Happy November 1st!!

I love Fall and our weather is finally starting to feel like it here! Also - Stampin' Up! has a paper special this month. I LOVE paper of all kinds!! I seem to collect more than I actually use it, but isn't that all part of the fun?!! What paper do I love more than Basic Grey?? Well, that would be SU! paper of course!! For this month, you too can enjoy SU! paper, which is on sale.

Paper Party Promotion

November 1 - 30, 2007
Join the fun this month as we throw a Paper Party --buy three, get one FREE!

Promotion Details:
Purchase any three Designer Series Papers and get the fourth one ($9.95 value!) FREE! No limits, no restrictions.

Tagged

I was tagged by Michelle and thought I would do it now, while it's on my mind or I'm sure to forget. :) I had to do the following:
1. Link to the person that tagged you. (*check!*)
2. Post 7 random/weird facts about yourself on your blog (cause we all want to know how weird you are!).
3. Tag 7 people at the end and link to their blog.
4. Leave comments on each blog that you tag so that they know!

Seven Random Facts:

1. I've lived on the same street for almost my whole life.
2. I'm messy - yep no organization whatsoever here! I would love to, but just thinking of organizing all my junk is too tiresome!!
3. I always notice expired tags on license plates. Not sure why, but I always point them out to whomever is in the car with me.
4. I'm a sports fanatic! I watch more sports on tv than my DH.
5. I like Spongebob Squarepants. :) Yep - kind of addicting when my kids watch it and I hear in the background.
6. I hate the noise that is made when you scratch over jeans with your nails. It can be likened to someone running their nails down a chalkboard - but that doesn't bother me. Go figure!
7. When I was a baby, I had to wear a brace from my waist to my feet to get my hips in alignment. Yep - have those purty pics at my mom's!

Now I'm supposed to tag 7 others, but those that I was going to tag have recently been tagged. So, if you want to play along and you haven't been tagged - then consider yourself tagged by me!!

Stamp Club Cards

Here are the cards that my stamp club made for October.

Supplies:
Stamp - Stem Stilhouettes (Holiday Mini Collection)
CS - Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip, WW
Ink - Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip
Other - Purely Pomegranate Double Stitched Ribbon, Stamping Sponge

This card uses the CC136 over on SCS.

Supplies:
Stamp - Big on Christmas, Snow Flurries
CS - Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, WW
Ink - Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Going Gray, Glorious Green, Real Red, Only Orange
Other - Blender Pen, Photo Corner Punch

This one uses the SC146 over on SCS. This is also a CASE of steubner's card.

Supplies:
Stamp - True Friend (Holiday Mini Collection)
CS - Wild Wasabi, Confetti Cream, Apple Cider DSP
Ink - Wild Wasabi, Really Rust, River Rock
Other - Really Rust Marker, Wild Wasabi Double Stitched Ribbon, Cutter Kit (for distressing), Stamping Sponge, Mat Pack/Piercer

Blessings for a Friend

I made this card for my friend. Her youngest child (son) just had his 3rd heart surgery. He is only 4yrs old and just the sweetest little boy. My Mackenzie and him are *sweethearts*. :) He says that she is his girlfriend. Anyway - the family has been going through a tough time and stressed over all this. He is home, but the recovery hasn't been as smooth this time around.

So, I made this card for her - just to let her know I was thinking of them. The inside has the full greeting from the set - Blessings brighten when we count them. I love this set. I think it is perfect for any occasion cards.

Now for the details - I used a sketch from SCS's sketch challenge - SC143. Definitely a fun sketch. Whenever I need a color combo, I usually will pull out my color wheel from SU!. However, with the new In Colors - they aren't on there, so I instead went to the Color Combo Website and loaded in the colors I was thinking of using. It then will give you TONS of color combinations to choose from.

All Supplies SU unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: Stem Stilhouettes (Holiday Mini Collection)
CS: River Rock, Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White
Ink: River Rock, Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi
Other: Wild Wasabi Double Stitched Ribbon

Blogger Challenge (Oct. 12th)

You wouldn't believe it, but I actually had my challenge done this past Sunday. I was so excited that I finished it ahead of time and knew I would be posting it on time as well! Well, my week didn't go as planned - does it ever?? All 3 of my kids ended up getting sick - the 2 older ones missed school this past week. I even got a touch of it and just feel sluggish and blah all over.

So, here I am posting now - finally got enough energy and umph to do something today. The challenge this past week was to make an ornament. Well, I saw this type of ornament on Lisa's blog the other week and knew I wanted to try it. So, I went with it. You can find a Tutorial on this over at Lisa's blog, which can be found - here.

Supplies -
Designer Series Paper - SU! Retired (I believe it was called Holiday Thyme)
Green ribbon
Mega Scallop Circle Punch
Scorer

Be sure to check out the other Blogger Challenge Players for their Ornaments - you just might want to decorate your tree this year with some of these!! :)

Last One - Celebrate

This is the last card I made for WCMD. Another one for the Card Explosion category at GBC. I'm really liking the True Friend set by SU! and see it getting lots of use. :) This one uses the CC134 and SC144 over at SCS. Hope you had a great WCMD and were able to make a card or two.

Stamps: True Friend, Little Lady (Papertrey Ink)
CS: Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Shimmery White
Ink: Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip, River Rock
Other: Lg/Sm Oval Punches, Chocolate Chip Ribbon, RR Brads

Celebrate - True Friend

I just got this set from the SU! Holiday Collection Mini - True Friend. I love it! It was super easy to mount as well - why, because all the stamps in the Holiday Collection Mini are die-cut!! Woohoo!! Love it!! Another card for WCMD over at GBC. This was a generic category - Card Explosion.

Stamps: True Friend, Little Lady (Papertrey Ink)
CS: Wild Wasabi, River Rock, Really Rust, Shimmery White, Apple Cider Designer Paper
Ink: Wild Wasabi, River Rock
Other: Really Rust Marker, Various Ribbons, Round Tab Punch, Horizontal Slot Punch, Sakura Glitter Gel Pen

Christmas Jumpstart

Another card I made for WCMD. The challenge at GBC was called Christmas Jumpstart. To make a Christmas card(s) to get us started early on our cards. I can always use the extra time, as I'm always rushing at last minute.

Stamps: Big on Christmas (SU!)
CS: Bashful Blue, Brilliant Blue, Shimmery White
Ink: Blue Frost Spectrum Pad, StazOn Black
Other: Blue Ribbons, Snowflake Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Sakura Souffle Pens, Brayer

Little Lady Card

I made a couple cards Sat. for World Card Making Day. I participated in some challenges over at Go. Be Creative. I had plans to stamp all day, but it ended up being sporadic moments. That's ok though - I did get some completed.

Stamp: Little Lady (Papertrey Ink)
CS: Chocolate Chip, Purely Pomegranate, Shimmery White, Basic Grey Stella Ruby
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Purely Pomegranate
Other: Various Ribbons, Round Tab Punch, Horizontal Slot Punch

Blogger's Challenge (Oct. 5th)

Woohoo! I'm actually posting the challenge on Friday!! I'll apologize now for the blurry picture - I don't know why I can't take decent pictures with my digital (HP Photosmart E327). If anyone has suggestions, I'm open to them. I can take other pictures just fine, but can not photograph my stamping projects.

Anyway - our challenge this week was to create something with Orange & Black. Well, of course, first to come to my mind was Halloween. But then again, I tried to do something different. I will say - this was truly a challenge for me! I just kept thinking Halloween.

All Supplies SU! Unless otherwise Noted
Stamps: Flannel BG, Take Three
CS: Basic Black, Only Orange, VV
Ink: Only Orange
Other: Photo Corner Punch, Only Orange & Basic Black - SU Markers, Orange Ribbon (non-SU), and Black Polka Dotted Ribbon (non-SU)

Be sure to check out the other Blogger Challenge Players ----->
We also have a new member to our group Mary Jo - she followed along with our challenges a couple times, but she is officially now a Blogger Player too!!

Image Challenge

Now isn't this just the cutest stamp?!?!! I was sent the greeting and the image for this card by Doodlepie from the Inky Antics message board. She mailed us these images and challenged us to make something using them - card, scrapbook page, 3d project, etc. I obviously did a card. :)
Stamps: Polar & Wally and Greeting by Inky Antics
CS: Close to Cocoa, Going Gray, Shimmery White, Basic Grey Infuse
Ink: Black, Close to Cocoa
Other: SU Large Oval Punch, Stamping Sponge, Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Gray Velvet Ribbon (from one of Jody's Ribbon Shares)

Who doesn't Love a Good Challenge??

I love doing challenges! Whether it is a sketch, color, ways to use it - it doesn't matter. If it is a challenge, then I try my hardest to do it if time permits. Why do I love them? Well, it is very simple - most of the thought process is done for me! I'm all about getting things done quickly when I can. With 3 kids under my feet, my stamping time is limited. Every time I try to sit down to stamp - one, if not all of them, crowd around me and start taking things from my table. SO, I love challenges because the guesswork is done for me.

As for the card above - the sketch and the color choice were both challenges. The sketch came from a yahoo group I belong to. The color choice - to use Blush - came from the color challenge over on Inky Antics message board. Seriously - if you aren't a member of the IA message board - you are missing out on all the FUN!! So - be sure to stop by and say hello....we are a friendly bunch I promise!! :)

Stamps: Inky Antics - Snowcup & Snowflakes BG; Stampin' Up! - Snowfall (Greeting)
CS: Blush Blossom, Close to Cocoa, WW, Basic Grey Infuse
Ink: Palette Noir Black, Close to Cocoa
Other: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol

Blogger's Challenge (Sept. 28)

This week's Blogger's Challenge was to use Spectrum Pads. I used the Stampin' Up! Blue Frost Spectrum Pad for my card. Nothing special with it - just used it as a regular stamp pad. I had other ideas to do, but was already late getting my card posted, so I opted for the quick and easy. :)

All Supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Snowfall
CS: Brilliant Blue, Bashful Blue, WW
Ink: Blue Frost Spectrum Pad
Other: 1/16" Circle Punch, Rhinestone Circle Brads (Ice)

Be sure to check out the other Blogger Girl's for their creations. I'm off to check them out now myself - I like to try to wait until I post mine before I check everyone's out. -------->

Lucky Me

For those that don't know - I'm an internet/online junkie! Well, one of the things I love is being a part of the message boards for particular stamp/scrap companies whose items I purchase.

Well - Inky Antics (IA) is a super great stamp company! I *love* their stamps - they have a style for everyone!! I met Jackie (Creative Director for IA) at a stamp convention this past weekend. I've *chatted* with her on the message board at IA and she is super sweet! There was a contest on the IA board this past week as well - it is called TAG. Well, guess what?!?!! I won!!! I am so excited - this is truly an *inky* week for me!! (The card that I submitted for the contest was posted earlier this week for the Blogger's Challenge. The contest winner is randomly drawn and my # was pulled.)

So, if you haven't checked out IA be sure to stop by. We would love to have you join the message board as well - it is free to do so and you'll probably see some people you already know over there. Go HERE to get to the board. Then you'll be able to take part in the TAG contests, color challenges, etc that go on over there!!

Well what did I win - you want to know??! The winner of the TAG contest gets to pick 1 stamp from the IA collection that they want. So, the stamp I'll be getting FREE for winning can be seen here --> Inky Antics. For some reason, I can't link the page with the stamp on it here, so if you go to the following links - Holiday---Season's Greetings---3rd page---4th image on the top called Holy Night. Isn't it an awesome stamp that will make perfect Christmas cards?!!!

So - want to get in on the next TAG contest? Then join the message board and come play!!

New Goodies

Well - I decided the other night to play with some new things I had recently received. I've had this GinaK stamp for some time, but it never saw ink. So, I pulled that out, along with my new Verve Visual greeting stamp and new Basic Grey paper. Isn't it Yummy?!?!! BG is my all time Favorite paper line, so of course I had to get it!

Blogger's Challenge (Sept. 21)

Better late than never I suppose! Here is my Blogger's Challenge card finally. This week we were to showcase embossing - of which there are numerous 'embossing' ways. I took the easy way and used my Cuttlebug and embossed the Close to Cocoa piece. I then took my SU Vanilla Craft pad across it to hit the raised portions. I also sponged all the edges with the Vanilla Craft pad.

This is a new stamp I just got today at a stamp convention I went to. I had to go because Jackie from Inky Antics was going to be there and I had to meet her. IA has a message board and Jackie 'chats' with us over there, so I felt like I 'knew' her. It was awesome to meet her - she is just too sweet. Ok - back to the card...the stamp is by Inky Antics. I used markers on it and then spritzed the stamp with water. I didn't recolor the stamp in between stamping - I did re-spritz the stamp though before stamping the next two times.

All Supplies SU! unless Otherwise Noted
Stamp - Inky Antics
CS - Ruby Red, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla
Ink - Vanilla Craft
Other - Ruby Red & Close to Cocoa Markers, Clear Button, Striped Ribbon (from a ribbon share with Jody), Glue Dots

Be sure to check out the other blogs for their embossed challenge items ------->

Blogger's Challenge (Sept. 14)

This week's challenge was to use something for inspiration and create a card based on that. I took a picture of my card next to what I used as inspiration. :) I needed a birthday card for my nephew, so I went with this. Simple, but that is what I was going for - it is going to a 4yr old boy mind you. :D

Supplies:

Stamps - A Muse
CS - WW, Basic Black, Certainly Celery DSP
Ink - Palette Noir, Certainly Celery
Other - Mega/Giga Scallop Oval Punches, Stampin Dimensionals, Markers, Stamping Sponge

Be sure to check out the other Blogger Challenge Players for their creations -------->

Blogger's Challenge (Sept. 7)

The challenge from last week was to CASE the card on pg.12 of the Holiday Mini. I was away last weekend and finally got a chance to work on the card. Of course, I made it very simple since I was already late with the challenge. I also needed a sympathy card, so I made this into one.

All supplies SU! unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: Warm Words (Retired)
CS: Blue Bayou, WW, Soft Sky DSP
Other: 1/16" & 1 1/4" Circle Punches, Not Quite Navy marker, Soft Sky Double-stitched ribbon, Glue Dots, Silk Flower (unknown)

Be sure to check out the other Blogger Challenge Players ---------->

Holiday Glitz Promotion
October 1 until supplies run out!

You and your customers can take advantage of this fantastic kit two different ways:
Purchase one of holiday stamp sets (below) and get the Holiday Glitz card kit (110286) for the special price of $24.95 each, OR
Purchase the Holiday Glitz card kit (110286) for $28.95 each with no additional purchase required.

Each Holiday Glitz card kit makes 15 cards and includes:
- Precut card stock and Designer Series paper (15)
- Whisper White Envelopes (15)
- Rhinestone brads (15)
- Real Red zigzag ribbon (15)
- Full-color instruction sheet (1)

Item Page # Stamp Set Price
109234 45 Snowfall $23.95
106786 36 The Snowflake Spot $20.95
109266 35 Big on Christmas $18.95
110359 5* Love & Joy $23.95

*Holiday Mini Collection 2007.

Blogger's Challenge (Aug. 31)

Our challenge this past week was to CASE the card on pg.92 of the catalog. The catalog sample is a pocket card, but I decided to just make it a regular card. Of course, this isn't what I particularly had in mind, but with my kids trying to grab everything I was using - I put it together in a hurry just so they would grab anymore. :)

Be sure to check out the other ideas --------------------->

All supplies SU unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: A Muse (Frog Prince & Beautiful Day)
CS: Almost Amethyst, True Thyme, WW, Rose Red & Almost Amethyst Sampler Designer Pack
Ink: StazOn Black, Always Artichoke
Other: Aqua Painter, Silver Brads, Sakura Glaze Pens (yellow crown & pink heart), 1 3/8" Square Punch