to sit down and do it. I am not sure why I was so hesitant. It could possibly be because I love using my Verve stamps on these sketches and I really want to be able to do the stamps AND the sketch justice by creating a gorgeous card. Well, I will admit that this is a card I really like. Lately, I, for some reason, have really loved using monochromatic color schemes on my cards. I just think they can have such an elegant feel to them. I pulled out my much neglected, and much loved, Raspberry Tart dsp. This paper truley is gorgeous, I just tend to avoid the bright colors recently. However, since I have been on this Rose Red kick, I decided to use some up! I pulled out my Verve set called "Serenity" and embossed the flowery silhouette on my Rose Red card stock. I did some layering with Whisper White and Pretty in Pink card stocks as well. I then stamped the verse in Rose Red and popped it up on dimensionals. My final touch was the Whisper White taffeta ribbon. This card is fairly simple and didn't take a lot of work which was pretty surprising to me! All of that sketch analyzing and I came up with this...shocking huh? :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I took a peek at today's Mojo Monday sketch and I am even more nervous about it! Hehe! Not to mention the fact that there is a prize for this week's! Well, I have a busy week ahead of me with the CCIRA Convention in Denver Thursday through Friday and then Nick's Birthday getaway Friday through Saturday. I really hope I find time to stamp! :) If my posting is a little sparse, that would be why. I will try to get all of my posting done early though!

Ok...enough chit-chat! Have a fabulous night!

P.S. I do have a blogiversary coming up on Wednesday with some possible goodies so stay tuned! ;)

January Verve Project Parade: Kid at Heart

Lots of posts today! Scroll down to see more! :)


Good Sunday afternoon everyone! I seriously cannot believe that today is Super Bowl Sunday! I officially met my husband 4 years ago at a Super Bowl party that we were invited to by some mutual friends (that was the year of Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake...hehe). However, the circumstances were not good and the timing was off so 2 years later we were re-introduced and actually hit it off! I seriously cannot believe how the Lord works in those situations! It's crazy! Ok...anyway...on to today's project!

I made this project for the January Verve Project Parade that is going on over on the Verve blog! Make sure you check it out! Anyway, I knew I wanted to make something for my niece so I grabbed this box that is from the Taylored Expressions store! Taylor sent it to me for Christmas and I am not finally getting around to using it! :D Thanks Taylor! Anyway, before putting the box together I decided to decorate it with my fabulous Verve set called "Hundred Hearts". I stamped the row of hearts in Versamark and then heat embossed it with my white embossing powder. I added a strip of Pink Pirouette card stock right about that and then tied some ribbon around the box. A heart brad was then added as the box closure.


I stamped, cut out, and glittered up a large heart to stick on the top of the box. I layered it on another piece of Pink Pirouette card stock and then added brads to the corner!





The last step I took when decorating my box was to decorate the inside by embossing this fabulous Winnie the Pooh sentiment and attaching it. I felt like I needed to include some kind of message and this was the perfect fit!







Once the box was complete I then made the magnets. I made them using the decorative pebbles that you can get really cheap at Hobby Lobby or some other craft store. I stamped the letters using my Stampendous Alphabet set. The heart is another image from the "Hundred Hearts" set. I then punched all 4 images out and stuck them to the backs of the pebbles with crystal effects. Once it dried I attatched the magnets. To make it look a little prettier yet, I then stuck the magnets in a brown organza bag that some of my Unity Stamps came in.

Well, I think that pretty much sums up this project! I hope you enjoyed it!

Stampin' Up! Steals and Deals!

So I don't post a whole lot about my Stampin' Up! business on here because I don't like to focus on just one particular company. However, I truly do love Stampin' Up! and would never compare them to any other company because, honestly, I haven't found one quite like them! That is one of the many reasons I chose to be a demonstrator. Not only do I really love the products but I also love the company! That is why I am going to let you in on all of the deals that are going on this month. They seriously rock! :)

First of all, I want to tell you about the biggest sale that is going on right now! I am sure all of you have heard of it but if not...it's Sale-a-Bration!

Every year Stampin' Up! gives customers, hostesses, and new demonstrators the opportunity to earn fantastic, FREE, limited-edition products they'll enjoy for years to come. Click here to view the SAB brochure!

Here's how Sale-A-Bration works:

Customers: Receive a free Sale-A-Bration product for every $50 purchase. There is no limit to the amount of sets you can receive!

Hostesses: Receive a free Sale-A-Bration product with a $300 or more workshop, in addition to the normal hostess benefits.

Recruits: Choose any retail stamp set (a value up to $47.95) from the current catalog when signing up during the promotion. Plus, get 15% off the regular $199 price of the Starter Kit--that's $335 worth of products for only $169!

Now doesn't that sound awesome??? That's what I thought when I signed up to be a demo last year during Sale-a-Bration! :) I haven't regretted it since! This has been one amazing year and I am in awe of how my talents and abilities have grown!

Ok...the next promotion is another great one! During the month of February, if you place an order through my Stampin' Up! website you will receive a complimantry copy of the Stampin' Up! current catalog! How awesome is that??? I even want to do it! Haha!

Well, I feel like I am forgetting something but I don't think so! So...just a recap: For every $50 spent you will get a free Sale-a-Bration set; You can sign up to be a Stampin' Up! demo through me for only $169 PLUS get a free stamp set from the current Stampin' Up! catalog; Place an order through my demo website and you will get a complimentary catalog.

We Have a Winner!

Thank you to everyone who signed up for my There She Goes blog candy! Yesterday afternoon I randomly chose a winner and then forgot to post it on here! Haha! We made the announcement at the release party but if you happened to miss it, I will post here too. Ok...without further ado...the winner is...MARIA GURNSEY! Here is what she said:

Maria Gurnsey said...

this is such a cute card!! i love the papers you used. great for a big boy or little..aren't hubbies sometimes both ;) He'll love it!!

Congratulations girl! Email me your address and Jessica will send you the free mini stamp set immediately!