Friends

This was for today's Limited Supply Challenge on SCS, Create a Background. You had to make a background out of a stamp that wouldn't normally be used as a background stamp. This is the Melanie stamp by Rubber Romance. I stamped a portion of her body for the focal point of the card, and just stamped her legs across the bottom of the card as a background to create movement and to go along with the sentiment. I think it worked out pretty well. This is a really big stamp, so you have to use the WHOLE card to get all of her in. Anyway, I think it fit into the challenge quite well. . .who would ink just the legs of a stamp for the background, right? LOL Thanks for visiting today! Hope your weekend is off to a great start! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Melanie from Rubber Romance, A Muse sentiment; Paper- Regal Rose, DCWV Dark Brown, Whisper White; Ink- Basic Brown, Regal Rose; Accessories- ribbon from Doodliedoo, paper piercer, Chocolate Chip and Regal Rose markers, slit punch.

Great Mail Day!

While we were on vacation, I had our mail held. Yesterday I went to the post office to pick it up and I was SO EXCITED to find all of these wonderful RAKS!

The first is from Rachel Baird. I just LOVE the colors and the patterned paper she chose! You can check out Rachel's other great stuff at her blog, Hope Stamps Eternal. Now I have a new blog to visit! :) The second card is from Shannon Erskine. What CUTE little fishies! I just LOVE how Shannon used the background and all the little bubbles! What a happy card! This is another NEW blog for me to visit! You can too, at Hoppy Creations! The third card is from Monika Davis at M.A.D. Stamper. This is actually an early birthday card! How exciting! I just LOVE the colors of this card! I never got this flower set, and Monika makes me have to have it! I just love the layout of this card too! What a wonderful card! The fourth card is from Melissa Kaufmann at Simply Pink. You KNOW how much I LOVE the ladybugs! :) I'm just grinning from ear to ear! This card is definitely very sweet! I've been visiting Melissa's blog regularly for a while now. If you've never been there, you should visit! She makes beautiful art! The last card is from Debbie Fisher at Snickerdoodle Dreams. This was a thank you for a card I sent her a little while back. It's my favorite color, purple! I just love how beautifully Debbie watercolored this. Isn't it just beautiful? See some of Debbie's other fantastic creations over at her blog!

I was just so surprised and excited to get all of these GORGEOUS cards! Thank you all for thinking of me and taking the time to send a card! I really appreciate it. You absolutely made my day! :)

Let's Get Together Soon

I just got my order from Eclectic Paperie and I just LOVE my new stuff! I saw this card on Jenn Balcer's blog a while ago and HAD to have that stamp. (Isn't Jen's card just GORGEOUS??? Then again, which of her cards aren't?) Once I browsed Eclectic Paperie looking for it, I found this one that I HAD to have too! :) This is the Jane stamp from Rubber Romance. I just LOVE it, and of course, had to make her with red hair! I used this week's Sketch Challenge on SCS for the layout. The sentiment is from my clear Fiskars Girlfriends set. Well, that's another card I got to stamp today! That makes a VERY GOOD day for me! Yeah! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Jane from Rubber Romance, sentiment from Fiskars Girlfriends set; Paper- Basic Grey Scarlet Letter; Ink- Ruby Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Palette in Noir; Accessories- paper piercer, Chocolate Chip marker, Aged Copper brads, Stardust gel pen, Aquapainter.

Dream Big

This was for today's Ways to Use It Challenge on SCS, Never Bored With Chipboard. I don't usually use chipboard on my projects. I always like when I see projects with it, but for whatever reason I just never think to use it. This chipboard heart came from my package a while ago from Beate. It's from the On Board Accents, I believe. I covered the heart with patterned paper, sanded it and added Pumpkin and Aegean Blue in my VersaMagic inks. I punched the holes in the side of the heart using my Crop-A-Dile, and added the two-toned May Arts ribbon that went perfectly with this color scheme. The faux stitching was an after-thought because the card just needed something. I think that did the trick. All in all, I'm pretty happy with this card. I'm especially happy to be back to my stamping stuff! :) I'm hoping to stamp some more today, but you all know how that goes with small children! LOL Thank you all for your "safe trip" messages! We did have a safe trip home, but it was LONG! Our first flight was delayed which caused us to miss our connecting flight, so they fixed all that. . .then, as I'm sitting there looking at our new tickets, I realized that they had us on a flight that left the following morning (today). So, after we had to go to a completely different flight into a different city than we were originally scheduled, we finally made it back to Pittsburgh by 11pm! The last leg of our trip we were bumped to First Class because that was all that was available. . .and it was a horrible trip for me. Arwen SCREAMED quite a bit and I was so embarrassed. I kept hoping the plane was so loud that people couldn't hear it as much as I thought they could. My husband said it wasn't as loud as I thought, but I just can't believe it. So, if any of you have ever flown First Class and had a screaming baby to deal with. . .please think of the poor mother who is trying EVERYTHING to not bother the other passengers. . .and of the possibility that the family didn't purchase First Class tickets knowing they had a screaming baby on their hands, but were put there by the airline due to another cancelled flight! :) Thanks for visiting, and it's great to be home! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Think Big; Paper- DCWV Turquoise and Orange, My Mind's Eye Magnolia; Ink- VersaMagic in Hint of Pesto, Pumpkin, Aegean Blue; Accessories- Crop-A-Dile, May Arts Ribbon, Making Memories flowers and brad, Old Olive marker, paper piercer, sanding block.

Just Bee-cause

Last week when I had my Good Times set out for a challenge using small stamps, I decided to do a quick little card with the bee stamp from this set. The sentiment is from a Studio G clear stamp set. The paper piercing was added to give a little dimension to the card. I don't know if you can tell or not, but the wings have been colored with the Stardust gel pen, so they're nice and shimmery.
Well, we head back home today. Vacation was great. We had such a nice time. I know I can't wait to get back to my stamps! :) Thank you all who have visited while I was "gone". I know all the cards I posted have been simple, so hopefully you still enjoyed them. I can't wait to get back to some challenges and new stamp sets! :) Have a great day! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Good Times, Studio G clear stamp set; Ink- Palette in Noir; Paper- white cardstock from Papertrey Ink; Accessories- Offray ribbon (black) and yellow from Doodliedoo, paper piercer, Summer Sun marker, Sakura Stardust gel pen.

More Glitter Stack

For those of you who were asking about that paper on the last warm-up card, it is from Die Cut With a View (DCWV) Glitter Stack, as is this paper. It was very hard to come by at Joann's. Every time they got it in, it sold out very quickly. I know they had it at Joann's online for a time, but I don't know if they still do. Hopefully those of you who are looking for it can find it there. There's a lot of cool, funky patterns in the stack and they're ALL glittered! It has a lot of the brown/pink/yellow paper, but has some black and white as well. Hope you can find it! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Think Big, Sweet Shapes; Paper- DCWV Glitter Stack and Pink; Ink- VersaMagic in Jumbo Java and Grapefruit; Accessories- Circle punches, horizontal slot punch, grosgrain ribbon, May Arts ribbon.

Sweet

I just LOVE this paper from Die Cut With a View Glitter Stack. It just makes me smile. It's so nice and sparkly and doesn't need much embellishing at all. It's all done for you! Hope you are all having a "sweet" day! :) SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- So Very; Paper- DCWV white, dark brown and Glitter Stack; Ink- VersaMagic in Jumbo Java; Accessories- Small and large oval punches, Making Memories brads, May Arts ribbon.

Have a Good Day

Here's another one of those Warm Up cards. I think this one took about 2 minutes. . .very simple, but perfect for a quick note. Again, I used some scraps of paper from my scrap bin, added some faux stitching and May Arts ribbon. The coloring was done with Prismacolor markers. I love the simplicity and "quickness" of the warm up cards, but I'm really having stamping withdrawal! LOL I didn't bring any of my stamping stuff with me on vacation and I'm really missing it! :) Still having a great time on vacation. I think we're going to the beach this morning, so that should be fun for the girls. Have a great day! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Studio G Clear Stamp set; Paper- Wild Asparagus, DCWV Red, Olive, Whisper White; Ink- Palette in Noir; Accessories- May Arts ribbon, circle punches, Prismacolor markers, sponge, black marker, paper piercer.

Tulips

This is one of the warm-up cards I made before I left on vacation. Very simple and quick. I used the Studio G Clear Stamp set that I got from Julee at Poetic Artistry. I just LOVE that stamp set. It's very versatile. I colored in the tulips with Prismacolor markers. All of the paper was out of my scrap bin. This card probably took about 5 minutes to create. So, if you're pressed for time, try one of these cute little 3x3 cards! Thanks for visiting! Hope you're having a wonderful day! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps: Studio G Clear stamp set; Paper- Magnolia, White from Papertrey Ink, DCWV Turquoise and Red; Ink- Palette in Noir; Accessories- May Arts ribbon, Prismacolor markers.

Having Fun!

Well, we just finished the Disney World portion of our vacation. We had an AWESOME three days at Disney World. The girls were wonderful and the weather was just perfect. Savannah just LOVED all the shows and characters, and of course all the rides! :) A lot of people told us you don't want to take kids to Disney until they're older, but I guess we lucked out. When Arwen got fussy, she would fall asleep and Savannah would get sidetracked by something more exciting. I also think three days was key. We ended up getting to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and MGM Studios. Animal Kingdom ended up being the best as far as getting pictures with characters. The lines weren't too long and there seemed to be a lot more characters available to get pictures with. Also, if you haven't seen Finding Nemo, the Musical at Animal Kingdom, you REALLY should! It was out of this world! All of the shows we saw were top notch, but that one REALLY sticks out. Both girls just LOVED it, along with Mommy and Daddy! :) Thanks for all your comments and tips for traveling with small children. . .they have been very helpful! :) Thought you'd like to see a couple pics! Thanks for visiting!